Tireless defender of life

This is with reference to a letter by Brien Doyle appearing in The Jakarta Post of April 12 commenting on our note of protest on the article John Paul has blood on his hands.

In the first place we thank the Post for their gracious apology on that article.

We, however, wish to disagree with Doyle on his assertion that the late Pope and the Vatican, by forbidding the use of condoms, "condemned millions to death".

As a religious leader, along with leaders of many world religions, Pope John Paul II has always spoken out against war, violence and all forms of assaults against life that human selfishness seeks to direct and propagate. He has always defended the sacredness of life and, that too, from its very conception to death in the natural way. All along his papacy, against all odds, he has opposed anything that prevents or kills life. Hence, it is a total aberration to accuse him of "having blood on his hands".

As to what causes world poverty, this is an open debate and we do not think that population growth is really its cause. How about a fairer distribution of wealth and a just price for raw materials and services obtained from the so called nations "with rampant poverty?"

Hence, let us not seek to find scapegoats here and there for our own weaknesses. The Pope stands out as a great defender of life and so in truth can never be called one who "has blood on his hands."

ARCHBISHOP MALCOLM RANJITH, Ambassador of the Holy See in Indonesia