Well, Peter, I believe the statistics show that Catholics use birth control methods at about the same rate as their non-Catholic neighbors - which seems to me an indication that Catholics understand that their leaders are celibate old men who don't really know what they're talking about. So, they take what the old men have to say that's worthwhile, and take the birth control stuff with a grain of salt.

So, it the pope takes a position on birth control and Catholics ignore it, why get all worried about it and accuse the pope of killing or whatever???

The Catholic Church has a lot of diversity, and Catholics don't march in lockstep with their leaders. It doesn't operate by Central Office issuing orders that everyone obeys. It's more of a culture than a rigid structure. Sure, the rules and doctrines and authority structures are there - but they are far less rigid and far less powerful than outsiders might think.

-Joe-