Ok, I came from a devout Catholic family. I can tell you with certainty that there are those who will follow the pope's ruling if he told them to jump off a building. I know many fundamentalist denominations that will follow their leaders the same way. So the view of condom use etc ... is destructive IMO ... period .. However, Joe is correct that most Catholic's are less concerned with the churches view of anything and will ignore what he or anyone else says unless it makes sense to them as individuals. Those people I think , like myself are there for God and don't really follow the x's or y's of the church .. or any church for that matter.

I do however think that it cannot be understated the hold the Church has on many people ... I am sorry to say that but I have seen it too often .. I will also say that is true for people in other churches Mormon , or Baptist ect .. it is all about the mindset of the person. Some people are more free thinkers than others in regard to church ruling ... what they all have in common however is Christ's teachings.