Los Angeles Times
October 11, 1992, Sunday, Home Edition

SINEAD O'CONNOR


   Adelle-Maria Stan has it all wrong ("A Daemon Sucker-Punches Us -- and the
Pope," Commentary, Oct. 6). It is not the role of the Holy Roman Catholic Church
to keep up with the times.  A thoughtful examination of the times will see what
is meant by this, and no explanation is needed. What the church is and always
has been is a moral beacon in a world of ever-increasing darkness, calling on
people to deny their baser passions whose indulgence only brings misery and to
nurture their spiritual side to attain lasting happiness.

   The priests the Pope recently beatified, for all of their many failings
resulting from their humanity, also brought scores of people to the faith.

   The church's stance on birth control goes back to the early days of the
church through countless treatises and essays on church doctrine. Therefore,
just because the world has become more acquiescent toward promiscuity, doesn't
mean that the church should automatically fall in line. Lastly, the problems
with Third World population control have more to do with economic and social
problems than they do with access to birth control. In a world where large
families mean economic stability, in a world where there is no Social Security,
only offspring to take care of people in their old age, in a world where infant
mortality is high, who cares about condoms?