The Carnival, sex and the Brazilian church

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Brazil is bracing for Carnival week. Local authorities are making preparations for the sybaritic rites of February. Each year, the Brazilian government hands out millions of free condoms to fight sexually transmitted disease. But officials in the northeastern city of Recife, home to one of the most storied Carnival bashes, have come up with a a new twist: free distribution of so-called ‘morning after’’ contraceptive pills for Carnival revelers. The plan didn’t please the Catholic Church, reports O Globo. Recife Archbishop Jose Cardoso Sobrinho said those taking the pill could risk excommunication. This in a country that is home to more Catholics than any other nation in the world. Though marketed as a contraceptive, some argue that the morning-after pill, which is sold legally in Brazil, amounts to abortion.

-- Marcelo Soares in Sao Paulo and Patrick J. McDonnell in Buenos Aires.