Pope Attacks Birth Control in Indonesia on Last Day of Visit
John Paul II today attacked birth control in Indonesia, a Third World pioneer in restricting population growth.
In a speech on the last day of his five-day visit to predominantly Muslim Indonesia, he told Catholic bishops: “You are sometimes painfully aware that certain traditional practices and other contemporary social influences bring about an obscuring of fundamental principles regarding family life and the responsible transmission of life.” Vatican officials confirmed that this was a reference to birth control as well as polygamy and the subordinate position of women.
Aggressive promotion of birth control has been official policy since 1970 in Indonesia, the world’s fifth most populous country. President Suharto this year received the first U.N. award for population growth control.
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