Aparecida, Brazil As Pope Benedict XVI brought his visit to this mostly Catholic country to an end he made an urgent plea to the approximately one hundred thousand Catholics gathered to hear his final message to lay aside their body armor and embrace the meaning of life. His comment comes in direct conflict with a new government initiative to hand out free bullet proof jackets to offset the rising violence in Brazil’s public school system.Gloria Thompson, a Catholic holding an, “I love my German Shepherd” banner says, “I understand the pope’s teaching but we make exceptions. I have two teenage boys in high school and I know that they are going to be in gunfights. The last thing I want is for one of them to end up in an early grave so I make sure they always have their vests on before leaving for school. What am I to do?”
Proponents of the free vest give away say that the pope’s message will only add to the carnage already wreaking havoc across this small Catholic nation. “We know our children,” says Maria Tutu of the Armour of Love Campaign, “They are going to play with guns. Without this vest we will have more children hurt and killed. Is that what the pope wants? In essence that is what he and the Catholic Church are saying, ‘we want more dead and injured children.’ I for one do not think that is what Jesus wants. He wouldn’t care about this stuff. He would say, ‘stay alive and enjoy life.’ That’s what this is really all about; living a full and active life. What does some eighty year old man in Rome know about life?”
The message is getting through to Brazil’s youth. The vests, which come in fashionable colors and cuts and with an amazing assortment of accessories have become all the rage in Brazil’s pop-culture. And even critics of the program must admit that, although gun activity has risen dramatically over the past couple of years, the percentage of deaths to gunfights has dropped steadily over that time. When the pope returns to Rome, Catholic leaders in this country will have a difficult time selling their message of death.
N.B. Yes! Yes! Yes! This is a fabrication. I'll clarify on Wednesday.
