To the editor:

A few weeks ago, I read that the Vatican had come out with some new sins (as if there weren’t enough to worry about already). I was heartened, however, to see that one of the new sins was harming the environment. But as I thought about it, it struck me that there may be the teeniest, tiniest bit of internal inconsistency in the Vatican’s position on harming the environment and its stand on contraception.

One of the biggest (perhaps the most serious) threats to sustainability is overpopulation. There is ample evidence that adding more humans to the planet will only accelerate global warming, resource consumption and pollution. By insisting that good Catholics refrain from using any form of birth control other than the notoriously unreliable rhythm method, isn’t the church also contributing to environmental harm?

Just a thought.

Belinda Holmes,
Lawrence