Pope Benedict is a 'disaster', say Vatican insiders

London: Two days after Germany and France condemned Pope Benedict's controversial remarks on condoms in Africa, Vatican insiders have claimed that the pontiff's four- year-old papacy is proving to be "a disaster".
Pope Benedict's repeated gaffes and the Vatican City's inability to manage his message in the web era are threatening to undermine his papacy, leading British newspaper The Daily Telegraph quoted the unnamed insiders as saying.
The pontiff on Tuesday said the use of condoms was complicating the fight against AIDS in Africa, while touring the continent. Prior to this, he landed into another row over his lifting of the 20-year excommunication of a British bishop who has questioned the Holocaust.
"The Pope is isolated and fails to adequately consult his advisers," said a Vatican source with 20 years' knowledge of the Holy See.
Another Vatican insider has described Pope Benedict's four-year-old papacy as "a disaster". "He's out of touch with the real world. On the condom issue, for example, there are priests and bishops in Africa who accept that condoms are a key part of the fight against Aids.
"And, yet the pope adheres to this very conservative line they encourage promiscuity. The Vatican is far removed from the reality on the ground," the insider said.
According to Francis X Rocca of Religion News Service, the Vatican's traditional culture of secrecy has made it ill- equipped to communicate its message in the Internet age. "The problem is that the Internet and the blogosphere won't wait for the Vatican, so its message gets swamped."