I have been hesitant to reply to this thread as I have been trying to formulate an answer that is not offensive and acceptable on some level, but I'm afraid that in this case I will come out looking rather unpleasant.
Do I agree with the Pope's stance on Iraq? Yes, I do. We've been here before, but I opposed this war vehemently.
Do I agree with his stance on homosexuals' rights? No, I do not. I have always maintained and believed that the Catholic Church (and as a Catholic, albeit a bad one, I do think myself sufficiently qualified to comment) is greviously wrong in pursuing what can only be described as an oppresive and elitist doctrine. I have called it many things, from fascist to evil, from hypcritical to callous, however, I am hesitant to condem the Catholic Church and doctrine and curse at the Pope.
The pope is a mere man, and like any man, he has his own agenda and the agenda of the Church to comply with. I too have my own agenda, and so does everyone else. I do not believe that all homophobia can be attributed to th Catholic church, just as I believe that not all (if any) anti-war sentiments can be attributed to the Catholic church; the amount of people who believe that what the Pope says is the gospel truth and will go along with it whole-heartedly, in Educated circles at least, is almost as disparate as those who believe that what the President says is the gospel truth and will go along with it whole-heartedly. Having said that, I believe that most people in FYM believe in what they believe because their own views and code tells them to, not because President Bush or the Pope tells them to. Optimistically, I believe this is a reflection of 'most' of the world.
I don't believe that the Catholic church is singularly guilty of homophobia. Why stop there? Virtually every religion in some way has been or still is homophobic. The next obvious one is the Islamic doctrine, or the way it has been implemented, which prescribes a fate worse than excommunication. I don't believe that those who are Catholics should abandon catholicism just because the Pope condemns homosexuality, a person should believe in more than just what one person says, and that is mere common sense.
For many people, Catholicism does not represent homophobia, it represents a way of life, a path to God, and what the Pope says has very little importance for them.
Incidentally, in my failed campaign against this nonsensical war, I have never used the Pope's stance as a way of fortifying or justifying my own views; I stopped listening to the Pope a long time ago.
Ant.