The scientific impedment by the Church is more of a myth really. They tend to be pretty progressive on science subjects, or as a progressive a 2000 year old religion can be. 

This might be true, sadly.

The pope and his peers could stand to learn from this amazing woman; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemarie_K%C3%B6hn

Its not really sad, the church views marriage as a sacred between man and woman to create a family. You don't have to agree with it but that doesn't make their view evil.

I've never stated that its evil. Medieval, more like.

What I don't get is this:

A civil wedding is not a 'real' wedding, according to the church. So gay people are not getting married in their eyes.

What's the problem then?

Well, I hate to say it, but, a lot of people seem to give a "F" about the Pope and what he says.  Catholics tend to go crazy, not in the literal sense, when the Pope visits there home country and all.  However, I am not a Catholic and so it doesn't affect me at all.  By the way, I hope you didn't take this as me being rude cause I really wasn't trying to be.

I agree with your statement.  I'm actually a Latter-Day Saint (Mormon) and gay and unfortunately the LDS Church will never recognize it and I'm okay with this fact.  I know that the church teaches good principles that help people draw closer to God and become better and that is what counts in my opinion. 

butcherknife said: non-gravity said: Mummelmann said: Truly shocking and surprising news. Well, at least the papacy signed the fact that the earth was round in the 1990's so we still have that... The Vatican accepted that the earth was round before Galileo was born. Galileo was a giant arrogant dick in expressing his views which is why at a certain point the church had to go after him. He embraced the Copernican model which wasn't exactly right and refuted Kepler's ellipses. As non-gravity said, the argument wasnt about the round earth...it as about whether or not the earth traveled around the sun or vice versa. The church said the earth was the center (supported by scripture), Galileo said the sun was the center (supported by scientific observation). Galileo was put under house arrest for promoting the FACT that the earth went around the sun. Doesnt matter how much of dick he was...you shouldnt be put under house arrest for being a dick...he wasnt he was put under house arrest for being a dick...he was put under house arrest for disobeying the church and promoting the FACT that the earth goes around the sun which was heresy to the church. Non-gravity can you provide examples of how Galileo was a "dick"..what exactly did he do that makes you describe him as adick, and why does being a dick justify house arrest for life? You also know that the church has since more-or-less apologized for what happened to Galleo, right?

Galileo could not tolerate other opinions than his own and went into countless arguements with everyone destroying the other person's arguements and making fun of them. This got him a lot of enemies.

In his Dialogue he defended the Copernican system by again destroying and making fun of the character Simplicio who was defending Vatican views. The Pope took this as a personal insult, to the church and Holy scripture. Writing about the Copernican or Kepler system was all fine as long as you took it as a mathematical hypothesis.

The Jesuit order at this time had almost arrived at the Tychonic system where Mercury and Venus turn around the Sun and the Sun turns around the Earth with the Earth in the center of the Earth, and many among the order even were Copernicans.

This is what Arthur Koestler's The Sleepwalkers tells me.

That's all well and good and I don't expect Catholic churches to offer marriages. I don't see what gives them the right to interfere with other religions or sects however.

marriage doesnt need to be defended. children do...from him and his predatory priests.