Who gets elected Pope shows the direction the Roman Catholic Church has in mind at this time.  That is why it matters.

Oh, gosh, you sound skeptical.  Well, let's start at nearly the begining with Gratian, who was head of Rome Emperor and head of the church 375-383.  He said, "He is not a murderer who brings about abortion before the soul is in the body."

Even after "The Black Death" some abortion was evel allowed:

Pope Gregory XIII (1572-85) said, "It was not homicide to kill an embryo of less than forty days since it was not human.  Even after forty days, though it was homicide, it was not as serious as killing a person already born, since it was not done in hatred or revenge."

Again... he was looking for actual sourced matieral.

As for Pope Gregory.  He saw it as less of a sin... but gettin gan abortion wast still a Huge sin and he was still anti-abortion.  You wouldn't be excomunicated but the catholic church in no way condoned abortion under him.

http://embryo.asu.edu/view/embryo:127770

which partially explains why he wants sources.  As people often will just take certain parts of quotes or frame things so so they are they way they want them.

As another example... The Gratian comment exists, and is in regards to some fetus vs other fetus but as far as i can tell WHEN this happens was never actually mentioned and never codified into Catholic law.

Outside which suggesting, saying an unformed fetus isn't murder means the catholic church used to support abortion is like claiming the Catholic Church supports robbery.   I mean, a pope would say robbery isn't equal to murder too right?

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=3361

From every source I found.... abortion ranged from "MURDER! to very bad sin" throught the entirity of Chrstian thought.  Let alone Catholic Church Doctrine.  Never something approved... and at best, just something that wouldn't get your soul automatically damned forever... instead just probably damning it.

Nor can I find any actual hisotircal evidence suggesting the Catholic Church ever supported birth control... and quite the opposite, plenty of condemnations of birth control BEFORE the Black Plague.

For example   (No way i can find to shrink the text.....)

"Why do you sow where the field is eager to destroy the fruit, where there are medicines of sterility [oral contraceptives], where there is murder before birth? You do not even let a harlot remain only a harlot, but you make her a murderess as well…Indeed, it is something worse than murder, and I do not know what to call it; for she does not kill what is formed but prevents its formation. What then? Do you condemn the gift of God and fight with his [natural] laws?…Yet such turpitude…the matter still seems indifferent to many men—even to many men having wives. In this indifference of the married men there is greater evil filth; for then poisons are prepared, not against the womb of a prostitute, but against your injured wife. Against her are these innumerable tricks." 

- St. John Chrysostom Homilies on Romans, 24 (ca. A.D. 391).

http://www.taylormarshall.com/2007/09/st-john-chrysostom-on-evils-of.html

I'd guess you likely got tricked.

I think it's rather unreasonable of you to expect me to provide proof that the church approved of birth control methods that we don't even know were in use. Anyway, do keep in mind that the pope used to be the secular prince of Rome as well as a religious leader, so the church's direction was often dictated as much - if not more so - by real world political concerns as by what the Bible says.

If one doesn't know what birth control methods were in use, it is hard to point to specific ones the Roman Catholic Church approved up.  They also tend to keep pretty solid records, so some evidence should be found.  You see in Kaz's post, that it is very likely not a true statement that the Catholic church endorsed birth control, as a prior poster made.  Now, if one considers it unreasonable to expect a person to provide links they make in this thread about the Catholic church, and have any sort of made up story that seems reasonable, because it is reasonable to speculation, then we can end up shifting the conversation completely away the original post about the Catholic church and concern for the poor, to one about how the Golden Compass is reality, and whether or not it is a good idea to have governments fund people getting familiars who don't have any, but want one, or feel they need one.  Since apparently part of the argument is every single government program doesn't address anything of use, why not argue for the merit of programs for problems in other universes that aren't ours, and pretend like they are own.  IMAGINE the number of jobs it would create trying to get people familiars!   Well, at least this would be a tad more on topic anyhow, than this derailing into the Catholic Church endorsing birth control, which doesn't really relate to the original post, nor really has much grounds in reality.

Very good. That was exactly my point, so your post could have ended right here without devolving into all the wackdoodle nonsense.

I'm not saying it's reasonable to conclude that the church must have ever approved of contraceptives, but that it is a possibility since we don't even know what medieval European contraceptive practices were because that knowledge was so systematically obliterated after the plague, let alone how the church felt about each one. Since the practice of contraception seems to have been tolerated in Europe prior to the plague, this change in church policy could have represented merely a more militant enforcement of an consistent church doctrine (from disapproving but tolerating it to completely eradicating it), or this doctrine could have - like so many others - changed from time to time depending upon political convenience. That, of course, is the problem with mixing politics and faith: the former always subjugates the latter.

I would say that you likely do see a shift in views after birth control became much more readily available to the masses and a more major issue.  I believe it is going into the 20th century you saw the issue come much more to the forefront as you saw birth control campaigned for.  

Anyhow, this gets away from the original subject of the poor and church teaching, and if there may be a shift to an increased focus on social justice.

Huh, i wasn't aware that he was complicit in Argentina's Dirty War.

That's... pretty horrible. Perhaps the ICC should look into him.

To be fair most of it is simply just accusations by various argentina civil rights groups.  Nothing the ICC could ever get him on.  I mean he obviously would of never been made pope otherwise.