He took the occasion to rail against "fundamentalist Catholics". Let's look at the word "fundamental", shall we? From the Oxford dictionary we see that the word can be either noun or adjective. The "noun" definition is: "a central or primary rule or principle on which something is based". The "adjective" definition is: "forming a necessary base or core; of central importance". Merriam-Webster defines "fundamental" as "serving as an original or generating source; serving as a basis supporting existence or determining essential structure or function".
I'm not sure just why the pope is using the word "fundamentalist" as a de facto insult. He means it to be condescending - but is it really? Using the definitions of the dictionaries as stated above, the "fundamentalist Catholic" hearkens back to the Teachings of Jesus Christ and the mission that He gave to the Church: to save souls. The "fundamentalist Catholic" understands that God's laws of life and morality must be obeyed and that no measure of "social justice" can ever supplant these basic tenants. The "fundamentalist Catholic" understands the inherent immorality and atheism that underlies socialism and will eschew any social novelties that only serve to make socialism more palatable to the public. He/she will cut through any obfuscation of Catholic doctrine, no matter how artfully constructed such obfuscation might be and no matter how camouflaged it may be with items that may be good or pleasing in themselves.
He erroneously equated "fundamentalist Catholics" with "fundamentalist muslims". Consider that the latter go back to the basics of their doctrines, that is, the Quran. Therein lies their fundamental precepts for jihad, for "killing the infidel", etc. The fundamentals of Catholicism and the fundamentals of Islam are by no means equivalent. Ironically the muslims understand that point more clearly than does the Vicar of Christ.
Then the topic of condoms was broached, particularly as a strategy for dealing with AIDS. Here the pope's brain-train really jumped the rails. His thoughts seem to be an indecipherable mish-mash of ideas grasped out of thin air with no unifying principle. All in all, he seemed to forget that one may not do evil that good may come of it. Condoms block the sexual act from their procreative purpose; the use of them is always inherently evil. That's one key reason why his "healing on the Sabbath" quote doesn't logically follow, for healing as the Lord did is not inherently evil.
But he immediately says that is a "small wound", with the "serious wounds" being the whole litany of "social gospel" topics: arms trade, environment, etc. Now we can see why the pope railed against the "fundamental Catholics" for they understand that contraceptive sex - and sex outside of marriage - unleashes untold evils that really do dwarf "arms trades" and others in terms of destructive effects.
He also spoke of the UN climate conference that is getting underway in Paris. He said it is most likely humanity's last chance to thwart global environmental disaster, stating that the world was "at the limits of suicide". He complained about "retreating glaciers", when in fact the opposite is occurring!
However, there are serious environmental concerns revealed during this interview, but as mentioned at the beginning of this piece, the real environmental crisis is inside the planes in which the pope gives these horrendous interviews.
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