The Popes have spoken

Jew-Pope-in-training Amar joins the much be-shlita-ed Rabbis Yosef and Elyashiv in condemning the planned Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem. Apparently Popes tend to stick together:

Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar has sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI, asking the Catholic leader to condemn the annual International Gay Pride parade scheduled to take place in Jerusalem in August.

Amar asked the pope to "strongly and unequivocally come out against this terrible phenomenon, out of hope that a general protest from different religious leaders will awaken the lost hearts who are deceiving themselves and immeasurably harming their souls, and discourage the willful wrongdoer from cursing and corrupting the human way."

Yeah, that's right, because secular Jews who don't care about haredim will surely "repent" if the Pope yells at them, too. How silly of me.

Shahar Ilan has some interesting reporting (and commentary) regarding some of these developments. Best quotes:

"How can you fight something for which you have no vocabulary?"

Beyond the discomfort involved, there is the important issue of education. Many ultra-Orthodox parents would rather let the parade circle the city three times than hear their children asking, "Daddy, what's a homosexual?"

Ah yes, the O'Reilly syndrome.

You know, ridiculous crap like this is enough that even the sleaziest Chief Rabbi (of the moment), Metzger, gets some major points for actually doing something important this week. Kudos, Rav.