The Federal Court has ruled against the ‘annoying’ laws instigated for the Pope's World Youth Day visit, saying they could have a "chilling effect” upon freedom of speech.
The court ruled in favour of NoToPope activists Rachel Evans and Amber Pike, who brought the case against the NSW Government.
The pair claimed the legislation would have prevented their members from handing out leaflets and other material.
NoToPope, a coalition which includes Community Action Against Homophobia, atheist organisations and the Social Alliance, will mail hundreds of letters containing condoms to schools housing World Youth Day pilgrims.
The mass mail-out was made possible by a list of prohibited areas, including addresses, which the NSW Government provided to the Federal Court last week.
NoToPope has organised a working bee from noon today (Tuesday, July 15) to prepare letters and condoms for distribution.
Rachel Evans said the letter welcomed Catholic youth to Sydney.
“Our coalition respects everyone's right to practice their religion, but we have huge problems under the current 'annoyance law' NSW regulations to practice our freedom of speech and to peaceful assembly."
Sudanese Human Rights Association spokesperson Soubhi Iskander said the Pope’s policy on condoms was “a death sentence for millions within Africa”.
“It is an immoral stance. At the end of 2007 there were approximately 33.2 million people in the world with HIV/AIDS. Over two-thirds of these are in sub-Saharan Africa.
“More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981 - 2.1 million in 2007. Almost 70 per cent of people in the Third World who develop AIDS, as opposed to being just HIV positive, will die due to lack of drugs."
Members of the NoToPope Coalition and supporters will hand out condoms at a rally this Saturday.
The coalition's Anthony Englund told SX a turnout of 15,000 people was a possible projection.
He said the current Pope had "some real issues about sexual freedom", but that young Catholics were capable of deciding which parts of Church theology they adopted.
"By providing them with a token number of condoms, we're reminding them they can make up their own minds about what they believe is appropriate behaviour in terms of their personal sexual health," he said.
The rally will be held from noon on Saturday, July 19, at Taylor Square.
IMAGE: Condoms were handed out at Cologne Cathedral, Germany, during World Youth Day 2005. Photo: spaztacular (via Flickr)
The Federal Court has ruled against the ‘annoying’ laws instigated for the Pope's World Youth Day visit, saying they could have a "chilling effect” upon freedom of speech.
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