Carla Bruni, Lapsed Catholic: French First Lady Criticizes Benedict XVI

France's First Lady has become exasperated with the leaders of the Catholic Church

Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy said: "I was born Catholic, I was baptised, but in my life I feel profoundly secular.

"In Africa it's often Church people who look after sick people. It's astonishing to see the difference between the theory and the reality.

"I think the Church should evolve on this issue. It presents the condom as a contraceptive which, incidentally, it forbids, although it is the only existing protection," she told Femme Actuelle, the women's magazine.

Somehow, I doubt that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is alone in these feelings, but I wouldn’t be surprised if, even in secular France, there has been some reluctance to state things like this so directly and publicly. What this would mean is that these statements might embolden more people and start more conversations about the moral culpability of the Catholic Church