The Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen is receiving widespread media coverage after an outburst in which she criticized the Catholic Church for its teachings on premarital sex, abortion and contraceptives.
Bundchen's remarks follow closely on the heel's of Pope Benedict's visit to the Catholic country, during which visit he repeatedly restated the Church's teachings on social issues, exhorting Brazilians to live up to the ideals that their faith professes.
Bundchen, however, called the Church's teachings "ridiculous" in an interview with a Brazilian newspaper. At one point she made the unsubstantiated claim that in the modern world no one ever waits until marriage before having sex, even apparently calling into question the possibility that a man or woman can remain chaste until marriage.
"Today no one is a virgin when they get married … show me someone who's a virgin!" she said. She went on, criticizing the Catholic Church's moral teachings saying, "How is it possible to not want people to use condoms and also not have abortions? It's impossible, I'm sorry."
However, in an interview with the Italian edition of Vanity Fair that appeared just after the supermodel made her remarks, the Brazilian soccer superstar Ricardo Izecson Santos Leite has said that both he and his wife, Caroline, were virgins when they got married. Ricardo, one of Brazil's most successful soccer players, has long been known for both his outspoken Christian faith and his remarkable good looks.
"The Bible teaches that true love waits until marriage," Ricardo told Vanity Fair, saying about his marriage, "If our life today is so beautiful, I think it is because we waited."
The time prior to his and his wife's marriage, during which they conducted a chaste relationships, says Ricardo "was important, as it tested our love." The soccer star admitted that it was not easy to stay a virgin until his wedding night, and that even still there are difficulties in living faithfully, saying that "there are always temptations," but also says that the sacrifices that he and his wife made for each other have been more than worth it.
Gisele Bundchen, who is one of the most popular supermodels in the world, not only called into question the possibility of living chastely and defended the use of contraceptives and abortion, but in a bizarre twist actually indicated that the use of condoms should be "compulsory."
"It's ridiculous to ban contraceptives," she said. "You only have to think of the diseases that are transmitted without them. I think it should be compulsory to use a contraceptive."
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