As the pill marks its 50th anniversary this year, the Catholic Church is making renewed efforts to persuade the faithful to practice natural family planning, arguing that artificial birth control not only violates church doctrine, it harms women's bodies and the environment.

But the church has an uphill battle, Catholic leaders say.

Polls show that Catholics overwhelmingly reject the Vatican's views on birth control. And about half of American Catholics who leave their faith cite their unhappiness with the church's teachings on birth control as a reason they left, according to a survey last year by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Seriously?! At this point, how many death knells does the Catholic Church need?

Somehow they're managing to leave behind their followers while becoming more in line with the rabid American conservatives that preach abstinence. Looks like another Catholicism-American government conspiracy is order.

-janelane