Talk:Melinda French Gates/Archives/2013

Phoebe
This article says she was born in 2002, but in Gates family it says 2001. which is it? Sophie means wisdom (talk) 18:13, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

Roman Catholic?
Is there a source to back up the use of the Roman Catholic tag in the categories? Attendance at a Catholic schools is not necessarily indicative of religion. I tried Googling this, but I could only find others describing her as Catholic. --Westendgirl 22:21, 25 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Secondary sources are good. Primary are better, but if you were were 1/2 of 56 billion, would you allow your personal life to inhabit 'National Enquirer' or its ilk?


 * Yeh, me neither. ;)


 * Secondary sources- About.com is crap in itself, but aside from that personal bias they say that her family as Catholic, which is rather vague. RenewAmerica promises that Melinda is a Roman Catholic. Then there is a blog post which claims that Melinda is advocating condom distribution (a big Catholic no-no). Astrodatabank says they had a Roman Catholic ceremony when they got hitched. Annnnnd, a Gates Foundation data sheet shows a substantial gift to Catholic charities amongst a bunch of secular recipients.


 * These show a trend toward at least nominal adherence to Roman Catholicism, but with some notable caveats. Onward, Wikipedia soldiers! Cite cite cite! And Thanks For All The Fish! 24.22.22.101 18:42, 26 March 2007 (UTC)


 * The Independent has this article which says she's a life long catholic but that she's opposing the vatican about birth control, and having the Gates foundation donate £360 million to that cause. Also mentions the word Philanthropist (which I notice someone else mentioned as not having a citation). EdwardLane (talk) 08:45, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

Just added two newspaper cites for Roman Catholicism, one of which is a video interview in which Ms. Gates self-identifies as Catholic. I think for Wikipedia purposes, self-i.d. should suffice. Although Catholic contraception opponents may understandably question whether she happens to be a "good" Catholic by their lights, I don't think, for Wikipedia purposes at least, there is any particular question that she is a Catholic. To really get into the weeds on this, I suppose one might consider that under Canon Law (specifically Canon 1398), "A person who procures a completed abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication." To the extent that her charitable work involves "procuring abortions," for aid recipients, I suppose someone could make that argument, although funding charities might not constitute direct material cooperation; I don't know. However, I think Wikipedia goes by self-i.d., so IMHO this one is settled for Wikipedia purposes. Rinne na dTrosc (talk) 13:42, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

You can not call someone a 'devout' anything if they don't believe the church they are supposedly 'devout' in. Calling her a 'devout' Catholic is an oxymoron since she supports things that are in direct and serious conflict with the Church. The term 'devout' is used for those who actually 'faithfully' follow their faith. The Gate's support abortion and that is one of the non-negotiable issues a Catholic can not support and still be considered a 'faithful' or 'devout' Catholic as it is a direct violation of the faith. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.27.49.23 (talk) 17:24, 15 November 2013 (UTC)