His comments about Donald Trump's faith have become headlines news around the world, but Pope Francis said something else on his flight back from Mexico to Rome on Thursday.
"Avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil," the Pope has been quoted as telling reporters in his airborne news conference.
Pope Francis went on to mention the exception dispensation one of his predecessors, Pope Paul VI, issued to Catholic nuns to take birth control pills when there were at potential risk of rape.
This is not the first time the Pope has used an impromptu inflight interview to range over the issue of family planning. Coming back from a visit to the Philippines last year he reportedly spoke about the "irresponsibility" of people breeding "like rabbits."
But this time he was returning from a region where the Zika virus is having a devastating impact, where women are being advised not to become pregnant in light of the potential link between the virus and an increase in microcephaly among new born babies.
Yet these same women face huge difficulties in accessing reliable methods of contraception, in a region where the Catholic Church, a steady opponent of reliable contraception, has great authority.
IPPF estimates that in Latin America and the Caribbean, 23 million women have an unmet need for contraception and account for 75 percent of unintended pregnancies in the region.
Latin America is also home to some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. Here the Pope offered no sign of movement in his comments, calling abortion an "absolute evil." But we know women in South America risk their lives every day to obtain back-alley abortions, with 95 percent of abortions in the region performed in unsafe conditions.
Despite opposition, in recent decades, Latin America has made great strides in amplifying access to contraception. However, much more needs to be done.
In the face of Zika, these gains need to be echoed throughout the region -- especially for adolescents, poor women and those living in rural areas who are most likely to be exposed to the virus and least likely to have access to reproductive health services.
A subtle change in the teachings of the Catholic Church might help to improve this situation. But we should not waste time on interpretation. Latin American governments are in charge of Latin America. They already possess the authority needed to fight Zika through better access to contraception and safe abortion, as well as anti-mosquito measures.
IPPF urges them to do so.