Pope's small step on condoms

Barney Zwartz
November 24, 2006

THE Pope is pondering whether to let Catholics use condoms to stop the spread of AIDS, in what would be a historic shift from the church's total ban on artificial contraception.

Senior figures in the church have long advocated that married couples be allowed to use condoms when one of them has AIDS. Under a doctrine called the lesser evil, the primary purpose of preventing infection would outweigh the side effect of preventing conception.

The Pontifical Council on Health Care had written a detailed report on the scientific and moral questions, the council's head said in Rome on Tuesday. Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan did not reveal the contents, but said Pope Benedict was "very much concerned".

Conservative Catholics are expected to strongly oppose any relaxation of traditional teaching, fearing it would open other contested areas of sexual morality for debate and re-examination.

"There will be an uproar from the right," said one Australian lay leader who did not want to be named. "It might provide the chink in the wall people have been searching for to get the church to have a fresh look at sexuality."

Catholic social justice specialist and Melbourne lecturer Bruce Duncan said yesterday that allowing condoms to stop AIDS would be a responsible move with vast implications for eradicating poverty and was supported by most moral theologians. "To infect someone else with a deadly disease is a serious crime, really. In some African countries life expectancy has dropped by half because of AIDS," Father Duncan said.

Cardinal Barragan said the 200-page report, commissioned by Pope Benedict last year, had been given to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which would report to the Pope. He said it applied only to married couples.

AIDS campaigners world-wide have pushed for the Vatican to end its ban on condoms, saying it has cost millions of lives. In 2003, the head of the Pontifical Council for the Family claimed that condoms did not protect against the virus. About 40 million people around the world are HIV-positive, and about 2.8 million people died last year from AIDS-related illnesses. The Catholic Church is the biggest provider of care for AIDS sufferers.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/pop ... 49748.html

How progressive of him!

Has there been any follow up on this? Are they expected to release guidlines anytime soon?

I know that alot of Bishops in Africa are already telling their parishioners to use condoms against official Church teaching. I hope the Vatican follows suit.

they're still living in 150 d.c.

helloooo progress

by "a lot" do you mean like 4 or 5?

it applies only to married couples. so this is just for the very, very tiny minority of couples in which one spouse has aids and the other doesn't? now those 8 people in the world can finally have sex.
i'm glad they're making headway on church reform, but the pope's gotta give more than an inch.

What are they gonna say next? that witches don't exist?

Madonna is the devil.

I'm not sure exactly how many. It could be as few as 4 or 5. But 4 or 5 bishops would oversee millions of people, so i would consider that significant. Wouldn't you?

I'm pretty sure this number is a little higher than 8. Their are tens of millions of people in Africa who would fit into this category.

and even more who wouldn't...

Well first of all, i dont believe that there are bishops going against chruch doctrine, at least not enough to make a profound difference.

There are way more kiddie-fiddler priests than renegade safe sex teaching priests.

If you say so.

I think the Vatican is way out of step with reality here, and this small concession won't add up to much. On the other hand, the Church does preach abstinence before marriage, so it can't be called hypocrtical. Then again, there's a big difference between what is being preached and what is being practiced by its members, so I'd like to see the Pope give up the notion that using a condom violates Church rules altogether. Of course they won't, because that would be the same as saying - "Well, don't have pre-marital sex, but if you do use a condom."

I was raised Catholic, and I think I've posted this before in relation to a different thread, but who gives a fuck what the pope has to say about anything anyway?

Don't a lot of people blindly follow what he says?

Probably a larger number than either you or I would like to imagine. Its just mind boggling to me that anyone would stick with Catholocism in this day and age. I was forced to go for the 18 yrs I lived at home, and to be perfectly honest, I wasn't thrilled about it but it wasn't the worst thing for me to be a part of as I was growing up. But as soon as I went to College, I stopped going and I pretty much only go on major holidays now just as an appeasement to my parents. I actually think they are kind of retarded for continuing to go; I honestly sometimes feel like saying. "Mom, dad, its cool; your kids are all grown up now. We don't need any fairy tales to provide moral guidance anymore." I guess old habits die hard.

Yeah, because I'd listen to the Pope for all my sex advice. He's sooo experienced he's bound to know more than anyone else.

I don't listen to former Nazis