Pope approves use of condoms in fight against Aids

The Guardian ^

[Gamecock]

He will say that it is acceptable to use a prophylactic when the sole intention is to "reduce the risk of infection" from Aids. While he will restate the Catholic Church's staunch objections to contraception because it believes it interferes with the creation of life, he will argue that using a condom to preserve life and avoid death can be a responsible act – even outside marriage. Asked whether "the Catholic Church is not fundamentally against the use of condoms," he replies: "It of course does not see it as a real and moral solution. "In certain cases, where the intention is to reduce the risk of infection, it can nevertheless be a first step on the way to another, more humane sexuality."

[mlizzy]

Do you have a link?

[orlop9]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101120/ap_on_re_eu/eu_pope_condoms

[Pyro7480]

I'm skeptical. Did the Pope suddenly change his mind?

In 2005, the year he was elected pope, ,the BBC reported that "the spread of HIV and Aids in Africa should be tackled through fidelity and abstinence and not by condoms, Pope Benedict XVI has said."

Less than 4 years later, the AP reported "condoms are not the answer to Africa's fight against HIV, Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday as he began a weeklong trip to the continent."

So what is going on here?

[OldDeckHand]

"Well, condoms are widely recognized as the least reliable way to prevent pregnancy. Their failure rate is pretty high, 15%."

Really, less reliable than the "rhythm method"? That's a fascinating hypothesis. Where did you read that? Care to provide a link?

Even with any failure rate, condoms are the only effective prophylactic measure one can take during intercourse to prevent the contraction of STDs.

"Who would want to risk a 15% chance of getting HIV/AIDS every time they had sex?"

So, you're saying you have less of a chance of contracting an STD without using a condom?

[Salvation]

**Just out of curiosity...How many Catholics have contracted AIDS because they refused to follow Scriptural teaching by having sex outside of marriage?**

And to repeat that with a slight modification:

Just out of curiosity...How many Protestants have contracted AIDS because they refused to follow Scriptural teaching by having sex outside of marriage?

[Pyro7480]

From that article:

William Portier, a Catholic theologian at the University of Dayton, a Marianist school in Ohio, said he had not read the report in the Vatican newspaper, but he said it would be wrong to conclude that the comments mean the pope has made a fundamental, broad change in church teaching on artificial contraception.

"He's not going to do that in an offhand remark to a journalist in an interview," Portier said.

[CynicalBear]

Why is the Catholic Church obsessed with legality over grace? Either the Grace of God is sufficient or it isn’t. Either Jesus sacrifice was sufficient or it wasn’t.

[stormer]

Touche...

[Houghton M.]

This is unsubstantiated gossip and rumor-mongering. When the pope actually makes this kind of a change, post away. Don’t hold your breath, though. It won’t happen.

But it has not happened and this thread is dishonest—it represents gossip as a bona fide news report.

This thread should be pulled.

[Houghton M.]

Portier ia a lib who would probably favor such a change. When a lib offers an admission against interest as he does here, it’s pretty good evidence that the whole story is pure gossip.

I note that the usual suspects were quick to jump on unsubstantiated rumor and gossip and attack the pope.

[Salvation]

Pope heads to Africa, stands firm against condoms

Here is the truth -- Gamecock, I urge you to retract your untruthful statement.

Pope heads to Africa, stands firm against condoms

VATICAN CITY, THE VATICAN Mar 17 2009 13:49

Pope Benedict XVI headed to Aids-ravaged Africa on Tuesday standing firm against the use of condoms, saying they were not a solution to combatting the disease.

Aids "is a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems," the 81-year-old pontiff said.

The solution lies in a "spiritual and human awakening" and "friendship for those who suffer", said Benedict, who will visit Cameroon and Angola during the weeklong trip.

The pope is scheduled to land in the Cameroon capital Yaounde at about 3pm GMT.

Speaking to reporters aboard the papal plane, the pope also denied feeling alone in the controversy sparked when he lifted the excommunication of Holocaust-denying bishop Richard Williamson.

"In truth, this myth about solitude makes me laugh," the pope said, dismissing reports in the Italian media that the controversy had left him isolated. "I am surrounded by friends. Solitude does not exist," he said.

The trip is Benedict's first as pontiff to Africa, and during his Sunday Angelus blessing he said he wanted to wrap his arms around the entire continent, with "its painful wounds, its enormous potential and hopes".

The pope, who will turn 82 on April 16, last month said he wanted 2009 to be the "Year of Africa," which will also include a conference of African bishops in Rome in September and an African synod at the Vatican in October.

The stop in Yaounde, where Benedict will stay until Friday, will include a meeting with the representatives of 52 African states preparing the October synod.

Benedict, who is due to celebrate an open-air mass in Yaounde on Thursday, will also meet with representatives of the Muslim community and associations serving the handicapped.

In Angola, which is still recovering from 27 years of civil war, Benedict will meet with diplomats posted in Luanda and urge the international community not to abandon Africa.

The German pontiff will celebrate an open-air mass in Luanda on Sunday.

Sub-Saharan Africa is more heavily affected by HIV/Aids than any other region of the world. Nearly two-thirds of all adults and children with HIV live in the region, according to a 2006 report by UNAIDS.

The prevalence of HIV infection is "creeping up" in West Africa, notably in Cameroon at 5,1% and Gabon at 5,9%, according to the Aids charity Avert on its website.

Southern Africa bears a disproportionate share of the global HIV burden, with 35% of the world's new HIV infections and 38% of Aids deaths in 2007.

Aids prevention is a subject that often puts the Vatican at odds with international health organisations, since the Roman Catholic Church advocates abstinence as the only effective way of preventing the spread of the syndrome and opposes campaigns for the use of condoms.

Last year about 60 Catholic groups wrote an open letter to Benedict urging him to reverse the Vatican's opposition to contraception.

The ban on condoms "exposes millions of people to the risk of contracting the Aids virus", they said.

The trip is Benedict's 11th outside Italy in his four years as the head of the world's 1,1-billion Catholics.

While it is his first trip to Africa as pope, Benedict has travelled to the continent once before, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1987 when he visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire). - AFP

[Gamecock]

We have here is a media is report conflicting with what you believe to be true.

How events unfold should determine the veracity of a thread, not one FReepers opinion.

[The Comedian]

Why is the Catholic Church obsessed with legality over grace? Either the Grace of God is sufficient or it isn’t. Either Jesus sacrifice was sufficient or it wasn’t.

Because grace affords no opportunities for control.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[Salvation]

You are correct. And here is another correct story from digital journal

Opinion: Pope Benedict tells Africans condoms increase HIV problems

By KJ Mullins.

 

Pope Benedict XVI is telling his faithful in Africa, where HIV is rampant, that condoms are not the answer. The head of the Catholic church is now dividing even the clergy with his outrageous statements.

For the first time in his papacy, Pope Benedict XVI has commented on condoms. His comments, however, are shocking and could hurt efforts to curb the HIV virus in Africa.

As the Toronto Star reports:

"You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane headed to Yaounde, Cameroon, where he will begin a seven-day pilgrimage on the continent. "On the contrary, it increases the problem."

The Vatican says sexual abstinence is the only way to fight the spread of HIV.

Benedict's first papal visit to the continent will be to Cameroon and Angola.

The Pope's comments are the exact opposite of reality. Reality is the only means of protection from the HIV virus during sexual intercourse is a condom. While not the only way to fight HIV, condoms are one of the few ways that work.

The Chronicle Reports:

“Instead, his opposition to condoms conveys that religious dogma is more important to him than the lives of Africans,” said Rebecca Hodes with the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa.

Telling a continent where more than 22 million people are suffering, dying and infecting others not to use a condom is akin to playing Russian roulette with the masses.

Nuns and priests working with HIV know better. They have had to struggle with the church's stance on condoms. In the end, life wins that struggle.

For a religious head to tell his flock not to protect themselves simply because it is also a means of birth control is disgusting. For a man who has not bothered to tour the areas where HIV has devastated to place judgments is even worse. This is the first trip he's taken to Africa. He's been the pope for four years.

It's widely known that the Catholic Church is against birth control and premarital sex. That is all well and good but to undermine the realities of a disease that is leaving millions dead is just short of criminal.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/269362#ixzz15qwdBqfi

[Houghton M.]

Does your church teach that contraception is wrong? Unless it does, it is encouraging sex for recreational purpose, by the reasoning in this comment. Unless your church condemns contraception under all circumstances, it is guilty of encouraging onanism, by the reasoning in this comment.

The story is bogus, the pope is not going to condone condomns. But in your eagerness to criticize the pope you condemn your own church, unless it consistently without exception condemns contraception.

Does it?

[aNYCguy]

And, IIRC, HIV has no problem permeating the average condom.

You don't recall correctly.

[OldDeckHand]

"This thread should be pulled."

First, this thread IS NOT in the Religion forum. Second, the Telegraph UK is one of the most respected (and balanced) newspapers in Europe. Lastly, the author is the Religious Affairs correspondent for the paper. He has a robust history of reporting breaking news exclusives on a variety of religious topics.

He says in the story...

The groundbreaking announcement will come in a book to be published by the Vatican next week based on the first face-to-face interview given by a Pope.

Simply put, Wynne-Jones has an exceptional record for accuracy. He's not a gossip monger.

[Gamecock]

That was a year ago Salvation.

Like we Prods have pointed out to our FRoman Catholic friends more times than I can count, Catholic doctrine is always changing, always shifting. It is a faith built on the whims a man who changes out every few years.

If this is false reporting, the thread will die a quite death. If it’s true you have to deal with the fact that Catholics can claim they just preventing the spread of HIV when they are engaged in sinful behavior.

[Salvation]

More than dishonesty.....isn’t it more like calumniating the Pope? What that the poster’s intention?

I agree that the thread could be pulled due to dishonesty and calumny.

[Houghton M.]

It’s not one Freeper’s opinion—see the other comments on this thread. It’s also the opinion of a theologian (Portier) who would be overjoyed if the story were true but points out that a change of policy is not going to be announced in a casual comment to a journalist.

It’s unsubstantiated gossip upon which you and your coreligionists jumped with glee.

Yeah, you can post unsubstantiated gossip if you wish.

It doesn’t change the fact that what you posted flies in the face of everything this pope has said and written, as several comments show.

Posting unsubstantiated gossip about groups you disagree with is not a way to stimulate honest discussion. Its provocation.