Pope Benedict XVI Has Opened The Door On The Previously Taboo Subject Of Condoms As A Way To Fight HIV

Pope Benedict XVI has opened the door on the previously taboo subject of condoms as a way to fight HIV, saying male prostitutes who use condoms may be beginning to act responsibly. Church teaching has long opposed condoms because they are a form of artificial contraception, although the Vatican has never released an explicit policy about condoms and HIV. Benedict said that condoms are not a moral solution to stopping AIDS. Asked if that meant that the church wasn't opposed in principle to condoms, the pope replied:

Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans said clearly the pope wasn't encouraging condom use.

In Africa, Benedict's comments drew praise among gays and AIDS activists.

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. In his four years as pope, Benedict had never directly addressed condom use, although his position is not new. "You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms," the pope told reporters aboard the Alitalia plane heading to Yaounde. The Roman Catholic Church rejects the use of condoms as part of its overall teaching against artificial contraception.

22 million infected with HIV
About 22 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with HIV, according to UNAIDS. Hodes said the pope was right that condoms are not the sole solution to Africa's AIDS epidemic, but added they are one of the very few proven measures to prevent HIV infections.

Even some priests and nuns working with those living with HIV/AIDS question the church's opposition to condoms amid the pandemic ravaging Africa. We need condoms to protect ourselves against diseases and AIDS," teacher Narcisse Takou said Tuesday in Yaounde.

In May 2005, shortly after taking office, the pope made his first pronouncement on Aids, and came out against condoms. In March 2009, on his flight to Cameroon (where 540,000 people have HIV), Pope Benedict XVI explained that Aids is a tragedy "that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems". We say no to condoms!"

"It is quite ridiculous to go on about Aids in Africa and condoms, and the Catholic Church," says O'Connor.
In 2007, Archbishop Francisco Chimoio of Mozambique announced that European condom manufacturers are deliberately infecting condoms with HIV to spread Aids in Africa.