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The Guardian (London), February 1, 2005 Cardinal Says
Condoms Could Help to Stop AIDS DATELINE: Rome A senior Vatican official has supported the use of condoms to fight Africa's Aids pandemic, contradicting the Catholic church's official position. Cardinal Georges Cottier, theologian of the pontifical household, told the Italian news agency Apcom that the use of condoms was "legitimate" to save lives in the poorest parts of Africa and Asia, where there was no time to teach abstinence or faithful conjugal love. He is the most senior figure so far to argue that condoms should be admissible in exceptional circumstances. Contraception is officially forbidden by the Catholic church, and the Vatican has argued that condoms are full of "tiny holes" and do not guarantee protection against the transfer of the Aids virus. Reiterating the church's official line, Cardinal Cottier said condoms should not be used as contraceptives, could encourage immoral sexual conduct and were not the best way to stop the spread of HIV. But the threat of Aids was so immediate that "the use of condoms in some situations can be considered morally legitimate". "The virus is transmitted during a sexual act; so at the same time as (bringing) life there is also a risk of transmitting death," he said. "And that is where the commandment 'thou shalt not kill' is valid." The cardinal's comments come days after the Spanish bishops' conference was forced to retract similar statements in favour of condoms. Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, a spokesman for the Spanish bishops' conference in Madrid, had said: "The time has come for a joint strategy in the prevention of such a tragic pandemic as Aids, and contraception has a place in the context of the integral and global prevention of Aids." He suggested every method to help prevent the spread of the disease should be used. "Sex with condoms is not safe, it's just less unsafe," he said. That statement caused tension in the Vatican, and a day later the conference issued a statement saying that the church had not changed its doctrine on condoms.. Cardinal Cottier's comments signal a growing swell of realism within the church, with more and more prominent figures supporting the use of condoms to save lives, despite misgivings. Growing numbers, including Cardinal Godfried Daneels, tipped as a possible future pope, have taken this stance publicly in recent years, but experts say the Vatican is unlikely to change its line under the current pope. * Pope John Paul cancelled all his private audiences yesterday after going down with flu, the Vatican announced, stressing that there was no cause for alarm over his condition. << The Guardian -- 2/1/05 >>
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