Well, well, well... A new statement from the Pope on condom use was the obvious headline grabber fron today's formal presentation of THE BOOK at the Vatican Press Office....
Pope's condom comments
apply to women too
By NICOLE WINFIELD
VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI's comments about condom use being a lesser evil than transmitting HIV also apply to women, the Vatican said Tuesday,
a significant shift for a Pope who just last year said condoms only worsen the AIDS problem. [But the two statements are not mutuakky exclusive!]
Benedict said in a book released Tuesday that condom use by people such as male prostitutes was a lesser evil since it indicated they were taking a step toward a more moral and responsible sexuality by aiming to protect their partner from a deadly infection.
His comments implied that he was referring primarily to homosexual sex, when condoms aren't being used as a form of contraception, which the Vatican opposes.
Questions arose immediately, however, about the Pope's intent because the Italian translation of the book used the feminine for prostitute, whereas the original German used the masculine.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters Tuesday that he asked the Pope whether he intended his comments to only apply to male prostitutes.
Benedict replied that it really didn't matter, that the important thing was the person in question took into consideration the life of the other, Lombardi said.
"I personally asked the Pope if there was a serious, important problem in the choice of the masculine over the feminine," Lombardi said. "He told me no. The problem is this ... It's the first step of taking responsibility, of taking into consideration the risk of the life of another with whom you have a relationship."
"This is if you're a woman, a man, or a transsexual. We're at the same point," Lombardi said.
The Pope is not justifying or condoning gay sex, or heterosexual sex outside of a marriage. Elsewhere in the book he reaffirms the Vatican opposition to homosexual acts and artificial contraception and reaffirms the inviolability of marriage between man and woman.
But by broadening the condom comments to also apply to women, the Pope is saying that condom use in heterosexual relations is the lesser evil than passing HIV onto a partner.
While that concept has
long been a tenet of moral theology [????? It has been advanced by some moral theologians, but it has not been enunciated as a doctrine of the Church!], the Pope's book "Light of the World" — a series of interviews with a German journalist — was the first time a Pope had ever publicly applied the theory to the scenario of condom use as a way to fight HIV transmission.
The Pope's comments have generated heated debate, mostly positive in places like Africa which has been devastated by AIDS, and where the Church has been criticized for its opposition to condom use.
As usual, the reporters are drawing broad conclusions from Lombardi's account of what the Pope said. Why didn't anyone at the newscon ask Lombardi directly, "Can we take it to mean that since condom use to prevent transmission of HIV by prostitutes is acceptable, that it is equally acceptable for Catholic couples when one of them is HIV-infected? Or does this apply only to prostitutes?" Because Lombardi should have asked this from the Pope himself - he had the opportunity, and in fact, one must commend him for taking the initiative he did (something he ought to do more often!).
But now, it seems to me the confusion is even greater, because liberal commentators will interpret the Pope's latest statement to say, "Yes, he now advocates the 'lesser evil' concept".
I do not believe in the hypothesis that the Pope is trying to provoke a debate on the issue, since he does not need public debate, much less consensus, to come to his own conclusion about what is right.
But I am perplexed about the present muddle. He has always been clear and unequivocal about teaching points. Why this seemingly incomplete statement now, if, in fact, his answer to Lomabrdi was limited to what Lombardi reported? The confusion is not helpful at all. Rather ironic considering the book's title.
I sincerely pray that he will say something directly about this issue at the General Audience tomorrow.
Vatican broadens cases
for condoms to fight AIDS
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, Nov. 22 (Reuters) – Pope Benedict's landmark acknowledgement that the use of condoms is sometimes morally justifiable to stop AIDS is valid not only for gay male prostitutes but for heterosexuals and transsexuals too, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
The clarification, the latest step in what is already seen as a significant shift in the Catholic Church policy, came at a news conference presenting the Pope's new book: "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Sign of the Times."
In the book, a long interview with German Catholic journalist Peter Seewald, the Pope used the example that a male prostitute would be justified using a condom to avoid transmitting the killer disease.
The clarification was necessary because the German, English and French versions of the book used the male article when referring to a prostitute but the Italian version used the female article.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said he asked the Pope directly about it to clarify his thinking.
"I asked the pope personally if there was a serious distinction in the choice of male instead of female and he said 'no'," Lombardi said.
"That is, the point is it (the use of a condom) should be a first step toward responsibility in being aware of the risk of the life of the other person one has relations with," Lombardi said.
"If it is a man, a woman or a transsexual who does it, we are always at the same point, which is the first step in responsibly avoiding passing on a grave risk to the other.
The Church had been saying for decades that condoms were not even part of the solution to fighting AIDS, even though no formal policy on this existed in a Vatican document.
The late cardinal John O'Connor of New York famously branded the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS as "The Big Lie."
In the book, the Pope says the use of condoms
[by a prostitute] could be seen as "a first step toward moralization," even though condoms are "not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection."
After the Pope first mentions that the use of condoms could be justified in certain limited cases, the author, Seewald asks: "Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?"
The Pope answers: "It of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality."
The Pope's words and Lombardi's explanation -- while not changing the Catholic ban on contraception -- were nonetheless greeted as a breakthrough by liberal Catholics, AIDS activists and health officials.
"For the first time the use of condoms in special circumstances was endorsed by the Vatican and this is good news and good beginning for us," said Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization.
While some Roman Catholic leaders and theologians have spoken about the limited use of condoms to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS as the lesser of two evils, this is the first time the Pope has mentioned the possibility.
"It is a marvelous victory for common sense and reason, a major step forward toward recognizing that condom use can play a vital role in reducing the future impact of the HIV pandemic," said Jon O'Brien, head of the U.S. group Catholics for Choice.
"This is a significant and positive step forward taken by the Vatican," said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe.
"This move recognizes that responsible sexual behavior and the use of condoms have important roles in HIV prevention." [Of course, the problem with condom advocacy in egeral is that condoms have been promoted primarily to enable complete sexual freedom without any responsibility other than to seek to prevent pregnancies. Since AIDS became a fullblown threat, the condom advocates have been promoting condoms as the one and only means to prevent the spread of the disease.]
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 23/11/2010 16:10]