Top Catholics question condom ban
By Elisabeth Rosenthal International Herald Tribune Saturday, April 16, 2005 ROME Now that the iron rule of Pope John Paul II over the Catholic Church has ended, a number of high-ranking church officials are starting publicly to question the Vatican's longstanding prohibition on condoms, in the hopes that it can be modulated under a new papacy. . . The tears of grief and calls for sainthood for John Paul have left scant room for mention of his most controversial position: his absolute opposition to the use of condoms to prevent the transmission of HIV, a stance that doctors and health activists say has led to countless deaths and millions of AIDS orphans in Africa and Latin America. . John Paul said that the focus of his papacy was the poor, the outcast, the sick - urging the world, just this past February, "to use every means available to put an end to this scourge" of AIDS. . But because of his no-condoms policy, AIDS activists will remember him as a man who did not live up to this message. A poster of the pope distributed by ACT-UP, the AIDS advocacy group, reads simply: "This pope helps spread HIV." . Even if a new pope ushers in changes, no one expects that the Catholic Church will alter its theological opposition to contraception. . But, as the pope fell ill and his influence waned, a number of church officials began tentatively - but publicly - suggesting that the church should accept condoms to stem the spread of AIDS, as a pro-life medical intervention. . "I feel that it is our moral duty to allow condoms under the current circumstances, to prevent the transmission of a death-dealing virus," said Kevin Dowling, the archbishop of Rustenburg, South Africa, an impoverished diocese of miners and poor women who sell their bodies to feed their children, where HIV rates in prenatal clinics approach 50 percent. . . "I stand in a corner with the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people on earth and they are being exposed to an appalling risk," the archbishop said in an interview this week, after John Paul's funeral. . "I see these young women and their babies, and the desperation and the suffering, and I think what would Jesus want? There's no way he could condemn someone like this." . . Although the South African Conference of Bishops has already rejected his position, he said, "We hope that the cardinals are reflecting now on what kind of church we want to be and how we are responding to the problems of the modern world. I'm awaiting the first statements of the new pope, whoever it is." . . International health officials, who have long clashed with the church over its no-condom policy, say they have seen hints of movement recently. While the church preaches abstinence as key to preventing the spread of AIDS, medical groups and governments worldwide regard condom use as the only method that reliably prevents sexual transmission of the virus. . . "We are now starting to see a lot of debates about condoms among the clergy," said Dr. Peter Piot, head of Unaids, noting that he was "surprised" this February to have been invited as the guest of honor at a Vatican conference on health care. . . Piot said there was no way to estimate how many people had become infected with HIV because of the Catholic prohibition on condom use. . But, he said, "When bishops in Latin America or Africa speak out against condoms, that must have a serious negative impact." . . In much of the developing world, Catholic charities and local churches do the lion's share of HIV/AIDS work, from medical treatment to hospice care - giving the Vatican a powerful forum for its views. . . Following John Paul's example, Catholic cardinals and bishops have spearheaded the worldwide fight against AIDS, promoting sympathy and understanding toward victims of the virus - but also repeating the Vatican's conviction that condom use is immoral. . . Last year, a prominent cardinal announced that condoms would not prevent AIDS, because their pores were large enough to admit the AIDS virus - a statement that earned the church harsh criticism from the United Nations because of its scientific inaccuracy. . . On the ground, the church has repeatedly advised Catholic charities against recommending condom use or distributing condoms, although some have ignored the edict. . "What happens in practice depends a lot on local authorities," said Dr. Laura Ciaffi, HIV adviser to M�decins Sans Fronti�res-Switzerland. . "In some places they let us give people the choice, even if they won't distribute condoms themselves," she added. "In other places, it is much more difficult and patients who are religious won't accept condoms because of the message of the church." . . In the past few months, a few prominent Vatican officials have suggested that condoms might be acceptable in what theologians called "complex moral situations" - for example, when one member of a married couple was HIV positive and did not want to transmit the virus to a spouse. . . In an interview with an Italian news agency in February, Cardinal Georges Cottier of Switzerland said that "the use of condoms in some situations can be considered morally legitimate," particularly to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. While he repeated the church's stance that condoms should not be used as contraception and encourage immoral behavior, he said that the risk of death from AIDS was a more important consideration. . . Similarly, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barrag�n, the Vatican's top health official, told the National Catholic Reporter magazine late last year that it might be allowable for a woman married to a man with HIV to use condoms "in self defense," just as the church found it acceptable to use deadly force to fend off an attack. . . "What seems to be happening is that these practical applications are getting more discussion and going on at a higher level," said Brian Johnstone, a professor of moral philosophy at the Alfonsian Academy in Rome. . "A lot of high-level people are suddenly speaking out, saying that condoms could be justified in certain difficult situations." . . For priests in the field, particularly missionaries in the developing world, the church's policy has caused moral dilemmas. In the past, those who dared to openly challenge the Vatican suffered public rebuke. . . In 2000, Father Valeriano Paitoni, a priest who has won numerous awards for his two decades of work with HIV/AIDS patients in S�o Paulo, ran afoul of the church for publicly confessing that he handed out condoms at his three shelters. . He was publicly punished with a "letter of condemnation" by Cardinal Cl�udio Hummes, archbishop of that city, who is now a leading contender to replace John Paul II. . . In Rustenburg, South Africa, Dowling has made the policy decision that the diocese's huge network of HIV clinics would give people complete counseling - including a talk about the virtues of abstinence and faithfulness, but also instruction in how and when to use condoms. Church clinics do not provide condoms, the bishop said, although they are readily available at caf�s and pharmacies in the area. . . "I'm committed to the church's ideals of abstinence and faithfulness, but the ideals we represent don't apply to the current reality here," he said, noting that some people "would not or could not" be abstinent. "We decided we at least had to give women the chance to choose a lifesaving method." . . In Italy - where the vast majority of Catholics use contraception - some priests are already handing out condoms, trying hard to keep their work under the church's radar. . Luigi Ciotti, a Catholic priest, is founder and president of Gruppo Abele, a charity that runs drop-in centers for prostitutes and drugs addicts in Turin. In 2003, it passed out 6,614 condoms. . . But when called for an interview, Ciotti's spokeswoman refused, insisting that his role as group president was a lay function. . . "Many priests and bishops live with great perplexity and great anxiety because they are immersed in the reality of the AIDS situation," said Father Leonardo Zega, a priest in Rome and the former editor of the Famiglia Cristiana, a weekly magazine. . "The position of the church couldn't change with this pope, but it is a moral question that will have to return to the center of debate with his successor." . . [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/mGEjbB/5WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. 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