Tag Archives: german-catholic

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/11/20/pope-oks-condoms-in-some-cases-cites-use… Pope Benedict XVI has said that in special cases, such as that of prostitutes trying to prevent HIV infection, condoms could be justified under Catholic ethical thinking, especially if their use leads to an awareness that engaging in such a “banalization of sexuality” is morally harmful. More at the link. —————————— Current.com staff update by sbacker: In a new book Pope Benedict says that the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS may be justified in certain cases, a statement that could start of sea change in the Vatican's attitude to condoms.In excerpts published in the Vatican newspaper the pope cites the example of the use of condoms by prostitutes as “a first step toward moralisation” even though condoms are “not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection.”While some Roman Catholic leaders have spoken in the past about the limited use of condoms in specific cases to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS as a lesser of two evils, this is the first time the pope has mentioned the possibility himself in public.To justify his change on the matter Pope Benedict caused surprise by taking as his example a male prostitute who used a condom to protect his client. But in so doing he avoided breaching the Catholic church's opposition to artificial contraception as birth control is not an issue in male homosexual relations.But what remained unclear was whether the pope was starting to relax the chur's policy on the use of condoms in heterosexual relations, if only by couples in which one partner was HIV-positive.Last year, the pope caused an international uproar when he told journalists taking him to Africa that condoms should not be used because they could worsen the spread of AIDS.The new book, called Light of the World, is made up of Benedict's responses to questions by German Catholic journalist Peter Seewald over a month of meetings at the papal summer residence. added by: jubal