Catholic charity defies Pope on condoms

[emad]

The Times
By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

THE Roman Catholic Church’s leading international aid agency, Cafod, has come out in public support of the use of condoms in the fight against Aids, placing it in direct opposition to the Pope.
Cafod states in an article published today that it backs what is known as the “ABC” approach to the issue — “abstain, be faithful, use a condom”. Although the agency does not intend to go so far as to distribute condoms in the developing world, where the disease has hit hardest, the charity makes it clear that to deny condoms to potential Aids victims is itself a denial of the Catholic pro-life teachings.

By contrast, the Pope believes all contraception use is “intrinsically evil” and that the use of condoms to help prevent the spread of HIV is “morally illicit”. The Church teaches that abstinence, including for married couples, is the only morally acceptable way to prevent Aids. One senior cardinal, Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, has claimed that condoms cannot halt HIV because the virus is small enough to pass through them. The Church’s international credibility is being increasingly damaged by its stance on condoms and Aids. As the end of the present papacy approaches, the policy is beginning to be challenged by senior clergy within the Church.

In January this year, Cardinal Godfried Daneels of Belgium said that if someone who was HIV-positive did have sex, failing to use a condom would be sinful and a contravention of the commandment “Thou shalt not kill”. In an interview in July this year, the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, said he agreed with Cardinal Daneels. He said: “While we can say that, objectively, the use of condoms is wrong, there are places where it might be licit, or allowable, as when there’s a danger of intercourse leading to death.”

Cafod has been working with the victims of HIV for 20 years and has been taking the ABC approach on the ground for five years. Ann Smith, the agency’s HIV corporate strategist, went public about the stance in a paper presented in July at an Aids conference in Bangkok and published in an abridged form in today’s Tablet, the highbrow Catholic weekly. She says there are immense social and cultural pressures on poor men and women to conform to accepted stereotypes. “For many in Africa and Asia, sex is often the only commodity people have to exchange for food, school fees, exam results, employment or survival itself in situations of violence.” Most HIV-positive women are infected by the person they consider to be their monogamous, life-long partner.

More:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,174-1276826,00.html
(sorry, paysite; if you want the whole story mail me and I'll let you have it)

[wickywom]

1. Fundamentalist catholics

are truly fascinating people.
getting sex information from men who don't get to have sex and aren't supposed to think about it...
and
a condom can obstruct God's will, but bombing innocent people on accident is OK with God as long as that team is against abortion.

I've been convinced for some time that the Christian coalition has been trying to take over the catholic church in the US-via abortion- as seen here in the South.


Intelligent "Christian" catholics will do what they feel is most compassionate.
Thank you Cafod.

I wonder if perhaps they also are OK with them as birth control-- but could never say it.

[histohoney]

2. Sometimes

thoughtfully, compassionate change comes quietly. I think this is wonderful of Cafod.

I am not Catholic but I will say I do not in my heart believe the Pope to be unkind or intentionally cruel, nor do I think he wants AIDS to spread. He is just from a different time and mind set. Change will come to us all, sometimes faster sometimes slower. I don't think he or the other fundamentalist Catholics mean harm, I just don't think they understand what is at stake in the world today.

Someday a new Pope will take the helm of the Catholic Church as has always happened. I hope the new Pope will be able to see the urgency needed here and will be able to gently and quickly lead ALL of his Church into these globally difficult times.

Leaving for the weekend to check on my Father in Law (He had a big stroke this time.) God Bless and be careful this weekend.

[Warpy]

3. and refusing to use a condom

because you're pro life can end up killing you and everybody you have sex with, along with any children you sire.

Yeah, really pro life, those celibate old farts.

[saigon68]

10. I don't think the pope said

"bombing innocent people on accident is OK with God"


Its just that many of his followers in Amerika love the Death Penalty and he does not.

These followers will also deny a young girl the right to end the product of the rape-- And then deny her food to feed herself and the baby. They in my opinion are dogs and scum and no better than the "Bush Criminals"

[jcappy]

4. Cafod's approach beats left's

"Cafod states in an article published today that it backs what is known as the “ABC” approach to the issue — “abstain, be faithful, use a condom”."

I think that both the Right (Pope here) and the Liberal/Left can learn from Cafod's ABC position. When it comes to sex, the "middle" position is the truer one.

[arwalden]

5. The Pope Can Suck My Cock!! -- He's Totally Clueless!!

>> By contrast, the Pope believes all contraception use is “intrinsically evil” and that the use of condoms to help prevent the spread of HIV is “morally illicit”. <<

Can a Pope be impeached as being incompetent?

[megatherium]

6. condoms do have a failure rate for preventing HIV transmission

similar to their failure rate at preventing pregnancy, or so I have read. So I can see the Roman Catholic Church's argument against condoms as a means of preventing HIV. Even with condoms, receptive sex is still somewhat risky.

But the argument for condoms is based on epidemiology: If all sexually active men used condoms, the transmission rate of HIV would drop to the point where the epidemic would burn itself out. The transmission rate would drop not to zero, but small enough for the epidemic to end.

So the best model for AIDS prevention is the ABC model: Abstinence Before marriage; use a Condom otherwise. This has had a great deal of success in countries such as Uganda, primarily because of the core message of abstinence outside of marriage.

[AngryOldDem]

8. Exactly

Right now, Africa is like a house burning out of control. You do everything you can to get that fire under control, by any means possible. Absolutely, preach abstinence. But as you do, give people the means to protect themselves until the message gets across. To do nothing will sentence almost a whole continent to death.

A few years ago I wrote a fairly long rebuttal to my archdiocesan newspaper concerning an editorial it ran about AIDS in Africa. I did a lot of research on the subject, and the stats I found were mind-boggling. The paper, to my surprise, printed it in full -- almost like an op-ed piece. As proof that not all Catholics are programmed to follow the Roman line, I got a lot of positive feedback on the letter. But, a few weeks later the paper did print a response that said such deaths were "God's will" and I "misunderstood the Church's position on the subject."

[The Zanti Regent]

14. Would they say the same thing if a majority of Africans were white?

I doubt it.

Sad to see the church sanction genocide in any form.

[AngryOldDem]

15. Yes, it would

Church teaching prohibits artificial contraception of any kind.

And again, not everyone in the Church agrees with this. To wit, South African Bishop Kevin Dowling:

http://www.uscatholic.org/2003/12/sb0312.htm

[AngryOldDem]

7. What is Cafod?

I know of a lot of Catholic relief organizations, but not this one. I assume it is European-based. Regardless, this little bit of reality-recognition is good to see.

Another hierarchical advocate of condom use -- and he has gotten in trouble with Rome over it -- is South African Bishop Kevin Dowling. He has made some very compelling comments about how wrong-headed the Church is in its absolute stance against condoms.

Not all Catholics fall into lockstep with Rome. Let's all keep that in mind.

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. It's the 'standard' Catholic overseas aid charity in the UK, certainly

one of the biggest 5 or so charities (like, Oxfam, Save the Children, Christian Aid, etc.) that sometimes join together to make joint appeals for big problems (so they don't get in each others way, distract from the message, etc.). It seems a responsible charity - aid comes first, before any religious message.

[AngryOldDem]

16. Sounds like the UK equivalent

of Catholic Relief Services, a very responsible international aid organization founded by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Just never heard of it before. Thanks.

[VegasWolf]

9. Wonder if they ignore the Pope's ban on masturbation!!

[Princess Turandot]

11. 'Artificial' Birth Control has always been ..

prohibited by the church, so don't blame this Pope for that position.
Wrong or not, he didn't invent it. Whomever succeeds him is unlikely to change it. Leaving out church laws associated with sex, as important as they may be (and which are ignored by many Catholics)JPII has been far more outspoken on social/progressive causes than any Pope before him. I just hope that whomever succeeds him doesn't reverse that trend.

I know an order of religious sisters who have health missions in several foreign countries. They stay under the radar screen and they give out condoms.I'm sure they are not alone in doing this.

[truthisfreedom]

12. hey bushboy! THOU SHALT NOT KILL. forget that one, mr. president?

which of the ten commandments says thou shalt not wear a condom to protect thy wife's life?

[GoldenOldie]

17. Protestants don't all follow lockstep with their Bishops either

You can attend any church, temple, mosque, etc, throughout this Nation and their will be differences found within the individual parishoners from the East to the West from the North to the South. The majority of religious beleivers will attend and associate with the individual religious facility of their particular faith that best share their personal beliefs.

A good example is Jimmy Carter who left the Southern Babtist after it was taken over by the fanatical christial right.

Catholics have never been in lock-step with the Rome on numerous things, birth control, confession, women's role in the church, abortion, etc.

Methodist's are not in agreement with the acceptance of gay's, or abortion, etc.

The fundy fanatics willing follow those that proclaim their truth in God is the only truth and blindly follow whatever they are told. They are against any form of sex education thus are totally ignorant on the need for abortions, family planning.....they are against any form of birth control. I ponder why these fundy families do not have 10 - ??? children. There has got to be a little family planning/birth control being done somewhere within this group.