The Pope today reignited the controversy over the Catholic church's stance on condom use as he made his first trip to Africa.

The pontiff said condoms were not the answer to the continent's fight against HIV and Aids and could make the problem worse.

Benedict XVI made his comments as he flew to Cameroon for the first leg of a six-day trip that will also see him travelling to Angola.

The timing of his remarks outraged health agencies trying to halt the spread of HIV and Aids in sub-Saharan Africa, where an estimated 22 million people are infected.

The Roman Catholic church encourages sexual abstinence and fidelity to prevent the disease from spreading, but it is a policy that has divided some clergy working with Aids patients.

The pontiff, speaking to journalists on his flight, said the condition was "a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems".

Rebecca Hodes, of the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa, said that if the Pope was serious about preventing new HIV infections he would focus on promoting wider access to condoms and spreading information about how best to use them.

Hodes, the director of policy, communication and research for the campaign group, added: "Instead, his opposition to condoms conveys that religious dogma is more important to him than the lives of Africans."

It is not the first time the Pope has made public remarks on the HIV/Aids outbreak ravaging the continent.

Shortly after becoming pontiff in 2005, he told senior Catholic clergy from Africa that, while the disease was a "cruel epidemic", it could not be cured through using condoms.

Addressing bishops from South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia and Lesotho who had travelled to the Vatican for papal audience, he said: "The traditional teaching of the church has proven to be the only failsafe way to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids."

He also warned them that African life was under threat from a number of factors, including condoms.

"It is of great concern that the fabric of African life, its very source of hope and stability, is threatened by divorce, abortion, prostitution, human trafficking and a contraception mentality," he added.

More than two-thirds – 67% – of the global total of 32.9 million people with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Three-quarters of all Aids deaths in 2007 happened there.

Africa is the fastest-growing region for the Roman Catholic church, which competes with Islam and evangelical churches.

The Pope also said today that he intended to make an appeal for "international solidarity" for Africa in the face of the global economic downturn.

He said that, while the church did not propose specific economic solutions, it could give "spiritual and moral" suggestions.

Describing the current crisis as the consequence of "a deficit of ethics in economic structures", he added: "It is here that the church can make a contribution."

Benedict dismissed claims that he was facing increasing opposition and isolation within the church, particularly after an outreach to ultra-conservatives led to him lifting the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop.

"The myth of my solitude makes me laugh," he said, adding that he could count on the network of friends and aides he saw every day.

In a letter to Catholic bishops, released last week, he made an unusual public acknowledgment of Vatican mistakes over the rehabilitation of Bishop Richard Williamson.

While acknowledging that errors had been made in handling the affair, Benedict said he was saddened that he was criticised "with open hostility" even by those who "should have known better".

texazzpete:

I guess you three apes are too stupid to comprehend what the Pope was getting at.
His point of view is that the aggressive focus on condom usage is spreading the message that using a condom removes any burden or obstacle to having indiscriminate sex. His point of view is that abstinence is the best solution for HIV prevention.

While this point of view may be somewhat naive as humans are usually too weak to resist their sexual urges, it doesn't make him a monster or make him deluded as you retards are quick to proclaim. Ultimately he would rather see a world in which people remained chaste until marriage as a solution to HIV than a world in which condom usage is made the 'solution' to HIV spread.

And no, even as a Catholic i do not agree with his opinion with regards condom use in marriages etc. But i have a healthy respect for his opinion.

texazzpete:

Ultimately he would rather see a world in which people remained chaste until marriage as a solution to HIV than a world in which condom usage is made the 'solution' to HIV spread.

debosky:

I disagree texazzpete - it's like saying because we would rather everyone behaved, didn't steal and didn't rob, we should remove the police and prisons, and try to use moral suasion to get people to do the right thing 

I have no problems with the Pope promoting abstinence (as he should) but condemning condoms is not only wrong, it is inhuman. You cannot save someone  who is dead or convert them to Christianity. The first thing is to SAVE LIFE, that should be ABOVE ALL, not simply adherence to an idealistic at best world view.

Even in the bible, God knew man sinned and realised their unclothedness, but he made clothing to protect them.

The Pope is VERY wrong in condemning condoms and saying they help spread AIDS when it is clear that unprotected sex is the number 1 cause of spreading HIV, something that condoms would reduce by 97%. This is why I have an issue with 'religious' figures having so much influence - they tend to distort things and warp people's perceptions.

Condoms cannot increase the risk of AIDS over a current situation where people are having unprotected sex - that is not only untrue, it is a dangerous assertion that may cause more infections.

debosky:

Condoms cannot increase the risk of AIDS over a current situation where people are having unprotected sex - that is not only untrue, it is a dangerous assertion that may cause more infections.

texazzpete:

I never said i shared the same view as the Pope in this matter. I use condoms and i fully believe i alone have the right to determine what family planning method i use in my family (when i eventually marry). At least any method short of abortion 
However, unlike what the deluded trio of A-town et al are spewing, he never came out to say it 'increases the risk of AIDS'. He said it 'aggravates the problem'. Is it so far fetched for a religious leader to opine that wide-scale condom promotion could encourage immorality?

spikedcylinder:

Why did the pope have to say anything about condoms at all?

I guess you three apes are too stupid to comprehend what the Pope was getting at.
His point of view is that the aggressive focus on condom usage is spreading the message that using a condom removes any burden or obstacle to having indiscriminate sex. His point of view is that abstinence is the best solution for HIV prevention.

While this point of view may be somewhat naive as humans are usually too weak to resist their sexual urges, it doesn't make him a monster or make him deluded as you retards are quick to proclaim. Ultimately he would rather see a world in which people remained chaste until marriage as a solution to HIV than a world in which condom usage is made the 'solution' to HIV spread.

And no, even as a Catholic i do not agree with his opinion with regards condom use in marriages etc. But i have a healthy respect for his opinion.

Pataki:

Just the right topic you do be found in. Isn't it?

spikedcylinder:

Why did the pope have to say anything about condoms at all?

A-town:

You and the pope can go Bleep yourselves. If i choose to use a Love Machine in my marriage, it is between myself and my spouse. It is no ones business.
We need to stop all these stupid archaic beliefs. AIDS is bleeping killing our people. Preaching Abstinence is a waste of time. Man and Woman will continue to Bleep for as long as both sexes exist. Since we know peeps won't listen to the abstinence preach, don't u think its better to provide a solution that is at least 97% preventive. U and the Pope are bleeping retards. Until someone can tell me anywhere it is stated by GOD that we shouldn't use condoms, i say go Bleep urself.

Kobojunkie:

Any hopes you had of making any sense went right out the door the minute you posted the above. Learn to calm down, read, and analysis statements, before you jump to post responses.
First and foremost, you are wrong about the abstinence preaching. That preaching has been around from the beginning of and will likely continue even after AIDS seizes to be a source of fear. Secondly, since sexual intercourse remains a CHOICE and not a sentence, offering abstinence as an option, according to HIS RELIGIOUS belief, is not out of the question for a man like the pope. Both sexes can exist does not mean both sexes MUST have sex. Condoms are not answers; they are used for prevention and have never been touted as being 100%. The man is a religious man, whose religion teaches him that abstinence is the best answer and true to it, people who practice abstinence rarely worry about such things as sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS, unless for the occasional blood transfusions, or needle sharing which could be a problem. You may not agree with him; and may not even believe it is possible for a human being with blood in his veins to be abstinent, does not mean he is wrong in his declarations above. roflmao!!!

Kobojunkie:

Pick up a Bible and maybe you will understand why people like the pope have an opinion on sexual promiscuity and possible consequences. 

Madam, I don't need to pick up a bible before I know that a Pope is a very influential figure in the lives of millions of people and whatever he says usually informs the decisions of these people.

The man came to Africa (the bedrock of HIV Aids) to say that condoms increase the risk of HIV AIDS and you think he was doing his "religious duty"?  . He may have meant it figuratively but this is Africa and people hardly think outside the box. They assume: "The pope says using condoms will give me more diseases, why should I bother to use it"?

Fine, he's a religious leader and his religious beliefs state that contraceptives are a big no-no but is that a realistic thing to preach in present day Africa? Think about it.

Whether you like it or not, the Pope is about to be responsible for more deaths in Africa.

Oh I almost forgot - " ".

Pataki:

Just the right topic you do be found in. Isn't it?

Same to you darling.

spikedcylinder:

Madam, I don't need to pick up a bible before I know that a Pope is a very influential figure in the lives of millions of people and whatever he says usually informs the decisions of these people.

The man came to Africa (the bedrock of HIV Aids) to say that condoms increase the risk of HIV AIDS and you think he was doing his "religious duty"? . He may have meant it figuratively but this is Africa and people hardly think outside the box. They assume: "The pope says using condoms will give me more diseases, why should I bother to use it"?

Fine, he's a religious leader and his religious beliefs state that contraceptives are a big no-no but is that a realistic thing to preach in present day Africa? Think about it.

Whether you like it or not, the Pope is about to be responsible for more deaths in Africa.

Oh I almost forgot - " ".

spikedcylinder:

I doubt if I care about catholics enough to hate them.

texazzpete:

Where exactly did the Pope say those words.

The irony of the situation is that you do not realise your words contradict themselves. So on one hand, the Pope is so influential that his words will make people stop using condoms. On the other hand he lacks influence so his call for abstinence will not make people stop indiscriminate sex, right?

You said it yourself (or was that Kobo? ), humans are weak and can hardly subdue sexual urges. In respect to that, even though Africans are "highly religious", they cannot follow everything written in the bible through.
I don't think the pope should have said anything about condoms or whatever. Promote abstinence as you must but don't say condoms increase HIV risks. I'm basing this on the article posted in the link on this thread.

There's something really wrong with this statement. treat human beings for what they are worth, and not based on their religious denomination. If Catholics cared nothing for Pentecostals, Anglicans treated Latter Day peeps with disdain and Jehovah Witnesses couldn't give a fig about Baptists, where would we be today?

My statement was referring to Aloy Emeka who assumed I hate Catholics because of my post.
However, for the purpose of learning and clarification, please point out the disdain in any of my posts here. Thank you.

spikedcylinder:

You said it yourself (or was that Kobo? ), humans are weak and can hardly subdue sexual urges. In respect to that, even though Africans are "highly religious", they cannot follow everything written in the bible through.
I don't think the pope should have said anything about condoms or whatever. Promote abstinence as you must but don't say condoms increase HIV risks. I'm basing this on the article posted in the link on this thread.

A-town:

Ok this is forum and i don't give a flying Bleep about what you think. I have no need to create that sense of "Mr always saying the right/intellectual thing"

A-town:

I say what i want to say when and how i want to say it. The fact that i curse does not mean i am aggravated or anything. I use those words cause i fucking want to

A-town:

My issue is this. Stop being bleeping pussies. Abstinence works in the ideal situation. There are 25 yr old grandmothers and grandfathers living amongst us.

A-town:

Face the facts, abstinence battle is almost lost. I am not saying a condom is the solution. All i am saying is why the heck will someone tell me that it is wrong to sue a condom in my own goddamn marriage. Whether we like it or not, condoms save lives and prevents the spread of HIV by 97%.

A-town:

A recent research showed that normal women are more likely to contract HIV than prostitutes because most prostitutes insist on using condoms.

spikedcylinder:

Madam, I don't need to pick up a bible before I know that a Pope is a very influential figure in the lives of millions of people and whatever he says usually informs the decisions of these people.

spikedcylinder:

The man came to Africa (the bedrock of HIV Aids) to say that condoms increase the risk of HIV AIDS and you think he was doing his "religious duty"?

spikedcylinder:

He may have meant it figuratively but this is Africa and people hardly think outside the box. They assume: "The pope says using condoms will give me more diseases, why should I bother to use it"?

spikedcylinder:

Fine, he's a religious leader and his religious beliefs state that contraceptives are a big no-no but is that a realistic thing to preach in present day Africa? Think about it.

spikedcylinder:

Whether you like it or not, the Pope is about to be responsible for more deaths in Africa.
Oh I almost forgot - " ".

spikedcylinder:

[color=#000099]You said it yourself (or was that Kobo? ), humans are weak and can hardly subdue sexual urges. In respect to that, even though Africans are "highly religious", they cannot follow everything written in the bible through.

spikedcylinder:

I don't think the pope should have said anything about condoms or whatever. Promote abstinence as you must but don't say condoms increase HIV risks. I'm basing this on the article posted in the link on this thread.

Jjavascript:void(0);ustGood:

I'm not a fan of the pope but he did not say anywhere there that condoms increase HIV risk.

The pontiff said condoms were not the answer to the continent's fight against HIV and Aids and could make the problem worse.

DaPhoenix:

@topic, I'm not against preaching abstinence, but his power, especially in Africa, where millions of people are Catholic and hold the Pope's words as complete truth hold the potential for unforeseeable amounts of death.

DaPhoenix:

(Being dramatic, but honestly though). Condoms, as we all already know combined with other preventative measures are our only hopes for stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS right now in Africa.

DaPhoenix:

And until there is a cure, we can't be ignorant about the power of a rubber. It's not fair that our country should be treated as ignorant, he's feeding material (religion) without logic and it's a deadly combination. (No puns intended ).

Kobojunkie:

If it were really the case that people actually listened to him as much as you claimed, then do we have much to worry about since he is basically telling them abstinence is still the best option. Condoms are not 100% but an abstinent person has zero chances of contracting a SEXUALLY transmitted disease. What in the world is hard to understand in that.  I don’t know why anyone would worry if another chooses abstinence as way to prevent AIDS and all? Why would someone who is ABSTINENT have to worry about DEATH? Why?

Kobojunkie:

Material without logic? What the heck does that even mean? He is simply saying abstinence is still the best option and you are saying there is no logic behind that? Are you for real? You mean it is IMPOSSIBLE for a person who chooses not to have sex to not die of AIDS?

DaPhoenix:

He's been giving that abstinence message for a while now and some of them have adopted it and have purity rings and what not but many due to their high sex drive find that hard to follow.

DaPhoenix:

Plus, we are talking about a place where one of the tests of manhood is how many women you can have, so abstinence is not really an option and the HIV rate is at an all time high.

DaPhoenix:

Now, if a relatively new method let's call it, safer sex practices, comes up and it seems to be working and it is seen that the rate is decreasing, why shoot it down? I wouldn't have complained if he didn't say that condoms made it worse.

DaPhoenix:

You don't go to a continent swamped with HIV meaning they have a huge sex life and tell them "Oh you have to stop having sex" like it's that easy.

DaPhoenix:

Like I said before I would have preferred if he said nothing about the condoms and just went on preaching about abstinence.