₦airaland Forum

The Pope did not okay condom use. He was talking about prostitutes where they are HI positive, he never talked about the morality of condom use. But the intention and responsibility.

Pope Benedict did not say that people should use condoms. Pope Benedict was being very intellectual, talking about the intention of wanting to keep someone safe. The mainstream media is reporting this all wrong. They are making out as if the Pope has made some radical change, in himself and/or in Catholic teaching which is not true. The clarification from Fr Lombardi is still not clear. I still do not understand what the Pope meant. It is possible that the Pope made a mistake, it was just an interview.

If the Pope had mentioned a married couple, that would be radical. I do not understand why some people are choosing to see what the Pope said as radical. Why are Catholics against condoms, because of their contraceptive abilities. The Pope seems to mention homosexual intercourse, by male prostitutes, they can not get pregnant, thus using a condom is irrelevant. Like two lesbians using a contraceptive pill.

Lets be clear though, Pope did not say condom use is acceptable between married people, before marriage, between couples or married people where one has HIV/AIDS.

Four things to know:

1) Artificial Contraception not approved by Church
The pope did not approve of condoms to be used as contraceptives. The church clearly forbids all forms of artificial contraception and nothing the pope said violates this.

2) Comments referred only to male prostitutes
The pope’s comments referred only to male prostitutes. Obviously the Church has made numerous comments on the immorality of homosexual sex, plus the fact that these acts are inherently nonreproductive, the use or non-use of condoms becomes a moot point. The main objection to the use of a condom is its contraceptive quality. In a situation that can be nothing but non-contraceptive, the objection becomes moot.

3) Pope did not say it is good for gay men to use condoms
The pope did not say a gay man using a condom to prevent the spread of AIDS or HIV is doing something morally good. Rather, the intention behind him using it can be the beginning point of a sense of morality. Basically the thought of the gay man to protect the health of his partner is at least the beginning of a sense of morality on the issue, even though everything about the situation is immoral.

4) Not official teachings
These are the personal thoughts of Pope Benedict, and in no way can be construed as a change in Catholic teaching on the issues of artificial contraception and birth control. In order for something to be an official church teaching, the pope must declare it using formal and official Church channels such as publishing an encyclical or papal bull. In order for something to be declared infallible, the criteria is even more stringent and is very seldom used.

http://holymotherchurch..com/2010/11/4-things-are-pope-and-condoms.html


There is empirical evidence to suggest that reliance on condoms is not the most effective anti-AIDS strategy. Research by Edward C. Green of Harvard University shows that programs emphasizing abstinence and marital fidelity have brought down infection rates more successfully than those which rely primarily on condoms. Green says that's for three reasons: people often don't use condoms correctly; they stop using them when they believe they know the other person; and condoms generate a false sense of security.

Bishops in Africa will tell you, that the condoms which reach Africa are often expired and defective, and in any event, that a young African male often regards a condom as a kind of talisman that renders him immune to harm, thereby inducing him into even riskier behaviors.

The same belief is held by a wide cross-section of other religious leaders in Africa. John Allen interviewed the Imam of the National Mosque in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, who agrees that Condoms are making HIV/AIDS worse in Africa.

Many secular AIDS experts in Africa, unaffiliated with the church, also hold the same view. Vanessa Balla, a physician in Cameroon who treats AIDS patients, said 'With condoms, people think they can do whatever they want. I've seen it myself , they take as much risk as possible." Insisting that "it's incredibly hard to watch young people dying of AIDS," Ballas said the solution is "not condoms, but changing behavior."

Compare the African nations of Botswana and Uganda. Botswana promoted condom use from the beginning. Uganda, encouraged abstinence.

In Botswana, Cameroon, and Kenya - they saw AIDS prevalence rise alongside condom distribution until they both leveled out. In Botswana today, where condoms are available nearly everywhere, one in six people is HIV positive or living with AIDS.

In Uganda, where abstinence is strongly promoted, the prevalence of AIDS has dropped and now affects less than six percent of the population. Quote BBC News who stated that Uganda has done extremely well in fighting AIDS because, in many parts of the country, its prevalence ''was at least three times higher in the early 90s.''

Similar comparison, made between Thailand and the Philippines, where AIDS broke out at the same time. Thailand's approach promoted the distribution of condoms while the Philippines promoted abstinence. Twenty years after the outbreak, the prevalence of AIDS in Thailand is 50 times higher than in the Philippines.

Despite the claims on condom packaging, which assert a 99% effectiveness, the NIH found that condoms are only 85% effective in preventing the transmission of AIDS and about 50% effective at blocking other STDs.

The calculus of condoms is very simple,You decrease the risk a little, increase the risk takers a whole lot, and pretty soon you get what they have in Botswana where one in six people has AIDS. Or you get what we have in America, where aggressively promoting condoms, yet every year, nine million young people under the age of 25 are getting an STD.