ITALY: Pope Benedict XVI yesterday reaffirmed the Catholic Church ban on the use of condoms in the fight against HIV/Aids when he told African bishops that the traditional teaching of the church was "the only failsafe way" to fight the epidemic.
The Pope was speaking to a delegation of bishops from Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland who were on their ad limina visit, once every five years, to the Holy See.
Arguing that family life had always been a characteristic of African society, the Pope went on to say that the fabric of African life was threatened by divorce, abortion, prostitution, human trafficking and a contraceptive mentality, all of which contributed to a breakdown in sexual morality.
Expressing his concern over the devastation caused by Aids and related diseases, the Pope offered his prayers for the widows, orphans and all those whose lives had been shattered by "this cruel epidemic".
Urging the bishops to continue in their efforts to fight a virus which not only kills but also threatens the economic and social stability of Africa, the Pope added:
"The Catholic Church has always been at the forefront both in prevention and in treatment of this illness.
"The traditional teaching of the church has proved to be the only failsafe way to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids. For this reason, the companionship, joy, happiness and peace which Christian marriage and fidelity provide, and the safeguard which chastity gives, must be continuously presented to the faithful, particularly the young (Ecclesia In Africa, 116)."
Pope Benedict's reference to Ecclesia in Africa, a post-synodal exhortation written by Pope John Paul II in 1995 following the synod on Africa, is an emphatic indication that the Vatican line on the use of condoms has not changed.
Throughout his pontificate John Paul II argued that HIV/Aids could only be fought "through education in respect of human life and through formation in the correct practice of sexuality" (Message for World Day of the Sick, February 2005) and not through the use of a condom, deemed immoral in that it is a contraceptive.
Given that Pope Benedict, as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for more than 20 years under John Paul II, had a major say in much of John Paul's teachings on sexual mores, it comes as no surprise that as Pope he should reaffirm those same teachings.
Despite the emphatic line from Rome, however, senior church figures such as Belgian Cardinal Godfried Daneels, English Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and South African Bishop Kevin Dowling in the last year have all suggested that condoms might be used in the fight against Aids.