The Church, Condoms, and AIDS

The New York Times

April 22, 2005

New Debate Is Sought on Use of Condoms to Fight AIDS

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
International Herald Tribune

OME, April 21 - Pope Benedict XVI is known to be conservative on social issues, and no one expects his Roman Catholic Church to soften its opposition to birth control. Still, a rising number of Catholics, in the Vatican and outside, are urging the new pope to revisit what was probably his predecessor's most divisive position - his opposition to condom use in the fight against AIDS.

As Pope John Paul II fell ill and his influence waned, a number of high church officials and theologians began tentatively - but publicly - to suggest that the church should accept condoms in certain circumstances to stem the spread of AIDS, as a pro-life medical intervention.

"I believe condoms need to be debated, and I believe theologically their use can be justified, to prevent the transmission of a death-dealing virus," said Bishop Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg, South Africa, an impoverished diocese of miners and poor women who sell their bodies to feed their children, where H.I.V. rates in prenatal clinics approach 50 percent.

"I see these young women and their babies, and the desperation and the suffering, and I think, 'What would Jesus want?' " he said in an interview. "There's no way he could condemn someone like this."

The new pope has said nothing about the issue. But, the bishop said, "At the very least, I think it would be healthy for the church to discuss this openly, to be humble and to be seen struggling in the face of this very serious disease."

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