ACC – Africa, Condoms, and Catholics

In an earlier post, here, responding to an article posted by Michael P., here, I suggested that the Catholic Church’s much criticized position on the use of condoms in Africa was matter of prudential judgment and not absolute moral truth, and, therefore, could be changed.  Now some vindication for the Church’s position coming from the scientific community (as reported by Zenit):

"Condom Conundrums
Evidence Shows Wisdom of Catholic Doctrine

NEW YORK

, SEPT. 24, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Critics continue to assail the Catholic Church's refusal to endorse condom use in treating the AIDS problem. …

On May 8, New York Times editorial page commentator Nicholas Kristof accused the Church of having cost hundreds of thousands of lives due to its refusal to endorse condom use. …

More Catholics, fewer infections

Abundant data exist, however, to show the severe limitations of relying on condoms to solve the AIDS problem. A letter from Australian-based bioethicist Amin Abboud, published July 30 by the British Medical Journal, noted that any change in the Catholic Church's position on condoms would be detrimental for

Africa

.

According to Abboud, a statistical analysis of the situation in the continent shows that the greater the percentage of Catholics in any country, the lower the level of HIV. "If the Catholic Church is promoting a message about HIV in those countries," he added, "it seems to be working."

Data from the World Health Organization puts the figure for HIV infection in

Swaziland

42.6% of the population. Only 5% of the population is Catholic. And in

Botswana

, where 37% of the adult population is HIV infected, only 4% of the population is Catholic. In

Uganda

, however, where 43% of the population is Catholic, the proportion of HIV infected adults is 4%.

Abboud commented that since the death of John Paul II there has been a "concerted campaign ... to attribute responsibility to him for the death of many Africans." But, he continued, "Such accusations must always be supported by solid data. None has been presented so far.""

The article cites other scientists and reports suggesting that the Catholic position just might be the prudential way to fight HIV/AIDS in

Africa

.  For the full article visit Zenit.

Michael S.