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Vatican Mulls Condom Use When Spouse Has HIV

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Posted on May 1, 2006

Pope Benedict XVI has requested a report on whether Catholics might be allowed to use condoms—but only within a marriage in which one partner is infected.


N.Y. Times:

ROME, May 1 ? Even at the Vatican, not all sacred beliefs are absolute: Thou shalt not kill, but war can be just. Now, behind the quiet walls, a clash is shaping up involving two poles of near certainty: the church’s long-held ban on condoms and its advocacy of human life.

The issue is AIDS. Church officials recently confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI had requested a report on whether it might be acceptable for Catholics to use condoms in one narrow circumstance: to protect life inside a marriage when one partner is infected with H.I.V. or is sick with AIDS.

Whatever the pope decides, church officials and other experts broadly agree that it is remarkable that so delicate an issue is being taken up. But they also agree that such an inquiry is logical, and particularly significant from this pope, who was Pope John Paul II’s strict enforcer of church doctrine.

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By mother teresa, May 2, 2006 at 1:27 pm Link to this comment
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Why is Pope Benedict XVI so preoccupied with condoms?  He’s got a nestfull of pedophiles and should be trying to figure out what attracts them to the institution over which he yields absolute power.  If he was really concerned for the members of his flock, he’d be telling Cardinal Mahoney to hand over those records so that the criminals that he’s enabling can be brought to trial.  Might he be afraid of the truth?  After all, he’s just come off of a stint as Guardian of the Faith (formerly known as the Grand Inquisitor).    Hey, Pope Benedict, enough of these condoms, go back to your Gay-bashing.  Diversionary tactics fit you best.

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By candide, May 2, 2006 at 5:59 am Link to this comment
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Last year I got a request from a Catholic agency for money for AIDs victims.  I sent them this reply:  since you won’t allow condoms, putting you in charge of AIDs victims would be like putting sheep in charge of a wolf pack.

Nothing has changed.  The Catholic Church is the most evil institutiion in history after the Nazi SS.

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By waw, May 2, 2006 at 5:47 am Link to this comment
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I keep saying “incredible” over and over again. This benighted old man and his medieval institution is going to ponder the weighty issue of condom use? I’m not sure this planet is going to deal successfully with the expected 9 billion humans by 2050. Certainly this institutional anachronism in Rome is one of the dangers to the planet.

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