[list_indonesia] [ppiindia] Top Catholics question condom ban

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Top Catholics question condom ban=20


 By Elisabeth Rosenthal International Herald Tribune=20
 Saturday, April 16, 2005



ROME Now that the iron rule of Pope John Paul II over the Catholic Church h=
as ended, a number of high-ranking church officials are starting publicly t=
o question the Vatican's longstanding prohibition on condoms, in the hopes =
that it can be modulated under a new papacy.=20
.
.
The tears of grief and calls for sainthood for John Paul have left scant ro=
om for mention of his most controversial position: his absolute opposition =
to the use of condoms to prevent the transmission of HIV, a stance that doc=
tors and health activists say has led to countless deaths and millions of A=
IDS orphans in Africa and Latin America.=20
.
John Paul said that the focus of his papacy was the poor, the outcast, the =
sick - urging the world, just this past February, "to use every means avail=
able to put an end to this scourge" of AIDS.=20
.
But because of his no-condoms policy, AIDS activists will remember him as a=
 man who did not live up to this message. A poster of the pope distributed =
by ACT-UP, the AIDS advocacy group, reads simply: "This pope helps spread H=
IV."=20
.
Even if a new pope ushers in changes, no one expects that the Catholic Chur=
ch will alter its theological opposition to contraception.=20
.
But, as the pope fell ill and his influence waned, a number of church offic=
ials began tentatively - but publicly - suggesting that the church should a=
ccept condoms to stem the spread of AIDS, as a pro-life medical interventio=
n.=20
.
"I feel that it is our moral duty to allow condoms under the current circum=
stances, to prevent the transmission of a death-dealing virus," said Kevin =
Dowling, the archbishop of Rustenburg, South Africa, an impoverished dioces=
e of miners and poor women who sell their bodies to feed their children, wh=
ere HIV rates in prenatal clinics approach 50 percent.=20
.
.
"I stand in a corner with the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people on e=
arth and they are being exposed to an appalling risk," the archbishop said =
in an interview this week, after John Paul's funeral.=20
.
"I see these young women and their babies, and the desperation and the suff=
ering, and I think what would Jesus want? There's no way he could condemn s=
omeone like this."=20
.
.
Although the South African Conference of Bishops has already rejected his p=
osition, he said, "We hope that the cardinals are reflecting now on what ki=
nd of church we want to be and how we are responding to the problems of the=
 modern world. I'm awaiting the first statements of the new pope, whoever i=
t is."=20
.
.
International health officials, who have long clashed with the church over =
its no-condom policy, say they have seen hints of movement recently. While =
the church preaches abstinence as key to preventing the spread of AIDS, med=
ical groups and governments worldwide regard condom use as the only method =
that reliably prevents sexual transmission of the virus.=20
.
.
"We are now starting to see a lot of debates about condoms among the clergy=
," said Dr. Peter Piot, head of Unaids, noting that he was "surprised" this=
 February to have been invited as the guest of honor at a Vatican conferenc=
e on health care.=20
.
.
Piot said there was no way to estimate how many people had become infected =
with HIV because of the Catholic prohibition on condom use.=20
.
But, he said, "When bishops in Latin America or Africa speak out against co=
ndoms, that must have a serious negative impact."=20
.
.
In much of the developing world, Catholic charities and local churches do t=
he lion's share of HIV/AIDS work, from medical treatment to hospice care - =
giving the Vatican a powerful forum for its views.=20
.
.
Following John Paul's example, Catholic cardinals and bishops have spearhea=
ded the worldwide fight against AIDS, promoting sympathy and understanding =
toward victims of the virus - but also repeating the Vatican's conviction t=
hat condom use is immoral.=20
.
.
Last year, a prominent cardinal announced that condoms would not prevent AI=
DS, because their pores were large enough to admit the AIDS virus - a state=
ment that earned the church harsh criticism from the United Nations because=
 of its scientific inaccuracy.=20
.
.
On the ground, the church has repeatedly advised Catholic charities against=
 recommending condom use or distributing condoms, although some have ignore=
d the edict.=20
.
"What happens in practice depends a lot on local authorities," said Dr. Lau=
ra Ciaffi, HIV adviser to M=E9decins Sans Fronti=E8res-Switzerland.=20
.
"In some places they let us give people the choice, even if they won't dist=
ribute condoms themselves," she added. "In other places, it is much more di=
fficult and patients who are religious won't accept condoms because of the =
message of the church."=20
.
.
In the past few months, a few prominent Vatican officials have suggested th=
at condoms might be acceptable in what theologians called "complex moral si=
tuations" - for example, when one member of a married couple was HIV positi=
ve and did not want to transmit the virus to a spouse.=20
.
.
In an interview with an Italian news agency in February, Cardinal Georges C=
ottier of Switzerland said that "the use of condoms in some situations can =
be considered morally legitimate," particularly to stem the spread of HIV/A=
IDS in Africa. While he repeated the church's stance that condoms should no=
t be used as contraception and encourage immoral behavior, he said that the=
 risk of death from AIDS was a more important consideration.=20
.
.
Similarly, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barrag=E1n, the Vatican's top health offi=
cial, told the National Catholic Reporter magazine late last year that it m=
ight be allowable for a woman married to a man with HIV to use condoms "in =
self defense," just as the church found it acceptable to use deadly force t=
o fend off an attack.=20
.
.
"What seems to be happening is that these practical applications are gettin=
g more discussion and going on at a higher level," said Brian Johnstone, a =
professor of moral philosophy at the Alfonsian Academy in Rome.=20
.
"A lot of high-level people are suddenly speaking out, saying that condoms =
could be justified in certain difficult situations."=20
.
.
For priests in the field, particularly missionaries in the developing world=
, the church's policy has caused moral dilemmas. In the past, those who dar=
ed to openly challenge the Vatican suffered public rebuke.=20
.
.
In 2000, Father Valeriano Paitoni, a priest who has won numerous awards for=
 his two decades of work with HIV/AIDS patients in S=E3o Paulo, ran afoul o=
f the church for publicly confessing that he handed out condoms at his thre=
e shelters.=20
.
He was publicly punished with a "letter of condemnation" by Cardinal Cl=E1u=
dio Hummes, archbishop of that city, who is now a leading contender to repl=
ace John Paul II.=20
.
.
In Rustenburg, South Africa, Dowling has made the policy decision that the =
diocese's huge network of HIV clinics would give people complete counseling=
 - including a talk about the virtues of abstinence and faithfulness, but a=
lso instruction in how and when to use condoms. Church clinics do not provi=
de condoms, the bishop said, although they are readily available at caf=E9s=
 and pharmacies in the area.=20
.
.
"I'm committed to the church's ideals of abstinence and faithfulness, but t=
he ideals we represent don't apply to the current reality here," he said, n=
oting that some people "would not or could not" be abstinent. "We decided w=
e at least had to give women the chance to choose a lifesaving method."=20
.
.
In Italy - where the vast majority of Catholics use contraception - some pr=
iests are already handing out condoms, trying hard to keep their work under=
 the church's radar.=20
.

Luigi Ciotti, a Catholic priest, is founder and president of Gruppo Abele, =
a charity that runs drop-in centers for prostitutes and drugs addicts in Tu=
rin. In 2003, it passed out 6,614 condoms.=20
.
.
But when called for an interview, Ciotti's spokeswoman refused, insisting t=
hat his role as group president was a lay function.=20
.
.
"Many priests and bishops live with great perplexity and great anxiety beca=
use they are immersed in the reality of the AIDS situation," said Father Le=
onardo Zega, a priest in Rome and the former editor of the Famiglia Cristia=
na, a weekly magazine.=20
.
"The position of the church couldn't change with this pope, but it is a mor=
al question that will have to return to the center of debate with his succe=
ssor."=20
.
.

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