As soon as we've heard the news that Pope Benedict XIV has issued a qualified justification for the use of condoms, we looked up the Sunday issues of world papers if this would be the central focus of front pages. There was only Sunday edition of Peru 21 that gave the papal pronouncement cover treatment to the "surprising turn-around" of the Vatican head vis-a-vis his African HIV pronouncement previously. "A green light for the condom," the paper expressed. "Benedict XVI," it continued, "drew attention to the scandals caused by pedophile priests in a book to be released Tuesday.
We cropped out distracting details in the cover of the Peru 21 paper, a picture of woman in a two-piece suit laid out beside the pope's miter, which may offend the sensibilities of the religious
The Chilean papers, El Mercurio and Las Ultimas Noticias had the hot news item in their glossy inside pages.
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| El Mercurio, 21 November. |
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| Las Ultimas Noticias, 21 November. |
Condoms? Like other supporters of the Reproductive Health Bill (RHB) in the Philippines, we believe that its use is a very personal choice, and we do not need to have the Pope or the Catholics Bishop Conference blessing for that. Anyone who wants to be protected--male prostitutes, rich or poor husbands--should have a free mind to go to the drugstore or health center to pick up his choice of condom from the generic to the designer type.
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| 23 November issue. |
We are reminded of the Cabbages and Condoms Restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand where there are two big vats of condoms designed for two sizes, Asian and Caucasian.
We were amused when Congressman Superwelterweight Champion Manny Pacquiao said that he supports the RHB because he has many siblings and the Bible says "go forth and multiply."
In the news last night was that a pro-life group in the Philippines had a heated confrontation with the RHB supporters at the Manila Cathedral yesterday. The pro-lifers were having a summit inside and the RHB'ers wanted to get in but were rejected because they were wearing t-shirts printed with Damaso. A pro-lifer apparently swore 'Satanas' to a RHBer's face, and that led to a nasty exchange of words. Petty!
It's interesting to note that he comments--ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime--on the Pope's 'condomnation' posted online in news services websites seem to redirect the issue to the sexual scandals of the priest pedophiles, the cover-ups, and the apparent indifference of the church hierarchy when complaints were being raised.
For reference, here's the news item on Pope Benedict XVI's condom use pronouncement from the Washington Post retrieved from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/20/AR2010112001849_pf.htmlPope says male prostitutes using condoms justifiable to halt spread of HIV
By Frances D'Emilio and Nicole Winfield
Saturday, November 20, 2010; 4:49 PM
Saturday, November 20, 2010; 4:49 PM
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI says in a new book that condoms can be justified for male prostitutes seeking to stop the spread of HIV, a stunning comment for a church criticized for its opposition to condoms and for a pontiff who has blamed them for making the AIDS crisis worse.
The pope made the comments in a book-length interview with a German journalist for "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times," to be released Tuesday. The Vatican newspaper ran excerpts Saturday.
Church teaching has long opposed condoms as a form of artificial contraception, although it has never released an explicit policy about condoms and HIV.
Benedict said that condoms are not a moral solution but that in some cases they could be justified "with the intent of reducing the risk of infection."
He used as an example male prostitutes, for whom contraception is not an issue, as opposed to married couples where one spouse is infected. The Vatican has come under pressure from even some church officials in Africa to condone condom use for monogamous married couples to protect the uninfected spouse from getting infected.
Benedict drew the wrath of the U.N., European governments and AIDS activists when he told reporters en route to Africa in 2009 that the AIDS problem on the continent could not be resolved by distributing condoms.
"On the contrary, it increases the problem," he said then.
Journalist Peter Seewald, who interviewed Benedict over six days this summer, raised the Africa condom comments and asked Benedict if it wasn't "madness" for the Vatican to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms.
"There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility," Benedict said.
But he stressed that it wasn't the way to deal with the evil of HIV, and elsewhere in the book reaffirmed church teaching on contraception and abortion, saying: "How many children are killed who might one day have been geniuses, who could have given humanity something new, who could have given us a new Mozart or some new technical discovery?"
He reiterated the church's position that abstinence and marital fidelity is the only sure way to prevent HIV.
- Associated Press
