AHF hails Pope Benedict's remarks on condom usage to prevent HIV transmission

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the largest global AIDS organization, today hailed recent remarks by Pope Benedict XVI on the "justified" use condoms to prevent the spread of potentially deadly diseases like HIV that suggest a softening the Roman Catholic Church's absolute opposition to condom use in all circumstances. In remarks offered in a six part interview to a German journalist who has written a book on the Pontiff (set to be released Tuesday), Pope Benedict said of condom use: "There can be single justified cases," and that using condoms could be a step in assuming moral responsibility "in the intention of reducing the risk of infection."

“in the intention of reducing the risk of infection.”

According to a report in today's Los Angeles Times (LA Times, 11/21/10, Mitchell Landsberg), "The comments appeared to be a departure, given that the pope spoke out against condom use as recently as March 2009 during a trip to Africa, when he said that the use of condoms could actually make the AIDS epidemic worse. That statement drew worldwide condemnation and, in the months since, some Catholic bishops seemingly have broken with the Vatican to call for the use of condoms to combat HIV, the virus that causes AIDS."

"We commend Pope Benedict for opening the doors, the heart and the mind of the Catholic Church enough to state his belief that the use of condoms in certain circumstances may be morally permissible in order to prevent the transmission of HIV," said Terri Ford, Senior Director of Global Policy for AHF. "As a global provider of HIV/AIDS medical care and treatment to over 140,000 individuals in 22 countries, AHF has seen firsthand the death and destruction this pandemic causes, tearing apart families and leaving millions of children orphaned in the process. We clearly believe in the widespread use of condoms to prevent the further spread of HIV, but welcome the Pontiff's first favorable remarks on condom use, however cautious they may appear."

"We acknowledge and thank Pope Benedict for his remarks on 'justified cases' of condom use in the eyes of the church in order to prevent HIV infection; however, we would respectfully urge him to look beyond the example he cited of sex workers or prostitutes, " said Whitney Engeran-Cordova, Senior Director of AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Public Health Division. "In Africa today, the single greatest risk factor for a woman for possible HIV infection is for her to simply be married."