Condoms: The long and short of it

The Students and Campuses section takes a look back at the condom and its colorful confrontations with religion and society throughout the centuries.
MANILA, Philippines — For such a tiny thing, the condom certainly has got centuries of controversy behind it.

Ever since the condom was first introduced as a form of disease prevention in the 16th century by Italian anatomist and physician Gabriele Falloppio, the plastic prophylactic has faced intense opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, especially with regards to its function as a contraceptive and its place in the curriculum of sex education classes.

Just last week, Pope Benedict XVI added a new layer to the condom debate as he declared that the use of condoms by people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV is “the first step of responsibility, of taking into consideration the risk to the life of the person with whom there are relations.”

The statement, which comes on the heels of the release of Pope Benedict XVI’s new book, “Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times”, caused an international furor.

Conservative Catholics decried this seeming change in Church doctrine, while HIV and AIDS workers praised the Pope’s recognition of the effectiveness of the prophylactic as a way to combat the AIDS epidemic.

Debate

Things were no different here in the country, as people from both sides of the reproductive health debate quickly pounced on the Pope’s game-changing comments.

For instance, Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan, one of the authors of the six pending reproductive health bills in Congress, said that the statement as “an opening of the dark tunnel which can enlighten the Catholics and non-Catholics and lead the flock towards the light of understanding and acceptance of the realities of the times.”

Emmeline Aglipay, representative of the DIWA partylist, said that the Pope’s statement is a sign of a more “responsible” Church.

“Responsible sexuality is an issue which a responsible Church should tackle head on. The Church’s role in social change and in taking part in solutions to prevalent social ills, such as the spread of HIV, cannot be overemphasized,” she said.

The Catholic hierarchy in the country was much more cautious in interpreting the Pope’s comments, with some saying that reproductive health advocates should not read too much into the Pope’s statements.

“The issues is not about birth control, but rather about AIDS preventions,”
said Bishop Emeritus of Novaliches Teodoro Bacani. “There are instances when the Church allows it (condom use), provided it is not for contraceptives but a defense against AIDS.” –(With reports from CHARISSA LUCI) –RONALD S. LIM, Manila Bulletin