Vatican clarifies Pope Benedict’s comments on condom use, HIV

Published by rudy Date posted on December 23, 2010

VATICAN CITY—The Vatican on Tuesday sought to clarify the pope’s controversial comments about condoms and HIV, saying he by no means suggested condom use could be condoned as a means of avoiding pregnancy.

The Vatican’s moral watchdog, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a statement Tuesday saying some commentators had misunderstood and misrepresented the pope’s remarks in a book-length interview released last month entitled Light of the World.

The Vatican has been under pressure from conservative theologians to issue such a clarification amid widespread confusion about what Pope Benedict XVI meant and whether he was breaking with church teaching.

In the book, Benedict said that condoms weren’t the real or moral solution to battling HIV and AIDS. But he said the intention to use condoms in some cases, such as for male prostitutes, could be a first step toward a more moral and responsible human sexuality.

The Vatican statement reaffirmed that the church considered prostitution “gravely immoral.”

“However, those involved in prostitution who are HIV positive and who seek to diminish the risk of contagion by the use of a condom may be taking the first step in respecting the life of another even if the evil of prostitution remains in all its gravity,” the statement said.

It insisted that Benedict’s statement was “in full conformity with the moral theological tradition of the church.”

The pope’s remarks have been mired in confusion ever since they were first published as excerpts in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano on Nov. 20. Tuesday’s statement was the third Vatican clarification since then. AP

July 2025

Nutrition Month
“Give us much more than P50 increase
for proper nutrition!”

Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.

Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar.  Reject Military!

#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideosturesVideos

Time to support & empower survivors. Time to spark a global conversation. Time for #GenerationEquality to #orangetheworld!

July


3 July – International Day of Cooperatives
3 Ju
ly – International Plastic Bag Free Day
 
5 July –
World Youth Skills Day 
7 July – Global Forgiveness Day
11 July – World Population Day 
17 July – World Day for
International Justice
28 July – World Nature Conservation Day
30 July – World Day against Trafficking in Persons 


Monthly Observances:

Schools Safety Month

Nutrition Month
National Disaster Consciousness Month

Weekly Observances:

Week 2: Cultural Communities Week
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise
Development Week
Week 3: National Science and
Technology Week
National Disability Prevention and
Rehabilitation Week
July 1-7:
National Culture Consciousness Week
July 13-19:
Philippines Business Week
Week ending last Saturday of July:
Arbor Week

 

Daily Observances:

First Saturday of July:
International Cooperative Day
in the Philippines

Categories

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.