Recently there has been a media buzz surrounding Catholic Church leaders and the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV in Africa.
In an article published in the Calgary Herald on March 18, Pope Benedict was quoted saying that AIDS “is a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems.”
On March 27, the Calgary Herald published an article when Bishop Fred Henry sent a letter to the Calgary Catholic Teacher’s Association encouraging members to focus their AIDS charity fundraising efforts on organizations which share Catholic values. Previously the teachers had raised money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, a prominent organization that promotes the use of condoms as an effective means to prevent the spread of HIV.
AIDS Calgary was very disappointed to hear the Bishop’s position on teachers raising funds for the Stephen Lewis Foundation. We took the opportunity to respond when approached by local media.
To quote UNAIDS Condoms and HIV Prevention Position Statement, “The male latex condom is the single, most efficient, available technology to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.”
We at AIDS Calgary firmly believe that access to condoms is essential in the fight against HIV. While abstinence is also a tool in the arsenal, it is not always an option. Evidence shows that condom use prevents the spread of HIV. Further, “condom use is more likely when people can access them at no cost or at greatly subsidized prices” according to UNAIDS.
But what are your thoughts? Do you agree with the Pope that condoms should not be used to fight the spread of HIV? Do you think that the Catholic Teachers Association should not be allowed to raise money for an organization that does not strictly adhere to Catholic values?
We would love you hear your opinions!
Pope Denounces Condom Use In AIDS-plagued Africa - Calgary Herald, March 18, 2009
Calgary Catholic Teachers Drop AIDS Charity - Calgary Herald, March 27, 2009
Condoms and HIV Prevention: Position Statement by UNAIDS, UNFPA, and WHO
8 comments:
I have a strong and negative opinion with respect to the Pope's public statements and the Church's official position on the use of condoms. It is a bad position and it creates great harm in the world.
Even so, the Pope is well within his rights to make public declarations about matters of Church policy, however, he is grossly irresponsible to imply that condoms somehow aggravate the problem. This is simply a lie and it is a lie that could lead to great harm all across the world.
Similarly, I really have no qualms about the Church encouraging a Catholic Teacher's Association not to fund agencies that don't accord with their values. If the teachers don't like this, perhaps they should make an effort to influence Church doctrine on these matters or leave the Church.
Thank you for your comment Sterling. You are right, of course, that the Pope can do as he pleases.
Our hope is that the Catholic church may be able to get to a point where a distinction can be drawn between condom use as contraceptive and condom use as disease prevention.
I agree, he can do as he pleases with respect to the communication of Church doctrine, but spreading lies is not appropriate. Of course, the only recourse is to express our discontent with his expression of those lies.
Actually, that's a great distinction to make because the Church recognizes the Doctrine of Double Effect.
Roughly speaking, this is the idea that causing a morally impermissible outcome as an accident or side effect of aiming for a morally permissible outcome is OK.
So the Church could say, so long as you are using that condom to prevent disease, mr or ms., then the fact that it also prevents conception is morally permissible.
Of course, the standard Catholic reply to this suggestion, I suspect, will be to say it is easier to avoid disease by not having sex at all.
To this it might be replied, for those of us who are unmarried, given our predilection to give into sin, condom use is actually a more effective way to stop the spread of disease. And, for husbands and wives, condoms certainly should be acceptable based on this argument.
Abstinence is the preferred method of HIV prevention for the Catholic Church, yes.
This, of course, is the crux of our issue as we approach HIV prevention from a harm reduction standpoint. Abstinence is always a choice but it's obviously not a choice that everybody is prepared to make. Catholic or otherwise.
That's an interesting point you raise about the Doctrine of Double Effect.
So if it seems like the Catholic Church has a way to be able to promote condom usage (for disease prevention which one would think would be morally permissible), then why wouldn't they do so?
Can the messages of abstinence and safer sex not work together? If safer sex is an option does abstinence become an obsolete message?
Interesting comments! Sterling, your statement:
"so long as you are using that condom to prevent disease, mr or ms., then the fact that it also prevents conception is morally permissible"
is echoed by at least one Church official who stated that:
"Protecting oneself against sickness or death is an act of prevention. Morally, it cannot be judged on the same level as when a condom is used to reduce the number of births.”
There is a very well written article on the topic at http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=19561&page=1
That is a very useful article. Thanks for calling my attention to it! I'm going to add it to my own blog-post on this subject.
Africa doesn’t need condoms.
Like it doesn’t need teachers. Or peacekeepers and policemen. Or lawmakers, doctors and community leaders. Or parents.
The Roman Catholic Church advocates abstinence as the only way to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and opposes condoms as a prevention tool. Last year, roughly 60 Catholic groups wrote an open letter asking Benedict to reverse the ban on condoms, which they said "exposes millions of people to the risk of contracting [HIV]."
In an editorial last Friday, the Lancet (one of the foremost medical journals in the world) urged Pope Benedict XVI to retract or correct the public record regarding his comments about the utility of condoms in fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. During Benedict's first trip to Africa last month, he said HIV/AIDS is a "tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem."
"The Catholic Church's ethical opposition to birth control and support of marital fidelity and abstinence in HIV prevention" are "well known," states the Lancet's editorial, which some criticized as "virulent." "But, by saying that condoms exacerbate the problem of HIV/AIDS, the Pope has publicly distorted scientific evidence to promote Catholic doctrine on this issue," said the editorial.
"The governments of Germany, France, and Belgium released statements criticizing the Pope's views," as did aid agencies, the Lancet said. "UNAIDS, the UN Population Fund, [the World Health Organization] released an updated position statement on HIV prevention and condoms, which said that "the male latex condom is the single, most efficient, available technology to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV."
Let’s make sure that we’re debating the same topic: reducing the spread of a deadly and preventable disease. Not contraception. Not fidelity. Not the traditional beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church nor any other religion or belief-system.
The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintain a Compendium of of Evidence-Based HIV Prevention Interventions, which was updated in 2008 (http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/research/prs/evidence-based-interventions.htm). This compendium lists programs in the U.S. that have met rigorous scientific standards. 35 of the 36 programs that meet the highest standard of “Best Evidence-Based Interventions” involve teaching and support on proper condom use (the 36th program was strictly targeted towards at the injection drug use population and did not address potential sexual transmission of HIV). Abstinence and “friendship” are nowhere to be found on this list of scientifically proven interventions.
Let’s do our best to stop HIV/AIDS in Calgary and around the world. The evidence shows that condoms are a part of that.
Jeff Kapler, Calgary
Thanks for your comment Jeff.
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