VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In a new book, Pope Benedict XVI said the use of condoms might be a sign of moral responsibility in some specific situations when the intention is to reduce the risk of AIDS.
The pope addressed the issue in the book-length interview, “Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times,” which was to be released Nov. 23. The Vatican newspaper published excerpts from the book Nov. 20, including the comments on condoms.
In the book, the pope repeated what he said during a trip to Africa last year, that “we cannot solve the problem (of AIDS) by distributing condoms.” Focusing exclusively on condoms damages human sexuality, making it “banal” and turning it into a kind of “drug,” he said.
“Nothing that the pope has said in Light of the World represents a departure from church teaching,” said Dominican Father Thomas Petri, assistant professor of theology at Providence College. “The church's concern about contraception (whether the condom or the pill) is that it separates the procreative and unitive aspects of the conjugal act, which is the act of sexual intercourse within marriage. Strictly speaking, the church is not concerned about the technicalities of sex outside of marriage, otherwise known as fornication. Fornication comes into the purview of the church only inasmuch as it leads to other evils, such as the abortion of unplanned pregnancies.”
But the pope went on to say that in particular cases - he mentioned prostitutes - condom use may be justified as a first step toward taking moral responsibility for one's actions.
The pope was asked whether it was “madness 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, on the way toward discovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality,” the pope said.
Father Petri feels the pope’s response represents the standard distinction between ends and means.
“The pope is lauding the end (or intention) to assume responsibility in the possible spread of infection, but says the chosen means (using a condom) is not the most suitable way to achieve that end,” said Father Petri.
Peter Seewald, the German journalist who conducted the interview, asked the pope: “Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?”
The pope answered: “She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality.”
The Italian translation has a slightly different wording: it uses the feminine “prostitute,” not male prostitute, and says this is an example of where condom use can be “justified.”
At a news conference Nov. 23, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said the Italian translation was an error. But he added that the pope told him the question of male or female prostitute in his example was unimportant.
“I asked the pope personally if there was a serious or important problem in the choice of the masculine gender rather than the feminine, and he said no, that is, the main point ... is the first step of responsibility in taking into account the risk to the life of another person with whom one has relations,” Father Lombardi said.
“Whether a man or a woman or a transsexual does this, we're at the same point. The point is the first step toward responsibility, to avoid posing a grave risk to another person,” Father Lombardi said.
It was the first time Pope Benedict - or any pope - has said publicly that condom use may be acceptable in some cases.
Father Petri emphasized that it is a gross misrepresentation of the pope's words to suggest that the Holy Father is stepping back from the church's teaching or that somehow now it is acceptable for married couples to use condoms (even if their intention is to prevent infection).
“The pope has said nothing of the sort,” said Father Petri. “Indeed, I don't think his papal magisterium would allow him to do so, as it would be contrary to the moral tradition of the church which he has received and which he preserves.”
Father Petri, who teaches moral theology, added that the pope’s remarks have prompted no classroom discussion but that he expects the topic to be addressed later in the semester when the topic of marriage is discussed.
Father John Codega, pastor of St. Brendan Church, Riverside, noted that the Holy Father’s comments about the use of condoms are “ not a statement about birth control or contraception but a suggestion to not make bad behavior even worse.
“Since the days of Thomas Aquinas the church has taught that when the only options are two or more evil choices from which to choose, the lesser of the evils may be the morally responsible way to go,” said Father Codega. “This in no way makes that choice right but given the circumstances makes it the most viable option at that moment. The best solution is not to get into those predicaments in the first place.”
Father Codega said it is never right to choose a moral evil, even if it may bring about something good.
“The ends don’t always justify the means,” he said. “If the only options we have are bad ones then we should choose the one least bad. On the other hand, good choices can often correct bad ones … so do the good.”
Father Lombardi said it would be an exaggeration to call the pope's comments “revolutionary,” but he said they offered a courageous and important contribution to a long-debated question.
The pope’s remarks underscored a distinction made previously by other church experts: that the church's teaching against condoms as a form of birth control is different from its position on condom use in disease prevention. The comments seemed destined to open a new chapter in the church's internal debate on that issue.
For years, in fact, Vatican officials and theologians have studied the morality of condom use to reduce the risk of AIDS. The Vatican has never proclaimed a “ban” on condom use in AIDS prevention; on the contrary, some Vatican theologians and officials have argued that for married couples in which one partner is HIV-infected, use of condoms could be a moral responsibility.
More generally, however, they have argued that promotion of condoms as the only or best answer to AIDS carries grave risks, mainly by promoting the idea that condoms guarantee “safe sex.” In that sense, the pope said on his flight to Cameroon in 2009 that rather than solve the issue of HIV/AIDS, condoms “increase the problem.” He encouraged campaigns to promote responsible sexuality instead.
Photo: Paul Haring
Shedding some light: The cover of the Italian-language version of the book, "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times," is seen during a press conference on the book at the Vatican Nov. 23. In the book, the pope said the use of condoms may be a sign of moral responsibility in some specific situations when the intention is to reduce the risk of AIDS.
