H
HagiaSophia
Guest
"…So what are the charges? “AIDS is devastating Africa. Condoms are the only known barrier to the virus. The Vatican has spearheaded the restriction of condom distribution and actively discouraged their use.”
Has the Vatican “spearheaded the restriction of condom distribution?” It is difficult to know exactly what this means. Over 700 million condoms are distributed in Africa every year. The Vatican has no political power to stop this. Thus, whether condoms have helped or hurt AIDS infection rates is solely the responsibility of condom advocates, not the Vatican.
Does the Catholic Church discourage the use of condoms? Yes, but only as part of its complete sexual morality. If people are chaste outside of marriage and faithful within marriage, they will not need condoms to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases. The Catholic Church has every right – even an obligation – to teach how the moral law and the natural law coincide: Stay true to your wife, and you will be safe.
To blame the Church, therefore, for the spread of any sexually transmitted disease, it would be necessary to prove that people are ignoring the first, essential injunction (stay chaste or faithful), but are slavishly obedient to the second (don’t use condoms).
By the way, if you are interested in Sir Elton’s qualifications to discuss AIDS in Africa, his website claims that he has established the Elton John AIDS Foundation, whose two full-time employees appear to be responsible for organizing fundraisers such as “the glamorous and highly successful Annual White Tie and Tiara Ball,” as well as “charity clothing sales (often precipitated by Elton having a massive wardrobe clearance).”
Douglas Sylva is Senior Fellow at the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM). His e-mail address is dsylva@thefactis.org."
thefactis.org/default.aspx?control=ArticleMaster&aid=146&authid=9
Has the Vatican “spearheaded the restriction of condom distribution?” It is difficult to know exactly what this means. Over 700 million condoms are distributed in Africa every year. The Vatican has no political power to stop this. Thus, whether condoms have helped or hurt AIDS infection rates is solely the responsibility of condom advocates, not the Vatican.
Does the Catholic Church discourage the use of condoms? Yes, but only as part of its complete sexual morality. If people are chaste outside of marriage and faithful within marriage, they will not need condoms to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases. The Catholic Church has every right – even an obligation – to teach how the moral law and the natural law coincide: Stay true to your wife, and you will be safe.
To blame the Church, therefore, for the spread of any sexually transmitted disease, it would be necessary to prove that people are ignoring the first, essential injunction (stay chaste or faithful), but are slavishly obedient to the second (don’t use condoms).
By the way, if you are interested in Sir Elton’s qualifications to discuss AIDS in Africa, his website claims that he has established the Elton John AIDS Foundation, whose two full-time employees appear to be responsible for organizing fundraisers such as “the glamorous and highly successful Annual White Tie and Tiara Ball,” as well as “charity clothing sales (often precipitated by Elton having a massive wardrobe clearance).”
Douglas Sylva is Senior Fellow at the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM). His e-mail address is dsylva@thefactis.org."
thefactis.org/default.aspx?control=ArticleMaster&aid=146&authid=9
