Some more clarification from a Catholic source. Reuters and AP are not reliable sources to interpret the Popes remarks, they have an agenda which is contrary to Catholic teaching.
Actually, he said it was an exception case strictly in the context of exhibiting the beginnings of moral reasoning by expressing concern for the health of another person. It is not an exception to the moral prohibition against engaging in illicit sexual activity or using contraceptives instead of abstinence. Beginning to have have a moral awakening is not the same thing as acting morally. When that moral awakening reaches maturity the person in question must know that to act morally he or she must not be engaged in behavior where a condom is needed to lower the risk to another person’s health.
I get what you say but the Pope is saying a woman’s wish to protect herself from disease allows her to insist on condom use.
Re-read the quote. That isnt what he said either.
God didnt tell any Pope this.
Are you privy to what God says to the pope?
I agree, a straight foreward accurate statement…
The truth is never imprudent, the Pope speaks the truth of the Church. If others choose to bend his true statements that is their problem to deal with.And that is where I admit I don’t really know what he said, which is another reason I think whatever he said was an imprudent thing to say.
The AP, etc, is going to trumpet this and how many people are going to think they’ve been given permission to use condoms?
You would really benifit from some knowlage on this.
I agree 100%. Morality is the same today as when it was given to Adam. Moses had our morality choices. These things do not change and i defy anyone to say that they do!
God sometimes allows evil to take place in order that He may bring greater good out of it. This could be one of those times. We have to pray that it is.
Student of course our Lord has the greater good in mind. We should pray of course, but know that the final victory over sin is already won by our Lords death.
The head of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, has issued a statement clarifying passages of the book Light of the World, in which Pope Benedict discusses AIDS and condom use.
The statement says Pope Benedict states that AIDs cannot be solved only by the distribution of condoms, and, in fact, concentrating on condoms just trivializes sexuality, which loses its meaning as an expression of love and becomes like a drug.
At the same time, the Pope considered an exceptional situation in which the exercise of sexuality represents a real risk to the lives of others. In this case, the Pope does not morally justify the exercise of disordered sexuality, but believes that the use of condoms to reduce the risk of infection is a “first step on the road to a more human sexuality”, rather than not to use it and risking the lives of others.
Father Lombardi’s statement clarifies Pope Benedict XVI has not reformed or changed the Church’s teaching, but by putting it in perspective reaffirms the value and dignity of human sexuality as an expression of love and responsibility.Nothing has changed. You should read or re-read what the Pope has actually said. Sexual acts involving the use of a condom are immoral. What the Pope mentions is that the intention to protect another person from contracting HIV/AIDS shows the beginning of a morally enlightened understanding of sexuality. The person is still acting immorally, but could evolve their understanding of the principle of not harming others to eventually realize proper sexual morality - which would obviously require abstaining from illicit sexual acts.
The only questions it raises are how ignorant the media can get when it comes to basic moral reasoning and reading comprehension.
These type of statements frustrate me because it’s essentially insinuating that if you don’t get, on first go-round, that the Pope isn’t saying that in certain circumstances condoms are okay you’re an idiot.
No, I’m saying the media really doesn’t care about reporting what was written accurately and if we are feeling charitable enough to discount malicious intent they’ve simply failed in their due diligence and are reporting misinformation out of ignorance.
It is certainly more difficult if you are reading cherry picked quotations out of context riddled with ignorant, irrelevant commentary by media personalities and political nutters.
I don’t speak or read German so I can’t speak to the style of language the Pope used in his interview. The English translation that I can read, however, is rather precise and addresses a series of very specific questions chosen by the interviewer. It definitely helps to read the passage in context and not in the butchered version presented by an irresponsible mass media.
I fail to see any analogy used. The Pope posed a very specific hypothetical situation to show where someone might be doing something immoral but exhibit the beginnings of moral concern by trying to reduce the harm their action causes to others.
The Vatican only had to come out with explanations because an ignorant (if not malicious) media spouted off complete nonsense, projecting their own desires onto their inaccurate reporting.
Those are just translation quibbles, really. The point is that nowhere in those passages, in any language, was it ever stated that condom use was a moral act. Nowhere. It was not and is not permissible. It took media outlets standing on their heads and squinting painfully to make the leap that because the Pope said someone trying not to give a fatal disease to someone by using a condom might be experiencing the beginning of a moral awakening to move away from immoral sexual practices the Church’s stance on condom use being immoral was somehow being undermined or reversed.
Yes, further investigation was needed. Reading and reporting in context was needed. Basic reading comprehension before reporting would’ve been nice too. Media outlets, bloggers, and others propagandizing without due diligence are acting out of either ignorance or malice, though.
My best advise for you is to take things contrary to Church teachings presented by secular media sources virulently opposed to Church teachings with a very large helping of salt.
I have read it; I have even provided the clarification made by Fr. Lombardi. It doesn’t help any–instead, it only made it more confusing. As I’ve said, what the Pope is saying goes down like this: “Well, homosexual acts are still disordered, but then again if they’d do it then at least do it with condoms.” That’s how it boils down to basically. No matter what spin is made, it still comes down to that basic premise.