Catholic teaching on condoms has not changed
Nov 28, 2010
EDITOR: On November 22 it was reported that Pope Benedict XVI had changed the Catholic stand on condoms. I am disappointed with the consistent reliance by your reputable paper on Western media whose persistent misrepresentations of the Pope are well known.
EDITOR: On November 22 it was reported that Pope Benedict XVI had changed the Catholic stand on condoms. I am disappointed with the consistent reliance by your reputable paper on Western media whose persistent misrepresentations of the Pope are well known.
The anti-Catholic agenda of the Western secular press is legendary and obvious even to non-Catholics.
The laughable suggestion that the Pope had changed Catholic teaching arises from an extract of his answer to German journalist Peter Seewald in a wide ranging interview that was published in a book format, Light of the World.
In answer to the charge that it is madness to forbid a high risk population to use condoms, the Pope indicated that while condom use for a male prostitute may be a first step in the assumption of responsibility, it is not the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection.
This was not an endorsement at all to use condoms to prevent HIV. In an extract that has been conveniently ignored, the Pope indicated that he still stands by the comments he made on the plane to Angola.
Seewald pressed him further to clarify whether he was saying that the Catholic Church was actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms.
He categorically replied that the Church does not see them as a real or moral solution. It must be added the interview was about the Pope's thoughts and not a declaration of the Catholic Church's teaching on condoms. In fact, the Pope explains in the same interview that his answers to Seewald should not be taken as an exercise of the Church's teaching office.
The Pope does no change Catholic doctrine on morals—which is unchangeable—through an interview with a journalist.
Jude Byamukama
Kampala
The anti-Catholic agenda of the Western secular press is legendary and obvious even to non-Catholics.
The laughable suggestion that the Pope had changed Catholic teaching arises from an extract of his answer to German journalist Peter Seewald in a wide ranging interview that was published in a book format, Light of the World.
In answer to the charge that it is madness to forbid a high risk population to use condoms, the Pope indicated that while condom use for a male prostitute may be a first step in the assumption of responsibility, it is not the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection.
This was not an endorsement at all to use condoms to prevent HIV. In an extract that has been conveniently ignored, the Pope indicated that he still stands by the comments he made on the plane to Angola.
Seewald pressed him further to clarify whether he was saying that the Catholic Church was actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms.
He categorically replied that the Church does not see them as a real or moral solution. It must be added the interview was about the Pope's thoughts and not a declaration of the Catholic Church's teaching on condoms. In fact, the Pope explains in the same interview that his answers to Seewald should not be taken as an exercise of the Church's teaching office.
The Pope does no change Catholic doctrine on morals—which is unchangeable—through an interview with a journalist.
Jude Byamukama
Kampala