Scottish Catholic Observer

POPE Benedict XVI’s latest comments on HIV, condoms and sexuality have been misinterpreted as a change in Catholic teaching, according to Church experts.

In what has been perceived as a dramatic statement, The Holy Father says in a new book that the use of a condom could be ‘a first step in the direction of a moralisation, a first assumption of responsibility’ in relation to male prostitution, HIV and AIDS. He makes the statement in German journalist Peter Seewald’s book Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times published this week.

However the Vatican and leading Catholic bioethics experts believe there is nothing ‘revolutionary’ about the Pope’s pastoral comments on these subjects—made in the first one-to-one interviews the Pontiff has granted to a journalist—and say they do not reflect a change in Catholic doctrine.

Condoms and sexuality

In the book the Holy Father goes on to say that condoms are ‘not the proper way to deal with the horror of the HIV infection,’ a clarification that the Vatican has been quick to underline.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi issued a statement stressing that the Holy Father’s comments neither ‘reforms or changes’ Catholic teaching, which forbids use of condoms and other contraceptives.

“The reasoning of the Pope cannot certainly be defined as a revolutionary turn,” he said.

On Tuesday he added the Pope’s remarks were equally applicable to men and women.

“I personally asked the Pope if there was a serious, important problem in the choice of the masculine over the feminine,” Fr Lombardi said. “He told me ‘no.’”

Leading Catholic experts agree that initial widespread interpretations of the Pope’s comments infer too much.

“Does this represent a change of Vatican policy towards condoms and HIV? No, this is not a change of policy,” according to one leading Catholic bioethics expert. “Some people will argue that this paves the way for a new Vatican policy of at least tolerating the distribution of condoms: which it may to some extent. But this is more than the Pope says and to move too quickly to further possible implications is to risk losing the significance of what the Pope is actually saying.”

On the issue of sexuality the Holy Father underlines: “The meaning and direction of sexuality is to bring about the union of man and woman, and in this way to give humanity, posterity, children, a future. This is the determination internal to the essence of sexuality.”

He adds that ‘everything else is against sexuality’s intrinsic meaning and direction,’ and ‘this is a point we need to hold firm, even if it is not pleasing to our age.’

Scottish reaction

Cardinal Keith O’Brien emphasised that the teaching of the Pope was important not only to Catholics throughout the world but to peoples of all faiths and none. Referring to Light of the World, the cardinal indicated that the Pope’s words on AIDS and the use of condoms had attracted attention worldwide and he referred to the words of Fr Lombardi: “The Pope again makes it clear that his intention [in the book] was not to take up a position on the problem of condoms in general; his aim, rather was to reaffirm with force that the problem of AIDS cannot be solved simply by distributing condoms, because much more needs to be done: ‘Prevention, education, help, advice, accompaniment, both to prevent people from falling ill and to help them if they do.’”

Peter Kearney, director of the Scottish Catholic Media Office, agreed that the exception the Pope considers in theory with regards to condoms does not change the rules of the Church.

“Crucially, the Pope is not saying that the use of condoms is moral or virtuous,” he said. “Nor is he saying that their use can be justified on pragmatic grounds as a policy of AIDS prevention.

“The Pope suggests that in exceptional circumstances use of a condom could be a ‘first step’ in someone recognising their moral responsibility, but it is not the last step. The only responsible moral response is to find a different way of living altogether.

“It is also important to note that in the same answer, the Pope says: ‘We cannot solve the problem by distributing condoms.’”

The Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, an agency of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, is taking the long view on the issue.

“As the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in Scotland, SCIAF’s work is in line with the teaching of the Church,” Paul Chitnis, SCIAF’s chief executive, said. “We support many programmes in developing countries helping people affected by HIV and AIDS. This includes initiatives to prevent the spread of the virus through education and community based healthcare for those affected and their families.”

He added that: “Over the coming months, we will be considering the implications of Pope Benedict’s comments for our work.”

Abuse and resignation

While the Holy Father’s comments on condoms have dominated headlines this week, other important issues before the Church today are also addressed in Mr Seewald’s book, which is based on a series of interviews with the Pope during the summer.

The Holy Father said clerical abuse was like ‘the crater of a volcano, out of which suddenly a great cloud of filth came, darkening and soiling everything.’

He added that when a member of the clergy appointed to lead someone to God abuses him and leads him away from God: ‘Faith becomes unbelievable’ and ‘the Church can no longer present Herself credibly as the herald of the Lord.’

Commenting on calls for his resignation over the issue he said that: “One must not run away from danger and say that someone else should do it,” but added that he would resign if he were no longer ‘physically, psychologically and spiritually capable’ of exercising office; in this case he has ‘a right and, under certain circumstances, also an obligation to resign.’

Book content

While providing glimpses into the personal life of the Holy Father, much of Mr Seewald’s book focuses on the Pope’s call for a global ‘examination of conscience’ in the face of economic disparity, environmental disasters and moral slippage.

In the interviews, done in six one-hour sessions, the Pope emphasises that the Church’s role global society is not to impose a ‘burden’ of moral rules but to bring people to God.

And it is not just the Pope’s comments on contraception that are proving to be controversial.

Jewish leaders are said to have reacted with dismay to comments in the book by Pope Benedict that his wartime predecessor Pope Pius XII was a ‘great, righteous’ man who ‘saved more Jews than anyone else.’

Pope Pius, who was Pontiff from 1939 to 1958, has been accused of failing to speak out on the Holocaust. The Vatican says he worked quietly behind the scenes because speaking out would have prompted Nazi reprisals against Catholics and Jews in Europe.

The Pope has also criticised a French law banning Muslim women from wearing the Islamic full-face veils in public, saying in the book that women should be able to wear them voluntarily.

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