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Vatican repeats opposition to condoms, says chastity only surefire way to prevent AIDS spread
YahooNews ^
| Wed Nov 6, 8:21 AM ET
| NICOLE WINFIELD
Posted on 11/06/2002 11:23:56 AM PST by Polycarp
Vatican repeats opposition to condoms, says chastity only surefire way to prevent AIDS spread
Wed Nov 6, 8:21 AM ET
By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican (news - web sites) repeated its opposition to using condoms as a way to fight AIDS (news - web sites), saying Wednesday that chastity was the best way to prevent the spread of the deadly virus.
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Monsignor Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Workers, acknowledged that to some, the Vatican position may sound "ridiculous in the society in which we live."
But he said there was only one way to prevent AIDS and the HIV virus (news - web sites) from spreading. "We say that prevention ... is called chastity."
Barragan made the comments ahead of a three-day Vatican symposium on health care in Catholic hospitals and clinics around the world.
The Vatican has been criticized for its steadfast opposition to condom use, particularly in poor regions of the world like Africa which have been devastated by the AIDS epidemic.
More than 90 percent of the world's 37.1 million HIV (news - web sites)-infected people live in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 26 million or 70 percent of the total, U.S. and U.N. statistics show.
The Church has argued that condoms don't offer 100 percent protection and only contribute to what Barragan called a "pan-sexual" society in which sex has been separated into an act of pleasure or procreation.
"In this separation, according to this mentality, it's absurd that the church says 'no' to condoms," he said. "But we have another ethical horizon: that is life."
Two years ago, a Vatican official hinted at a possible softening in the Church's position, writing in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that condoms were one of the ways to "contain" the spread of HIV.
The author, Monsignor Jacques Suadeau of the Pontifical Council for the Family, stressed that chastity was the only way to prevent the spread of the virus, but that in the case of Thai sex workers, for example, condom use was a "lesser evil."
Suadeau later denied he was signaling a change.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: catholiclist
Two years ago, a Vatican official hinted at a possible softening in the Church's position, writing in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that condoms were one of the ways to "contain" the spread of HIV. The author, Monsignor Jacques Suadeau of the Pontifical Council for the Family, stressed that chastity was the only way to prevent the spread of the virus, but that in the case of Thai sex workers, for example, condom use was a "lesser evil."
This is an outright lie, one I helped expose at the time two years ago with this article:
AMERICA Magazine's Disinformation About Church's position on AIDS and Condom Use
Here is the original L'Osservatore Romano article referred to in this article above:
Stopping the Spread of HIV/AIDS: Prophylactics or Family Values?
1
posted on
11/06/2002 11:23:56 AM PST
by
Polycarp
To: *Catholic_list; .45MAN; AKA Elena; al_c; american colleen; Angelus Errare; Antoninus; ...
Ping (as usual, if you would like to be added to or removed from my ping list, just send me a FReepmail.)
2
posted on
11/06/2002 11:25:44 AM PST
by
Polycarp
To: Polycarp
3
posted on
11/06/2002 11:28:46 AM PST
by
Polycarp
To: Polycarp
Good old fashioned Christian chastity IS the answer to the AIDs crisis. It will just take time for the world to realize this (and the world is resisting the truth of that mightily!). But in some countries, like Uganda, where abstinence until marriage has been pushed, AIDs is significantly less of a problem than elsewhere. Uganda's program has been highly successful - but AIDs activists are working overtime to not follow its example.
To: yendu bwam
Not that it has anything to do with this article, but I was wondering if this means that Terry McAuliffe will have to remove the condom he wears over hois head????
5
posted on
11/06/2002 11:42:21 AM PST
by
chiefqc
To: Polycarp
Remember that people were told that filters made cigarettes safer. You don't hear liberals pushing filtered cigarettes.
6
posted on
11/06/2002 11:45:34 AM PST
by
AppyPappy
To: Polycarp
But he said there was only one way to prevent AIDS and the HIV virus (news - web sites) from spreading. "We say that prevention ... is called chastity."
Ummm, isn't this a no-brainer?
And that goes for syphillis, gonorhea, herpes and HVP, too.
7
posted on
11/06/2002 11:47:03 AM PST
by
Desdemona
To: yendu bwam
I agree that chastity is the best way to prevent the spread of disease and not to mention unplanned pregnancy.
The second best (in my opinion)is to be in a monogamous relationship long-term.
8
posted on
11/06/2002 11:58:59 AM PST
by
Pintobean
To: Pintobean
I agree that chastity is the best way to prevent the spread of disease and not to mention unplanned pregnancy. The second best (in my opinion)is to be in a monogamous relationship long-term. Sure.
To: chiefqc
Not that it has anything to do with this article, but I was wondering if this means that Terry McAuliffe will have to remove the condom he wears over hois head???? Nothing I can think of could keep McAuliffe from being verbally promiscuous. But hey - he just helped elect a Republican Senate! He could be Republicans' best friend!
To: Polycarp
Well, sure abstinence is the only sure fire way to prevent the transmission of STDs. This is however, painfully unrealistic. Abstinence should be taught BY PARENTS, and I have absolutely no clue what the public and private schools are involved in this for - I thought the primary focus was teaching academic material. Nowadays that seems to be little more than an occasional afterthought.
Like it or not, people are going to continue to have unprotected sex, no matter what laws we pass or whatever the Vatican edicts. Self-destructive behavior is certainly nothing new under the sun. Ideally, these people who engage in such activities should ultimately be held accountable for their actions (unfortunately, leftists think that everyone else is responsible for the stupidity of others, and should therefore foot the bill). Yes, and unlike the left, I don't believe that the spread of AIDS is because of lack of federal funding.
A related phenomenon is that of prohibition. It didn't work in the 1930's and it certainly isn't working now. I would dare say that prohibition causes more problems than it solves. Given the estimated 117,000% profit margin (Cato Institute) in the drug trade, the character of people involved, and the insatiable demand for product, this is a no brainer. "Just Say No" was about as bright a response to the problem of drug use (which really was not so much a problem as it is today since prohibition and the emergence of the lucrative black market) as is the same ostrich approach to sexual abstinence. It is simply not rational and will create more problems than it ever attempted to solve.
The best method to addressing the issue is to remain rational. People are going to have sex, whether you or I like it or not (I personally don't care what they do, just as long as I don't get the bill for it). I am not particularly pleased at the idea of my teenage neice possibly being sexually active, but I am even more frightened of her contracting a deadly disease. Therefore, acknowledging that what is in theory logical but seldom practical, this 'abstinence only' may offer us some self-sense of 'moral riteousness' but given the nature of human behavior will end up as a failure entirely.
This is not to say that abstinence should not be taught as the primary defense against STDs, as it is the only sure-fire method to keep from contracting such. But reality is different. "Just Say No" has done little if anything to curb the appetite for illegal drugs, as I suspect it has done for the wave of STD's we now face. I really don't see educating our children about ways to protect themselves sexually is any "green light" to becomming sexually active, if explained that abstinence is the best method. However, should you screw up (no pun intended), at least take some degree of action to protect yourself from making the situation a life threatening disaster. It's not a comfortable position to be in, but at least it is somewhat practical.
I wished we lived in a perfect world, but sadly we do not. I do not see Utopia around the bend anytime soon, so perhaps it is better just to deal with reality as it presents itself as best we can. "Safety Nazis" as I refer to them, exist on both the right and the left. The safest place for anyone to be in the world is solitary confinement in a maximum security prison. That certainly would keep us all safe from ourselves and each other with a rather high degree of certainty - but is this a manner in which you would choose to "live"?
11
posted on
11/06/2002 12:55:38 PM PST
by
wkhjr
To: wkhjr
There is nothing incorrect about what you have to say, but the church still teaches that CHASTITY (not abstinence) is the way to curb to AIDS epidemic - no matter what humans want to believe about "safe sex". Outside the bounds of a chaste, monogamous relationship, there is no such thing.
Abstinence is a form of chastity. Okay?
To: Polycarp
I'm glad to see this!
To: Polycarp
Vatican repeats opposition to seatbelts, says staying home only surefire way to avoid dying in a road accident.
To: Grover_Cleveland
All those advanced degrees from prestigious colleges, the world is caving in over their sex and power scandal, and all they can do is come up with a lame statement repeating the obvious. You're right - its a good analogy - and reason number one as to why most of their members stopped listening to them.
To: Polycarp
SEX HAS A PRICE TAG
Sexually active people face odds four times higher for contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD) than for getting pregnant.
- Three million teenagers contract STDs annually.
- 25 million Americans are infected with the herpes virus.
- More than 40 percent of sexually active singles are infected with human papillomavirus, commonly called genital warts.
- One in every 250 Americans has the AIDS virus.
- An estimated one in five Americans is infected with a viral STD, a figure that doesn't include bacterial diseases like chlamydia, syphilis and gonorrhea.
In the 1950s there were only five sexually transmitted diseases that were known and treated. Today there are more than fifty types of STDs. Chlamydia is the number one STD among teens today. There are about 4,000 teenagers every day who contract chlamydia. This is a bacteria, not a virus.
Unlike some venereal diseases, it can be cured. But more than 80 percent of the students who contract this disease do not realize they have it. If you contract chlamydia once in your life, you have a 25 percent chance of being sterile the rest of you life. If you get this disease more than once, the chances are much greater that you will never be able to have children.
ABSTINENCE WORKS!
16
posted on
11/06/2002 6:56:59 PM PST
by
NYer
To: Chancellor Palpatine
Most of their members? Your sources please?
To: Polycarp
Excellent news! Bumpus ad summum!
18
posted on
11/06/2002 8:45:34 PM PST
by
Dajjal
To: Desdemona
Ummm, isn't this a no-brainer?Yes, it is. Unfortunately, having a brain isn't a requirement before voting in most Western nations.
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