Today is the World Aids Day and the theme chosen is Universal Access & Human Right.
So let's start talking about it: there is no more room for shame or modesty;
and hence -
The Pope, Condoms and Contraception:
Last week’s comments by Pope Benedict regarding the case by case permissibility of condom use to prevent the transmission of the AIDS virus is a welcome shift in position. After some back and forth play the Vatican clarified,contrary to the hope of the conservative supporters of the condom ban, it is applicable not just to 'male prostitutes' but also to
'a woman, a man or a trans-sexual'.
Still questions linger about the extent to which religious beliefs on sexual morality should influence the Global AIDS Policy. Catholic stand against contraception and the limit of sexual intimacy to lifelong monogamous heterosexual marriages has been the major reason for the Vatican's as well as the Catholic AIDS Providers' refusal to provide condoms as part of the three- tiered AIDS Prevention Strategy known as 'ABC' (Abstain, Be faithful, Use condoms).
There is no doubt that the Pope’s consent to the use of condoms by an HIV-infected person under certain circumstances will lead to a significant loosening of the strictures attached to the prevailing condom theory, although the rapidity of the Catholic Relief Services of USA's statement that their "current policy holds : we do not purchase, distribute or promote the use of condoms" is disgusting. It must be noted that the CRS receives 75 percent of its funding from the U S Government. Regardless, some humane catholic workers are ignoring the ban and distributing condoms.
Conservative supporters of the ban on artificial contraception immediately responded to the Pope’s statement, trying to play it down. George Weigel (Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Catholic theologian and one of America's leading public intellectuals), who normally tells Catholics that all statements of the Pope should be taken very seriously is now trying to explain that an interview does not constitute a really serious statement of the church position and that it is merely a personal opinion of the Pope.
Will the Pope graciously elaborate on this? Lets us wait and see.
Thank you & enjoy the rest of your week,
Love,
Prof. Dr. Alex Abraham Odikandathil
Still questions linger about the extent to which religious beliefs on sexual morality should influence the Global AIDS Policy. Catholic stand against contraception and the limit of sexual intimacy to lifelong monogamous heterosexual marriages has been the major reason for the Vatican's as well as the Catholic AIDS Providers' refusal to provide condoms as part of the three- tiered AIDS Prevention Strategy known as 'ABC' (Abstain, Be faithful, Use condoms).
There is no doubt that the Pope’s consent to the use of condoms by an HIV-infected person under certain circumstances will lead to a significant loosening of the strictures attached to the prevailing condom theory, although the rapidity of the Catholic Relief Services of USA's statement that their "current policy holds : we do not purchase, distribute or promote the use of condoms" is disgusting. It must be noted that the CRS receives 75 percent of its funding from the U S Government. Regardless, some humane catholic workers are ignoring the ban and distributing condoms.
Conservative supporters of the ban on artificial contraception immediately responded to the Pope’s statement, trying to play it down. George Weigel (Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Catholic theologian and one of America's leading public intellectuals), who normally tells Catholics that all statements of the Pope should be taken very seriously is now trying to explain that an interview does not constitute a really serious statement of the church position and that it is merely a personal opinion of the Pope.
Will the Pope graciously elaborate on this? Lets us wait and see.
Thank you & enjoy the rest of your week,
Love,
Prof. Dr. Alex Abraham Odikandathil
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