More than a month later, Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks about condom use
and AIDS, made in his latest book, continue to provoke commentary and
controversy.
The Vatican’s doctrine office says the Pope’s words were widely
“manipulated for ends and interests which are entirely foreign to the
meaning of his words” — resulting in “confusion” about the Church’s true
teaching on sexual morality.
But in fact the Pope did not change anything in Catholic moral
teaching or pastoral practice, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith said a note issued Dec. 21.
The 1,100-word clarification note, “On the Trivialization of
Sexuality, ” addressed remarks the Pope made in his new book-length
interview with German journalist Peter Seewald, “Light of the World”
(Ignatius Press, $22).
In the book, the Pope was asked to revisit remarks he made during his
2009 trip to Africa.
He repeated that condoms are not a “real or moral
solution” to the AIDS pandemic on the continent.
However, he suggested
that condom use, although never moral or justifiable, might be sign of
moral awakening in some people.
He cited the example of a male prostitute using a condom.
The Pope
said, “this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a
first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an
awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever
one wants.”
Pope Benedict’s words were widely reported as breaking with the
Church’s long-standing prohibitions against the use of artificial means
of birth control.
Such interpretations were “erroneous,” according to the new Vatican
statement: “The intention of the Holy Father is clear: to rediscover the
beauty of the divine gift of human sexuality and, in this way, to avoid
the cheapening of sexuality which is common today.”
The Vatican said that “anyone who reads” the Pope’s words in context
could see that the Pope was not talking about the use of condoms by
married couples, as some commentators argued.
“As is clear from an attentive reading of the pages in question, the
Holy Father was talking neither about conjugal morality nor about the
moral norm concerning contraception,” it said.
“The idea that anyone could deduce from the words of Benedict XVI
that it is somehow legitimate, in certain situations, to use condoms to
avoid an unwanted pregnancy is completely arbitrary and is in no way
justified either by his words or in his thought,” it added.
The Pope’s words instead referred to “the completely different case
of prostitution, a type of behavior which Christian morality has always
considered gravely immoral,” according to the new statement.
The statement acknowledged the role of prostitution in spreading AIDS
and said those who have AIDS and still engage in sexual activity “are
consciously putting the lives of others at risk through behavior which
has repercussions on public health.”
What the Pope said was only that “anyone who uses a condom in order
to diminish the risk posed to another person is intending to reduce the
evil connected with his or her immoral activity,” according to the
statement.
The Vatican also countered claims made widely in the media that the
Pope was teaching that condom use would be the “lesser of two evils.”
“An action which is objectively evil, even if a lesser evil, can never be licitly willed,” according
to the statement.
“The Church teaches that prostitution is immoral and should be
shunned. However, those involved in prostitution who are HIV positive
and who seek to diminish the risk of contagion by the use of a condom
may be taking the first step in respecting the life of another — even if
the evil of prostitution remains in all its gravity. This understanding
is in full conformity with the moral theological tradition of the
Church.”
The Vatican concluded that the Church’s role in the fight against
AIDS continues to be one of caring for those infected with the disease
and encouraging all men and women to “live abstinence before and
fidelity within marriage.”
Quoting from the “Light of the World,” the Vatican added: “It is also
important to condemn any behavior which cheapens sexuality because, as
the Pope says, such behavior is the reason why so many people no longer
see in sexuality an expression of their love: ‘This is why the fight
against the banalization of sexuality is also part of the struggle to
ensure that sexuality is treated as a positive value and to enable it to
have a positive effect on the whole of man’s being.’”
SIC: CNA/INT'L