Bishops’ conference officials will investigate reports that a Catholic priest in Cebu has been handing out condoms to sex workers. An online report in Earth Times said that Father Heinz Kulueke of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) has been distributing condoms for past eight years.
It said the 53-year-old German priest started his campaign after encountering young girls working as prostitutes outside the university where he teaches philosophy.
The Catholic Church allows only natural family planning methods.
“Definitely (condoms) are not allowed,” said Father Melvin Castro, executive director of the Catholic Bishops’ Commission on Family and Life told ucanews.com in Manila.
“We respectfully and strongly disagree that you protect women from the disease,” by giving out condoms, he added.
Father Castro said he will call the attention of the archdiocese about the report and check with Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.
“It’s very wrong. Instead of helping the women, we push them into a worse situation,” the priest said.
Father Castro said the “deeper problem” is prostitution.
“If you give out contraceptives, you just tolerate the situation. We tolerate something very immoral and we are even giving them a false sense of security,” he said.
Father Kulueke also reportedly works with street children in the hope of keeping them away from the “flesh trade.”
Staff of the SVD provincial office in Cebu told ucanews.com Father Kulueke was unavailable for comment.
The priest’s profile on the University of San Carlos (USC) website describes him as “a mystic who thinks a lot about nothing… however not someone who does nothing.”
“This German priest-philosopher brings lofty ideas about God down to the streets, helping waifs and prostituted women,” the profile states.
The Earth Times report quoted Kulueke as saying the situation on the ground calls for a different approach.
“Many girls get infected with sexually transmitted diseases or HIV/AIDS,” he was reported to have told the German Press Agency.
“There are also numerous forced abortions after unwanted pregnancies leading to death in several cases,” he added.
Father Kulueke has been serving as SVD Southern Province provincial since 2005.
SIC: CTHIND