Fr Enda McDonagh spoke in favour of this approach and joined a number of distinguished Catholics including the late French Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger and Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels, who claim that the use of condoms to halt the spread of HIV is licit.
Others hold that the Church is opposed to the use of artificial contraception, even for disease prevention.
Fr McDonagh, a retired professor of moral theology at Maynooth seminary, was speaking ahead of an HIV/Aids conference hosted by the Catholic development agency, Trócaire, to mark World Aids Day on 1 December.
He told The Tablet he was "willing to say what needs to be said without fear".