The Catholic Church appears to be moving to a less dogmatic position regarding the use of condoms in order to prevent HIV infection following remarks made by Reverend Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, Secretary-General of the Spanish Conference of Bishops, after a meeting on Wednesday with Spanish Health Minister, Elena Salgado. "The condom has its place in the context of the integral and global prevention of AIDS," Martinez told reporters.
It appears that a recent consensus statement in the British medical journal, The Lancet, signed by over 140 HIV/AIDS experts from 36 countries, and reported on aidsmap here, has much to do with the apparent change in policy. The Lancet statement called for an end to divisive debates over the promotion of condoms first or the promotion of the ABC (Abstain, Be faithful/reduce partners, use Condoms) approach, saying all prevention efforts have an important role to play, depending on the country, culture and whether the epidemic affects the general population or sub-groups of individuals.
"The Church is very worried and interested by this problem, and its position is backed by scientific proposals such as the one published in the prestigious magazine, The Lancet," Martinez told BBC News. "The time has come, the Lancet magazine says, for a joint strategy in the prevention of such a tragic pandemic as AIDS, and condoms have a place in a global approach to tackling AIDS," he said.
However, Martinez stressed the church's commitment to both the abstinence and fidelity parts of the ABC programme as the most important means of stopping the epidemic.
Although the EU attacked the Catholic Church last year for falsely teaching that condoms were inherently faulty, there are signs that some leaders within the resolutely anti-condom religion are becoming more pragmatic when it comes to HIV prevention.
Last year, Cardinal Godfried Daneels of Belgium, who is thought to be a leading contender for the next Pope, said that condom use could be condoned to avoid breaking one of the Ten Commandments. "When someone is HIV-infected and his partner says he wants to have sexual relations with him, I would say do not do it,” he said on Belgian TV. "But if he does it all the same, he should use a condom. Otherwise he adds a sin against the fifth commandment, 'Thou shalt not kill,' to a sin against the sixth, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.' "