MADRID, January 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An ambiguous statement from the representative of the Spanish Catholic bishops has left the world wondering if the Catholic Church in Spain now officially endorses the use of condoms for AIDS prevention.
Fr. Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, Secretary General of the Spanish bishops, after a meeting Tuesday with Minister of Health, Elena Salgado, told reporters that on the one hand that the bishops “do not accept the use of condoms,” but then said that “condoms have their place in the integral and global prevention of AIDS.” The statement, which is being applauded by the Church’s traditional antagonists on the left and among homosexual activists, has left Catholic observers puzzled and alarmed.
While Reuters carried the headline, “Spain’s Catholic Church backs condoms to fight AIDS,” the more cautious Spanish media said that the Spanish bishops are ‘softening their rejection of condoms.”
Fr. Martinez Camino said the bishops endorse the so-called “ABC” approach to AIDS prevention. The policy was first proposed in an article in the Lancet called “ABC – abstain, be faithful, use a condom,” and has been adopted by the official development agency of the English bishops, Catholic Aid or Overseas Development, (CAFOD). The English bishops issued a letter saying that they adhered to the traditional Catholic doctrine but declined to correct CAFOD who still maintain the policy.
The ABC approach proposes to be a compromise allowing the traditional Catholic teaching of chastity but suggests the use of condoms if that ‘ideal’ is found to be impossible. This rationalization has been unequivocally rejected by numerous Vatican documents.
Some groups have proposed the ABC approach as a way to bridge the conflict between Catholic groups and secular agencies such as the UNFPA who are dedicated to the condom ideology. “The time has come, the Lancet magazine says, for a joint strategy in the prevention of such a tragic pandemic as AIDS, and contraception has a place in a global approach to tackling AIDS,” Martinez Camino said.
One popular Catholic columnist at Catholic World Report going by the nom de plume, “Diogenes,” said of the ABC approach, “It’s hard to see how two morally praiseworthy actions (abstinence and fidelity) and one mortally sinful utilitarian expedient can constitute a common ground that includes Catholics.”
With files from Catholic World News.