By Gudrun Schultz
VATICAN CITY, May 5, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, said the Catholic Church would not change its position on the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, reported the Catholic News Agency this morning.
In an interview with Columbia’s Radio Cadena Nacional, Cardinal Trujillo said the Vatican “maintains unmodified the teaching on condoms” and said Pope Benedict XVI has not called for any studies on altering the prohibition against condom use.
“As a dicastery we do not have any instruction or any indication to the contrary, to carry out a study about something new with regards to condoms,” he said.
Retired Italian Cardinal Maria Martini, known for his liberal opinions on social issues, commented last month that condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS was “the lesser evil.”
Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, head of the Pontifical Council for Health Care, created further confusion by announcing the Pope had commissioned a study on the issue, saying, “My council is studying this attentively with scientists and theologians expressly charged with preparing a document on the subject, which will be made public soon.”
“It was Pope Benedict who asked us to make a study on this particular aspect of the use of condoms by those with AIDS and other infectious diseases.”
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The comments stirred an enthusiastic media response, with international headlines proclaiming the Vatican was considering lifting the condom ban.
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Cardinal Barragán responded quickly by stating that he was only producing an internal study for Vatican authorities and had no authority to produce an official pronouncement on the issue.
A vocal supporter of the Church’s teaching on contraception, Cardinal Trujillo said the recent statements by retired Italian Cardinal Maria Martini “are nothing more than his own personal opinions which do not reflect [Church] teaching.” He said Cardinal Martini “should explain how the condom prevents AIDS if it is true he said it is a lesser evil.”
Cardinal Trujillo said the Church believes the only way to truly combat AIDS is through fidelity and chastity, which are the only morally acceptable means. Contraception damages the integrity of the full gift of self, which is intrinsic to the sexual act.
See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:
Vatican Cardinal on Condoms: Error in Reporting, I Don’t Have the Authority to Produce a Document
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/apr/06042610.html
Pro-Abortion ‘Catholics’ Applaud Cardinal Martini and Talk of Vatican Altering Condom Stand
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/apr/06042501.html
Reports of Vatican ‘U-Turn’ On Condoms Prove False
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/sep/000919a.html
Controversial Retired Cardinal Martini Calls Legal Abortion “Positive”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/apr/06042108.html