Vatican Reaffirms: Pope Never Legitimized Use of Condoms

LifeSiteNews has posted an excellent article on the Vatican’s statement regarding the Pope’s recent comments on condoms:

Vatican Reaffirms: Pope Never Legitimized Use of Condoms

In a statement issued today, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, an office the pope himself headed for 24 years, has said that following the release of certain sections of the new interview book “Light of the World” “a number of erroneous interpretations have emerged.”

These have “caused confusion concerning the position of the Catholic Church regarding certain questions of sexual morality.”

“The idea that anyone could deduce from the words of Benedict XVI that it is somehow legitimate, in certain situations, to use condoms to avoid an unwanted pregnancy is completely arbitrary and is in no way justified either by his words or in his thought,” said the statement.

Instead, the pope was recommending “humanly and ethically acceptable ways of behaving which respect the inseparable connection between the unitive and procreative meaning” of natural sex between spouses.

Condom Controversy

With all the controversy in the media and the “taking out of context” of Pope Benedict’s comments about condoms, Dr. Janet E. Smith’s excellent commentary will hopefully give clarification to those who mistakenly think that the Pope is giving “permission” to use condoms:

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=220:pope-benedict-on-condoms-in-qlight-of-the-worldq&catid=53:cwr2010&Itemid=70

Here is a short excerpt:

“Is Pope Benedict indicating that heterosexuals who have HIV could reduce the wrongness of their acts by using condoms? No. In his second answer he says that the Church does not find condoms to be a “real or moral solution.” That means the Church does not find condoms either to be moral or an effective way of fighting the transmission of HIV. As the Holy Father indicates in his fuller answer, the most effective portion of programs designed to reduce the transmission of HIV are calls to abstinence and fidelity.

The Holy Father, again, is saying that the intention to reduce the transmission of any infection is a “first step” in a movement towards a more human way of living sexuality. That more human way would be to do nothing that threatens to harm one’s sexual partner, who should be one’s beloved spouse. For an individual with HIV to have sexual intercourse with or without a condom is to risk transmitting a lethal disease.

An analogy: If someone was going to rob a bank and was determined to use a gun, it would better for that person to use a gun that had no bullets in it. It would reduce the likelihood of fatal injuries. But it is not the task of the Church to instruct potential bank robbers how to rob banks more safely and certainly not the task of the Church to support programs of providing potential bank robbers with guns that could not use bullets. Nonetheless, the intent of a bank robber to rob a bank in a way that is safer for the employees and customers of the bank may indicate an element of moral responsibility that could be a step towards eventual understanding of the immorality of bank robbing.”