It's A Wrap

Next time you reach for that pack of Trojans, just remember the pope is somewhere shaking his head at you in disapproval.

You may have heard Pope Benedict XVI, on a recent trip to Cameroon, told reporters on his plane that when it came to the AIDS crisis, "You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, it increases the problem."

That statement was rather ironic, considering he was making a goodwill trip to sub-Saharan Africa, where three-quarters of all AIDS deaths worldwide in 2007 occurred. The region is also where some 22 million people are infected with HIV — accounting for two-thirds of the world's infections, according to UNAIDS.

At the risk of not being invited to the next party thrown by one of my Catholic friends, I think the pope’s message is downright dangerous and he deserves all the condemnation he’s been getting and will get. France and the United Nations are only two entities that have been critical of the pope’s statement over the past week.

And I side with them. How does using something that has been proven to reduce transmission of the HIV virus increase the problem? It appears His Not-So-Excellency is using his ideology as a blunt force instrument. I get that as a strict Catholic, he frowns on premarital sex, birth control, and such. But when you have a health crisis, pragmatism — not religious dogma — needs to be in the driver’s seat.

Senior Vatican officials have advocated fidelity in marriage and abstinence from premarital sex as key weapons in the fight against AIDS. Fine. But don’t also exclude and condemn something that is a proven measure to prevent HIV infections. If the pope is serious about HIV, he should focus on promoting wide access to condoms and spreading information on how to use them. Like with any major dilemma, there needs to be a multi-faceted approach.

The pope’s message reminds me of the Bush administration officials and conservative forces who pushed for abstinence-only sex education in schools. In their world, everything would be perfect if we were all heterosexual, got married at 25, and only then proceeded to have sex. Well, the world isn’t – and never really has been – like that. Even those who go to mass and church service regularly have sex outside of marriage regularly. Are we going to let a religious ideal be the guiding light in getting through this?

The facts don’t support the abstinence-only supporters. Study after study has found abstinence-only efforts are not effective in fully educating young adults, reducing teen birth rates, or slowing the spread of STDs. In fact, a news article I read found that polls suggest a vast majority of parents want comprehensive sex education, which would include an abstinence component.

Even some priests and nuns working with those infected with the AIDS virus question the church's opposition to condoms amid the pandemic ravaging Africa. So do ordinary Africans.

My fear is that regardless of what some may feel about the pope and the Vatican as a whole, the words of Pope Benedict XVI carry a lot of weight and influence. Africa, for example, is the fastest-growing region for the Catholic Church. It’s not ridiculous to assume that some followers will take the pope’s words at face values and not use condoms, to the detriment of their health and others.

The pope also said last week he intends to make an appeal for "international solidarity" for Africa in the face of the global economic downturn. He said while the church does not propose specific economic solutions, it can give "spiritual and moral" suggestions.

Well, the condom thing is one suggestion that needs to be shelved. Forever.