Just in the news is that the Pope says it is morally justified to use condoms. Now, it isn't for just anything, but only for stopping the spread of diseases like AIDS. This is remarkable since in the past the Catholic Church would not support condom use in sub-Saharan Africa which has been enveloped by HIV.
The example given by the Pope is a male prostitute trying to reduce the spread of infections, and this is something the vicar for Christ on Earth has said previously, so the shift isn't that radical. This means that the rash of American bishops that attacked the Obama Administration for making them have to provide birth control via insurance for non-Catholic employees are not out of line with Vatican policy. No excommunications are going to happen on that front any time soon.
Nonetheless, it may be a sign that the old institution will get on with the rest of the modern world and not have to have every act of sex have to produce at least one child. It also means that, hopefully, the Church won't keep saying that condoms make the AIDS epidemic worse.
No comments:
Post a Comment