VATICAN SLAMS REACTION TO POPE CONDOM REMARKS/ASIA: DEBATES REIGNITES
MANILA, NOVEMBER 22, 2010 (STAR) (AP) – Critics of the Catholic Church's social teachings are trying to intimidate Pope Benedict XVI into silence, the Vatican charged Friday in responding to attacks on the pontiff's remarks about AIDS and condom use.
In a strongly worded statement, the Vatican defended the pope's view that condoms aren't the answer to Africa's AIDS epidemic and could make it worse. On his way to Africa last month, he said the best strategy is the church's effort to promote sexual responsibility through abstinence and monogamy.
France, Germany, the United Nations' AIDS-fighting agency and the British medical journal The Lancet called the remarks irresponsible and dangerous. The Belgian parliament passed a resolution calling them "unacceptable" and demanded Belgium's government officially protest.
Belgium's ambassador to the Holy See lodged the formal protest Wednesday, prompting the Vatican Secretariat to issue its tough statement denouncing the Belgian vote.
The Vatican deplored "the fact that a parliamentary assembly should have thought it appropriate to criticize the Holy Father on the basis of an isolated extract from an interview, separated from its context."
It said Benedict's remarks to reporters had been "used by some groups with a clear intent to intimidate, as if to dissuade the pope from expressing himself on certain themes of obvious moral relevance and from teaching the church's doctrine."
The Vatican said the criticism of the pontiff was followed by an "unprecedented media campaign" in Europe extolling the value of condoms in fighting AIDS while ignoring Benedict's message about the need for responsible sexuality and to care for those suffering from AIDS.
The statement was the latest sign of the Vatican's increasing defensiveness and frustration as it tries to get Benedict's message out. It follows a maelstrom of criticism — including from within the church itself — after the pope lifted the excommunication of a bishop who denied the Holocaust.
Vatican officials said they acted so forcefully this time because the Belgian criticism required a formal, diplomatic response.
"The Vatican is responding to this protest in a measured and balanced way, but also firmly and clearly," said a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi. "We are making it clear that the pope and the church won't be intimidated by these criticisms or by media campaigns and will continue to staunchly support Catholic positions on moral issues."
The Belgian resolution, which passed April 2, said Benedict's comments ran against numerous international declarations and actions taken by the U.N. and groups fighting AIDS and other transmittable diseases. It called the remarks "unacceptable" and said the Belgian government didn't share them.
The Rev. John Wauck, professor of literature at the Pontifical Santa Croce University in Rome, said the Vatican's response was diplomatically appropriate and was actually restrained in that it didn't highlight the enormous work that the Catholic Church undertakes in caring for AIDS sufferers.
"Sending a package of prophylactics signifies a lot less in terms of self-giving in comparison to someone who has left their country and dedicates their lives to caring for people sick with AIDS," Wauck said.
He noted much of the criticism came not from Africa but from the West. Africans "weren't up in arms about what the pope was saying. The people who were up in arms are in Brussels," he said.
The Roman Catholic Church opposes the use of condoms as part of its overall teaching against contraception. It advocates sexual abstinence and sexual faithfulness between husband and wife as the best ways to combat the spread of HIV.
While some churchmen have said condoms are a "lesser evil" in combatting the spread of AIDS, others say condoms can increase the scourge by providing a false sense of security.
The Vatican said it was consoled that Africans and some members of the scientific community had appreciated the pontiff's remarks.
The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, ran an article Friday summarizing reports in mainstream Western newspapers quoting experts who have questioned the efficacy of condoms alone in fighting AIDS.
Wauck cited those reports in saying the criticism of the pope was scientifically uninformed.
"I don't think it necessarily comes from hostility, but what you got was very instinctive reactions based on presuppositions that turn out not to be the case," he said.
Catholics debate pope's condom remarks (philstar.com) Updated November 22, 2010 12:00 AM Comments (0)
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Some church members in Southeast Asia's largest Roman Catholic nation praised Pope Benedict XVI for saying condom use might be justified in some cases, though Filipino bishops stressed Sunday the church leader still opposes contraceptives.
Speaking to a German journalist whose book was excerpted in a Vatican newspaper Saturday, the pontiff reiterated that condoms are not a moral solution for stopping AIDS. But he added that in some cases, such as for male prostitutes, their use could represent a first step in assuming moral responsibility "in the intention of reducing the risk of infection."
While the Roman Catholic Church's ban on artificial contraception was not in question, Benedict's stunning remarks could re-ignite debate on contraceptive use in places like the Philippines, where the issue has recently pitted the new president against the influential Catholic church.
"If a condom is used as a contraceptive, certainly it will be condemned by the church," the Rev. Deogracias Yniguez of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines told The Associated Press. "But to use it to avoid a disease in specific circumstances, the church can take another mindset."
Such rare cases, however, should be spelled out by church leaders now that the pontiff has apparently cited an example, he said, adding that he had not yet read the pope's full remarks.
Shay Cullen, a Columban missionary who has helped sexually abused children in the Philippines, praised what he said was a crucial change in the pope's stand.
"We welcome the pope's change of opinion because it is meant to save life and to protect people," Cullen said. "We see here an enlightened pope putting his concern over human life as a priority first."
Businessman George Gueco said the pope's remarks did not amount to any change in the Catholic church's long-standing stance against contraceptives, a position he strongly backs.
"There may be extreme, extreme exemptions for the church to allow its use," Gueco said. "I'm thinking hard, but I can't think of any right now."
Housewife Benita Vitualla, 72, expressed relief at the pope's flexibility, which she said could help people deal with problems like sexually transmitted diseases and surging populations.
"The pope has become more practical; he knows what's happening to the world," said Vitualla, who wore rosaries around her neck.
"There are contagious diseases and very high population growth that need to be controlled," she said.
Public debate over condom use has simmered in the predominantly Catholic Philippines since President Benigno Aquino III recently expressed support for the right to contraception. A church official has threatened to launch civil disobedience protests.
Aiming to avoid a head-on collision with the Roman Catholic Church, Aquino met Catholic bishops last month and explained that he was leaving it to Filipino couples to choose family planning options, including artificial birth control.
----------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright, 2010 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
----------------------------------------------------------
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------
