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Opinion

Could Catholics get condom sense?

Justin Vann
The Daily Cougar

When Archbishop Basil Casmoussa of the Roman Catholic Church was suddenly kidnapped Monday in the Iraqi city of Mosul and then released a day later, Catholics (and terrorists) the world over breathed a sigh of relief. From that incident, I would have said the Catholic Church was having a bad week. 

Little did I know how right I was.

The same day Casmoussa was released, Bishop Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, the spokesperson for the Spanish Bishop Conference, made the following statement: "Condoms have a place in the global prevention of AIDS."

The statement was made after a meeting between Martinez and the Spanish Health Minister Elena Salgado over the means of combating the AIDS pandemic. As you can imagine, this endorsement took Spain by surprise, as the Vatican explicitly condemns the use of birth control. Regardless, in mere hours the quote was on the front page of almost every Spanish newspaper. Progressives and gay rights groups were applauding the shift as an "attack of lucidity."

However, the applause was short lived. Wednesday, a church hierarchy statement was quick to point out that Martinez's endorsement wasn't actually an endorsement. The statement said Martinez's words "have to be understood in the context of the Catholic doctrine that maintains that the use of condoms implies immoral sexual conduct." 

The statement did agree that "condoms have a place ... (in the) overall technical plan to prevent AIDS." But it also reiterated that "the only safe way" to avoid AIDS is abstinence. Thus, "In accord with these principles, it is not possible to advise using condoms, because they are contrary to the morals of people," so sayeth the hierarchy.

As much as I'd love to make a joke to the effect of "God flip-flops too," I have to thank Father Martinez for this microscopically small progression towards a realistic view on AIDS prevention. I have to thumb my nose at the Spanish church hierarchy, though, for straddling an issue more skillfully than John Kerry ever could have.

I don't think it's necessary for me to cite the wealth of information correlating condom use with effective prevention of AIDS. Show me a statistic where AIDS increased from the introduction of condoms, and I'll show you a flawed and unrepresentative study. 

I say this because I can already hear the religious right droning on about how condoms encourage sex and so forth. When used properly, condoms prevent transmission of AIDS, end of story. However, it is expensive and thus sometimes unfeasible to provide both condoms and thorough instruction on how to use them, a factor many studies overlook.

But let's do the math here: AIDS has killed more people worldwide than the Black Death. The human life "lost" from birth control can't exactly trump the damage AIDS has done and will do if left unchecked (fun fact: there still isn't a cure!). From a utilitarian perspective, distribution of condoms is a no-brainer. Until now, the Catholic Church's perspective on the matter seemed to be closer to letting the sinners kill themselves off. At the very least, Martinez's words show that the church has begun thinking critically about the issue of condom use.

In the end, even if the church is "flip-flopping" on the issue on condom use, that's still a significant progression from their prior steadfast opposition to it. While this tiny shift in ideology is isolated to Spain, it doesn't have to be. 

Be vocal about it in your religious community if you disagree with your church's stance on AIDS prevention and safe sex. But more importantly, if you are going to have sex, practice safe sex. Condoms and a wealth of information are available at the University Health Center. 

Be safe, and remember Dante's curse: "The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who, in times of moral crisis, preserved their neutrality."
 

Send comments to dccampus@mail.uh.edu