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Pope contradicted on condom policy

A Portuguese bishop has said that people with Aids have to use condoms to prevent the the disease spreading, which contradicts Pope Benedict's stance – he said the distribution of condoms could endanger public health. By Pat Holland - 30/03/09

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Porto Manuel Clemente (pictured), speaking to journalists, said condoms in such cases are “not only recommendable, they can be ethically obligatory”.

The Pope, on the other hand, was on a trip to Africa last month when he told the press, “You can’t solve (the Aids crisis) with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, it increases the problem.”

The Vatican Church maintains that Aids must be controlled by changing people’s attitudes and behaviour.

“The great solution to the Aids problem, like any other problem, has to be behavioural,” the Bishop said.

However, Aids sufferers “have a moral obligation to prevent and not provoke the illness,” he said at the unveiling of a monument yesterday in the port city.

Bishop Clemente is not the first Portuguese cleric to contradict Pope Benedict XVI. Armed Forces bishop Januario Torgal Ferreira said last week that banning the use of condoms was tantamount to consenting to the death of many people.

He said the people giving the pope advice “should be more learned”.

The pope’s comments on condoms have been heavily critised by the governments of France, Germany and the UN agency which tackles aids.