THE USE of condoms remains a sin in the eyes of Pope Benedict. But in the hierarchy of sins their use “in the intention of reducing the risk of infection”, specifically Aids, may nevertheless, though unacceptable, be a preferable lesser evil. In that context it may be seen, Benedict argues, as a welcome expression of a step by the sexually active in the direction of a more moral approach to sex.

The Pope’s comments to German Catholic journalist Peter Seewald for his book Light of the Worldwere clearly no slip of the tongue – the proofs were seen and cleared by Benedict. They represent a welcome, though as yet very limited revision of Catholic teaching – an evolution rather than a U-turn, is the Vatican spin – in an area where the church has been subject rightly to strong criticism for obstructing the campaign in Africa against Aids which yearly claims 1.5 million lives. Benedict is understood to have been stung by the vehemence of worldwide reaction to his comments on a trip to Africa in 2009 when he told the reporters the use of condoms “aggravates” the spread of Aids.

Speaking to Seewald only of a male prostitute’s decision to use a condom to protect his sexual partner, the Pope insists that the church “does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this case, there can nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, be a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality”.

But, though his intention was certainly to narrowly circumscribe the moral use of condoms, the Pope’s reasoning opens the door to much wider and more permissive interpretations of church teaching.

For the church Humanae Vitae, the 1968 encyclical banning artificial birth control, remains in place. The purpose of sex remains procreation, and its essential life-affirming character is demeaned through sex that is purely recreational. And yet, if what matters morally is the “intention” of the condom user to make the act safe, the distinction between gay and heterosexual sex, or between married and unmarried sex, is not central to whether it is morally preferable to use a condom rather than not to do so. Mutatis mutandis, if young people are going to engage in recreational sex, better that they do so protected.

The Pope’s words hint at the possibility of an ethical value system based more on life as it is lived, rather than a more traditional counsel of perfection. In doing so he also crosses an important philosophical milestone.