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.

These are the words of the Rev John Wauck, Professor of Literature at the Pontifical Santa Croce University in Rome. His comment was publishedÂ after the Vatican lashed out at critics this week, saying that they were trying to “intimidate” Ratzinger into silence regarding condom use in the battle against AIDS.



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.

Wauck insisted that 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.Am I right in thinking that Wauck was cynically suggesting that AIDs is a recruitment opportunity for the Church in countries ravaged by the disease? If so, it must rate it as one of the most of the most offensive views ever expressed by the Vatican regarding this issue.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 last Wednesday, prompting the Vatican Secretariat to issue its tough statement denouncing the Belgian vote. The Vatican said it deplored:

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.

According to this report, the Vatican said the criticism of the pontiff had been 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.

Said a Vatican spokesman, the Rev Federico Lombardi:

The Vatican is responding to this protest in a measured and balanced way, but also firmly and clearly. 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,Â passed on April 2, said Benedict’s comments ran against numerous international declarations and actions taken by the UN and groups fighting AIDS and other transmittable diseases. It called the remarks “unacceptable” and said the Belgian government didn’t share them.

The Pope’s views on condoms were parroted in an Easter message by Australia’s Cardinal George Pell. His “dangerous” and “irresponsible” words were immediately attacked by Professor Mike Toole, head of the Centre for International Health at the Burnet Institute, and Professor Rob Moodie, chair of global health at the University of Melbourne’s Nossal Institute.

In an article in The Age, they wrote:

George Pell’s Easter message that condoms have contributed to Africa’s AIDS problem by encouraging promiscuity is not consistent with the evidence, and is dangerous.

In linking religion to effective HIV prevention, Pell might look at Papua New Guinea, where in the last census 96 per cent of households reported being Christian. With two per cent of adults infected, PNG has the most severe HIV epidemic in the Asia Pacific region.

They added: