Pope edging away from total ban on condoms
 

Thought some of you might find this interesting:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010...ay-ban-condoms

Oh I just saw this on the news and thought there will be a lot of celebratory sex tonight [or whenever he give the full 'ok']

Too right anyway.

And yet he's apparently infallible and can't be wrong.

Contradiction much.

But finally.

The best contradictions in life occur in religion.

I've had a cannon lawyer go on for an hour about how stupid the ban was in the first place.

Wait, correct me if i'm wrong... not only did he say that condoms can be used in limited circumstances, but does he then list one of those circumstances to be a male prostitute protecting a male client from getting infected with HIV?

So condoms AND homosexual relations?

O_o

Yeah, but a priest assaulting a child is an attack on the church.

QFT

I don't understand what you're getting at here Ama?

Just my own bitterness is all.

*cuddles gently* I understand that the abuse in the church was appalling naturally, I just didn't understand how the condom thing affected that issue, sorry hon.

i was wondering how long it would take this to appear.

the Pope has not u-turned, he has not changed his mind.
he said, in a very particular instance, using a condom might be a FIRST STEP towards living a more human sexuality. in the example he gave, of a male prostitute there are a number of things he is not saying:

• that condoms are the moral solution to STIs - he IS saying that their use might represent an attempt to live in a new way.
• that prostitution is ok
• that homosexual relationships are ok

as far as the Catholic Church is concerned, the solution to this male prostitute's dilemma is to stop being a male prostitute. but pastorally, we have to be aware that people don't stop doing things that easily, they're where they are for a reason, if not many reasons. what we can't do when engaging in immoral behaviour is say that it is moral. what we can do is look for God in that situation and be gently led into a new way of living.

Catholic teaching has not changed on the use of contraception or sex outside marriage. i think if it had he wouldn't have announced it in a book of interviews, but would have done the traditional thing of writing an encyclical. he is after all meant to be a very traditional man.

What I've never understood about his debate is the idea that a child born with HIV, due to their mother having it, should be condemned to live a life with out sex or children because his popeliness says condoms are evil, and she doesn't wanna spread HIV.

I don't get it

I always thought he was meant to be this god like, infallible 'can-do-no-wrong' *man*.

Man being my emphasised and highly contradictive word.

was wondering how long it'd take you to reply :-p
i love it, you're like a vegetarian in a pride of lions >_<

Oh god forbid he actually shift his prejudices. That would be truly tragic.

^ It's not just prejudice. It's ignorance.

I wonder if he's ever even tries to talk to a gay man or woman about their lives, how they live it and how they feel for the person they are with.

Nat, you know i wouldn't miss it for the world.

BUT i'm not arguing about the rights and wrongs of it. i did quite enough of defending Church views in the last thread i got involved in. i posted because i am sick to death of all the papers saying how this is a change in Church teaching and i didn't want the same rubbish spouted here.

i'm not saying the teaching on contraception could never change (i've heard there's debate over whether the pope back at the time of Humanae Vitae was speaking infallibly or not) as i don't know enough about it, just that at this point in time, it hasn't.

now we're all clear on that, please continue with your complaints.

He has changed his mind in the sense that, not so long ago he was saying that condoms provoked the spread of AIDS in Africa. Now he's saying they can help reduce the risk of infection.

Why would that make any difference?
The pope doesn't base his prejudices on how individuals feel about a certain issue. He just believes that certain things are intrinsically wrong, regardless of whether people are happy 'sinning' or not.