Vatican preparing document on condom use and AIDS, official says

Published: 2006-04-24

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has asked a commission of scientific and theological experts to prepare a document on condom use and AIDS prevention, a Vatican official said. Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, said the document would focus, at least in part, on condom use by married couples when one spouse is infected. He said the document would be made public soon, but refused to give details about the commission's conclusions. Cardinal Lozano was responding to questions in the wake of an interview by Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, retired archbishop of Milan, who said use of condoms can be the lesser evil in some situations. Cardinal Lozano spoke in an interview April 23 with the Rome newspaper La Repubblica. He was asked specifically about use of condoms by married couples seeking to prevent transmission of AIDS. "It's a very difficult and delicate theme that requires prudence," Cardinal Lozano said. "My council is studying this attentively with scientists and theologians expressly charged with preparing a document on the subject, which will be made public soon," he said.

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