News & Politics - Vatican Re-Examines Ban on Contraception

Lexis · 05-03-2006, 01:42 PM

Quote:

A Vatican study on whether it could permit condoms to battle AIDS has a very narrow scope: married Roman Catholic couples in which one partner has the virus. But its theological underpinnings are centuries old, and could lay the groundwork for an end to the church's blanket ban on contraception.

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The principle of "double effect" entered mainstream Catholic debate more than 300 years ago and draws on questions about the "lesser of two evils" raised by theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. The concepts broadly ask: Can a questionable act be morally justified when the good effect outweighs a bad consequence?

Answering the question with an empathic "yes" are scholars, health professionals and others who want a change in the Vatican's stance that abstinence is the only acceptable way to prevent the spread of AIDS. They have argued for years that condom use as a defense against HIV infection, under specific circumstances, does not contradict the Catholic ban on artificial birth control.

Some groups, including the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops Conference, have even given a tacit nod to condoms for married couples with one partner infected. The Vatican — however tentatively — now could be moving to formally recognize that position.

"It's a reality that's finally moving into a wider arena," said Sister Alison Munro, coordinator of the AIDS project for the Southern African Bishops Conference.

There's no chance the Vatican would fundamentally revise its opposition to contraception, which has been reaffirmed and reinforced since the famous 1968 encyclical "Humanae Vitae." But even the targeted discussions under way are further evidence of Pope Benedict XVI shedding the tradition-bound reputation he earned during more than two decades as the chief doctrinal watchdog for his predecessor, John Paul II.

Benedict, a widely respected theologian, has shown a willingness to re-examine church attitudes toward advances in genetic engineering and in-vitro fertilization. But none approach the sensitivity of whether to open the door — even a crack — for condoms.

"The Vatican is like a submarine. On this one, it has put up its periscope, looked around and submerged again," said the Rev. James Keenan, a moral theologian at Boston College. "It's still not clear at all what — if anything — the Vatican will eventually say on the subject."

Helen Hull Hitchcock of Women for Faith & Family, a traditionalist group based in St. Louis, predicted it could be "deeply confusing" for Catholics if the church made any concessions.

"People would say, `Now wait a minute. If it's OK for this couple to use it, why can't another couple use it,'" Hitchcock said. "We think that it would be very worrisome."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060503/...s_and_theology

I am so happy about this - the church has a lot of power in many countries and anything they could do to help lower the number of people getting STD's is a gret thing.

Although the last woman quoted in the article bothers me - so because some may find it "deeply confusing" the millions of people who could be helped by being encouraged to use condoms by the church must suffer? Makes no sense to me.

General Maximus · 05-03-2006, 02:16 PM

It's putting stipulations on something. When that happens, black and white fail to exist and there is only grey.

I agree with you, the power of the church still reachs to many corners and this move could save millions of lives.

TokyoNiGHTS · 05-03-2006, 03:02 PM

It's about time. The idea that they've been going to Africa and telling people not to use condoms despite how wide spread AIDS is over there is one of the most absurd things i've heard.


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