ANOTHER CARDINAL SPEAKS OUT IN SUPPORT OF CONDOMS FOR HIV/AIDS PREVENTION
August 27, 2004

 

In a wide-ranging interview with The Independent, a London-based daily newspaper, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor has articulated his support for a more progressive position on condoms to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS (“More Tea, Cardinal?” 7/26).

When asked about the use of condoms in Africa to protect against HIV infection and death, the Cardinal responded:

"First, I'd say that it's right for the Church to preach chastity, that sexual intercourse is for within marriage. But God knows, people just do not live up to ideals. While we can say that, objectively, the use of condoms is wrong, there are places where it might be licit, or allowable, as when there's a danger of intercourse leading to death. It would be wrong to take a special case and make it a universal law. There is such a thing as objective morality, where things are either right or wrong; but there are also subjective matters that affect whether a thing is slightly wrong or not wrong at all. That's what we're talking about in this case. So I would agree with Cardinal Danneels's position."

Earlier this year, Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Belgium told the Roman Catholic television program Kruispunt in the Netherlands that if any HIV-positive person who decides not to abstain and has sex without using a condom, they would be sinning against the fifth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” Recently, Cardinal Danneels has remarked, “For one who does not want or cannot follow this path [of chastity and faithfulness] and who opts to engage in unsafe sexual behavior, it is morally justifiable to use a condom. Indeed it is never permissible to transmit death. On the matter, one may invoke the principle of lesser evil. Other cardinals and bishops all over the world share this perspective.”

Condoms4Life, an independent progressive campaign developed by Catholics for a Free Choice, seeks to reach out to Catholics, especially young Catholics, who are at risk of transmitting or becoming infected by HIV/AIDS. The campaign provides information about Catholic support for condom-use (www.condoms4life.org). As Catholics, we work in an incredibly hostile environment in which the leaders in our church have condemned condom use and actively spread false, unscientific information about the effectiveness of condoms in the battle against HIV. At international forums such as the United Nations, representatives of the Holy See have consistently used their privileged position to speak against family planning and the supply of condoms to the developing world.

Part of the Condoms4life campaign's strategy is to engage Catholic leaders and opinion leaders in the debate about whether or not it is morally acceptable to use condoms for HIV/AIDS prevention. We acknowledge and applaud when bishops, nuns and priests challenge the ban on condoms. We welcome these voices into the dialogue about condoms’ life-saving potential in the fight against AIDS. It is important to recognize that the more people take a stand in our church the less effective misinformation campaigns will be.

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor’s remarks represent a courageous stand for the health and dignity of the person. In a conversation that covered everything from his own ancestry to the expansion of the Catholic church into Africa, the Far East, and Latin America, the cardinal offered a frank and at times provocative assessment of the Catholic church, its exercise of power, and the issues it faces in the modern world. “When we get a bad press, there's a useful Latin tag to remember, Ecclesia semper reformanda est - the church must always be reforming,” offered the Cardinal.

Hopefully, the cardinal’s stand, along with that of Cardinal Danneels and Bishop Kevin Dowling of South Africa (another member of the Catholic hierarchy who has demonstrated understanding of the importance of condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS), represents a step in the right direction for the hierarchy of the Catholic church in the battle against HIV/AIDS.