Censorship Rears its Ugly Head in Spain

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             Contact: Adrianne Burke
July 12, 2011                                                              (202) 986-6093

Publimedia, an advertising company based in Madrid, Spain, has announced that it has rejected the Condoms4Life advertisements that had been booked to run on the Madrid transport system during this year’s Catholic World Youth Day. Catholics for Choice, the organization responsible for the campaign, prepared the ads to thank the pope for acknowledging that condoms save lives, as well as to raise awareness about the importance of condom usage as a means of preventing the transmission of HIV.

Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, said,

“The decision to ban the Condoms4Life ads on Madrid’s transport system raises some very disturbing questions about the freedom of speech and expression in Spain. This advertising campaign has been run—and welcomed—around the world in places as diverse as Mexico and the Philippines, South Africa, Kenya, Chile, Germany, the United States, Zimbabwe and Canada.

“The ad space was booked in Madrid to greet those who are attending World Youth Day in August. Since 1985, when Pope John Paul II first celebrated the International Youth Jubilee in Rome, World Youth Day has been celebrated every few years as a way for Catholic youth to come together and connect through their Catholic faith with young people from many different countries. Each celebration culminates with a Papal Mass and includes a variety of cultural and faith-related activities in the host city. At previous World Youth Day jamborees in Cologne, Germany, and Toronto, Canada, similar Condoms4Life ads appeared on billboards and in subway stations. There was no controversy. What is different about Madrid?

“At this stage it is not clear whether the municipal authority in Madrid vetoed the ads or whether it was Cemusa, the local billboard and bus shelter company. In either case, it appears that pressure has been applied to ensure these advertisements don’t run. Whether that pressure came from the church hierarchy, conservative politicians or other forces, it is an outrageous infringement on free speech.

“It’s absolutely ludicrous to claim that these ads are offensive. As a result of this arbitrary decision, the young people coming to World Youth Day will not get the opportunity to make up their own minds about whether these ads are appropriate and present an important message. We certainly think they do. This is an international meeting where hundreds of thousands of young people can get the message that using condoms can save lives.

“As Catholics, we were supporting Pope Benedict’s claim that condoms can save lives. This was a major breakthrough in the hierarchy’s position on the use of condoms. How can it be offensive for Catholics to support the position of the pope?”

See the images here.

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Condoms4Life is an unprecedented worldwide public education effort to raise public awareness about the devastating effect of the bishops’ ban on condoms. The campaign was launched at World AIDS Day 2001 with billboards and ads in subways and newspapers saying, “Banning Condoms Kills.” According to its own figures, the Catholic church provides as much as one quarter of all care to people living with HIV and AIDS. Despite the pope’s remarks recognizing the value of condoms in the fight against HIV transmission, a few vocal, ultraconservative members of the Catholic hierarchy have tried to rewrite the pope’s words, and with them the truth about condom use by Catholics and in healthcare delivery by Catholic organizations across the globe. With this new ad campaign Catholics for Choice stands by the pope’s statements on condoms as a method that saves lives.

Catholics for Choice shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to women’s well being and respect and affirm the capacity of women and men to make moral decisions about their lives.