Trojan Condoms

The Catholic Church has always taken its stand on saving oneself for marriage and/or being faithful in one, and any means or use of contraception for any reason has always been frowned upon.

Though bishops and priests have taken stands to allow the use of condoms, not as a method of conception, but as a means to combat diseases, such as AIDS, the Vatican has remained faithful to its teachings of fighting diseases with other resources. With AIDS still on the loose, without a cure in sight and numbers of infections increasing- all Catholic priests are faced with a dilemma on whether to stick with tradition (abstinence until marriage, and being faithful to one’s spouse when married) or listen to modern society and support the use of condoms for disease prevention. Ever increasingly, leaders of the Catholic Church are now advocating the use of condoms to prevent the spread of disease. When will the rest come around?

For year end 2007, the number of people living with HIV has risen from 8 million in 1990 to more than 33 million today, and the numbers are growing. Around 69% of people living in the world with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa. Statistics also show that in Africa, particularly Uganda, the rate of increase in HIV has actually DECLINED with the use of condoms! At a tiny clinic in an Ugandan suburb run by Dr. Henry Katamba, women wait for antenatal advice and Aids testing. They are given explanations of HIV and three options: A, B or C. That’s (A) Abstain from sex, (B)Be faithful or (C) use a Condom. That’s what their government used to say - and everyone understood. Under this previous “balanced” strategy, condom distribution grew from four million a year to 118 million. Thanks to the abstinence message, teenagers lost their virginity about 18 months later than before. People with multiple partners realized changed their behaviors. In 1992, one in five Ugandans had Aids. By 2001 that number dropped to one in 20.
The “balanced” strategy made a big difference in this single country. Why does the Catholic Church insist on condemning the use of condoms. The Church is known to have made changes to its traditions in the past. Just recently, The Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI would issue a new prayer for the Jews to replace that in the Missal of Blessed John XXIII (1962). The Church has changed its position on unbaptized babies being condemned to eternity in limbo. Why can’t the Church consider saving life by disease prevention and making the world a safer and healthier place. Please show your support with this petition as we will be sending it direct to the Vatican.