What the Pope really said about AIDS and condoms

Aboard the papal plane, Mar 18, 2009 / 11:35 am (CNA).- Yesterday the international media played host to a raft of experts railing against Pope Benedict’s brief words on the use of condoms in the fight against AIDS. However, the incident was the result of the Pope’s words being pulled from his defense of the Church’s personalistic approach to the AIDS crisis.

The vast majority of the Pope’s words were dedicated to explaining how the best response to AIDS is to promote a spiritual and human renewal of people’s understanding of sexuality and to be willing to live true sacrificial friendships with those who suffer from AIDS.

A full transcript of the exchange follows.

A journalist from French state TV asked Pope Benedict:

“Holy Father among the many evils that affect Africa there is also the particular problem of the the spread of AIDS. The position of the Catholic Church for fighting this evil is frequently considered unrealistic and ineffective.

“Will you address this issue during your trip? Holy Father, could you please respond in French to this question?” he asked.

Although the Pope responded to a previous question from the French newspaper La Croix in French, he gave this in-depth answer in Italian.  

“I would say the opposite.”

"It is my belief that the most effective presence on the front in the battle against HIV/AIDS is precisely the Catholic Church and her institutions. I think of the Community of Sant’ Egidio, which does so much, visibly and invisibly to fight AIDS, of the Camillians, of all the nuns that are at the service of the sick.

“I would say that this problem of AIDS cannot be overcome with advertising slogans. If the soul is lacking, if Africans do not help one another, the scourge cannot be resolved by distributing condoms; quite the contrary, we risk worsening the problem. The solution can only come through a twofold commitment: firstly, the humanization of sexuality, in other words a spiritual and human renewal bringing a new way of behaving towards one another; and secondly, true friendship, above all with those who are suffering, a readiness - even through personal sacrifice - to be present with those who suffer. And these are the factors that help and bring visible progress.

“Therefore, I would say that our double effort is to renew the human person internally, to give spiritual and human strength to a way of behaving that is just towards our own body and the other person’s body; and this capacity of suffering with those who suffer, to remain present in trying situations.

“I believe that this is the first response [to AIDS] and that this is what the Church does, and thus, she offers a great and important contribution. And we are grateful to those that do this.”

Copyright @ CNA
(www.catholicnewsagency.com)

The secular press and modern media don't get it.  They promote and proliferate the SOUND-BYTE where everything can be reduced to a slogan. I call it Salada Tea Bag morality as it is based on pedestrian wisdom and popular sayings. There is no grounding in the Natural Moral Law, however. Reason is avoided like the plague so sentimentality and emotionalism can prevail, no matter how devastating and pronounced the bitter consequences.  Condoms are not the panacea as erroneously proposed by the secular humanists of today. Pope Benedict XVI aptly points out that slogans will not cure or prevent AIDS. Re-humanizing sexuality AND human solidarity are the means by which this horrible ailment will be overcome. Sex has become another commodity and perceived as an innate and absolute right. It is not. It is a divine gift by which human beings differentiate themselves from the animal kingdom. Sex is a holy and sacred act when done by the right persons for the right reason. It is the sign and sealing of the covenant between a MAN and WOMAN who have become HUSBAND and WIFE. That faithful, permanenent and God-willing fruitful union is a sign of the covenant between Christ and His Church.

When the Hebrews were unfaithful to God by engaging in idolatry, especially Baal worship, it was tantamount to a spouse cheating on her husband. When married couples commit adultery or when single people commit fornication, it is a type of blasphemy for it shows contempt and disdain for the unique and special relationship God had forged through Abraham and ultimately through Our Lord Jesus Christ. Sexual infidelity is rooted in a selfish drive to appease the personal wants while ignoring the essential needs of holy matrimony.

Is it love to hand out condoms so that promiscuity continues? Is it not better to re-educate and re-catechize the faithful about the holiness of human sexuality, a GIFT and not a right, which needs to be cherished, protected and esteemed? Those who do contract horrible diseases, either by accident or their own fault deserve compassion and respect at all levels of their illness. Mercy is not pity. Mercy is Christian compassion whereby the Mystical Body of Christ affirms that we are one in Christ.

Imagine a school in the innner city issuing Kevlar bullet proof vests to students just in case one of them brings an automatic weapon to school and starts shooting innocent victims. While security measures are prudent and necessary, sometimes the prevention can lure some into a false sense of security. If the odds of becoming pregnant or contracting an STD are remote, can they also tempt someone to flirt with death and see how far the line can be pushed? Abstinence IS difficult but it is also SAFE and FOOLPROOF. Virtue before and during marriage involves sexuality and mutual respect. The birth control pill gave many married persons the ILLUSION that only getting caught was the worse case scenario.  How many divorced and remarried can single out infidelity as the major catalyst in the break-up of their marriage? Treating your own spouse as a sex OBJECT and source of personal pleasure is pure hedonism, plain and simple. Real covenanted marriage is about SACRIFICE and RESEPCT. Contraceptive sex makes the holy act between husband and wife a merely biological act but it is intrinsically disordered as it frustrates the Will of God for husbands and wives.

Mother Theresa of Calcutta ministered to those with AIDS and HIV+ but she did so with REVERENCE for life and for human sexuality. She did not dilute nor distort the moral teachings of the Church merely to get 'quick-fix' solutions. She showed LOVE to those suffering from AIDS no matter how they contracted the disease. At the same time, she worked arduously to encourage married couples to RESEPECT and REVERENCE each other at all times.