How do Catholics justify this?

It is good that people are told the truth and that the problem is sin and that condoms do not remove the responsibility of the individual to live a moral life. The Church is correct to be the lone voice telling the truth that morality protects one from HIV and not condoms. God bless!

In Christ

Fr. Joseph

Hello,

A few points here:

1) Sex outside of marriage is condemned by all the Christian denominations. They cannot contradict their beliefs and principles and had out condoms like candy canes to help support what they see as immoral lifestyles.

2) The church teaches that if you keep your parts in your pants and stay loyal to your spouse, chances are you will not get STD'S including HIV. There is truth in that.

3) Be that as it may, if you have been paying attention to the news, you will see that there are lots of other non Christian agencies handing out condoms. The problem is that the men, especially in Africa consider the condom totally unmanly and with diminished pleasure like taking a hot shower in a raincoat. Their wives, girlfriends and hookers come on camera looking like thrashed alley cats after a tough night out saying that this is their fate when they insist their men wear condoms. The agencies go on to lament that Africa may one day become a white man's continent again if their attitudes don't change,

4) As a Catholic I don't mind telling you that I and many others I know have failed with respect to avoiding the sin of fornication. You can be rest assured that when we got coaxed into bed by a nice hot lady, the last damn thing on our mind was what the hell the church and Pope think about condoms. The gravity of the sin is the same condom or not.

Based on these points above, I feel the statements from the secular world condemning the church on this issue simply defy logic and common sense.

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

You seem to believe that the Church is just going in and saying "don't use condoms! It's wrong!" and then leaving or moving on. That is not the case.

The Church goes in and teaches these people about God, about relationships, about monogamy, sexuality, birth control, NFP, abortion and other such things. They *start* with helping these people understand that God is calling them into a relationship that is about giving all of oneself to one person and teaching chastity and celibacy.

People seem to get this idea that these people say "I'm not going to be monogomous, I'm not going to be chaste, I don't care what the Church says or what God thinkgs, but I won't use a condom because the Church says to."

Those people who don't listen to the Church on monogamy and chastity AREN'T going to listen to the Church on birth control, but, here are some statistics for you:

Uganda had the HIGHEST AIDs epidemic in the WORLD back in the 1970's. The entire country decided to follow the Church's teachings on monogamy and birth control and they now have one of the LOWEST counts in the world.

Batswana is saturated in condoms and other forms of birth control, they are given education regarding "safe sex" and condoms are passed out like candy--they have the HIGHEST AIDs count in the world and it has only gotten higher with the more condoms passed out.

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/facts/fm...

http://www.thebody.com/content/art2762.html

Why? A few reasons:

1. They are being told that condoms keep the AIDs virus out--when it doesn't. Condom companies even admit this.

2. African men believe wearing condoms makes them "less manly" and many refuse to wear them. They'd rather take the chance of getting AIDs or passing it along than wear a condom.

3. Africans like what is called "dry sex", it is a very common practice over there. Women use things to dry out their natural mucus so that there is more friction and they are tighter for their men. This is painful for the women because it causes them to tear--it also causes condoms to tear--if they even wear them.

http://www.ncan.org/resources/church_say.cfm

@ Steve: That is incorrect, the Pope never said using a condom is better than unprotected sex. Misty stated it correctly.

@ Matthew: No, the Church has never said that rape is a lesser sin than condoms. The Church holds that rape is a serious crime against humanity and a mortal sin, but birth control is also a mortal sin. The only difference I can see is that the rape victim has no fault while the two willing participants are both guilty of using birth control.

@ Asker: By your statement of "I guess certain religious people simply cannot handle the truth. That's why they believe in god." just goes to show me that you do not care about the truth, only what you want the truth to be. We have given statistics, sources and valid answers and you decide to believe the one guy who claims Catholics say condoms are worse than rape with no source for such an idea.

Catholics cannot agree, thus cannot justify your twisted quotes.

Beside your message quote is badly twistedFurther to Fullness of Truth: It is a fact that condom has to be use in a multiple sexual activities to protect the other person, yet there is no guarantee either. At the end, people thinks it just become a normal thing to use condom in all heterosexual, promiscous encounters without any sense of obligatory obedience to the Commandments of God. And people are lost, thus the Pope has the right to voice his moral works as agent of Christ.

.

Do you have a reference source for this claim?

Catholic Charities is the largest charity in the world. It brings more money and resources to the needy than any other charity.

How do you know, specifically, that missionaries are saying that condoms are "evil" or "don't work?"

The Catholic Church has always taught that all forms of artificial birth control are sinful. This includes condoms. Because people are suffering from sexually transmitted illness, doesn't suddenly make something not sinful.

http://www.unitedforlife.com/whycatholicscannotuse...

The Church has always taught abstinence outside of marriage, chastity and faithfulness within marriage. If any person is to follow the Catholic teachings on these things they won't have AIDS.

The "assumption" in claims like yours is that people will listen to the Catholic Church about condom use but ignore the Catholic Church concerning sex outside of marriage and illegal drug use. That makes no sense.

If people choose to live immoral lives, how is it the fault of the Church?

Actually, men in Africa refuse to use condoms. There are many groups who pass them out and educate people about using them. African men see them as a "western" influence and reject their use. Add to that the fact that many African women/men practice what is known as "dry sex." Women use herbs to remove their natural lubrication in order to offer men "better sex." This dry sex causes condoms to break, and increases a woman's chance of contracting AIDS if the condom does break.

http://www.salon.com/1999/12/10/drysex/

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0...

Trying to blame all the AIDS issues on the Catholic Church is just illogical.

http://www.thebody.com/content/art2762.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,9...

@Steve - the pope didn't say that. That is a media spin on the pope's words. What he said was, when a person who has AIDS or some other sexually communicable disease, who is living a life of promiscuity, "chooses" to use a condom, that can be the first step in understanding moral responsibility and perhaps a closer step to God. He never said it was okay to use condoms rather than have unprotected sex.

http://vox-nova.com/2010/11/20/did-pope-benedict-j...

Actually, the Catholic approach to the prevention of AIDS has been demonstrated to be effective (more efffective than just distributing condoms). Many scientists agree including Harvard Research Scientist for AIDS Prevention, Dr. Edward Green, agree:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/harvard_res...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic...

The answer to AIDS prevention is about changing behavior not throwing condoms at people. Teaching people that condoms are the answer in fact increases risk because then people will continue with high-risk behavior thinking a condom will be the answer.

In Uganda's early, largely home-grown AIDS program, which began in 1986, the focus was on "Sticking to One Partner" or "Zero Grazing" (which meant remaining faithful within a polygamous marriage) and "Loving Faithfully." These simple messages worked.

http://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/northwestern/...

ETA - Did you read the links? Teaching people that condoms are "absolutely effective" and have "a very high success rate" is part of the problem! From Senior Harvard Research Scientist for AIDS Prevention, Dr. Edward Green:

"The accepted wisdom in the scientific community, explained Green, is that condoms lower the HIV infection rate, but after numerous studies, researchers have found the opposite to be true. “We just cannot find an association between more condom use and lower HIV reduction rates” in Africa.

Dr. Green found that part of the elusive reason is a phenomenon known as risk compensation or behavioral disinhibition.

“[Risk compensation] is the idea that if somebody is using a certain technology to reduce risk, a phenomenon actually occurs where people are willing to take on greater risk.” The idea can be related to someone that puts on sun block and is willing to stay out in the sun longer because they have added protection. In this case, however, the greater risk is sexual. Because people are willing take on more risk, they may “disproportionally erase” the benefits of condom use, Green said."

"Green also noted that there is an ideology called “harm reduction” that is being pushed by many organizations trying to prevent AIDS. The ideology believes that “you can’t change the underlying behavior, that you can’t get people to be faithful, especially Africans,” the HIV specialist explained.

One country, Uganda, recognized these issues and said, “Listen, if you have multiple sex partners, you are going to get AIDS.” What worked in Uganda, a country that has seen a decline by as much as 2/3 in AIDS infections, was that officials realized that even aside from religious and cultural reasons, “no one likes condoms.” Instead of waiting for “American and European advisors to arrive,” Ugandan officials reacted and developed a program that fit their culture; their main message being “stick to one partner or love faithfully.”

However, in 2004, Uganda’s AIDS infection rates began to increase once again, due to an influx of condoms and Western “advice”, Green recalled. Western donors also came to Uganda and said behavioral change doesn’t work and that, “most infections nowadays are among married people.” Green said these claims are “misleading,” pointing out that “married people always have lower HIV infection rates than single or divorced people of the same age group.”

Clearly the evidence shows that changing behavior is effective in AIDS prevention. And NO the church does not teach that using condoms is worse than rape. That's like claiming you're saying rape is OK as long as you use a condom so the woman isn't harmed as much. It appears that it's you who are not able to handle the truth.

The Catholic view of sex is not as a recreation but as an expression of love and fidelity between 1 man and 1 wife. And they are correct in terms of preventing illness...condoms do have a failure rate. To ignore that would be irresponsible. If choice is all about education, this is something that needs to be known so that people willing to ignore the holiness of sexuality and continue to engage in the mere physical don't think they are completely protected.

people should have respect for themselves and others by not sleeping with everyone with a pulse.

You might aswell just turn round and say sure Il just give you loads of condoms and you can go sleep around with whoever you want and as many times as you want. NOT! Asker dont you have any concept of self respect or what is right/wrong.

There would be no HIV/Aids in the first place if everyone had some dignity and self respect ie: by not sleeping with more than one person and by not sticking needles everywhere

Im Catholic Christian

Because condoms lead to far more things. Any form of artificial birth prevention suggests to the user that it is 'ok' to continue in the unchaste promiscuous manor that they are engaging to begin with. Ask any health teacher, they will tell you that the largest contributor to the spread of STD's is not because someone did not use a condom, it is because of multiple sex partners.

The Church teaches chastity and abstinence. If you are chaste, and have sex with only one person (your spouse) you will not catch any sexual diseases you do not already have. If you are abstinent and have sex with no one, you will catch no diseases at all. Condoms are dangerous and evil, not just because they prevent birth and frustrate the natural function of sexual intercourse, but because they promote unhealthy sexual lifestyles. These can lead to STDs such as AIDS, and like you said, condoms are not 100% effective in preventing the disease.

contraception

Deliberate interference with marital intercourse in order to prevent conception. It is the performance of the marriage act with the positive frustration of conception. Also called conjugal onanism, from the sin of Onan, referred to in the Bible (Genesis 38:8-10); Neo-Malthusianism from the name of the English sociologist Malthus (1766-1834); it is popularly termed birth control, where those concerned with high birthrates have come to equate contraception with population control.

The Catholic Church has forbidden contraception from earliest times, and the number of papal statements dealing with the subject indicates the Church's constant tradition. In modern times the most significant document was Humanae Vitae in 1968 by Paul VI. After referring to the long history of the Church's teaching, he declared that the "direct interruption of the generative process already begun," even though done for therapeutic reasons, is to be "absolutely excluded as a licit means of regulating birth." Equally to be excluded is direct sterilization for contraceptive reasons. "Similarly excluded is every action that, either in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, purposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" (Humanae Vitae, II, 14).

Few aspects of Christian morality in modern times have given rise to more difficulties of conscience than the Catholic doctrine on contraception. This was reflected in Paul's admission, shortly after Humanae Vitae: "How many times we have trembled before the alternatives of an easy condescension to current opinions."

One of the results of the Church's teaching on contraception has been to emphasize her right to teach the faithful, even to binding them gravely in conscience, in matters that pertain to the natural law. Yet the basic motivation offered to married people to live up to this difficult teaching is highly supernatural, namely the prospect of loving one another in such a way that they will share the fruits of their affection with another person whom their mutual love will bring into being.