VATICAN CITY, Nov 21, 2006 (AFP) - The Vatican "health ministry" has completed a report on condoms requested by Pope Benedict XVI and handed it over to doctrinal authorities, a top cardinal said Tuesday.
Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan of Mexico, head of the Pontifical Council for Health, said the 100-page document gathers all of the Roman Catholic Church's positions on the subject, from the most liberal to the most conservative.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will study the document and convey its opinion to the pope to help him make a final decision on whether to maintain or modify the Church's absolute ban on using condoms.
The Vatican is opposed to all forms of contraception besides abstinence -- total or temporary -- and rejects condom use even to prevent the spread of diseases such as HIV-AIDS.
Some prelates argue that condom use could be condoned in certain specific cases such as for sex between a married couple in which one partner has been contaminated with the HIV virus through a blood transfusion.
Cardinal Barragan announced in April that Benedict had requested "a study on the specific problem of the use of the condom by people contaminated with AIDS and those suffering from an infectious disease."
At a news conference on Tuesday, Barragan presented the program of a three-day international conference on "pastoral aspects of treating infectious diseases" opening Thursday at the Vatican.
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