Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International -Friday, 15 September 2000
The Vatican article does not endorse condoms but tolerates their use as part of a comprehensive AIDS education program where the primary emphasis is on moral behavior. In 1988, the same Vatican newspaper denounced a similar argument made by a committee of the National Council of Catholic Bishops.
Bishop Anthony Bosco of Greensburg, Pa., a co-author of that 1988 statement on AIDS, to the Post-Gazette he now felt vindicated.
"This proves to me that maybe the logic that led me to that conclusion follows from sound moral principles. Maybe Cardinal [Joseph] Bernardin helped from heaven, because he was on that committee, too," Bosco said, in a reference to the late archbishop of Chicago, who died in 1998.
Bosco had urged his fellow bishops to say that condom use was the lesser of two evils for both married couples where one spouse was HIV positive and for those who would not refrain from promiscuity.
He was prompted to take the stand because of his contact with Catholic health-care workers.
"They had patients who said they were sexually active, they intended to remain active and they were HIV positive. If you try to persuade them to be abstinent, you don't get anywhere with them. Well then, in the name of God, at least don't spread the infection," Bosco said.
James Hanigan, professor of moral theology at Duquesne University , said that Vatican article was in line with accepted teaching on the birth control pill, which is permitted to correct severe menstrual irregularities, even though it also prevents conception.
"The direct effect is to prevent the transmission of disease, even though there is a double effect," he said. "I think people who work with high-risk populations will be happy about this. Whether it's going to have much extension beyond that is hard to say."
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