Monday, July 16, 2012

ell backs Pope's controversial condoms stance

ell backs Pope's controversial condoms stance

'Encouraging promiscuity'... Cardinal Pell says that reliance on condoms contributes to the AIDS problem. (AAP: Paul Miller)

The head of the Catholic Church in Australia, Cardinal George Pell, says he agrees with the Pope's recent comments about condoms aggravating the AIDS problem.

On a trip to Cameroon and Angola in March, Pope Benedict XVI sparked backlash by saying condoms are aggravating the African epidemic rather than containing it.

Cardinal Pell, Sydney's Catholic Archbishop, has told Sky News that reliance on condoms contributes to the problem because they are not always reliable and because they increase sexual activity outside of marriage.

"They're encouraging promiscuity because they're encouraging irresponsibility," he said.

"The idea that you can solve a great spiritual and health crisis like AIDS with a few mechanical contraptions like condoms is ridiculous."

Cardinal Pell also cited the difference in HIV infection rates between Catholic and non-Catholic countries as evidence that condoms are ineffective.

"If you look at a country like the Philippines which is Catholic, the infection rate with AIDS is much lower there than it is, for example, in Thailand, which is awash with condoms," he said.

Cardinal Pell also said a non-Catholic health worker, with whom he had travelled back from a trip to Africa, had told him condoms were not an effective solution to Africa's AIDS problem.

"He made the point that the people in remote areas are too poor to afford condoms and the ones that are available are often of very poor quality and weren't used effectively," he said.

The comments come as hundreds of Catholics attended the Stations of the Cross service for Good Friday at St Mary's Cathedral in central Sydney.

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