From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste in images
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2013
Since Pope Benedict XVI announced he is going to resign at the end of this month many of our News Dispatch readers have consistently asked whether we could comment on condom usage and whether his successor would maintain his stand. I have been reluctant to comment on it given its sensitivity and controversy.
When pope was quoted in November 2010, to have said that the use of condoms is acceptable in exceptional circumstances, according to his new book, where he was quoted to have said condoms could reduce the risk of HIV infection, such as for a male prostitute, in a series of interviews given to a German journalist, the Vatican immediately clarified what pope meant-click here to read Vatican clarification its most authoritative clarification.
Clarification was made shortly Aids activists were calling the pope’s comments a breakthrough. The New York Times reported to its readers on November 21:
“Pope Benedict XVI has said that condom use can be justified in some cases to help stop the spread of AIDS . . . .”Click here to read more-George Weigel, wrote in National Review Online.
On November 20, 2010 UNAIDS immediately issued a press statement in Geneva that it welcomes the reported statement of Pope Benedict XVI calling for “a humane way of living sexuality” and that the use of condoms are justified “in the intention of reducing the risk of HIV infection”. Michel Sidibé, said in a statement.
“This is a significant and positive step forward taken by the Vatican today,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “This move recognizes that responsible sexual behaviour and the use of condoms have important roles in HIV prevention.”
Aids activists argue that if used properly condoms can block sperm from coming in contact with the inside of the vagina, where it could reach an egg. (If sperm reaches an egg, pregnancy can result.) A condom also prevents disease-causing substances from spreading from one person to another.
The activists argue further that a female condom if used properly can also prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/ Aids. The female condom fits inside the vagina. It has two rings to keep the condom in place — one ring is placed over the woman’s cervix and another one is placed over her vulva.
This positioning prevents the condom from being pushed up into the vagina, and creates a protective covering over the outside of the vagina, which prevents sperm from contacting the area.
The book – Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times – is based on a series of interview the Pope gave the German Catholic journalist, Peter Seewald where pope is quoted to have given the example of the use of condoms by male prostitutes as “a first step towards moralisation”, even though condoms are “not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection”.
Responding to the book, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi called Benedict’s remarks unprecedented, the first time such comments had come “from the mouth of a pope,” but he added that they were “not a revolutionary turn,” as they echoed the stance of other moral theologians — and had been offered “colloquially,” not as part of official church teaching.
According to Aids activists, since the official teaching of the Church is based on Humanae Vitae, issued by Pope Paul VI before the deadly killer HIV/ Aids was discovered, the Vatican should review its stand for the sake of saving life.
According to Humanae Vitae, the concern of the church however, it comes as no surprise to the Church that she, no less than her divine Founder, is destined to be a “sign of contradiction.” She does not, because of this, evade the duty imposed on her of proclaiming humbly but firmly the entire moral law, both natural and evangelical. Click here to read more-“Humanae Vitae.
The Encyclical states that the teaching of the Church regarding the proper regulation of birth is a promulgation of the law of God Himself. Therefore it must be obeyed by all means. The Encyclical was given at St. Peter’s, Rome, on the 25th day of July, the feast of St. James the Apostle, in the year 1968 by Pope Paul VI.
Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
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Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.
-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ UN Disarmament Conference, 2002