Pope rejects condom use in Africa

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Thread started 03/17/09 8:52am

razor

Pope rejects condom use in Africa

Pope Benedict XVI has said that handing out condoms is not the answer in the fight against HIV/Aids, as he makes his first visit to Africa as pontiff.

Speaking en route to Cameroon, he said distribution of condoms "increases the problem". The Vatican urges abstinence.

The Pope will also visit Angola on his week-long trip, where thousands are expected to attend open-air masses.

According to Vatican figures, the number of Catholics in Africa has been rising steadily in recent years.

Baptised Catholics made up 17% of the African population in 2006, compared with 12% in 1978, the Vatican says.

Pope Benedict said on the eve of his trip that he wanted to wrap his arms
around the entire continent, with "its painful wounds, its enormous potential and hopes".

Speaking to reporters on his way to Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, the Pope said HIV/Aids was "a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem".

The solution lies in a "spiritual and human awakening" and "friendship for those who suffer", the AFP news agency quotes him as saying.

While in Africa, the pontiff is expected to talk to young people about the Aids epidemic and explain to them why the Catholic Church recommends sexual abstinence as the best way to prevent the spread of the disease.

He gave a similar message to African bishops who visited the Vatican in 2005, when he told them that abstinence and fidelity, not condoms, were the means to tackle the epidemic.

The BBC's Caroline Duffield, in Cameroon, says people in Yaounde are energetically sweeping and cleaning everywhere in preparation for Pope Benedict's visit.

The Pope will stay in Yaounde until Friday, where he will meet bishops from all over Africa who will be taking part in a meeting at the Vatican later this year to discuss the Church's role in Africa.

In Angola, which is still recovering from 27 years of civil war, Pope Benedict will meet diplomats posted in Luanda and is expected to urge the international community not to abandon Africa.

The pontiff is also due to hold private talks with political leaders in the two countries, both of which have been accused of corruption and squandering revenues from natural resources.

Speaking to pilgrims in St Peter's Square before setting out on his journey, the Pope said he wanted to reach out to the victims of hunger, disease, injustice, fratricidal conflicts and the violence afflicting adults and children alike in most parts of Africa.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/h...947460.stm

"It is an established maxim and moral that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false is guilty of falsehood, and the accidental truth of the assertion does not justify or excuse him"

Abraham Lincoln

razor	More idiotic ramblings from the man in the dress and funny hat.. "It is an established maxim and moral that he who makes an assertion without knowing whether it is true or false is guilty of falsehood, and the accidental truth of the assertion does not justify or excuse him" Abraham Lincoln
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Empress	This man is so clued out. I can't believe he would say something like this, but on the otherhand, it shouldn't surprise me coming from him. It's scary that so many people around world hang on his every word. It makes me shudder!
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squirrelscient ist	Wow, a lot of people here sound shocked and surprised! What did you expect the Pope to say?? The pope has to tow the line. We all know if you don't have sex you won't get sexually transmitted diseases.
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