France: Pope's condom criticism could hurt health

The Associated Press , Paris | Wed, 03/18/2009 10:26 PM | World
France said Wednesday that the pope's comments criticizing condoms could endanger public health, defending them as a fundamental tool in preventing the spread of the virus that causes AIDS.

The U.N. agency charged with fighting AIDS also spoke out Wednesday in favor of condom use in preventing HIV.

France "expresses its very strong concern about the consequences of the statements by Benedict XVI," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said. France is a traditionally Catholic country but is relatively liberal on social issues such as birth control

During his first visit to Africa as pope, Benedict said in Cameroon Tuesday that the distribution of condoms is not the solution to the fight against AIDS, and that, "on the contrary, it increases the problem."

"While it is not up to us to pass judgment on the doctrine of the Church, we consider that these statements endanger public health policies and the imperative to protect human life," Chevallier told an online briefing Wednesday.

"Along with information, education and testing, the condom is a fundamental element of actions to prevent transmission of the AIDS virus," he said.

He noted France's numerous projects dedicated to fighting AIDS/HIV in the world, particularly in Africa, where some 22 million people are living with HIV.

"We owe it to (people with HIV and AIDS), to young people and to future generations to maintain a spirit of responsibility and solidarity," he said.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Wednesday that the pope was expressing a long-standing Vatican position, and that Benedict wanted to stress that a reliance on condoms distracted from the need for proper education in sexual conduct.

The Roman Catholic Church rejects the use of condoms as part of its overall teaching against artificial contraception.

In Geneva, the U.N. AIDS fighting agency said that condoms are an important part of efforts against AIDS. It said prevention includes receiving information about the virus that causes AIDS, being faithful to one partner and other measures.

In a statement Wednesday, UNAIDS said countries should use all available strategies to prevent the more than 7,400 new HIV infections every day worldwide. It made no mention of the pope but the statement came the day after Benedict's comments.