Skip to main content

If you're looking for social conservatism (if that's what you can call it) that really is dangerous, this more than fits the bill.

For the Pope to argue that the use of contraceptives is antithetical to the Catholic faith would be problematic enough, though I suppose conceivably defensible from a traditionalist perspective. But to argue that condoms "aggravate" the spread of AIDS is the outright spreading of a falsehood, and is somewhere beyond contempible.

To speak to the expectations of your own church is one thing. To argue that abstinence is the surest way to prevent the spread of disease is perfectly fair game. But to perpetuate a myth about condoms that remains pervasive in Africa, and contributes to the spread of a deadly disease to millions of people, is something that no person - pontiff or otherwise - should be able to do in good conscience.

Interact with The Globe