Pope to Rule On Condoms And AIDS; May Consult People With Hands-On Experience
Pope Benedict, taking an unexpected and courageous step, has asked for recommendations from fellow ecclesiastics about whether or not a couple, in which one member has AIDS, may use condoms for the prevention of disease. We assume, however, for the greater glorification of the Church, that neither he nor his advisers are at the expert level when it comes to either topic under consideration. As a result, we think the Pope would wisely bring enhanced credence to whatever he decides if he were actually to meet with couples who have hands-on experience with condoms and AIDS. The face-to-face discussions would, we believe, evoke a greater likelihood that he will opt for, not the continuing teaching of the absolute impropriety of condoms, but for the competing and, we think, far worthier principle of the sanctity of life. Should he go the extra mile, he might also speak with a selection of devout Catholic women who want to avoid having abortions by not becoming pregnant and therefore do dearly wish that the husbands they love could wear condoms. There is hope among the women that in time the church may decide that permitting them, rather than prohibiting them and inadvertently making abortion more likely, is, in its terms, �the lesser of the two evils.� The entire problem of condoms is, if we might apply the multifaceted phrase, a sticky wicket. We wish the apparently well-intentioned man wisdom, courage and Godspeed. Devout Catholics are, we must remember, dying for a change.
