Over the years, the pope has made headlines for making ridiculous statements.
In April Pope Benedict XVI posthumously pardoned John Lennon for his statement in the ’60s about The Beatles being more popular than Jesus.
In 2006, he apologized for quoting a 14th century Pope who had said the Prophet Mohammed only brought “inhuman and evil” things to the world.
And in early 2009, he controversially said that condoms could make the HIV and AIDS situation in Africa worse. Yes, worse. But there are still billions of people who take what the head of the Catholic Church says very seriously.
At the time of the AIDS statement, there were 22 million sub-Saharan Africans infected with HIV or AIDS, according to a report by the U.K.’s Guardian. That was 67 percent of worldwide HIV cases, according to the same report. The pontiff’s reasoning was in large part due to traditional Catholic ethics and teachings of abstinence and fidelity instead of using birth control. However, in an interview to be published in a book this week, the Pope conceded on his previous no rubber policy to a no nonsense rubber policy, where he condoned condom use when used with “the intention of reducing the risk of infection.” Of course, this isn’t really that exciting of news, seeing as many Catholics have found a way around this for centuries. But the example of proper use of a condom was certainly strange — saying that male prostitutes who use condoms may begin to act responsibly.
Maybe. Although we doubt whether or not a male prostitute cares what the pontiff says, it’s nice to know that even a traditional church has recognized something progressive, particularly when it comes to curbing the spread of a disease that killed 2 million people and infected 280,000 children worldwide in 2008.
Even if the pope’s acknowledgement is symbolic for people who are not Catholic or put much stock in his words, the media fixation with his speeches will certainly bring much-needed attention to an issue that has been an unstoppable, increasing trend for at least the last 18 years as it has moved from 8 million diagnosed worldwide to 33 million.
According to AVERT, a U.K.-based international HIV and AIDS charity, 25 million people have died from AIDS since 1981 and Africa has more than 11 million orphans due to AIDS.
What this means to the Catholic Church and its followers is still a little shaky, seeing as Benedict XVI didn’t specify what infected spouses should use for intercourse. But for contraception overall, he told a journalist over the summer that he still believes that wearing a condom for casual sex could potentially rob the world of kids “who might one day have been geniuses.”
As one cardinal put it, the pope wisely took the topic to “the realm of the exceptional,” which was a similar step to giving contraceptive pills to nuns working in the Congo who were susceptible to rape.
It is indeed a sticky situation for the church, anti-abortion and anti-contraception. But it’s good to see that those who are trying to solve 21st century ills with ancient ideology are given a bit of a break.
