( The Beacon)
By Caitlin Yilek, Staff Writer -- yilek12@up.edu
Comments by Pope Benedict XVI about the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS are making headlines around the world. In an interview for a book – "Light of the World" – published last week, the pope said that the Catholic Church does not regard condom use to prevent AIDS "as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality."
The pope later added, through a spokesman, that condom use to prevent AIDS was "the first step of taking responsibility, of taking into consideration the risk of the life of another with whom you have a relationship."
It was an unprecedented public statement for the pope, who last year said that condoms worsen the AIDS problem.
Elsewhere in the book, the pope affirmed the Catholic Church's stance against homosexual sex, heterosexual sex outside of marriage and the use of contraceptives.
-Caitlin Yilek
