For the last several days, Catholics have been subjected to a flurry of internet and mainstream press innuendo over the possibility that the Catholic Church will alter its heretofore simple and clear teaching on contraception to allow condoms in order to prevent the spread of AIDS. It's a smokescreen, folks. Plain and simple.
Reuters reported on Friday that Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini has come out in favor of condom use for married couples when one or the partners is infected with the AIDS virus. This of course has given him veritable love-muffin status in the mainstream press. He was recently quoted in an Italian paper:
"Certainly the use of condoms in particular situations can constitute a lesser evil," the retired archbishop of Milan and the Church's leading moderate was quoted as saying in news magazine L'Espresso."There is the particular situation of married couples in which one of the spouses is affected by AIDS. This person has an obligation to protect the other partner and the other partner also has to protect themselves."
First of all, there's nothing "moderate" about this position. It is against Catholic teaching. Period. Secondly, I think the operative word here is "retired." Third, I seriously doubt the Cardinal was fully and fairly quoted by the press. As I heard it said on Relevant Radio yesterday, it's never above the press to twist words and take quotes out of context. That very thing has happened at my home parish.
Still, this soundbite from Martini is really just the latest in a series of questionable statements by His Imminence. Reportedly he has made statements about abortion, in vitro and euthanasia that don't exactly comport with the Church's traditional teaching.
All of this of course has been fuel for the fire of the internet press, which has been throwing out headlines like, "Vatican set to approve condom use for AIDS couples," and the like. Drew Mariani on Relevant Radio yesterday said that the news reports have been "extraordinarily confusing." I'll say.
Here's my take on it: The media is salivating, folks. The media and every dissident in the Catholic and secular world is chomping at the bit hoping that those Vatican geriatrics will finally cave on this. And their desire for a certain outcome has given way to a certain disregard for the facts. Really it's nothing new from the mainstream press.
To their credit, the Associated Press of all organizations finally came out with a fairly moderate version yesterday. It at least gave voice to the more conservative figureheads in the Vatican including the Pontifical Academy for Life.
Also yesterday Zenit reported that the Vatican cut through all the misinformation, stating that the persons conducting the study were not preparing a "document," but rather a "study." The difference, at least I'm deducing, that a "document" contains a moral pronouncement while a study just contains data. This project is a study on condoms for married couples infected with AIDS. It will not be a document, as Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan made clear. If anyone is going to release a "document" on the issue, it will be the Holy Father himself, or someone of his choosing. This is why I'm not worried.
In fact, most recently this morning, Agenzia Giornalistica Italia reported that Cardinal Barragan went ahead and told Cardinal Martini that the Church will not promote the use of condoms and that that wasn't up for discussion.
So all in all, I chalk this up to another obfuscation at the hands of the mainstream and dissident press. It's in the hands of the pope, and more importantly, in the hands of the Holy Spirit. It's a reminder of an imminently important lesson for all Catholics: consider the source.
Cardinal Martini, 'retired' though he may be, is still an archbishop and a cardinal. You are neither. He is a faithful Jesuit and an internationally respected New Testament scholar. His theological and and pastoral expertise is quite extensive. After you've received your MDiv and worked in parish a few decades then perhaps you can critique the man.
The issues are not as simple as you claim. Check out John Allen's report on the situation.
http://nationalcatholicreporter.org/update/bn042506.htm
You have nothing to be afraid of. The doctrine is not at stake here. People around the world will continue to make up their own mind about condoms with or without Vatican approval. But the fact that a 'study' has been commissioned is monumental enough. If there was no question about it, there would NOT have been a study in the first place. If Benedict was as closed-minded about it as you are, he would not have ordered the study.
Thanks for the comments, Father. Sorry about the "retired" thing. I was half-joking when I wrote it. I'm a blogger, sometimes my sarcasm gets the best of me.
Although I noted in my previous entry on this subject my hope that further banter would ensue, I'm going to rely on others to provide that if they so choose. While there's a lot that I could say, I've decided to steer clear of combative altercations for (at least) the next few days. Be assured of my prayers for you.