'Make him use a condom'

Last Sunday we brought to the attention of our readers part of an interview given by Cardinal Godfried Daneels of Brussels. His position about the legitimacy of the state taking a different position than the Church on a number of topics is a refreshing and challenging one.

Today we refer to another section of the same interview. Cardinal Daneels' position on condom use is equally interesting and refreshing.

The Brussels cardinal has said that the use of a condom might be a "lesser evil" when it could preserve someone from a deadly disease like AIDS. Questioned on the use of condoms, Cardinal Daneels said that if an HIV-positive man wishes to have relations with his wife, "she should make him use a condom".

Otherwise, he said, the couple might be "adding another sin: homicide". The cardinal reasoned: "A condom, when it is used for the protection of life, is not only a matter in the sexual domain."

Cardinal Daneels made a similar statement in a television interview in January 2004.

Other influential prelates have adopted similar positions, suggesting that condom use could be justified within marriage to prevent transmission of AIDS. In January 2005, Cardinal Georges Cottier, the theologian to the papal household, told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that condom use "could be considered legitimate" under those restricted circumstances.

Although the Church clearly condemns the use of condoms as a means of contraception, there has been no definitive statement from the magisterium on the particular question of whether condom use can ever be justified.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is reportedly studying the question of whether condoms might be used within marriage to prevent disease.

One eagerly waits for the conclusion of this study in the hope that it will tackle an urgent problem in our society realistically.