Sunday, 5th April 2009 - 09:00CET
Interview: Cherie Blair 'rather saddened' by Pope's comments
Filming and editing: Paul Spiteri Lucas
Cherie Blair is a firm believer and champion of women’s rights. She strongly believes women have a choice whether to bear children or not through contraception.
The mother of four, barrister, Queen’s Counsel, and wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, said she felt “rather sad” when she heard Pope Benedict XVI say that condoms “increase the problem” of AIDS during his recent visit to Africa, as well as with the way it was reported.
“I think we do have to understand that there is concern about promiscuity. But there’s also a real concern about saving lives and I absolutely believe, and scientific evidence shows, that condoms do save lives. Therefore, when there’s a choice between endangering and not endangering life, we should always choose life,” she stresses in an interview with Ariadne Massa.
Mrs Blair has never attempted to hide her views on contraception and her reference to “contraceptive equipment” in her book was quickly pounced upon.
She recounts how Leo was conceived because she had decided to leave this ‘equipment’ behind during the couple’s visit to Balmoral, the Queen’s residence in Scotland, after a diligent courtier had embarrassingly unpacked her overnight bag during the previous visit.
Mrs Blair has never revealed what this equipment could possibly be, and as she sits back into the sofa in the Phoenicia Hotel’s lounge, her eyes twinkle teasingly.
Watch excerpts of the interview above. Read the entire interview in today’s edition of The Sunday Times.
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Edward Green is not the only researcher criticizing the current HIV prevention strategies:
James Chin, The AIDS Pandemic: The Collision of Epidemiology With Political Correctness, Radcliffe Publishing, Oxford, Seattle 2007.
http://www.theaidspandemic.com
HIV/AIDS expert Helen Epstein:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSPk8K5zK3I
Dambisa Moyo: In Africa, $1 trillion of aid has not worked. In fact it is making things worse.
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/reviews/r0000439.shtml
Simply because he is not supposed to know these things. These matters are best left to experts trained in these matters.
In any event, the Catholic press did not accurately portray his complete views on the matter. While he did say that he agreed with the Pope that Abstinence and Being Faithful are crucial, he also said that Condons should also be used as a back up. Conveniently, the Catholic press omitted reference to latter.
HIs exact quote is as follows...
"I believe condoms should be made available to everyone. It should be the ABC strategy: Abstain, Be faithful, use a Condom".
The Catholic Church's ethical opposition to birth control and support of marital fidelity and abstinence is well known. But, by saying that condoms exacerbate the problem of HIV/AIDS, the Pope has publicly distorted scientific evidence. In fact, amidst the fury, even the Vatican tried to alter the pontiff's wording. On the Holy See's website, the Vatican's head of media, Father Federico Lombari, quoted the Pope as having said that there was a "risk that condoms...might increase the problem.
The use of condoms can be erratic. Through the state of mind of the user. Alcohol abuse, etc. Condoms can and do slip. The warning on the pack refers to this without spelling it out.
It is a blanket approach to condom misuse for whatever reason by the company that makes them. It is put on the pack to safeguard itself against litigation. A bit like the warning on packs of cigarettes. It is to promote health of course but equally important, it is a safety net against litigation suits. That is all. One does not need to consult a theologian, much less be one, to understand this. Engage with life and reject spurious dogmas and life can in fact seem almost sweet. From then on, take responsibility for your life. Simple as buon giorno.
The Church has got itself entangled in its own rules. The Church first of all has to admit that it has always questioned science and reason. I know that condoms are not the best way, neither is an umbrella or a raincoat on a rainy day! But we still try to keep as much rain water of our bodies even though we still get a few drops of rain.
IF one is not a theologian does not mean we do not have a brain. If we take rules just to be obeyed without question read Christ at the well and the donkey. Christ declares that laws are their to guide us not to enslave us. When we quote the law as the church dictates we are only becoming fundamentalists. Fundamentalism only brings about misery. Thanks to reason I still am a Catholic and I laugh at many stupid ideas of the church. The Church is only a group of people governed by someone who thinks he can be believed. What is important is Human respect and love , That is Gods will.
Don't ask me. Ask the church i.e a Catholic theologian.
Since Leo turned out to be perfectly healthy and Mrs Blair sufferred no birth complications I would refer to Leo as a blessing or “zball sabih hafna” (as we Maltese say in such circumstances) while still admiring Mrs Blair for being responsible enough to take side-effect-free contraceptive measures – particularly because of her age then and because of the fact that she already had three children. With the global population at least twice what it ought to be for environmental health and sustainability I for one admire couples who limit the size of their family even though they can afford more children just as much as I admire people who refrain from siring children if they have very serious genetic defects they could pass on or if they feel they will not be sufficiently committed to bringing them up well enough.
Edward C. Green, director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, said that research into the spread of AIDS actually supports the position of the Catholic Church and the pope.
"The Pope is correct … the best evidence we have supports the Pope's comments," Green said, according to National Review Online.
"There is a consistent association shown by our best studies, including the US-funded 'Demographic HealthSurveys,' between greater availability and use of condoms and higher (not lower) HIV-infection rates," he explained. "This may be due in part to a phenomenon known as risk compensation, meaning that when one uses a risk-reduction 'technology' such as condoms, one often loses the benefit (reduction in risk) by 'compensating' or taking greater chances than one would take without the risk-reduction technology."
@ J Farrugia
Well said. Many, including the church just push around the sub-issue (Condoms) and don’t talk or keep mum about the core issue (Love making outside or before marriage). The Church does not want to look reactionary, while the government scared to lose votes. And we tax payers are the victims.
The numbers of out-of-wedlock babies increases alarmingly and both government and Church must find a solution. tax payers should never foot the bills of other 's recklesnes.
You have misinterpreted Mrs Blair's statement. "When there's a choice .......... we should always choose life" clearly means: use a condom as a protection against AIDS, which can kill you.
The Church must change with the times. If it does not, it will be unfortunately ignored or treated as irrelevant. Just look around you. Less people heed it.
Oh please, we've heard enough of such diatribes. What about the witch hunts and persecutions where thousands of people were tortured and burnt at the stake. That is genocide. Who instigated it? The Church. I think that is a far worse sin than using a condom. The world is already overloaded with people. Although contraceptives are not 100% failsafe at least they can stem the tide of overpopulation. I think it would more irresponsible not to use a condom and then not taking responsibility of bringing a child into the world.
Actually she does represent the views of most catholics. The drop in births in western catholic nations is testimony to it. As time and time again the vatican will be proven wrong, they don't decide what is sin or not!
How dare she be saddened?? Since when do people need your permission to be saddened by something??
Billing's method 100% effective....you must be joking!!!
"when there’s a choice between endangering and not endangering life, we should always choose life”
Mrs Blair went on to show that she meant that by proceeding with her pregnancy and giving birth to their son.
Let us hope that those who praise her just because she promotes contraception will also praise her for her commitment to human life from the moment of conception.
And let us also remember that with every right there comes a responsibility.
P.S. You should consider working in TV journalism!!
@ C James No contraceptive method is 100% effective let alone Billings method. Abstinance is not a contraceptive method, nor is it a natural method, actually it's very unatural. When it comes to the teaching of the church let us not forget the infants who died before baptism, we were always taught they went to "Limbu" can you imagine what their parents felt. Now we learn "Limbu does not exsit. By the way we still have to change that bit in the Crede .
@ John Samut-Tagliaferro . Where did God or Christ tell us not to use contraception. By the way natural contraception was also a sin up to the 1960s.
Was Ms. Cherie Blair’ speech a Pro-bono?
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Ex PM Tony Blair tops world's most expensive speeches. For a 45 minutes speech Mr. BLAIR charges 500,000 USD!!!!
Little calculations shows that what Mr. Blair make in a minute more than what I make it in a whole year!!!
http://money.canoe.ca/Forbes/2008/03/20/5058686.html
What on earth are you talking about? Billings method 100% effective?! At what, preventing HIV contagion? I guess you're joking, right?
And then you put the icing on the cake by mentioning abstinence! As if African women with philandering HIV positve husbands have the option of abstaining!
Cherie Blair is and has always been a catholic! It is Tony who converted recently, not the other way round!
I'm not sure you're correct. The way I know it is that the church says that this condom business is God's Natural Law, is immutable and can never change. It's not a law of the church e.g. like eating meat on friday or whether or not a woman can become a priest, which CAN change. So the church will never be in a position to change, or offer an apology, on this matter.
To the Pope's Maltese apoplogists, and the Blairs' detractors - amazing! We are talking 'condom' and they start talking 'foreign politics'. Amazing!
Many children brought to this world were unplanned but that does not mean that they are not the 'dear child of loving parents' and unloved - far from it