Aids is ethical issue - Pope

Pope Benedict XVI yesterday labelled Aids an “ethical problem” and condemned corruption as he laid out a vision for his Church’s future in Africa on his second visit to the continent.

Benedict signed off on a 135-page roadmap for the Roman Catholic Church in Africa at a basilica in the Benin city of Ouidah, a centre of voodoo, with the Temple of Pythons and its30-odd snakes just across the street.

He signed the document on the second day of a three-day visit to Benin, a voodoo heartland and Catholic bastion where thousands have greeted him joyously since his arrival on Friday in the West African nation.

Around 30 voodoo followers were outside the Temple of Pythons as Benedict arrived at the basilica, many dressed in white and wearing fetish beads.

The document signed by Benedict – an apostolic exhortation called ‘The Pledge for Africa’ containing conclusions from a 2009 synod of African bishops – includes peace, reconciliation and justice as its main message.

It calls for good governance, the abolition of the death penalty and denounces abuses, particularly against women and children, while describing AIDS as a mainly ethical problem that requires a medical response.