Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Tim ReidyMarch 25, 2009

The British online journal Thinking Faith has published a provocative article by the Jesuit Michael Czerny defending the pope’s criticism of condom use in the fight against AIDS. Here are the key paragraphs:

On the second issue of a strategy for whole populations, there is widespread belief that condom-use programmes are effective in reducing HIV infection rates. However, this proves true only outside Africa and amongst identifiable sub-groups (e.g. prostitutes, gay men), not in a general population. There is no evidence that condoms as a public health strategy have reduced HIV levels at the level of the whole population. Indeed, greater availability and use of condoms is consistently associated with higher (not lower) HIV infection rates, perhaps because when one uses a risk reduction ‘technology’ such as condoms, one often loses the benefit (reduction in risk) because people take greater chances than they would without the technology.

Therefore at the public level, an aggressive condoms policy ‘increases the problem’ as it deflects attention, credibility and resources from more effective strategies like abstinence and fidelity – or in secular language, the postponement of sexual debut and a reduction in the proportion of men and women reporting multiple sexual partners. Abstinence and fidelity win little public support in dominant Western discourse, but they are vindicated by solid scientific research and are increasingly included, even favoured, in national AIDS strategies in Africa.

Tim Reidy

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
16 years 4 months ago
Christian Health Professionals and Bishop Kevin Dowling Discuss HIV/AIDS Prevention http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/news-2006-04-29.html A Catholic case for condoms http://experts.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/03/24/a_catholic_case_for_condoms

The latest from america

On Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV addressed a crowd of digital missionaries and Catholic influencers about the responsibilities and challenges of their ministry.
“We should never get used to violence or lose our respect for the sacredness of human life,” said Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, following a deadly mass shooting that claimed four lives, including that of a New York City police officer.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during a rally at Zocalo Square in Mexico City on March 9. (OSV News photo/Toya Sarno Jordan, Reuters)
Fears of state espionage are surfacing again for Centro Prodh and other human rights groups in Mexico after legislators overhauled a suite of laws in security, military, telecommunications and intelligence matters.
David AgrenJuly 28, 2025
We need to pray for the person whose real identity and full story we do not know. Because that is everyone.
Simcha FisherJuly 28, 2025