It has been a rather hectic and eventful week for me as national co-ordinator for the just concluded 15th AMECEA conference on HIV/Aids.
By now the public, has through the media, got access to the message from the pastors of this region (Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and Uganda) that will guide us through the next three years.
STEADFAST: The late Pope John Paul II was against the use of condoms.
For now, however, I want to address an issue that keeps on appearing high on the agenda whenever the Catholic Church is associated with HIV/Aids.
During the preparations and the actual plenary, many expressed anxiety about the Church’s official position on the use of condoms in mitigating the pandemic.
Some would want the Catholic Church to adjust its “rigid” position so as to keep abreast with reality.
Church culpable?
Some circles have gone as far as accusing the Church of being responsible for the many HIV/Aids cases and deaths in Africa which they think would not have occurred if it had encouraged people to apply the condom. What a controversy!
And what about a married couple where one is infected and the other is not.
Should not the Church allow them to apply the latex rubber? In any case does the Church really expect everyone to observe the formula of abstinence outside marriage and mutual fidelity within marriage?
Before we address such challenges, which are of course not imaginary, it is imperative that we appreciate what the Church is and how it operates.
The Church is a community of believers instituted by Christ to continue his saving mission to the entire humankind until the end of time.
What the Church teaches, guided by the Holy Spirit, is not its own but the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As Jesus was not permitted to change the message he received from his Father, so is the Church. This message is everlasting.
Thank God it is a message of salvation, love and eternal life. The only problem on our part, as recipients, is its hardness. We find it hard obviously because we are both weak and are more inclined to do our own will than that of God.
God and condoms
This is what God has to say about condom use. Condoms are primarily a contraceptive.
A contraceptive is a device that is deliberately intended to frustrate the sexual act, by rendering procreation impossible. This contravenes God’s original intention of creating “them male and female”.
The application of a condom immediately implies that the seeking of pleasure from the sexual union has taken the upper hand. One partner uses the other as a tool, a means to an end (pleasure).
This jeopardises true love and human dignity. So the appeal to condom use signals a culture of utility and manipulation. A partner uses a condom in order to use the other as a condom.
By this I mean one uses the other as a tool or a means to pleasure. So the condom culture that is so prevalent today likewise signals to the prevalence of a mentality that manipulates people for selfish ends, a utility culture.
Although HIV and Aids does not only spread through sexual contact, one also tends to agree with the findings that the vector is responsible for over 90 per cent of the infections.
And since condoms are not 100 percent safe, one can conclude that their use is also responsible for many infections.
How many times has the public been informed “with regret” that such and such a brand has been withdrawn after failure to meet “consumer” standards?
Above all, condom use simply lets people on the loose while falsely trusting it as preventive.
So without pointing an accusing finger at anyone, the Church cautions against hyping of the condom and discourages its use.
The only 100 per cent preventive measure against HIV/Aids, according to the Church is Abstinence and Behaviour Change, which are reinforced by embracing Christ.
He helps us in our struggles and gives us hope that we shall overcome our weaknesses someday.
