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Aids and Condoms the Teaching of the Church

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Aids and Condoms the Teaching of the Church 2 BISHOP CESARE BONIVENTO PIME AIDS AND CONDOMS THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH PASTORAL LETTER TO THE PRIEST OF VANIMO DIOCESE 2001 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1: THE THEOLOGICAL DEBATE ON AIDS AND CONTRACEPTIVES CHAPTER 2: THE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH ON CONTRACEPTION A. Humanae Vitae labeled as ‘fallible’ B. History of the teaching of the Church on contraception 1. Contraception has been Traditionally rejected as contralife 2. The teaching of the Church during 20th century 3. The reaction of the Catholic Bishops to Humanae Vitae 4. The teaching of John Paul II CHPATER 3: HUMANAE VITAE IS THE TEACHING OF THE ORDINARY MAGISTERIUM OF THE CHURCH A. The teaching of Humanae Vitae is infallible B. The teaching of the Church on contraception binds us in conscience C. The teaching of Humanae Vitae enlightens us on the ‘Conflicts of duties” D. Contraception is objectively a grave matter CHPATER 4: ARE CONDOMS ALLOWED IN PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES? A. Condoms as protection for the uninfected spouse B. Condoms as protection for those having intercourse outside of marriage C. Condoms and those not upholding our moral principles CHAPTER 5: THE LOVING COMPASSION OF THE CHURCH: TRUTH AND MERCY CHAPTER 6: CONDOMS CANNOT PROTECT THOSE AT RISK CONCLUSION: THE PROPHETIC ROLE OF THE CHURCH 4 INTRODUCTION Dear Fathers, I am sending you a new Pastoral Letter, especially addressed to you. It is the second one of this kind. The Pastoral Letter I wrote to you in 1998, and reedited twice in 1999, was on “Contraception and therapeutic sterilization”. The present one is on “AIDS and Condoms: the teaching of the Church.” As you realize these two pastoral letters are very much related, and their connecting point is the authority of “Humanae Vitae.” I chose the present topic because AIDS and how to fight it, has become such an urgent issue. As you know the answers vary quite a lot from each other, with serious consequences for our pastoral life and especially for the sacrament of Penance, for our preaching, and spiritual direction. The variety of the answers depends very much on the knowledge we have of and the attitude we have towards the Magisterium of the Church, and particularly towards the Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae of Paul VI. In discussing topics like whether contraceptives like condoms are licit in the fight against AIDS we must be very compassionate. However in order to show the true compassion of the Church, we must not neglect the mind and teaching of the Magisterium of the Church. If we do not give it the right place, our theology becomes a personal opinion, and our priestly ministry sterile, and our compassion harmful to souls. This is why in the title of this Pastoral letter I am emphasizing the attention we must give to the teaching of the Church on this matter. Obviously this booklet is not a treatise on this subject: it is simply a ‘memo’ or a reminder of what the Church says and has already said about this in the past, without claiming to be scientific. I hope you will find it useful for your preaching and especially when you are dealing with the faithful in confession or in giving spiritual direction. This booklet is the expression of my great affection to all of you, and of my support to you in carrying out your invaluable priestly ministry. + Cesare Bonivento PIME Bishop of Vanimo 22 April 2001 Feast of the Divine Mercy 5 CHAPTER 1 THE THEOLOGICAL DEBATE ON AIDS AND CONTRACEPTIVES Right now, the world is facing an incredible plague: the HIV virus. We have now been afflicted with it for 20 years. Statistics say that almost twenty million have died of AIDS, and forty million are now fighting to survive it. Certainly in a few years time most of the people now infected by the HIV virus will be dead. Despite the efforts of those committed to fight AIDS, the situation is not improving at all. Recently the rate of infection has skyrocketed; it seems that more than five million people were infected last year. How many in 2001? How long will it take before we are able to defeat such a plague? No one knows. Presently the HIV virus is causing a lot of problems not only for health reasons, but also economic reasons. Some developing countries especially in Africa are being decimated, and their economic power is being jeopardized. And since we are living in the era of globalization, their financial crisis also affects the stability of the rich countries. Therefore all governments are on full alert. Obviously under such circumstances, all the means are welcomed and used by these governments to fight AIDS. Even those means whose effectiveness is overestimated by world propaganda, as in the case of contraceptives especially condoms. The enormous economic interest in them is the main motivation in convincing people to use condoms. It is also understandable that those who are worried about the spread of the HIV virus, and those who have hidden interests, put pressure on the Church to get her support for the use of condoms. Unfortunately, when they realize that the Church denies such a support, they ridicule her to the extent of accusing her of being responsible for the life of millions of people. The official stance of the Holy Father and the College of the Bishops on condoms, as preventatives from the HIV virus is very clear: The Catholic Church teaches that contraception is degrading the dignity of marriage, consequently it is intrinsically wrong. In such a vision condoms are not allowable even though they are meant to fight and to curb the spread of the HIV virus. John Paul II has repeated numerous times the teaching of the Church on contraception and prevention of AIDS. It is sufficient to recall what he told the International Conference on AIDS on 15 November 1989: “It is extremely harmful to the dignity of the person, and therefore it is morally illicit to support as AIDS prevention any method which violates the authentically human sense of sexuality, and is a palliative for those deep needs which involve the responsibility of the individuals and of society and right reason cannot admit that the fragility of the human condition – instead 6 of being motive for greater care – be used as a pretext for yielding to a way of moral degradation.” 1 As for those who in the Catholic Church work at different levels of responsibility to fight the HIV virus, we have different stands on this subject. We can summarize these as follows: even though everybody is convinced that the best way to fight the spread of the HIV virus is chastity before marriage, and fidelity within marriage, the attitude varies when one deals with special cases e.g.: the case of protecting the uninfected spouse, or of pre-marital or extra-marital sex, or of homosexuals, or of peoples not upholding our Christian principles. In these cases we have some people faithfully following the teaching of the Church on contraception therefore not even considering condoms as a means to fight the HIV virus. But we also have other people who are sincerely worried for the fast spread of the HIV virus, and allow the use of condoms for various reasons as follows: • Humanae Vitae is not infallible, therefore, with due respect for the teaching of the Pope, in case of doubt one can follow one’s conscience, especially when one is facing a conflict of duties. • Condoms can be considered as a therapeutic means, therefore one can refer to the principle of double effect and of the lesser evil to allow them. • Contraception is only matter of venial sins. • Humanae Vitae is presenting only an ideal, which can be, achieved little by little, without feeling guilty when it is not immediately possible. • Extra-marital intercourse and homosexual intercourse are already wrong in themselves; so contraception does not add anything to them; therefore condoms can be used. • We are not entitled to impose our way on those who do not share our moral principles. It is not easy to be unanimous in this matter at the present time. One proof is the recent meeting organized by the Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands Bishops Conference at Goroka on February 12/15 2001 in order to help all our Dioceses find a theological consensus on this matter and to act accordingly. During this meeting a pastoral letter of Bishop Cullinane issued on 1993 with the title of “Life-giving Love” was particularly mentioned. Actually to differ in such a matter is no small thing. I feel obliged to help you properly evaluate these moral problems. To teach or to accept that the use of condoms is morally licit “in some particular circumstances”, instead of showing the loving compassion of the Church, affects many aspects of her life as follows: 1 Cf: “L’Osservatore Romano”, ed. English, 4 December 1989, p. 3. 7 • The ecclesial communion: because we create a contradiction between the teaching of the Holy Father and of the Episcopal College at large, and our own teaching with the consequence of grave scandal for the Christian people. • The pastoral initiatives of the local Churches. If we are not unanimous in following the official teaching of the Church and if some of us support something that the Church condemns, we risk giving contradictory pastoral guidelines, and causing great scandal among the people, and we put ourselves against each other. • The real good of the souls. No spiritual good can come to souls by doing something that, according to the teaching of the Magisterium, is evil.
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