Reuters story on possible new Vatican document:
The Vatican will soon publish a statement on the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, an issue highlighted by a call from a leading cardinal to ease its ban on them, a Catholic Church official said.
Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, the head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, declined to reveal the contents of the document in an interview published in Sunday's la Repubblica newspaper, but said Pope Benedict had asked his department to study the issue.
The former archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, who was standard bearer for a moderate minority in the conclave that elected the Pope last year, called for a reform in an interview published in Italy on Friday.
The Vatican opposes condoms as a form of contraception, but several cardinals have said in recent years that using them is a lesser evil if the alternative is infection with AIDS. "This is a very difficult and delicate subject that requires prudence," said Mexican-born Barragan. "My department is studying this closely with scientists and theologians expressly assigned to draft a document that will be issued soon," he said.
It will be interesting to see what the alleged document actually says. I haven't seen any reputable Catholic news outlet reporting on this at all from the Holy See, but why would Barragan say it if something wasn't in the works?
Also, interestingly, it doesn't give us any indication of which way the Vatican will go on this. Although I'll personally submit to the Church's judgment, it will probably just reiterate the long-standing teaching that condoms cannot licitly be used even in the cases outlined in these articles, which is more than ok by me.
