KENYA: Pope Benedict XVI's words on condoms and HIV get mixed response

Record ID: 361562

  • Title: KENYA: Pope Benedict XVI's words on condoms and HIV get mixed response
  • Date: 22nd November 2010
  • Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (NOVEMBER 21, 2010) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF CHURCH CROSS ON CHURCH WIDE OF PEOPLE IN MASS WOMAN SINGING HYMN WOMAN AND OTHER WORSHIPERS SINGING PADRE RECITING CREED (SOUNDBITE) (English) FRANK MWANGI, NAIROBI RESIDENT, SAYING "I think people, especially Catholic leaders, are coming to realise that, times are changing and we cannot confront anymore, you
  • Embargoed: 7th December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya, Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Health,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA96QIPZC7G6IE96CYX7VMMFMDX
  • Story Text: Kenyans received Pope Benedict's comments relaxing the Vatican's position on condom use with varied reaction on Sunday (November 21).
    Kenya has seen a drop in the number of AIDS-related deaths, with a UN-study pointing towards an increased use of condoms as a contributory factor in a drop in infection rates among young people.
    In a book to be published on Tuesday, Benedict says using condoms may sometimes be justified to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS infection, in what commentators are calling a significant shift in one of the Vatican's most controversial positions.
    Benedict, in some excerpts' cites the example of the use of condoms by prostitutes as "a first step towards moralization," even though they are, he says, "not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection."
    Residents in Nairobi said the apparent shift is a sign of the times.
    "I think people, especially Catholic leaders, are coming to realise that times are changing and we cannot confront anymore, you know, today's problems with yesterday's kind-of solutions. So AIDS is real, I think the pope and the entire Catholic leadership has realized that and we need to face it on," said Frank Mwangi, a Nairobi resident.
    Benedict made clear the comments were not intended to weaken the Church's fundamental opposition to artificial birth control, a source of grievance to many practising Catholics.
    Benedict's previous word using condoms to combat HIV infection rates caused controversy across sub-Saharan Africa during a visit last year when he suggested their use would exacerbate the problem.
    More than a million people are living with HIV in Kenya, although in July this year a United Nations AIDS programme report indicated there was a sea change underway among young people on the African continent, leading to them having fewer partners and practising 'safe sex' with condoms.
    Kenya has seen some of the most dramatic declines with a 60 percent drop in infection rates among young people between 2000 and 2005, according to UNAIDS. AIDS-related deaths in the country have fallen by 29 percent since 2002.
    "I think the morality of the society is going to be infringed upon, that's why I think it is up to the individual to decide what they want. If they want to abstain or if they want to use condoms all the time," said Sylvia Mwende, a resident of Nairobi.
    An estimated 1.9 million people were newly infected in sub-Saharan Africa in 2009, bringing to 22 million the number of Africans living with AIDS.
    ENDS.
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