Love over latex

There is so much that can be said about the Pope’s recent comments about the use of condoms and the coverage it received in the media. First, what did he say? Actually not very much at all. The Church’s teaching on sex, love, contraception and life remains the same; of course it does, in that the Church is given to us by the same God who gives us natural law, logic and the very sexuality that we’re discussing. All the Holy Father said was that in the most extreme and rare circumstances where intercourse is going to occur and death may ensue, a condom may be a better option. Not the best option, not the desirable option, but an option preferable to agonizing death.

He used the example of a prostitute and, presumably, the transmission of AIDS or something similarly horrendous. The person selling their body is obviously sinning but may come to realize that what they are doing is wrong and causes harm, because they are now taking some sort of precaution to prevent even greater suffering. One theologian used the analogy of a bank robber using a gun to commit his crime, and the Church accepting that if he cannot be stopped from what he is doing it would at least be better if the gun had no bullets.

Second, how did the media cover all this? Terribly, with a mixture of malice and ignorance. Headlines announced that the Pope had changed the Church’s teaching on contraception and that Catholics were now allowed to use condoms. The usual suspects were wheeled out of obscurity to say predictable and repugnant things about the Pope. One Toronto fellow who I thought had passed away — no joke — suddenly appeared on television rattling off the usual liberal hyperbole to a credulous host who obviously had no idea what he was talking about.

Third, how did the Church handle this? Horribly. The leaks should have never been allowed and Church leaders should have been given time to prepare statements and helped parishes to explain what was happening. As is so often the case, individual Catholics — and particularly Catholics in the public eye — were thrown out to clarify teaching without any support or information. Anti-papal cafeteria Catholics, naturally, had a party trying to exploit the whole thing for their own political and personal purposes. I suppose the Vatican does have a press department but they seem to be hanging out with Waldo somewhere.

Look, this is not really a major story and compassion, consistency and truth are all on our side. Condoms not only enable but encourage people to turn sex into a selfish and loveless act. Sex is meant to be wonderful but it’s also meant to be gloriously and intrinsically linked to humanity, openness to life and a place for God in the relationship. Church teaching on reproduction works if it is used properly but it sometimes requires self-control and, deeply significant, gives a woman authority in a marriage; condoms, however, do not liberate women at all but tend to empower randy young men. If you doubt me, ask any young woman at college or university!

The African example has taught us that abstinence is more effective than contraceptives. In other words, love instead of latex. Condoms have not worked because the problem of AIDS is tied to poverty, lack of female equality and too little education. The notion that prophylactics will solve the problem is ludicrous. If you doubt this, look at what has been achieved in Uganda with its abstinence program. It has always stunned me how people who routinely dismiss Africa’s problems suddenly become so passionate when Catholic teaching is discussed. They seem far more intent on bashing the Church than in helping Africans.

Condoms have been encouraged for decades in the west and we’ve seen a regular increase in STDs, so-called unwanted pregnancies and sex-linked depression and unhappiness. We are made by God in His image and sex is a gift, and not the mere exchange of bodily fluids. This is a broken and flawed world and we’re all struggling to make it better. The Pope is doing this more than most and better than most. His comments show just that.