Pontifical council to publish document on AIDS

Vatican City, Jul 23, 2006 / 22:00 pm

The Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care will soon publish an extensive document on AIDS, according to an announcement by Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, the council’s prefect.

In an interview with the Italian daily, “Corriere della Sera,” published last Thursday, the cardinal explained that the 400-page document is currently under review by medical, scientific, pastoral, and moral experts.

“Our task is to lay out the teaching of the Church on this disease, how it can be cured, what the Church is doing, how it can be prevented, and how the sick can be helped,” Cardinal Lozano said. 

“The Church is massively engaged on this front, as 27% of the centers that care for HIV-positive individuals are Catholic,” he underscored.

According to the cardinal, the document will include texts, illustrations and tables about the virus, the disease, and its prevention.
    
Asked about the Church’s position regarding the moral permissiveness of condom use, Cardinal Lozano responded that the document would reflect what the Church teaches on that issue, namely, that condoms are not a legitimate method for preventing pregnancy and that to present them as a means of ensuring “safe sex,” especially in the case of AIDS, is deceptive and dangerous in combating the spread of the pandemic.