Sydney, Australia, Jul 17, 2008 / 02:18 am
Cardinal Wilifrid Fox Napier, the Archbishop of Durban, South Africa, told an Australian news program that a change in Catholic teaching on condoms would not change the rate of HIV infection in Africa. Rather, he argued, positive change would result from trusting people to take control of their lives.
"You expect that because people are hearing from bishops, `You must use a condom', that they will do what the bishops say? the cardinal asked his interviewer.
"We have already been preaching all our lives, don't have sex outside of marriage," Cardinal Napier told the SBS Dateline program, according to the Australian Associated Press.
The cardinal, who is visiting Sydney for World Youth Day, said South Africa has the highest rate of condom distribution, but still has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world.