"The condom does not prevent AIDS"… "Only responsible sexual behavior can address the pandemic."
By Patrick B. Craine
RIMINI, Italy, August 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Once again, the director of Harvard's AIDS Prevention Research Project has publicly affirmed that the Pope was right on AIDS and condoms, as Zenit reports.
Dr. Edward Green affirmed the Pope's teaching in an address this past Tuesday at the 30th Annual Rimini Meeting for Friendship Among the Peoples, sponsored by the Communion and Liberation lay movement.
"As a scientist [I] was amazed to see the closeness between what the Pope said last March in Cameroon and the results of the most recent scientific discoveries," said Dr. Green. "The condom does not prevent AIDS. Only responsible sexual behavior can address the pandemic."
"When Benedict XVI said that different sexual behavior should be adopted in Africa, because to put trust in condoms does not serve to fight against AIDS," he continued, "the international press was scandalized."
This March, Pope Benedict ignited a worldwide controversy, outraging media, world leaders, and even church members, when, on his first pastoral visit to Africa, he said that condoms only heighten the problem of AIDS. AIDS "is a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems," he told reporters.
Notable critics were notoriously pro-abortion former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie. Interestingly, Mr. Blair, who joined the Catholic Church in 2007, but has not repudiated his anti-life views, is a featured speaker at this year's Rimini event.
The Pope was supported at the time, however, by members of the Church hierarchy, Catholic doctors, and Dr. Green himself.
In affirming the Pope, the AIDS expert also manifested a limited support for condoms, however, which is a view contrary to Catholic teaching. "The condom can work for particular individuals, but it will not serve to address the situation of a continent."
"To propose the regular use of the condom as prevention in Africa could have the opposite effect," he said.
Green pointed to the success of the Ugandan 'ABC' strategy, which says, "Abstain, Be faithful, and, as a last resource, use a Condom."
"The president was able to tell the truth to his people, to young people, that on occasions some sacrifice, abstinence and fidelity are necessary," he said. "The result has been formidable."
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Pope Says Condoms Not Solution to AIDS
Harvard AIDS Expert Says Pope is Correct on Condom Distribution Making AIDS Worse
