"Misrepresenting Benedict’s Bravery"

Matthew Hanley, author of Affirming Love, Avoiding AIDS: What Africa Can Teach the West, writes about the Pope and AIDS at The Catholic Thing:

Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks about condoms and AIDS – or rather confusing manipulations of those remarks – are reverberating around the world. But they do not represent the change in his thought or Catholic teaching that the media have vigorously claimed, however much progressive or dissenting theologians, and perhaps even some papal aides, wish otherwise. And they are not a vindication of public health authorities who have, for decades, unsuccessfully advocated technical means of battling sexually transmitted epidemics, while refusing to emphasize the kinds of behaviors that would avoid infection altogether.

The New York Times tells us the pope’s words, in the newly published book Light of the World, were received with “glee from clerics and health workers in Africa, where the AIDS problem is worst.” The pope as anachronistic obstacle to global health has long been a fashionable narrative. But consider: decades of robust condom promotion (and other technical interventions) utterly failed to curb Africa’s AIDS epidemics, and common-sense changes in sexual behavior accounted for Africa’s handful of AIDS declines. Is one misrepresented remark from the pontiff now to do what lavish and sophisticated condom campaigns couldn’t? Public health leaders should be carefully scrutinized. They, not the pope, are explicitly charged with containing epidemics.

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George Wiegel on The World Over Live

George Wiegel, who contributed a foreword to the US edition of Light of the World, appears to discuss the book on EWTN's The World Over Live. (Segment starts at the 6:00 mark.)

ABC, CBS Inaccurately Report Pope's Condom Remarks as 'Change in Policy'

Newsbusters shows how inaccurately the mainstream news media has been in its reportage of Pope Benedict's statements on condoms:

On Tuesday evening, ABC and CBS furthered the mainstream media's largely inaccurate reporting on Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks on the morality of condom use. While the pontiff stated that condoms are "not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection," World News anchor Diane Sawyer stated that "the Pope shifts his rules on condom use." Evening News anchor Katie Couric labeled Benedict XVI's comment a "historic statement," and trumpeted how supposedly, "Pope Benedict says, for the first time, that condoms are okay to protect against HIV and other diseases."

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Did the Pope “justify” condom use in some circumstances?

Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ, founder of Ignatius Press, presents this guest editorial for Reuters.

Did the Pope “justify” condom use in some circumstances?

No. And there was absolutely no change in Church teaching either. Not only because an interview by the Pope does not constitute Church teaching, but because nothing that he said differs from previous Church teaching.

Then why all the headlines saying that he “approves” or “permits” or “justifies” condom use in certain cases?

That’s a good question. So good that the interviewer himself asked virtually the same question during the interview.

The Pope made a statement in the interview, which statement has now been widely quoted in the worldwide media. Immediately, the interviewer, Peter Seewald, posed this question: “Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?”

The Pope clarified and expanded on his previous statement.

So let’s look at the two statements.

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The New York Times interviews Archbishop Dolan

New USCCB president Archbishop Dolan gives an interview to the New York Times that addresses, in part, Pope Benedict's comments on condoms in Light of the World:

In an expansive interview in the front parlor of his residence on Madison Avenue — the only news interview he has granted since he spoke to a Catholic television station after last Tuesday’s election — Archbishop Dolan discussed his surprise at his election, whether the bishops will push for repeal of the health care overhaul and what Pope Benedict XVI said about condoms.

“The Pope didn’t say, ‘Oh good, you should use a condom,’ ” Archbishop Dolan said, referring to a controversial comment the pope made in a book that is being released worldwide on Tuesday.

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Light of the World and the Mainstream Media

 

Ignatius Press president Mark Brumley has been busy fielding questions about Light of the World from a multitude of media sources. But they all seem to ask the same questions…

Mainstream Media:  So the Pope has written a book about condoms!

Mark Brumley: Well, actually, it’s an interview book.  And journalist Peter Seewald interviewed Benedict about a wide-range of topics, not just about condoms.

MM: Yes, but condoms must be a major theme of the book.  Look at all the coverage that has focused on condoms!

Mark: Actually, the Pope’s comments about condoms cover only about two pages out of about 200 pages of Q & As.

MM: Well, what did the Pope say about condoms?

Mark: You can go here and read for yourself what he said.

MM:  Many readers won’t want to be bothered to do that.  Can’t you just tell us?

Mark: Really, the Pope’s remarks aren’t very long.  And Ignatius Press has gone to the trouble to have them translated into English, so English-speakers can read them for themselves.

MM:  I’m sure people appreciate that, Mr. Brumley, but, please, summarize things for us.  When can we use condoms, according to the Pope?

Mark: The Pope never said we may use condoms.

MM: That’s not what I read online.  I read the headline “Pope Approves Condoms” or something like that.

Mark: May I suggest that you and your readers actually look at what the Pope said?

MM: Mr. Brumley, you seem like you’re trying to dodge my question.  Please, answer my question.  When, according to the Pope, may we use condoms?

Mark: Ok. Let me try to explain this to you.  The Pope did not approve condom use.  Not even on rare occasions, contrary to what some media reports said.

"Pope repeats, condoms not AIDS answer"

USA Today's Cathy Lynn Grossman has piece on what the Pope said about condoms, citing author Amy Welborn among others.

Immediately, the Internet and some newscasts lit up with a breathless mangling of the pope's comments and their significance, says Catholic author and blogger Amy Wellborn. She was among the select few to have an advance, embargoed text of the book, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times.

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Father Joseph Fessio discusses Light of the World on the Today Show

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The headline on this story is misleading, but Father Fessio's comments are not.

Pope Benedict XVI discusses condoms and the spread of HIV

An excerpt from Light of the World, Peter Seewald’s book-length interview with Pope Benedict XVI

From Chapter 11, "The Journeys of a Shepherd," pages 117-119:
On the occasion of your trip to Africa in March 2009, the Vatican’s policy on AIDs once again became the target of media criticism.Twenty-five percent of all AIDs victims around the world today are treated in Catholic facilities. In some countries, such as Lesotho, for example, the statistic is 40 percent. In Africa you stated that the Church’s traditional teaching has proven to be the only sure way to stop the spread of HIV. Critics, including critics from the Church’s own ranks, object that it is madness to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms.

The media coverage completely ignored the rest of the trip to Africa on account of a single statement. Someone had asked me why the Catholic Church adopts an unrealistic and ineffective position on AIDs. At that point, I really felt that I was being provoked, because the Church does more than anyone else. And I stand by that claim. Because she is the only institution that assists people up close and concretely, with prevention, education, help, counsel, and accompaniment. And because she is second to none in treating so many AIDs victims, especially children with AIDs.

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