Compassion in the Roman Catholic Church

The Pope is looking into whether it might be acceptable for Catholics to use condoms in a specific and restricted situation: “to protect life inside a marriage when one partner is infected with H.I.V. or is sick with AIDS." Which idea, of course, is world shaking. At least it’s shaking up the little Roman Catholic world in the Vatican. The RCC teaching is that “every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible is intrinsically evil.” Which means that when a woman’s doctor has told her that getting pregnant will kill her, her only recourse is abstinence. That’s the RCC’s teaching. Although if the woman goes to her priest for a consultation over the problem, most priests would say that the use of birth control or other methods of sexual gratification are “a lesser evil”, albeit still evil. Nevertheless, the RCC’s official position is that the woman must refrain from sexual relations or get pregnant and die. But now, the canon lawyers in the RCC are trying to find a way to opine that it’s okay to use a condom if one partner has HIV or AIDS. And if they do an end run around the birth control dogma where AIDS is concerned, the RCC will still maintain that the use of a condom in all other circumstances is evil. The people researching this issue are going so far as to say perhaps one partner could claim “self-defense”. And also at issue is whether the married couple could claim that they weren’t using the condom for contraception, but rather for medical intervention. This is important, you see. Because at the moment the condom is slipped on the member of the hubby, both partners have to mentally vow that they really do want to get pregnant, it’s just that this condom thingy is medically necessary. And even if the Pope decides that the use of a condom in this instance is okay, the change in teaching is only for married folks. People with HIV and AIDS who aren’t married and have sex are doomed to eternal damnation anyway unless they confess their sin every time they do it and promise not to do it anymore, which isn’t likely, so why consider them? The NYT reported this morning that a researcher on AIDS for Human Rights Watch, Rebecca Schleifer, said that if Pope Ratz makes this change, “It will have a huge influence”, but in a way the Vatican may not like. Schleifer said it might break down resistance to condom use in places like the Philippines or parts of Africa. And the use of condoms by unmarrieds is not what the Vatican has in mind. It will be difficult for the RCC to hand out condoms in Africa with the proviso that they be used only by married folks who promise to mentally vow to God every time they have sex that they actually want to get pregnant but the condom is just for self-defense and a medical intervention. But that’s okay. Pope Ratz doesn’t actually care about real compassion. And he doesn’t care if the RCC’s manmade rules are ungodly. It’s acting benevolent while watching his subjects break under the yoke of the Church that’s so much fun.