Participants at International AIDS Conference to Ask Pope Benedict XVI to Lift Ban on Condoms
Condoms4Life Campaign Urges Vatican to Promote Culture of Life
10 August 2006 - TORONTO - As tens of thousands of activists, providers and concerned individuals gather for the XVI International AIDS Conference,
the Condoms4Life campaign (www.condoms4life.org) is spearheading an initiative to encourage the Vatican to
drop its ban on condoms and join others in the active prevention of the spread of HIV/AIDS throughout the world.
From the opening moments of the conference, attendees will have a chance to ask Pope Benedict XVI to lift the ban on condoms and
join in efforts to promote ethical, comprehensive and balanced approaches to HIV/AIDS.
In April of this year, sources close to the new pope indicated he had requested that senior theologians and scientists prepare a document on condom use as a means
of preventing HIV transmission. Although some Vatican insiders-including Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council on the Family, who claims condoms have
minute holes through which the virus is transmitted ("Sex and the Holy City," BBC/Panorama, October 12, 2003)-have insisted there will be no relaxing of the ban, Catholics and
non-Catholics around the world remain hopeful that the church will change this policy.
"A change in Vatican policy is critical. You can't keep talking about a culture of life and turn a blind eye to the suffering and dying. You can't tell people to
love and care for one another and deny them the means by which to protect each other," said Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice and founder of Condoms4Life.
"More than two dozen bishops and bishops' conferences have asked for a change. Catholic people get it. People spending their lives fighting this pandemic get it. Lifting this cruel
and stigmatizing ban on condoms would be a positive and life-affirming move for this new pope."
Recent data from the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS indicate that since Benedict XVI became pope on April 19, 2005,
5.5 million people have acquired HIV, and
3.7 million people have died of AIDS-related causes.
The statement will be circulated for signatures at the Condoms4Life booth (F-434) in the Main Exhibition Hall at the AIDS conference.
For more information about the Condoms4Life campaign, please visit www.condoms4life.org.
To sign the letter asking Pope Benedict XVI to lift the Ban on Condoms, please visit
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The Condoms4Life Campaign is a project of Catholics for Free Choice (CFFC), which shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based
on justice, reflect a commitment to women's well being and respect and affirm the moral capacity of women and men to make sound decisions about their lives. Through discourse,
education and advocacy, CFFC works in the US and internationally to infuse these values into public policy, community life, feminist analysis and Catholic social thinking and teaching.
Condoms4Life has made headlines and generated a critical public discussion on the Vatican's ban on condoms in 25 countries spanning five continents.
Media Contact:
In Washington, David Nolan
+1 202 986 6093
In Toronto, Michelle Ringuette
+1 202 550 1321
Reproduced with permission - CATHOLICS FOR CHOICE "
CATHOLICS FOR CHOICE
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