The Pope Controversy

I was going to think up some cute title for this article, considering the subject matter, but figured I should keep it somewhat family friendly, since I post these things on my Facebook page for the world to see, and hopefully read.  The Pope is in the middle of another controversy, this time over comments made about condoms in an interview he did for an upcoming book.  There is confusion, and understandably so, but the Holy Father's statements shouldn't be taken as a great shift in Church teaching.

He was addressing the use of condoms as a way of stopping the spread of AIDS in Africa, expressing skepticism over this strategy's effectiveness.  He brought up a scenario in which a male sex worker might use a condom as a "first step" toward a moral awakening.  Taken in context, the Pope is commenting on a situation where the person is already involved in a morally objectionable act, in which conception is impossible (male prostitutes generally engage in homosexual acts) and so the purpose of the condom is strictly to hinder the spread of infection.  The Pope is no more endorsing the use of artificial contraception as he is prostitution, male or otherwise.  He's presenting an extreme situation where mitigating circumstances render condom use either morally neutral or bring it to the fringe of acceptability, based solely on the user's intention.  Let's be real, in the case given the use of a condom is the least of the poor guy's problems. 

The Pope, at heart, is a college professor.  Professional theologians, of which Joseph Ratzinger was one before he became Benedict XVI, sit around and debate, throw out ideas, and think up concrete situations to test abstract teachings.  This is especially true in the realm of moral theology.  I had a very solid professor, a Dominican priest (the order, not the country) who was as straight an arrow and conservative as you'd get, who could think up all sorts of situations that lessen a person's culpability when involved in what are otherwise morally objectionable acts.  His purpose wasn't to endorse fornication, for instance, but to teach us sensitivity in the confessional.  It's not that sin becomes virtue under the right conditions, but rather a person's guilt and responsibility is effected by certain conditions that surround the particular action they've taken.  It's for us as confessors to help them see their error and bring them back to the right path. 

In the scenario given by the Pope, the prostitute may be motivated to use a condom because he has some dim understanding that his client is a human being with dignity and shouldn't be exposed to the risk of infection by a deadly virus just so he can make a few dollars.  Without being presumptuous, I think the Holy Father would say this is but a first groping step in a moral awakening that hopefully leads this man to see that, while he was motivated by good intentions, the use of a condom doesn't render his life as a prostitute A-OK.  There is something intrinsically dehumanizing about the whole business and a total reform of life is called for.

Pope Benedict was speaking in the language of the university, something we are not use to.  Papal statements are usually well crafted and measured because they are so scrutinized by the world, and enter into the official teachings of the Magisterium.  This was why Benedict was clear to say that his books about Jesus contain his opinions as a private theologian and were not put out in his official capacity as pope.  In this case, the Pope said nothing I wouldn't have heard in a seminary morality course, where extremes are discussed and scenarios are weighed.  But if we look at the Holy Father's words in total context, we see that the Church teaching on artificial contraception is the same today as it was last week.