In a shift from its traditional teachings, Spain's Catholic Church acknowledged on Tuesday that condoms have a place in the global prevention of HIV and AIDS.
Official Roman Catholic teaching bans the use of condoms because they are a form of contraception, arguing that abstinence - even among married couples, if necessary - is the best way to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.
However, Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, the spokesman for Spain's Bishops' Conference, said scientific evidence existed in the medical journal, The Lancet, that strategies combining condoms, sexual abstinence and fidelity were effective in preventing HIV infection.
Martinez Camino was quoted by Reuters as saying: "The time has come, Lancet says, for a joint strategy in the prevention of such a tragic pandemic, and contraception has a place in a global approach to tackling HIV/AIDS."
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