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Church's stance on condoms and AIDS contradicted

    JOHANNESBURG

    A senior Vatican official is supporting the use of condoms in preventing HIV/AIDS in Africa, contradicting the Catholic church's position on contraception.

    Official Roman Catholic teaching bans 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.

    In an interview this week with the Italian news agency, Apcom, Cardinal Georges Cottier, theologian of the pontifical household, said the threat of HIV and AIDS was so immediate that "the use of condoms in some situations can be considered morally legitimate".

    Cottier is the most senior figure so far to argue that condoms should be admissible in exceptional circumstances.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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