Condom support?
I am rather skeptical about this Reuters story (besides just the fact that it comes from Reuters)
MADRID, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Spain's Catholic Church acknowledged on Tuesday that condoms had a place in a broader strategy to halt the spread of AIDS, based primarily on sexual abstinence and fidelity. In an apparent shift from traditional Church teachings, the spokesman for Spain's Bishops' Conference, Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, said there was scientific evidence that condoms could combat the propagation of the disease.
After meeting Health Minister Elena Salgado, the cleric said a recent study in medical journal the Lancet had supported an integrated approach to tackling AIDS, including the use of condoms and the practice of sexual restraint.
"The Church is very worried and interested by this problem, and its position is backed by scientific proposals such as the one published in the prestigious magazine the Lancet," Martinez Camino said.
"The time has come, the Lancet magazine says, for a joint strategy in the prevention of such a tragic pandemic as AIDS, and contraception has a place in a global approach to tackling AIDS," he said. [Source]
They provide no quotations around the statement that the spokesman for Spain's bishop conference endorsed the use of condoms. They move from his statement about an article in the Lancet to a specific quote in the magazine making it appear that he was agreeing with the specific point made. So count me doubtful that this is the actual position of Spain's bishop conference.
Update: A reader named Robert posted in my comments that my hunch looks correct and that a Spanish language news release says that the spokesman's remarks were distorted and has since clarified them. Robert says "In other words, this is a non-story." The only story here is in the reporting of a non-story and how once again the press has fabricated news out of thin-air.
Update: Santificarnos takes a more in depth look at this story via a Spanish news site and further debunks the story.
After a bit more reading, it seems he was definitely misquoted - helped along by a sloppy comment.
It appears that Father Juan Antonio Martínez Camino was attempting to explain that it was nice that an international program accepted the Church´s stance with respect to Abstinence. However, by mentioning the Lancet ABC program, the press miscontrued that to mean the Church was supporting the use of condoms. In other words, they ignored the parts "A" and "B" of the program, and misconstued the Father´s words that he was approving of the "C" part of the program.
The ABC program is Abstinence, Be faithful, Condoms.
Update: [Via Bettnet] The Catholic News Agency weighs in with this story.
Madrid, Jan. 19, 2005 (CNA) - Despite media reports around the world that the bishops of Spain have thrown their support behind condoms as a means of preventing AIDS, the statements by the General Secretary of the Bishops Conference of Spain, which are the source of the reports, reiterate the Catholic position that abstinence and fidelity must be promoted in order to stop AIDS.
Father Juan Martinez Camino, spokesman for the bishops, held a meeting with the Health Minister, Elena Salgado, to discuss the issue of AIDS prevention. Speaking to the press, Father Martinez stated that the Church is “very concerned about and interested in” this “grave problem,” and he maintained that the position of the bishops, made know on repeated occasions, in favor of abstinence and fidelity, “is also backed up by scientific evidence.”
In this way Father Martinez referred to the so-called “ABC Strategy,” which was the subject of the medical magazine “The Lancet” last November, which revealed that 150 experts from 36 countries for the first time acknowledged that the promotion of abstinence and fidelity should be taken into account in AIDS prevention campaigns.
The ABC Strategy proposes “a common foundation” for the prevention of AIDS, with the letters standing for abstinence, be faithful, and condoms. Father Martinez was reported to have told the Health Minister that the Church is against the systematic and unilateral generalization of the condom as the only method of prevention. According to Father Martinez, the meeting was characterized by a “very extensive and cordial” dialogue that only concerned the current medical and social status of the disease.
Update: And now word from Spain's Catholic Bishops Conference.
The Roman Catholic Church in Spain moved to quench any notion of a sea-change in its attitude to the use of contraceptives, saying remarks by one of its top people had been misunderstood and that doctrine remained as before.
While Camino's comments were seen in Spain as a sea-change in how the Roman Catholic Church views use of condoms, the Vatican -- where Church doctrine is set out -- quietly but firmly reiterated the official line, and Catholic leaders elsewhere followed suit.
Clarifying any misunderstandings, the Spanish bishop's conference said the statement had not changed Church doctrine.
"The only conduct to advise is the responsible exercise of sexuality, in line with the moral norm," said the statement, reiterating Vatican doctrine that sexual abstinence and fidelity were the best weapons against HIV/AIDS.
"It is not possible to advise people to use condoms if it goes against their private morality," it said.
It insisted Camino had merely given a "brief response" to journalists' questions on a Spanish government programme for AIDS prevention that foresaw use of condoms.
"The statement must be understood within the meaning of Catholic doctrine which says use of condoms implies immoral sexual conduct," said the statement following a meeting of the hierarchy.
"The Church cooperates efficiently and rationally in the prevention of AIDS by advising the education of people on married love which is faithful and open to life, with the aim of avoiding inappropriate, promiscuous relations which give rise to perceived 'risk situations.'"
Known as 
A quick look at Spanish Google news reveals that the spokesman is already stating that his remarks were distorted, and has clarified. So the spokesman was either misquoted/quoted out of context or he's backtracking; whichever it is, the remarks attributed to him don't reflect the position of the Spanish bishops.
http://servicios.eldiariomontanes.es/pg041221/prensa/noticias/Sociedad/200412/21/DMO-SOC-124.html
As far as I can tell, his remarks really were misunderstood, and the story goes like this: Zapatero's government is going full speed ahead with a AIDS education campaign centred around condoms. The spokesman for the bishops points out (correctly, and as a sub-point to a larger argument) that there is scientific evidence that such a stragey is less successful than the "ABC" strategy, which emphasizes self-control and condoms as a last resort. The press runs with this and comes up with headlines like "Catholic Church Acknowledges Scientific Evidence That Condoms Can Help Prevent Spread of AIDS." Spokesman clarifies that condoms are not a good way to halt the spread of AIDS and that the best strategy, the one the bishops insist on, is abstinence and fidelity.
In other words, this is a non-story.
Arg, the press...why do they have to be like that?
Is there any thing in English that would indicate that this is a non-story?
Well, the hard-working investigative journalists at the AP have now provided the English-speaking world with "independent" confirmation of the story:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050119/D87N7DIG0.html
It's also on the front page of Drudge.
Boo Hiss I say. Boo Hiss.
You mean the press, Spanish and otherwise, would deliberately distort something in order to advance their own sociopolitical agenda? This is very disconcerting news, to say the least.
Hello, this is the other Robert, from Santificarnos.
I´m afraid to be a bit of a killjoy, but the spokesman did not (I REPEAT DID NOT) make a statement. That article the other Robert mentioned, is from last December - the last time he met with the minister, and get this, said the same thing. It´s just this time it got a ton of press. The background is that Father Camino has a way (no bilingual pun intended) of sticking his foot in his mouth. Suggesting the Church could allow human embryo testing on "leftover" embryos is another one of his famous statements. I believe his words were mistconstrued by the press, I also blv he said somethings that he shouldnt have said. We still need a clarification.
paz
Robert Duncan
Whatever the final shake-out of this situation is, isn't it nice to KNOW that, through it all -- the incompetence, the distortion, the attacks, all the efforts of evil men and the mistakes of good men, etc -- through it all, the Bark of Peter shall not be swamped on this stormy sea we call life on this rock?
*contented sigh*
I´m glad that news travels fast...I didn´t have time from leaving work, to eating, to posting the Bishops press release, to getting here and giving you the tip that it was all debunked. My only hope is that Father Camino really does watch what he says.
Paz
"Spanish Bishops Make Ambiguous Statement on Condoms in AIDS Prevention"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jan/05011902.html
One popular Catholic columnist at Catholic World Report going by the nom de plume, “Diogenes,” said of the ABC approach, “It’s hard to see how two morally praiseworthy actions (abstinence and fidelity) and one mortally sinful utilitarian expedient can constitute a common ground that includes Catholics.”
For more Diogenes:
http://www.cwnews.com/offtherecord/offtherecord.cfm
"It is not possible to advise people to use condoms if it goes against their private morality," it said.
This is from the 'clarification' from the Spanish bishops...
"against their private morality"?
This is supposed to be the good news?
Diogenes at Catholic World Report:
[the bishops' spokesman] assured [reporters] that the notion of "fidelity, abstinence, and condoms" proposed in the text "is in basic agreement" with the Church's opinion...
Update: I spoke with a Spanish priest in Rome who has followed this story closely and who claims that the Spanish Bishops Conference remains resolutely convinced that condom use is always sinful and did not concede anything to the contrary -- BUT (he claims) the position of the Conference is that, for persons determined to sin, use of a condom may be a lesser evil. I am unable to grasp the theology according to which God's will is that, if we are determined to expose ourselves to everlasting damnation, we should do so through the mortal sin that causes least bodily harm to ourselves and others.
http://www.cwnews.com/offtherecord/offtherecord.cfm
"It is not possible to advise people to use condoms if it goes against their private morality"
Now, I don't speak Spanish (which I'll offer as an excuse for thinking a news story from December was recent.) But all these romance languages are pretty much the same on paper, and I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that I'm reasonably certain the above quotation doesn't accurately translate the relevant line from the statement: "no es posible aconsejar el uso del preservativo, por ser contrario a la moral de la persona." Robert Duncan, can you help us out?
Slight topic change: When I was a lad, the joke was "what do you call a guy who carries condoms to keep his girl from getting pregnant?" Answer: Daddy. I think of this when I consider how chilling it is that we give teenagers -- who already think they are exempt from the law of averages -- the idea that condoms make them bulletproof. It used to be common knowledge that they were unreliable.
Hey Jeff, this post got linked to on the Corner!
You should put the Microsoft Forger post back on the front page or something.
:)
It is not possible to advise people to use condoms
I would say that the first part of that translation is correct, however, the second part if it goes against their private morality is incorrectly translated ... "por ser" in this case shouldn´t be translated as "if" but rather translated to be "AS IT IS"
This changes the meaning drastically of the statement (and coincides with Church teaching).
thanks Robert (Duncan)-- and am I right in thinking that contrario a la moral de la persona is more at "against a person's moral beliefs" than "private morality," which is suggestive of a pernicious "Everyone is free to choose their own private morality!" ethic?
By the way, the work you've done in bringing clarity to this sorry confused mess is invaluable, Robert. We should be supporting the beleagured Spanish church in their struggle against Zapatero's laicist revolution, not blaming them for the media's cynical attempts to disseminate false versions of Catholic teaching.
For Robert,
De acuerdo con estos principios no es posible aconsejar el uso del preservativo, por ser contrario a la moral de la persona
I´d argue that little bit doesn´t translate too well. I see that AP has a translation closer in line with ur first one: "as it is contrary to a person's morals." For me, that still misses the point a bit, since they are not talking about "individuals" but rather in the generic sense of people or humanity. In fact, the words "de la persona" are not even needed (and shows that this statement wasn´t written by a journalist/editor ... since is there any other kind of morality (i.e. animals), although they do hint at the subject of "dignity." What the bishops are saying, is that "it is contrary to morality." In a nutshell, this is a problem of literal translations. In English we would just say "it is immoral."
I´d say one possibility of a translation would be: "Therefore given these principles, it is not possible to advise/counsel people to use condoms, as it/they (condoms) is/are immoral." There are of course other ways of writing that, but I think it pretty closely catches the flavor.
Paz and thnx for kind words
I think "la moral de la persona" is "the morality of the person", or in other words "morality relating to the person". It's sort of like how "the theology of the body" means "the theology relating to the body", and not "the theology believed by a particular body".
Compare:
"la moral de la persona y bioética teológica"
with:
"the morality of the person and bioethics"
(from http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20010515_vidal_sp.html
and
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20010515_vidal_en.html
respectively)
"La moral de la persona" does not translate to "private morality". It does not translate to "personal morality". It means a persons morals,
and it implies a common code of morality. it is a shame how the media twists words to their own agenda. Very pharasidical. However, let us keep our focus and not simply lament such evil, distortion of the truth, but let us pray for those people who will be mislead by these false statements of support for condom use. Let us pray for those who in error support the promotion of condoms and all forms of artificial birth control. Let us pray for those who know that artificial contraception is a grave sin, but reject the churches teaching and truth on thse matters. and finally let us call on the holy name of mary and Jesus to guide our church trhu such difficulties, that souls will not be lost.
amen