THE Roman Catholic church in England swept doctrine aside yesterday to support the use of condoms in stopping the spread of Aids.
The move defies the Vatican hierarchy, which laid down 37 years ago that Catholics may not use any form of artificial contraception.
The bishops referred only to the use of condoms to prevent Aids, rather than to prevent pregnancy.
But they have opened a deep rift between themselves and those who follow the teachings set out by Pope John Paul ll.
The English U-turn in resistance to condoms came after bishops of the Church in Spain issued an unprecedented statement declaring their worry over Aids.
They said: 'Condoms have a place in the global prevention of Aids.' There had been strong hints in recent months that Catholic leaders in England and Scotland had come round to similar views.
Yesterday a spokesman for the Church in England and Wales said of the Spanish position: 'We would support it. I don't know that we would put it in the same way but there is tacit support.' Of the Vatican's 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, in which Pope Paul Vl banned contraception, she added: 'They didn't have Aids in those days.' Last year Cardinal Cormac Murphy- O'Connor, head of the Church in England and Wales, said of condom use that 'there are places where it might be licit, or allowable, as when there's a danger of intercourse leading to death.' The Scottish Catholic leader, Archbishop of Glasgow Mario Conti, said this week that 'it is legitimate to ask whether there are any circumstances in which, not for contraceptive but for hygienic purposes, condoms may be used to prevent the spread of Aids.' The relief agency CAFOD, controlled by English Catholic bishops, came out in favour of condom use last autumn.
But the Vatican remains strongly opposed to any weakening of the opposition to condoms that has led to severe criticism of the Church in Africa. One official in Rome said yesterday: 'This has not gone down well. It is in direct opposition to the Church's teachings.
'The Vatican has always expressed its opposition to the use of condoms. The Vatican believes that the spread of Aids is due to a breakdown in moral values.' The message in favour of condoms from the Spanish bishops was delivered by their spokesman, Juan Antonio Martinez Camino. He said: 'The Church is very concerned and very worried by this problem.' Describing condoms as 'the lesser of two evils', he added that Spanish Catholics would in future follow the doctrine of Aids prevention first set out by the British medical journal, The Lancet.
This prescribed ' abstinence, fidelity, condoms'.
The Catholic hierarchy in England has long been under pressure to back the use of condoms in the battle against Aids.
Bishops were repeatedly attacked in public over the issue by former International Development Secretary Clare Short, who was brought up a Catholic.
Until now, Catholic bishops in England have insisted that education against promiscuity is more important and useful than condoms in fighting Aids.
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