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A Mexican Catholic bishop on Thursday joined a Spanish counterpart in endorsing the use of condoms to prevent HIV infection, in what one analyst called a fresh challenge to Pope John Paul II.
Bishop Felipe Arizmendi said at a news conference that under some circumstances the use of a condom to prevent the spread of AIDS should be tolerated as a "lesser evil."
That directly contradicts the official position of the Roman Catholic Church against all artificial birth control.
Arizmendi, whose diocese is in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, said his comments did not contradict church policy in favor of abstinence and fidelity.
"But we know how to respect the decisions of people, in such a way that if someone is incapable of controlling their instincts, is not developed in their personality, then they should use whatever is necessary in order not to infect others and not to infect themselves, because for these types of people there is no other alternative," Arizmendi said.
On Tuesday, Bishop Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, the spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference in Spain, said "condoms have a place in the global prevention of AIDS," The Associated Press reported.
In Mexico, that pronouncement led newscasts and sparked a fresh debate over condom use in Mexico _ which has the second-highest number of Catholics in the world after Brazil.
Late Wednesday, the Catholic Bishops Conference in Spain backed away from Bishop Martinez's statement, according to The AP. The conference said that Catholic doctrine holds that "use of condoms is immoral sexual conduct."
Still, one Mexican church analyst said that the debate over condoms is likely to get more intense, not less, given the infirmity of Pope John Paul II and the apparent challenge to his policies by even conservative bishops.
"I think most bishops know that the practice of total prohibition of condoms is absurd," said Roberto Blancarte, a professor of sociology and religion at El Colegio de Mexico.
"These bishops in general are quite conservative, but they live within an overall society, and Spanish society is much more liberal than they are," he said. Likewise, Mexican priests see the ravages of HIV infection in Mexican communities and question the ban on condoms, he said.
The latest debate, Blancarte said, comes at a time when the pope is ailing and his grip on power at the Vatican might be weakening.
Given the lack of a firm hand, some bishops seem ready to test the limits of church doctrine. "It's not clear if the pope is still the pope or whether there is room for more freedom of expression," Blancarte said.
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