The Australian AIDS Fund in this Open Letter is calling upon Australia's Catholic Bishops to follow the example of its Spanish brother bishops to acknowledge the life-saving value of condoms in the global battle against HIV/AIDS and to echo their support in clear and simple terms.
The President of The Australian AIDS Fund Incorporated, Brian Haill, has already urged the CEO of Church Resources (publishers of CathNews which is running the Madrid report today) Fr Michael Kelly, S.J., to step down from the federal government's HIV/AIDS Advisory Subcommittee because of his opposition to the use of condoms - a stance that's at odds with the government's support for condom usage.
Jesuit Publications has now banned The Australian AIDS Fund Inc from even advertising its HIV/AIDS information resource website - www.aids.net.au - in its various magazine including its flagship, Eureka Street, although its happily accepted the AAFI's advertising over many years.
Brian Haill in his media release today said the Spanish report gave Fr Kelly a golden opportunity to turn around his condom opposition. The CathNews report is as follows:
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A spokesman for Spain's Bishops' Conference, Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, said on Tuesday there was scientific evidence that condoms could combat the propagation of AIDS.
Reuter's is carrying a report that 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. The News agency says that "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."
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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.
The news agency says "the remarks by Martinez Camino avoided another clash between the Church and Spain's Socialist government, which is promoting the use of condoms to fight AIDS. The Church, which remains a powerful voice in Spain, has criticised the government for a new law allowing homosexual marriage as well as legislation to make divorce and abortion easier and permit stem cell research. The Vatican has not issued a definitive statement on the use of condoms in limited cases to stop AIDS, but most Vatican officials who have spoken out on the issue are against campaigns promoting their use."
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