Even at the Vatican, few things apart from the reality of God are absolute. Thou shalt not kill, but there is still just war. Now, behind the quiet Vatican walls, a clash is shaping up between two poles of near certainty: the church's long- held ban on condom use and its more recently focused advocacy for human life from the womb to old age.
The dilemma, as it has been for years, is AIDS. And in recent days, church officials confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI had requested a report on whether it might be acceptable for Catholics to use condoms in one narrow circumstance: to protect life inside a marriage when one partner is infected with the HIV virus or is sick with AIDS.
Whatever the pope ultimately decides, church officials and other experts broadly agree that it is remarkable that so sensitive an issue is being taken up at all. But they agree it is logical on many fronts, and particularly significant from this pope, who as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, served as Pope John Paul II's strict enforcer of church doctrine.
The only change being considered, according to reports, is in the specific case of a married couple. Any other use of condoms would remain forbidden, as would sexual acts outside of marriage, with or without condoms.
The New York Times
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