Canadian Press
January 20, 2005

MADRID, Spain (AP) - In a substantial shift from traditional policy, the
spokesman for the Catholic Church in Spain has said it supports the use of
condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS.

"Condoms have a place in the global prevention of AIDS," Juan Antonio
Martinez Camino, spokesman for the Spanish Bishops Conference, told
reporters after a meeting Tuesday with Health Minister Elena Salgado to
discuss ways of fighting the disease.

The Catholic Church has repeatedly rebuffed campaigns for it to endorse the
use of condoms in the fight against AIDS. The Vatican states that condoms,
because they are a form of artificial birth control, cannot be used to help
prevent the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Martinez Camino said the Spanish church's new stance was backed by the
scientific world. He cited a recent study by experts in the medical magazine
Lancet that supported the so-called "ABC" approach - abstinence, being
faithful to partners and using condoms.

"The Church is very worried and interested by this problem," he said.

There was no comment from the Vatican to the Spanish statement.

Martinez Camino met the health minister as a representative of the Church,
though it was unclear whether he was expressing the official view of the
Church.

The change in view was welcomed by the Spanish Federation of Lesbians, Gays,
Transsexuals and Bisexuals.

"I think it was absolutely inevitable that the Church would change its
stance," said federation president Beatriz Gimeno.

The leading daily El Pais pointed out that as recently as November the
Spanish Bishops Conference had vehemently opposed the Health Ministry's
campaign to promote the use of condoms. The paper quoted Martinez Camino as
saying then that it was "gravely false" to maintain that contraceptives
prevented the spread of HIV.

In June, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Alfonso
Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, said condom use was "a form of Russian roulette" in
fighting AIDS, El Pais said. The remark was roundly condemned by the Spanish
government, the World Health Organization and other organizations involved
in fighting AIDS, the papers said.

The United Left parliamentary coalition described the change in stance as "a
historic advance."

© The Canadian Press 2005