OpenForum – a blog by the Health and Human Rights community

Touring Africa in May, Pope Benedict XVI provoked controversy when he told an enthusiastic crowd in Cameroon that condoms are an ineffective solution to the spread of HIV. His words sparked a global reaction, opening international discussion about the use of condoms and the Pope’s impact on health and social behavior. The heated response raises a provocative question: do the Pope’s words promote the violation of human rights?  Does the vocal distribution of condom misinformation impede the listeners’ right to knowledge?

This first explicit statement from the Pope on the subject was congruent with previous Vatican statements that moral and devout abstinence, in place of condoms, should be the primary prevention strategy. However, Pope Benedict went further, claiming that distribution and use of condoms increases the problem and can in fact spread the virus. The scientifically incorrect statement, which conflicts with knowledge on the proven effectiveness of condoms, jeopardizes the human right to “share in scientific advancements and benefits” as written in Article 27 of the UDHR. In a global outcry, health officials and religious leaders asserted that the Pope’s disregard of scientific evidence is extremely dangerous given the strong influences that Catholicism and its leader have in Africa.

When used correctly, condoms reduce the risk of viral transmission, although accurately testing condom effectiveness through randomized controlled trials is “logistically and ethically impossible.” Condom-based prevention strategies have also proven to dramatically decrease infection rates in large populations. Pope Benedict’s statements about the dangers and ineffectiveness of this widely used contraception, therefore, are not only morally charged but also globally devastating.

Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times wrote that the Pope’s words were among the Church’s “most tragic mistakes in the first two millennia of its history”; The Lancet reported that such a “false scientific statement…could be devastating to the health of millions of people.” Days after Pope Benedict’s speech, UNAIDS released a reactionary statement about the effectiveness of condoms and the importance of their distribution.

By placing a moral price on an effective and proven prevention method, is the Catholic Church robbing vulnerable populations of their right to “life, liberty, and security of person” (to cite article 3 of the UDHR)? Pope Benedict’s recent words transcended moral tolerance into the realm of science. When do religious statements overstep moral boundaries, confront human rights, and demand global refutation?

The international reaction was prompt and angry. The Pope’s influence, many said, could hinder HIV prevention, and result in setbacks for many condom-based prevention strategies in place. The position of the Catholic Church on condoms raises important questions about the impact of dogma on disease: will the Pope’s words have an impact on prevention efforts? The global reaction implies that an abstinence-only approach disregards the complex ways that AIDS, as Paul Farmer writes, moves “along the fault lines of our inter-linked societies.” Such an international reaction to the Pope’s anti-condom campaign identifies at its pulse some of the inextricable links between religion, society, HIV, and human rights.

Pope Benedict’s speech in the news:

Pope claims condoms could make African crisis worse

Global Challenges: Condom Distribution Not Answer to Curbing Spread of HIV in Africa, Pope Benedict Says

AIDS agency takes issue with the Pope

AIDS activists blast pope’s rejection of condoms

Influence of Catholicism in Africa:

On Africa Trip, Pope will find place where Church is surging amid travail