Tony Blair Wants Vatican to Practice Safe Sex
Despite endless pundit analysis suggesting that Islam is the the major religious force in the 21st century, woe to those individuals who would underestimate the influence of the Catholic church, particularly in developing countries. Certainly Tony Blair doesn't, and he's indicating that he'd like to see the church caught up and brought into the.... nineteenth century. Hey, it's a start, right?
In a pointed criticism of the Vatican's stance on contraception, Mr Blair used a television interview on World Aids Day to insist that preaching abstinence was not enough. Speaking to MTV, Mr Blair said: "The danger is if we have a sort of blanket ban from religious hierarchy saying it's wrong to do it, then you discourage people from doing it in circumstances where they need to protect their lives."
Mr Blair, who has attended mass at Westminster Cathedral, spoke out amid speculation that the Vatican was preparing to ease its opposition to condoms. The Vatican says abstinence is the best way to tackle HIV/Aids, but in April, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the former Archbishop of Milan, said the use of condoms was "a lesser evil" in relationships where one partner had HIV/Aids, prompting speculation that the Vatican was preparing to relax its position.
Last month, a 200-page report on condom use commissioned by Pope Benedict was passed to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Vatican has been heavily criticised for its stance on sex and homosexuality.
The Vatican's insistence on Catholics not using condoms is based on the church catechism "it is necessary that each and every marriage act remain ordered per se to the procreation of human life." Which make perfect sense; Catholicism is a highly successful religion and in order to get there, encouraging children (who would also be Catholics) was a good way to increase the numbers. But the catechism doesn't take into account a variety of other issues associated with keeping each and every sexual act as "productive" as possible. Like the proliferation of sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS, overpopulation, and the significant economic strain that children can be on poorer families. It's time for the church to realize that the world has changed, and adjust its doctrine accordingly. There will undoubtedly still be plenty of Catholics to keep the church going if they do. The real question the church needs to ask itself is "Will anyone still want to be a Catholic once they realize how callous the church is being to the plight of its worshippers?"
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