The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has appeared to soften traditional opposition to contraception.
.jpg)
By Martin Beckford, Telegraph
The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, admitted that arguments in favour of providing condoms in poor countries are "attractive".
But he insisted it was the Church's job to tackle the "radical issues" of poverty and security in the developing world and not to join calls for contraception.
His comments appear to go against Catholic teaching, which rules out use of artificial contraception but allows for "natural" birth control. Last year Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the Vatican's hardline stance during his first papal to Africa when he claimed that handing out condoms can worsen the problem of HIV/Aids.
Archbishop Nichols told BBC Radio WM that he could see "why" the arguments in favour of condoms to protect women in poor countries were, in the short term, "attractive".
"I think when it comes to Third World poverty, and the great pressure under which many women are put by men, I can see the arguments why, in the short-term, (the) means that give women protection are attractive," he said.
But he went on: "The use of condoms doesn't lack for champions – there are plenty of champions around, giving and distributing condoms.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
