Francis Openda
27 January 2005
Nairobi — The condom debate in the Catholic Church has been re-ignited with a bishop saying it could mean the difference between life and death in case of HIV/Aids infection.
Kitui Catholic Diocese Bishop Boniface Lele said condom use among infected couples could prolong life.
He said faced with the sad prospect of families being wiped out when one infected spouse infects or re-infects the other, and without sanctioning separations of properly constituted marriages, condoms could be the life-saver.
Lele, however, maintained that he fully supported the church's teaching on the use of condoms of which he is bound as a Bishop and custodian of the faith.
"However, emerging circumstances in the life of the living church confront our conscience every time members of our church are under threat," he said.
Lele denied media reports that he was not supporting the church's stand.
"It is further reported that I have made an appeal for a review on the Catholic Church's stand on condoms. That is not true," said the Bishop in a statement.
The statement is copied to the Pope's Representative to Kenya and all Catholic archbishops and bishops.
The Catholic Church has maintained a hard-line stand on the use of condoms and abortion as means of birth control. The 1968 Encyclical of Pope Paul V1 on the regulation of birth, known as Humanae vitae, forbids use of artificial methods of birth control and abortion.
Nairobi Catholic Archbishop Ndingi Mwana'a Nzeki and officials of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims have teamed up to publicly torch condoms at Uhuru Park.
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