KENYA: Catholic church condones condoms for couples

JOHANNESBURG, 13 Apr 2005 (PLUSNEWS) - The new Catholic Archbishop of Kenya's coastal city of Mombabsa has condoned the use of condoms among HIV-positive married couples.

Boniface Lele said although the Church advocated behaviour change as a first defence against AIDS, infected couples were in a unique situation, as the option of separation could lead to the further spread of HIV.

The Archbishop confided to the Catholic Information Service for Africa: "Since these people are married, what do you tell them? Do you tell them to separate? That would be against Church teaching. With some counselling - and this is something we don't tell everyone - you can ask couples to use condoms, so that the rate of reinfection goes down."

Lele maintained that the use of condoms to prolong the lives of infected couples was consistent with Church teachings, despite the Vatican's widely criticised stance against the use of the contraceptives for family planning and to prevent HIV infection.

[ENDS]