Cardinal Hits 'narrow-minded' Response to AIDS

MANILA, Feb. 18, 2010- The head of Manila's Catholic Church said condoms are not the answer to the country's fight against HIV and describing as "narrow-minded" the government's response to it.

Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said condoms will never solve the AIDS epidemic and could make the problem even worse.

Rosales assailed the Department of Health (DOH), saying they are being instrumental to the deterioration of the morals of the society, especially the youth.

"The DOH is teaching something wrong. Such mentality is pitiful," he said over Church-run Radio Veritas Thursday.

The cardinal said providing accurate information and respecting moral values will AIDS be effectively controlled.

He added that a responsible and moral attitude toward sex would help fight the dreaded disease.

Rosales said it is just unfortunate for today's generation that they have experienced having such types of government leaders.

"If we have leaders like in the DOH, I pity the Philippines for having leaders like them," said the Cardinal.

This is the first time that Cardinal Rosales made a strong attack on the government's continuing promotion of condom use, but his position is not new.

The Roman Catholic Church rejects the use of condoms as part of its overall teaching against artificial contraception.

The Church has also advocated fidelity in marriage and abstinence from premarital sex as key weapons in the battle against AIDS.

The timing of the cardinal's remarks, however, outraged health agencies trying to halt the increasing cases of AIDS in the country.

The DOH earlier reported that it has recorded 3, 515 HIV/AIDS cases since 1984 or an 84 percent increase since that year.

DOH Secretary Esperanza Cabral fought back against Rosales as she blamed the Catholic Church for the country's rising cases of HIV/AIDS.

"I can say our program to prevent HIV-AIDS has failed because the Church is blocking the third component of our program, which is to encourage the use of condoms," said Cabral.

She noted that the health department has an "ABC program" to combat HIV/AIDS. The acronym stands for A is for "abstinence from sex"; B for "be faithful to your partner"; and C for "condom use".

The health chief said that while they agree that the only fool-proof strategy versus HIV/AIDS is to avoid multiple partners, condom use would still lower the risks.

"Condoms are not 100 percent foolproof but they help lower the risk," stressed. Cabral. (Roy Lagarde)