Rubbers? Nope, per the Vatican

Not surprising to SOME of us:

Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, said the Catholic Church would not change its position on the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, reported the Catholic News Agency this morning.

In an interview with Columbia’s Radio Cadena Nacional, Cardinal Trujillo said the Vatican “maintains unmodified the teaching on condoms” and said Pope Benedict XVI has not called for any studies on altering the prohibition against condom use.

“As a dicastery we do not have any instruction or any indication to the contrary, to carry out a study about something new with regards to condoms,” he said.

Retired Italian Cardinal Maria Martini, known for his liberal opinions on social issues, commented last month that condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS was “the lesser evil.”

...

A vocal supporter of the Church’s teaching on contraception, Cardinal Trujillo said the recent statements by retired Italian Cardinal Maria Martini “are nothing more than his own personal opinions which do not reflect [Church] teaching.” He said Cardinal Martini “should explain how the condom prevents AIDS if it is true he said it is a lesser evil.”

Cardinal Trujillo said the Church believes the only way to truly combat AIDS is through fidelity and chastity, which are the only morally acceptable means. Contraception damages the integrity of the full gift of self, which is intrinsic to the sexual act.

Which story stands in stark contrast to some scrivening over the weekend (Reuters? AP?) which damn near canonized rubbers in Africa on some pretext.

We should add that Cdl. Trujillo's comments on Cdl. Martini's rebellious jabber are quite direct, for the Vatican.

HT: Lady in the Pew