Pope claims that condoms exacerbate HIV and AIDS problem

Pope Benedict XVI has disparaged the use of condoms as a tool to rein in the AIDS pandemic. “You can’t resolve it with the distribution of condoms,” the pope told reporters travelling with him on his first trip to Africa. “On the contrary, it increases the problem.”

The 81 year old pontiff said that abstinence and fidelity within marriage were the solutions in the fight against AIDS.

Numerous African clergy and lay people have long urged the pope to ease the Catholic church’s prohibition on condom use within the context of HIV prevention.

Criticisms of the …