The Pope's Position On Condoms

For a summary up until now of what this latest bit of media hype is all about, I recommend Damian Thompson here, here, and here. I don't agree with all of it, but the three posts together are good for catching up.

In his third post, Mr. Thompson quotes with his bolding the relevant paasages of the new book coming out, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times, based on 20 hours of interviews conducted by German journalist Peter Seewald:

There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralisation, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants …

And then:

[Question:] Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?

[Answer by the Pope:] She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality.

Father Z is still jet-lagged from travel, but he has a post up on this. It doesn't say much, but I recommend reading through the comments for an 'on the ground' response to this, especially Prof. Basto here, here, and here. He has some excellent points and analysis in the three comments I have linked to here that deserve to be read for a better understanding of the context here.