www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Russian Orthodox Church (fully) approves of condoms

http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=7945

Russian Orthodox Church okays use of condoms

Moscow, November 23, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church has said the use of condoms is acceptable following a similar statement made by Pope Benedict XVI of the Catholic Church last week.

"The Foundations of the Social Policy of the Russian Orthodox Church distinguishes between abortive and non-abortive contraception. Priests can allow people to use the latter," head of the synodal Department for Church and Society Relations Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said in an interview with Interfax-Religion.

However, Father Vsevolod added that it does not mean that the Church approves of "any egoistical decisions made by spouses not to have children."

Speaking about the use of condoms by people who are HIV-positive, Fr. Vsevolod called on these people to "seriously think whether they should have sex because infection can spread not only by direct sexual contact."

The British daily The Guardian reported on Monday, citing a statement by the Holy See, that Pope Benedict XVI intends to consider condom use by observant Catholics in certain situations. Excerpts from a collection the Pope's interviews were published earlier, and in one of those interviews the pope said condom use is justified in some situations.

The statement issued by the Vatican states that the pope agrees that condom use reduces the risk of contracting AIDS.

At the same time, the pope's treatment of the topic considers exceptional situations "in which a sexual act presents a true risk for another's life," Vatican Press Office Director Rev. Federico Lombardi said in a statement. "In such a case, the Pope does not morally justify the disordered exercise of sexuality," rather, the use of the condom to lessen the danger of contagion may be "a first act of responsibility" and "a first step on the path toward a more human sexuality" rather than acting to put another's life at risk, Rev. Lombardi said in his statement.

Nevertheless, he said in his statement that the pope's comment neither "reforms nor changes" church teachings, which prohibits observant Catholics from using condoms.

This article gives the impression that the Russian Church has woken up this week and made a decision on condom use.

In fact there was an official statement on the use of non-abortive contraceptives by all the Bishops of the Russian Church in their major Document in 2000 "The Basis of the Social Concept."

http://www.mospat.ru/en/documents/social-concepts/xii/

Interfax of course got it wrong referring to what the Pope said.

The Pope said that using a condom could be indicative in particular circumstances (e.g., where a male prostitute uses one) of a step towards moralization, or realizing that actions have consequences and we can't do whatever we want.

He could have just as well said (and George Weigel used this example), that when a person robs a bank, his use of a blank gun instead of a loaded gun could be indicative of a step towards moralization, or realizing that actions have consequences and we can't do whatever we want.

Does that make it moral, defensible, or right to rob banks with a blank gun? Of course not. It's terribly morally corrupt - but at least the bank robber may have realized that robbing a bank with a loaded gun would be an even worse.

As for the Russian Orthodox, it was my understanding that the Orthodox approach to contraception in general is not the same as the Catholic understanding, anyway.

Alexis

P.S. And what is this Vatican report that said the Pope agrees that condom use helps in fighting AIDS? What?! He said the opposite: condom use "is not a real . . . solution." As in, it doesn't work. How clear is that.

In addition, he of course stated that they are, along with not being a real solution, not a moral solution, either.

And empirical data supports the Holy Father: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032702825.html

What the Pope said, in Latinese, is oikonomia needs to be applied in these cases, because, of course, the entire purpose of oikonomia is to provide steps towards moral perfection for eminently imperfect human beings.

No he didn't, Stuart. You're a smart guy, and I know you can read a straightforward sentence. Your stubborn insistence on mischaracterizing (by a looong shot) what the Pope said is making it hard for me to charitably assume you truly misunderstand, rather than that you are asserting such things simply because you'd like them to be true and wish to influence other people into believing such things.

Which is extremely dastardly.

Dear fellow readers, do not believe what Stuart says. Go look for yourselves.

Alexis

The article says there are complicating factors that have led to the rate of infections not going down in Africa. It says that in Thailand and Cambodia, use of condoms has been extremely effective.

My dear Alexis,

You know perfectly well what oikonomia is, and if what Pope Benedict described is not oikonomia applied to the use of condoms, what is?

There is another take on this that is seldom considered. One of the greatest compliments that a person can give to another is to wish them many children. Like all of Europe, Russia is losing population at an alarming rate. And while I do not wish to start an argument against the Russian Orthodox bishops over the licity of non-abortifacient birth control methods, I do not wish to see their flock diminished, but rather to increase.