The moderator has previously reported that the Pope might be softening his stance on condoms.

Oops, the Pope is never wrong, but our interpretation of his words sometimes is. He 'never said' condoms are all right.

[him] moderator

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“The words of the Pope ... do not signify a change in Catholic moral
teaching or in the pastoral practice of the Church,” says a new statement
from the CDF.

Hilary White

ROME, December 21, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pope Benedict XVI did not
approve the use of condoms for any reason, whether to prevent the spread of
AIDS or for contraception in any circumstances, a new note from the
Vatican’s doctrinal office has said.

In a statement issued today, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
an office the pope himself headed for 24 years, has said that following the
release of certain sections of the new interview book “Light of the
World” “a number of erroneous interpretations have emerged.”

These have “caused confusion concerning the position of the Catholic
Church regarding certain questions of sexual morality.”

“The idea that anyone could deduce from the words of Benedict XVI that it
is somehow legitimate, in certain situations, to use condoms to avoid an
unwanted pregnancy is completely arbitrary and is in no way justified either
by his words or in his thought,” said the statement.

Instead, the pope was recommending “humanly and ethically acceptable ways
of behaving which respect the inseparable connection between the unitive and
procreative meaning” of natural sex between spouses.

The pope told journalist Peter Seewald that for “some individuals, as
perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step
in the direction of a moralization, 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. But it is not really the way to deal
with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization
of sexuality.”

The pope followed the comments, saying that the Church “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.”

The publication of the comments, out of context and three days before the
full text was available to the public, touched off a firestorm, in which
media outlets around the world claimed the pope had “approved” condom
use, and even that the teaching of the Church had changed regarding
contraception.

The CDF, however, has clarified, saying that these comments have been
“repeatedly manipulated” for purposes “entirely foreign” to the
pope’s intention.

“The words of the Pope – which specifically concern a gravely disordered
type of human behaviour, namely prostitution – do not signify a change in
Catholic moral teaching or in the pastoral practice of the Church.”

“The Holy Father was talking neither about conjugal morality nor about the
moral norm concerning contraception,” the note continues.

The note also dismisses the suggestion that the use of a condom by
HIV-infected prostitutes could constitute a “lesser evil.” This
interpretation, it says, is erroneous since, “An action which is
objectively evil, even if a lesser evil, can never be licitly willed.”

The note summarizes the intention of the pope’s comments: “The Church
teaches that prostitution is immoral and should be shunned. However, those
involved in prostitution who are HIV positive and who seek to diminish the
risk of contagion by the use of a condom may be taking the first step in
respecting the life of another – even if the evil of prostitution remains
in all its gravity.”

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-vatican-reaffirms-pope-never-legitimized-condoms-in-any-circumstan/