The global incidence of infection with HIV and the effects of the virus in AIDS with consequent illness and, in many cases around the world, premature death, is a cause for sorrow among Catholics, Christians and indeed all people of good will.

One response to this global crisis has been to promote the use of condoms. The Catholic Church has not shared this approach and encourages fidelity, monogamy and a traditional sexual morality which is shared by many people of other faiths. In England, criticism of the Catholic Church has been shrill even to the point of accusing the late Pope John Paul II of causing millions of deaths. This talk is a response to these attacks upon the late Holy Father.

Provided here, for the convenience of those who came to this lecture, is the text of the notes that I used. They are not for publication at present but I will write them up for publication soon.

Related Links

For convenience, I have added below links to some of the material that I referred to in the lecture.

• Paul VI, encyclical Humanae Vitae - the landmark encyclical of 1968 in which Pope Paul VI reaffirmed the traditional Catholic and Christian teaching on the wrongfulness of artificial means of birth control.
• Telling the Truth: AIDS Rates for Thailand and the Philippines an article by Rene Josef Bullecer MD, Executive Director, HLI Visayas Mindanao
• The impact of faith-based organizations on HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation in Africa an article by Jeremy Liebowitz of the Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD) at the University of Natal. He asks the question "Are faith based organisations uniquely placed to counteract the HIV/AIDS epidemic?"
• Condoms and Constitutions: Religion News in Kenya an article by Mark Fackler in the Spring 2000 issue of Religion in the News published by Trinity College, Hartford CT (USA)
• Intervention of HE Claudio Hummes at the Plenary Session of the UN on "Implementation of the declaration of commitment on HIV/AIDS" 22 September 2003.

and so that you can see that I am not exaggerating ...

• "The Pope has blood on his hands" - an article by Terry Eagleton, published in the Guardian on 4 April 2005, two days after the Pope John Paul II's death.
• "Not in my name" - an article by Polly Toynbee, subtitled How dare Tony Blair genuflect on our behalf before the corpse of a man whose edicts killed millions? published in the Guardian on 8 April 2005, the day of Pope John Paul II's funeral.