Tutu attacks Catholic condom ban

Archbishop Desmond Tutu today launched a strong attack on Roman Catholic opposition to the use of condoms to combat the menace of Aids.

The South African Anglican prelate and former anti-Apartheid campaigner made his comments at the start of an international conference in Dublin on HIV and Aids.

Citing a report from the Christian Aid organisation, he dismissed catholic claims that promoting condoms led to promiscuity.

Archbishop Tutu said the catholic church had to be “realistic” in the matter of condom use, adding: “It is irresponsible to say sex education and the supply of condoms encourages promiscuity.

“Christian Aid have carried out a study recently proving this to be totally untrue.”

The two-day conference – being staged in Dublin Castle as part of Ireland’s current European Union presidency – also features a contribution from former rock star and fund-raiser Bob Geldof.

Arriving at the event, the Dublin-born ex-Boomtown Rat, said he wanted to ensure that the Aids problem was addressed globally.

He also warned against complacency and “ghettoising” the threat, adding: “This thing is here and home to roost.”

While it was important to address the problem of Aids in Europe and central Asia, the epidemic in Africa should not be forgotten.

Geldof said: “HIV/Aids is a global epidemic that defines the excluded of the world – the wretched of the Earth.

“Above everything, HIV defines those who can purchase well-being and those who die.”

Opening the conference, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern pleaded for the HIV/Aids epidemic to be kept high on the international agenda in the face of the current “pre-occupation” with global terrorism.

He stressed that threats to health and development demanded collective action through the EU.

He added: “When the history of our time is written, our generation will have to answer for our response to the suffering of the poor in Africa.

“It is one of the greatest scandals of our time that millions are dying needlessly, children are being left defenceless and exposed to the disease – and decades of hard-won development are in reverse.”

Mr Ahern said: “In our current pre-occupation with international security, with global terrorism, with conflict-resolution and peace-building, we most not let the HIV/Aids epidemic in Sub-Sarahan Africa slip down the agenda.

“We have a duty to protect the rights of the millions of children orphaned and made vulnerable by Aids.”

Delegates from 55 countries arrived at Dublin Castle amid tight security to discuss the spread of the virus in Europe and Central Asia.