Catholics 'should challenge Church's Aids claim'

Catholics have been urged to challenge their local priests over controversial Vatican claims that condoms cannot prevent the spread of Aids.

Nothing less than a grassroots Catholic rebellion is needed to counter the “misleading and dangerous” claims, according to Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Chris Davies.

His call came as fellow Euro-MPs tabled a motion in the European Parliament urging EU governments to denounce the claims as unacceptable.

The cross-party motion, signed by MEPs from Italy, Holland, Greece and the UK, says millions of lives are being put at risk by a declaration from senior Vatican spokesman Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo.

He said it was scientifically proven that condoms cannot halt the HIV virus, and he urged governments to tell people not to use them.

The World Health Organisation has already described his views as “dangerous” in the face of a disease which has killed 20 million people.

Mr Davies said: “These misleading and dangerous claims are being made by Catholic priests in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

“Catholics everywhere should be asking their local priests whether it is right that the church should lie and put millions at risk of death in order to promote its moral beliefs.

“The Catholic church does great humanitarian work across the world, but in this instance it is exploiting the ignorance of poor people to promote a myth that will devastate their societies.

“I hope those of the Roman Catholic faith in every community will speak out now and send a message to the Vatican that this is morally wrong.”