I was flipping through our online newspaper this morning, and I came across this headline: “Pope: Condoms can be justified in some cases.” I’m always curious when the Vatican makes a statement, even though I’m not Catholic, so I decided to read the article. What shocked me was in what cases the Pope has deemed condoms acceptable:

Condoms can be justified for male prostitutes seeking to stop the spread of HIV.

What, now? Condoms, long an accessory to a “mortal sin” for Catholics, are still unacceptable within marriage as a means of birth control, but are now OK for use by male prostitutes to use as a means of disease prevention?!?

Does it strike anybody as strange that the Pope is more likely to condemn the use of birth control than he is the practice of prostitution? Is he saying that since prostitution is going to happen anyway, we might as well make sure everyone involved is safe?

Maybe it’s just me, but that doesn’t seem like a very Catholic stance. I would think that the Catholic church would want to be consistent in her teaching–if the use of birth control is going to be condemned as a sin, shouldn’t also the practice of prostitution, which last time I checked, is a direct violation of one of the 10 Commandments?

I don’t get it. I guess this is why I’m not a Catholic!