THE French Catholic hierarchy for the first time approved the use of condoms yesterday in the fight against the spread of AIDS. Their admission that condoms were "necessary" to, protect against the disease distanced the French church from the teachings of Pope John Paul II on the subject.
Frequently accused in the past by anti AIDS campaigners' of refusing to help those in danger by condemning condoms, the bishops' statement was welcomed by senior medical figures. The researcher who discovered the AIDS virus, Professor Luc Montagnier, called it "a major development".
However, the bishops made it clear that fidelity was still the best response to protection from AIDS, and that the use of condoms should not be a substitute for sex education.
The report by the hierarchy's social committee stated: "To think that a widespread use of condoms will remove all risks is to deal with the consequences of the spread of AIDS, without considering its causes and conditions. It is an inadequate answer."
But the lengthy report also noted that the more generalised use of condoms had begun to limit the spread of AIDS in France, where there have been some 35,000 cases since 1978, according to the World Health Organisation.
Many competent doctors say that use of condoms of reliable quality is the only means of prevention," it stated. "On this level they are necessary."
It said the use of condoms was "understandable for cases where already sexually active people need to avoid a serious risk".
The bishops' report made nob mention of Pope John Paul's doctrines on AIDS. The Pope, said in Kampala, Uganda, in 1993 that chastity was "the only sure and virtuous way" to put an end to the AIDS epidemic.
That opinion was echoed by the Vatican two months ago in uncompromising guidelines on sex education which called the promotion of "safe sex, a dangerous and immoral policy based on the illusory theory, that a condom can provide sufficient protection against MDS."
The president of the Catholic Committee of French Doctors, Dr Marc Gentilini, told Le Monde yesterday he welcomed the statement as "a breakthrough which removes a certain number of ambiguities".
The French church was rocked last year by the Pope's sacking of the then Bishop of Evreux, Monsignor Jacques Gaillot, for his outspoken social campaigns, including his open appeals for the use of condoms against AIDS. The bishops now appear to be responding to a general demand among French Catholics for a more responsible and realistic approach to concerns about AIDS.