Americas: Catholics Launch Campaign to End Vatican's Condom Ban

Roman Catholics in North and South America unveiled a campaign at the 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona aimed at overturning the Vatican's ban on the use of condoms. Catholics for a Free Choice, gathering 10,000 Catholics in the United States, Canada and five Latin American countries, will mount a billboard campaign in a dozen countries by the end of 2002 under the banner Condoms4Life. Condoms are the only technology available that prevents sexual transmission of HIV. The church has banned condoms because they are also a form of contraception. "The Catholic bishops preach sanctity of life. But their ban on condoms contributes to the tragedy of AIDS and death around the world," said group President Frances Kissling.

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