Africa Hails Conservative Pope Despite Fears on AIDS Prevention

Today, African Roman Catholic leaders hailed the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI -- Germany's Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- as a worthy successor to Pope John Paul II. Some African health care workers, however, fear that his hardline anti-condom stance will hurt efforts to control the spread of HIV.

"We have to protect the Catholic heritage from harm ... by promoting the value of life," said Father Felix Ajakaye, spokesperson for the Catholic secretariat in Nigeria. "The pope should try to assist people maintain their moral values."

But the head of AIDS Alliance Nigeria, Mohammed Farouk, worries that church policies are putting at risk millions of adult Catholics who have difficulty following the rules of abstinence. "We have really serious concern about the conservativeness of the Catholic Church, which will continue to encourage the spread of AIDS among sexually active members of the church," said Farouk. "Choice, the choice to use a condom, is a very important part of AIDS prevention. We are concerned that the same kind of leadership will continue."

"I don't think there will be a change in the approach," said Father Efraim Tresoldi of the Southern African Bishops' Conference. "The church must continue to do her best to care for those who are sick with HIV and AIDS and prevent the pandemic from spreading further."

"The election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is a great sign of continuity in the actions of his predecessor, whose right-hand man he was," declared the National Conference of Bishops in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has Africa's largest Catholic population.

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