African Cardinals Denounce Conditions Put on Western Aid

Two African cardinals attending a meeting at the Vatican to address the role of the Catholic Church in Africa "said their countries needed economic development partnerships that are based on trust and fairness, not ones that exploit Africa's natural resources and put conditions on aid," the Associated Press reports. Cardinals Theodore-Adrien Sarr of Dakar, Senegal, and Wilfred Fox Napier of Durban, South Africa, "denounced 'hidden' agendas of international aid groups and countries that promote abortion rights and condoms to fight HIV, saying the West was trying to impose its views on Africa," the AP writes. Against abortion and artificial contraception, the Vatican "has come under heavy criticism for its opposition to condoms as a way of fighting HIV, particularly in hard-hit Africa" (10/14).

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