Vatican intervenes to calm escalating storm over pope's comments on HIV and condoms

The pope's maiden voyage to Africa is in danger tonight of being overshadowed by condemnation of his rejection of condoms as a way to fight HIV/Aids, with a succession of European countries as well as Aids campaigners warning his stance could cost lives and undermine public health.

A day after Pope Benedict XVI prefaced his visit to Cameroon and Angola by saying the "scourge" of HIV could be made worse, not better, by the distribution of condoms, France, Germany and Belgium criticised his message as irresponsible. The UNAids agency said condoms were a vital part of the battle against HIV, which infects more than 7,000 people a day.

The Vatican sought to defuse the row, explaining that the pope wanted to emphasise responsible sexual conduct. It sought to tweak his original remarks in a version posted on the Holy See's website. According to journalists present, he originally said the Aids problem "cannot be overcome with the distribution of condoms which, on the contrary, increase the problem". But in the Vatican's version, his words became: "The scourge cannot be resolved with the distribution of prophylactics; on the contrary, the risk is of increasing the problem."

Such semantics were lost on the French government, which despite its Catholic roots, rejected the papal view.

Eric Chevallier, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry, said in an online briefing: "France voices extremely sharp concern over the consequences of Benedict XVI's comments. While it is not up to us to pass judgment on church doctrine, we consider that such comments are a threat to public health policies and the duty to protect human life."

Along with information, education and testing, the condom was "a fundamental element of actions" to prevent transmission of the HIV virus, he added.

Laurette Onkelinx, Belgium's health minister, said the pope's comments reflected "a dangerous doctrinaire vision". "His declarations could demolish years of prevention and education and endanger many human lives," she said.

In Berlin, German health minister Ulla Schmidt and development minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul criticised the pope's remarks in a joint statement and underlined the importance of condom use in developing nations.

"Condoms save lives, in Europe as well as on other continents," the ministers said. "Modern assistance to the developing world today must make access to family planning available to the poorest of the poor especially the use of condoms. Anything else would be irresponsible."

Direct criticism of the Vatican from foreign governments is rare and reflects the strength of feeling against the pope's comments. More than two-thirds - 67% - of the world's 32.9 million people with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa and three-quarters of all Aids deaths in 2007 took place there. UN figures from 2007 show that more than 5% of adults among Cameroon's estimated 18.9 million population have the disease.

Aids campaigners in Cameroon reacted strongly to the pope's comments. Alain Fogue, a spokesman for Mocpat, a group campaigning for access to treatment for sufferers, said the pontiff was out of touch with the modern world, questioning whether he lived in the 21st century.

He said: "The people will not follow what the pope is saying. He lives in heaven and we are on Earth. Whether he likes it or not, 99 out of 100 Catholics use the condom today. The pope has to know that the flesh is weak.

"Did the pope not know when he arrived in Cameroon that HIV-positive people represent a large proportion of the population?"

Michel Kazatchkine, the head of the Global Fund Aids charity, urged the pope to retract his comments.

"I think Africa, which is hit so hard, did not need this message," he said on French radio.

The pope did not refer to the uproar during his address to bishops gathered at Christ the King Church in Yaounde, Cameroon yesterday. He spoke of the "spread of sects and esoteric movements, and the growing influence of superstitious forms of religion, as well as relativism" that challenged Catholics living in Africa.

The pope also used his speech to voice concerns about the impact of modernity and secularisation on the traditional African family, telling the bishops to promote the understanding that marriage is indissoluble.

Four years of controversy

In less than four years of his papacy Pope Benedict XVI has stirred up controversy a number of times. His outspoken and often undiplomatic remarks have offended a wide range of people, including Jews, Muslims and gay people, and led to doubts about his leadership within the church.

In 2006 he prompted protests in the Muslim world when he quoted a 14th-century emperor saying the teachings of Muhammad were "evil and inhuman" things. The pope's offer of "sincere regret" for the remarks failed to quell anger and he was later forced to make a fuller apology.

In his Christmas message last year, Benedict provoked fury among gay rights campaigners by claiming that defending heterosexuality was as important as saving the world's rainforests from destruction.

Earlier this year, Benedict's handling of the holocaust-denying Bishop Richard Williamson, worsened Catholic-Jewish relations. Williamson denied the existence of the gas chambers during the second world war in a television interview that was broadcast just days after the pope had welcomed Williamson's ultra-conservative order back into the church.

The pope's decision to lift the excommunications without demanding any undertaking from Williamson angered not just liberals, who saw it as capitulation to a reactionary splinter group, but also the many conservatives who admired his insistence on obedience.