Archbishop of Sydney

Is the Pope Guilty?

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
31 July 2005

In March a prestigious medical journal accused Pope John Paul II of being unforgiving, ill-informed, unwilling to “engage in mature discussion”, and lacking compassion in dealing with AIDS, especially in Africa.    

In making these criticisms The Lancet acknowledged that Catholic agencies provide 25 per cent of the total care of HIV and AIDS sufferers.  Other sources have not been so fair-minded, especially after the Pope’s death. The New Statesman took the cake by accusing him of doing more to spread AIDS in Africa “than prostitution and the trucking industry combined”.

Serious charges.  It helps in considering them to have some facts. 

Botswana has one of the worst HIV rates in the world, with around 37 per cent of adults infected. It also has one of the highest rates of condom availability.  Less than 5 per cent of the population is Catholic.

Uganda, in contrast, has one of the lowest HIV rates in Africa, with around 4 per cent of adults infected.  It has a relatively low rate of condom availability. The population is also one-third Catholic. 

In fact, African countries with the highest levels of condom availability also have some of the highest HIV rates in the world.  In most of them Catholics make up a single-digit percentage of the population.

There is some evidence that condom promotion has been effective in containing infection among high-risk groups in Thailand (a predominantly Buddhist country with a HIV rate of 1.5 per cent of adults), but there is no evidence of generalised epidemics of HIV and AIDS being turned back primarily on condom-based programs.

To complete the picture, the HIV infection rate in the Philippines (81 per cent Catholic) is one-tenth of one per cent (0.1%).

In countries with high levels of condom availability and small percentages of Catholics it makes no sense to blame the Pope for high rates of HIV infection.   In countries where Catholics make up a significant percentage of the population Church teaching can take some of the credit for lower rates of HIV infection.  But it is not clear that the teaching against condoms is the main factor in this.

Far more important is the emphasis the Church places on abstaining from sex before marriage and being faithful to your spouse in marriage.   As a group of AIDS experts declared in the British Medical Journal last year, “there would be no global AIDS pandemic were it not for multiple sexual partners”.

Focusing on abstinence and fidelity does not mean stigmatizing non-conformists.   The Christian belief in forgiveness means churches in Africa work hard to prevent stigmatization.  The virus does not distinguish between the virtuous and sinners. Sufferers need love and care, not fear. 

John Paul II played his part in killing this fear. But the success of his message of love and fidelity strikes fear into the hearts of Westerners addicted to the cheap pleasure of promiscuity.