The Pope Is OK With Condoms

He's a little late to the party, but Pope Benedict XVI has endorsed condom use for women and transgender people.

The pope is clarifying recent statements he made in which he seemed to indicate that male prostitutes should be allowed, under Roman Catholic beliefs, to wear condoms. Using protection is seen as a lesser of two evils by the church, where transmitting HIV is a more serious offense. Even if a condom prevents a pregnancy, it's more important to prevent an HIV-positive person from infecting another person, the pope and the Vatican now indicate.

Vatican spokesman Frederico Lombardi is quoted as saying, "I personally asked the pope if there was a serious, important problem in the choice of the masculine over the feminine [in discussion of condom use]. He told me no. It's the first step of taking responsibility, of taking into consideration the risk of the life of another with whom you have a relationship. ... This is if you're a woman, a man, or a transsexual."

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