"Condoms may even be one of the main reasons for the spread of HIV/AIDS," the bishops claimed in a statement issued Monday (July 30) at the end of a seven-day meeting in Pretoria. "Apart from the possibility of condoms being faulty or wrongly used, they contribute to the breaking down of self-control and mutual trust."
The bishops urged young people to abstain from premarital sex and to remain monogamous during marriage.
"Abstain and be faithful is the human and Christian way of overcoming HIV/AIDS," the bishops said, according to Reuters news agency.
Earlier this month, a Roman Catholic bishop in South Africa called for the church to end its opposition to the use of condoms as a means to end the AIDS plague, according to Agence France Presse. Bishop Kevin Dowling was supported by the Roman Catholic Church newspaper Southern Cross, which published an editorial that said "the church is called to reconcile its ban on prophylactics with the philosophy of the sanctity of life."
