Condom Fight: The Vatican Strikes Back

The Vatican's strict opposition to condoms is well known. So opponents of the Roman Catholic Church's position on artificial contraception were heartened by comments from Carlo Maria Cardinal Martini, the progressive retired Archbishop of Milan, who said condoms could be a "lesser evil" when used in the context of marriage to prevent the spread of hiv . Then Javier Lozano Cardinal Barragán, who heads a Vatican health committee, said his panel was preparing a document that would "reconsider" the church's stance.

Not so fast. Vatican sources say the church's position has not changed — and will not change...

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