The Vatican, under fire for opposing condoms in the fight against AIDS, renewed its call Monday for people to practice chastity as a means of prevention.

In a message addressed to the international community for World AIDS Day, the Vatican said people, especially the young, must be helped to "adopt morals and a style of life that respects the authentic values of life and love. We have to present this as the main way for the effective prevention of infection and spread of HIV/AIDS."

The message by Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, urged everyone to "step up prevention according to the doctrine of the Church, to practice the virtue of chastity in a pan-sexualist society."

The Vatican has come under renewed criticism for its opposition to using condoms to prevent the transmission of HIV.

In October, the U.N. World Health Organization labeled as dangerous and "totally wrong" comments by a top Vatican cardinal, Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, that condoms don't sufficiently protect against AIDS. Lopez Trujillo contended the HIV virus is small enough to pass through them.

Catholics for a Free Choice, a Catholic group that supports abortion rights, said it was launching an educational campaign Monday to correct the Vatican "misinformation" about the effectiveness of condoms.

This article courtesy of the Associated Press.