In an interview for a Spanish newspaper, Cardinal Alfonso Lopéz Trujillo discredits a statement made by Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini that the use of condoms for AIDS prevention is "a lesser evil," insisting that the statement was not reflective of the church's position. Despite confirmation given late in April by the President of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, Cardinal Trujillo also denied that Pope Benedict XVI ordered a study on condoms.

Tanzania's Episcopal Conference calls material on the Ministry of Education's recently released school science syllabus "sinful" because it includes the proper use of condoms as one way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. In a statement issued on behalf of the conference, Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, the archbishop of Dar es Salaam, says the "introduction of the [teaching of] use of condoms in schools…is indeed justification and opening the door for immoral lifestyles."

Bishop Paul Marx of the Diocese of Kerema in Papua New Guinea insists that an Australian National AIDS Council campaign "is sending out the wrong message that promiscuity is the normal, ordinary way of life.… By distributing condoms all over the place it will facilitate even further that promiscuity, which is the main breeding ground of HIV/AIDS." The ad, which says "No condoms, no sex," also promotes abstinence and faithfulness. However, even Bishop Marx believes that there are times when it is morally acceptable to use condoms, as he adds, "I am not of the other extreme opinion that condoms can never be used in any circumstance whatsoever."

The Health Commission of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India opposes the ABC method of HIV prevention because it includes condom use. The commission issues a statement claiming, "We do not think that condoms do much to prevent AIDS.… It's just a false promise. They say consistent and continuous use of condoms would yield results. That's not practical. So we do not support it proactively."

Tanzanian bishop Anthony Banzi, one of two spokesmen for the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) rejects condoms as a means to fight HIV/AIDS, stating during the association's 15th plenary meeting that condoms "are one of the artificial birth control methods and the Church is against birth control."

Commenting on the challenges faced by Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Orlando Antonini, the apostolic nuncio to Zambia, defends the church's ban on condoms and asserts that the "use of condoms still constitutes a false solution" to preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Bishop Elio Sgreccia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, questions the effectiveness of condoms to prevent transmission of the HIV virus, asserting that scientific research has not proven that a condom "immunizes against infection."

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, head of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference, criticizes the South African government for condom promotion. "There's no medical evidence to prove that condoms prevent the transmission of AIDS and it's only 70% to 75% effective in preventing pregnancy," says Cardinal Napier.

In response to Spanish and British bishops' statements recognizing a place for condoms in HIV/AIDS prevention, an official in Rome states: "The Vatican has always expressed its opposition to the use of condoms. The Vatican believes that the spread of AIDS is due to a breakdown in moral values."

The Catholic church in Switzerland publicly announces that it does not support the Spanish bishops and "remains on the same line as Rome." The Croatian Bishops Conference maintains its opposition to condoms, noting that abstinence and fidelity are the most effective methods of prevention against HIV.

After a bishop announces the Spanish Bishops Conference's support for condom use as part of a global HIV prevention strategy, Pope John Paul II reiterates his ban on condoms: "The Holy See...considers that it is necessary above all to combat this disease in a responsible way by increasing prevention, notably through education about respect of the sacred value of life and formation about the correct practice of sexuality, which presupposes chastity and fidelity."

The Spanish Bishops Conference retreats from its earlier stand, stating the bishop's comments "must be understood in the context of Catholic doctrine, which holds that use of condoms is immoral sexual conduct."

The Vatican once again misses an opportunity to revisit its ban on condoms, instead promoting abstinence as the only option for prevention.  In his written message for the XIII World Day of the Sick to take place in Cameroon in February 2005, Pope John Paul II states, "As regards the drama of AIDS, I have already had occasion in other circumstances to emphasize that AIDS is also a 'pathology of the spirit.'  In order to fight AIDS in a responsible way, its prevention should be increased through education in respect for the sacred value of life and through formation in the correct practice of sexuality."

Bishop Rafael Llano Cifuentes, the President of the Brazilian Bishops Commission for Family and Life, claims that "using a condom to stop AIDS is like trying to put out a fire with petrol." As many as 100,000 leaflets are distributed wherein he argues that the AIDS virus can pass through condoms "as easily as a cat through a garage door." He is later shown on a BBC Panorama investigation saying, "I've never seen a little dog using a condom during sexual intercourse with another dog. Animals have natural sex. Man likes the pleasure but not the consequences."

Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala, the Archbishop of Kampala, publicly declares his support of the choice of a Catholic Ugandan woman to sleep unprotected with her infected husband rather than using condoms. "If it is wrong to use the condom, then she has made the right choice," says the cardinal.

The Croatian Catholic bishops oppose a safe-sex program in the public school system because of the inclusion of condoms as part of a broad prevention strategy.  Bishop Valter Zupan draws the ire of the medical community with distortions of science, including claims that the HIV virus passes through "pores" in condoms and that the use of condoms "increases the risk of HIV infection."

Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, says that the HIV virus is small enough to pass through condoms and promoting condom use is like playing "Russian roulette" with AIDS. He remarks further that "safe-sex" campaigns are dangerous because they increase promiscuity and give condom users a false sense of security.

Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala of Uganda says condoms were originally made for prostitutes and "if we want to promote immorality then we shall continue advocating artificial methods like condoms."

In response to a proposal to sanction condom use, the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference releases a statement saying that widespread promotion of condom use is "an immoral and misguided weapon in our battle against HIV/AIDS." Reading from the statement, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier says, "Condoms may even be one of the main reasons for the spread of HIV/AIDS. Apart from the possibility of condoms being faulty or wrongly used, they contribute to the breaking down of self-control and mutual respect."

At a Vatican conference on AIDS, Camillian Father Felice Ruffini, undersecretary to the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, says that because the church teaches that all sexual relations outside of marriage are immoral, the question of condom use in those circumstances is superfluous. He further argues that while "it's tough to be able to maintain matrimonial chastity," condom use in marriages in which one partner is infected with HIV is still prohibited and moralists cannot craft "an exception to Christ's law."

A Dutch moral theologian who does consultancy work for the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, Bonifacio Honings of the Discalced Carmelites, says that a husband with HIV has no right to request sexual relations from his healthy wife. "If it is true love on the part of the husband, he will do everything possible to not demand such a dangerous relation from his wife," he says. At the same time, the wife could choose to consent to sexual relations "to avoid worse things—her husband becoming intractable, or the husband being unfaithful to her, etc," he says.

Father Jacques Suaudeau, a medical doctor who is a member of the Pontifical Council for the Family, claims that using condoms during sexual intercourse will not protect against transmission of the HIV virus.

With the support of PROVIDA, a conservative prolife group in Mexico, Mexico's Archbishop Norberto Rivera Carrera rejects the use of contraceptives in marriage. In his homily, Rivera Carrera instructs parishioners not to use intrauterine devices and condoms, arguing that they are methods that destroy the sexual unity between spouses.

The Vatican advises parents to "reject the promotion of 'safe sex' or 'safer sex,' a dangerous and immoral policy based on the deluded theory that the condom can provide adequate protection against AIDS."

The Peruvian Bishops Conference releases a letter, "Building a Culture of Life," that criticizes the government's promotion of a sex education program geared toward adolescents. It claims the program is devoid of moral values and social responsibility. It asserts that the program is limited to education on prophylactics and condoms, and thus encourages recreational sex that does not take into account responsibility for consequences.