Pope Benedict XVI has again stoked the fires of controversy by rejecting the use of condoms to fight Aids, particularly in the HIV hotbed of sub-Saharan Africa.

The Pontiff has had a rough time of it in recent weeks, and this wave of criticism follows hot on the heels of outcry at the fact that the Catholic Church did not move to excommunicate a Bishop who denied the Holocaust.

Pope Benedict has adopted the stance on condoms which was adopted by his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, who was also widely criticised and was even accused of being responsible for the spread of the disease at the time.

The Church has not been helped by ridiculous remarks, assumptions and completely unscientific analysis about HIV made by various high ranking Vatican officials.

In a statement completely bereft of any scientific weight, the president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo insisted that HIV inevitably passes through holes in the latex from which condoms are made. This ludicrous claim has been outrightly dismissed by the World Health Organisation.

The issue must be taken into context. Africa, with a population of a billion, is the continent where Catholicsm is growing the most. One fifth of those people are Catholic and 22 million (two thirds of the world’s total) of those are infected with HIV.

Pope Benedict is not ignorant to the threat that HIV poses and said the “cruel epidemic” should be tackled through fidelity and abstinence rather than condoms. He said that “the traditional teaching of the Church has proven to be the only failsafe way to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids”.

But many have been scathing in their criticism. Rebecca Hodes, working in South Africa for the Treatment Action Campaign, was among the harshest and described Pope Benedict’s remarks as “alienating”, “ignorant” and “pernicious”.

The Church believes that encouraging people to use condoms to minimise the worst effects of behaviour that in itself impoverishes their lives, is a failing on the same Church to its flock.

Catholics also point out that if a couple, one of whom had the virus, consistently used a condom, they would reduce the yearly risk of passing it on to the uninfected partner by about 87 per cent – which they say falls well short of an adequate means of disease prevention. But the Church is not unified on the matter.

In 2004, Belgian Cardinal Goddfried Daneels said using a condom with the intention of stopping disease was morally different from using one to prevent the creation of life. Another very pertinent quote is that of Father Gerry O’Collins, Emeritus Professor at the Gregorian University in Rome, who said the commandment “thou shalt not kill”, “trumps other issues”.

Another issue which is drawing great criticism is that the Pope made his remarks on condom use when speaking to journalists aboard a plane, with many seeing the way it was done as a subtle way of distancing oneself from the realities of the world.

Meanwhile, secular France has voiced “sharp concern” at the Pontiff’s remarks.

“While it is not up to us to pass judgment on Church doctrine, we consider that such comments are a threat to public health policies and the duty to protect human life,” foreign ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said.

It is clear that the world’s view on the spread of HIV and its prevention are at loggerheads with that of the Catholic Church. As good as its intentions are, the remarks made by Pope Benedict will only serve to alienate more Catholics, even those who are not African. It seems that in reference to the condom issue, people are more pragmatic and prefer to choose science and morality over doctrine, which this paper must say, is deeply flawed.