Spain: The faces in the Bishops' Conference in Madrid were yesterday redder than a cardinal's cassock after they were forced to retract a remark suggesting that the Spanish church was defying Vatican dogma over contraception.
Father Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, spokesman and secretary general of the Episcopal Conference, created the uproar when, after a meeting with the Health Minister, Ms Elena Salgado, he said: "Artificial contraception has its place in the integrated and global fight against AIDS. The church is very worried and concerned by the problem."
He went further when he apparently supported a recent article in the medical journal, the Lancet, which defended the ABC method (Abstinence, Be faithful and Condoms) in the fight against AIDS.
These unexpected remarks, accepting the use of condoms, caused a wave of surprise in Spain, and a severe rebuke from the Vatican for Father Camino.
He had visited the minister to discuss the differences between the Spanish church and the government, not only about contraception, but on the proposal to approve homosexual marriages, stem-cell investigation and religious education in schools. The bishops are even concerned about the possibility of legalising euthanasia, even though the government has not brought up the issue.
Ms Salgado was not the only one to welcome the priest's apparent change of mind. She said: "Abstinence is a personal option, but not in line with reality for the majority of the citizens."
Mr Enrique Miret Magdalena, a respected theologian said he was delighted. "The Spanish church has eventually bowed to reality. It is better to use a condom than infect a partner with AIDS," he said.
Ms Beatriz Gimeno, the president of the Federation of Gays and Lesbians, expressed her surprise and delight when she heard the news.
"It is a significant change, and I hope the Catholic Church in other countries will follow the example," she said.
But their delight was shortlived.
In Spain there are an estimated 125,000 AIDS and HIV-positive sufferers, but only last November Father Camino had criticised the government's latest campaign, "For you, for everyone, use one" to promote condoms. He said the only acceptable method of preventing AIDS was abstinence, adding that sex with any kind of artificial contraception was unsafe, "nothing more than a colourful dream," .
Less than 24 hours after apparently approving condoms the Episcopal Conference was forced to perform a dramatic U-turn. "Contrary to what some people have reported, it is totally untrue that the church has changed its position on the use of artificial contraception," the bishops said in a curt statement.
"There are some 40 scientific methods of preventing AIDS, and condoms are just one of them. I am sure Father Camino meant to say that. Catholic moral teaching condemns them," said Mgr Jose Luis Redredo Marchite, the Spanish-born Vatican Secretary for Health.