Are we now being forced to choose between secular and religious authority?

Mar 26, 2009 Letters

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Dear Editor,
We refer to an article which was published in Kaieteur News on Sunday March 22, captioned, “Health Minister at Odds with Pope: ‘The Pope is wrong when it comes to HIV – Dr. Ramsammy.”
While we do support the work of the many international health organisations and the Minister, these persons must realise that everyone is entitled to their opinions.
The Minister’s statement which bothers us the most “…while we all want to listen to the Pope that this is a message (condoms do not help and it is one reason for the rapid spread of HIV in Africa) we do not want to embrace.”

As Catholic youths we would like to ask the Honourable Minister who gave him the right to decide who should embrace the Pope’s message and who should not? Are we forced to choose between secular and religious authority?
The fact that the Pope states that condoms do not help and it is one that continues to cause the spread of the disease, is his way of saying that giving people more condoms will lead to the continuous lifestyle of sexual immorality.
Of course the Catholic Church, like the Minister and others, acknowledge that the disease is a killer and it contributes significantly to poverty, but the Pope does not speak as an individual. He speaks on the principled teachings of the church and on the authority given to him by Christ as a successor of St. Peter the Apostle.

He represents the views of the 1.1 billion Catholics the world over, and if the teachings condemn the use of condoms and contraceptives, then that is the church beliefs and no one should deny that.
We all know that abstinence is a challenge for our young people but it doesn’t mean that we should not continue to instill the values that our bodies are sacred and should not be used for immoral practices. If our leaders were God-fearing then they would not be encouraging such standards, because they would have obeyed the Commandments of God – “Thou shall not commit adultery, or face the wrath of God.”

Imagine the Ministry that tells citizens and even young children in school that it’s okay to have sex once a condom is used and this is proven through the ads sponsored and supported by the Ministry of Health.
It is indeed sad to know how our society is becoming. People of this land daily complain that our moral standards are decaying. Campaigns promoting condoms’ usage help to crumble our standards in this society, since they encourage promiscuity, underage sex, the spread of other STIs that condoms don’t prevent, among so many other ills.

We would also like to note that despite the many advocates for condom-use, how is it that our society continues to be plagued with the HIV/AIDS epidemic?
We wish to emphasise also that there are lots of publicity on the prevention of HIV using condoms, but what about other incurable diseases such as the Human Papilloma Virus? Condoms are useless in preventing HPV transmission since the virus is spread by cells that are shed onto the scrotum, which then comes into contact with the vulva’s skin. So how many of us are aware that these other illnesses are not 100 percent safe with condoms’ use?

The Minister says that “the Pope’s statement is inconsistent with experience and is not in sync with what Catholics experience and believe.” How can His Holiness not experience what normal Catholics experience? Pope Benedict XVI didn’t just born into the Papacy; he was a normal Catholic like us and faced the same hardships and temptations as we have faced and we are sure that he believes the same thing that all other Catholics believe, because who would he be leading? Besides, how would Minister Ramsammy even know this?

Does he know what a Catholic experiences and believes? So that dispels that statement by the Minister.
There will always be conflicting views between the Roman Catholic Church and Government leaders but the Church has a role and function to play when speaking out on issues which are in contradiction of its teachings. The Holy Father and Church have always promoted Abstinence as a way of life. We are appalled that the international community would say, “The Church is not to interfere in the business of condoms; their business is to deal with faith and the spirit.”

The Holy Church has every right to interfere because the use of condoms promotes sexual immorality and contraception which the Church is firmly against. The Catholic Church has faced 2000 years of opposition from such groups and leaders against on various issues and has overcome and survived them all. The international and local community should be seeking the advice of the Church since it has a wealth of experience.

For benefit of all those international and local authorities which are supporting condom usage and would like something different or want a change in their methods of combating HIV/AIDS, there is a great organisation in Guyana that is coordinated by the Catholic Church’s Diocesan Youth Office.
This is the Programme on Abstinence for Guyana, which has a very comprehensive programme and many Abstinence Clubs around the country including the hinterland where it is very vibrant.
I hope that many young people, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, would see this letter and want to be agents for change in this society of ours.
G. Moonsammy
O. Holder

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