Over 22 million people are infected with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa (UN, 2007). This is unacceptable. These people need urgent and immediate help to cope with their disease and enable them to make the appropriate life choices to slow infection rates and regain some control over this terrible disease..

The recent visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Africa added credence to the fact that the Catholic Church is out of touch with the reality of the HIV disaster in Africa. Benedict XVI said that “[HIV ] cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem.” His answer lies in abstinence, even though this method of infection control is proven not to work and actually add to the problem. It is unrealistic to ask those who are entitled to a safe and enjoyable sexual experience to abstain, and what about those people who do not have a choice in the matter? Wives who are infected by their husbands, sex workers who are infected by their clients, or children who are infected by their mothers. Can we ask these people to simply abstain from a huge part of the human experience? No, we should invest in education and safe-sex planning alongside a robust HIV-treatment infrastructure, as this is the only proven way to halt infection and help Africa to regain it’s potential.

17% of African people consider themselves to be Catholic and therefore may look to the leader of their Church for guidance and support, but until the day comes when the Holy See can admit that safe and protected sex is the only weapon we have against HIV/AIDS then millions of African Catholics need to seek guidance from somewhere else.