Archdiocese Ends Support of Program Against AIDS

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has withdrawn its support of an AIDS education program aimed at Latino church members because the workshops include an explicit discussion of condoms as a way to prevent spread of the disease. Catholic doctrine prohibits the use of contraceptives and forbids sex outside of marriage.

“Knowledge of such medical methods is one thing,” Archbishop Roger M. Mahony said in a statement released Saturday. “This, however, would be seen as a sanction for using condoms. We do not and cannot give such sanction.”

Use of condoms as a safeguard against AIDS “implies either heterosexual promiscuity or homosexual activity,” the archbishop’s statement said. “The church approves of neither.”

The Spanish-language program, which was set up by AIDS Project Los Angeles, has been presented only once, about two weeks ago, at the educational center of the archdiocese headquarters. About 60 youth group leaders were in the audience, said Daniel Lara, the AIDS project’s program manager for community education.

Use of condoms, limiting the number of sex partners and abstinence from sex all were suggested as means for controlling the spread of AIDS, Lara said.

Four more forums were to be held at churches in Latino communities, Lara said.

“They may take place, but not on church grounds,” said Father Joseph Battaglia, a spokesman for the archdiocese.

The archbishop had planned to sign a letter inviting Spanish-speaking Catholics to the forums but now that letter will not be distributed, Battaglia said.

“The impression is given when you give (workshops) on church grounds, when you invite people to the church, it is an endorsement of what is being said there,” the spokesman said.

Lara said he will contact the archbishop’s office and try to persuade him to change his mind.

The education program is being financed with a $10,000 grant from Los Angeles County, awarded in June to AIDS Project Los Angeles, which is a counseling, lobbying and assistance service for AIDS victims.

The grant specified that community forums should target the Spanish-speaking community.

“Our feeling was that the Hispanic community was not receiving the same education that the English-speaking community was,” said Lara, who is Latino and a Catholic.

He decided to approach the archdiocese for help because “in a time of crisis, the Latino family first turns to the church,” he said.

Not Representing Church

Father Jon Jensen, who supervises the archdiocese’s Spanish-speaking parishes, raised the concerns at the time about discussions of condoms and asked to see an outline of the program material, Lara said. Father Jensen could not be reached for comment.

“We agreed that it was important that the participants get all the information,” Lara said. “We both agreed very strongly that I was not there to represent the Catholic Church, nor am I a spokesperson for the Catholic Church.”

As a result, Lara said, the archdiocese agreed to provide the meeting places, a mailing list of Spanish-speaking youth group leaders and parish priests and the letter from the archbishop.

The workshop at archdiocese headquarters was “a trial run,” Lara said.

Lara, a doctor, an expert on social issues, a Spanish-speaking woman whose son has AIDS and an AIDS patient were on the panel. Condoms were recommended for those who are sexually active and a condom was displayed, Lara said.

One youth group leader asked how the segment of the workshop devoted to condoms could jibe with church teaching. Lara said the reply was that the program was not intended to represent church doctrine.

Day After News Story

“Apparently,” Battaglia said, “that was not as clear as the organizers thought.”

The archdiocese’s decision to withdraw from the program came on the day a story about the sessions was published in the Los Angeles Herald Examiner.

“The report in the newspaper showed that some might conclude the church was endorsing the use of condoms,” Battaglia said.

He said the archdiocese might resume its role in the education program if the discussion of controlling transmission of AIDS is limited to abstinence or “if they have other methods that are not contrary to church teaching.”

But, Lara said, “there is absolutely no getting around the fact that young people are sexually active at the premarital level and at the extramarital level.”