'Good Catholics Use Condoms'

Posted by Evan Derkacz at 9:55 AM on February 14, 2006.

Straight and gay, black, white whatever... the CFFC's new ad campaign to encourage condom use is unorthodox for another reason: it's an explicitly Catholic organization.

Catholics for a Free Choice have been covering metro stations in NY, DC and SF with, according to Laura Donnelly: "artistic black-and-white shots of couples (straight and gay!) gazing lovingly into each other's eyes or embracing. And then there's the text, simple and straightforward: 'We believe in God. We believe that sex is sacred. We believe in caring for each other. We believe in using condoms.'"

Thank God.

Again, Donnelly: "The group's activities have included, among other things, publishing an intelligent to-do list for Pope Benedict and advocating for Catholic hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape victims who seek treatment in their emergency rooms. But one of the group's major projects is an education initiative to encourage condom use among all sexually active couples, especially those at risk for HIV/AIDS. Says CFFC president Frances Kissling:

Good Catholics are deeply concerned about the problem of HIV/AIDS...There are too many leaders in our church who are doing more harm—even abetting the spread of HIV—because of their refusal to incorporate condoms into their work with AIDS patients. The bishops talk about promoting a culture of life, and then some go out and actually lie about condoms’ effectiveness.

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Evan Derkacz is a New York-based writer and contributor to AlterNet.