NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      BARCELONA, Spain (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Ricard Maria Carles of Barcelona this week condemned an AIDS awareness campaign that promotes condom use as dangerous to the spiritual and moral well-being of young people.

      Cardinal Carles said in his weekly newsletter to parishes in his archdiocese that it was "feeble and deceptive" to promote condom use as a way to engage in safe sex. Dr. Francisco Parras, head of the Health Ministry department dealing with AIDS campaigns, said that while he respected the Church's right to comment, this would not influence government-sponsored campaigns.

      "If this was a society where people didn't have sex, then sexual relations would not be a way of transmitting the HIV virus. But Spain is not like that," Parras said.