Belgian cardinal says condoms can limit AIDS

A Belgian cardinal tipped as a possible successor to Pope John Paul has said he could reluctantly accept the use of condoms as a means to halt the spread of AIDS. Speaking on Dutch TV on Sunday evening, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, 70, said that someone who was HIV positive might need to use a condom to protect life. He said: "When someone is HIV positive and his partner says: 'I want to have sexual relations with you' -- he doesn't have to do that, if you ask me - but if he does, he has to use a condom." Danneels explained that otherwise a person would be sinning against the fifth commandment: Thou shalt not kill. "This (the use of condoms) comes down to protecting yourself in a preventive manner against a disease or death, (it) cannot be entirely morally judged in the same manner as a pure way of birth limitation," he said. Last year Danneels criticised another cardinal for saying the use of condoms did not prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS.