The Pope’s statement that condom use is acceptable "in certain cases, where the intention is to reduce the risk of infection" has lit up the headlines. But put the lights out: nothing has changed.
The prohibition on artificial contraception in the two major documents – Casti Connubii (1930) and Humanae Vitae (1968) – and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, speak only in terms of marriage. No ruling on contraception outside marriage, homosexual or heterosexual, has been made, nor has there been any particular reason why the Magisterium should make one.
