<p>Benedict signed the apostolic exhortation called “The Pledge for Africa” during a visit to the West African nation of Benin, his second trip to the continent as pontiff. The document says AIDS requires a medical response, but is mainly an ethical problem. Changes in behaviour are required to combat the disease, including sexual abstinence and rejection of promiscuity, it adds.<br /><br />“The problem of AIDS in particular clearly calls for a medical and a pharmaceutical response,” it says. “This is not enough however. The problem goes deeper. Above all, it is an ethical problem.”<br /><br />The Catholic Church’s position on AIDS and the use of condoms has long been controversial and carefully scrutinised, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, home to nearly 70 percent of the world’s HIV cases.<br /><br />The pope’s comments on his first African trip to Cameroon and Angola in 2009 caused a global outcry when he suggested condom distribution aggravated the AIDS problem.<br />He has since seemed to ease that stance, saying in a book published last year that condom use is acceptable “in certain cases,” notably to reduce the risk of HIV infection.<br /><br />The 135-page document he signed on Saturday was a summary of the conclusions of a 2009 synod of African bishops and includes peace, reconciliation and justice as its main message.<br /><br />It condemns abuses against women and children, while issuing a call for good governance.<br /></p>
<p>Benedict signed the apostolic exhortation called “The Pledge for Africa” during a visit to the West African nation of Benin, his second trip to the continent as pontiff. The document says AIDS requires a medical response, but is mainly an ethical problem. Changes in behaviour are required to combat the disease, including sexual abstinence and rejection of promiscuity, it adds.<br /><br />“The problem of AIDS in particular clearly calls for a medical and a pharmaceutical response,” it says. “This is not enough however. The problem goes deeper. Above all, it is an ethical problem.”<br /><br />The Catholic Church’s position on AIDS and the use of condoms has long been controversial and carefully scrutinised, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, home to nearly 70 percent of the world’s HIV cases.<br /><br />The pope’s comments on his first African trip to Cameroon and Angola in 2009 caused a global outcry when he suggested condom distribution aggravated the AIDS problem.<br />He has since seemed to ease that stance, saying in a book published last year that condom use is acceptable “in certain cases,” notably to reduce the risk of HIV infection.<br /><br />The 135-page document he signed on Saturday was a summary of the conclusions of a 2009 synod of African bishops and includes peace, reconciliation and justice as its main message.<br /><br />It condemns abuses against women and children, while issuing a call for good governance.<br /></p>