Papal Paralysis
How the Vatican Dealt with the AIDS Crisis
Papal Paralysis
How the Vatican Dealt with the AIDS Crisis
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Hardback
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Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN: 9780739176849
Number of Pages: 138
Published: 12/12/2013
Width: 15.8 cm
Height: 23.7 cm
Papal Paralysis utilizes the historical case study method to describe the moral and ethical dilemma Catholic Church officials face when asked to help fight the worldwide spread of AIDS. If popes and bishops allowed the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, conservatives would say that the Church was abandoning its teaching against the use of contraceptives. On the other hand, if the Vatican rejected the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, many Catholics would be put at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS. By the early 1980’s John Paul II made it clear that being a Catholic meant being opposed to artificial birth control. When confronted with the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, he applied his understanding of church moral theology to this new health care problem and fought HIV/AIDS through preaching abstinence and fidelity, but did not endorse the use of condoms. Despite opposition to this teaching by more than 30 high ranking bishops and cardinals, John Paul II and his successor, Benedict XVI, refused to change. Not until 2010 did the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith state, with papal approval, that using a condom to prevent spreading AIDS was morally superior to its opposite. The book concludes that the church’s failure to properly deal with the AIDS crisis was its greatest modern scandal, with the end result being thousands of lives lost.
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Church before AIDS
Chapter 2: AIDS Hits America
Chapter 3: Catholics and AIDS
Chapter 4: The Continent and AIDS: Europe did not Sleep
Chapter 5: A Voice from Africa
Chapter 6: New Voices from Other Altars
Chapter 7: New Pope: A Chance for Change
Chapter 8: Waiting for Godot: The Lost Years
Chapter 9: Breaking the Silence
Chapter 10: Pope Benedict Sees the Light
Chapter 11: Counting the Cost
Chapter 12: Conclusion
Papal Paralysis: How the Vatican Dealt with the AIDS Crisis, offers an important historical review of how papal doctrine led to the Catholic hierarchy's tragic failure in protecting human life during the HIV & AIDS epidemic, as well as in supporting efforts to create an AIDS-free generation. . . .Kinkel's book reaffirms that we urgently need papal action to help create an AIDS-free generation, meet the global need for family planning and end extreme poverty in our time. * Conscience * Papal Paralysis provides a scathing critique of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, focusing on the inaction of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI in response to the global public health crisis of HIV/AIDS.... [T]he book offers compelling analysis in a journalistic style. * Theology & Sexuality * Only a scholar who knows and cares about the Catholic Church as much as Dr. R. John Kinkel does could write so convincing a book on the Catholic Church and the AIDS crisis. His examination of the rationale for the Church's stance on the AIDS Crisis is an impressive work that helps the reader understand the diverse and complex factors that played a role in the development of the Vatican's position on AIDS, and by extension, on other somewhat baffling positions the Church may take on similar issues as well. The book is not only informative, but also easy to understand and should be required reading for those seeking greater insight into the Catholic Church's sometimes incomprehensible positions on difficult issues. -- Mary Cay Sengstock, Wayne State University This is a meticulously researched and well-balanced account of the politics, personalities, and power of The Roman Catholic Church's hierarchy that culminated in the shameful abandonment of the world's population to the scourge of HIV/AIDS. The book is very well-written, eschews professional jargon, and will be of great interest to all concerned with the 'intractable nature of human institutions and those who run them.' -- Kent Schwirian, The Ohio State University Dr. John Kinkel has written a wonderful, thought-provoking book on the policies of the Catholic Church on condoms and AIDS. He clearly demonstrates how policies of the Catholic Church matter to citizens of the world, whether Catholic or not. I found this book insightful, well-balanced, and an example of 'unintended consequences' on a massive scale. -- John Kettley, University of Michigan
