Note #9150 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06112 Feb. 21, 2006
Zambian bishop backs condom use as a means of preventing HIV/AIDS
by Moses Chitendwe Ecumenical News International
LUSAKA, Zambia - The United Church of Zambia (UCZ) has come out in support of the use of condoms as an appropriate means of preventing the spread of the HIV/AIDS in a country where many churches have opposed the use of prophylactics.
UCZ Bishop Lackson Chibuye, of Lusaka, said the denomination, one of the largest in the Council of Churches in Zambia, has acknowledged the use of condoms in the fight against HIV/AIDS which has taken a heavy toll on the country's people.
"We will not fight those who use condoms responsibly, but as a church we shall always limit ourselves to their appropriate usage as a contraceptive," Chibuye said. "Condoms have existed before the advent of HIV/AIDS as a contraceptive and protection against contracting sexually transmitted diseases."
He noted: "It is true that condoms have been around for some time as a population control and family-planning model, but we are not going to stand on the pulpit and sell condoms."
Chibuye was quoted in Zambian media after he officiated at the opening of a counseling and testing center at the Saint Marks UCZ congregation in Lusaka in January. The center was funded by the Churches Medical Association of Zambia, which operates under the Global Fund to combat AIDS and other diseases.
"We are proud that we were the first church body through our synod to draft a policy on HIV/AIDS," Chibuye said. Of the testing center, he said, "In sharing the mission of Jesus Christ, we shall always render compassion to the sinners and vulnerable communities."
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