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Dear Katie,
Always the Church honors the need of individuals to make decisions of conscience--decisions which are informed and shaped by prayer and good information. Now a person who has contacted AIDS and chooses to marry and have intercourse is in a perplexing situation. The Church's teaching regarding contraception is that every act of intercourse is to be open to the possibility of new life. When that action also exposes the other party--and the possible child--to a great risk of dying, the balance has shifted, the decision-making has to take it all into account. Which is more likely? New life or new death? The couple needs to weigh all this and make the most life-affirming decision.
You may be asking a question without too much basis in reality, though. This couple would both need to be Catholic, be aware of Catholic teaching in this matter and have access to condoms. My understanding is that this is not so very likely in the parts of Africa where HIV/AIDS is so very prevalent. |