CarnalNation

On Thursday, March 26, members of the Belgian parliament began deliberation on a resolution condemning the remarks of Pope Benedict XVI regarding the use of condoms in the fight against the spread of AIDS in Africa. Six different parties sponsored the resolution, thereby forming an alternative majority to the one held by the Flemish Christian Democrats of Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy and the French-speaking centrist CDH party. The resolution "demande au gouvernement belge de condamner les propos dangereux et irresponsables du pape lors de son voyage en Afrique et de protester officiellement auprès du Saint-Siège. ["hereby requests the Belgian government to condemn the dangerous and irresponsible proposition of the Pope during his visit to Africa and to make official protest to the Holy See."]

How that protest will manifest will be the subject of debate over the next few weeks. Socialist MP André Flahaut has asked for the recall of the Belgian Ambassador to the Vatican. Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht has announced his readiness to meet with the Papal Nuncio of Belgium "to tell him that the pope is wrong." The Belgian government has yet to take an official position.

Seemingly in an effort to contain the growing scandal and public relations fiasco engendered by the Pope's egregious remarks that condoms will not stem the spread of AIDS, the Primate of Belgium, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, made the following statement in the regional daily paper Vers l'Avenir: "The Pope is not a diplomat... I am also convinced that to distribute condoms will not solve the problem of AIDS. We need something deeper. I think there are occasions when it is the only way to save a life. I do not think the Pope has meant that it was never possible ... He said, 'it is not as though you are going to educate people to take their own fate in hand.'" [Nouvel Observateur]

No, the Pope is not a diplomat. Damage control, indeed, for a lot of damage.