Is the pope right about condoms in Africa?

The Pope, on Tuesday, told reporters flying with him to Cameroon that AIDS was "a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, and that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems." In another version of the pope's remarks, the pontiff was quoted as saying: "You can't resolve [the AIDS epidemic] with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, it increases the problem."

A spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry responded quickly. "We consider that these statements endanger public health policies and the imperative to protect human life." The Washington Post newspaper criticized the pope's remarks, a day after the District of Columbia released disturbing new data on the spread of the AIDS epidemic in the nation's capital. "The pope's denunciation of condoms is of no help," the Post argued.

"Pope Benedict clearly shows he doesn't get it," CNN contributor Roland Martin argued in a column posted on the network's Web site. And the head of the head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said the pope's remarks are "unacceptable." Michel Kazatchkine told France Inter radio that the pope's statement was "a denial of the epidemic. And to make these remarks on a continent that unfortunately is a continent where 70 percent of the people who have AIDS die, it's absolutely unbelievable."

The United Nations estimates that 22 million Africans are living with the HIV virus that leads to AIDS. Three-quarters of the world's AIDS deaths in 2007 were in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some critics challenged the pope's understanding of the epidemic. The New York Times called the pope's comments "irresponsible" and misinformed. "Pope Benedict XVI has every right to express his opposition to the use of condoms on moral grounds, in accordance with the official stance of the Roman Catholic Church," the Times editorialized. "But he deserves no credence when he distorts scientific findings about the value of condoms in slowing the spread of the AIDS virus."

By Wednesday, the Vatican Web site had published what The Australian newspaper called "an edited text changing his words to say that the use of condoms 'risks' aggravating the problem."