Quotations from a new volume from Benedict XVI seem to reveal a shift in the direction of papal teaching on the use of condoms to limit the spread of HIV/AIDS. It's hard to say, of course, without more context. But reporter Celine le Prioux lifts this line:

"In certain cases, where the intention is to reduce the risk of infection, it can nevertheless be a first step on the way to another, more humane sexuality."

Curiously, the case the Pope uses is that of male prostitutes.

"There may be justified individual cases, for example when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be ... a first bit of responsibility, to re-develop the understanding that not everything is permitted and that one may not do everything one wishes,"

Male prostitutes, of course, overwhelmingly service male clients. Perhaps the Pope sought to use an example that wasn't complicated by the specter of contraception, as in the case of serodiscordant married couples, for which, seemingly, condom use to halt AIDS should long ago have been trumpeted as a classic case of double effect. Whatever his reasoning, if indeed the context bears out that the pope has spoken of the use of condoms in some circumstances as "justified," that's a great step forward, literally life-saving.HT: Alan Revering