Whoa! Did the Pope Just Say Catholics Could Use Contraception in Response to Zika Crisis?

Teresa Neumann : Feb 18, 2016
AFP

He was clear that abortion is always a crime, but suggested that contraception was "not an absolute evil."

(Vatican City)—Because of the Zika crisis, it appears Pope Francis has just waded into new territory regarding traditional Catholic teaching on contraception. (Photo: Luis Robayo/AFP/File)

"Abortion is not a lesser evil," said the pope. "It is a crime. Avoiding a pregnancy [however] is not an absolute evil."

According to an AFP report, Francis noted that Pope Paul VI had once allowed nuns working in Africa to use contraceptives in "light of a high risk of them being raped by soldiers."

"We must not confuse the evil consisted of avoiding a pregnancy with abortion," he added. "Abortion is not a theological problem. It is a human problem—medical. One person is killed to save another. It is evil in itself. It is not a religious evil: it is a human evil."

The pope was quoted as also urging doctors to do everything in their power to develop a vaccine against the virus.