"I'm waiting until a priest tells us which way to go" says a Kenyan catholic. There have been cautious reactions around the world to Pope Benedict XVI's statement that the use of condoms is acceptable in some cases.

Previously, the pope has always totally rejected the use of contraceptives. But in a recent interview with German journalist Peter Seewald, Benedict was less categorical: using condoms is permissible in some individual situations. He was referring primarily to people infected with the AIDS virus HIV.

Difficult
Moniek van der Kroef of the Dutch organisation Aidsfonds regards the pope's remarks as a breath of fresh air:

"I think it will help people with AIDS and those who are at risk. Now they're hearing they're allowed to use condoms in some cases. It means condoms can no longer be ruled out, that you can keep them around and make use of them in a more relaxed way. In some countries they've made condoms an immensely difficult topic."

No comment
In Kenya the news about the pope's volte-face has been covered in the newspapers and on radio and television. The official institutions have not yet commented. Nor has the website run by the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya. Churches and theologians have been silent so far. They are waiting for an official reaction from Cardinal John Jeu, the archbishop of Nairobi.

The Roman Catholic Church has a great deal of influence in Kenya but, in private conversations, priests have been advocating the use of contraceptives for some time.

Furore
In the Kenyan daily The Standard the reaction of churchgoers has been largely stoical: "I heard it on the news but no one has given their opinion, so I'll wait until the priest tells us which way to go." says one. Another opines: "The pope would never take decisions that are bad for the church or the faithful. He must have good reasons."

Benedict caused a furore last year on a trip to Africa, when he said that handing out condoms was not the solution to the problem of AIDS. Even now he says condoms are not the way to combat HIV/AIDS but that their use is sometimes permissible.

Wilderness
"Too little too late" is the reaction of Brazilian liberation theologian and former priest Leonardo Boff:

"Never, and I mean never, in thousands of confessions have I heard anyone confess to the sin of using a condom. In practice Christians have not followed the pope's message. The pope's voice was a voice in the wilderness, completely at odds with normal practices."

Leonardo Boff was repeatedly called to order by the Vatican for criticising the church. In the end he renounced the priesthood.

Compassionate
So is this a revolution in the Catholic church? Not really, says Dutch priest and historian Antoine Bodar, since other clergymen have spoken out in favour of condoms. But it is good that the pope has now personally sanctioned a less rigid course.

"The church is displaying its compassionate side and showing that it is not so hidebound. In theory the church would like to achieve the ideal situation, but in practice that doesn't always succeed. So the church believes that people with AIDS should of course use condoms."