Vatican drafting document to permit condom use for those infected with HIV/AIDS?

Amy Welborn has a very significant news discovery today:

Vatican working on document on condom use and AIDS

Rome - The Vatican is expected to permit the use of condoms for AIDS patients, according to an interview with a high-ranking cardinal published Sunday.

The Vatican is currently working on a document on the subject that would be published soon, Vatican 'Health Minister' Javier Lozano Baragan said in an interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica.

The Roman Catholic Church has up till now strictly prohibited the use of condoms even in marriage for AIDS patients and HIV-infected people.

Observers in Rome suggest that a Curial cardinal such as Baragan could only make a statement on a such a sensitive theme when it had been first agreed upon with Pope Benedict XVI.

However the cardinal did not provide details on the Vatican's new rules.

[source]

Amy is careful to note that she is just reporting the facts and she suspends judgement about the reliability of the report. I think she is very wise to do this. Now, in preface, I submit my judgment to the Magisterium - if the Vatican were to issue a document permitting the use of condoms for HIV/AIDS victims, I would submit to that teaching (even as I try to appropriate the reasoning behind it).

However, I think there are a few things one could point to in this story to make the case that such a decision isn't any more likely based on what this story reports.

First, the primary message of this article is that the Vatican is working on a document addressing the question, the only direct mention of which way the Vatican is expected to decide occurrs is the German presse's opening paragraph - there are no direct quotations to that effect, and in the interview with La Repubblica (which has not yet been posted) the Cardinal "did not provide details on the Vatican's new rules."

A second incidental point is that the article doesn't even spell the Cardinal's name right (it's "Barragan").

A third more substantial point is Cardinal Barragan's own track record on this issue:

"I don't care about the condoms yes, condoms no, debate," Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, told a news conference. "What concerns me is that these people are dying and I have to help them." [source]

Quotes can always be taken out of context. But if this is taken out of context, what is to say that the German Presse's comments aren't taken out of context as well?

So far Cardinal Barragan of Mexico and Cardinal Danneels of Belgium (an outspoken liberal) - and now Cardinal Martini (also considered liberal by many) - have taken this position.

My opinion? Either Cardinal Barragan has decided to "ride the wave of condom support" initiated by Cardinal Martini yesterday, or his quotes have been lost in translation somewhere between the Italian and German presses.

But that's just my guess... the La Repubblica article is the next thing we need to watch for.

UPDATE: Reuters has a better version of the story - and doesn't claim to know what's in the document.

Well, it does appear that we are going to get a document on this issue "soon".