| A high school education program
that includes HIV/AIDS prevention messages promoting safer sex is "explicitly
against the Christian morality," the Croatian
Conference of Bishops said in a statement, Agence France-Presse
reports.
The program, titled "Youth Educating Youth About AIDS -- MEMOAIDS,"
is taught by teachers and peer educators through optional workshops in
high schools. The sessions focus on HIV/AIDS prevention and condom use
to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (Agence
France-Presse, 1/28). The statement, which the bishops released after
they discussed the issue at a meeting on Monday, said that the program
is "unacceptable" and "held under the pretext that it aims to protect adolescents
from AIDS." The bishops also said that parents were not asked for permission
for their children to participate in the program, adding that "student
and teacher believers are forced to participate in the program, which goes
against Christian morality, against their conscience" (Vukic, Associated
Press, 1/28). The bishops also expressed concern that "[u]nder the
pretext of protection of adolescents against AIDS, a technique on how
to use preventive means is actually being practiced." The
bishops did not make recommendations for an alternative HIV/AIDS prevention
program, Agence France-Presse reports (Agence France-Presse,
1/28). The bishops also did not call for the program to be stopped, and
it is unknown if the statement will affect the future of the program, according
to the Associated Press. Although there are fewer than 150 registered
HIV/AIDS cases in the country, health officials recently have increased
their awareness efforts, the Associated Press reports (Associated
Press, 1/28). Approximately 88% of the country's 4.4 million people
are Catholic (Agence France-Presse, 1/28). |