What does the Roman Catholic Church really think about the use of condoms to fight AIDS? It seems to depend on who is doing the talking. After Wednesday's about-face by Spain's Roman Catholic Church - which first said condoms could have a role in anti-AIDS programmes and then retracted the statement - Catholics and non-Catholics alike can be forgiven for being a bit confused.
The comments by Bishop Juan Antonio Martinez Camino showed that the Church's overall position against the use of condoms can spark heated debate - even within the Church. Martinez Camino, speaking after a meeting with Spain's health minister, said contraception could have "a place in a global approach to tackling AIDS". His comments were splashed on the front pages of many world papers.
Nearly 24 hours later, under apparent Vatican pressure, the Spanish Church said there had been no relaxation in the rules and that the "use of condoms implies immoral sexual conduct".
In fact, there is no definitive Church position on condoms relating to their use to stop the spread of AIDS. No formal Vatican document, no dogma, no proclamation, has ever been issued on the topic which moral theologians are still debating.
"There is no blanket ban," said Father Brian Johnstone, moral theology professor at the Alphonsian Academy, a branch of the Pontifical Lateran University.
"The Church has never said that it is wrong in all possible situations. The complexity of the problem has to be taken into consideration, sometimes at a very local and personal level," he told Reuters.
The Spanish bishop appeared to fall foul of the Vatican by suggesting that condoms should have a fixed place in anti-AIDS programmes whereas the Church teaches that they can be a rare exception to the general rule.