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South African Broadcasting Corporation Copyright ©
2000 - 2005 SABC |
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this
Tuesday November 25, 2003, SABC 3 at 9h30 pm -
"Let's
talk about sex, Father"
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This Tuesday, Special
Assignment focuses on one of the oldest institutions in
the world - the Catholic Church, and its teachings on
sexual morality. Specifically, its insistence on
abstinence before marriage, and the ban on condom usage
in the time of the Aids pandemic.
There are three million
Catholics in South Africa. But there is a gulf between
what the Church teaches, and how many people are
actually listening.
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The Catholic Church has been
accused of hypocrisy because of its strict teachings on
sexuality. Sex outside of marriage is forbidden. Priests
may not marry or have sex. Women are not allowed to
become priests because they are the wrong sex. Abortion
is forbidden. Divorced people may not get communion, the
holiest church sacrament. Gay faithful are rejected by
the Church. And worryingly - the Church has condemned
condoms as "immoral" and even dangerous, in
the fight against HIV/Aids.
Yet sex scandals have
defined the place of the Church in the media in modern
times. The programme asks the question: how relevant are
these teachings, and if nobody's really listening, why
not reform them?
According to a recent
study reported in the Financial Times, 80 percent of
people living in Rome (the seat of the Catholic Church)
consider themselves Catholic, but 70 percent of them
approve of premarital sex, birth control and divorce.
The programme explores
three issues of sexuality in the Church - the ordination
of women, the celibacy of priests, and the role of the
Church in the fight against HIV/Aids. The story is told
through the eyes of a group of women who are pushing to
be leaders in the Church, and a group of final year
novitiates who are about to be ordained as priests. They
explain how the teachings of the Church on sexuality and
gender have impacted on their personal choices.
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Special Assignment also
follows the life of a remarkable clergyman, Bishop Kevin
Dowling, who works amongst the destitute, the poor and
the dying every day. A senior figure in the Catholic
Church, Dowling implores the Church to be informed by
the value of compassion, instead of dogma - and change
its stance on condom use, "to protect life
itself."
The programme is not just
an explanation of seemingly "outdated"
teachings - it exposes how the Catholic teachings on
sexual mores actually undermine efforts to fight the
biggest health threat facing the continent - which
comprises a growing percentage of the world's Catholics.
The programme is directed
by Khadija Magardie, and was filmed by Dudley Saunders,
Llywellen Carstens, Jan de Klerk and Mzwandile Njokwane.
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page by Steven
Lang
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