Maybe it's my contrarian nature...

...but this does not seem to me the big deal the media will surely make it out to be:

Pope Benedict says condom use may be justified in some specific cases, such as when a male prostitute is trying to prevent HIV infection, in a new interview that has the pontiff deviating from the Catholic Church's line on contraception.

The Pope's comments are published in a new book, scheduled to be published next week, entitled "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times." The Vatican's newspaper published excerpts from the book on Saturday.

While the Catholic Church is staunchly against artificial contraception, Benedict said condoms for male prostitutes may be justifiable "in the intention of reducing the risk of infection."

He also pointed out that condom use among prostitutes is "a first step toward moralization," and said condoms are "not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection."

Since I am reasonably certain male (as well female) prostitution falls outside Church teachings and since I am also reasonably certain prostitutes generally do not look to the Holy Father or the Holy Catholic Church for moral guidance, the undoubted clamorous reaction to this statement of the Pope by media and birth control advocates will be wildly out of proportion to its significance.

It seem to me all the Holy Father is saying is: "Don't compound your already egregious sin by passing along disease to someone else as you commit it." If liberals somehow construe that to mean the Church's eventually blessing of the use of condoms by Catholics, they are bound to be disappointed.