Catholic Sexual Ethics and Tiv Women: A Case-study of Pastoral Practice in Regards to HIV/AIDS

Women are largely excluded from sexual decision-making in Tivland, and are at times forced to have sex with their HIV-positive husbands. In the midst of this, Catholic sexual ethics and pastoral practice may seem to conflict with the reproductive health of women and their ability to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Using the praxis method and a feminist ethics theoretical framework, this dissertation explores application of the principles of self-defense and toleration of "lesser evil," as well as other principles, to explore ways of finding pastoral responses to the sexual dilemmas of Tiv women with regards to HIV/AIDS pastoral responses that can be justified by acknowledged Catholic moral principles.;As Benedict XVI notes with regards to the usage of condoms by prostitutes, the Church "must stand close to the people." Paul VI makes a similar point in Humanae Vitae, but this point is often overlooked by Catholic theologians. Paul VI explicitly states that it is licit to use therapeutic means to cure a disease, even if these means also impede procreation. Underlying this understanding is the principle of toleration of "lesser evil," according to which one can tolerate or even encourage persons to do less serious sin if one cannot persuade them to stop sinning altogether.;This dissertation argues that while the teachings of the Catholic Church on sexual morality hold, such teachings should be interpreted within a broad framework of Catholic moral principles that may be applied to the particularities of individual Christian communities, including Tivland in Nigeria.