Career
He was appointed of Rustenburg on December 2, 1990, receiving his episcopal consecration on January 27, 1991 from Archbishop Denis Hurley. Condoms and Human Immunodeficiency Virus New translation of the Mass liturgy.
He was appointed of Rustenburg on December 2, 1990, receiving his episcopal consecration on January 27, 1991 from Archbishop Denis Hurley. Condoms and Human Immunodeficiency Virus New translation of the Mass liturgy.
He is best known for his position that condoms should be used to prevent Human Immunodeficiency Virus transmission, a position he first announced in 2001 in response to a question by a Catholic news agency reporter during a meeting in New York City. After stating that the s" Conference had not taken a position on condom use, Dowling was asked for his personal opinion, and said that he believed condoms should be used to prevent the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
This was widely interpreted as contradicting Catholic teaching, which opposes the promotion of condom use, while not having a definite, recognized policy on married individuals using condoms for the precise purpose of protecting themselves against Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. In private conversations the papal nuncio to South Africa told Dowling that he had strayed from Catholic teaching. The Southern African s Conference also described condoms as "an immoral and misguided weapon" in the fight against Human Immunodeficiency Virus, arguing that condom use could even encourage the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus by promoting extramarital sexual
Foreign his stance on this matter, Utne Reader, a United States magazine that provides "alternative coverage of politics, culture, and new ideas", named Dowling one of its "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing the World".
Dowling was also critical of the premature application by the Southern African Catholic s Conference of the revision of the English translation of the Mass liturgy and he objected to the revision itself, which had received the Holy See"s confirmation after being agreed on by English-speaking Episcopal Conferences: "I am concerned that this latest decision from the Vatican may be interpreted as another example of what is perceived to be a systematic and well-managed dismantling of the vision, theology and ecclesiology of Vatican World War II".