Rome School’s Condom Vending Machines Irk Vatican

Rome, Italy (AHN) – The Vatican criticized Wednesday a high school in Rome for its plan to install condom vending machines in boys’ and girls’ toilets as part of a campaign to educate students on sexuality and HIV protection.

Cardinal Agostino Vallini, the bishop of Rome, said the Keplero High School, located just a few miles from the Vatican, was trivializing sex.

The school will be the first to install condom vending machines in Italy. Six such machines will sell condom packets at $1.36 or 2 euros each, less than half the usual price.

The school headmaster, Antonio Panaccione, encouraged other schools to follow suit.

A provincial administration’s resolution favoring the distribution of condoms in schools was the basis of Keplero’s decision to install the condom vending machines.

---