REUTERS: The Vatican on Wednesday defended Pope Benedict’s opposition to the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS as activists, doctors and politicians criticized it as unrealistic, unscientific and dangerous. Benedict, arriving in Africa, said on Tuesday that condoms “increase the problem” of AIDS. The comment, made to reporters aboard his plane, caused a worldwide firestorm of criticism. HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS, infects 33 million people globally and has killed 25 million. “The pope saying they are not good is like someone saying traveling by air is not 100 percent safe, so we should not fly,” said Pat Matemilola, national co-ordinator for the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), a medical doctor who has been living with HIV/AIDS for more than a decade. A New York Times editorial said the pope “deserves no credence when he distorts scientific findings” about condoms. MORE