diminish the danger of infection may be "a first assumption of responsibility", as opposed to not using the condom and exposing the other person to a fatal risk. Due to confusion over a translation, it was later clarified that Benedict's comments did not just refer to men, but women and transexuals as well. As John Haas, the president for the American National Catholic Centre for Bioethics, noted, Benedict did not address the issue of whether condoms are effective at preventing HIV transmission. The new statement from Benedict was criticized by conservative Catholics such as Jimmy Akin, who described Benedict's statements as "private opinions" as opposed to "official Church teaching". 2010s After a trip to Africa, in which he spoke little on AIDS but visited with HIV positive children, Pope Francis dismissed the question of whether or not condoms should be used to fight transmission. An annoyed Francis said the church's views on condom usage was a small issue compared to a lack of clean water and malnutrition. Dissent There have been a number of Catholics and theologians who have dissented from the Church's position on the use of condoms. A number of episcopal conferences have suggested that condom use may be acceptable in some circumstances to prevent AIDS. One of the first episcopal conferences to take such a stance was the Bishops' Conference of France which asserted in 1989 that the "whole population and especially the young should be informed of the risks. Prophylactic measures exist." In 1996, the Social Commission of the French Bishops' Conference said that condom use "can be understood in the case of people for whom sexual activity is an ingrained part of their lifestyle and for whom [that activity] represents a serious risk." In 1993, the German Bishops' Conference noted: "In the final analysis, human conscience constitutes the decisive authority in personal ethics ... consideration must be given ... to the spread of AIDS. It is a moral duty to prevent such suffering, even if the underlying behavior cannot be condoned in many cases. ... The church ... has to respect responsible decision-making by couples." Carlo Maria Martini, the archbishop of Milan, opined that when one spouse has HIV but the other does not that using condoms could be considered "a lesser evil". But he quickly noted that the church should not acknowledge these considerations publicly because of "the risk of promoting an irresponsible attitude."