London ? The Lancet medical journal on Friday accused Pope Benedict XVI of distorting scientific evidence in his statement that condoms worsen the AIDS crisis. It said he should retract the comments.

On a trip to Africa last week, the pope told reporters, “You can’t resolve it with the distribution of condoms.” He then added, “On the contrary, it increases the problem.”

France, Germany and the U.N. AIDS-fighting agency criticized the comments as irresponsible and dangerous.

In the latest issue of the prestigious British medical journal, the editors wrote that the pope “publicly distorted scientific evidence to promote Catholic doctrine on this issue.”