NAIROBI, Kenya — The pope’s stunning suggestion that condoms could be used in limited situations has grabbed the attention of Africa, which has a soaring number of Catholics and a raging HIV pandemic.

From church leaders to AIDS activists, many Africans welcomed Pope Benedict XVI’s message that condoms could be morally justified in some cases, such as with male prostitutes to prevent the spread of HIV. Some disagreed with him.

More than 20 million people across Africa are infected with HIV — more than the rest of the world combined. A half-million more people become infected each year in South Africa alone.

“I say hurrah for Pope Benedict,” said Linda-Gail Bekker, chief executive of South Africa’s Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation. She said his statement may prompt many people at risk of contracting HIV to “adopt a simple lifestyle strategy to protect themselves.”

Sello Hatang, spokesman for the Nelson Mandela Foundation, applauded the pope, saying “condom use is essential in the fight against HIV.

While some church leaders in Africa disagreed with the new approach and others said they are waiting for an official church communique, Bishop Valentine Seane, the leader of Botswana’s 70,000 Catholics, said he is open to the idea of condom use.

“The lesser evil is to use available means of protection,” Seane said.

The Catholic Church rejects the use of condoms as part of its overall teaching against artificial contraception. Senior Vatican officials have advocated fidelity in marriage and abstinence from premarital sex as key weapons in the fight against AIDS.