"As far as the burqa is concerned, I do not see a reason for a general ban," Benedict said in a series of interviews in his native German to be published as a book.

"Some women do not wear the burqa entirely voluntarily and it is correct to talk of a violation against that woman. Of course one cannot agree with that," he said.

"But if they want to wear it voluntarily, I don't know why one must ban them," he said, according to a copy of the German text.

The ban on full-face veils such as the burqa and the niqab is a hotly contested issue in France, with the government saying it aims to protect women's rights but critics saying it stigmatizes Muslims.

France's top legal authority, the Constitutional Council, approved the law in October, and it is due to enter force early next year.

Meanwhile, the Vatican on Sunday cautioned that there is nothing “revolutionary” in the pope’s startling assertion that condom use in exceptional circumstances can be a responsible act in the fight against the spread of HIV.

The pope's chief spokesman, Federico Lombardi, issued a statement stressing that the pope's comment in the book being published Tuesday neither “reforms or changes” church teaching, which forbids use of condoms and other contraceptives.

Neither was Benedict “morally justifying” the unbridled exercise of sexuality, Lombardi added.

The pope maintains that condom use to lessen the danger of infection is a “first assumption of responsibility,” the statement said, quoting from the book.

“The reasoning of the pope cannot certainly be defined as a revolutionary turn,” the spokesman said.

The pope spoke in an interview given to a German journalist. Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano on Saturday published excerpts from the book, “Light of the World,” three days ahead of publication.

In the interview, Benedict says that in certain cases, such as for a male prostitute, condom use could be a first step in assuming moral responsibility for stemming the spread of the virus that causes AIDS.

Lombardi noted that the pope emphasized the church's main advice in the fight against AIDS — sexual abstinence and fidelity among married couples. He cited Benedict's words that the church “of course does not regard it (condom use) as a real or moral solution.”

“With this, the pope isn't reforming or changing the teaching of the church, but reaffirming it, putting it in the context of the value and the dignity of human sexuality as expression of love and responsibility,” the spokesman said.