Statement from the Anglican Bishops in Southern African on the Imprisonment of Stephen Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga. 27/5/10

We, the Bishops of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa call upon the Government of South Africa to seek the release of Stephen Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga

We, the Bishops of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa call upon the Government of South Africa to seek the release of Stephen Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, who were recently sentenced in Malawi to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour, after they shared in a traditional ceremony of engagement.

As we have previously stated, though there is a breadth of theological views among us on matters of human sexuality, we are united in opposing the criminalisation of homosexual people. We see the sentence that has been handed down to these two individuals as a gross violation of human rights and we therefore strongly condemn such sentences and behaviour towards other human beings. We emphasize the teachings of the Scriptures that all human beings are created in the image of God and therefore must be treated with respect and accorded human dignity.

These principles are at the heart of South Africa's own Constitution, whose provisions we see as setting an example for the world to follow. We therefore call on our President and Government to pursue the same values and standards for the upholding of human well-being, dignity and respect, in our external relations; to engage in dialogue with their counterparts on the rights of minorities; and to oppose any measures which demean and oppress individuals, communities, or groups of people. In particular we call on our President and Government to lobby the Government of Malawi at every level to uphold the commitment it shares through the SADC treaty to promote human rights (Article 4). We urge them to press for the swift release of these two individuals, who have committed no act of violence or harm against anyone; for the quashing of the sentence against them; and for the repeal of this repressive legislation.

More generally, we wish to reiterate our deep concern at the violent language used against the gay community across Sub-Saharan Africa, and at the increased legal action being taken against gay individuals, communities and organisations. Even in South Africa we are aware of instances of violence against the gay and lesbian community. We therefore appeal to law-makers everywhere to defend the rights of these minorities.

As Bishops we believe that it is immoral to permit or support oppression of, or discrimination against, people on the grounds of their sexual orientation, and contrary to the teaching of the gospel; particularly Jesus’ command that we should love one another as he has loved us, without distinction (John 13:34-35). We commit ourselves to teach, preach and act against any laws that undermine human dignity and oppress any and all minorities, even as we call for Christians and all people to uphold the standards of holiness of life.

Issued by the Office of the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town

Inquiries: on 021- 763-1320 (office hours)

World AIDS Day Statement 2006 - SECAM

SECAM Pastoral Message. 01/12/03

Pastoral Message issued by SECAM (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) on 1 December 2003 in Dakar.

Anglican Church. Isiseko Sokomeleza – “Building a Foundation 4/2003

Anglican Church in Southern Africa strategy Isiseko Sokomeleza – “Building a Foundation” April 2003.

Statement from AIDS Board of the Council of Anglican Provinces . 22/08/02

Statement from AIDS Board of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa Board Meeting. Nairobi, Kenya, 19-22 August 2002.

We have concluded our second meeting of the AIDS Board of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAP A). We have re-committed ourselves to the vision "of a Generation without AIDS", stated this time last year at the first All Africa Anglican Conference on HIV / AIDS at Boksburg.  

Worldwide Communion says "AIDS is not punishment from God"

Our Church is a community of compassion and love. At a time when the African continent is being devastated by the HIV pandemic, where some 30 million have already been infected, our Anglican Communion has stated: "AIDS is not a punishment from God."

We affirm the words of the Primates from the across the world-wide Anglican Communion who also said, "We have a solemn duty to speak a word to the world o/the scale of this crisis." In that spirit, we are committed to enlisting all sectors of society and the faith communities of Africa in a "Partnership for Life". 

International Debt Relief and access to care

In just a few days, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) will be gathering in my home country of South Africa. We are deeply distressed that the African continent is simultaneously being ravaged AIDS. 

We call upon the developed world to free us of the life-threatening burden of international debt, indebtedness, I might add, that many of our present governments did not incur. We know that debt forgiveness in sub-Saharan Africa, alone, could release more than $10 billion toward alleviating the pain and suffering of HIV/AIDS, which the United Nations says is needed in Africa today. 

African conflicts fuel the AIDS pandemic

Wars, social and political instability, and conflict continue to plague us, as well. These struggles fuel the HIV / AIDS Pandemic. Even though peace is breaking out across Africa, there is still a long way to go to bring a level of peace and domestic tranquility. Food security, physical security, and commitment to public health and well-being are crucial. 

We call on the governments of Africa that created the new African Union and NEPAD, to collaborate in making the eradication of HIV/AIDS a top priority. It is clear that there needs to be appropriate incentive schemes and strategies in the public and private sectors to make these efforts successful. We, in the faith-based communities, offer our collaboration and support so that Africa can save her children and guard her future. Our nations must move from rhetoric about the future to responsibility for today. 

All African framework upheld

Over the course of these days we have affirmed the 6-fold call to responsibility for all of our churches. They are: Leadership, Care, Prevention, Counseling, Pastoral Care and Death and Dying. To this end, we are committed to ministering in and among all people. 

Prevention saves lives

We are committed to teaching our children and their parents life-preserving skills to inhibit the virus that causes AIDS. The time for preparation for sexual maturity is well before adolescence and the onset of sexual activity. Our energies must focus on our daughters and sons at an early age. While we know that information alone cannot save lives, information and action can.  

Knowing one's status is the first step

It is crucial for every person to know his/her HIV infection. Knowing one's status is the best way we can make informed and appropriate decisions about sexual behaviour and personal commitments. We call on our faith communities to ensure that Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) is available to all people, including those in the Church. 

Specific behaviours can save lives

We also know that there are some behaviours that will significantly reduce risk. These include:

• abstinence before marriage;

• fidelity and faithfulness within marriage;

• delay the beginning of sexual activity for those who cannot remain abstinent, and I:J correct use of condoms, particularly for those couples in which one is HIV+ and the other is HIV-.  

We know that condoms can save lives and prevent the spread of the virus. The morality of condoms is about preserving life. To sentence a person to death because of an error of judgment about sexual activity is not the way to save lives. We are human; we make mistakes, and live in a fallen world. We must ask forgiveness and commit ourselves to responsible sexual behaviour. These behaviours will go a long way in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. 

Stigma is a sin!

Stigma is the silent killer decimating our continent and is spreading disease. We call for an end to stigma and discrimination against those who are HIV + and their families. Our sisters and brothers living with AIDS experience silence and rejection. Silence feeds denial and shame. This, too, is stigma. We know the Church has been complicit in silence. 

That silence is ended! Our Church has declared stigma as a sin before God and Human kind. We will uphold the dignity and worth of all people as Children of God, especially those living with AIDS. Therefore each Province is being asked to implement a Pastoral Plan for eradicating stigma as soon a possible. 

Saving our children

Every minute of every day a child dies from the effects of AIDS. Every hour 400 teenagers become HIV-infected. AIDS is stealing our future. Therefore, we call on our churches to come together in partnership with all sectors of society, to find creative and life-giving ways to save our children, and enhance the quality of their lives-particularly those orphaned by AIDS! 

Especially, we must protect those who are not HIV+ from ever becoming so. Tragically, many of our children must be protected from family members who use them as sexual objects. There is no culture on earth that can defend the abuse of children as anything other than sinful. As the people of God, we are committed to life. We are committed to saving our children. 

AIDS-friendly churches support change

Our Church is not in the business of judgment. Judgment belongs to God! Ours is a loving God. As the Church, we are called to be mirrors of God's mercy and heralds of God's compassion. Churches are places of love, acceptance and hope. 

To that end our churches must be "AIDS Friendly", that is, places of hope where people living with HIV/AIDS can experience care, comfort and support. Additionally, it is critical that we foster the development of support groups to continue to uphold those caught in the grip of this pandemic. 

Informed leadership is a way forward

Leadership, to be informed and effective, must have the experience of what it means to be living with AIDS. Therefore, we call upon our brothers and sisters in faith to form a personal, one-on-one, relationship with a person living with HIV / AIDS. We must remember that "No one should care alone and No one should die alone. 

With regard to the pandemic and its impact on our lives, I want to say that across the Anglican Communion in Africa, our Church has moved forward. For example:

• Uganda, the church is leading the way in ending discrimination and stigma, people with HIV / AIDS are welcomed in Church
• Nigeria, we are sensitizing our clergy and Bishops
• Kenya, AIDS awareness education and programming is incorporated into development programmes
• Tanzania, the Church has openly discussed the efficacy of condom use and endorsed such use in order to save lives
• Ghana is providing AIDS awareness education for the clergy and peer education for youth
• In the Province of the Indian Ocean, parents and youth are talking about AIDS together in roundtable discussions hosted by the Church
• Rwanda, the church is developing Family-Focused Ministries which work to support behavioural change for all ages
• Central Africa, HIV / AIDS is included in the theological curriculum for the preparation of pastors for ministry
• Across Africa, the thousands and thousands of volunteers in our women's organisations are providing compassion and support for those who sick and dying from the effects of AIDS.  

In closing, ours is a vision of hope. Our way of operating is through strategic partnerships and collaboration. Our Call is for a Generation without AIDS.

Church of the Province of Southern Africa Primates Statement. April 2002

Church of the Province of Southern Africa -

The Primates of the Anglican Communion, meeting in Alexandria, Egypt on 3rd February, 2009, heard first hand reports of the situation in Zimbabwe, and note with horror the appalling difficulties of the people of this nation under the current regime.

We give thanks to God for the faithful witness of the Christians of Zimbabwe during this time of pain and suffering, especially those who are being denied access to their churches. We wish to assure them of our love, support and prayers as they face gross violation of human rights, hunger and loss of life as well as the scourge of a cholera epidemic, all due directly to the deteriorating socio-political and economic situation in Zimbabwe. 

It is a matter of grave concern that there is an apparent breakdown of the rule of law within the country, and that the democratic process is being undermined, as shown in the flagrant disregard of the outcome of the democratic elections of March 31^st 2008, so that Mr Robert Mugabe illegitimately holds on to power. Even the recent political situation of power sharing, brokered by SADC, may not be long lasting and simply further entrench Mr Mugabe’s regime. There appears to be a total disregard for life, consistently demonstrated by Mr Mugabe through systematic kidnap, torture and the killing of Zimbabwean people. The economy of Zimbabwe has collapsed, as evidenced by the use of foreign currencies in an independent state.

We therefore call upon President Robert Mugabe to respect the outcome of the elections of 2008 and to step down. We call for the implementation of the rule of law and the restoration of democratic processes.

We request that the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Chair of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa, in consultation with the Church of the Province of Central Africa, commission a Representative to go to Zimbabwe to exercise a ministry of presence and to show solidarity with the Zimbabwean people. We also request the President of the All Africa Conference of Churches and the Chairman of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa to facilitate a meeting with the African Union president and other African political leaders (especially those of SADC) to highlight the plight of the Zimbabwean peoples.

We call upon parishes throughout the Anglican Communion to assist the Anglican Communion Office, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Office and the Anglican Observer to the United Nations in addressing the humanitarian crisis by giving aid through such mechanisms as the Archbishop of Canterbury is able to designate, and asking that Lambeth Palace facilitate processes by which food and other material aid for Zimbabwe can be distributed through the dioceses of the Church of the Province of Central Africa. 

We urge the Churches of the Anglican Communion to join with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in observing Wednesday 25^th February 2009, Ash Wednesday, as a day of prayer and solidarity with the Zimbabwean people.

As representatives of the Anglican Communion, we reiterate that we do not recognise the status of Bishop Nolbert Kunonga and Bishop Elson Jakazi as bishops within the Anglican Communion, and call for the full restoration of Anglican property within Zimbabwe to the Church of the Province of Central Africa.

We affirm the initiative of the Diocese of St Mark the Evangelist (ACSA) in collaboration with Lambeth Palace, the Anglican Communion Office and the Church of the Province of Central Africa in establishing a chaplaincy along the Zimbabwe-South Africa border for the pastoral care of the many refugees, and call upon the Anglican Communion to support this work.

Statement on HIV/AIDS for World AIDS Day 2006 (Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury) 01/12/06

Friday 01 December 2006

Anglicans are working hard to develop further our organisational capacity so that effective projects can be identified and funded. I  call upon the Global Fund and other donors to recognise the enormous contribution that could be made in fighting this pandemic by working in better partnership with us. We are currently seeking opportunities for such global partnership with our ecumenical partners. In March 2007 representatives from throughout the Communion will gather in South Africa to further deliberate on our commitment and capacity to development the fight against the spread of HIV. If the international community is to fulfil its commitments to reversing the spread of HIV and treating those with AIDS, then the Anglican Church will continue to extend itself to meet this challenge as an integral part of it. http://www.archbishopofyork.org/581?q=AIDS

Catholic Bishops of Southern Africa Call for “More Attention for Psychological and Spiritual Treatment of AIDS Orphans”

Vatican Calls in HIV/AIDS Experts Amid Condom Flap. 27/5/11

The meeting Friday and Saturday won't call into question traditional church teaching opposing artificial contraception.

Associated Press

Vatican City — The Vatican has invited AIDS experts from around the world to a two-day symposium on preventing HIV and caring for people with the virus, just months after the pope made international headlines with his comments about condoms and AIDS.

Organizers insist the meeting Friday and Saturday won't call into question traditional church teaching opposing artificial contraception. In the run-up to the conference, the Vatican's newspaper has run a series of articles reinforcing the church's position that abstinence and fidelity in marriage are the best ways to curb HIV.

Yet Pope Benedict XVI's comments last year about condom use in prostitutes with HIV seem to have removed a Vatican taboo that had all but ruled out public discussion of whether condoms were even effective in reducing HIV transmission.

Some of the speakers at the conference organized by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers forcefully advocate condom use to prevent HIV's spread: Among them is Dr. Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, the U.N. agency which maintains that condoms are an "integral and essential" part of prevention programs, which the U.N. says should also include education about delaying the start of sexual activity, limiting sexual partners and marital fidelity.

In a book interview last November, Benedict said condoms were never a moral solution to fighting AIDS. But he said someone, such as a male prostitute, who uses a condom to prevent HIV transmission might be showing a first sign of a more moral and responsible sexuality because he is looking out for the welfare of another person.

The comments were significant. While there had never been an official Vatican policy about condoms and HIV, some Vatican officials had previously insisted that condoms not only don't help fight HIV transmission but make it worse because they gave users a false sense of security. Some claimed the HIV virus could easily pass through the condom's latex barrier.

Benedict himself drew the wrath of UNAIDS and several European countries when, en route to Africa in 2009, he told reporters that the AIDS problem couldn't be resolved by distributing condoms. "On the contrary, it increases the problem," he said then.

The comments and the Catholic Church's overall opposition to condoms as contraception have drawn fierce criticism, particularly in Africa where an estimated 22.4 million people are infected with HIV, two-thirds of the global total.

Benedict's revised comments in the book "Light of the World," however, drew near-universal praise even if they weren't completely understood.

Was he justifying condom use in a break with church doctrine? Progressive Catholics argued he was; conservative Catholics insisted he wasn't. The Vatican issued three different clarifications before finally concluding his comments were in full conformity with church doctrine.

Yet with the small opening Benedict made — it was the first time a pope had implicitly acknowledged that condoms could actually help fight the spread of HIV — the Vatican debate seems to have changed ever so slightly.

This week the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano ran an article speaking about a "certain efficiency" that condoms can bring in reducing transmission. The moral theologian Juan Jose Perez-Soba stressed, however, that condom's aren't the best option and that campaigns presenting them as such are gravely deficient without stressing marital fidelity and abstinence.

Dr. Edward Green, the former director of the AIDS prevention research project at Harvard University, says empirical evidence is increasingly showing that condoms aren't the solution, at least in Africa where heterosexual sex among multiple partners in regular, concurrent relationships is largely to blame for HIV's spread. It's a different scenario than in Thailand, for example, where high-risk sex workers have driven the spread of the virus.

"I'm not anti-condom," Green said in an interview ahead of his speech Saturday to the conference. "They should be accessible, affordable, free. Just don't bet the house and farm on it."

What works in Africa, Green says, is male circumcision and reducing the number of sexual partners — in other words, changing the sexual behavior that fuels HIV's spread, a message the Vatican and other faith-based groups have long preached.

"I've taken a lot of flack from my family planning colleagues, many of whom saw me as a traitor and thought I'd undergone a religious conversion," said Green, who professes to belong to no particular church. He insists his conclusions are based on "empiricism about what works and what I know about Africa."

Monsignor Kevin Dowling, bishop of Rustenburg, South Africa, knows Africa too though he is not speaking at the conference. Since 1997 he has run a community-based HIV program that provides home-care nurses, anti-retroviral clinics, a hospice and program for orphans to cope with the hundreds of thousands of HIV-positive people of the region. And he counsels condom use.

The snapshot that he paints is chilling: The area is home to large platinum mines that attract men from around the region to work for months at a time away from their families, and women who come looking for work. Desperately poor, the women are forced to engage in what Dowling calls "survival sex" — to pay for food and shelter since there are no other jobs.

"What am I to say to her? That the only 100% sure way of ensuring that you will not become infected is to abstain from sex before marriage, and remain faithful to a single partner in a stable marriage for the rest of your life?" Dowling said in an email. "Such 'choices' are totally, but totally irrelevant to such people."

He says that years of sitting with women in their shacks as they or their children die had led him to take the nuanced position that "in certain circumstances, the use of a condom is allowable not as a contraceptive but to prevent disease," he said. "We do not give out condoms, but people are fully informed about prevention methods and helped to make informed decisions about how they can protect themselves and, if they themselves are HIV positive, how they can avoid infecting someone else."

Dowling says he has endured "much trouble" for his views, but he says he believes it is fully in line with church teaching since the condom isn't being used as a contraceptive but to prevent disease.

Greeting For World Aids Day 2009; Symposium Of Episcopal Conferences Of Africa And Madagascar. 12/09

 To all our Brothers and Sisters of the Catholic Church in Africa and its Islands, to all men and women of good will, and especially to all who are infected by HIV or affected by AIDS: greetings and best wishes to you all on World AIDS Day 2009. The theme this year "Universal Access and Human Rights" challenges discriminatory laws, policies and practices that stand in the way of access for all to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. This fits well within the theme of the II Synod of Bishops for Africa: The Church in Africa at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace: "You are the salt of the earth. . . . You are the light of the world."

The Church is second to none in facing HIV in Africa and caring for people infected and affected. Earlier this year, responding to a journalist en route to the continent, Pope Benedict XVI said: "The most efficient, most truly present player in the fight against AIDS is the Catholic Church herself." And we African Bishops know he is right.

Constantly present among millions of Africans who are badly affected by the pandemic, we see how AIDS continues to ravage our populations, even if it is slipping down the agenda of governments, civil society and international organizations. At a time when official concerns about the pandemic are receding, we re-affirm theologically that the Body of Christ has AIDS, and express our pastoral determination as Family of God to provide fitting responses. For our continent is still the worst afflicted.

We plead for sustained support to meet the needs of many. Assistance is as sorely needed as ever. HIV and AIDS have not gone away, despite premature impressions to the contrary. The assumption that treatment is now available to everyone is false. Only a third of those who need treatment get it and, after two years, only 60% are still on treatment; for every two people on treatment, five are newly infected. Globally new HIV infections are still outnumbering those going on treatment and those dying of AIDS. The number of orphans, abused, vulnerable and infected children continues to grow exponentially. Stigma remains a powerful enemy. The Church knows very well the real impact of HIV and of AIDS upon her sons and daughters, and it will be so for decades to come.

Although ART requires a lifelong commitment to staying on the drugs, in sub-Saharan Africa a goodly number of ART patients stop taking their meds within two years because they can't afford the regular transport costs to the hospital or don't have access to sufficient food to make drug adherence possible.

The pandemic gravely compromises development and justice. The global recession and economic downturn have a detrimental impact on our brothers and sisters infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. Climbing prices of food and other basic necessities are hampering progress of treatment, because people cannot afford the food essential to support their medication. Further, increased hunger and desperation are making people resort to sex as a means of survival. So any response that attempts to tackle HIV and AIDS in isolation is doomed to fail.

For the tide to turn, the impact of all contributing factors must be recognised and tackled holistically: wars; fragile or failing states; inequality between men and women; the ravages of climate change and many more. All these make the poor even poorer, more dispossessed, more vulnerable to HIV and, if infected, more likely to develop AIDS.

HIV-AIDS is not just a medical problem and investing in pharmaceutics alone will not work. Foreign governments and UN agencies are now pushing for investment in national healthcare systems in countries of Africa as their strategy for addressing HIV along with malaria and tuberculosis.

With the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, we seriously warn that the problem cannot be overcome by relying exclusively or primarily on the distribution of prophylactics. Only a strategy based on education to individual responsibility in the framework of a moral view of human sexuality, especially through conjugal fidelity, can have a real impact on the prevention of this disease.

The Church's understanding of marriage as the total, reciprocal and exclusive communion of love between a man and a woman prompts the most effective behaviours for preventing the sexual transmission of disease: namely, abstinence before marriage and fidelity within marriage.

We address ourselves particularly to our youth, in whom we firmly believe. Let no one deceive you into thinking that you cannot control yourself. Abstinence is the best protection. For those who are not married, it is also the only moral course of action. Accordingly, formation of the human person is the true recipe, the key to it all, and we are intent on preparing you to be tomorrow's salt of the earth and light of the world, active, generous and responsible members of society and Church.

SECAM thanks all those who are so generously involved in this difficult apostolate of formation, love and care.

May international Catholic solidarity continue supporting the long-term commitment of the Church in Africa to raise awareness, to accompany the infected and the affected, to form the youth, and to face this great challenge - along with many others - in a spirit of inclusivity, reconciliation, and greater harmony in families, communities, parishes and all dimensions of Church life.

May our Holy Mother Mary, Queen of Africa and Health of the Sick, intercede for us at the throne of grace. Amen.

+ Polycarp Cardinal Pengo
Archbishop of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
President of SECAM

Secam Secretariat, P.O.Box Ka 9156 Airport, Accra, Ghana       

Tel (233.21) 77 88 67/68, Fax (233.21) 77 25 48, Www.Sceam-Secam.Org

World Aids Day, 1 December 2009

Pope Benedict XVI World AIDS Day Message during the Recitation of the Angelus, 29 November 2009:

Download the Message:

Pope Benedict XVI [pdf, 138 kb]

Learning to Face AIDS as a Family. Message for World AIDS Day to all the Jesuits of Africa and Madagascar. 2009

Message for World AIDS Day, 1 December 2009
To all the Jesuits of Africa and Madagascar 

Dear companions and friends in the Lord, on this World AIDS Day I invite you to meditate with me on our learning to face AIDS as a family.

When AIDS began to afflict Africa about 25 years ago, few of us reacted well. People who were HIV-positive or suffered from AIDS could easily find themselves condemned, rejected, cast out and treated "as good as dead". How different things must be now, wherever belonging God's family means reacting as Jesus showed us.

Many spiders working together can tie up a lion.

Fifteen years ago the first Synod for Africa enculturated and indeed africanized Vatican II with the inspiring expression Church-Family of God in Africa. The Church has invited her sons and daughters to re-imagine what it means to be Christian as a family community. For the last seven years now, the African Jesuit AIDS Network (AJAN) has been enabling our Assistancy to develop ways of facing HIV and AIDS in our works and communities, individually and with our co-workers, as Ignatian family.

It takes more than one stream to fill a river.

We cannot home in on 'the problem' without understanding the context, the rich cluster of complex factors which encircle any human situation. AIDS is a pandemic, together with malaria and tuberculosis, which is decimating African populations and severely damaging their economic and social life. It is not to be looked at as either merely a medical-pharmaceutical problem or solely as an issue of a change in human behaviour. It is truly an issue of integral development and justice, which requires a holistic approach and response by the Church (Synod). So HIV-AIDS, neither most important nor negligible, takes its place amidst the great challenges and inter-related problems facing Africa.

Whoever has seen the sun before you, passes the light of life to you.

Our African family is a seamless community binding the living and the not-yet-born and the living dead who have gone before. So facing AIDS includes the ancestors, and one thing they surely regard is sexuality. Sexuality has always been seen in Africa as morally neutral, neither good nor bad, part of what it means to be human. A comparison is instructive. Fire, if controlled and tamed, is useful in preparing a meal; out of control, it can burn the roof and consume the whole house. Likewise, sexuality needs to be channelled and disciplined so that its life-giving potential is fulfilled and its destructiveness curbed. Both our traditional African cultures and our way of life as Christians give norms for living out one's sexuality for the long-term good of everyone.

That's not how everyone sees it, of course. The Church's understanding of sexuality is often scorned for being rigid, unrealistic or moralistic. Some think that the fire should rage free and untamed, even in the face of AIDS. This can be a seductive message for younger members of our family who are just discovering their sexuality and for older ones, too. But in truth many seek guidance on how to live it in a healthy way. So it is very important for the Church to get her life-affirming message across today to everyone. Abstinence and fidelity are not only the best ways to avoid HIV and tackle AIDS, but are the path to real, personal fulfilment. Honest moral education encourages a healthy approach to relationships and to sexuality based on respect and love for others. In particular, unmarried young people who would like to practice sexual abstinence before marriage - probably a significant majority among Christians and Muslims and even in society as a whole - need the Church to form and care for them pastorally and stand up for them in public.

Fire that is surrounded by elders cannot burn you.

Within our family, couples who are discordant or doubly-infected face a particularly difficult situation. They deserve pastoral support which informs and forms their consciences, so that they might choose what is right, with full responsibility for the greater good of each other, their union and their family (Synod). Jesuit pastors and counsellors should be ready to accompany them sensitively, help them with formation and information, and support them in their fidelity.

Besides sexuality, there are other important causes which fuel the spread of HIV. Thousands of people, for example, are infected because of poverty, hunger, war and forced displacement, domestic violence and the sex trade. Thus, sin wreaks destruction, hurts our brothers and sisters, and weighs heavily on us all. Anyone who wants to understand how HIV-AIDS impact on human life must consider economics, politics, society and culture, as well as the more immediate personal and family issues.

AIDS cuts across all the disciplines which promote social justice in Africa. Many Church programmes, including ours, fight for access to comprehensive care treatment, with testing, medication for opportunistic infections, food and support to earn a living. The aim is to live like a family: to respect the dignity and life of each one, to show solidarity with anyone in need.

One finger can't do all the work.

We should not be afraid of, less still be discouraged, by the enormity of the problems of our continent among which HIV and AIDS. It is part of life and will be for a long time to come. As a great family, we face the challenge confidently. We plead for sustained support to meet the needs of many for assistance. We know that our all-provident Father is at our side. This faith gives us compassion and perseverance.

An army of well organised ants can bring down an elephant.

Like Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the Holy Family, so the Church-Family of God in Africa knows her sons and daughters, their needs, strengths and weaknesses, fears and hopes. She manifests this loving knowledge in her familiar ways of preventing HIV and caring for the sick and for those affected by AIDS, working for reconciliation, justice and peace. With the Synod, JESAM thanks all those who are generously involved in this difficult apostolate of love and care.

Fratern Masawe SJ
JESAM Moderator      

Karen, 1 December 2009

Responding to the Challenges of HIV/AIDS in AMECEA Region (AMECEA Plenary Assembly, Catholic Bishops) 11/06/05

• We also appreciate the great efforts being made in HIV/AIDS programmes by governments and other institutions both in encouraging abstinence and fidelity as well as care for people living with HIV/AIDS, which are bearing encouraging results.
• In a very special way we appreciate the many families and communities which have taken holistic care of their sick members and those still doing so with much love and sacrifice. We also thank the families who are taking care of orphans, widows and widowers, in a manner that is edifying and truly Christian. We encourage all families and communities to emulate these good examples. “I was sick and you visited me” (Mt 25:36).
• We applaud the efforts made by all medical personnel in the region in treating and caring for people living with HIV/AIDS; and all the counsellors who are giving hope to the sick, as well as medical researchers in both modern and traditional medicines, who are doing their best in the search for a cure.
• We appreciate the involvement of many conscientious parents, teachers, and religious leaders who take to heart the instruction of children, youth and communities, in good moral behaviour, which is essential to the prevention of the spread of HIV/AIDS.

• We call upon parents, teachers and pastoral agents to do everything in their power and capacity to teach children, youth, and all those preparing for marriage, about their human sexuality so that they acquire sound values and virtues to uphold chastity and shun all pre-marital sex.
• We call upon all pastoral agents to guide married couples in living out their marriage vocation faithfully.
• We condemn all negative and unethical use of sexuality in our Region.

• We mandate all our departments and commissions at Episcopal Conference level to integrate the challenge of HIV/AIDS in their programmes and activities.
• We commit ourselves to do the same at our Diocesan level and down to the Small Christian Communities.
• We fully adopt the Plan of Action of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and

• We are particularly horrified by the ravages of unbridled capitalism, which has taken away and stifled local ownership of economic initiatives and is leading to a dangerous gap between the rich few and the poor majority.
• We are deeply alarmed by the promotion of pornography in all forms through all types of media, which corrupt children and the youth and contribute to the further spread of HIV/AIDS.
• We further deplore the liberalisation and commercialisation of sex for all, which is contrary to human and religious values of sex and sexuality and contributes to the promotion of unchristian sexual tendencies and the destruction of the family institution as it has been known since time immemorial.

• We call upon all peoples of Africa to undertake a courageous struggle against HIV/AIDS.
• We call upon all leaders and peoples of Africa and leaders and peoples of other continents to respect Africa and to completely desist from giving Africa a negative image through the media. Africa does not need pity but genuine love and solidarity. Christ is our Life, our Hope and Saviour.
• We therefore reject and condemn any negative predictions about the future of Africa and any marginalization of Africa as a continent.

Esperanza De Vidha Atencion Pastoral A Personas Que Viven con SIDA (Catholic Bishops Conference of Mexico) 19/01/05

1. Organización de una colecta nacional en favor de los enfermos de VIH de la      República Centro Africana, el próximo domingo 13 de febrero del 2005.
2. Diseño de una campaña de sensibilización sobre el VIH – SIDA.
3. Elaboración de talleres y materiales de apoyo para enfermos de VIH-SIDA.
4. Estrategias de apoyo para la adquisición de medicamentos.
5. Elaboración de materiales de apoyo contra la discriminación y estigmatización a cero positivos y enfermos de SIDA.

Ethiopian Catholic Church: HIV and AIDS Policy 27/06/04

Bishops Conference of Mozambique: Cure the Sick 24/04/04

Angola On the Way to Hope (Catholic Bishops of Angola) 24/03/04

Pastoral Letter on HIV/AIDS and the Churches Response (Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar) 30/10/03

• The virus has no respect of age, gender, ethnicity or religious belief. All communities within Myanmar, rural and urban, Christian, Buddhist, Animist and those of no religious belief are all affected.
• The immediate vectors of infection are well identified: blood, sexual fluids and breast milk. The underlying causes of infection for the majority of people in Myanmar are linked to poverty and powerlessness:
  
  • Young girls are forced by family poverty to cross the borders into neighbouring countries (mostly Thailand and India) or, increasingly, to migrate to the bigger cities in Myanmar. Family pressures on them to provide basic necessities, or even luxury goods, drive this migration. In all instances many of these girls end up as sex workers. Not infrequently, girl children are sold by their families into sex industry. (PG68!!!)
  • Young men find their only employment opportunity at times in opium harvesting / production or in the mines where they are forced to endure harsh working conditions. Both scenarios rapidly lead to heroin dependency and injecting drug use, and/or casual sex as a coping mechanism.
• Increasingly in towns and villages throughout Myanmar, young people are getting sick and dying. Children are also becoming sick and dying. These deaths are AIDS–related. Families are breaking up. Many children orphaned by AIDS are being abandoned and neglected. Priests, religious sisters and lay catechists are witnessing this in every diocese.
• People infected suffer discrimination, isolation and neglect. They cannot get health care, even if they can afford it, they often lose their jobs, homes, are rejected by other family members and neighbours, and often even by their faith community.
• AIDS brings shame and disgrace. Therefore denial is widespread. Families refuse to acknowledge their loved ones have AIDS. They hide them away, or even ask them to leave. They bury their dead at night, covertly.

• The Church is in a privileged position of being able to reach people worst affected by HIV, in villages and towns where, often, no NGO has access, and where locally based or government led HIV-related care and prevention programmes are non existent. Church personnel have the potential to provide at least basic care and support for people infected and affected, to educate about the infection and how it can be prevented, and to reduce the stigma and discrimination suffered by people infected and affected by HIV.
• HIV raises one of the biggest taboo subjects; sex. Thus open discussion of sexual health and sexual behaviours is difficult. Within Church circles this taboo may be stronger.
• HIV also illustrates many instances of discrimination and violation of basic human rights. People who are affected are discriminated against socially and economically, in numerous ways. People suspected of being infected (perhaps because of their work or their past history) can also suffer this discrimination.
•  People with HIV need:
  
  • Unconditional acceptance and support.
  • Recognition of the contributions they can make in continuing to be active members of their community and country.
  • Respect
  • Care within their family and community, not isolated from these in institutions if they are sick
  • Psychological, social, spiritual and material support whenever possible
  • Freedom from discrimination and stigma
  • Information to understand HIV and how they can best protect their own health and that of people closest to them
• Everyone needs:
  
  • Information to understand HIV and how they can best protect themselves and others
  • Support in addressing the underlying causes that make them vulnerable to HIV
  • To acknowledge their fears and prejudices and work to diminish these

• All who hold positions of leadership in the Church (bishops, priests, religious, catechists and lay leaders) need to be well informed about HIV and also about the ethical and moral questions raised by HIV. Materials and Information are available from UNAIDS and UNICEF offices in Yangon, and the Changes for Life Health program conducted by Karuna in your dioceses.
• In every diocese, the Church must look to support all those within their geographic region who are affected by or vulnerable to HIV, and not just Catholics or Christians.
• Bishops and priests are public figures in the communities they serve. They can lead by example, in what they say and what they do.
  
  • Every Sunday, priests and bishops have an opportunity to speak out. They can use their sermons to condemn any form of discrimination against people affected by HIV, to educate their communities about HIV and AIDS, and to address some of the root causes of infection in Myanmar. They can challenge the attitudes of families who pressurise their daughters/sisters to get money or luxury goods for them by any means. They can challenge parishioners who gossip, isolate and stigmatise families affected by AIDS.
  • Bishops and priests can make sure that they and their parishioners are not judgment in their works or actions and that people with HIV and their families are always welcome in the liturgies and wider activities of their Church community.
  • Bishops and priests can encourage the diocese to seek alternative employment opportunities for young men and women whose present options heighten their vulnerability to HIV.
  • Bishops and priests can visit people sick with AIDS, bringing them the sacraments and offering support to them and their families.
  • Bishops and priests can enable and encourage the HIV- related work of sisters and lay catechists. There are many examples where clergy say “our people don’t need to know about HIV/AIDS” or” Our people would be scandalised if we talked about sex”. In other instances priests or bishops have stopped lay people from raising awareness about HIV telling them they are not qualified to discuss these moral questions and even preventing them from giving scientifically proven sexual health information about HIV prevention. Such negative attitudes need to change if the Church is to offer any meaningful response to HIV/AIDS.
  • Bishops and priests can work in collaboration with leaders of other Christian Churches and other faiths, to offer a united response to the epidemic.
• All Church commissions and groups can look to see how they can respond to HIV and AIDS; in their health work of caring for the sick and preventing new infections, in education, social welfare, liturgy, youth work, employment and much more. Through the work of these commissions, the Church can provide care and support for all who are affected by HIV. It can also raise awareness about the risks and consequences of infection and, because information alone is not sufficient, the Church can seek ways of changing some of the underlying factors that put people at risk of infection. Finally, the Church can condemn all forms of discrimination against people living with HIV or AIDS. The UNAIDS campaign for this year continues to be focussed on removing the stigma and discrimination suffered by people with HIV or AIDS. The church can play a key role, in its words and in its deeds, in breaking the silence surrounding HIV/AIDS and in eradication discrimination and injustices committed against people affected by this virus. This is the challenge posed by HIV/AIDS for the Church in Myanmar today. 

L’Eglise En Afrique Face La Pandemie Du VIH/SIDA (Symposium des Conférences Episcopales, d’Afrique et Madagascar (SCEAM)) 07/10/03

1. Utiliser et accroître les ressources humaines, matérielles et financières, mises au service de la lutte contre le VIH/SIDA dans nos communautés, et à identifier des points focaux dans les paroisses, diocèses et conférences nationales, où se fera la collecte d’informations et où s’élaboreront les stratégies de lutte contre le VIH/SIDA. Dans cette même lancée, nous nous engageons à coordonner nos efforts à l’échelle continentale dans la lutte contre la pandémie.
2. S’assurer que les services de santé de l’Église, les services sociaux, les établissements d’éducation répondent effectivement de façon adéquate aux besoins des personnes atteintes par la maladie.
3. Mettre l’accent sur la vulnérabilité des filles en particulier et sur le lourd fardeau que portent les femmes dans le contexte de pandémie du VIH/SIDA en Afrique;
4. Devenir de vaillants avocats pour l’accès au traitement de ceux qui en sont éloignés par la pauvreté et les injustices structurelles.
5. Dans la recherche des moyens de lutte contre le SIDA, l’on veillera à associer les experts traditionnels en plantes et autres éléments favorables de la nature.

1. Collaborer avec les autres confessions chrétiennes et les autres religions travaillant dans leurs communautés respectives à soigner et soutenir les personnes infectées et/ou affectées par le VIH/SIDA.
2. Promouvoir des partenariats plus élargis avec les gouvernements, les Nations Unies, les Agences Internationales et intergouvernementales, le monde des affaires, la société civile, pour apporter davantage de soins et de soutien aux personnes concernées, sans rien abandonner de nos convictions évangéliques.

1. Promouvoir les changements de mentalité, d’attitude et de comportement necessaries pour relever le défi de la pandémie
2. Travailler sans répit pour faire disparaître les discriminations et les stigmatisations et contester les normes sociales, religieuses, culturelles et politiques ainsi que les pratiques qui perpétuent ces discriminations et stigmatisations.
3. Jouer un rôle primordial dans la suppression des clichés sociaux de discrimination et de stigmatisation, en faisant entrer dans les moeurs les tests volontaires du VIH, pour que les personnes atteintes puissent bénéficier des soins et du soutien qu’il faut. Cela permettra de mieux contrôler la transmission de mère à enfant.  
4. Promouvoir à tous les niveaux des gouvernements et des organismes gouvernementaux, l’établissement de priorités politiques qui soutiennent de manière adéquate les personnes infectées ou affectées par le VIH/SIDA, de manière à leur ouvrir l’accès aux soins, et faire respecter leur dignité humaine, et, par ailleurs, mettre en oeuvre les engagements pris lors des diverses réunions intergouvernementales.

1. Développer des programmes d’enseignement qui intègrent le thème du VIH/SIDA dans l’éducation théologique et religieuse. Ces programmes intégreront également les principes moraux et les compétences pratiques pour promouvoir des relations saines et une sexualité intègre.
2. Impulser et approfondir la réflexion théologique sur les vertus telles que la compassion, l’amour, la guérison, la réconciliation et l’espérance, toutes vertus qui peuvent résoudre les problèmes de honte et de peur souvent associés au VIH/SIDA.
3. Organiser des ateliers et des séminaires au niveau régional, national, diocésain et paroissial, ayant pour but d’accroître la connaissance précise et la sensibilité à tous les aspects pertinents du VIH/SIDA pour l’Église.
4. Motiver les personnes vivant avec ou affectées par le VIH/SIDA à s’engager activement comme personnes ressources dans la lutte contre les effets de la pandémie au niveau de nos communautés locales.

1. Former le clergé, les religieux, les laïcs engagés, à accompagner les personnes malades ou affectées par le virus dans la prière et le conseil spirituel.
2. Assurer une formation doctrinale, spirituelle, sociale, et la plus professionnelle possible, à tous ceux qui veulent s’engager dans la prise en charge et l’accompagnement des personnes infectées et/ou affectées par le VIH/SIDA.
3. Accueillir dans nos Églises des personnes affectées par la pandémie en manière chaleureuse, juste et compatissante, et leur assurer “une place à la table du Seigneur”.
4. Donner les sacrements et sacramentaux appropriés et requis aux catholiques vivant avec le virus.
5. Relever le défi lancé par notre Saint Père le Pape Jean Paul II à l’Église dans notre continent, à travers son exhortation apostolique Ecclésia in Africa :

The Church in Africa in Face of HIV/AIDS Pandemic (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM)) 07/10/03

1. Utilise and increase the human, material, and financial resources dedicated to address the situation of HIV and AIDS in our communities, and to identify focal points in parishes, dioceses, and national Episcopal conferences in order to assist with gathering information and development of programme strategies. In this same effort, we are committed to coordinating our efforts at the continental level in the struggle against the pandemic.
2. Make sure that the health services of the Church, the social services and the educational institutions respond appropriately to the needs of those who are ill with AIDS.
3. Focus on the particular vulnerability of girls and the heavy burden on women in the context of the HIV pandemic in Africa.
4. Advocate vigorously for access to treatment for those who are prevented from obtaining it through poverty and structural injustices.
5. Involve those who are knowledgeable about traditional medicines and other natural remedies in research into means of struggling against AIDS.

1. Collaborate with other Christian confessions and with people of other faiths working in their respective communities to support those affected and infected by HIV/AIDS.
2. Promote closer partnerships with civil society, the business sector, governments, the United Nations, international and intergovernmental agencies, and particularly with organisations of people living with HIV and AIDS, in order to increase the capacity for care and support, without diluting our evangelical convictions.

1. Promote changes of mentality, attitude and behaviour necessary for confronting the challenge of the pandemic.
2. Work tirelessly to eradicate stigma and discrimination and to challenge any social, religious, cultural and political norms and practices which perpetuate such stigma and discrimination.
3. Play a major role in eradicating the damaging myths of stigma and discrimination by facilitating Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) so that those who are infected might benefit from the care and support they need. This will also help better to control mother-to-child transmission.
4. Advocate with government at all levels and with inter-governmental organizations to establish policy priorities that adequately support those affected by HIV and AIDS, that provide access to care and treatment and a life of dignity for people living with HIV and AIDS, and that implement the commitments made at various other inter-governmental meetings.

1. Develop educational programmes which integrate the theme of HIV/AIDS in theology and religious formation. These programmes will also include moral principles and practical skills for promoting healthy relationships and a well-integrated sexuality.
2. Promote and deepen theological reflection on the virtues of compassion, love, healing, reconciliation, and hope, all of which are capable of confronting the judgement, shame, and fear that so often are associated with HIV and AIDS.
3. Organize workshops at the regional, national, diocesan and parish levels in order to increase accurate knowledge and sensitivity around all HIV and AIDS-related issues relevant to our Church.
4. Encourage people living with HIV/AIDS or affected by it to become actively involved, in our local communities, as resource persons in the struggle against the pandemic.

1. Train clergy, religious, and committed laity to accompany people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS with prayer and spiritual counselling.
2. Provide doctrinal, spiritual and social formation, and the best possible professional training, for those willing to become involved in caring for and accompanying those who are living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
3. Welcome people living with HIV and AIDS in a warm, non-judgemental and compassionate manner in our churches and ensure them a “place at the table of the Lord.”
4. Provide the sacraments and sacramental’s, as appropriate and requested, to Catholics living with the virus.
5. Put into action the challenge addressed by our Holy Father Pope John Paul II to the Church in our continent through his Apostolic Exhortation, Ecclesia in Africa:

The Fullness of Life: Pastoral Letter by Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington 01/04/03

Feast of the Divine Mercy, 2003

In Saint John’s Gospel, the Lord speaks of the purpose of His coming. He tells us that He has come so that we might have life to the full (Jn 10, 10). I would like to reflect on that with you in the context of the terrible scourge of HIV/AIDS that is affecting our community, our nation and our world, and to talk about our call to solidarity with those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

   1. It is with deep sadness and sorrow that we see how HIV/AIDS has affected families in our local Church. Men and women of all ages and backgrounds have succumbed to this deadly scourge in the face of incredible stigma and enormous suffering over the past 20 years. We recognize the pain and loss of thousands of grieving families and friends. To them and to all who suffer with HIV/AIDS, we offer our support and love.

   2. HIV infection rates still remain high in our community. In 2001, the rate of AIDS cases reported in the District of Columbia was more than ten times the national rate on a per capita basis.(1) Even in our suburban neighbourhoods AIDS cases remain numerous. In 2001, Maryland ranked second among all states in the rate of reported AIDS cases; it ranked ninth in the nation in terms of cumulative AIDS cases.(2) Prince George’s County has the second largest number of AIDS cases in the state.(3) I

      mention these statistics only to show the depth of pain and suffering experienced in our community and to summon and strengthen our response as neighbours and believers and friends.

   3. The truth is that throughout our nation and in most developed nations, HIV/AIDS has caused, and continues to cause, so much pain, suffering and death. Today, new drug therapies allow more and more people with the virus to live longer, more productive lives -- a great blessing not only to those who are infected, but also to our society as a whole Yet, this should not give the impression that the devastation of AIDS is over. People are continuing to infect and re-infect themselves and others with increasingly resistant virus strains that are beginning to outpace current medicine and research. Some people even argue that the AIDS death rate may climb again to earlier levels and even increase beyond our past experience. Many medical experts believe that a vaccine is still 15 to 50 years away. Even then, it will not cure the millions of people who have or will have the virus and/or disease, nor will it necessarily stop all new transmissions.

   4. But it is in some underdeveloped nations, especially in Africa and in parts of Asia, that HIV/AIDS has reached apocalyptic proportions. Nearly 30 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, including almost three million children under the age of 15. In some nations, such as Zimbabwe and Botswana, at least one in three adults has HIV/AIDS.(4) These shocking statistics cannot convey the true magnitude of this catastrophe. Much more than a health problem, HIV/AIDS is wreaking social, economic and political devastation. Millions of families have lost one or both parents, leaving behind orphaned and homeless children. Doctors and nurses have died, while schools have lost teachers and students to the disease. Military and security forces have decreased in size and strength, which has threatened the political stability of some nations as they teeter on the brink of civil war. Societies are slowly crumbling into communities of orphans and elders who live with poverty and disease.

   5. While all of this may seem overwhelming, we cannot throw up our hands in despair. We have hope and trust in the promise made by our Lord that He came so that we might have life in its fullness. This does not simply mean earthly life, but also eternal life in communion with God, as well. Our Catholic Church holds out this promise of the fullness of life in Jesus Christ to all people, including those with HIV/AIDS.

   6. Those among us who are living with HIV/AIDS must not feel that they are alone and abandoned. We, who are their brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church, must walk in solidarity with them on their journey. As our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, has said, “Solidarity is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people. On the contrary, it is a firm and preserving determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say, to the good of all and of each individual because we are really responsible for all.”(5) Echoing the Holy Father’s words, we make this call for a culture of solidarity with people who are living with HIV/AIDS and with their families.

   7. We must manifest this solidarity through love. Our Lord shows us so often and in so many ways how to love one another. One of the finest examples of this love and solidarity is the story of the Good Samaritan. How many countless people living with HIV/AIDS are still suffering and abandoned by society? We must always imitate the self-giving and sacrifice of the Divine Good Samaritan who loved us and still continues to love us into new life.

   8. This love means that we need not be drawn into futile debates about concentrating on treatment versus prevention. We must do both. To emphasize one at the exclusion of the other is self-defeating, like building with one hand while destroying with the other. We must be compassionate and responsible in addressing HIV/AIDS, as the title of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ 1989 pastoral statement, Called to Compassion and Responsibility: A Response to the HIV/AIDS Crisis, reminds us.

   9. It was out of compassion that the Catholic Church stepped forward early in the AIDS crisis with a commitment and resources to love and serve people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. Our commitment has not wavered, but in fact has strengthened as Catholic organizations continue to provide direct and discreet service. In our local Church, the Archdiocese, parishes and Catholic medical centres provide pastoral and medical outreach. Worldwide, the Catholic Church provides approximately 25 percent of all AIDS care (6) through its ministries and many of its more than 110,000 health-care organizations.(7) That care is given with compassion, love and courage not only in our community, but in distant and often isolated nations. For example, Catholic Relief Services currently has programs to serve people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in 30 countries, primarily in Africa, but also in the hardest hit areas of Asia and Latin America.(8)

  10. Yet, it is not enough only to provide care for those living with HIV/AIDS. Compassion also calls us to address the crisis of values that so often leads to the spread of HIV/AIDS. As St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us, “The great kindness one can render to any man consists in leading him to truth.”(9)

  11. While many policies aim to prevent HIV/AIDS by advocating “safe sex” or “safer sex” through condom use and/or condom distribution, the Catholic Church recognizes these are not solutions, but myths. Condoms too often fail in preventing the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV, or the incurable Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) that increases one’s susceptibility to HIV infection, while giving their users a false sense of security. Further, the use of condoms contradicts our faith’s understanding of sexual union as an expression of spousal love through a mutual and total gift of self.

  12. It is because our Church has a total vision of human dignity, which begets a deep love for all people and a respect for their well being in all dimensions -- physical, psychological, moral and spiritual-- that it rejects the false promises of condoms. Instead, we encourage people to embrace chastity, fidelity and sexual abstinence outside of marriage, behaviours that protect the physical and spiritual integrity, preserve their true dignity and promote true responsibility.

  13. Our critics often claim that chastity and sexual abstinence programs cannot work alone or at all. They claim that people cannot change their behaviour, while at the same time they call for exactly that -- for people to use condoms consistently and correctly every time they engage in sexual activity. If society is going to seek to modify conduct, then would it not be better and more effective to encourage behaviours such as chastity and abstinence that eliminate the risk of disease while promoting human dignity and a healthy life in all dimensions, rather than behaviours that do not eradicate the risk of disease and lull people into a false sense of security?

  14. The Church’s teaching on HIV/AIDS prevention is arguably a sign of contradiction in the world today. Yet our Lord promises us “by your perseverance, you will secure your lives.” (Luke 21:19) Our moral and social teachings are part of the Good News through which God leads us to the fullness of life.

  15. Our Holy Father states that “the battle against AIDS ought to be everyone’s battle.”(10) We who profess faith in the Risen Christ must take on this challenge of responding to one of the more horrible and intractable human catastrophes of modern times with authentic values, true compassion and greater responsibility.

  16. St. Paul’s words to the Romans apply to our own local Church, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2) All of us are called not to conform to the world’s view of sexuality and HIV/AIDS, but to be transformed by God’s truth so that we might transform the world.

  17. In this Easter season, as our local Church marks a new year in the history of our salvation, let us also mark a new beginning in our response to the challenge of HIV/AIDS. I ask our clergy, theologians, catechists, teachers, lay leaders and lay ministers to proclaim the Church’s teaching in their respective roles and vocations. None of us should present this teaching as a burden, but as the gift that it truly is. All of us should be convinced and convincing in this matter. Our lives, our work and our witness must testify to the fullness of life in Jesus Christ.

  18. In our own local Church of Washington, let us commit ourselves to providing a more loving and compassionate response to the reality of HIV/AIDS, not only by caring for those infected and affected by the disease, but also by promoting the truth about human sexuality.

  19. We need to promote the availability of early testing and intervention to stop further infection and death. We do this from a moral and medical perspective that places a premium on values that truly respect the life and dignity of the person. We urge people at risk to be tested, to receive their test results and to receive counselling and assistance regardless of their diagnosis. Those who receive a positive diagnosis should get the necessary support and solidarity to live with the virus and/or disease, and to prevent placing others at risk of infection. Those with a negative diagnosis must be helped to appreciate and accept new behaviours that truly protect their lives by preserving true dignity, protecting physical and spiritual integrity and promoting true responsibility.

  20. We recognize that our solidarity with our brothers and sisters throughout the world has a special significance in this local Church, here in the home of our nation’s capital. Therefore, part of our response is to call upon our civic leaders to continue to address this crisis at national and international levels. The recent initiative of the United States government, in so far as it reflects our values, is a welcome step to reach out to our brothers and sisters in Africa, where the pandemic of HIV/AIDS has taken such a terrible toll. This important new commitment needs to be sustained over time and with adequate resources.

  21. Even beyond the context of HIV/AIDS, we affirm the right to healthcare for every person. We recognize that many nations lack basic medicines to fight many diseases, much less the more costly drugs to combat HIV infection and, therefore, we call upon our government and other governments to help ensure that the appropriate medicine is accessible, affordable and available to all. We stand in solidarity with the Holy See as it calls for pharmaceutical companies to work together to overcome the burdens of costly research and development so these urgently needed drugs may be available at affordable prices(11) and to urge nations to build stronger healthcare infrastructures, to provide emergency relief assistance and to work to eliminate poverty and other factors(12) that contribute to HIV infection. Agencies that work on HIV/AIDS care and prevention have noted these factors may include sexual violence and exploitation of women, stigma, silence and fear about the disease, deterioration of the family unit, war, starvation and malnutrition, international debt and unjust political, social and economic structures.

  22. Above all, we entrust these efforts to our Heavenly Father so that our service to our brothers and sisters living with HIV/AIDS might be a witness to the life and love of Jesus Christ, His Son. We ask all health care professionals and service providers to reflect their love for life with a true respect for the sacred dignity and integrity of the human person in view of the Church’s teachings and we pray that medical researchers and scientists may find, with God’s help, a cure for HIV/AIDS as soon as possible. Finally, we beg God our Father that all our brothers and sisters living with HIV/AIDS, together with their families and friends, may be delivered from this terrible scourge and come to find a true peace and deep happiness in the fullness of life which Jesus promises to all of us who have put our trust in the living God.



Theodore Cardinal McCarrick

Feast of the Divine Mercy, 2003



FOOTNOTES

_________________________________________________

1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, Year-End Edition, Volume 13 (Number 2), table 2.

2 Ibid.

3 Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, AIDS Administration, “Maryland HIV/AIDS Epidemiological Profile, Second Quarter – Data reported through June 30, 2002.”

4 United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS/World Health Organization, “AIDS Epidemic Update,” December 2002, p. 17.

5 John Paul II, Encyclical letter Sollicitudo rei socialis, December 30, 1987, 38: AAS 80 (1988) 564-566; English translation in Origins 17 (1988) 654.

6 United Nations General Assembly, Special Session on HIV/AIDS, June 27, 2001, Intervention of Archbishop Javier Lozano Barragan, President of the Pontifical Council on Pastoral Health Care.

7 Pontifical Council on Pastoral Health Care, XVII International Conference, “The Identity of Catholic Health Care Institutions,” Rome, November 7, 2002.

8 Information provided by Catholic Relief Services, December 2002.

9 Saint Thomas Aquinas, In divinis nominibus, 4, 4.

10 John Paul II, Apostolic post-synodal exhortation Ecclesia in Africa, September 14, 1995, 116: AAS 88 (1996) 70; English translation in Origins 25 (1995) 270.

11 World Trade Organization, Plenary Council on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Genoa, June 20, 2001, Intervention by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the World Trade Organization.

12 United Nations General Assembly, Special Session on HIV/AIDS, June 27, 2001, Intervention of Archbishop Javier Lozano Barragan, President of the Pontifical Council on Pastoral Health Care.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

The following teaching resources are excellent, though not exhaustive, in understanding the Catholic faith with respect to human life and human love:

Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition (Washington, D.C.: USCC, 1997). John Paul II, Encyclical letter Veritatis splendor, August 6, 1993; AAS 85 (1993) 1133 1228; English translation in Origins 23 (1993) 297-334.

John Paul II, Encyclical Evangelium vitae, The Gospel of Life, March 25, 1995; AAS 87 (1995) 401-522; English translation in Origins 24 (1995) 689-727.

John Paul II, Apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio, on the role of the Christian family in the modern world, November 22, 1981; AAS 73 (1981) 81-191; English translation in Origins 11 (1981) 437-468.

John Paul II, Apostolic letter Salvifici doloris, on the Christian meaning of human suffering, February 11, 1984; AAS 76 (1984) 201-250; English translation in Origins 13 (1984) 609-624.

John Paul II, Apostolic letter Dolentium humanum, to establish the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Health Care, February 11, 1985; AAS 77 (1985) 457-461; English summary in Origins 14 (1985) 588.

John Paul II, Theology of the Body According to John Paul II: Human Love in the Divine Plan (Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1997).

Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II), Love and Responsibility (New York: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, 1981; repr. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1994, 1996).

Paul VI, Encyclical letter Humanae vitae, on the regulation of birth, July 25, 1968; AAS 60 (1968) 481-503.

Congregation for Catholic Education, Educational Guidance in Human Love: Outlines for Sex Education, November 1, 1983; L’Osservatore Romano, February 12, 1983.

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter Homosexualitas problema, on the pastoral care of homosexual persons, October 1, 1986; AAS 79 (1987) 543-554; English translation in Origins 16 (1986) 377-382.

Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics, December 29, 1975; AAS 68 (1976) 77-96; English translation in Origins 5 (1976) 485-494.

Pontifical Council for the Family, From Despair to Hope: Family and Drug Addiction (Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1992).

Pontifical Council for the Family, The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality: Guidelines for Education Within the Family, November 21, 1995; English translation in Origins 25 (1996) 529-552.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, To Live in Christ Jesus: A Pastoral Reflection on the Moral Life, November 11, 1976.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Statement on School-Based Clinics, November 18, 1987.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, New Slavery, New Freedom: A Pastoral Message on Substance Abuse, 1990.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Human Sexuality: A Catholic Perspective for Education and Lifelong Learning, 1991.

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Communities of Hope: Parishes and Substance Abuse, 1991.

The Way Forward (Catholic Bishops of Zambia) 01/12/02

HIV/AIDS; Values, Responses and Practices - A Catholic Institute for International Relations Statement. 08/11/02

The situation
In our Africa programmes we are working in countries - Zimbabwe and Namibia -where incidence of HIV is very high. In Zimbabwe, the estimated life expectancy is 37. It is estimated that every week 2,000 people die in Zimbabwe from AIDS related illnesses. This is happening in a country where there is little access to medicine and hospital care. We cannot exaggerate just how catastrophic this pandemic is to the development of peoples and to countries as a whole. The response to the situation is far from simple. We also work in other countries where the prevalence of HIV is not so high (for instance 1% in Somaliland) but this is a reason to work on the issue (especially in prevention) rather than not.

For CIIR, HIV/AIDS is a fundamental issue for development and must be considered in relation to other key development issues - poverty, the role of women, education and health.The complexity of the issue

• Addressing HIV is a complex question. It requires activity at a number of levels which includes care and support, information and awareness, openness and understanding.
• Strategies at individual, community and society levels are required to change attitudes and behaviour to reduce risk and limit transmission of infection.
• Changing sexual behaviour is a vital part, but only a part of the complexity of issues around HIV. Acknowledgement needs to be made of the impact of poverty on HIV and AIDS and on the ability to tackle it.
• Tackling the ignorance and stigma which leads to discrimination is also vital, so accurate information is essential as well as effective mechanisms for care.
• HIV has to be seen within the context of the country concerned. This requires culturally sensitive responses and an understanding of the impact of poverty and cultural elements. Recognising different levels of power between men and women is also a vital consideration.

Many discussions about HIV focus on the mechanics - the drugs or the condoms. When the reality of the epidemic is of people dying, it is important to consider all aspects of the debate. Talking only about condoms limits the debate and misses so much of the picture.

CIIR's position

• Tackling HIV requires a holistic approach - and this means recognising all the options available for changing behaviour and acting responsibly. Our work supports a variety of projects reflecting the wide-ranging way in which addressing HIV needs to be seen.
• It is vital that people have access to information that is correct and are therefore able to make their own decisions. There is much misleading information around.
• CIIR supports a number of specialist development workers in HIV/AIDS and encourages all other development workers to seek ways of integrating HIV/AIDS into their work with partner organisations.
• We stand against any form of discrimination or prejudice against those who are HIV+ or suffering from AIDS.
• CIIR believes that condoms are one important element in any strategy to prevent sexual transmission of HIV and encourages an informed debate about their use - in both Christian and Muslim societies.
• We support the use of anti-retroviral treatments (ART), especially in reducing mother to child transmissions. However ART has to go hand-in-hand with other elements to encourage prevention such as education and information and strengthened health care structures.
• CIIR is engaging with organisations and communities, policy makers and religious leaders in encouraging a dialogue and a better understanding of the issue. A key part of this is creating an environment where experiences and reflections can be exchanged.

The social mission of the Catholic Church

• In seeking to bring about a more just and equitable world (what many Christians would describe as the reign of God) it is vital to tackle issues of poverty, access to health and education resources as well as basic provisions, and unequal power relations - especially those between women and men.
• CIIR contributes to this social mission by working with people of all faiths and none in a respectful partnership. CIIR is not an official agency of the Catholic Church.

CIIR and the teaching of Catholic Church

• In cases of a pandemic such as HIV/AIDS the issue is about life or death. Any moral analysis has to go beyond personal sexual relations and understand the wider context of the life and death challenges and the unjust power relations between men and women.
• The Church insists that pastoral care and support of people with HIV/AIDS must be done without judgement or prejudice. Of course, CIIR supports this.
• CIIR notes that sexual responsibility, fidelity and chastity are values in Church teaching which are important elements in a holistic approach to tackling HIV. Respect within relationships and mutual responsibility both contribute to greater equality, assisting in reducing HIV infection.
• The concern about church teaching on condom use has moved the focus of the debate away from these underpinning values and fails to recognise power and gender inequalities.
• CIIR recognises that in certain circumstances the use of condoms is a life-saving option. An informed use of condoms should not be discounted.
• We, like many others, do not consider this position to be counter to Church teaching. There is a plurality of views from church leaders and thinkers about the role of condoms and CIIR welcomes the debate. Examples include:

1. Church teaching includes an acceptance of a secondary effect (for instance in the use of the contraceptive pill to regulate menstrual cycles although also having a contraceptive effect is acceptable).
2. Church teaching includes the concept of the lesser of two evils (in this instance death/condom use).

Working with other faiths

• Both Christian and Islamic teaching have a strong emphasis on caring for the sick and this is an important starting point in joint work on HIV.
• Our experience in the Islamic countries of Somaliland and Yemen show that religious leaders have a vital role in education, awareness raising and tackling discrimination in addressing HIV and AIDS among their communities.

Catholic Bishops of Chad Statement on AIDS 01/10/02

1. For nearly twenty years, AIDS is in our mist. This epidemic has now spread in the whole world and results in a serious global crisis. Statistics from all over the world are terrifying indeed and enable us to really assess the dramatic evolution of the pandemic. Thus, since it was described in the early 80s, it is reported that among other terrible consequences, HIV/AIDS has already claimed the lives of 40 million people around the world, of which 70 to 75% in Africa South of the Sahara where health structures are inadequate everywhere. In Chad, the studies and the observations made since the reporting of two cases in 1986 give obvious indications that the pandemic is spreading. According to statistics, 13,000 cases exist in our country, but that is only the visible aspect of a more disturbing situation. There is every evidence that HIV/AIDS is spreading in our country. Neither a vaccine nor an appropriate drug allows us presently to hope for the eradication of this deadly pandemic in the near future.
2. The social impact of HIV/AIDS is very great today. Fear and mistrust are rampant among spouses; the youth which is the spearhead of the nation, the civil servants, the senior officials who were trained at the cost of many sacrifices, are dying. AIDS goes to the extent of exterminating whole generations and annihilating decades of progress. People even talk of the “corridor of death” represented by the Leré, Pala, Kélo, Moundou, Bébéja, Doba, Koura, Sarh and Sido main section with all its ramifications. What is being done face to this situation?
3. Despite all the efforts undertaken in our country to fight against AIDS, we have to acknowledge that we have failed since the pandemic is still spreading. How can we explain such a failure?
4. Fight and information campaigns of every kind have been conducted. However, such campaigns are often conducted with a lot of money and without reflection and a strong will to integrate the cultural and religious values of our country. A lot of condoms are being distributed indiscriminately, sometimes even to children under 10 years of age, with the belief that that is going to protect the population. These campaigns sometimes misinform more than they inform. Some publicity slogans posted in our cities go a long way to prove this. People seem to try to solve the AIDS problem through technical means, hence the failure of such campaigns.
5. AIDS is indeed a medical problem. Yet it should also be recognized that AIDS also raises a moral and spiritual problem. The Church has something to say as it considers itself as “mother and educator”. It is in this capacity that we, the Bishops of Chad, resolve to commit ourselves with all the Christian communities and all the people of goodwill, to unrelentlessly fight against AIDS, a fight that vows deep respect to human beings.
6. Following Vatican II Council, we can say this: “The joys and hopes, the sadness and the anxiety of the men of the present times, the poor above all and all those who suffer, are also the joys, the hopes, the sadness and the anguish of the disciples of Christ, and there is nothing really human that does not echo in their heart. The Christian community therefore identifies itself as being really and intimately in solidarity with the human race and its history”.
7. As a matter of fact, during His ministry, Jesus particularly felt for the poor, the excluded from the society. In His time, lepers were excluded from the society until they were healed. Yet, Jesus touched the lepers, He healed them and reinstated them within their communities. He is for us a fundamental reference.
8. In the Gospel, Jesus does not judge, He does not condemn anybody. On the contrary, He gets near the people and shows them love. He suffers with those who suffer. We constantly see Him getting near the sick, touching them, curing them, healing many of them, physically, morally and spiritually. He purifies the leper as we have said, He heals the blind, and the deaf and dumb, and the invalid woman. He delivers the captives… He urges His disciples to do like Him: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me”
9. How can we, together, following the example of Christ, fight against this evil that disfigures the man who is loved by God and is created in God’s image and in His resemblance? We sometimes hear people say that AIDS is a punishment from God. This belief sometimes prompts us to point fingers at people, to stigmatise, to isolate our brothers and sisters who suffer from AIDS. Many people say that they are sick “through their own fault”, or because they have sinned. In the Gospel of John, to a question put to Him on the origin of evil concerning a person who was born blind, Jesus answers: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned…” Indeed, God loves the man to the extent that He cannot wish his death. God cannot contradict His act of love. He cannot call Himself Love and at the same time want the suffering and the death of the man …! AIDS is not therefore a punishment from God.

10. The identity of a Christian is to be “the salt of the earth and the light of the world”. AIDS has taken away the joy of life from many of our fellow countrymen: those who are HIV positive, AIDS patients, orphans and families. AIDS has been an opportunity to disseminate a number of lies, of counter values. The true fight against AIDS must be fought in truth, foresight and in a spirit of love.

11. God created man and woman in His image, out of love. The sexual difference appears in the Bible as the height of the creation as God had wanted it to be. And this sexual difference is portrayed in all the dimensions of human beings. If well managed, this sexuality can make us very happy: the joy of giving oneself to the other in marriage, the joy of bearing children, the joy of friendship, of exchanges, of ordinary encounters. In a nutshell, we know that others, especially those from the other sex, are indispensable to us and they help us evolve in our ways of thinking, reflecting and acting. Sexuality therefore participates in our fulfilment as men and women. The Church looks positively on sexuality that it views as a task to accomplish, a responsibility to assume. For these reasons, the Church says NO to a culture of sexual disorders or loose morals. How indeed could we foresee a responsible future for these young girls and young boys if our society does not educate them so that they know what makes a man grow and fulfil himself?
12. The Catholic Church and the Pope, are often blamed for being against the use of the condom. It should be recalled that the role of the Church is not to promote the use of the condom but rather conjugal fidelity and chastity, in one word, responsible sexuality. Because it considers itself as “mother and educator”, the Church has to educate its daughters and sons to behave in a responsible way and exercise self-control. It is our duty to say that there are better means than the condom to protect oneself against AIDS: conjugal fidelity, the fact of having only one partner, to respect him/her, the fact of learning to be capable of expressing true love. We are in favour of the means that respect human dignity and honour the society. We therefore refuse, given our mission, to enter that logic according to which, the immediate answer to the dramatic question about AIDS is: “the condom”.
13. With regard to the condom, the Church wishes to recall here, through our Bishops, that its use is subjected to the normal moral rules as for the other human acts. The ultimate moral rule is our conscience. It is up to each and every one of us to train one’s conscience and to assume one’s responsibility according to the situation in which one finds oneself. Because “no one is bound to do the impossible”, spouses cannot be asked to abstain from sexual intercourse; we therefore understand that a person, through love, may be led to use the condom to protect himself/herself or to protect his/her partner. But everybody must understand that the condom does not provide 100% protection and that it does not ultimately solve the real problems raised by AIDS.
14. We are saying with Pope John Paul II that the Church must encourage “a respectful prevention of the dignity of the human being and of its transcendent destiny. The Church is convinced that, if there is no recourse to the sense of moral responsibility and to the reaffirmation of fundamental moral values, any programme of prevention based on information alone will be ineffective and will even yield a contrary effect”
15. We are also convinced that AIDS will disappear one day or that it will be under the total control of the man. What would be serious is for us to blindly turn a deaf ear to our conscience by robbing everything of its excitement to the extent of forgetting that were meant to grow up in liberty and freedom.

16. Ignorance with regard to AIDS is a real obstacle to the fight against this pandemic. The danger is that information and prevention are really urgent. Prevention is partially linked to information since many people do not yet believe that AIDS is a reality. It is said to be a comedy by the Whites! We urge the faithful to open their eyes and look around themselves: our cemeteries are getting overcrowded at an unusual rate, many men and women are lying down, waiting to die, the number of orphans, widows and widowers is constantly increasing. The reality about AIDS can no longer be denied. Insisting in denying it would be a sin for us Christians, an obstacle to the efforts undertaken by the international community. As leper in the past, AIDS should stop being a taboo.
17. We want to urge you, dear Brothers and Sisters, to join this effort through information and prevention. That is what some people rightly call, “the social vaccine”. All information means must be made available to grassroots Church communities so that AIDS may be better known to be better fought against. Efforts will be undertaken to make information on AIDS, true information, be accessible to all.
18. Our so powerful world has lost the sense of values. People increasingly insist on what is not constructive, in what belittles man instead of upholding him: the virtues on which so many generations have built on are no longer a reference for today’s societies. AIDS prevention must be achieved through a healthy and responsible education. In this respect, people will have to rehabilitate the moral conscience. In the Dioceses of Chad, the Church is proposing training and reflection on the programmes for education on life and love “EVA”. People must stop considering sexuality as a taboo. This programme enables to promote a coherent sexual and family education.
19. The Bishops are urging each and everyone to take these information very seriously and to disseminate them as soon as possible. The fact of becoming aware that it is urgent to change one’s behaviour will only be possible through accurate information and active prevention. Both information and prevention must be done in the respect of human dignity.

20. “Chose life and not death”, that is what the Word of God teaches us. We wish to tell you, our Christian Brothers and Sisters that “the current epidemic is an opportunity for each and every one of us to question one’s own behaviour. Our society has easily accepted and even encouraged short-lived encounters and the experience of sexuality without conjugal or parental commitment. We would fail in our mission if we kept silent face to the spread of sexual behaviours which distort the real meaning of sexuality and increase the risks of the epidemic”.
21. There are many ways by which AIDS can be transmitted, even though, in our country, we know that it is usually transmitted through sexual intercourse. Many people are wondering whether they are carrying AIDS within themselves. We are urging them to be true to themselves, for their own sake and for the sake of other people, by going for AIDS screening. This is a courageous and responsible act that sets people free, especially when it comes to saving other peoples’ lives.
22. Those who know that they are HIV positive must take precautions to avoid contaminating their partners. We hear with a lot of sadness that AIDS patients do not want to die alone and that they consciously spread the disease around them. That is a criminal and odious act that has to be denounced. Such people are called upon to conversion and a radical change of behaviour.

23. “Human life, even in weakness and suffering, is always a wonderful gift from the Merciful God”, says Pope John Paul II. We, your Bishops, solemnly reaffirm with the Pope that the Catholic Church is not indifferent to any human suffering. It cannot therefore be indifferent today to those who suffer from AIDS, to the situation of this new category of sick people. They too must be considered as brothers and sisters whose human condition calls for a special form of solidarity and assistance”.
24. The congregation of the Church will continue to play the role assigned to them by taking care of those who suffer, as Jesus has taught His disciples to do so. We urge our brothers and sisters to be close to all those who are abandoned, neglected, isolated because they suffer from AIDS. Before falling sick, they are first of all our brothers and sisters, they are sons and daughters of God. “The Church loves all those that human weakness afflicts, all the more so, in the poor, it recognizes the image of the poor and suffering Christ, it strives to alleviate their miseries, and in them it is Christ it wants to serve”. Face to all the above, what can we do, concretely?

25. The current situation no longer allows us to remain at the level of isolated initiatives. We must act now, all together. That is why we, the Bshops of Chad, are appealing :

26. The Church welcomes all the efforts undertaken by the different partners in the fight against AIDS and particularly the commendable initiative of the setting up of a national programme on the fight against AIDS and the setting up of the UNAIDS thematic group. We however recall that an outright and effective campaign cannot be launched for the fight against AIDS while putting aside ethical and cultural issues. It is urgent for public authorities to take into account those two dimensions; otherwise the efforts undertaken will never achieve their goal. Towards this end, we urge public authorities to act at the educational level in schools, grammar schools, on the basis of an educational curriculum that includes the concerns of the various religious communities. Let clinics and welfare centres also be educational environments that give pride of place to men and women.
27. It is urgent for the State to work in conjunction with specialized bodies in order to make available, at a low cost, drugs able to cure our brothers and sisters who suffer from AIDS, and ensure that such drugs are accessible to all, to the poor as well to the rich.

28. The essential mission entrusted with couples is to transmit life. A fertility that has to be fulfilled in fidelity. We urge couples to abstain from being disturbed by the illusions of our modern world. This covenant of love is sealed in marriage and called to grow every day until it is rooted in the Love that Christ shows to His Church. If one of the spouses happens to fall sick, he/she will need his/her partner to better fight against the disease. This is not the appropriate time to abandon him/her, but on the contrary to show him / her affection and show him/her that he/she is loved, despite his/her disease. Both of them know, through the Sacrament of marriage that links them to one another, that they must respect and assist one another throughout their life, “in happiness and in woe”.
29. We are stressing fidelity to which all those who get married commit themselves. It is the manifestation of mutual trust. A disorderly life is a risky life. How many families and couples experience conjugal sexual intercourse with fear. Only fidelity in love and dialogue can overcome this lack of mutual confidence.
30. Parents must also ensure true education of their children to life and to love, to the respect of their own body and that of others. Instead of distributing condoms to their children, they should rather address sexuality issues with them. Moreover, they should remember that they must set the good example themselves to better impact on them. To this end, the EVA programme is particularly recommended.
31. Many families are affected by AIDS. Sometimes, they get divided because one of the members falls sick: judgment on his/her behaviour, rejection, fear. We wish to appeal to families: do not allow AIDS to divide you! Remain united couples and families that comfort and assist one another, choosing to live with forgiveness, mutual respect and love rather than with division, suspicion, fear and hatred.

32. Statistics show that the youth is the age group most affected by AIDS. The threat on the young generations must call our attention and make us commit ourselves according to Pope John Paul’s remarks. As a matter of fact, humanly speaking, the future of the world depends on the youth, and experience teaches that the only way to predict the future is to prepare it.
33. The youth must reflect on their future as adults. They have a lot of potential, energy and generosity to succeed in the challenges to be met. We remind you that you should not rob the sexual act of its excitement. Virginity is considered as a virtue in our cultural and religious traditions. To marry a virgin is an honour for both families. Why not maintain this beautiful custom! Young people do not let your conscience be invaded by what is not constructive for a man. “Do not let yourselves be fooled by the words of those who put ridicule on chastity or on your capacity to control yourselves”. The future of the society depends on the physical and moral health of the youth, the family, the Church and the country. The victory on HIV/AIDS will be achieved through you, young people. We have confidence in you. Have confidence in your future and build it as from today on long-standing values.

34. We duly appreciate the work done by health staff members and we commend the nobleness of their profession which is often exposed to diseases. We urge health staff members to treat HIV/AIDS patients with the same respect and the same attention as they do for any other patient. In him/her, it is the image of the suffering Christ that they must serve.
35. We also urge health staff members to acquire the skills required to cure AIDS patients, through adequate training sessions. Health workers also have the duty to use preventive measures for their own protection as well as that of their patients.
36. As far as they will be able to achieve it, they will pay attention to the needs and difficulties of the patients trusted to them, providing them with relief and comfort through their care and presence.
37. Health staff members, better trained than others in this area, will be able to assist in AIDS screening, in training, informing and educating people towards a greater hope. A new era seems to open with the introduction on the market of more adequate drugs, and at a lower cost: the antiretroviral. Health staff members should be eager to collaborate in any programme aimed at facilitating access of these drugs to all patients. We count on the duty consciousness of each health agent, on his/her dedication to the service of sick people. We also count on the respect of human and religious values for the latter are often neglected by some programmes that do not always promote life.

38. We remind AIDS patients and HIV positive people who are our brothers and sisters in Christ that they have their place within the Church and that the latter welcomes them fully and unconditionally. We recall this invitation made by Jesus: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”.
39. Discouragement often leads to attitudes of revenge or to suicidal behaviours. We reiterate to AIDS patients: Take up courage, do not despair, you are not alone; we are fighting by your side. Maintain hope and find support in your faith to move towards the Living God who wants you to be happy. We must try to live in faith the hardships that come our way. That might be an opportunity to come near Christ, to learn to live with Him who suffered and who died for our salvation.
40. Face to AIDS, one is tempted to isolate oneself, to keep silent or to put the blame on others. One believes to be a victim of bad luck/omen, witchcraft, poisoning. It would be fairer and more honest to accept one’s disease, not to feel guilty and to continue to live in serenity and positively, namely within the framework of an appropriate medical and spiritual guidance.
41. Yes, brother/sister who have AIDS, do not fear, let Christ look at you for He is your brother and He loves you personally. Never forget that crazy love the Bible tells us about: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by your name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. Since you are precious and honoured in my sight, and because I love you”.

42.  We share the same ideal: that life is a gift from God, which we must respect and promote. Since AIDS is an obstacle to life, let us together commit ourselves to fighting against that pandemic for the safeguard, not only of our communities and our country, but also of the values that we have in common.

43. We urge all the citizens of this country to unite their moral and spiritual forces, their wisdom, their cultural and religious resources and their prayers to fight together against this great scourge called AIDS. The extent of the pandemic calls for a pooling of means and actions with all those who strive to achieve the same goal. Initiatives should go beyond the Church environment and reach out to the whole population irrespective of ethnic groups and religions.
44. We encourage all the initiatives that work towards human greatness and dignity. They can truly help the whole country to “chose life”.

45. The Church, God’s family that is in Chad, is determined to fight against the spread of AIDS. We remind the lay people, religious people and priests that in the name of our baptism, we have to feel all concerned. The Church, “has hope in humankind”, has received the mission to reveal to all men the love and care of the Father through Jesus Christ His Son. With Him, we have to pay special attention to all the miseries of mankind: material, physical, moral and spiritual.
46. We are appealing to the faithful, community leaders and pastors at all levels to actively commit themselves to this struggle against evil and for life. They should become the first actors to meet this challenge set by the humankind: to overcome AIDS and its damaging effects.
47. The love of Christ is prompting us to experience true love that is dedication, service, self-respect and respect of others, forgiveness, dialogue, opening up to life... The Lord gives us the grace to experience all this by the side of our sick people, the HIV/positive patients, the widows and widowers, the orphans and all those who tend to despair. With Jesus Christ, we are urged to fight against evil in the world.

48. By giving us His Son Jesus, God makes Himself present and active in the world. Jesus has experienced the human condition, the joys, the sufferings and the hopes of men. He knows them. His sufferings, and also the weight of our sins and its consequences, Jesus carried them on the Cross. By suffering on the Cross and by suffering Himself totally for us, He has opened the door of our salvation for us. That is the greatest expression of His love for men: “Through His sufferings, we are healed” says Saint Peter.
49. Christian communities, associations and movements must support each other in faith, in prayer and action. For “if God has loved us this much, we should also love one another likewise”and it is through the love we shall have for one another that people will acknowledge that we are Christians. Let us therefore train in that love that goes beyond all frontiers and that makes each man and woman experience more happiness and freedom.

A Message of Hope from the Catholic Bishops. 30/07/01

A Message of Hope from the Catholic Bishops to the People of God in South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland made on 30 July 2001 at St Peters' Seminary, Pretoria.

Message Of John Paul II To The Secretary-General Of The United Nations Organization 25/06/01

Statement from the Bishops’ Conference, the Church of Norway. 04/01

Statement from the Bishops’ Conference, The Church of Norway - April 2001. The global HIV/AIDS catastrophe.

 A global catastrophe is currently striking individuals, communities and nations.

Men carry a great responsibility. Women and young girls are particularly vulnerable. In Africa alone about ten million children have become orphans. Countries that were already losers in the economic and social development of the world community have been hardest hit. 

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is spreading throughout the world and within the churches. In Africa this is the most widespread catastrophe that has struck the continent in recent times. It is causing untold human suffering, and in some countries it is threatening the whole of society with collapse. The situation is also extremely serious in the Caribbean, in eastern Europe and in southeast Asia. 

There are many reasons why the pandemic is spreading so quickly. Large groups of people are migrating in order to find work, or because of wars and conflicts. Many people do not know how the virus spreads or how to protect themselves against it. The use of condoms, which reduces the spread of HIV/AIDS, is often a taboo issue, and for a great number of people condoms are unavailable. Irresponsible sexual behaviour, suppressing the facts about the pandemic and social isolation of the people infected, all make the situation especially difficult. 

In our own country, too, there is a lack of openness about the disease and HIV victims are also suffering from condemnation and exclusion. As fellow human beings in the church and in the community, each one of us is being challenged to examine our own attitudes. 

For the church, it is important to keep to the principle that Christian charity commits us to support, not condemn, those who are suffering. We must help people who are infected with HIV to live openly in the community. 

The Bishops' Conference welcomes the efforts which are being made by the public authorities in many countries to stop the spread of the pandemic. The international community has, for example through the UN and the WHO, taken on the challenge in a commendable way. Norway has a sizeable task, in terms of both economic resources and professional humanitarian expertise. 

The Bishops' Conference welcomes the cooperation that has been established through the government's "Forum for aids and development", in which the church is represented along with the trade union movement, business and industry, NGOs, the media, research institutions, sport and culture, and which aims to change attitudes and to alleviate acute distress. In long-term strategies at the national and international levels, the church and other religious communities must accept their responsibility for dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. 

The Bishops' Conference wishes to point to the following current challenges:

• the need for more investment in the development of medicines and vaccines that the poor can afford
• making treatment cheaper and more accessible
• developing information and attitude-forming measures specifically aimed at children and young people
• ensuring that the churches combat violence and sexual abuse
• ensuring that the churches promote joint action across religions and philosophies of life.

During the television campaign this autumn for Norwegian Church Aid, everyone in Norway can acquire more knowledge about HIV/AIDS and can give money to the work the church is doing together with others in this field. The whole population is invited to join together to help. Every available means must be mobilized to give our fellow human beings who are smitten by, or in danger of being smitten by, HIV/AIDS hope for the future. 

Together we can give them back their hope.

The Compassion Of Jesus: A Pastoral Latter on AIDS from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines 23/01/93

The Church Faced With The Challenge Of Aids: Prevention Worthy Of The Human Personand Assistance In Complete Solidarity (Catholic International Conference Of The Pontifical Council For Pastoral Assistance To Health Care Workers) 15/11/89

Beyond Fear: Compassion, Clear-sightedness, Solidarity (Catholic Bishops of Canada) 14/03/89

Calvyn Protestantse Kerk van SA MIV/VIGS Beleidsdokument 2004. 01/12/04

Calvyn Protestantse Kerk van SA. MIV/VIGS Beleidsdokument 2004 (1/12/2004)

Dutch Reformed Church Family

Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika Mediaverklaring. 2003

Mediaverklaring oor die MIV-VIGSpandemie

Die Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika (GKSA) neem met hartseer kennis van een van die grootste krisisse wat die mensdom nog ooit getref het met die sorgwekkende afmetings wat die pandemie van vigs aangeneem het en steeds aanneem. Statistiek RSA: Geïnfekteer 3.5 miljoen (2003); 5.3-6.1 miljoen (2005); 6-7.5 miljoen (2010). Sterftesyfer (per jaar): 90 000 (2002), 383 000 (2005) 635 000 (2010).*

Die Sinode het ook sy kommer uitgespreek oor die kerke se gebrekkige rol ten opsigte van bestryding van hierdie tragedie. Die verwoestende effek wat vigs uitoefen op die gesinslewe (ouerlose kinders), die beroepslewe (verminderende arbeidskorps) en die mediese diens (oorlading by dokters en hospitale) is enorm. Daarmee saam die toenemende armoede en magteloosheid in agtergeblewe gemeenskappe waar vigs ‘n welige teelaarde vind. Met afsku is ook kennis geneem van die gevaarlike mites wat onder sekere mense oor vigs bestaan en wat gelei het tot verkragting van kinders.

Teleurstelling is ook uitgespreek oor die landsregering se oënskynlike onvermoë om die vigs-pandemie op betekenisvolle wyse die hoof te bied met sy pro-kondoomveldtog asof dit veilige seks sal waarborg. Daarom is daar waardering vir die nuwe benadering van die regering, naamlik sy MIV-VIGS-program A (“abstinence”) en B (“be faithful”).

‘n Beroep word op die kerke gedoen

- om te waarsku teen stigmatisering, diskriminering en verwerping van MIV-positiewe persone;

- om in die gesindheid van die liefde van Christus ‘n veilige hawe te wees waar MIV-positiewe mense en vigslyers en hulle naasbestaandes die grootste vrymoedigheid het om hulle status bekend te maak;

- om deur middel van morele voorligting (aan veral jongmense), pastorale begeleiding en versorging van vigspasiënte en weeskinders die genesende krag van die evangelie van die Here Jesus Christus in die samelewing sigbaar te maak;

- om as vennoot formeel betrokke te raak by multi-dissiplinêre aksies om vigs te voorkom en te bestry;

- om te offer ten einde ook finansieel ‘n beduidender rol te speel.

‘n Beroep word op die jeug gedoen om te besef dat daar geen veilige seks bestaan nie, maar wel verantwoordelike seks binne die raamwerk van die monogame huwelik. Seksuele losbandigheid is nie alleen ‘n hoë risiko nie, maar ook teen die wil van God.

‘n Beroep word op die sentrale owerheid gedoen om MIV-VIGS tot ‘n aanmeldbare siekte te verklaar ten einde MIV-VIGS-pasiënte doeltreffend te identifiseer en te behandel. Hierdie beroep het besondere betrekking op situasies van gedwonge saamgroepering van mense - soos veral in hostelle en in gevangenisse waar homoseksualiteit en verkragting ‘n hoë risiko is.

Die owerhede (nasionaal, provinsiaal en munisipaal) word ook versoek om met nog groter doelgerigtheid alles in die werk te stel om deur middel van voorligting, voorsorg, finansiële voorsiening en voorkomende maatreëls die pandemie te probeer stuit sodat ons ‘n gesonde samelewing mag hê.

‘n Beroep word ook op die media gedoen om nie advertensieruimte vir prostitusie te gee nie aangesien prostitusie teen die wil van God en sy Woord is én ook vanweë die direkte verband tussen prostitusie en MIV-VIGS-besmetting.

·        Bron: loveLife. Henry J Kaiser. Family Foundation.

Communiqué Scripture Union West Africa (SUWA). 07/06

Pastors/Church Workers’ HIV and AIDS Workshop organized by Scripture Union West Africa (SUWA). Miango Rest House, Jos, Nigeria. June 26- July 2, 2006.

Breaking the Silence: Commitments of the Pan-African Lutheran Church Leadership Consultation . 06/05/02

Breaking the Silence: Commitments of the Pan-African Lutheran Church Leadership Consultation in response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic Nairobi, 2-6 May 2002. 

We, the member churches of the Lutheran World Federation in Africa, represented by Bishops and Presidents, Women Leaders and Youth Leaders, meeting in Nairobi May 2002, make the following commitments in response to God's call to act and respond in the face of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. 

We do so as part of the Lutheran communion of churches, based on our doctrine of justification through God's grace being available to all. We intend to offer visible public leadership in our commitment to breaking down the injustices against those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. 

We commit ourselves to pray, seek justice and life in dignity for those living with and affected by and dying from HIV/AIDS. 

It is our intention to be a communion where our congregations are healing communities of care and advocacy for all living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. 

You have called us, O Lord, to be your servants; we make this commitment with Your help 

We commit ourselves to breaking the silence

We recognize the many willing people who are currently engaged in and outside our churches in giving care and support. We will, however, publicly confess and acknowledge that we have too often contributed to stigmatization and discrimination and that our churches have not always been safe or welcome places for people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. In some cases Holy Communion has been refused to people living with HIV/AIDS, funerals of people having died from AIDS have been denied and comfort to the bereaved has not been given. We repent of these sins. 

We therefore commit ourselves to a faithful and courageous response in breaking the silence, speaking openly and truthfully about human sexuality and HIV/AIDS.  

We recognize that it is especially important for the bishops, presidents and other church leaders to publicly speak and provide leadership in breaking the silence. 

We will develop church policy on HIV/AIDS and encourage each congregation and church institution to develop and adopt an action plan for response and implementation.

 Trusting in the Spirit of Mercy, we make this commitment with the help of God.

We commit our churches to become Healing Communities through prayer and action

The silence of persons living with HIV/AIDS and their families can only be broken when they know they will not be judged, excluded and discriminated against.

We commit ourselves to putting our words into deeds, following in the example of Jesus Christ, by making our churches safe places of support and community for those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. This begins first of all by stopping all forms of condemnation and rejection.  

We will instead create environments of openness and acceptance and encourage all pastors and lay leaders to speak openly about HIV/AIDS and set an example in local parishes by respecting the dignity and place in the community for each person.

We will offer our church as a place for support groups, which we will initiate, with persons living with and affected by HIV/AIDS and we will include them in the planning and implementation of all our HIV/AIDS work. 

Relying on the Spirit of Courage, we make this commitment with the help of God. 

We commit ourselves to learning and education

We commit ourselves to develop a vision of the church, whose mission is not limited to membership, but fulfills itself in outreach to all people.

We commit ourselves to making education a high priority and to finding ways and means to teach ourselves and our people about HIV/AIDS.

We are prepared to engage in this education at all levels of the church, from leadership to local community, involving influential people in the community.

We will affirm the dignity of women and men through teaching about human sexuality and relationships, about love and mutual respect and equality.  

Praying for the Spirit of Wisdom, we make this commitment with the help of God. 

We commit ourselves to provide care and counseling

We commit to turning stigma and discrimination into care and counselling for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS and we encourage and support voluntary testing.

We commit ourselves to address with confidence controversial issues that raise fear in us and contribute to the silence. We will support and provide further training in care and counselling.

We will strengthen the involvement of young peer educators.

We will especially seek to support people who are tested HIV positive in how to live a full quality of life as part of the community.

We will strongly condemn sexual abuse and will express full solidarity with all victims of sexual abuse.

We will commit ourselves to finding ways to care for AIDS orphans, child-headed households and women widowed by AIDS. 

Surrendering our will to the Spirit of Service, we make this commitment with the help of God. 

We commit ourselves to prevention

We commit ourselves to examine attitudes and behavior that can cause harm to our neighbor in the light of our Lutheran ethics.

We commit ourselves to taking a strong role to ensure prevention of HIV by assisting in efforts to reduce the spread of the pandemic.

We will speak the truth about the spread of HIV/AIDS and its prevention including the behavior change that is necessary.

We will not stand in the way of the use of any effective methods of prevention. 

Listening to the Spirit of Truth, we make this commitment with the help of God. 

We commit ourselves to further develop our theological understanding of the challenges of HIV/AIDS

We commit ourselves to deepening our theological understanding of the challenges of HIV/AIDS based on our Lutheran teaching. Specifically we will deal theologically with the problem of stigma and discrimination as an issue of social injustice.

We will preach a gospel of hope in the midst of the disaster of HIV/AIDS.

We commit ourselves to develop and utilize liturgy for worship that helps us cope with HIV/AIDS suffering and struggle.

We will ensure that such theological discussions are carried out at our seminaries and theological institutions of learning.

We will ensure that HIV/AIDS issues are adequately and contextually taken up in the curricula for theological education and in lay leaders training and in continuing education.

We commit ourselves to also develop and utilize HIV/AIDS related educational material for Sunday schools, confirmation classes church schools and other church institutions. 

Assured by the Spirit's Inspiration, we make this commitment with the help of God. 

We commit ourselves to collaboration and joining hands with those who fight AIDS

We commit ourselves to seeking out and working with other partners in our response to HIV/AIDS, especially with those who are living with and affected by HIV/AIDS and their organizations. We will be open to learn from people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

We recognize that we cannot accomplish this work on our own.

We affirm that as church we have to make a meaningful contribution to the national and international work.

Specifically we will work ecumenically with other churches, with other faith traditions, with NGOs, and our national governments.

We will make special efforts to link with UNAIDS and other relevant UN agencies.

We commit ourselves to linking with and using the Africa sub-regional resource persons in the Ecumenical AIDS Initiative of the World Council of Churches.

We will seek necessary resources to carry out our plans, including targeting our own financial resources for education, training, care and counseling. 

As members with others of the Body of Christ, we make this commitment with the help of God. 

We commit ourselves to advocacy work

We commit ourselves to advocate for accessible and affordable anti-retrovirals and opportunistic infections drugs and we will make the infrastructure and resources of our church available to provide the medical support for treatment.

We commit ourselves to advocate for just labor practices for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, as well as access to adequate medical care, housing and education.

We commit ourselves to advocate against harmful practices, whether modern or traditional. 

Because we believe that where one suffers, all suffer, we make this commitment with the help of God. 

We commit ourselves to fight poverty and working towards securing the livelihood of people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

We recognize poverty and illiteracy as compounding and resulting from the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We therefore commit ourselves to work towards food security for those who can no longer sustain their livelihood, thus responding to basic human rights and the God given right to live in dignity.

We commit ourselves to fight corruption and we will hold our governments accountable for just distribution of resources, both nationally and globally, as ongoing injustice contributes to increased poverty and further spread of HIV/AIDS. 

In the Spirit of our Savior Jesus Christ, who became poor that we might be rich, who suffered death that we might have life, we make this commitment with the help of God.

Methodist Church

South African Charter and Council of Religious Rights and Freedoms. 27/10/2010

On Thursday 21 October 2010 a South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms was endorsed, amongst other, by:

The signatories represent millions of adherents to and supporters of the religions in South Africa. They are now the owners and trustees of the Charter. After the endorsement ceremony a South African Council for the Protection and Promotion of Religious Rights and Freedoms was established. A Steering Committee was also appointed to prepare a Constitution for the Council.

The Council will seeks ways and means to protect and promote religious rights and freedoms in South Africa and also to bring the Charter before Parliament to enact it as a law of the land. In the meantime religious communities are encouraged to make the Charter part of their official documents.

The keynote speaker for the day was the Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa, Mr Dikgang Moseneke. In an interview with SABC 3 after his address he described the Charter and it’s endorsement as a historical moment in history of South Africa.

The Charter is available in six of the official languages of South Africa. Religious communities and individuals who have not yet endorsed the Charter can still do so, by contacting the address below.

P Coertzen

(Convenor Steering Committee of the SA Council for Religious Rights and Liberties)

pc@sun.ac.za or hvdwest@sun.ac.za ; tel 021 887 2619

Website: www.sun.ac.za/theology/religious-charter

Stellenbosch

27 October 2010

Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO Message. 01/12/07

Message from Mr Koïchiro Matsuura,

Director-General of UNESCO

on the occasion

of World AIDS Day 2007

1 December 2007

AIDS, a disease which was not even known a quarter of a century ago, is now the
fourth leading cause of death in the world. Today, approximately 40 million people
are living with HIV, and in every region of the world, the proportion of women
among those who are becoming newly infected with HIV is increasing. Sub-
Saharan Africa continues to bear the brunt of this global epidemic, with life
expectancy in the hardest hit countries shortened by more than 20 years. And,
despite significant efforts by governments, civil society, and international
development partners, young people between the ages of 15 and 25 comprise
around half of new HIV infections.

AIDS remains a disease of inequality. Gender inequality, driven largely by the
highly disadvantaged social and economic status of women compared to men,
compounds women’s biological vulnerability to HIV. Social inequality, fuelled by
stigma and discrimination, prejudice and human rights violations, affects the ability
of key populations including injecting drug users, men who have sex with men, and
sex workers, to access HIV prevention, treatment and care services. Young people,
because of their age and other socio-cultural barriers, are often denied access to
the full range of information and services required to prevent HIV infection and to
meet their treatment, care and other support needs. Finally, economic inequalities
can lead to abuses of power and increased sexual risk-taking, as evidenced by
those engaging in transactional sex to procure food or other basic needs for
themselves and their children. 

Read more below...

Evangelicals Urged to Show God’s Grace to HIV Victims. 26/11/08

PATTAYA, Thailand - When HIV sufferers turn to the evangelical church, they are looking to reconcile with God but instead find “closed doors and angry faces,” says one Christian HIV sufferer.

Gracia Violeta Ross Quiroga, a UNAIDS representative from Bolivia, was speaking at a fringe meeting of the World Evangelical Alliance General Assembly in Thailand on Saturday.

She told evangelicals there that demonstrating God’s grace and mercy were as much part of an effective evangelical response to HIV and AIDS as practical action.

Citing the biblical story of the prodigal son who receives his father’s forgiveness despite squandering his wealth, she told of how she had been received again by God and her physical father, a church elder, after discovering she had HIV.

“God was not waiting for me with a list of questions - 'Oh, why did you do this?' or 'I told you this was going to happen.' He came to me and He held me and He helped me walk all the rest of the way until I got home again. And so did my father," Quiroga said.

“That is grace," she pointed out. "Is the church doing this now? That is my question to you, because I can tell you that the experiences of most people living with HIV with the evangelical church in particular is not so like the prodigal son.

“When they try to go back home and look for God because they realize they will die soon and they go to the church, they don’t find open arms and mercy and grace. They find questions …, which I don’t think is what God wanted us to do with people with HIV.”

Quiroga urged evangelicals to demonstrate greater compassion towards those with HIV.

“If you were in the position of the person with HIV and you were trying to look for God in the church, the place where people say God is, and you find doors that are closed and faces that are angry with you, how would you react?”

She warned that a negative attitude and the church’s inability to speak about sex, drugs and other taboo issues made many HIV sufferers reluctant to turn to the church, despite their desire to reconcile with God.

“We can leave [difficult issues] to God because He will judge that anyway but I think it is our calling to practice grace when it comes to working on HIV and Aids,” she said.

Also at the meeting was Sally Smith, a civil society partnerships adviser for UNAIDS who served as a BMS medical missionary in Nepal for 16 years.

HIV – A Call to Action

World Evangelical Alliance

While we have not always acknowledged it, we recognise today that the Body of Christ, His Church, is living with HIV. With brokenness we admit that as Evangelical Christians we have allowed stigmatisation and discrimination to characterise our relationships with people living with HIV. We repent of these sinful attitudes and commit to ensuring that they are changed.

We will follow Jesus’ example and identify with those who are affected (Matthew 9:12-13) as we intercede fervently for one another (Romans 8:26). We recognize that as the current generation of young people in our churches enters adulthood and becomes sexually active we have not always provided a clear, biblical framework of human sexuality and life skills for their guidance and nurture. We are cognizant that we have been insensitive to the inability of women, children and the most marginalised to exercise real choices and that in many areas of the world marriage and gender-based violence are risk factors for HIV transmission. We apologise for this failure and resolve to model and teach the essential value of human sexuality within the bounds of God-honouring lifestyles. We also commit ourselves to listen with understanding to our children, youth, women, and the most marginalised – especially people living with HIV – so that we can work together for a healthy and safe future which will enable all people to live in the abundant life Jesus promised (John 10:10).

 As a community of Evangelical Christians we believe that all people regardless of belief, identity, gender, ethnicity or health are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Hence it is an essential element of our identity that we bear witness to the love of God for all people in word and deed, in private and in public. We therefore resolve to strengthen our theological reflection and practical action in our advocacy, respect for life and justice with dignity for all people. We realize that this resolution will profoundly challenge us as we deeply long to be a holy people who please God (1 Peter 1:15-16; Matthew 5:8). We reaffirm that we all live in and by the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:1-2) and agapé love (1 Corinthians 13:1-8). 

We commit to working in HIV prevention in partnership with others to halt and reverse the spread of HIV. In so doing we understand that there are many social drivers that contribute to HIV transmission and that no one group or organisation can do everything. We will therefore work alongside other sectors of society so that all people will know how to protect themselves from infection and have access to the services needed to do so.
We commit to playing our part in caring relationships – individually and corporately – working to mitigate the impact of HIV on individuals, families and communities and advocating for comprehensive HIV services in prevention, treatment, care and support. We will work towards universal access for these services for people living with HIV so that they become less vulnerable and are enabled to be meaningful contributors within the Church and society.

We commit to develop a comprehensive HIV strategy in collaboration with our member-networks, people living with HIV and other partners.

 As a community of Evangelical Christians expressed globally, nationally and locally we will foster connections between parts of the Body of Christ. We will strive for practical solidarity and sacrificial giving among Christians – person-to-person, congregation-to-congregation, denomination-to-denomination, and country-to-country – in order that Jesus may be lifted up, the Father glorified and men and women brought into His saving grace through the life revolutionising power of the Gospel we preach (Romans 3:23-24; 6:23; Ephesians 5:8; Colossians 1:13).

WEA Accepts Call to Action on HIV. 27/11/08

The World Evangelical Alliance. 29/10/08

The World Evangelical Alliance General Assembly adopted a Call to Action on HIV on October 29 2008. The Call to Action on HIV was drafted during the recent Micah Network consultation on Churches Living with HIV by WEA representatives attending that meeting.

Creed Calls Church to Remember AIDS - 20/11/08

The Christian HIV/AIDS Alliance have launched a “Creed for the AIDS Pandemic” designed to be read out in churches, on either Sunday nearest to World AIDS Day, December 1st. The aim is to help churches to remember the 2.1 million people who died from AIDS related illnesses last year alone, and to express support for those involved in the response to HIV and AIDS throughout the world.

CHAA member, the Salvation Army UK Territory, plan to launch the Creed in their churches for World AIDS Day 2008; Tearfund have written their own version of the Creed inspired by CHAA’s Creed; Alpha International, Holy Trinity Brompton, and St Philip and St James Church, Bath, also both plan to use the Creed. Copies of the Creed were also distributed to Anglican Diocesan World Mission Officers and Mission agencies attending the recent Anglican, “Partners in Mission World Mission” conference.

CHAA developed the Creed as a step towards their vision to see a mobilised UK Christian Community responding to the Global pandemic.

The short Creed affirms Christian belief in God’s love to reach out to those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS whilst firmly rejecting the idea of the AIDS pandemic being God’s judgement on sinful behaviour. Its emphasis is firmly on the church being an agent of change, putting the responsibility on church members to reach out as Christ’s’ disciples to comfort the broken hearted, help the oppressed, care for orphans and widows and minister to the sick. The Creed is in bookmark format, designed to be signed and dated and kept as a reminder by church members as a commitment to be involved with the worldwide pandemic.

AIDS activist, Rev Alan Bain, Vice Chair of CHAA, and Vicar of St Philip and St James Church, Bath, said, “At the World AIDS conference in Mexico City this year UN Secretary – General, Ban Ki Moon pointed out that an even greater effort is now required if the world is to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halting and reversing the spread of HIV by 2015. CHAA’s new Creed provides a reminder and an opportunity for churches to commit themselves to solidarity with the overseas church who have fought the pandemic for over 25 years, often in situations of abject poverty and deprivation.”

Chair of CHAA, Ken Pearson said, “The Creed for the AIDS pandemic is not new. It is being lived out every day by millions of Christians living with and caring for those affected by the pandemic. My prayer is that the Creed will reawaken the UK Church to our responsibility to share with them in their need.”

The Christian HIV/AIDS Alliance is a network of 19 Christian agencies and churches praying and working together to serve and empower those affected by HIV and AIDS. Copies of the “Creed for the AIDS Pandemic” are available to order or by download on the CHAA website, http://www.chaa.info/ 

A Creed for HIV

We believe that God loves the world and the proof of that love is the Lord Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross.

We believe that through the reconciling power of the Cross, God’s love seeks to embrace all people regardless of creed, colour, gender or sexual orientation and that the AIDS pandemic is not God’s judgement on sinful behaviour.

We believe that God has called the Church to be the agent of His love in this broken world.

We believe that Christ’s love compels us that we should no longer live for ourselves but for Him and that the Gospel calls us to care for our brothers and sisters in Christ and share in their sufferings and to do good to all people.

We believe that as stewards of the talents we have been given, we have a responsibility to use them to help all those affected by the AIDS pandemic.

We believe that, as Christ’s disciples, we are called to comfort the broken-hearted, help the oppressed, care for orphans and widows and minister to the sick.

Therefore, as God’s people, we covenant together to pray regularly, give generously, fight stigma, encourage one another, and share in fellowship with those affected by the pandemic. 

Contact: CHAA Press Officer, Rev Alan Bain 01225 832838