Zambia: Local Clergy Breaking Silence on HIV/AIDS. 27/3/10

Clergy change their styles of addressing important health and social issues because, after all, they have to face up to the realities of life.

All Africa

THE Church in Zambia has in recent years generally shifted from being hyperconservative to adopting fresh approaches to issues in order to remain relevant to its members, who are living in a fast-changing world.

It is crucial to first understand the significance of social life on the African continent, which has changed in more ways than the syllabi in most Bible colleges have been adjusted.

From the long history of conflicts with local traditions and cultures - for example those that promote polygamy, which is against Christian principles - the Church is increasingly facing new challenges that have come in form of a mix of cultures with people from other continents.

Author John Mbiti, in his book African Religions and Philosophy, notes that "there have been many developments in recent years that all point to the fact that Africa is caught up in the world revolution that is so dynamic that it has almost got out of human control."

Mbiti further observes that marriage and family instability in Africa has gone up considerably under the modern strain of living.

This has largely made the clergy change their styles of addressing important health and social issues because, after all, they have to face up to the realities of life.

Some subjects such as on sexual behaviour, which not many years ago were near taboo in some congregations, are now an integral part of the pulpit, as they have a direct bearing on the daily lives of the congregants.

Besides, the Church has not been spared from homosexuality and other sexual scandals.

The changes in modern society have had a marked impact on Christianity and the social lives of followers.

A Zambian evangelist, Christopher Kalonji says the Church is a place where people with different characters are found; it harbours people with uniquely different backgrounds whose needs are just as divergent.

The Church is an important social institution that contributes to the primary socialisation of its members, and the way the clergy handle sensitive issues such as HIV/AIDS matters the most to the followers.

Some HIV-positive members in the past have abandoned their congregations because some clergy condemned them and classified them as promiscuous or unclean people.

But with more research information that has dispelled the notion that HIV is contracted by unfaithful people - that even an innocent wife or husband can get the virus from a promiscuous partner, or indeed through unintended fluid contacts, such as for medical personnel, Church leaders are now embracing new management skills.

United Church of Zambia (UCZ) minister in charge of St Andrews Congregation in Ndola, Albert Bowa says people affected and infected in the community are mostly Christians.

Reverend Bowa said in an interview that in the past, some preachers used to condemn HIV-positive members, as it was perceived as a disease for immoral people.

Lately, the stance has changed as the Church realises that it has to embrace everybody regardless of their status, and that the Church is a place where people should "feel at home and enjoy a sense of belonging."

The Church is expected to be the focal point for spiritual, social, political and health-related activities.

Messages of HIV/AIDS have been preached in different Churches but the limitations have been further exacerbated by past failures to recognise the growing magnitude of the pandemic.

Rev Bowa said the Church should, in fact, be in the forefront to fight the stigma attached to being HIV-positive.

He said UCZ now has a policy that allows preachers, who are conversant with HIV/AIDS issues, or health professionals in the Church, to give quarterly educational talks to members and encourage them to go for voluntary counseling and testing (VCT).

The UCZ is working with non-governmental organisations to offer VCT services.

For couples planning to get married, Rev Bowa said they were not being forced to get tested, but get encouraged to know their stat us to avoid unnecessary complications in their marriage.

The general acknowledgement is that HIV/AIDS has not spared the clergy.

As Rev Bowa said, preachers also face temptations

A priest at the Anglican Cathederal of Holy Navity in Ndola, Leonard Tembo said the Church was concerned about HIV/AIDS as it was affecting the membership.

Father Tembo said the Anglican Church has created health desks which help disseminate information, and has also incorporated the teaching of HIV in different Church groups.

He said the Church was also aware that people were engaging in sexual relationships before they marry, hence the emphasis to encourage them to undergo VCT before committing themselves to marriage.

Fr Tembo referred to the importance of priests having to lead by example so that they could inspire confidence in their flock.

He said priests should be role models who should "do as they preach," and that those infected with HIV/AIDS should come out in the open to declare their status.

The Roman Catholic Church is also taking decisive steps to make sure that its members are equipped with sufficient knowledge and information on the pandemic so that they lead productive lives.

Ndola's Mushili Parish assistant priest, George Kaoma said the Church was encouraging its members to undergo VCT, and for those already infected to ensure they accessed anti-retroviral drugs.

Father Kaoma, who spoke on behalf of Ndola Diocese vicar-general, Rapheal Chanda, said the mystery behind HIV/AIDS was lack of acceptance by both Church members and the clergy.

And with the stigma attached to it, a number of Christians fear to open up and disclose their status.

The Catholic Church has a number of intervention programmes that help address issues of HIV/AIDS among the members.

Apart from urging fellow clergymen to uphold integrity and acceptable moral standards, Fr Kaoma said priests should also seek to know more about the pandemic.

And since their training is so wide-ranging as to involve the understanding of human sexuality, priests should be open with their flock so that they know the consequences of their actions.

Some clergy have continued to hide under their veil of faith, denying the fact that they are biological beings who are susceptible to any disease.

Fr Kaoma said the other barrier was that of shared confidentiality, which has proved to be difficult for some members to disclose their status.

Some priests also fear that they could compromise the faith of the members, hence the stance they have taken on disclosure.

Fr Kaoma expressed misgivings about some clergy who claim to cure HIV-positive people using holy water or anointing oil.

New Life International overseer, Bishop Nelly Chikwanda also shares the view that the Church cannot isolate itself from the community because that is where its membership is drawn from.

She said the Church should treat matters of morality with the importance they deserve.

The Church is mandated to promote honesty among couples, give guidance on acceptable behaviour that is pleasing in the eyes of God.

Bishop Chikwanda said the current situation of some people who say they are Christians but are not following the principles of God has contributed to the spread of HIV/AIDS in Zambia.

In order to be more practical, New Life International has set up an organisation to help in HIV/AIDS interventions, with its catchment area being Kawama and Mackenzie townships in Ndola, where people are assisted in their spiritual and physical needs.

Another way New life International is seeking to tackle the spread of the pandemic is by engaging the youth, who at their ages are easily influenced and vulnerable to the pandemic.

Bishop Chikwanda, who called for more Government support to Church HIV/AIDS intervention programmes, said there was much potential in young people, hence, the emphasis to preach to them about the pandemic.

She criticised some clerics who, instead of guiding their flock, were involved in immoral activities.

While there are some clerics who are not sure whether they should discuss issues of HIV/AIDS with their flock, it is important to note that the clergy in some countries on the continent have been coming out in the open to declare their status and helping their members change the way they view the pandemic.

In Kenya, for example, a network of religious leaders infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, the first such network in East, Central and Southern Africa, was established in February, 2004 by 44 religious leaders to specifically address the pandemic among the clergy.

There is no need for the clergy to bury their heads in sand while their members perish.

The time to stop being overly conservative and face the truth, that HIV/AIDS is not a subject for the "spiritually and physically unclean people", is now.