"The church is uniquely placed to combat HIV/AIDS at all levels from the individual to the global and to protect the marginalized and most vulnerable in society. We are compelled by the life, example, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to love, think, and act."

--Kampala Declaration of the All Africa Council of Churches (2001) End stigmatization and demand access to treatment

Life-extending treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS exists. It is available in the industrial countries of the North to those who can afford it and through public or private health care systems. In most developing countries, treatment is available but at a high cost. By contrast, Brazil has reduced HIV/AIDS infection and mortality rates by providing treatment free of charge.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been asked about comments made by other religious figures that AIDS is "God's punishment" for sexual promiscuity or drug use. His response? An angry rebuttal: "If that were the kind of God we were told to worship, I would reject that God. My God is not a God who is so sadistic; why punish an innocent child?"

AIDS, he said is the new apartheid, the new enemy. "Let's stop playing around and roll up our sleeves and invoke the spirit that fought apartheid," he said. "We did it with apartheid, we can repeat it with AIDS."

Breaking the silence

"Religions, denominations, and churches cannot conquer AIDS alone, but it will not happen without us."

--Bishop Felton Edwin May of The United Methodist Church

"The HIV/AIDS pandemic is not just a matter of statistics. Its effects are impoverished people, breaking their hearts, causing violations of their human rights, and wreaking havoc upon their bodies and spirits. Many who suffer do so in rejection and isolation. In a striking way HIV/AIDS has become a 'spotlight' revealing many iniquitous conditions in our community life, revealing our inhumanity to one another, our broken relationships, and unjust structures. The pandemic exposes any complacency and complicity of the churches, challenging them to be better involved, more active, and more faithful witnesses to the gospel of reconciliation in their own lives and in their communities."

--World Council of Churches Central Committee, 1996 The church faces up to its responsibility

"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."

Pan-African Lutheran Church Leadership Consultation, Nairobi, May 2002

"We have felt the anguish of Africa. Nearly 10,000 people are newly infected each day. We have been inspired by the courage and dignity of people living with HIV/AIDS. We have confessed our silence as the church and (to) our actions that have contributed to the spread of the disease and (to) death."

--Rev. Dr. Sam Kobia, World Council of Churches (WCC)

"We affirm that suffering does not come from God. We affirm that God is with us even in the midst of sickness and suffering, working for healing and salvation even in 'the valley of the shadow of death.'"

--WCC Central Committee, 1996 The Key: Research and treatment

"We hope and believe that a vaccine for HIV will soon be developed, together with cheaper treatment. We can influence research into and the development of treatment for HIV/AIDS by constantly keeping the public focus on the dire straits of people living with HIV/AIDS, and reminding the government of its responsibility to encourage and fund those engaged in such research."

--KwaZulu-Natal Church Leaders' Group and the KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council, July 2000

"It is possible - the evidence is there - for the lives of people to be extended; for the quality of life to improve once they have been diagnosed as having AIDS, through the right kind of drugs - that seems to be incontrovertible."

--Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 2001, Kampala Declaration of the All Africa Council of Churches Truth is life-giving - ignorance kills

"Through testing, we can also help end discrimination against people who acquire AIDS. The more that people understand that AIDS is not only a preventable disease but a treatable one, the less they will shun those who have it. And as more and more people are able to live with AIDS, their presence in families, workplaces, and neighborhoods will help to reduce fears and misconceptions about the disease."

--Bill Clinton, former U.S. President

"People living with HIV/AIDS are people like everyone else. They are neither to be discriminated against nor condemned. It is by listening to the people living with HIV/AIDS that Africa will learn how to act well to prevent HIV/AIDS."

--Brigitte Syamalevwe, a member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians and a member of the Organization of African Women living with HIV/AIDS

Delicio.us  |   Digg  |   NewsVine  |   Reddit