The archbishop of Durban, South Africa, is asking journalists why the media continually portrays the Church as part of the problem not the solution to AIDS.
Cardinal Wilfred Fox Napier said this during a press conference held midweek during the African Synod. He presented a report which summarized the concerns of the Synod fathers regarding several aspects of African society. The report made particular mention of various threats to the family, which include AIDS.
The Cardinal acknowledged that his country is primarily known for the miraculous transition from the apartheid regime to democracy, but also for the high rate of those infected with AIDS.
In this area, he added, the Church carries out a very important function in the treatment of the disease and the quality of care.
Church institutions, he noted, offer information about AIDS and build relations with pharmaceutical companies. Church leaders, he said, try to provide support in the best possible way with prevention programmes. If the cause is irresponsible sexual behaviour, we cannot fail to say we need responsible sexual behaviour. If one is married, one must be faithful to one’s spouse. If one is not married, it is necessary to abstain from irresponsible practices.
C. Napier emphasized the need to use all means possible to transmit these principles. We have a programme called “The Gift of Life” which, he explained, aims to make young people aware of the importance of transmitting life through the sexual act.
…
Just ahead of the Synod the bishops delegates to the Synod from Eastern Africa listed their hopes and concerns in a statement. When the AMECEA secretary general visited Vatican Radio, we asked him to tell us what the bishops said about the family ministry and the role of women.
Cut
Fr. Pius Rutechura, secretary general of AMECEA.
..
A 3 day conference in Rome drew together world experts in the field of HIV and hilighted the urgent need to improve prevention of mother to child transmission.
It was co hosted by both Caritas Internationalis and the US embassy.
The conference was also aimed at improving access to testing and treatment for children living with AIDS and TB infection. Earlier this year Caritas Internationalis launched the HAART for children campaign, which calls on pharmaceutical manufacturers, governments and research institutes to develop and provide better medicines and tests for children that can be use din low income and rural areas.
Extending coverage to make it universal was the focus of many interventions.. The executive director of UNAIDS said that universal access to medicine and resources was principally about social justice.
The US ambassador to the Holy See, Miguel Diaz welcomed what he sees as real potential for collaboration between the Obama administration and the Church on this issue.
In her talk Sister Isabelle Smyth of the Medical Missionaries of Mary said resources need to also be allocated to educating mothers and children on how to use antiretroviral medicines and for nutrition to feed HIV sufferers once they have been treated.