ABUJA, Nigeria, November 29, 2005. De Afrikaanse Katholieke Bisschoppen zenden een boodschap van medeleven, en solidariteit aan allen die op het Afrikaanse Continent lijden aan de AIDS epidemie, bij gelegenheid van de Internationale AIDS-Dag op 1 december 2005.
VATIKAANSE BRIEF BIJ GELEGENHEID
VAN DE WERELD DAG TEGEN AIDS.
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"To everyone in Africa and Madagascar living with HIV or AIDS and affected
by the pandemic, we assure you of the
love and prayers of your bishops. We promise to stand by you, and we
encourage all pastoral agents to serve you and care for you in a holistic
manner," the bishops said in a statement to CISA.
"We invite you, as full members of
church and society, to participate fully in the life of the church. We
encourage you to approach us, and keep on speaking out, so that bishops and
other church leaders can continue to minister to you according to the mission
we have received from Christ, the Chief and Good Shepherd."
The message was signed by Archbishop John Onaiyekan, of Abuja, Nigeria, who is
the president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and
Madagascar (SECAM).
The bishops said they were hopeful about
the future of the continent, contrary to many bleak predictions. Africa
does not need pity, but genuine love, solidarity and justice, they noted.
"Despite many difficulties,
disappointments and challenges, we Catholic Bishops of Africa share a deep
optimism with all our fellow citizens: Africa shall survive."
God loves Africa and its people and
there is no reason to feel hopeless about HIV/AIDS, said the bishops. The
people of Africa have rich inner energies and noble values, courage and
determination to defeat the pandemic.
"That is why we call upon all peoples of Africa to undertake a courageous struggle against HIV and AIDS.
We welcome the solidarity of all people of good will on this World AIDS Day
2005."
VATICAN CITY,
November 29, 2005
Here is the full text of the Vatican Message for the World Day against
AIDS, which will be observed on Thursday, December 1, 2005.
****************
To Bishops' Conferences, to national and
international institutions and organizations, to NGOs and associations involved
in prevention and assistance, to men and women of good will.
1. The World Day against AIDS of
this year, organized by UNAIDS, with the slogan "Stop AIDS. Keep the promise," seeks to call everyone,
and in particular those who occupy positions of responsibility in the field of
HIV/AIDS, to a renewed and conscious commitment to the lasting prevention of
the spread of this pandemic and to care for those afflicted by it, especially
in poor countries, in order to stem and invert the trend towards the growing
spread of infection by HIV/AIDS.
2. The Pontifical Council for Health
Pastoral Care joins with other national and international organizations,
and in particular UNAIDS, which every year organizes a world campaign of
combating AIDS, so that this planetary evil, which has brought about a global
crisis, can be met with an action that is equally global and united. The
adherence in 2001 of Heads of State and representatives of governments to the
Declaration of commitment to the struggle against HIV/AIDS was an important
moment of affirming awareness and political commitment at a world level in favor
of a strong, global and decisive reaction and response by the international
community.
3. The epidemiological situation of
HIV/AIDS continues to rouse great concern. It is estimated that in 2005 the
number of people living with AIDS was 40.3 million, of whom 2.3 million were
minors under the age of fifteen. Year by year the number of people infected by
this disease continues to grow. In 2005, 4.9 million people contracted the HIV
virus, of whom 700,000 were minors under the age of fifteen, and in 2005 3.1
million people died of AIDS, of whom 570,000 were young people under the age of
fifteen. HIV/AIDS continues to sow death in all the countries of the world.
4. The best cure is prevention to avoid
infection by HIV/AIDS, which we should remember is transmitted through the
triple route of blood, transmission from mother to child, and sexual contact.
As regards transfusions and other forms of contact with the blood of an
infected person, today such infection has been notably reduced. Despite this
fact, the very greatest attention should be paid to avoid this pathway of
infection, especially in centers that deal with transfusions and during
surgical operations.
We may thank the Lord that contagion from mother to child is strongly
controlled by suitable drugs. Prevention in this field must be intensified
through the provision of suitable medication to seropositive mothers,
especially by public bodies in the various countries of the world.
The third pathway of infection -- sexual transmission -- still remains the most
important. This is greatly fostered by a kind of pansexual culture that
devalues sexuality, reducing it to mere pleasure without any further meaning.
Radical prevention in this field must come from a correct conception and
practice of sexuality, where sexual activity is understood in its deep meaning
as a total and absolute expression of the fecund giving of love. This totality
leads us to the exclusiveness of its exercise in marriage, which is unique and
indissoluble. Secure prevention in this field thus lies in the intensification
of the solidity of the family.
This is the profound meaning of the Sixth Commandment, of the law of God, which
constitutes the fulcrum of the authentic prevention of AIDS in the field of
sexual activity.
5. Faced with the difficult social,
cultural and economic situation in which many countries find themselves,
there can be no doubt that a defense and promotion of health is required that
is a sign of the unconditional love of everyone, in particular for the poorest
and the weakest, and which meets the human needs of every individual and the
community. As a result those laws that do not take into sufficient
consideration the equal distribution of conditions of health for everyone must
be reformed. Health is a good in itself and we can say that "there weighs
upon it a social mortgage."
Thus health must be assured to all the inhabitants of the earth and studies
must be engaged in so that resources are used to achieve health for everyone by
ensuring the basic care and treatment that are still denied to the majority of
the population of the world. The right to the defense of health must, however,
be matched by the duty to implement forms of behavior and to follow lifestyles
that are directed to defending health and to reject those that compromise
health.
6. The Catholic Church continues to make
her contribution both as regards prevention and in caring for people
afflicted by HIV/AIDS and their families at the level of medical care and
assistance and at the social, spiritual and pastoral levels. 26.7% of centers
for the provision of care in relation to HIV/AIDS in the world are Catholic
based. Local Churches, religious institutions and lay associations have
promoted very many projects and programs dealing with training and education,
prevention and assistance, care and the pastoral accompanying of sick people,
with love, a sense of responsibility, and a spirit of charity.
7. At a practical level, on the basis of
the information that comes from the various local Churches and Catholic
institutions in the world, the actions that are engaged in the field of AIDS
may be categorized in the following way: the promotion of campaigns of
sensitization, programs of prevention and health-care education, support for
orphans, the distribution of medicaments and food, home care, the creation of
hospitals, centers and therapeutic communities that concentrate their work
around the provision of care and assistance for people afflicted by HIV/AIDS,
working with governments, care in prisons, courses of catechesis, the creation
of systems of help through Internet, and the establishment of support groups
for sick people.
Flanking this inestimable and praiseworthy endeavor, on 12 September 2004 Pope
John Paul II created the "Good Samaritan" Foundation, which was
entrusted to the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care and subsequently
confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI, in order to bring economic help, thanks to the
donations that are received, to the sick people who are most in need in the
world, and in particular to the victims of HIV/AIDS. During this first year of
activity of the Foundation significant financial help to purchase
pharmaceuticals has been sent to the local Churches in America, Asia, Africa
and Europe.
8. I would like to offer certain
suggestions at the level of guidelines for action to those who are involved
at various levels in the fight against HIV/AIDS:
9. I
would like to conclude with the words which Pope Benedict XVI addressed to
the Bishops of South Africa during their "Ad Limina" visit on 10 June
2005: "Brother Bishops, I share your deep concern over the devastation
caused by AIDS and related diseases. I especially pray for the widows, the
orphans, the young mothers and those whose lives have been shattered by this
cruel epidemic. I urge you to continue your efforts to fight this virus which
not only kills but seriously threatens the economic and social stability of the
Continent."
H.E. Javier Cardinal Lozano Barragán
President of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care
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