Monday, May 19, 2008 Editorials: “HIV-positive church”
MORE pernicious and deadly than the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that auses acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (Aids) is the stigma attached to people living with HIV and Aids (PLWHA).
HIV/Aids-related stigma is defined by the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/Aids (UNAIDS) as a “process of devaluation” of PLWHA.
Last May 15, the commitment to fight discrimination against PLWHA was among those highlighted in the Statement of Commitment signed by representatives of the Mandaue City Government, nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and the academe. This was in commemoration of May 18, the 25th anniversary of the International Aids Candlelight Memorial.
According to Oscar C. Pineda’s May 18 report in Sun.Star Cebu, local government health workers, NGO volunteers, peer educators and former commercial sex workers committed to ensure equal access for PLWHA to treatment, prevention, care and support, as well as listen to the voice of affected communities.
Health authorities describe the Aids threat in the country as “hidden and growing,” elevated from “low and slow” five years ago. For HIV/Aids activists and health workers, the country should maximize its efforts on education and prevention, specially for combating the stigma and discrimination against PLWHA.
In this campaign, the support and activism of the church—the clergy, religious, laity and parishioners—is critical and invaluable.
“Gospel imperative”
HIV/Aids stigma not only reinforces social inequalities of gender, sexuality and economics, they cause PLWHA to suffer depression, despair and alienation—feelings that may drive them to avoid testing and treatment, which hastens their deterioration and spreads the transmission of HIV.
To break this silence and denial, seen as “at the heart of many failed efforts” in HIV/Aids prevention, treatment and support, the World Council of Churches (WCC) signed in 2005 The Covenant Document on HIV/Aids and developed guidelines to help churches, partner institutions and HIV/Aids volunteers to reach out, succor and heal PWLHAs (www.oikoumene.org).
According to WCC, “partnership with PLWHA and their organizations is a gospel imperative, the very centre of their mission and ministry. It is not an option, it is a must.”
In the Covenant preamble, the WCC states: “The Lord God is the creator of heaven and earth; the creator of all life forms in the earth community. He created all life and everything good. In this HIV/Aids era, he sees the misery of his people, who are infected and affected by this disease… So he calls to send us to the infected and affected, to bring his people, his creation, out of the HIV/Aids epidemic.”
Compassion of Christ
The clergy and the religious can break the silence and discrimination surrounding HIV/Aids through personal acts imitating Christ’s acts of compassion to the suffering and the oppressed: “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25: 40).
The WCC exhorts the church not to refuse anointing HIV-infected people; forcing them to publicly confess the “sins” that caused them to be infected; or not visiting sex workers suffering from Aids-related illnesses. “Members of the hierarchy, clergy, and laity alike have responsibilities to stop such poor pastoral practices as soon as they occur.”
The church ministry can also embrace institutional approaches, such as using the church’s resources for education and social services to educate the community on sexually transmitted infections and HIV, promoting a climate of accurate information, open dialogue and community to combat silence, denial and condemnation.
Through partnerships, the church can work for better care for PWLHA and their infants and children. As influential leaders and molders of public opinion, the church can speak out against the violation of human rights of any person due to his sexual orientation.
The WCC urges the church’s support and guidance for families of PWLHA, sex workers and health care professionals who face difficult ethical choices in HIV/Aids prevention and care.
In the spirit of humility, the church can listen to PWLHA—the “wounded healers,” points out the WCC—for their experiences and insights to draw up approaches that will help the church and the rest of the community to better respond to their needs.
Just as the Good Shepherd came back for the lost lamb, the church, in the time of the “hidden and growing” menace of HIV/Aids, can do no less.
