wfn.org | AIDS QUILT TRAVELS TO PARLIAMENT OF WORLD'S RELIGIONS

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

Oct. 7, 1999
Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions
Mim Neal, 312 -629 2990, mimneal@cpwr.org
John Dart, 88 363 3984, jdartnews@aol.com
http://www.cpwr.org

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         CHICAGO---In response to the global HIV/AIDS crisis, especially
acute in the southern half of Africa, the AIDS Memorial Quilt is going to
the 1999 Parliament of the World's Religions in Cape Town, South Africa,
the first week of December.
         The largest Quilt display ever taken to South Africa, more than
1,000 panels naming those who have died from the disease, will be presented
on the Parliament's opening day, Dec. 1, which is also World AIDS Day. The
stirring ceremonies will serve as a prelude to the eight-day gathering of
some 6,000 religious leaders and practitioners.
         About 500 panels of the Quilt will be displayed at the
interreligious event and another 500 panels will go on tour for a week at
rugby fields outside Cape Town, according to Ma Jaya Bhagavati, founder of
the River Fund, a largely volunteer AIDS service foundation based in
Sebastian, Fla., which is sponsoring the Parliament's Quilt display.
         The idea of taking the Quilt display came from Ma Jaya, a
Parliament trustee, and Cleve Jones, founder of the AIDS Memorial Quilt
which now has more than 43,000 panels and is housed in San Francisco. The
Green Family Foundation of Miami is providing for the display's exhibit in
Cape Town.
         Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu, now a visiting professor at Emory
University in Atlanta, predicted the display in South Africa "will change
the attitudes of many, many people and thus save lives through its
prevention message." The Nobel Peace Prize laureate said the Quilt
"illustrates dramatically the impact of the AIDS epidemic and the need for
immediate and compassionate response by keeping alive the names and stories
behind the statistics."
         A staggering geographical disparity in numbers was reported by an
agency that tracks such statistics. The continent south of the Sahara
Desert accounts for only one-tenth of the world's population but had "70%
of all new HIV infections in 1998, more than 83% of all AIDS deaths and an
estimated 21.5 million people who are living with HIV," according to
UNAIDS, a consortium of U. N. agencies. "More than 21 million people in
sub-Saharan Africa are expected to die from AIDS in the next ten years."
         A new Statement of Conscience, drafted by Ma Jaya and Cleve Jones,
asks people of all faiths to "reach out in caring for those suffering from
the AIDS pandemic" and speak out against the persecution of people with
AIDS.  "All people living with AIDS are children of God, fully deserving of
love, compassion, care and human dignity," the statement said.
Signers include the Dalai Lama, a Parliament speaker, who wrote in part,
"It is particularly sad that many of those who are hit by this disease are
young, including the very young." Other statement supporters include Bishop
Joseph Sullivan, head of Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Brooklyn, N.Y.;
Howard Sulkin of Chicago, board chairman of the Council for a Parliament of
the World's Religions; Preminder Jain of New York, vice president of the
World Fellowship of Religions, and Swami Chatananda, abbot of the
Nityananda Institute, Portland, Ore.
         Early on Dec. 1 in Cape Town, 16 volunteers dressed in white will
begin opening sections of the Quilt, each composed of 32 panels sewn
together---many of which come from South Africa---as dignitaries read the
names of South Africans who have died from AIDS. New panels made in South
Africa will be carried in a procession following that opening ceremony.
         Later that morning, the Parliament's week-long display of 500
panels will begin at the Civic Center.  And selected Quilt panels---from
South Africa and other countries--- will serve as a stage backdrop for the
opening plenary of the Parliament at the city's Good Hope Center.

************************************************

Ms. Mim Neal
Public Relations Manager

Mr. John Dart
Media Consultant - CPWR / California
Tel. / Fax: 818-363-3984
E-mail: mailto:jdartnews@aol.com

CPWR Tel.: 312-629-2990
       Fax: 312-629-2991 / 3552 / 1287
Direct Line for Mim Neal: 312-629-1120
Web site:  http://www.cpwr.org
parliament General Info: mailto:99info@cpwr.org