wfn.org | People Affected by HIV/AIDS Need Justice, not Sympathy

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Venezuelan Church Hosts HIV/AIDS Consultation for LWF Member
Churches in Latin America

CATIA LA MAR, Venezuela/GENEVA, 26 March 2003 (LWI) - The head of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Venezuela (IELV), has urged
Lutheran churches in Latin America to face the challenges posed by
the HIV/AIDS pandemic. "AIDS is a humanitarian disaster, and the
churches should not close their eyes to it," IELV President, Rev.
Akos Puky said.

He was speaking at a March 18-21 HIV/AIDS consultation for the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches in Latin America,
held in Catia la Mar near the Venezuelan capital Caracas.

Around 30 representatives of the LWF Latin American churches,
ecumenical observers and representatives of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) participated in the consultation at the
invitation of the IELV. The aim of the meeting was to start the
regional implementation of the Global LWF Campaign Against
HIV/AIDS, officially launched in May 2002 in the Kenyan capital
Nairobi, and to develop a concrete action plan for the LWF member
churches in the region. The January 2002 LWF HIV/AIDS Action Plan,
"Compassion, Conversion, Care: Responding as Churches to the
HIV/AIDS Pandemic," provides a basis for the Federation's
world-wide campaign.

Dr Deisy Matos, director of Venezuela's Ministry of Health program
on AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, was at the
consultation's opening ceremony. She stressed her country's
fundamental willingness to cooperate with all interested groups in
the fight against HIV/AIDS. "I look forward with particular
interest to the results of this consultation. We see good
possibilities for cooperation," she said. In her opening speech,
she referred to close cooperation with "Accion Ecumenica," an NGO
with strong ties to the IELV, which is also carrying out crucial
education work in cooperation with the heath ministry. The LWF
supports Accion Ecumenica's activities.

Matos emphasized the need for the introduction of affordable
generic drugs for AIDS treatment. "The State currently pays USD 27
million per year for the treatment of AIDS patients. In the
mid-term, not even an oil-exporting country like Venezuela can
keep that up," she said. She hopes that the churches, in
particular, will give decisive impetus to the world-wide
discussion on accessibility of HIV/AIDS drugs.

During his presentation, Rev. Lisandro Orlov of the United
Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELU) in Argentina and Uruguay
acknowledged the LWF Global Campaign Against HIV/AIDS and pointed
out that the Federation's work on HIV/AIDS started 15 years ago.
In March 1988, the publication "Pastoral Work in Relation to
AIDS," (LWF Documentation No. 25) was released in Kaiserswerth,
Germany following an LWF Consultation on "Pastoral Work in
Relation to AIDS."

Orlov underlined the particular significance of the churches'
pastoral responsibility and activities that focus on justice.
"Throughout my work and experience with people living with the
AIDS virus, not a single person asked for sympathy. What these
people need is not sympathy, but justice," said the Argentinean
pastor. Since 1986, Orlov has coordinated an IELU ecumenical
solidarity initiative for people with HIV/AIDS. Each year,
together with a team of 14 other pastors and volunteers, the group
has visited and counseled nearly 200 people living with HIV/AIDS.

Orlov also suggested a reinterpretation of the term "care," from
the title of the LWF HIV/AIDS campaign, to mean "intervention in
the spirit of solidarity." He spoke clearly in favor of churches
working to reduce the spread of the disease, including the use of
effective methods of prevention. "Restricting the church's
campaign to a mere preventative strategy would be as inappropriate
for the church as completely ignoring or rejecting it [HIV/AIDS]."

The task of the four-day consultation was to develop a regional
action plan, which will be voted on in April by the Conference of
Bishops and Presidents of the Lutheran Churches of Latin America.
The document will then be discussed at the LWF Latin American
Pre-Assembly Consultation, which will take place April 6-9 in San
Salvador, El Salvador.

All of the participants considered the presence of ecumenical
guests, representatives of regional NGOs, and people affected by
HIV/AIDS as an important and enriching experience. The
consultation organizers noted: "We have thus already implemented
at least part of the LWF Action Plan." They said that one of the
plan's objective is to break down the isolation in which churches
often work. Emphasis is on an approach that combines all open and
interested sectors of society.

The LWF global campaign aims to engage the member churches in an
open discussion about HIV/AIDS, and to promote their active and
courageous response to the pandemic. The Federation's action plan
provides for the support and resources, including financial
resources, to ensure an effective response to the disease.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human
rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and
development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is LWF's information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where
the dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the
material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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