World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org For immediate release - 31/08/2006 09:49:52 AM
ARCHBISHOP CALLS FOR KEY CHURCH ROLE IN GLOBAL AIDS FUND
The global fund for tackling HIV and AIDS should be distributed through churches because they have the best access to the populations affected.
That appeal was made during the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee meeting by the Most Rev. Bernard Ntahoturi, Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of Burundi, at a press briefing on the WCC's Ecumenical HIV/AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA).
Central Committee, meeting 30 August to 6 September in Geneva, is expected to make a statement on churches' compassionate response to HIV and AIDS, saying the world possesses the means to reverse the global epidemic and that churches have a unique and critical role to play.
EHAIA enables churches in Africa to gain access to the information, training, networks and funding they need to help deal with HIV/AIDS in their communities.
Archbishop Ntahoturi's call was repeated by Dr Agnes Abuom, from Kenya, who contributed to the founding of EHAIA. She said churches should advocate for access to resources through country coordinating mechanisms.
Dr Manoj Kurian, the WCC programme executive for health and healing, said EHAIA was responding to the burning needs of people. He said through its five EHAIA offices the WCC was making it possible for church leaders and their congregations to speak honestly about HIV and AIDS, formulate relevant liturgy and theology, and to act practically in response.
The programme was nurturing the strength available in Africa and drawing on the tenacity, love and compassion of people living with HIV and AIDS, he said.
Dr Abuom, a former WCC president, said through EHAIA the WCC was attempting to help restore hope and courage and address issues such as the church's presence and witness in Africa.
Critical issues, she said, were capacity building and making the church "HIV competent", so that it: · indicates clearly that stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS is against the will of God; · has a full understanding of the severity of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa; · takes into consideration pastoral, cultural and gender issues; and · uses its resources and structures to provide care, counselling and support for those affected.
She said the programme was a journey of faith, encouragement and advocacy that was helping the church address a very sensitive issue.
Other panelists at the press briefing said HIV/AIDS was reminding people of the collective responsibility they had for one another.
It provided an opportunity to discuss relations between human beings, acceptance of minorities and the issue of gender roles.
Archbishop Ntahoturi said the three major killers in Africa - HIV, malaria and conflicts - were preventable.
He made a call "to the Global Fund to look at the churches as partners, since we have resources on the ground to reach the people, sometimes much better than governments."
EHAIA, he said, had helped churches accept people living with AIDS as members of their communities. They had been able to fight stigma by saying, "These are our people."
The programme had also helped people retain some dignity by providing micro-credits for communities affected by poverty, he said.
The Rev. Moiseraele Prince Dibeela, from Botswana and deeply involved with the theological component of EHAIA, agreed with Archbishop Ntahoturi saying the church existed in every community.
He said the programme therefore was equipping pastors with knowledge about HIV and AIDS and with liturgical and pastoral skills, because life and death were theological issues.
"How do we preach about a loving God in the midst of so much suffering?" he asked.
He said the programme sought to develop a theology that spoke of life and a language to articulate faith and hope.
Panelists said major challenges remained, including poverty, human rights for people living with AIDS, and access to resources, including medicine and personnel.
Even in countries with medical facilities there was insufficient personnel, because health professionals also were contracting the disease.
The Ecumenical HIV/AIDS Initiative in Africa was set up in 2002 as a joint undertaking of African churches, Northern churches and agencies, and the World Council of Churches.
EHAIA Web site: http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/mission/ehaia-e.html
More information on the Central committee meeting is available on: http://www.oikoumene.org/en/events-sections/cc2006.html
Additional information: Juan Michel, +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
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The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.