History-making Anglican priest says Africa "has faith to believe it can defeat AIDS"

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

History-making Anglican priest says Africa "has
faith to believe it can defeat AIDS"

Posted On : August 25, 2010 5:36 PM | Posted By : Webmaster
ACNS: http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2010/8/25/ACNS4726
Related Categories: Africa

Rev Canon Gideon Byamugisha today called on the African bishops of the
Anglican Communion to take the lead in ensuring the HIV virus never
celebrates its 50th birthday in 2031.

Canon Gideon - who made history by being the first priest in Africa to
publically admit his HIV+ status - said bishops are in a prime
position to be leaders in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

Speaking as part of the All African Bishops Conference?s session on
the church?s role in improving healthcare in Africa, the celebrated
priest said the appeal specifically to leadership across the continent
was relatively new.

?One of the great things we?ve had [in the fight against AIDS] is a
message to give people: abstain, be faithful, use condoms. But we did
not have a message for leaders.?

Canon Gideon, Executive Director of the FOCAGIFO Hope Institute for
Transformational Leadership and Development, said that the traditional
message to the public - abstain, remain faithful, use condoms - was
not appropriate when talking with leaders about how they were
addressing the issue among their constituencies.

Instead he proposed asking two questions of all those in positions of
authority:

?    What are you doing to reduce the stigma, shame and denial about 
AIDS?
?  What do you have planned regarding promoting safe practices or
access to treatment or increase testing or empowerment of children,
youth, women, families, communities and nations?

Having travelled extensively around the continent he said he knows
there is the will to win the war on HIV and AIDS. ?Do we have that
faith to believe that we can defeat AIDS? From what I see?yes we can
defeat AIDS and we can do even before it celebrates its 50th birthday
in 2031.?

Canon Gideon said a recent meeting of retired bishops said they did
not want that anniversary celebrated and they told him they possessed
the means, the reach and the will to ?give AIDS a bloody nose.?

He then went on to issue several challenges to the almost 400 bishops
sitting before him. These included signing up to support the 2031
campaign: ?Help us by writing on a pledge form that ?I am one of the
leaders who does not want aids celebrating 50 years of life?.?

They also included a request for all African Anglican Communion
Provinces to mark 2011 World AIDS Day All Africa Solidarity
Enhancement Day of Prayer and Petitioning: ?We need a resolution about
prayer. When people are talking about needing billions of dollars, the
biggest resource we have is still prayer. We need to galvanise our 
prayer. ?

Other topics covered in the plenary session on health in Africa
included reviews of the biggest health threats to Africa, the problem
of inequality in Africa particularly as they relate to access to
healthcare; the lack of sufficient health funding and countries not
fulfilling their funding promises to improve healthcare on the
continent; and the challenge of maternal and child mortality.

Each presenter issued challenges to the bishops that as leaders of the
church in their nations they had the position, the influence and the
authority to ?speak truth to power? and to use what power they
themselves had to ensure every man, woman and child could enjoy life
in all its fullness.

> ENDS

> Notes to Editor

1. The 2nd All Africa Bishops Conference (AABC) from the 23rd ? 29th
August 2010 is at the Imperial Resort Hotel, Entebbe, Uganda. The
conference brings together Bishops from 400 dioceses in Burundi,
Central Africa, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Seychelles, Mauritius, Kenya,
Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, South
Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Tanzania, Egypt and Uganda. 
www.africanbishops. org

2. The Anglican Communion Office serves the Anglican Communion,
comprising around 80 million members in 44 regional and national
member churches around the globe in more than 160 countries.
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/

3. Media queries about the Anglican Communion relating to this
conference should contact Mr Jan Butter on +256(0)700882038 or
jan.butter@aco.org