wfn.org | LWF Global Campaign against HIV/AIDS Launched

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

Pan-African Lutheran Church Leaders Committed to "Breaking the
Silence"

NAIROBI, Kenya/GENEVA, 7 May 2002 (LWI) - A Global Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) Campaign against HIV/AIDS was officially launched
May 6 in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

The campaign process, inaugurated at the conclusion of a five-day
Pan-African Lutheran church leadership consultation on the
challenges of HIV/AIDS, recognized commitments by church leaders
-- bishops, presidents, women and youth -- to break the silence on
the disease.

"Silence and all forms of myths about the reality of HIV/AIDS
amount to an affront of what God has achieved for us in Christ,"
LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko told church leaders
representing the 27 LWF member churches in Africa.

The launching of a global LWF campaign against HIV/AIDS was
requested by the LWF Council at its June 2001 meeting. A January
2002 LWF Action Plan "Compassion, Conversion, Care" responding to
the pandemic, aims to engage LWF member churches in open
discussion about HIV/AIDS, and in so doing promote their active
and courageous response. The plan, presented during the
pan-African consultation also focuses on providing support and
financial resources to ensure effective response.

Noko lauded Africa's Lutheran church leadership for having
collectively taken a historic step by committing churches to a
process of seeking solutions that look beyond the capacity of "our
cultures" as well as those of the "theological traditions of our
churches."

The commitments include confession and acknowledgment that
although the churches are currently engaged in providing care and
support, the church leadership has too often contribute to
stigmatization and discrimination, and churches have not always
been safe or welcome places for people living with or affected by
HIV/AIDS. In some cases Holy Communion has been refused to people
living with HIV/AIDS, and funerals of people having died from AIDS
related illnesses have been denied.

The commitments "lead us to prioritize life," Noko noted as he
stressed the need to open "our churches, homes, institutions and
hearts, and to create opportunities to and for all those living
with HIV/AIDS."

A commitment to make churches healing communities through prayer
and action underlines the need to stop all forms of condemnation
and rejection and instead create an environment of openness and
acceptance. Pastors and lay leaders would be encouraged to speak
openly about HIV/AIDS, and be role models by respecting the
dignity and place of every individual in the community.

The church representatives committed themselves to prioritizing
education and to finding ways and means to educate themselves and
others in the church and community about HIV/AIDS. They will
affirm the dignity of women and men through teaching about human
sexuality and relationships, about love and mutual respect.

Emphasizing the need to turn stigma and discrimination into care
and counseling for those living with HIV/AIDS, the church leaders
pledged to encourage and support voluntary testing for the HIV
virus, and support those who test positive in living a full
quality of life as part of the community. The church
representatives said they would "strongly condemn sexual abuse"
and expressed "full solidarity" with all victims of such
violation. They committed themselves to finding ways to care for
AIDS orphans, child-headed households and widows.

On prevention, the church leaders said they would examine
attitudes and behavior that could "cause harm to our neighbor in
light of Lutheran ethics." Also, they would speak the truth about
the spread of HIV/AIDS and would "not stand in the way of the use
of effective methods of prevention."

Developing theological understanding of the HIV/AIDS challenges is
a major concern for the church leaders. They would specifically
deal with the problem of stigma and discrimination as an issue of
social justice. Also, they would ensure that HIV/AIDS issues are
adequately and contextually included in the curricula for
theological education and in lay leaders training and continuing
education. Relevant educational material would be developed for
Sunday schools, confirmation classes, church schools and other
church institutions.

On advocacy work, the church representatives said they would push
for accessible and affordable anti-retrovirals and opportunistic
infections drugs, and would ensure that church infrastructure and
resources are available to provide medical support and treatment.
They committed their churches to fight for just labor practices,
access to housing and education, and the eradication of
traditional or modern harmful practices.

There are other factors that contribute to the further spread of
HIV/AIDS. The African church leaders resolved to fight corruption
and hold their governments accountable for just distribution of
national and global resources as all this contributes to increased
poverty and further spread of HIV/AIDS.

The consultation was organized by the LWF Department for Mission
and Development and included participants from Asia, Europe, Latin
and North America. It was hosted by the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran
Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya. LWF churches in
Africa have a total membership of more than 10.5 million.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 133 member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5
million of the 64.3 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 the information service of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). 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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