HIV / AIDS Education

HIV / AIDS Education September 2010

Featured Resource

The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in HIV Prevention and Care in Central America
By Kathryn Pitkin Derose, David Kanouse, et al

This book describes the involvement of churches and other faith-based organizations (FBOs) in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. It describes the range of FBO activities and discusses the facilitators and barriers to such involvement and possible ways that FBOs can increase their efforts.

ISBN: 0-8330-4953-7, 122 pages, paperback, $24
Rand Corporation Publications
www.rand.org/pubs

There is hope.

This month’s ARTICLE is by Fr. John Flynn entitled, Searching for Solutions to AIDS. The article comments on a recent book published by the National Catholic Bioethics Center which looks at why efforts to stop the spread of the HIV virus in Africa have had so little success and how this is linked to the reliance on condoms.

Recent Articles

● August 2010
Holy See on Fighting AIDS: We Need to Provide People with More Than Knowledge
Archbishop Celestino Migliore

● July 2010
DHAP News
Center for Disease Control

● June 2010
Cyndi Lauper, Lady Gaga Put Spotlight on Women and HIV
E.J. Mundell

● May 2010
Religions Unite Against AIDS
Mariaelena Finessi

● April 2010
~~For Catholic AIDS Ministers, No Topic is Taboo~~
~~Karen Osborne~~
This article is no longer available online.

● March 2010
A Catholic Response
Caritas

Educational seminars

Bro. Damien Lunders, SVD addressed the Techny community on September 15, 2009 regarding his ministry at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help AIDS Center in Nong Bua Lamphu, Thailand. The Center provides children’s and home visitation programs, education and awareness programs for AIDS prevention among the youth, and a number of other outreach ministries aimed at bringing the love and compassion of Christ to those living with HIV and AIDS.

In response to Province Policy #180 on HIV/AIDS, the Education Secretariat conducted a third Province-wide educational seminar series in 2007-2008.

Mr. Daniel Lunney, former Executive Director of the National Catholic AIDS Network, addressed the East Troy and Techny communities on December 6, 2007 and February 26, 2008 respectively while Jean Muratore, R.N. offered a presentation at Bordentown on May 21, 2008. A fourth and final presentation took place at Miramar on October 7, 2008 when “Peter,” a person living with AIDS, gave the community a brief history of the epidemic and shared his own personal story.

Province Policy #181 (below) calls all members of the Chicago Province to take personal responsibility for educating themselves in the matter of HIV/AIDS, a tragic fact of life and one of the major social, economic, and ethical issues of our day. Our basic humanness and our Catholic values call us to respond to all people suffering from HIV/AIDS with an unconditional and compassionate love, and to work for a just and humane response to this epidemic.

181 Education
181.1	Education has to be a key element in our response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We must educate ourselves and also those to whom we minister with the most effective means available.
	181.1.1	The Provincial Council will provide itself with an educational process concerning these issues.
	181.1.2	The Secretary of Education, Recruitment and Formation will encourage the entire Province to engage in similar processes. He will provide communities and Province leadership with resources and guidelines for this.
	181.1.3	Every house and district in the Province will devote community meetings to discussing issues, attitudes and feelings concerning the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the broader issues involved (health, healing, coping with illness, death, sexuality, homosexuality, etc.)
	181.1.4	Every confrere is called to take personal responsibility for educating himself in this matter.