ELCA NEWS SERVICE
July 20, 2012
ELCA, Episcopal bishops say 2012 is a defining moment for HIV, AIDS
12-48-MRC
CHICAGO (ELCA) - The presiding bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) and the Episcopal Church welcome the 20,000
people traveling from 200 countries to the United States for the 2012
International AIDS Conference taking place July 22-27 in Washington, D.C.
In a letter to participants, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson
and Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori commended the
Obama administration for lifting the travel constraints "that for more
than two decades prevented HIV-positive persons, including Lutherans and
Anglicans, and all others living with HIV or AIDS, from traveling to the
United States."
They wrote that it is faith-based advocates who played a key role in
facilitating this change. A group of members of The Lutheran World
Federation will attend the conference. The ELCA is the federation's only
church member from the United States.
"AIDS 2012 can be a defining moment for the history of engagement
with HIV and AIDS. Promising new scientific advances and global
investments now make it possible to turn the tide on HIV and AIDS, with
new hope for a cure and the end of AIDS within our reach," the presiding
bishops wrote.
"Yet the pandemic is far from over," they wrote, since 34 million
people around the world are living with HIV or AIDS and infection rates
are growing in many parts of the world. Each year 50,000 new cases of HIV
infection are reported in the United States alone.
"HIV infection is part and parcel of the harmful cycles of poverty,
which include homelessness, malnutrition, sexual violence, and
incarceration," the leaders wrote.
"Vulnerable populations, including low-income communities, ethnic
minorities, adolescents and youth, girls and women, sex workers, injected
drug users, and men who have sex with men continue to face higher rates
of infection and often have less access to affordable, life-sustaining
treatments. This makes them even more susceptible to the debilitating
effects of poverty," they wrote.
Hanson and Schori urge the United States to continue its effort "to
turn the tide on this pandemic. Our government must redouble efforts and
strengthen funding for strong, comprehensive HIV and AIDS programs."
They said such programs include the global President's Emergency
Plan for AIDS Relief and domestic programs that provide affordable access to antiretroviral treatments, palliative care, health services,
nutritious foods, HIV testing and counseling, and harm-reduction programs
for drug users.
"God also calls us, as members of the global body of Christ, to
serve those who are suffering with HIV and AIDS with respect, support,
and compassion," Hanson and Schori wrote.
"Our churches must work to shatter the silence, stigma, and
discrimination that perpetuate the invisibility of HIV-positive Lutherans
and Episcopalians in our denominations, and continue to push them into
the shadows of their own congregations," they said, adding that they will
join in "unflagging work toward effective prevention, treatment, and care
for all living with HIV or AIDS, tailored to the unique needs, culture,
ethnicity, and identity of any given group.
"We praise God for this global opportunity to turn the tide on AIDS--in our pews and our communities, in our denominations and in our state
governments, in our Lutheran and Anglican global church bodies and with
our interfaith partners -- that the body of Christ may, within our
lifetimes, be HIV-free," Hanson and Schori wrote.
The ELCA and the Episcopal Church have been full communion partners
since 1999. The relationship allows both churches to keep their autonomy
and structures yet work together in mission, witness and the
interchangeability of members and clergy.
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United
States, with 4.2 million members in 10,000 congregations across the 50
states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work.
Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in
Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's
roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Melissa Ramirez Cooper
773-380-2956 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.ELCA.org/news
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Living Lutheran: http://www.livinglutheran.com
