"As late as the 1988 Lambeth Conference, bishops from Africa were denying that there was a disease called AIDS". The situation has changed now and the Cape Town joint meeting passed a resolution "that calls for a universal response to AIDS". Several African churches, including those of Uganda and Tanzania have developed AIDS education and prevention programs.
"Sunday, Oct. 21, has been designated the Day of Prayer for AIDS". Editorial quotes Episcopal Bishop Douglas Theuner who has said that "the enormity and the universality of the AIDS pandemic can be seen as a challenge to the church to follow Jesus'practice of healing without 'quid pro quo'; to reach out in practical care and concern beyond those who adhere to its own tenets".
Article also translated into French on page 6 as "L'Eglise reconnait l'impact du SIDA".
The author describes the actions of Anglicans in Africa to break the silence surrounding AIDS. In August 2001 the All African Anglican AIDS Workshop met in South Africa. The Conference of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA) has endorsed the Action Plan from the Workshop and announced plans to hire a Coordinator to work within CAPA on "AIDS-related programmes by pursuing strategic planning, collaborative partnerships and the implementation of responses to develop the capacity of the Provinces". Provinces are urged to remember those who have died from AIDS on November 2nd, All Saints Day. A Conference for Church Leaders, living with HIV/AIDS is planned for Zimbabwe in 17-25 November 2001, led by the Rev. Gideon Byamugisha, from Uganda, who is himself living with AIDS. The secular world, increasingly hosted by churches and other religious institutions observes World AIDS Day on 1 December.
Twenty-two members of the Commission from every corner of the Anglican Communion gathered at the Kempton Park Conference Centre in South Africa for the first meeting of the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Mission and Even. The group heard presentations about the reality of AIDS in South Africa and heard that "last year 250,000 South Africans died from AIDS. This number will double in six years". The group published a document entitled "A Call" and invited all dioceses, parishes and local churches, to consider the document and send their responses to the Mission Department of the Anglican Communion Office. [Full text of document reproduced here.]
Also includes an "HIV/AIDS -Factfile" and brief reports from USPG supported health projects in Malawi, South Africa and Zambia.
"We, the Anglican Communion across Africa, pledge ourselves to promise that future generations will be born and live free from AIDS". "Over 35 leaders, among them Provincial Secretaries and AIDS Co-ordinators from all the 12 African Provinces and the Diocese of Egypt, attended the weeklong workshop at the Ankrah Foundation in Mukono [from 26 January to 1 February 2003]."
That the Council of General Synod ask the Primate to write to the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa, to the Primates in Africa, and to the Primates in Asia, expressing the Anglican Church of Canada's solidarity with those bishops, clergy and lay people reaching out to people living with HIV/AIDS, not as objects of charity but as equal partners. CARRIED #31-11-04