Missionaries and AIDS

Church Involvement

Estimates vary, but recent figures suggest that the Catholic Church through its institutions provide 26.7% of all HIV/AIDS related services. This would rise to around 40% in Africa. In remote areas, these institutions would be the only service.

Missionary Involvement

Missionaries have been in the forefront of the efforts of the Church to combat the HIV/AIDS global pandemic, affecting over 40 million people. Missionaries established a vast network of hospitals, clinics, schools and orphanages in mission territories. This network gives the Church a valuable structure to directly deal with the challenges in preventing the transmission of HIV and in caring for AIDS patients. Some missionaries remain involved directly in these institutions but the majority are now under the authority of native priests and religious. May missionaries are involved with the local Church in efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and in caring for the victims. They also challenge the stigma which often accompanies those affected with HIV/AIDS.

AIDS in Africa

It is estimated that 22 million adults and children were living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa at the end of 2007. The vast majority of these are unaware that they are HIV positive. In 2007, an estimated 1.5 million Africans died from AIDS, leaving behind an estimated 11.6 million orphaned children. The Church uses its network of schools, parishes and catechetical gatherings to educated its people about the reality of HIV/AIDS and how it is contracted. 

The Pope and AIDS

Missionary involvement in the prevention and care of HIV/AIDS victims is encouraged by Pope Benedict XVI. 'The cure of the sick is an integral part of the mission of the Church. I encourage the many Church initiatives to eradicate this sickness. I feel close to AIDS sufferers and their families.'

Prevention

The Church in Africa has demonstrated that 'Behaviour Change' is possible and a key strategy in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Abstinence and Be Faithful strategies are effective in curbing the pandemic. The 2009 October African Synod had a reference to the fight against HIV/AIDS in its concluding statement:

'The Synod thanks all those who are generously involved in the apostolate of love and care of people infected and affected by it in Africa. This Synod with the Holy Father seriously warns that the problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics. We appeal to all who are genuinely interested in arresting the sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS to recognise the success already obtained by programmes that propose abstinence among those not yet married and fidelity among the married.'

Education for Life

An example is Education for Life (EFL), a process which began in Kenya but has now spread to other areas of Africa. As Sr Felicia Matola of the Franciscan Missionaries for Africa founded by Mother Kevin describes it: 'EFL is a home grown solution to an African crisis, inviting participation and frank discussion. It goes beyond information to insight, commitment and action, empowering people to take responsible decisions.'

Hospice

People will remember the story of Irish Passionist priest, Fr Kieran Creigh CP. He worked in the deprived South African township of Atteridgville, north of Pretoria. The incidence of AIDS had reached almost epidemic proportions. Inspired by what he had seen in the loving care of the dying in Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, Dublin, he built an 18 bed hospice, manned by a dedicated voluntary staff of retired nurses and carers. He was brutally beaten and shot during a late night robbery on the hospice. Yet, like the recent kidnapping of Fr Michael Sinnott, he returned after recuperation to his people and his hospice.

Care

Small Christian Communities have become deeply involved in the care of AIDS victims. As part of their living as Christians, they visit the houses of the sick, pray with them and offer financial help if needed and share their poverty. They arrange proper Christian funerals. They also attempt to care for the orphans arising from AIDS infected parents. Missionaries extend their care through various institutions. In Africa alone, the Catholic Church is involved in nearly 1000 hospitals, over 5000 dispensaries and 800 orphanages.

Society of Missionary Children

The Society of Missionary Children provides support for many orphanages in the Young Churches. In 2009, the Irish SMC Office was able to assist AIDS orphanages in South Africa. As a missionary in Chad notes: 'Working with child victims of HIV/AIDS is not just a matter of receiving funds for medicine. It is a matter of caring for each individual child in the face of their fears and tears; a matter of remembering their names, giving them a hug and a hope.'

If you would like to find out more about the official Catholic charity for supporting children in overseas missions, the Society of Missionary Children, or you would like to make a donation please visit www.wmi.ie. Alternatively you can write to World Missions, Ireland, 64 Lower Rathmines Road, Dublin 6