Jump to content

Catholic Church and HIV/AIDS: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→‎Medical care for AIDS patients: Not sure how to cite Kindles, an an hour searching hasn't been much help. Would appreciate being pointed in the right direction if there is one.
Line 327: Line 327:
==Works cited==
==Works cited==
*{{cite book|last= Gravend-Tirole|first=Xavier|editor=Sharma, Arvind |title=The World's Religions after September 11 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uZNxDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA123|accessdate=8 May 2020|date=30 November 2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-275-99622-2|chapter=Catholicism and the AIDS Pandemic}}
*{{cite book|last= Gravend-Tirole|first=Xavier|editor=Sharma, Arvind |title=The World's Religions after September 11 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uZNxDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA123|accessdate=8 May 2020|date=30 November 2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-275-99622-2|chapter=Catholicism and the AIDS Pandemic}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last=Jacquineau|editor-first=Azetsop|last=Egan|first=Anthony|chapter=Global Health, AIDS, and the Catholic Church in Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hl3ADAAAQBAJ&newbks=0|title=HIV & AIDS In Africa: Christian Reflection, Public Health, Social Transformation|date=15 September 2016|publisher=[[Orbis Books]]|isbn=978-1-60833-671-5}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last=Jacquineau|editor-first=Azetsop|last=Egan|first=Anthony|chapter=Global Health, AIDS, and the Catholic Church in Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hl3ADAAAQBAJ&newbks=0|title=HIV & AIDS In Africa: Christian Reflection, Public Health, Social Transformation|date=15 September 2016|publisher=[[Orbis Books]]|isbn=978-1-60833-671-5|version=[[Kindle]] edition}}
*{{cite book|ref={{harvid|Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education|1993}}|author1=National Research Council|author2=Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education|author3=Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education|author4=Panel on Monitoring the Social Impact of the AIDS Epidemic|title=The Social Impact of AIDS in the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_udx9hESKgC|accessdate=21 May 2020|date=1 February 1993|publisher=National Academies Press|isbn=978-0-309-04628-2}}
*{{cite book|ref={{harvid|Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education|1993}}|author1=National Research Council|author2=Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education|author3=Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education|author4=Panel on Monitoring the Social Impact of the AIDS Epidemic|title=The Social Impact of AIDS in the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_udx9hESKgC|accessdate=21 May 2020|date=1 February 1993|publisher=National Academies Press|isbn=978-0-309-04628-2}}
*{{cite book|ref=harv|last=O'Rourke, OP|first=Kevin D. |title=Medical Ethics: Sources of Catholic Teachings, Fourth Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=015h9lpC-DYC&pg=PA58|accessdate=25 May 2020|date=13 April 2011|publisher=Georgetown University Press|isbn=1-58901-756-0}}
*{{cite book|ref=harv|last=O'Rourke, OP|first=Kevin D. |title=Medical Ethics: Sources of Catholic Teachings, Fourth Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=015h9lpC-DYC&pg=PA58|accessdate=25 May 2020|date=13 April 2011|publisher=Georgetown University Press|isbn=1-58901-756-0}}

Revision as of 02:27, 8 June 2020

Main article: Catholic Church and health care

Catholic theology of sexuality prohibits the use of artificial contraception, including condoms, which can be effective in helping to prevent transition of the HIV virus on an individual level. Instead, the Church argues for abstinence before marriage and being faithful to one's spouse as the preferred methods for halting the pandemic. This position has been criticized by some public health officials and AIDS activists.

The Catholic Church has been involved in the care of HIV/AIDS patients since the earliest days of the pandemic. As one of the largest providers of care on the planet, it treats those who are sick, helps to stop the transmission, offers pastoral care to those who are infected, and cares for orphans whose parents have died of the disease. Due in part to its focus on social justice, much of the church's work is focused on the developing world, though programs exist in the Global North as well. The Vatican periodically hosts conferences on HIV/AIDS care for experts and pharmaceutical executives.

Catholic views on condoms

Main article: Catholic theology of sexuality § Contraception

The Roman Catholic Church's opposition to contraception includes a prohibition on condoms.[1][2][3] It believes that chastity should be the primary means of preventing the transmission of AIDS.[4] The Church's stance has been criticized as unrealistic, ineffective, irresponsible and immoral by some public health officials and AIDS activists,[4][5][6][5] who note that condoms prevent the transmission of HIV.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

The use of condoms specifically to prevent the spread of AIDS has involved Catholic theologians arguing both sides.[13][14][15] Pope Benedict XVI pointed out that when a prostitute uses a condom "with the intention of reducing the risk of infection, can be a first step in a movement towards a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality."[16][17] He said that the concern for others suggested by this action is laudable, but does not mean that either prostitution or condoms are in themselves good.[18][19][17]

John Paul II

Pope John Paul II upheld the church's traditional prohibition on condoms.[20]

In September 1990, John Paul II visited the small town of Mwanza, in northern Tanzania, and gave a speech that many believe set the tone for the AIDS crisis in Africa.[21] John Paul II said that condoms were a sin in any circumstance.[21] He lauded family values and praised fidelity and abstinence as the only true ways to combat the disease.[21] In December 1995, the Pontifical Council for the Family issued guidelines saying that "parents must also reject the promotion of so-called "safe sex" or "safer sex," a dangerous and immoral policy based on the deluded theory that the condom can provide adequate protection against AIDS."[22]

John Paul's position was harshly criticized by some doctors and AIDS activists who said that it led to deaths and millions of AIDS orphans.[20] It was also suggested that his position on condoms also cost him the Nobel Peace Prize, which he was widely expected to receive.[23]

Benedict XVI

In 1988, a debate within the Catholic Church over the use of condoms to prevent AIDS sparked an intervention from Rome. The Church in 1968 had already stated in Humanae Vitae that chemical and barrier methods of contraception went against Church teachings. The debate was over the different issue of whether or not condoms could be used, not as contraceptives, but as a means of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. In 1987, the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a document suggesting that education on the use of condoms could be an acceptable part of an anti-AIDS program.

In response, Joseph Ratzinger, then-Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated that such an approach "would result in at least the facilitation of evil," not merely its toleration.[a]. Some critics argued that Ratzinger's approach would lead to increases in the frequency of HIV/AIDS infections, while many Catholics dispute this and emphasize the value of faithful relationships or chastity.[citation needed] In 2005, Benedict listed several ways to combat the spread of HIV, including chastity, fidelity in marriage and anti-poverty efforts; he also rejected the use of condoms.[24]

In 2009, Benedict stated that "if there is no human dimension, if Africans do not help [by responsible behaviour], the problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics: on the contrary, they increase it" and reiterated his view that "the solution must have two elements: firstly, bringing out the human dimension of sexuality, that is to say a spiritual and human renewal that would bring with it a new way of behaving towards others, and secondly, true friendship offered above all to those who are suffering, a willingness to make sacrifices and to practise self-denial, to be alongside the suffering."[25]

Also in 2005, a senior research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health, Edward C. Green, stated that while "in theory, condom promotions ought to work everywhere ... that's not what the research in Africa shows."[26] Green also indicated that strategies that worked in Africa were "strategies that break up these multiple and concurrent sexual networks – or, in plain language, faithful mutual monogamy or at least reduction in numbers of partners, especially concurrent ones."[26] He was sharply criticized for these[27] and other comments, including by the president of the International AIDS Society.[28]

Law of gradualness

In 2010, comments Benedict made in an interview with journalist Peter Seewald regarding condom use attracted attention in the media. In the context of an extended discussion on the help the Church is giving AIDS victims and the need to fight the banalization of sexuality, and in response to the charge that "It is madness to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms", Benedict stated:

There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality.[29]

This explanation was interpreted by many as a change of tack by the Vatican[30] which necessitated a clarification from the Vatican that "the pope does not morally justify the disordered exercise of sexuality, but maintains that the use of the condom to diminish the danger of infection may be "a first assumption of responsibility," as opposed to not using the condom and exposing the other person to a fatal risk.[31] As John Haas, the president for the American National Catholic Centre for Bioethics, noted, Benedict did not address the issue of whether condoms are effective at preventing HIV transmission. The new statement from Benedict was criticized by conservative Catholics such as Jimmy Akin, who described Benedict's statements as "private opinions" as opposed to "official Church teaching."[32]

Francis

After his first trip to Africa, in which he spoke little on AIDS but visited with children at a hospital infected with HIV, Francis dismissed the question of whether or not condoms should be used to fight transmission.[33] An annoyed Francis, said AIDS and the churches views on condom usage were small issues compared to a lack of clean water and malnutrition.[33]

Dissent

There have been a number of Catholics and theologians who have dissented from the Church's position on the use of condoms.[34]

A number of episcopal conferences have suggested that condom use may be acceptable in some circumstances to prevent AIDS. One of the first episcopal conferences to take such a stance was the Bishops' Conference of France which asserted in 1989 that the "whole population and especially the young should be informed of the risks. Prophylactic measures exist."[citation needed] In 1996, the Social Commission of the French Bishops' Conference said that condom use "can be understood in the case of people for whom sexual activity is an ingrained part of their lifestyle and for whom [that activity] represents a serious risk."[35][36] In 1993, the German Bishops' Conference noted: "In the final analysis, human conscience constitutes the decisive authority in personal ethics ... consideration must be given ... to the spread of AIDS. It is a moral duty to prevent such suffering, even if the underlying behavior cannot be condoned in many cases. ...The church ... has to respect responsible decision-making by couples."[37]

Carlo Maria Martini, the archbishop of Milan, opined that when one spouse has HIV but the other does not that using condoms could be considered "a lesser evil."[38][39] But he quickly noted that one thing is the principle of the lesser evil in such cases, and quite another the subject who has to convey those things publicly, thus it is not up to the Church authorities to support condom use publicly, because of "the risk of promoting an irresponsible attitude."[40]

Kevin Dowling, bishop of Rustenburg, South Africa, believes that the Catholic Church should reverse its position on the use of condoms to prevent HIV transmission.[41] Following this, he received a number of rebukes from the South African papal nuncio. The bishop's conference condemned his words, describing condoms as "an immoral and misguided weapon" in the fight against HIV, and argued that condom use could even encourage the spread of HIV by promoting extramarital sex.[42]

Criticism from outside the church

The Church's stance has been criticized as unrealistic, ineffective, irresponsible and immoral by some public health officials and AIDS activists.[4][5][6][5] Empirical evidence suggests that condoms reduce the numbers of those who are infected with an STD, including HIV.[7][8][9][10][11][12] Some researchers claim that the primary challenge is getting people to use condoms all the time.[43]

Edward C. Green disagreed, saying that empirical evidence showed higher, not lower, rates of HIV infection when condoms were made more available.[44] James Shelton, of the US Agency for International Development, said that one of the ten damaging myths about the fight against AIDS is that condoms are the answer. "Condoms alone have limited impact in generalised epidemics [as in Africa]," Shelton wrote.[45]

Some researchers claim that abstinence-only sex education does not work, and comprehensive sex education should be used instead.[46][47][48] For instance, it is claimed that abstinence only education fails to decrease people's risks of transmitting STDs in the developed world.[49]

Medical care for AIDS patients

St Vincent's Hospital, New York, was one of many Catholic health institutions to pioneer AIDS treatment.

The Catholic Church, with over 117,000 health centers, is the largest private provider of HIV/AIDS care.[50][51] While not allowing the use of condoms,[52] Catholic Church-related organizations provide more than 25% of all HIV treatment, care, and support throughout the world,[53][50][54] with 12% coming from Catholic Church organizations and 13% coming from Catholic non-governmental organizations.[55] In 2008, the Church spent a total of €180 million ($235 million) on AIDS care, according to Caritas Internationalis.[50]

The care provided includes, according to the Vatican, 5,000 hospitals, 18,000 dispensaries, and 9,000 orphanages.[53][56] Medical facilities range from "clinics in the deepest jungle to large urban hospitals in the developing world."[52] Much of the Church's aid effort is concentrated in developing nations – in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.[57][58] Catholic medical centers work to both treat those already infected and make effort to prevent the spread of the disease. Catholic hospitals were among the first to treat HIV/AIDS patients[59][60] in the early 1980s.[61]

United States

By 2008, Catholic Charities USA had 1,600 agencies providing services to AIDS sufferers, including housing and mental health services.[57] The Archdiocese of New York opened a shelter for AIDS patients in 1985.[62] In the same year, they also opened a hotline for people to call for resources and information.[62] The Missionaries of Charity, led by Mother Teresa, opened hospices in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York, Washington D.C., and San Francisco in the 1980s as well.[63][62] Individual parishes also began opening hospices for AIDS patients.[b][62][64]

Australia

AIDS arrived in Australia in the 1980s. Soon after, the Sisters of Charity began to admit patients suffering from the new disease at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, in Sydney's inner city, which became a world leader in HIV research.[65] However, despite its geographic proximity to the infected community, it was reported that the atmosphere at St Vincent's was initially homophobic in the early 1980s, but hospital administrators took action to correct the situation.[66]


John Paul II

There were some church authorities who considered HIV/ADIS a possible retribution for sin, but John Paul II rejected prejudice against those infected with it.[67] His first public meeting with AIDS patients was at Mission Dolores in San Francisco's Castro district during his 1987 pastoral trip to the United States.[68][69] In a city hit especially hard by the AIDS pandemic, he assured those in attendance of God's love and embraced them both physically and verbally.[68][70][69] One of those he hugged was a four year old boy who had contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion.[71][70] Doing so, according to Xavier Gravend-Tirole, "countered the mistaken reasoning the HIV pandemic might represent God's displeasure with sinners."[69]

On the same trip, he spoke of AIDS repeatedly and urged people to have compassion for those with it.[70] He also compared healthcare workers to the Good Samaritan, saying they must "show the love and compassion Christ and His church" to those with AIDS.[72] "Those who suffer from AIDS, even in their unique pathology, are entitled to receive adequate health care, respectful comprehension and complete solidarity, just like every other ailing person," the John Paul II said. John Paul II also assailed "every form of discrimination" against AIDS patients.[73]

Francis

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis visited a hospice on Holy Thursday to wash and kiss the feet of 12 AIDS patients.[74] While attending World Youth Day in Panama, he visited a Church-run home for those infected with HIV.[75] The trip was intended to reduce the stigma of having HIV/AIDS, which is strong in that country.[75]

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

See also: HIV in the United States

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops was the first church body to address the pandemic in 1987 with a document entitled "On "The Many Faces of AIDS: A Gospel Response."[69] The document called discrimination against people with AIDS "unjust and immoral."[76] It also rejected extra-martial sex and the use of condoms to halt the spread of the disease.[76] They reiterated the Church's teaching that human sexuality was a gift and was to be used in monogamous marriages.[76]

In Always Our Children, their 1997 pastoral letter on homosexuality, the American bishops noted "an importance and urgency" to minister to those with AIDS, especially considering the impact it had on the gay community.[77][page needed] Also in the 1980s, the bishops of the United States issued a pastoral letter, "A Call to Compassion," saying those with AIDS "deserve to remain within our communal consciousness and to be embraced with unconditional love."[72]

While insisting that there was a personal responsibility to avoid risky behavior, American bishops rejected the notion that there may be "innocent" or "guilty" victims of the virus.[78] Anyone with the disease, whether acquired through a tainted blood transfusion, hetero- or homosexual sex, drug use, or otherwise, should be afforded the same care and compassion.[78]

Other bishops

In 1987, the bishops of California issued a document saying that just as Jesus loved and healed lepers, the blind, the lame, and others, so too should Catholics care for those with AIDS.[62] The year before, they publicly denounced Proposition 64, a measure pushed by Lyndon H. LaRouche to forcibly quarantine those with AIDS, and encouraged Catholics to vote against it.[63]

Individual dioceses around the United States began hiring staff in the 1980s to coordinate AIDS ministry.[79] Joseph L. Bernardin, the Archbishop of Chicago, issued a 12 page policy paper in 1986 that outlined "sweeping pastoral initiatives" his archdiocese would be undertaking.[63]

On 9 January 1989, the French bishops issued "AIDS: Solidarity and Personal Responsibility."[80]

Organizations

With the spread of the disease to North America, the Church in the United States established the National Catholic AIDS Network to provide care to AIDS patients, their families, and loved ones.[78] The Network hosted conferences and served as a clearinghouse of information to Catholic AIDS ministries.[78] The National Catholic Educational Association published materials beginning in 1988 for use in elementary, secondary, and college classes.[78]

Vatican AIDS Conferences

1989 conference

In 1989, the Vatican held a conference on AIDS.[81][82][76] The three day affair drew over 1,000 delegates, including church leaders and the world's top scientists and AIDS researchers, from 85 countries.[81][73] It included Robert Gallo, the co-discoverer of HIV, Nobel Prize winners, theologians, hospital administrators, and psychologists to develop a pandemic response that was total, spiritual, cultural, psychological, and medical.[83][84]

At the opening session of the conference, Cardinal John O'Connor urged the public to be treated with respect and not as public health hazards, as outcasts, or shunned and left to die.[81][73][82] This included, he said, those in prison who were often put in solitary confinement until they died.[81] O'Connor also reiterated his opposition to condoms as a method to prevent the transition of HIV.[81]

The conference was briefly halted when John White, an Irish born priest, was detained outside.[84] White, who contracted HIV while serving as a missionary in Kenya, held a sign stating "The Church Has AIDS."[84] He was later readmitted to the conference.[84]

At the closing of the conference, John Paul II called for a global plan to combat AIDS and pledged the full support of the Catholic Church for those who were battling it.[73][85][76] The Church, he said, was "called upon as a protagonist in this new area of human suffering."[86] Doing so, he said, was fundamental to the mission of the Church.[73] He said the church was called to both help prevent the spread of the disease and to care for those infected with it.[86] He also deplored what he viewed as the destructive behavors that spread the disease.[76] Following the conference, James M. Graham, an American priest, as appointed as the president of the newly formed International Christian AIDS Network.[85] The network was charged with providing information to priests around the world on HIV and AIDS.[85]

At a meeting of the bishops of the United States just prior to the Vatican conference, the American bishops overwhelmingly adopted a statement on HIV/AIDS entitled "Called to Compassion and Responsibility: A Response to the HIV/AIDS Crisis."[87][88] The statement made several points, including calling for the best medical and scientific information, the need for HIV-infected people to be treated with care and compassion, and the need for greater education to inform the public about the disease.[87] The bishops also called for additional resources, both medical and pastoral, to people with AIDS, and for their civil rights to be protected.[85][89]

It also reiterated traditional Catholic sexual morality and rejected condoms and needle exchange programs as methods to halt the spread,[88][90] though the portion on condoms made up only a small portion of the document.[89] The statement said that treating AIDS patients with compassion was "the only authentic Gospel response"[88] and condemned discrimination or violence against people with AIDS.[85] It rejected the notion that AIDS was to be seen as a punishment from God, and efforts to soften the language were unsuccessful for fear that it could be used as a pretense to harm LBGT people or might be seen as portraying HIV as "God's revenge."[88]

2011 conference

In May 2011, the Vatican sponsored another international conference with the theme of "The Centrality of Care for the Person in the Prevention and Treatment of Illnesses Caused by HIV/AIDS", during which church officials continued teaching that condoms were immoral and ineffective"[91][92] Due to sometimes conflicting comments by Benedict, who did not attend the conference, AIDS activists had hoped for a change in the Churches outlook on the use of condoms but they were disappointed.[92] Experts in the field discussed 'people-centered approaches' to prevent HIV transmition, treatment and care of those infected with it, and economic support to those in greatest need.[91] Attendees included theologians, health officials and AIDS researchers.[92]

Zygmunt Zimowski, President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers, called for a holistic approach to HIV prevention and treatment, while also stressing victims behavior as a cause "Were promiscuity not endemic, HIV wouldn't be an epidemic."[91][92] He said it could not simply be considered a medical or public health issue.[91]

Church officials also condemned the fact that those in poorer parts of the world receive substandard medical care.[92]

Social justice

Across the globe, Catholic authorities have spoken out and written about the need for the Church to address the AIDS pandemic in a manner consistent with its mission.[76] At the 1989 Vatican Conference on AIDS, John Paul II declared that "AIDS has by far many more profound repercussions of a moral, social, economic, juridical and structural nature, not only on individual families and in neighbourhood communities, but also on nations and on the entire community of peoples…."[86] During a 1990 visit to Dar es Salaam in East Africa, which had one of the highest rates of AIDS infections in all of Africa, he urged the world to work on behalf of AIDS patients and to promote "the true well-being of the human family."[93] Likewise, he condemned the public authorities, which, out of either indifference, condemnation, or discrimination, did not act to alleviate their suffering.[93] Archbishop Fiorenzo Angelini, the convention's convener, said "victims are our brothers and we should not sit in judgement of them."[84]

During the 2001 Special Session of the United Nations on HIV/AIDS, John Paul II wrote that AIDS was "not only a health problem, since the disease has tragic consequences for the social, economic, and political life of peoples."[94] He also raised special concern about the transmission of the virus from mother to child and access to medical care and life saving medications.[94] During an international day of dialogue and education, John Paul II said that those with AIDS should be considered "our brothers and sisters" who were deserving of society's special consideration and support.[76]

Cláudio Hummes, then-Archbishop of São Paulo, speaking at the 2003 Plenary Session of the United Nations on the Implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, criticized pharmacuetical companies for making medications prohibitively expensive for many of the world's poorest.[94]

Ethicist Lisa Sowle Cahill has said that the "primary cause of the spread of this horrendous disease is poverty. Related barriers to AIDS prevention are racism; the low status of women; and an exploitative global economic system which influences marketing of medical resources."[95] Medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer and David Walton, along with priest and moral theologian Kevin T. Kelly, have all argued that to address the AIDS crisis that society must also address poverty and the low status of women.[95] Their arguments, along with others published in Catholic Ethicists on HIV/AIDS Prevention, examined the issue of HIV/AIDS in the context of social justice considerations.[54][96]

In 1989, the United States Bishops Conference, in an attempt to move the discourse around AIDS from a medical context to a social one, said AIDS was "a product of human actions in social contexts... shaped by larger cultural and social structures."[97] They placed the epidemic in a different context than how many public health officials typically considered the issue.[97] Arguing that social factors, including historic political and social oppression and marginalization of infected populations, played a role in the spread of the pandemic was similar to those being made by left-leaning AIDS theorists.[97] The said several social factors, including changing sexual mores, economic poverty, and the drug use that often accompanies it, were driving causes of the epidemic.[98] The bishops said to ignore these issues when addressing AIDS was not only intellectually dishonest but also unfair to those in risk-prone populations.[98]

2016 meetings with pharmaceutical companies

According to the Catholic News Service, Church officials have consistently lobbied drug makers and governments in poor nations to increase provision of antiretroviral medicines to children.[99] Francis invited pharmaceutical executives to meetings in Rome with Pontifical Academy of Sciences officials and representatives from the United Nations and the United States.[99][100]At the meeting, UNAIDS Director of the Community Support, Social Justice, and Inclusion Program Deborah Von Zinkernagel reminded church officials that it was also important to work to lessen the stigma of having AIDS.[100]

Church officials recognized that there was not a great deal of profit to be made in selling drugs to this demographic, so they instead made moral arguments for why the companies should work in this area.[99][100] Following those meetings in April and May 2016, new targets were written into a document signed at the United Nations' High-Level Meeting on Ending AIDS in June.[99] The targets called for getting medications to 1.6 million children within two years.[99]

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a United States government agency that funds global AIDS response efforts, and the World Council of Churches credited the series of meetings with making progress in an area where previous efforts had stalled.[100] Within a year the program expanded to include getting diagnostic equipment into poor and remote areas of sub-Saharan Africa so that children and their parents could learn their HIV status.[100]

Priests with AIDS

See also: Homosexual clergy in the Catholic Church

In the 1980s, dioceses in the United States varied in how they responded to clergy with AIDS.[101][102] Some were compassionate while others ostracized those infected.[102][101] There was no national policy on how to handle priests with AIDS at the time, but a spokesman for the bishops conference said the church should not be punitive but rather provide them with the same care and support as any other sick person.[101] In 1998, evidence suggested that the vast majority of priests with AIDS were treated with dignity and provided ample medical care.[103] In 2005, most dioceses offered health care and housing to priests with AIDS until their deaths.[104] There is no global policy on how to handle priests with AIDS.[104]

In 1987, at least 12 of the 57,000 priests in the United States had died of AIDS.[101][102] By 2001, over 300 priests had died of AIDS.[105][104] In 2000, the Kansas City Star released a three-part report that claimed priests were dying of AIDS at a rate four times greater than the general population.[105][106] The report gained widespread coverage in the media, but the study was criticized as being unrepresentative and having "little, if any, real value."[106] The total number of priests who have or have died of AIDS is unknown, partly due to their desire to keep their diagnoses confidential, and estimates vary widely.[104]

Many priests acquired the disease by having sex with other men.[105][104] Others became infected while working as missionaries in parts of the world with poor health practices and systems.[104] In the past, seminaries did not teach anything to seminarians how to handle their sexuality.[104] This was, according to Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, a "failure on the part of the church" that led to priests dealing with it in unhealthy ways.[104] A 1972 report found that most a large majority of priests did not have a healthy sexual identity and were psychologically underdeveloped.[104] Many dioceses and religious orders now require applicants to take an HIV test before being admitted as a seminarian.[104]

One of the first priests to gain widespread attention because of his AIDS status was Michael R. Peterson.[104] The month before he died, Peterson and his bishop, James Hickey, sent a letter to every diocese and religious superior in the United States.[104] Peterson said that by coming forward he hoped to gain compassion and understanding for himself and others with AIDS.[104] Hickey said Peterson's diagnosis was a call to reach out with compassion to others with the disease.[104]

Relationship with homosexuality

Main article: Catholic Church and homosexuality

Instances of homophobia, and related AIDS-phobia, within the Church have led to harmful practices and attitudes among some members of the clergy and laity.[78] Catholic teaching on condoms led groups such as ACT UP to hold protests such as Stop the Church.[103] Most mainstream AIDS organizations, however, have worked with the Church to bring an end to the pandemic.[103] Because the Church teaches that sexual acts between members of the same sex are sinful, while at the same time providing care to people with AIDS that is compassionate, nonjudgmental, and effective, some have accused the Church or sending mixed messages or of being hypocritical.[103]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ For the full text of the letter, see: On "The Many Faces of AIDS". See also Karol Wojtyla's Love and Responsibility
  2. ^ The first was in New Orleans in 1985.[64]

References

  1. ^ "Birth Control". Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church - The sixth commandment". Archived from the original on 13 August 2013.
  3. ^ Smith, Janet E.; et al. (9 September 2016). "Self-Giving: The Heart of Humanae Vitae" (PDF). CatholicCulture.org. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Thavis, John (18 March 2009). "Pope's condom comments latest chapter in sensitive church discussion". Archived from the original on 14 April 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d "Vatican: condoms don't stop Aids". the Guardian. 9 October 2003.
  6. ^ a b Partnerships in civil society Archived 6 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ a b "Condom". Planned Parenthood. 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
  8. ^ a b Cates, W.; Steiner, M. J. (2002). "Dual Protection Against Unintended Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections: What Is the Best Contraceptive Approach?". Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 29 (3): 168–174. doi:10.1097/00007435-200203000-00007. PMID 11875378.
  9. ^ a b Winer, R; Hughes, J; Feng, Q; O'Reilly, S; Kiviat, N; Holmes, K; Koutsky, L (2006). "Condom use and the risk of genital human papillomavirus infection in young women". N Engl J Med. 354 (25): 2645–54. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa053284. PMID 16790697.
  10. ^ a b National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services (20 July 2001). Workshop Summary: Scientific Evidence on Condom Effectiveness for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Prevention (PDF). Hyatt Dulles Airport, Herndon, Virginia. pp. 13–15. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  11. ^ a b Cayley, W.E.; Davis-Beaty, K. (2007). Weller, Susan C (ed.). "Effectiveness of Condoms in Reducing Heterosexual Transmission of HIV (Review)". Reviews. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD003255.
  12. ^ a b World Health Organization Department of Reproductive Health and Research (WHO/RHR) & Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs (CCP), INFO Project (2007). Family Planning: A Global Handbook for Providers. INFO Project at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. p. 200. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009.
  13. ^ "The Lesser Evil". 26 March 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  14. ^ Guevin, Benedict; Martin Rhonheimer (Spring 2005). "Debate: On the Use of Condoms to Prevent Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome". The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly: 35–48.
  15. ^ May, William E. (Summer–Fall 2007). "The Theological Significance of Consummation of Marriage, Contraception, Using Condoms to Prevent HIV, and Same-Sex Unions". Josephinum Journal of Theology. 14 (2). Pittsfield, Massachusetts: Catholic Library Association: 207–217.
  16. ^ "Note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the banalization of sexuality regarding certain interpretations of Light of the World".
  17. ^ a b Smith, Janet (21 November 2010). "Pope Benedict, Condoms, and the Light of the World". Zenit. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  18. ^ Allen, Jr., John L. (8 October 2014). "The synod's key twist: The sudden return of gradualism". Crux. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  19. ^ Grabowski, John S. (29 October 2014). "The law of gradualism: A process toward God". Our Sunday Visitor. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  20. ^ a b "Top Catholics Question Condom Ban". International Herald Tribune. 16 April 2005. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
  21. ^ a b c "Faith - The Times".
  22. ^ Pontifical Council for the Family The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality
  23. ^ Gravend-Tirole 2008, p. 129-130.
  24. ^ "Pope rejects condoms for Africa". 10 June 2005. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  25. ^ "Interview of Benedict XVI during the flight to Africa, 17 March 2009".
  26. ^ a b Washington Post. Green, Edw. C. "The Pope may be right." 29 March 2009.
  27. ^ Butt, Riazat. "Pope claims condoms could make African Aids crisis worse." The Guardian. 17 March 2009. 17 March 2009.
  28. ^ The Lancet (2009). "Redemption for the pope?". The Lancet. 373 (9669). Elsevier: 1054. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60627-9. PMID 19328984. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  29. ^ "Pope Benedict on condoms in the light of the world". Catholic World Report.
  30. ^ Quinn, Ben (20 November 2010). "Pope signals shift away from Catholic church's prohibition of condoms". The Guardian. London.
  31. ^ "STATEMENT ON PONTIFF'S WORDS REGARDING CONDOMS - "The Pope Does Not Reform or Change the Church's Teaching"". Zenit. 21 November 2010. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  32. ^ Benagiano, Giuseppe; Carrara, Sabina; Filippi, Valentina; Brosens, Ivo (June 2011). "Condoms, HIV and the Roman Catholic Church". Reproductive BioMedicine Online. 22 (7): 701–709. doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2011.02.007. PMID 21507723.
  33. ^ a b "Pope Francis indicates little concern over condom use in fight against Aids". The Guardian. Associated Press. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  34. ^ Smith 1998, p. 166-167.
  35. ^ French Bishops Council, "AIDS: Society in Question," 1996.
  36. ^ Smith 1998, p. 166.
  37. ^ German Bishops Conference, "Bevölkerungs-wachstum und Entwicklungsforderung (Population Policy and Development)," 1993.
  38. ^ Time Magazine, 1 May 2006.
  39. ^ BBC. Cardinal backs limited condom use 21 April 2006
  40. ^ L'Espresso. When Does Life Begin? Cardinal Martini Replies Archived 7 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine 20 May 2006
  41. ^ Lindow, Megan (2005). "European Heroes 2005: Lives in the Balance". Time. Archived from the original on 12 February 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  42. ^ Nolen, Stephanie (7 April 2007). "South African bishop defies Vatican on condoms". Toronto: Globe and Mail. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  43. ^ Nordenberg, Tamar (March–April 1998). "Condoms: Barriers to Bad News". FDA Consumer Magazine. 32 (2). U.S. Food and Drug Administration: 22–5. PMID 9532952. Retrieved 7 June 2007.
  44. ^ Jean Lopez, Kathryn (19 March 2009). "From Saint Peter's Square to Harvard Square". National Review. Archived from the original on 8 August 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  45. ^ "The Pope is right about the AIDS epidemic in Africa after all".
  46. ^ Ott, MA; Santelli, JS (October 2007). "Abstinence and abstinence-only education". Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology. 19 (5): 446–52. doi:10.1097/GCO.0b013e3282efdc0b. PMC 5913747. PMID 17885460.
  47. ^ "Fact Sheet" (PDF). SIECUS. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2010. (includes research citations).
  48. ^ Kirby, D. (2007). "Emerging Answers 2007: Research Findings on Programs to Reduce Teen Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases". National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012.
  49. ^ Underhill, K; Operario, D; Montgomery, P (17 October 2007). "Abstinence-only programs for HIV infection prevention in high-income countries". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (4): CD005421. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD005421.pub2. PMID 17943855.
  50. ^ a b c "Catholic AIDS workers: Pope echoing us on condoms". The Mercury News. Associated Press. 1 December 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  51. ^ Egan 2016, 6325.
  52. ^ a b Suarez, Ray (27 May 2011). "Catholic Church Looks to Lead Conversation on Combating HIV/AIDS". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  53. ^ a b UNAIDS requests Pope Benedict XVI for support in efforts to stop new HIV infections in children; UNAIDS Feature Story; 11 April 2012
  54. ^ a b Gravend-Tirole 2008, p. 134.
  55. ^ Miller, Patricia (2001). "The Lesser Evil: The Catholic Church and the AIDS Epidemic". Conscience. 22 (3): 6–13, 41–42.
  56. ^ O'Loughlin, Michael (12 January 2020). "AIDS, the Catholic Church and LGBT issues today". Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS & the Catholic Church (Podcast). America. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  57. ^ a b "AIDS and the Catholic Church - Pavement Pieces". Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  58. ^ "United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS".
  59. ^ O'Loughlin, Michael (1 December 2019). "Surviving the AIDS crisis as a gay Catholic". Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS & the Catholic Church (Podcast). America. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  60. ^ Patterson, Amy Stephenson (31 December 2010). The church and AIDS in Africa: the politics of ambiguity. FirstForumPress. pp. 54–57. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  61. ^ Gravend-Tirole 2008, p. 118.
  62. ^ a b c d e Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education 1993, p. 139.
  63. ^ a b c Hyer, Marorie (31 October 1986). "Bishop Urges Church Action On AIDS Care". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  64. ^ a b Finney Jr., Peter (4 May 2019). "New Orleans priest founded first Catholic AIDS hospice". Crux. Catholic News Service. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  65. ^ "Compass: Sisters of Charity - ABC TV". 9 April 2004.
  66. ^ Australian Federation of AIDS organisations, https://www.afao.org.au/article/never-turning-back-2/
  67. ^ Gravend-Tirole 2008, p. 119.
  68. ^ a b Stein, Mark A.; Morain, Dan (18 September 1987). "Pope Assures AIDS Patients of God's Love". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  69. ^ a b c d Gravend-Tirole 2008, p. 120.
  70. ^ a b c Nolte, Carl (21 September 2015). "Pope in S.F.: When John Paul II blessed AIDS sufferers". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  71. ^ Gravend-Tirole 2008.
  72. ^ a b Reinhld, Robert (17 September 1987). "AIDS Issue at Fore as Pope Visits San Francisco Today". The New York Times. p. 33. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  73. ^ a b c d e Parmelee, Jennifer (16 November 1989). "POPE CONDEMNS BIAS AGAINST VICTIMS OF AIDS". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  74. ^ "Pope Francis' sympathy to drug addicts, AIDS victims". CBS News. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  75. ^ a b Winfield, Nicole; Zamorano, Juan (27 January 2019). "Pope seeks to end stigma of AIDS with visit to church home". ABC News. Associated Press. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  76. ^ a b c d e f g h Smith 1998, p. 164.
  77. ^ Siker, Jeffrey S. (November 2006). Homosexuality and Religion: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-313-01431-4. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  78. ^ a b c d e f Smith 1998, p. 168.
  79. ^ Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education 1993, p. 139-140.
  80. ^ Gravend-Tirole 2008, p. 121.
  81. ^ a b c d e "Vatican AIDS Meeting Hears O'Connor Assail Condom Use". The New York Times. 14 November 1989. p. 10. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  82. ^ a b Allen, Peter L. (June 2002), The Wages of Sin: Sex and Disease, Past and Present, University of Chicago Press, p. 142, ISBN 978-0-226-01461-6, retrieved 27 July 2018
  83. ^ Petro 2015, p. 135.
  84. ^ a b c d e O'Grady, Desmond (20 November 1989). "HIV-positive priest halts Vatican conference on AIDS". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. p. 9. Retrieved 11 May 2020 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  85. ^ a b c d e Burchard, Linda (11 December 1989). "Vatican appoints Lee native to head global AIDS effort". The Berkshire Eagle. Pittsfield, Massachusetts. pp. 1, 8. Retrieved 11 May 2020 – via newspapers.com.Open access icon
  86. ^ a b c Gravend-Tirole 2008, p. 123.
  87. ^ a b Petro 2015, p. 129.
  88. ^ a b c d "Bishops reject condoms in battle against AIDS". Tyrone Daily Herald. Tyrone, Pennsylvania. UPI. 11 November 1989. p. 4. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  89. ^ a b "US churches facing AIDS with compassion". The Boston Globe. 5 November 1989. p. 2. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  90. ^ Petro 2015, p. 132.
  91. ^ a b c d "UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé gives guest lecture at Vatican International Study Meeting on HIV". UNAIDS. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  92. ^ a b c d e Suarez, Ray (30 May 2011). "Vatican Maintains Stance on Condoms at HIV/AIDS Summit". PBS Newshour. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  93. ^ a b Gravend-Tirole 2008, p. 124.
  94. ^ a b c Gravend-Tirole 2008, p. 131.
  95. ^ a b Gravend-Tirole 2008, p. 130.
  96. ^ Keenan, James F., ed. (1 May 2000). Catholic Ethicists on HIV/AIDS Prevention. A&C Black. ISBN 978-0-8264-1230-0. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  97. ^ a b c Petro 2015, p. 130.
  98. ^ a b Petro 2015, p. 131.
  99. ^ a b c d e Jeffrey, Paul (25 July 2016). "Vatican spearheads effort to get AIDS drugs to children -- soon". Catholic News Service. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  100. ^ a b c d e Jeffrey, Paul (9 August 2018). "Vatican makes progress on pushing drug availability for kids with HIV". National Catholic Reporter. Catholic News Service. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  101. ^ a b c d Corwin, Miles (16 February 1987). "Priest With AIDS--'It's Important That People Know'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  102. ^ a b c Lindsey, Robert (2 February 1987). "AIDS AMONG CLERGY PRESENTS CHALLENGES TO CATHOLIC CHURCH". The New York Times. p. 15. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  103. ^ a b c d Smith 1998, p. 169.
  104. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Hundreds of priests in the U.S. die of AIDS". The Tampa Bay Times. 26 September 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  105. ^ a b c "20/20: Priests With AIDS". ABC News. 6 January 2006. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  106. ^ a b Tischler, Henry L. (1 January 2010). Cengage Advantage Books: Introduction to Sociology. Cengage Learning. p. 37. ISBN 0-495-80440-1. Retrieved 25 May 2020.

Works cited

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Catholic_Church_and_HIV/AIDS&oldid=961368570"