Cablegate: Vatican Reaches Out to People with Hiv/Aids

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS VATICAN 000545

SIPDIS

DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (LARREA), PLS PASS HHS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PREF SOCI KHIV KWMN VM VT
SUBJECT: VATICAN REACHES OUT TO PEOPLE WITH HIV/AIDS

1. Pope Benedict XVI feels close to AIDS sufferers and their
families and has affirmed the commitment of the Catholic Church
to caring for those with HIV/AIDS. The Pope described
statistics on HIV/AIDS as "truly alarming." Benedict drew
attention to World AIDS Day at his weekly general audience in
Vatican City November 30. The Holy See's official message for
AIDS Day was released earlier by the President of the Pontifical
Council for the Health Care Workers, Cardinal Javier Lozano
Barragan. The message highlights the particular vulnerability
of women and girls to HIV infection and AIDS, and warned "the
impact of HIV/AIDS on women aggravates inequality and hinders
progress towards the universality of rights." The Vatican's
message stressed that the advance of HIV infection among women,
"the columns of families and communities," increases the danger
of social collapse in many countries.

2. While restating the Holy See's policy of abstinence from
sexual activity before marriage and marital fidelity as the best
methods to prevent HIV infection, the message also called for an
end to the stigma that surrounds people with HIV/AIDS. Cardinal
Lozano Barragan outlined the Holy See's policies to achieve
greater efficiency in the fight against the AIDS pandemic.
These include, among others, support for global programs to
combat HIV/AIDS, education in moral values, the elimination of
discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS, information
campaigns, solidarity among industrialized and developing
nations, a reduction in the price of antiretroviral drugs and
medicines for sufferers of HIV/AIDS, and campaigns to prevent
mother/fetus transmission. The Vatican's message repeated
statistics that the Catholic Church and related agencies provide
some 26.7 percent of the care for people with HIV/AIDS
worldwide, and pointed out that the world's bishops had been
asked to address the pandemic in their regions.

3. COMMENT. The Holy See's global reach and presence makes
it a valuable partner in efforts to combat the spread of HIV and
initiatives to treat and care for HIV/AIDS victims. While media
attention on the Pope's message for AIDS Day tended to focus on
his not mentioning condoms, the real message is the Holy See's
and Catholic Church's consistent and long-running outreach to
people with HIV/AIDS. We note the work of the Church in places
like Vietnam, where with GOV approval, a group of Catholic nuns
provides hospice care for terminally ill AIDS sufferers. It is
this kind of behind-the-scenes work that is the real face of the
Holy See towards HIV/AIDS and counters the hostility of those
who focus only on the condom issue. END COMMENT.
SANDROLINI

NNNN

2005VATICA00545 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

© Scoop Media