c. 2004 Religion News Service
Vatican Blames Morals and Values for Spread of AIDS
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Marking World AIDS Day, the Vatican blamed an “immuno-deficiency of moral and spiritual values” for spreading the disease and urged chastity, fidelity, education and cheaper drugs to control it.
Young members of the Italian Green party ignored the Vatican prescription and handed out free condoms by the thousands to young people in 14 Italian cities. The Vatican, which opposes all forms of artificial birth control, has questioned whether condoms are effective in combating AIDS.
“HIV/AIDS is one of the most devastating epidemics of our times,” Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastorate of Health, said in a message issued for World AIDS Day on Wednesday, Dec. 1.
The Mexican prelate quoted Pope John Paul II as saying that AIDS is a “pathology of the spirit,” and that its spread can be prevented by “teaching respect for the sacred values of life” and “the correct practice of sexuality.”
“I underline his thought regarding the immuno-deficiency of moral and spiritual values,” Lozano Barragan said. The term was a play on the full medical name for AIDS, Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome.
The cardinal cited “responsible conduct and the observance of the virtue of chastity” as well as “fidelity” in marriage as the best way to prevent the spread of AIDS through sexual contact.
At the same time, he decried prejudice against victims of HIV/AIDS and urged lower prices for anti-retroviral medicines to treat them. He noted that 26.7 percent of the centers that care for HIV/AIDS victims worldwide are operated by the Catholic Church.
The Italian Greens handed out some 15,000 condoms and 20,000 leaflets containing information on AIDS. In Rome, they were stationed in front of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Parliament.
Lozano Barragan cited a United Nations report on “The Impact of AIDS,” issued last week, which said that more than 22 million people have died of AIDS since the 1980s, and 42 million people are living with HIV/AIDS today.
_ Peggy Polk
Ads Welcoming Gays to Church Rejected by NBC, CBS
(RNS) The United Church of Christ is protesting a decision by the NBC and CBS television networks to reject as “too controversial” a national ad campaign that highlights the church’s acceptance of gay couples.
The UCC’s $1.7 million “Still Speaking” ads debuted on Wednesday (Dec. 1), the latest attempt by a mainline Protestant church to use television to increase visibility and build membership.
The 30-second spots feature beefy bouncers outside a church denying entry to various people, including a gay couple. Written text on the screen says, “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.” A narrator says, “No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.”
CBS, in a response provided by the UCC, said it refuses any issue ad that “touches on and/or takes a position on one side of a current controversial issue of public importance.”
“Because this commercial touches on the exclusion of gay couples … and the fact that the executive branch has recently proposed a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, this spot is unacceptable for broadcast on the (CBS and UPN) networks.”
The network said it would accept ads that “deliver secular messages that are beneficial to society in general” but none “that proselytizes on behalf of any single religion.” A CBS spokesman said a different UCC ad was accepted.
A rejection notice from NBC called the ads “too controversial.” The ad has been accepted on several cable channels, including ABC Family, Black Entertainment Television, Fox, TNT and TBS.
Church officials hoped the ads, scheduled to run through Christmas, would reach at least 60 percent of the U.S. population at least three times. The Rev. Robert Chase, director of communications for the Cleveland-based denomination, said the networks’ decision doesn’t make sense.
“We find it disturbing that the networks in question seem to have no problem exploiting gay persons through mindless comedies or titilating dramas, but when it comes to a church’s loving welcome of committed gay couples, that’s where they draw the line.”
Dana McClintock, a spokesman for CBS, did not return calls, and NBC officials said they were “not commenting yet” on the decision.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Study: More `Declining’ Southern Baptist Churches
(RNS) The percentage of Southern Baptist churches that can be described as “declining” has increased in the last two decades, a church growth study has found.
The Leavell Center for Evangelism and Church Health at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary found that 23.9 percent of churches aligned with the Southern Baptist Convention churches in the period ending in 2003 were declining compared to 17.6 percent in the period ending in 1983.
A declining church is defined as one that saw a decrease in its total membership of 10 percent or more in a five-year period.
“The passion for conversion growth appears to be fading at every level of the SBC,” concluded Bill Day, associate director of the center at the seminary in New Orleans. “The SBC is moving from plateau to decline.”
A growing church is defined as one that had an increase in total membership of 10 percent or more in a five-year period. Plateaued churches are those that do not fit in either the growing or the declining category.
The Leavell Center study found that the percentage of growing churches has not changed significantly in the last 20 years. In the period ending in 2003, 30.3 percent of Southern Baptist churches were designated as growing compared to 30.5 percent in the period ending in 1983.
But the number of plateaued churches has decreased _ from 51.9 percent at the end of 1983 to 45.8 percent at the end of 2003.
In other findings, Day reported that churches with more than 5,000 members are almost twice as likely to be growing congregations as churches of other sizes. The study also found that more than 30 percent of congregations 10 years old or younger are considered to be growing.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Right-to-Die Groups to Merge Next Year
Portland-based Compassion in Dying Federation, which has led the legal defense of Oregon’s doctor-assisted suicide law, will merge next year with an organization that used to be called the Hemlock Society.
The move to join the two major national right-to-die advocacy groups has been under discussion for a year. Leaders of both say the merger will produce an organization with more clout.
Denver-based End-of-Life Choices, which changed its name from the Hemlock Society in 2003 to broaden its political appeal, has about 30,000 members. Its founder, Derek Humphry, has split from the group and runs a euthanasia advocacy organization in Junction City, Ore.
The name of the new group will be Compassion & Choices. For now, it will keep open both the Portland and Denver offices.
The boards of both partnering organizations met in Portland Oct. 30 and voted unanimously to move ahead with a formal merger in January.
A combined nine-member board will govern Compassion & Choices, starting Jan. 1, said the new chairman, Dr. Robert Brody, chief of the pain consultation clinic at San Francisco General Hospital. He also heads the hospital’s ethics committee.
Compassion & Choices will operate with two arms, Brody said. The Portland office will continue to focus on legal advocacy and counseling for patients considering doctor-assisted suicide under Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act. The Denver office will focus on membership, information technology and legislative activity.
Oregon is the only state where it is legal for a doctor to prescribe a lethal drug dose to a terminally ill patient of sound mind who makes the request in writing and meets other requirements. The patient must take the drug without help; it cannot be administered by a doctor.
During the first six years of the Oregon law, 171 Oregonians have died by doctor-assisted suicide.
_ Don Colburn
Quote of the Day: HIV/AIDS Adviser Astrid Berner-Rodoreda
(RNS) “Simply the fact that of the approximately 40 million people with HIV/AIDS, 30 million are Christians, means that we have to get churches to take action. The church is just as affected by AIDS as society around it. … If people who are HIV-positive are integrated into church life, or if pastors can speak openly in their parishes about being HIV-positive themselves, then we will have achieved a great breakthrough.”
_ Astrid Berner-Rodoreda, adviser for HIV/AIDS in Africa at Bread for the World and spokeswoman for a German partnership of church organizations addressing AIDS through the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance. She was quoted in a World Council of Churches news release.
MO/JL RNS END
