Could Father Mychal Judge Be the First Gay Saint?

From Slate-

Nearly three decades later, Judge is best known as the fire department chaplain who died on Sept. 11, 2001, after rushing into the north tower of the World Trade Center to help. His life quickly took on an almost mythic stature. A documentary crew’s camera found him praying in the lobby of the north tower, wearing a white helmet reading “F.D.N.Y. Chaplain.” (Firefighters would later present the helmet to Pope John Paul II.) A story spread that he had died not just in the north tower but while administering the last rites to a firefighter who was hit by a jumper. A striking Reuters photo of first responders carrying Judge’s body out of the dust has been referred to as a “modern Pietà” and has been turned into sculptures in crystal and bronze. By 2002, New York City had renamed his stretch of West 31st Street “Father Mychal F. Judge Street” and christened a public ferry the Father Mychal Judge. In New York, hundreds of firefighters and others participate each September in a Stations of the Cross–style procession that retraces Judge’s journey between the Church of St. Francis on West 31st Street and the World Trade Center. Speaking at Judge’s funeral on Sept. 15, 2001, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said simply: “He was a saint.”

More here-

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/09/father-mychal-judge-was-a-9-11-hero-could-he-also-become-the-first-gay-saint.html

My brother was the 'priest with Aids' - here's how he turned a whole community around

From The Telegraph-

We learned that my brother, Rev Simon Bailey, an Anglican priest, was HIV Positive in 1992. It was seven years after he was diagnosed. He had told no-one until then, but he was becoming increasingly ill. Our father, a Baptist minister, had died earlier that year and he told my mother first, just before she was due to visit me in London and so she had the task of telling me. (And we could support each other. Simon, the experienced priest, thought like that.) We’d had our suspicions - my sister, a nurse, had checked out his medications, but it was still devastating news. We sat and wept for hours.

Simon had been diagnosed at the age of 30, just a few weeks before he was due to take up his first post as a vicar in the tough South Yorkshire mining village of Dinnington.

More here-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/family/brother-priest-aids-turned-whole-community-around/

POSTCARDS: ANGLICAN PRIEST IN RURAL KENYA WORKS TO CHANGE PERCEPTIONS ABOUT HIV/AIDS

From Kenya-

In a community where AIDS is still viewed as a death sentence, an Anglican priest is working to build an HIV-aware church.

Rev Rahab Wanjiru, 46, has the credibility to help dispel the dangerous silence that surrounds the virus and combines with stigma, discrimination and denial in Lamuria, a remote region about 193 kilomtres from Nairobi.

That’s because Rev Wanjiru has the virus herself.

“Every time I preach in church or speak to the community, I make sure that I teach something about the HIV/AIDS,” she said. “Most people here are ignorant about the virus, but I tell the congregations that there is much hope, even when one has HIV.”

About 1.6 million Kenyans are living with HIV in a population of about 42 million. About 900,000 are on anti-retroviral drugs, according to the National AIDS Control Council. Despite major progress, HIV/AIDS remains one of Kenya's most significant public health challenges.

More here-

https://www.sightmagazine.com.au/columns/postcards/6766-postcards-anglican-priest-in-rural-kenya-works-to-change-perceptions-about-hiv-aids

Episcopal, ELCA Presiding Bishops: World AIDS Day 2014

From Huffington-

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have issued a joint statement for World AIDS Day 2014.

World AIDS Day 2014

Every year on December 1, Episcopalians and Lutherans join with people around the world to commemorate World AIDS Day. This day serves as a time to remember those whose lives were forever changed because of HIV and AIDS. It also offers an opportunity to recommit ourselves to building God's Kingdom by working to bring the AIDS pandemic to an end. This year, World AIDS Day falls on the second day of Advent, a time of hope and anticipation of the new life Jesus' birth brings. As does Advent, World AIDS Day invites us to live with the joy that is to come by continuing to lift up the vision of a new life free of HIV and AIDS.

More here-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bishop-katharine-jefferts-schori/episcopal-elca-presiding-_b_6248626.html

Parish provides outpost services to people living with HIV, AIDS

From Tennessee-

Happily engaged in 1999, Sheryl Brown was busy planning her wedding when she got sick. At first she thought it was nothing, a stress-related illness triggered by the rigors of wedding planning.
But when Brown sought treatment at a Florida hospital, the doctor asked if she’d like to take an HIV test. She obliged, and a positive result changed her life.

“How much time do I have to live?” was the first question Brown, now 48, asked.

In 2008, at the urging of her eldest daughter, Brown moved to Clarksville, Tennessee, a conservative community of 142,519 people, 40 miles northwest of Nashville just south of the Kentucky state line.
Before she moved, however, she investigated services, which she found through Nashville CARES, a nonprofit, community-based service organization that provides education, advocacy and support services to people affected by HIV and AIDS.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2013/10/30/parish-provides-outpost-services-to-people-living-with-hiv-aids/

Grace Cathedral: a place of religious immunity, anonymity and unity

From The Telegraph-

This past week I've been in a sunny, blue-skied San Francisco playing Liszt's 2nd concerto with the San Francisco Symphony and Pablo Heras-Casado. The hotel at which I was staying was quite close to Grace Cathedral and I would pass by it at least twice a day on my way to rehearsals or concerts. It is an imposing structure on one of the city's many imposing hills and I finally found the time a couple of days ago go inside for a visit.

I was struck by two things: firstly, as I walked through its front doors, it was less visually overwhelming inside than I was expecting; but secondly, and more importantly, as I sat down in the AIDS Interfaith Memorial Chapel immediately to the right of the entrance, I became aware of this Cathedral's mission of inclusivity. I was disarmed and deeply moved by the sheer sense of acceptance symbolized by this small room devoted to the memory of those who died from a modern plague.

It hit me: We are loved: before accepting, after rejecting. Always. It was palpable – a sense (if God exists) of what God has to be like; and faith (which is really 'trust', not ticks down a list of doctrinal propositions) has to begin with a safe space. Grace Cathedral is one of the safest spaces I've encountered, a realization not unrelated to something I wrote last year on this blog about Anglican thresholds and Evensong.

More here-

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/stephenhough/100068206/grace-cathedral-a-place-of-religious-immunity-anonymity-and-unity/

Episcopal, Lutheran presiding bishops’ statement on AIDS Conference

From ENS-

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori joined Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in presenting the following joint statement on the 2012 International AIDS Conference meeting in Washington DC July 22-27.

We join together as Presiding Bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Episcopal Church to welcome the 20,000 people traveling from 200 countries to the United States for the 2012 International AIDS Conference.

The body of Christ is global. It is impoverished and wealthy; it is diverse in gender and in sexual orientation; it is African, Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic, and Indigenous; it is old and young; it has large families and orphaned youth. And it is HIV-positive.

We commend the Obama Administration for lifting the travel constraints that for more than two decades prevented HIV-positive persons, including Lutherans and Anglicans, and all others living with HIV or AIDS, from traveling to the United States. Faith-based advocates played a key role facilitating this change, which enabled this year’s “AIDS 2012” conference to be housed in our nation’s capital—a city itself deeply affected by the virus.

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/07/20/episcopal-lutheran-presiding-bishops-statement-on-aids-conference/

Massillon church members knit dolls for orphans in Africa

From Ohio-

Christine Lane is moved to tears every time she thinks about the children who will hold the small dolls that she knits.

“The very thought that there are children in orphanages who have lost their parents to AIDS is heartbreaking,” said Lane, of Massillon. “Because of my arthritis, some days I can knit and some days I can’t. But I do what I can because this is something that makes a difference in the lives of children who have nothing.”

Lane heads the Comfort Doll project for the Episcopal Church Women’s auxiliary at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church. The project, which launched in January, encourages volunteers to knit small dolls that roughly measure 5 to 9 inches tall.

The little dolls were designed to be used as packing material for medical supplies shipped to areas of Africa where the AIDS virus is widespread. The dolls are substituted for peanuts or bubble wrap to provide cushioning for vaccines, medicine, treatments and medical supplies and instruments donated by pharmacies and hospitals to ICROSS (International Community for the Relief of Starvation and Suffering) Canada, which gathers and ships medical supplies to the poorest parts of the world.

More here-

http://www.ohio.com/news/local-news/massillon-church-members-knit-dolls-for-orphans-in-africa-1.279921

St. Timothy’s Episcopal makes ‘comfort dolls’ for children in Africa

From Ohio-

Members of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Massillon are turning scraps of yarn into multi-tasking “comfort dolls” to help children in Africa.

Chris Lane, who chairs the project, spotted the opportunity on the Internet and asked other members of the parish to join her mission to supply dolls to ICROSS Canada, a nonprofit organization that sends medical supplies to areas of Africa where AIDS is rampant. ICROSS Canada obtains AIDS vaccines, medications, treatments and medical supplies and instruments from pharmacies and hospitals.

The first supply shipments four years ago included glass vials and test tubes that needed special cushioning. Simple little knit dolls were developed to serve as packing material. Once that is done, the dolls are distributed to children orphaned by AIDS and those who have the disease.

More here-

http://www.cantonrep.com/ipadfeatured/x1288987685/Around-Town-St-Timothy-s-Episcopal-makes-comfort-dolls-for-children-in-Africa

Episcopal Relief & Development Receives $350,000 Award from Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

From The Sacramento Bee-

Episcopal Relief & Development is pleased to announce that it is the recipient of a $350,000 grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation for work in rural Zambia. This grant will support the incorporation of early childhood development into the integrated community development program currently run by the organization's partner, the Zambia Anglican Council (ZAC). Episcopal Relief & Development will raise funds to match the full amount of the grant, enabling the project to reach an estimated 4,000 families in areas with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110421/DC87843LOGO)

The prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in Zambia is among the highest in the world, leaving hundreds of thousands of children orphaned or vulnerable. Parents who are HIV-positive may succumb to the disease, or be too sick to provide sufficient care for their children. This responsibility often falls to a relative or a sibling, who may lack the resources or knowledge to support the child's health, growth and development.

The program will work with 4,000 families affected by HIV/AIDS, addressing the interrelated needs of children under five and empowering their parents or caregivers to support their healthy development. The program will incorporate learnings from the development of The Essential Package: A Framework for Action for Young Children and Their Caregivers Affected by HIV and AIDS, a unique initiative spearheaded by CARE, Save the Children, the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development and other stakeholders, with funding from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

Read more:

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/15/4125704/episcopal-relief-development-receives.html#ixzz1ghShm7Bk

The Bishop's Blessings

From Newark NJ-

The Rt. Rev. Mark Beckwith, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, visited St. Andrew and Holy Communion on Sunday, a service that marked World AIDS Day by calling for continued support for the nearly 34 million people living with HIV around the world.

The Episcopal Church is encouraging renewed education and advocacy efforts to bring an end to the global pandemic. During his sermon to parishioners in South Orange, the Bishop recalled the fear and confusion – and avoidance of those with the AIDS when the virus was first diagnosed 30 years ago.

He called on parishioners to renew their commitments to help those infected and others troubled by lingering economic worries as the church readies for the holiday season.

More here-

http://southorange.patch.com/articles/the-bishop-s-blessings

Archbishop of Canterbury's video message for World AIDS Day

From ACNS-

The Archbishop of Canterbury has recorded a video message for World AIDS Day in which he talks about the part sexual violence plays in the spread of HIV, calling it ‘one of the most shameful facts of our day’.

Dr Williams recorded the video message during a recent visit to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo which he describes as having been at ‘the epicentre of a great deal of appalling violence in recent years.’ He talks specifically about the use sexual violence as a tool of war - something which is used to ‘humiliate and subdue others’ and the extent to which the people in the DRC have suffered from this particular type of brutality, which has become endemic in many communities.
In his message Dr Williams highlights the crucial role that the Church has played in supporting survivors of such abuse, and especially in combating the stigma that they so often face in their own communities as a result of this violence:

“Trauma is something which cannot be overcome overnight but when people feel they’ve been abandoned by families, by communities, because of the shame and stigma of HIV/AIDS, the church in this part of Congo has been there for them. For these people, who have been abused systematically, been raped, violated, abducted often at the youngest of ages – for these people, the church has been the family that mattered.”

Churches, and other faith communities, need to show leadership to end a culture of silence and fulfil their potential to help reverse the prevalence and devastating impact of sexual violence. In praising the vital work of the Anglican Church of Congo, the Archbishop expresses his hope that the campaign against sexual violence and associated stigma will continue both in the DRC as well as in other parts of the world.

More here-

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2011/11/30/ACNS4993

Episcopal, ELCA presiding bishops issue World AIDS Day letter

From ENS-

"World AIDS Day is an opportunity for each of us to reflect on God's call to lift up the dignity and value of each person."
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) have issued a joint letter for World AIDS Day 2011, Dec. 1.

The text of the letter follows:

World AIDS Day is December 1, 2011. This annual commemoration is an opportunity for us to remember the 30 million lives that have been lost to the deadly pandemic over the past three decades, to rededicate our energies in support of those 34 million living with HIV and AIDS today and to work toward building a future without AIDS.

World AIDS Day is an opportunity for each of us to reflect on God's call to lift up the dignity and value of each person. We are called to confront this pandemic -- whose scale has no precedent in human history -- through prayer, by speaking out to eliminate stigma and discrimination against those living with HIV and AIDS, by caring for those afflicted by the virus in our own communities, by advocating for strong government support of life-saving programs, and by supporting the global effort to alleviate the global systems of poverty within which HIV and AIDS is so endemic.

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79425_130615_ENG_HTM.htm

Rwandan archbishop tackles medical and spiritual agenda

From Canadian Christianity-

"THE FUTURE depends on how we listen to God and to each other," Emmanuel Kolini told CC.com.

The Anglican Archbishop of Rwanda was in Canada in late May to address the AIDS crisis in Africa and the unity crisis in the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Help for AIDS victims

Kolini stopped first in Ontario, where he was one of the speakers at a conference called 'HIV-AIDS and the Churches: Responses to the Pandemic in Africa and Canada,' held May 14-15 at The Centre for Public Theology at Huron University College.

Huron is a college with Anglican roots, affiliated with the University of Western Ontario (UWO) in London.

Kolini also consulted with officials at UWO on its Western Heads East (WHE) project. The program trains African women to develop community kitchens, and to make available a probiotic yogurt developed by UWO faculty members. The yogurt boosts the immune system and improves the health of those with AIDS, and may even help to lower infection rates.

More here-

http://www.canadianchristianity.com/nationalupdates/100603rwanda.html

Angola: Anglican Church Organises March in Favour of HIV-Positive People

From All Africa-

The Anglican Church in Angola held Saturday in the main arteries of Ondjiva City, in southern Cunene Province, a solidarity march with people living with HIV/Aids, in light of the celebration of May 15, International Candles Day.

Speaking to ANGOP, the bishop of the Anglican Church based in Angola, Dom André Soares, said the march, which gathered believers from different churches, sought solidarity with those living with HIV/AIDS.

The march was attended by pastors and believers of the United Methodist Church, the Full of God's Word Church, the Congregational church, as well as others based in this region.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201005170533.html

Bishop Challenges Church on HIV/AIDS

The Bishop of the Anglican Diocese in Namibia, Right Reverend Nathaniel Nakwatumbah, has urged his church to double its efforts in the fight against the HIV and AIDS pandemic even in the face of financial problems.

Nakwatumbah was addressing the Diocesan Synod 2009 last Friday comprising all clergy (priests and deacons) of the Anglican Church in Namibia together with lay representatives from across the country. The Synod is held every three years.

In the address, known as the ‘Bishop’s Charge’ Nakwatumbah touched on the challenges facing the Namibia Diocese, which includes the HIV and AIDS pandemic in the country, the difficulties facing the Clergy of the Anglican Diocese in Namibia and financial problems of the church.

He said the church should double its efforts towards its vision of a future generation without AIDS.

He said the Diocese HIV/AIDS programme was going through a difficult time because of lack of funds. The church was receiving funds through Siyafundisa and Siyakha, which have come to an end, resulting in one of the HIV/AIDS officers leaving the programme. The remaining donor to the programme is the Episcopal Relief Fund (ERF).

More here-

http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=4573

Uganda People News: Rev. Gideon Byamugisha wins Niwano Prize

A Ugandan AIDS activist has won an international prize for his role in fighting for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Gideon Byamugisha, an Anglican priest received the 26th Niwano Peace Prize on Thursday in recognition of his work to uphold the dignity and human rights of people living with AIDS.

In 1992, Rev. Byamugisha became the first African religious leader to publicly announce he was HIV positive. He has since been engaged in HIV/AIDS prevention and care activities in the country.

Makoto Uematsu, primate of Nippon Sei Ko Kai, received the prize on behalf of the Anglican priest.

This was done following an advice not travel because of bird flu. Also advised not to travel was with Norway's Gunnar Stalsett, chairman of the Niwano Peace Prize Committee.

http://www.ugpulse.com/articles/daily/news.asp?about=Rev.+Gideon+Byamugisha+wins+Niwano+Prize&ID=10079

More on the Niwano Peace Prize is here-

http://www.npf.or.jp/english/peace_prize_.html

Rick Warren takes on World AIDS Day -- again

From USA Today. Evangelical Rick Warren continues to take on social issues.

Rick Warren, possibly America's most omni-present pastor since Billy Graham's heydays, is back on the national platform addressing the epidemic.

This morning, he brings his Saddleback Civil Forum franchise -- his most recent event was his pre-election forum with John McCain and Barack Obama -- to Washington DC.

He's set to present President Bush with a medal to honor his HIV/AIDS initiative. Warren is expected to discuss worldwide health issues with the president and Laura Bush and hear from president-elect Barack Obama by video as well at the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health, being held at the Newseum.

Warren, prompted by his wife, Kay, has made AIDS a major focus of his international efforts. They are pouring the energy and profits born of his world-wide best selling Bible handbook, The Purpose-Driven Life, into health, social, economic and religious efforts carried out by local churches in African villages.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/religion/post/2008/12/59295588/1

Religion and sex in Uganda: The power of the pulpit

From the Manchester Guardian

"Christianity reaches more people than healthcare," Stephen Waititi, a former church deacon and the medical director of Milmay Centre, an HIV/Aids clinic in Kampala, pointed out recently.

What the churches say matters: not just because of their reach, but because of their authority. The message from the pulpit shapes the climate. The role of the church in the HIV/Aids epidemic is central. From the first recognition of the threat posed, above all, to the poor of the developing world, the churches have been at the forefront of the effort to provide care for the sick and to educate the healthy. The exception was the Christian evangelical movement, which by 2000 claimed not just the Ugandan president and his wife, Yoweri and Janet Museveni, but George W Bush, the president of the United States.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/katineblog/2008/oct/13/sexandreligion

Religious leaders 'have a key role in Aids battle'

Report on the role of the church in the AIDS fight from Mexico City's AIDS conference this week

Religious leaders hold the key to reducing stigma and discrimination towards those with HIV and AIDS, Mathew Frost Chief Executive of Tearfund told delegates at the Ecumenical Pre-conference on AIDS last week. Over 500 mainly church-based organizations from 77 countries met in Mexico City ahead of the 17th International AIDS Conference which began on Sunday August 3. At the final session Frost called for “courageous humility that brings us to listen and repent and a resolve that drives us to break the silence on stigma and discrimination towards those with HIV.”

http://www.religiousintelligence.com/news/?NewsID=2427