Dear Superiors,
It is with great pleasure and a sense of satisfaction that we offer you the final text of the document which came out of the meeting, “Religious in the world and the AIDS pandemic: commitment, challenge and prophecy”, which took place in Rome from 12th – 14th December 2005.
This initiative is fruit of the Meeting on Religious Life, and the two icons of the Good Samaritan and the Samaritan Woman were an important reference point in the journey of these three days. We found them particularly meaningful for us in the context of the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
AIDS is considered to be among the most serious dangers facing the world today. It is the first time in the history of humankind that we have had to face a pandemic of such magnitude and that, twenty years after its beginnings, not only is it not under control but it is still spreading all over the world.
“The AIDS epidemic is growing rapidly in every continent. The efforts made so far have not succeeded in stopping it.
An end to the AIDS epidemic is a prerequisite if we are to achieve all the other objectives in development of the new millennium.” Kofi Annan
It is no longer realistic to hope that the world will manage to achieve its objective to end the spread of the AIDS pandemic by 2015. “What we are faced with is a multiplicity of epidemics and these are still spreading. In reality we are moving towards a globalisation of the AIDS epidemic.” Peter Piot, Director UNAIDS.
We religious have responded to this tragedy from the start by involving ourselves alongside those who are infected and with their families. We have drawn up health programmes as well as programmes of support and prevention that in many cases have spread to other countries and have become a model for intervention on a large scale. Now we are being called upon to collaborate with all the forces involved in the fight against AIDS, beginning with the overcoming of the fragmentation which exists among ourselves, and to build up a network with the Organisations which are involved at various levels right up to the International Organisations.
The Health Commission of the UNIONS has taken this problem as a priority and has entrusted to a group of religious, the AIDS group, the task of drawing up a specific project. This group began its work with the December meeting and intends to continue in its commitment to bring about an improvement in the impact of the social and health activities carried out by the Catholic Church in the fight against AIDS among the most vulnerable populations and groups of people.
From the beginning it is important to acknowledge in an accurate and scientific way how much work we are already doing. This will be possible only through a census of all our activities all over the world so that we can draw up a chart of what we are doing. To this end, a questionnaire to be distributed to the various communities will shortly be sent to all the Congregations. The results should be sent to the AIDS Group by e-mail.
We would ask you to encourage all your communities to collaborate actively in this important work and to fill in the questionnaire. The result will form an indispensable tool to demonstrate the full value of the work being done.
If we have greater visibility at international level we will also be better represented and therefore have greater capacity to influence the politics of resources in the social and health fields, in particular in the fight against AIDS.
We feel that the commitment of all the Congregations is important, in that all of us, in respect of our specific charisms, will be contributing to the alleviation of a great deal of suffering.
