[Episcopal News Service]
In a blunt message to a gathering of 120 African religious leaders in Nairobi to discuss the church's role in fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Stephen Lewis of the United Nations said that the 'voice of religion has been curiously muted.' He challenged the African leaders to 'seize the leadership,' arguing that they had unique access to the grassroots and exceptional opportunities to influence politicians.
'When AIDS has run its course--if it ever runs its course--it will be seen as an annihilating scourge that dwarfs everything that has gone before,' said Lewis, the UN secretary general's special envoy on the crisis in Africa. 'We know certain of the faiths have problems around sexual activity and the use of condoms, and we know there are internal struggles around the leadership roles of women,' he said. 'I want to suggest, in the strongest possible terms, in the name of all children, infected or affected, it is time to seize the leadership, reenergize the struggle, and turn the pandemic around.'
In a final statement the church leaders admitted that they might have done more, that they had often 'been reluctant to speak openly about HIV/AIDS.' The statement confessed that 'too often our own ignorance, fear and denial have held us back as teachers about HIV/AIDS in our communities,' they said, pledging to fight the pandemic and make 'its impact on children, young people and families a priority.'
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