ĠUSTIZZJA U PAĊI KUMMISSJONI DJOĊESANA. E-Newsletter tal-kummissjoni Ġustizzja u Paċi. From "Rerum Novarum" to "Mater et Magistra"

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1 KUMMISSJONI DJOĊESANA ĠUSTIZZJA U PAĊI Il 15-il Ħarġa Ġunju 2011 E-Newsletter tal-kummissjoni Ġustizzja u Paċi From "Rerum Novarum" to "Mater et Magistra" Father Jose Vidamor B. Yu Rerum Novarum IL-KURJA TAL-ARĊISQOF Archbishop s Curia Floriana Malta (+356) justiceandpeace@maltadiocese.org The Church during the 19th century had seen the major shifts of how man earned higher standards way of living. The Industrial Revolution had increased population growth in the whole of Europe; technical advances were made in industries like the steam engine for instance, which brought about the increase of production. Cities expanded and the Church experienced new births of cities in Europe. Capitalism has been the economic system adopted that provided an unsupervised urban working class, a proletariat that lived in subhuman conditions, exploited and unprotected. The factory has replaced the agricultural field in the daily cycle of human undertakings. A great concern was to be focused on the poorer class of the society. Evangelical groups like the Methodists became popular with the working and lower class of people. They echoed one message: Their own liberation and salvation from their misery and predicaments is through faith in the passion and death of Christ. The evangelical movements focused on the authority and the inspiration of the Bible for liberation in situations like this. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, took a stand and proclaimed its reactions through the first social encyclical of the Church, "Rerum Novarum." Pope Leo XIII's encyclical, issued May 15, 1891, was written within the framework of St. Thomas Aquinas' understanding of the social order. Two things surfaced in the teaching: first, the Church denied support for class warfare while attacking socialism as proposed by Karl Marx, and second, it spoke against the various presuppositions of economic liberalism, that is, capitalism. D I O C E S A N C O M M I S S I O N F O R J U S T I C E A N D P E A C E "Rerum Novarum" teaches: First, the advancement of the industrialization period brought about injustice in the society (Continued on page 2) 50 sena ta Mater et Magistra L-2011 jaħbat il-50 anniversarju mill-enċiklika tal-beatu Ġwanni XXIII. It-tema ta din l-enċiklika hu il-kristjaneżmu u l-progress soċjali. L-enċiklika tirreferi għall-knisja bħala Omm u Għalliema li tgħallem dwar il-bżonn li għandna naħdmu favur komunità li tippromwovi id-dinjità talbniedem. Sabiex jiġi mfakkar dan l-anniversarju saret konferenza internazzjonali bejn is-16 u t-18 ta Mejju 2011ġewwa Ruma organizzata mill-kummissjoni Pontifiċja Ġustizzja u Paċi bit-tema: New Evangelization of Society: The Role of the Social Doctrine of the Church. F isem il-kummissjoni Djoċesana Ġustizzja u Paċi ħa sehem Dun Ġorġ Grima. Fil-ħarġa ta Settembru nagħtu xi riflessjonijiet ta Dun Ġorġ Grima. Waqt din ilkonferenza saru diversi interventi u kontribuzzjonijiet. Min jixtieq jaqra dawn id-dokumenti jista jżur is-sit elettroniku: In this issue: From Rerum Novarum to Mater et Magistra Pages 1-4 The Church's Response to AIDS Pages 4-7

2 (Continued from page 1) through the inhumanity of employers and the unguided method of competition. "After the old trade guilds had been destroyed in the last century, and no protection was substituted in their place, and when public institutions and legislation had cast off traditional religious teaching, it gradually came about that the present age handed over the workers, each alone and defenseless, to the inhumanity of employers and the unbridled greed of competitors. ("Rerum Novarum," No. 6). Second, "Rerum Novarum" was deeply concerned with the alienation of the workers from the Church as a result of the widening gap between the social classes. Socialism attempted to solve this increasing problem but was condemned by the Church, which proposed the equitable relationship between capital and labour instead. Leo XIII explained that the worsening situation due to the relationship between socialism and the working class in fact [is worse] than the evils of the capitalistic system. The encyclical explains that "inasmuch as the socialists seek to transfer the goods of private persons to the community at large, they make the lot of all wage earners worse, because in abolishing the freedom to dispose of wages they take away from them by this very act the hope and the opportunity of increasing their property and of securing advantages for themselves" (RN, 10). Third, the social encyclical insists that the rich and poor, capital or labour have equal rights and duties. Against the socialists, Leo XIII defends the right of individuals to private property. It is the prerogative of the individual to exercise his own right to possess certain properties as a citizen of the country. However, Leo XIII warns abuses of the right to private property. The encyclical laid down the limits to its use to avoid abuse to both individuals and properties. Private property is a vocation and a right. Leo XIII says that it "is a right natural to man, and to exercise this right, especially in life in society, is not only lawful, but clearly necessary. 'It is lawful for man to own his own things. It is even necessary for human life'" (RN, 36). Fourth, the poor and the weak have to be defended by the state. The state has the inalienable duty to defend their rights. These rights have to be religiously protected it is because the weak and the poor rely on the state for protection. The power of the state is manifested through its service to the weak and underprivileged. The state should make the poor under its "special care and foresight. (RN, 54). Fifth, the relationship between employers and employees has to be manifested through a just salary that would enable the workers to support themselves individually and their own families. Leo XIII exhorts that it is the state which has the duty to ensure the justice provided by the employers to their labourers. If justice could not be maintained, it would be detrimental to the employers, to the workers, trade and commerce and most especially to the interests of the state which as well as may stir up violence, riots, and civil disorder and thus jeopardize public peace (see RN, 56). Sixth, the state has the right to intervene into the labour problem of its citizens to guarantee justice to all. However, Leo XIII warns that the state cannot absorb individuals. Every worker has the right to form unions with the condition that these associations should ensure its functions in favor of the labourer. Leo XIII adds that "man is permitted by a right of nature to form private societies; the state, on the other hand, has been instituted to protect and not to destroy natural right, and if it should forbid its citizens to enter into associations, it would clearly do something contradictory to itself because both the state itself and private associations are begotten of one and the same principle, namely, that men are by nature inclined to associate" (RN, 72). Trade unions have the right also to uphold the legitimate rights of the workers. Seventh, the state has the primary duty of saving the soul of the individual worker. The protection of the individual is not an end in itself "but a road only and a means for perfecting, through knowledge of truth and love of good, the life of the soul" (RN, 57). It should be the vocation of the state and the Church to ensure the salvation of every citizen of the country, especially among the working class, which constitutes the weak and poor of the society. Any social organization likewise has the duty to lead the workers toward religious and moral perfection (see RN, 77). The encyclical "Rerum Novarum" of Leo XIII indicated the Church's awareness and response to the signs of the times. It was the task of the Pope to provide principles about the rights of workers and the duty of the state based on eternal truths. "Rerum Novarum" was a giant step of the Church toward making an alliance with the workers and the poor while resisting the Church's temptation to ally with the bourgeois. The central theme of the encyclical was focused on the conditions of workers as effects of the Industrial Revolution. Relationship between employees and employers should be based on truth, justice, love, and respect to the individual's inalienable rights. Quadragesimo Anno The impact of Leo XIII's "Rerum Novarum" is assessed in Pius XI's encyclical "Quadragesimo Anno" on May 15, Pius XI focused on the principle of subsidiarity as an alternative to class struggles, socialism and capitalism. Following the social foundations and principles of "Rerum Novarum," Pius XI pursued social justice based on the Gospel principles. The Catholic Church desires to take up justice among the working class and the needs of the poor through social concern and charity. The (Continued on page 3)

3 (Continued from page 2) encyclical was issued amidst the depression of social order, the rise of communist totalitarianism on the one hand, and extreme capitalism on the other. Pius XI highlights these following points in his encyclical: First, he reaffirms the principles set out by Leo XIII gaining foothold in the midst of the great Depression, in the age of dictators and ruthless totalitarian systems of the right and the left. "Quadragesimo Anno" develops Catholic social doctrines along the lines of the Gospel's great principles of love manifested through peace and justice, solidarity, the common good, subsidiarity, the right to property, the right to associate and the fundamental role of the family in society. -clericalism in Mexico ("Nos Es Muy Conocida," 1937) By affirming basic human rights, "Quadragesimo Anno" paved the way this courageous papal attacks on Nazism ("Mit Brennender Sorge," 1937), Soviet communism ("Divini Redemptoris," 1937), Italian fascism ("Non Abbiamo Bisogno," 1931) and Masonic anti Second, "Quadragesimo Anno" affirms once more the magisterial vocation of the Church through the "Christian reform of morals" (No. 15). The Church has the duty to educate the faithful with regard to the basic social principles founded on sacred Scriptures. Responding to the current signs of the times, the Church has to exercise its duty of leading the society toward its highest ideals by fulfilling its duty to restore the dignity of the workers. It says that, "it is the Church, again, that strives not only to instruct the mind, but to regulate by her precepts the life and morals of individuals, and that ameliorates the condition of the workers through her numerous and beneficent institutions" (QA, 17). Third, Pius XI attacks socialism as a system of societal affairs which may oppress human freedom through harmful collectivism. It is a system of political and economic state of affairs based on common ownership that overrides the right to private ownership. Pius XI mentioned two objectives of communism, namely "unrelenting class warfare and absolute extermination of private ownership" (QA, 112). On the other hand, Pius XI exposed the evils of capitalism that leads toward extreme individualism, which may leave the rights of workers unprotected. One of the thrusts of the state is to defend the rights of the weak and the poor. Pius XI reiterated Leo XIII's call for reform saying, "the function of the rulers of the state, moreover, is to watch over the community and its parts; but in protecting private individuals in their rights, chief consideration ought to be given to the weak and the poor" (QA, 25). Fourth, Pius XI emphasized on the "principle of subsidiarity" which gives the freedom of various small economic and social groups to handle matters of lesser importance. The state should not intervene in any affair that smaller groups, business and institutions can do by their own. The encyclical says that "the supreme authority of the state ought, therefore, to let subordinate groups handle matters and concerns of lesser importance, which would otherwise dissipate its efforts greatly. Thereby the state will more freely, powerfully and effectively do all those things that belong to it alone because it alone can do them: directing, watching, urging, restraining, as occasion requires and necessity demands" (QA, 80). Mater et Magistra To carry out the mission of Christ in the transformation of the social environment, John XXIII interpreted the signs of the times from the perspective of the Gospel. First, the Church being a mother and a teacher, John XXIII [in the 1960 encyclical "Mater et Magistra"] mentions the changes transpiring in the society. On the technological level, the advancement of science and technology was upbeat, the discovery of the atomic energy was an advancement, the modernization of agriculture was a sign of protection and promotion of the agricultural sector, and the means of communication and transportations had manifested the interconnectedness of peoples around the world. On the social level, workers become aware of their rights to insurance, education, the awareness of being members of unions, and the desire for convenient life. On the area of political life, the Church has been aware of the decline of colonialism allowing the emergence of the nation-state. The postwar situation had provided a major step toward affirming the uniqueness of cultures and nations. Peoples now govern themselves and establish their own laws and institutions. The independence of peoples and cultures was affirmed by the Church to pursue its task of inculturation, dialogue, and other forms of evangelization. Second, John XIII has developed the principle of subsidiarity to the interdependence of peoples and nations. The growing economic and technological age had turned the world into a global village by means of communications and transportation. The increasing complexity of the socioeconomic life has made people desire for interdependence through associations, thus "a daily more complex (Continued on page 4)

4 (Continued from page 3) interdependence of citizens, introducing into their lives and activities many and varied forms of association" (MM, 59). Third, John XXIII used the human person as the criterion for evaluating socioeconomic situations. The dignity of the human person remains central to the any political, economic and social progress. It highlights that, "consequently, if the organization and structure of economic life be such that the human dignity of workers is compromised, or their sense of responsibility is weakened, or their freedom of action is removed, then we judge such an economic order to be unjust, even though it produces a vast amount of goods, whose distribution conforms to the norms of justice and equity" (MM, 83). John XXIII made it a point that a just economy does not only mean the abundance and the distribution of the production of goods and services. It also includes the process of the individual as a human person who is the subject and object of these goods and services. Fourth, it is the vocation of the state to pursue and promote common good. "Mater et Magistra" pursued dialogue between the Church and the international community with regard to human rights. It is the vocation of the Church to protect and defend with full clarity. Human rights promotion is an indispensable mission of the Church. John XXIII used the expression of his predecessor Pius XII "signs of the times" as a positive opportunity for the Church to proclaim and respond to the needs of the times in the light of the Gospel. Fifth, it is the vocation of the Church and the individual Christian to overcome the excessive inequality among the various sectors of society. John XXIII says that the human person is responsible for his acts and has a capacity for self-mastery (see MM, 55). The ordering of the material and social world is respecting the dignity of the human person. The human person created is in God's image and is rooted in a nature that is physical and spiritual exercising the gift of freedom (see MM, 208). It was the concern of the Church for the dignity of the human person that makes it strive to resist economic and political changes that would compromise human dignity and freedom. The Church's Response to AIDS "The Only Institution That Assists People Up Close and Concretely" Address given by Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See s permanent observer at the U.N. offices in Geneva, at a May Vatican meeting on The Centrality of Care for the Person in the Prevention and Treatment of Illnesses Caused by HIV/AIDS. The archbishop s speech was titled The International Role of the Catholic Church in the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS. It is with much gratitude to Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, and in fraternal solidarity with him, that I share these reflections on the Church s important role at the level of the wide range of inter-governmental and other global institutions engaged in the response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Before initiating this discussion, I also wish to greet, with particular respect and recognition, Mr. Michel Sidibé, who is responsible for leading the Joint United Nations Co-Sponsored Programme on AIDS and who seizes every opportunity to acknowledge and thank the Catholic Church and other faith-based organizations for their unique and uncompromising contributions to the struggle against this urgent health crisis. 1. From the time that the AIDS pandemic was first identified, during the early 1980s, the immediate engagement of various religious orders, diocesan and national Caritas organizations, and other Catholic Church-inspired institutions in response to the health, social, and pastoral needs of the people living and dying with AIDSrelated illnesses, has been widely known and documented. Thus it was no surprise that the Holy See, and Catholic Church -related international organizations would be most interested to share their experiences and insights with the emerging global coordination of the public health response to the challenges posed by HIV and AIDS. The Holy See representation in Geneva monitored the establishment of the Global AIDS Programme (GPA) at the World Health Organization. Given its prioritization of the pandemic, in 1987, as a major focus of reflection and action, Caritas Internationalis regularly attended the Management Committee meetings of the GPA and, on occasion, was consulted by its first Director, Dr. Jonathan Mann and his expert staff, with regard to lessons learned in the field by Catholic organizations serving the sick and dying as well as the surviving loved ones of those whose lives had been so tragically affected by this threatening and complex epidemic. It is highly likely that the sensitivity of Dr. Mann to the human rights and social determinants of the ever-increasing spread of HIV was influenced by his consultations with Catholic Church-related programmes that saw the situation in a holistic manner, including the social, economic, emotional and spiritual dimensions of the persons living with or affected by HIV, rather than from a merely medical or scientific perspective. (Continued on page 5)

5 (Continued from page 4) Paulines Publications Africa, is available in various languages. Since the establishment of UNAIDS, in 1995, as a Joint Programme, including co-sponsorship of ten different UN agencies, the Holy See, as well as several Catholic Church-inspired organizations, such as Caritas Internationalis, Catholic Relief Services, and the Associazione Papa Giovanni XXIII have participated, as observers, in the semi-annual meetings of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board. In a similar manner, these same Catholic structures are called upon for contributions to various Working Groups, planning mechanisms, and development of policy and practice guidelines, not only by UNAIDS, but also by its various partner agencies. In 2006, Caritas Internationalis, with the encouragement of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations and Specialized Agencies in Geneva, cooperated with UNAIDS and the World Health Organization to convene some 70 representatives of Catholic Church-inspired organizations with major engagement in the global response to HIV and AIDS. On that occasion, transparent, and open dialogue was held between the workers in the vineyard in some of the most rural and isolated HIV prevention, treatment, and care programmes in low-income countries and the officials of the above-mentioned UN agencies. This convening greatly advanced the understanding of the public health experts concerning the breadth and depth of the Church s response to this pandemic and opened doors to collaboration among the Church, government, and international organizations at regional, national, and local levels. Another major step forward in facilitating greater understanding of the Church s international activity in response to AIDS has been facilitated by the mapping reports on such activities in Southern Africa (published as a Best Practice report by UN- AIDS), of the work of the Dream Project to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother-to-child (published as a Best Practice by WHO), of the survey done by the Joint Commission on Health of Unions of Superiors General on the HIV/ AIDS responses of religious congregations throughout the world (designed with support from technical research experts at UNAIDS), and of the various national mapping exercises undertaken at regional level by the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, and, at national level, by Episcopal Conferences in such countries as India, Kenya, Thailand, and Myanmar. These studies clearly demonstrate the Church s significant contribution to this field in such areas as: Prevention, Care, Treatment, Services for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Advocacy, Capacity-Building, Theological Reflection, Pastoral Care, and Interfaith Involvement. Basic information and strategies to promote implementation of action in these fields of ecclesial action are clearly presented in the publication entitled Pastoral Training for Response to HIV/AIDS, developed by Caritas Internationalis. The book, originally published by 2. The Holy See also has attempted to monitor the establishment, as well as the policy and operation, of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria. Despite the impressive and highly significant burden of care that is assumed by the Catholic Church in response to these three pandemics threatening the human family during this modern era[1], only a very small portion of funds distributed by this innovative structure have, in fact, been earmarked for faith-based organizations. According to a study on this topic, completed in 2008, only 5.4% of Global Fund grants were received by faith-based organizations.[2] We understand that there is slow but steady progress in making more of these funds available to programmes sponsored by the Catholic Church. I believe that Dr. Christoph Benn, who is well known to us in Geneva and who will serve as an expert speaker at this Conference, will be able to offer updated data in this regard. Regrettably, however, there still seems to be much resistance among some international funders to offer support for faith-based responses to HIV and AIDS. 3. Now let us examine areas in which the Holy See and Catholic Church-inspired organizations have successfully influenced global policy and practice related to this pandemic. In all cases, such activity has been undertaken in conformity to the Church s overall magisterial, diaconal, and pastoral mission. Much educational energy and expertise has been focused on the area of preventing the further spread of HIV infection. Many governments, public health authorities, and even some UN agencies, have preferred to promote an incomplete quick fix prevention approach that almost exclusively relied on the promotion and distribution of condoms. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, insisted on prevention strategies in conformity with its teaching on the dignity of the human person, the sanctity of marriage, and the need for exercising responsibility in intimate human relationships by observing sexual abstinence outside marriage and mutual and permanent fidelity within marriage. This led to false claims that the Catholic hierarchy was an obstacle to effective HIV prevention and even was guilty of the AIDS-related deaths of millions of persons. We can be thankful for the courage and the wisdom of experts such as Dr. Edward C. Green who has been able to demonstrate the evidence base that promotion of behaviour change toward more responsible sexual relationships has been much more effective than condom promotion in decreasing new HIV infections.[3] In this regard, the Permanent Observer Missions of the Holy See in both Geneva and New York repeatedly have emphasized the theme of responsibility in interpersonal relationships in meetings of UNAIDS, World Health Organization, and at the more broad-based Special Sessions on AIDS that were con- (Continued on page 6)

6 vened by the United Nations General Assembly in 2001, 2006, 2008 and soon to be convened in June Blessed Pope John Paul II, of revered memory, illustrated this enduring and unalterable value during his address to the Conference on AIDS convened by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers in November 1989: the Church, sure interpreter of the Law of God and expert in humanity, is concerned not only with stating a series of no s to particular behaviour patterns, but above all with proposing a completely meaningful lifestyle for the person. [4] This same teaching was reaffirmed most recently by our present Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, during his interview with the German journalist, Peter Seewald, later published in the book entitled, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times: we cannot solve the problem by distributing condoms. Much more needs to be done. We must stand close to the people, we must guide and help them; and we must do this both before and after they contract the disease. 4. The Church has not confined its attention to teaching about HIV prevention; it has equally engaged itself in advocacy to eliminate discrimination against those living with or affected by HIV, especially any such rejection or marginalization based on the false premise that AIDS might be a punishment sent by God. Thus the words of the Episcopal Conference of Southern Africa, written in 2001, have resonated in the magisterial instructions of bishops in many other countries: AIDS must never be considered as a punishment from God. He wants us to be healthy and not to die from AIDS. It is for us a sign of the times challenging all people to inner transformation and to the following of Christ in his ministry of healing, mercy and love. [5] 5. Inspired by the Gospel Imperative of prioritizing the needs of the poor and vulnerable, the Church consistently raised its voice to point out and insist on a just solution to the inequitable distribution of resources made available in the global response to the HIV pandemic. Blessed Pope John Paul II expressed his urgent concern about this matter in his letter to then-united Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on the occasion of the first UN Special Session on AIDS in He recalled the words of the Second Vatican Council regarding the common destination of goods[6] and then launched the following urgent plea: On account of this social mortgage, included in international law by the affirmation, among other things, of every individual's right to health, I ask the rich countries to respond to the needs of HIV/AIDS patients in poorer countries with all available means, so that those men and women afflicted in body and soul will be able to have access to the medicines they need to treat themselves. [7] Again Pope Benedict XVI re-affirmed these same concerns when he emphasized, in 2006, during his address to the participants in the 21stInternational Conference promoted by the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care when he noted, with much concern, the importance of collaboration with the various public bodies so that social justice may be implemented in this sensitive area of the treatment and care of infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis and the urgent need of fair distribution of resources for research and treatment, as well as the promotion of living standards which help to prevent the occurrence and limit the spread of such illnesses.[8] In order to assure that these words are put into practice, the Holy See, as well as several international organizations of Catholic inspiration, including Caritas Internationalis, Associazione Papa Giovanni XXIII, the International Catholic Child Bureau, and religious congregations with representation to the United Nations, have monitored carefully and provided input to United Nations processes promoting flexibilities in the application of intellectual property rights, the promotion of Universal Access to prevention, treatment, care and support of persons living with or affected by the HIV pandemic, and special attention to the rights of children affected by HIV and other diseases by ensuring access to early diagnosis and child -friendly treatment for such illnesses. 6. The Church could never ignore its essential mission as Pastor to the People of God. Thus the Holy See emphasizes the spiritual needs of people in its interventions at the United Nations and in other inter-governmental fora. In the Constitution of the World Health Organization, the definition of health extends beyond medical interventions and social determinants to include a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. [9] In its comment on the Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development during the Seventh Session of the Council on Human Rights, the Holy See delegation recognized as well, the need to assure access to spiritual assistance among those conditions which guarantee the full enjoyment of the right to health. [10] It also seized the opportunity to take issue with claims in the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health that few human rights are absolute, [11] and to insist that no compromise can be made with a person s right to life itself, from conception to natural death, nor with that person s ability to enjoy the dignity which flows from that right. [12] 7. My conclusion will be brief, because I believe that our Holy Father already has summarized the theme of this presentation in a clear and unquestionable manner, and so I will close by quoting once again his comments to the journalist, Peter Seewald: [T]he Church does more than anyone else. And I stand by that claim. Because she is the only institution that assists people up close and concretely, with prevention, education, help, counsel, and accompaniment. And because she is second to none in treating so many [persons living with or affected by HIV and AIDS], especially children with Aids. [13] The effective action mobilized by the Catholic Church in response to the global HIV pandemic has delivered care and set an example. An additional good news is the announcement made today in relation to the effectiveness of anti-retroviral treatment both in prolonging life and improving (Continued on page 7)

7 (Continued from page 6) the quality of life among those already living with the virus and the efficiency of such treatment in preventing the further spread of HIV. However, the fact is that there still is a long way to go: 33 million people throughout the world are living with HIV; for every one person who gains access to the lifesaving anti-retroviral medications, two are newly-infected with the virus, 7,100 each day; presently, 10 million who need these medicines have no access to them and a recent study done by Catholic Church-inspired funding and technical assistance agencies revealed reports from their partner organizations in low- and middle-income countries that international funding cutbacks and flat-lining have resulted in significant delays in receipt of promised funding, insistence on fulfilling previously-established outcomes with less funding, restrictions on accepting new patients into the treatment caseloads, and much uncertainty with regard to future sustainability of life-saving anti-retroviral programmes.[14] The Church as a community of faith, hope and love cannot rest in its mission of service directed to place each and every human person at the centre of the global response to HIV and to engage in stronger advocacy and cooperative efforts to assure that all such persons might have life and have it to the full. [15] [1] A 2007 Study conducted by World Health Organization and others indicated that between 40% and 70% of health care in sub-saharan Africa is delivered by faith-based organizations. [2] Report by Dr. Christoph Benn, Director of External Relations, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, during a Conference on Scaling up Involvement of Faith-based Organizations in Global Fund Processes, held in Dar-Es-Salaam, April [3] Edward C. Green and Allison Herling Ruark, AIDS and the Churches: Getting the Story Right, First Things, ; Edward C. Green, Broken Promises: How the AIDS Establishment Has Betrayed the Developing World, ISBN , Sausalito, California, USA: Poli-Point Press, LLC, [4] Pope John Paul II, Address to the IV International Confer- ence of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, The Church Faced with the Challenge Of Aids: Prevention Worthy Of The Human Person and Assistance In Complete Solidarity, 15 November [5] A Message of Hope from the Catholic Bishops to the People of God in South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland, 30 July [6] Gaudium et Spes, 7,1, which also was mentioned by Pope John Paul II in Centesimus Annus, 30. [7] Message of Pope John Paul II to the Secretary General of the United Nations, on the occasion of the Special Session on AIDS of the UN General Assembly, June [8] speeches/2006/november/documents/hf_benxvi_spe_ _pc-health_en.html [9] Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19 June - 22 July 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April [10] Charter for Health Care Workers, #40, Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, Vatican City, Charter_06_Chapter2.pdf [11] Document A/HRC/7/11, 31 January 2008, #63. [12] Intervention of H.E. Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations at Geneva at the 7th Session of the Human Rights Council, Item 3: Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, 11 March 2008 [13] Benedict XVI, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times - A Conversation with Peter Seewald, Ignatius Press 2010, ISBN # , pp [14] Keeping Commitments for HIV and AIDS: Access for All to Treatment, Prevention, Care and Support, A Position Paper from the Catholic HIV and AIDS Network (CHAN), April [15] John 10:10

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