16.08.2006
LWF President Hanson: Unity in Diversity Will Facilitate Collaboration in Response to HIV and AIDS
Emphasis on Religious Teachings That Promote CompassionTORONTO, Canada/GENEVA, 16 August 2006 (LWI) - "HIV and AIDS is an issue where we find our unity within our diversity but our unity will transcend our differences," Bishop Mark S. Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) told representatives of faith-based organizations attending the 16th International Aids Conference (IAC), in Toronto Canada.
Addressing an interfaith pre-conference, Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, named what he sees as the three main global challenges when facing the AIDS pandemic, namely distrust, disregard and self-interest. He went on to explain that "Because we come as people of faith, we know that we come as people whose identity has been shaped by deeply-held convictions and practices. But that also makes collaboration very difficult because we tend to distrust the faith and religious practices of the other."
The LWF president also criticized world leaders for fostering an environment of distrust for the sake of their ideologies. "When we live in a time when the reality of terrorism is now becoming the defining reality for decisions made, we succumb to letting one reality become the defining reality that fosters a culture of fear amongst all of us," he said. As an "antidote" to distrust, he recommended "listening, listening, listening."
Phramaha Boonchuay, chairperson of the Asian Interfaith Network on AIDS, explained how the network promotes inter-religious cooperation through some 60 temples, mosques, and churches that serve as community centers. Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and other religions, he noted, have important teachings "about loving kindness and compassion towards the other."
Father Robert J. Vitillo, special advisor for HIV and AIDS for the Roman Catholic relief organization, Caritas Internationalis, spoke of his conviction that "we as people of faith can no longer allow ourselves the luxury of our separated and segmented responses to AIDS." (322 words)
(By LWI correspondent Julia Heyde. More information about the proceedings at the ecumenical pre-conference and the 2006 International AIDS Conference is at http://iac.e-alliance.ch/index.php)
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