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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 07.08.2008 |
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| Public Act of Repentance: LWF President Hanson Washes Feet of HIV-positive Women |
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Churches Called to Advocate for and Welcome Persons with HIV and AIDS
MEXICO CITY, Mexico/GENEVA, 7 August 2008 (LWI) – In a public “act of repentance and humility,” Bishop Mark S. Hanson, President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), washed the feet of two women living with HIV.
“I am absolutely convinced that we as religious leaders and we in the religious community that so shunned and shamed people with HIV and struggling with AIDS, that we must begin first by engaging in public acts of repentance. Because, absent public acts of repentance, I fear our words will not be trusted,” he said at the Ecumenical Pre-Conference “Faith in Action Now!” preceding the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City from 3 to 8 August 2008.
According to conference organizers, over 20,000 scientists, government officials and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry, churches and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as well as community activists are attending the biennial international conference.
As possible public acts of repentance Hanson named being tested for HIV, engaging in advocacy and accompaniment, and welcoming persons with HIV and AIDS into full participation and leadership in religious communities. People living with HIV and AIDS are not to be regarded as “objects of our compassion,” he stressed, but rather as “full members and participants” in religious communities.
Hard Questions
Hanson underlined that full participation of persons with HIV and AIDS cannot be achieved unless male heterosexual religious leaders are willing to talk openly about their own sexuality rather than focusing on people who are homosexual, bisexual or transgendered.
“If we are serious about ending such discrimination, we must reject the notion that human sexuality is a church-defining, and therefore church-dividing, issue. It is the good news of Jesus Christ that defines the church, not human sexuality,” he said.
The predominantly male religious leadership must ask itself hard questions regarding its preaching and teaching, and its understanding of God, Hanson insisted. Church leaders must examine the ways in which their views have contributed to continued discrimination against women and to women’s second-class status not only in society but in religious communities as well.
“Do we dare? Do we dare become as radical in our love and mercy and actions as Jesus was?” he challenged the ecumenical delegates.
Leaders’ Responsibility
Sophie Dilmitis of the World Young Women's Christian Association (World YWCA), one of the women whose feet Hanson washed, shared with delegates to the Ecumenical Pre-Conference her vision of the partnership between church leaders and persons with HIV and AIDS.
“Religious leaders hold the key to doing away with shame and guilt that destroy immune systems and fight[ing] back viruses like stigma and silence,” she declared.
“When we see religious leaders standing up and addressing these tough and very important issues, things will begin to shift,” Dilmitis commented. “We have to recognize these opportunities to work together. Religious leaders have the responsibility to challenge other leaders, to take risks, to form these kinds of relationships and stand in solidarity with people living with HIV.” (524 words)
(A contribution by LWI correspondent Julia Heyde)
Click here for more information regarding the pre-conference theme “Faith in Action Now!” or ecumenical involvement at the Conference.
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