Catholics gather to mourn lost HIV and AIDS colleagues

19 Jul 2014 | Media release | Long-term Development

Monsignor Robert Vitillo, Caritas Internationalis

This tragic event has touched us all deeply. A number of people who died had committed their lives to improving the health of others as part of the global fight against HIV and AIDS."

Monsignor Vitillo

International Catholic HIV and AIDS experts will gather for a special Mass in Melbourne on Sunday, to remember those who lost their lives on board the Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight that crashed over the Ukraine on Friday, especially those who were on their way to the 20th International AIDS Conference.

The Mass will be celebrated by Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson, who’s also Chairman of Caritas Australia, at St John the Evangelist Church in East Melbourne at 9am on Sunday July 20.

Monsignor Robert Vitillo, Caritas Internationalis’s Head of Delegation to the United Nations in Geneva and Special Advisor on HIV and AIDS and Health, is one of the conveners of the Catholic pre-conference on HIV and AIDS in Melbourne that concludes on Sunday, July 20.

Monsignor Vitillo noted that many conference participants lost friends and colleagues in the tragedy. He said that while finding answers to what happened may take a long time, gathering for a religious service helps people of faith come to terms with their grief.

“This tragic event has touched us all deeply. A number of people who died had committed their lives to improving the health of others as part of the global fight against HIV and AIDS,” Monsignor Vitillo said.

About 100 people, including many practitioners and experts, joined for the Catholic pre-conference Stepping up the Pace; Remembering the Loaves and the Fishes, which was held ahead of the 20th International AIDS Conference.

The Catholic pre-conference looks at best practice in HIV and AIDS interventions, scientific developments, advocacy with pharmaceutical companies, access to funding in order to finance church HIV and AIDS programs and ethical issues.

It’s estimated that the Catholic Church provides at least 25 per cent of the care worldwide for people living with HIV, especially in developing countries.

A joint plenary session was held for participants in the Catholic pre-conference as well as those attending an Inter-faith pre-conference sponsored by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance.

In this session US Ambassador at Large Dr Deborah Birx, said long before HIV, faith-based communities were there in the areas of the greatest need.

“Even today faith-based communities continue to provide between 30 and 60 per cent of the healthcare services in most of the countries where we work,” Dr Birx said.

“You have been the voice of the most vulnerable and the outreached hands to the most needy.”

Dr Luiz Loures, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, commended people working at the “frontline” and encouraged faith-based organisations to continue to fight stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS.

Mass will be at 9am on Sunday 20 July 2014 at St John the Evangelist, 594 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne.