Tullow Group of Parishes
United Diocese of Cashel and Ossory
Tullow - Shillelagh - Aghold - Mullinacuffe

PASTORAL LETTER FROM BISHOP MICHAEL BURROWS

January 27th 2008

THE BODY OF CHRIST HAS AIDS

Dear Friends

Lent will soon be upon us and I want to commend the efforts I know are make in every parish to enable people to grow in insight and commitment during this special season of the Christian year.

For many people an important part of Lent is sacrificial giving, particularly to the needs of the Developing World. Through our generosity and care we strive to emulate in some small way the costly love towards humanity of Jesus himself as supremely display on the cross.

For many years making a Lenten response to Bishops' Appeal has been very much part of the life of the Church of Ireland. The Bishops' Appeal is this church's own official agency for World Development. Its seeks not only to bring Good News to the poor and to strengthen them were they are; it also works to make parishioners here more aware of the causes of world poverty and of how we in Ireland are caught up in patterns of economic behaviour and personal lifestyle which in fact continue to trap the world's poorest people in their predicament.

From time to time the Bishops' Appeal identifies a particular issue which deserves fuller understanding and response within the Church of Ireland. In 2008 the Appeal has decided to run a thematic Lent campaign on the issue of AIDS, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. There the impact of the AIDS pandemic is almost beyond our comprehension. More people die every day of AIDS related conditions than perished infamously in the USA on 9 - 11. Considerable stigma remains attached to many of those who are HIV positive. There are a terrifying number of AIDS orphans - children who simply have to fare for themselves as both their parents are dear and there is no one available to care for them. In many regions, AIDS has reduced life expectancy to considerably less than half what we might consider normal here.

In order to increase awareness and to promote a response of prayer and action, Bishops' Appeal are entitling their 2008 Lent campaign, perhaps provocatively, The Body of Christ has AIDS. This title should make war on the stigma of being HIV positive, it should remind us that the suffering Christ continues to be encountered in human individuals with AIDS who bear his image, it should challenge us with the reality that the Church, the Body of Christ has not always been entirely helpful or sensitive when it has reacted to the reality of HIV within itself.

During Lent, as well as promoting awareness of AIDS issues near and far, the Bishops' Appeal will be seeking funds to support two particular AIDS projects in Africa which we hope to assist on a large scale basis in collaboration with our partner agencies Christian Aid and TEAR Fund. With Christian Aid we will support ANARELA+, a scheme operating in a number of countries particularly to support church leaders who themselves are HIV+. By helping them cope personally and be open about their situation, the stigma surrounding AIDS can be reduced and the effectiveness of the church's ministry of empathy and of anti-AIDS education can be increased. With TEAR Fund we hope to support specific AIDS reduction measures in Liberia, where HIV is utterly rampant.

Materials concerning these projects suitable for all ages will be widely available and in these dioceses the campaign will largely be spearheaded by our Bishops' Appeal Diocesan Representatives, Billy Kingston (Cashel and Ossory) and Valerie Power (Ferns). I simply want to stress now that it is my hope and expectation that as par to their keeping of Lent, every single parish will respond generously and imaginatively to The Body of Christ has AIDS. Last year you responded wonderfully to the Railway Children: I hope that this year, even without the glamour of a railway pilgrimage, we can make an equally generous and committed response to this Lent campaign. The opportunities to promote the cause in the parishes and in the wider community are legion.

I wish you well for all you will do during Lent and know that you will take this particular cause very much to heart. The fact that this is the very first pastoral letter I have written to you all since becoming bishop testifies to my own personal passion and sense of priorities in this matter. The Body of Christ has AIDS can be a challenging contemporary encounter with the Christ who on the Cross shares our suffering and our burden. It is in your hands to make a difference.

Yours Most Sincerely

+ MICHAEL, CASHEL and OSSORY