US embassy cable - 05VATICAN545

UNCLAS VATICAN 000545 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (LARREA), PLS PASS HHS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PREF, SOCI, KHIV, KWMN, VM, VT 
SUBJECT: VATICAN REACHES OUT TO PEOPLE WITH HIV/AIDS 
 
 
1.      Pope Benedict XVI feels close to AIDS sufferers and their 
families and has affirmed the commitment of the Catholic Church 
to caring for those with HIV/AIDS.  The Pope described 
statistics on HIV/AIDS as "truly alarming."  Benedict drew 
attention to World AIDS Day at his weekly general audience in 
Vatican City November 30.  The Holy See's official message for 
AIDS Day was released earlier by the President of the Pontifical 
Council for the Health Care Workers, Cardinal Javier Lozano 
Barragan.  The message highlights the particular vulnerability 
of women and girls to HIV infection and AIDS, and warned "the 
impact of HIV/AIDS on women aggravates inequality and hinders 
progress towards the universality of rights."  The Vatican's 
message stressed that the advance of HIV infection among women, 
"the columns of families and communities," increases the danger 
of social collapse in many countries. 
 
2.      While restating the Holy See's policy of abstinence from 
sexual activity before marriage and marital fidelity as the best 
methods to prevent HIV infection, the message also called for an 
end to the stigma that surrounds people with HIV/AIDS.  Cardinal 
Lozano Barragan outlined the Holy See's policies to achieve 
greater efficiency in the fight against the AIDS pandemic. 
These include, among others, support for global programs to 
combat HIV/AIDS, education in moral values, the elimination of 
discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS, information 
campaigns, solidarity among industrialized and developing 
nations, a reduction in the price of antiretroviral drugs and 
medicines for sufferers of HIV/AIDS, and campaigns to prevent 
mother/fetus transmission.  The Vatican's message repeated 
statistics that the Catholic Church and related agencies provide 
some 26.7 percent of the care for people with HIV/AIDS 
worldwide, and pointed out that the world's bishops had been 
asked to address the pandemic in their regions. 
 
3.      COMMENT.  The Holy See's global reach and presence makes 
it a valuable partner in efforts to combat the spread of HIV and 
initiatives to treat and care for HIV/AIDS victims.  While media 
attention on the Pope's message for AIDS Day tended to focus on 
his not mentioning condoms, the real message is the Holy See's 
and Catholic Church's consistent and long-running outreach to 
people with HIV/AIDS.  We note the work of the Church in places 
like Vietnam, where with GOV approval, a group of Catholic nuns 
provides hospice care for terminally ill AIDS sufferers.  It is 
this kind of behind-the-scenes work that is the real face of the 
Holy See towards HIV/AIDS and counters the hostility of those 
who focus only on the condom issue.  END COMMENT. 
SANDROLINI 
 
 
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 2005VATICA00545 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED