MATRIMONIAL FIDELITY AND CHASTITY TO PREVENT AIDS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 28, 2001 (VIS) - Archbishop Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for the Health Care Ministry and head of the Holy See delegation to the 26th Special Session of the General Assembly of the U.N., addressed the assembly yesterday. This session was held June 25-27 and examined the problem of AIDS.

In his address, which was published today, Archbishop Lozano recalled that "12 percent of those who provide care to AIDS sufferers worldwide are Catholic ecclesial bodies while 13 percent are Catholic non-governmental organizations."

Faced with the scourge of AIDS, he said, "two actions are required: prevention and cure. Both are extremely important, though it is better to prevent than to cure. ... As regards sexually-transmitted AIDS, the most profound and at the same time most effective form of prevention is education in the true values of life, of love and of sex."

"It cannot have escaped anyone," said the archbishop, "that sexual liberty increases the risk of infection. It is in this context that the values of matrimonial fidelity and chastity must be understood. Thus, prevention and the instruction it involves must be accomplished with respect for man's dignity and his transcendent destiny, excluding campaigns that imply models of behavior which destroy life and favor a spread of the disease."

The head of the Holy See delegation highlighted the fact that infection with AIDS is conditioned by poverty. Thus "a decisive factor in fighting (poverty) will be a greater international social justice that supplants economic concerns as the only horizon of ruthless globalization. The Pope exhorts governments and the scientific community to continue research into the disease. Unfortunately, in many countries, it is impossible to care for AIDS patients due to the high cost of patent medicines."

"In order for the fight against AIDS to be more effective, the Holy See suggests; ... dedicating sufficient resources to combat the scourge; increasing both classroom and extra-curricula education in the values of life, of love and of sex; insisting on the equality of men and women; eliminating all forms of discrimination against AIDS sufferers and giving them spiritual support. The Holy See also recommends increasing the number of care centers and providing adequate information and education about AIDS." Furthermore, concluded the archbishop, "it is necessary to ask industrialized countries, while avoiding any form of colonialism, to give help to those countries that need it in this campaign; to eradicate sexual exploitation, especially when linked to tourism and migration and to lower as much as possible the price of antiretroviral AIDS drugs."

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