May 2006

African Bishop Apologizes to HIV-Positive People

At a multinational meeting in March, Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi of Kenya apologized on behalf of the church to HIV-positive people for shunning them. “As a church our earlier approach in fighting AIDS was misplaced since we likened it to a disease for sinners and a curse from God,” he said. We apologize for earlier abandoning our flock, which was as a result of our ignorance of the disease, but today we are more informed.”

The Archbishop was speaking at a workshop for Christian and Muslim leaders from several African countries. According to BBC News, discrimination in the Anglican Church had led to the excommunication of some HIV-positive members, and HIV/AIDS advocates say some Muslims have been killed because of their status.

The meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, was organized by CARE International and the African Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDS (ANERELA+). ANERELA+ is chaired by a Ugandan Anglican priest, Canon Gideon Byamugisha, who became the first known African church leader to declare he was HIV-positive. He has lived with the disease for 19 years.

Canon Byamugisha sounded a hopeful note: “I am beginning to see a world free of AIDS….With good partnerships we can defeat stigma by 2009.” He also said “HIV/AIDS is an extremely timid disease which is vulnerable to the right information. Once society is informed, stigma and discrimination become a thing of the past.” To fight stigma he urged political and religious leaders to publicly disclose their status. He is convinced that most AIDS deaths in Africa would be preventable if there were no stigma, denial, shame, and inaction.

Archbishop Nzimbi added, “Where the leaderships of religious groups have worked negatively, we are sorry and we want to walk the journey together with person living with AIDS, to bring healing ministry to the people.”