[Episcopal News Service] Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has recorded a video message for World AIDS Day in which he talks about the part sexual violence plays in the spread of HIV, calling it "one of the most shameful facts of our day."

Williams recorded the video message during a recent visit to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been at "the epicenter of a great deal of appalling violence in recent years," he says in the video.

He talks specifically about the use sexual violence as a tool of war and something that is used to "humiliate and subdue others," he says.

Williams highlights the crucial role that the church has played in supporting survivors of such abuse, and in combating the stigma they often face in their own communities as a result of this violence.

"Trauma is something which cannot be overcome overnight but when people feel they've been abandoned by families, by communities, because of the shame and stigma of HIV/AIDS, the church in this part of Congo has been there for them," Williams said. "For these people, who have been abused systematically, been raped, violated, abducted often at the youngest of ages – for these people, the church has been the family that mattered.

A press release from Lambeth Palace is available here.