AbstractFilmed in southern Sudan, this film is intended to help the emerging Southern Sudan people to understand that there are new challenges following the peace accord. HIV/AIDS has spread with the movement of people into different areas and the disruption of traditional life. Using the local custom of community palaver around a fire, this film identifies key risk factors for HIV/AIDS in southern Sudan. It is produced for the Sudan Christian Aids Network of South Sudan. PAL

AbstractThe Crowded Bed is a 30-minute drama developed to complement the Choose Life curricula targeting youth ages 10-24 with HIV prevention messages. The Crowded Bed is the story of Samson and Martha, a young couple, who come face to face with their past during their honeymoon. Directed by Ian Mbugua of Phoenix Players, the film explores the challenges and influences that youth face and how these can put them at risk of HIV infection. The captivating drama presents a myriad of lessons that help young people to remember that the choices they make will have consequences – whether positive or negative – in the future. The film is based on a learning game, The Crowded Bed, from the curriculum It Takes Courage, and its use was graciously permitted by its publishers, Kerus Global.

AbstractIn a first section, the story of Tamar is read from a woman's perspective, in a meditative, literary and canonical manner. In a second section, and against the backdrop of seeing HIV and AIDS in South Africa as "a gendered pandemic, " theological reflections are suggested that could contribute in the search for resistance and hope in the face of this bleak reality.

AbstractThis paper explores the nature of stigma in relation to HIV / Aidsby way of fifteen interrelated observations. It serves as an example of "embodied theology". It also offers reflections on what could constitute an appropriate response to stigma on the part of communities of faith in order to clarify and strengthen their roles in combating the Aids pandemic. <BR>"Thembi" grew thin, lost her appetite and then became too weak to get out of bed. "I asked my mother to come from the Transkei to nurse me because my boyfriend had gone back to Maputo. I cannot tell my mother that I have the 'new sickness'. She thought I had been 'toored' (bewitched) and sent for the sangoma (healer) to rub me with herbs to chase the demons out. Nothing helps. Now I am afraid that Sisi is also sick. What will happen to her? I can't tell my church. They will judge me." ("Thembi" died two weeks later in a backroom of one of Johannesburg's suburbs at the age of 29. Her boyfriend arrived in time to bury her. Her daughter Sisi now lives with her grandmother and she is showing signs of being infected with HIV).2 <BR>"Lunga was so excited that morning. He was going to pre-school, face shining, clutching his sandwiches. I had told the school that he was HIV-positive. They accepted him. Things went well and Lunga thrived. Then someone broke confidentiality and told a parent that he was HIV positive. News spreads quickly. I noticed hostility when I took him to school, and then he came home crying. Parents in his class had forbidden their children to play with him. We had to remove him. It has been very hard. We know what stigma feels like and Lunga is lonely." (Louisa, foster mother of Lunga, aged 4). <BR>"My family is very conservative. They are good people; they read their Bibles, they go to church, they pay their taxes but they never talk about sex. They simply don't understand about life today. I can't tell them the truth. They won't understand, they won't know what to do with me. I think they will judge me and I can't bear any more judgment. I am not a bad person. I just made a mistake, I was stupid and I am paying for it. The worst is not the virus but the judgment." (Annatjie, a student aged 24, who recently discovered her status.)

AbstractThe HIV / Aids pandemic is one crisis that has catapulted the African continent into global limelight, particularly in the last decade. In spite of the common rhetoric whipped by the international community, prevention and impact mitigation responses have been largely hypocritical, half-hearted and grossly inadequate. The scourge seems to have defied any discernible medical, therapeutic and curative measures, thus leaving it to gradually erode the fabric of these societies. Religious groups have been largely affected, especially as youth, the highest HIV / Aids riskgroup, swell their membership. This shapes the responses of religious groups and poses a crucial challenge to their beliefs, ritual practices and worldviews. Using the example of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Nigeria and Diaspora, this article demonstrates the various mechanisms employed to combat the epidemic. The RCCG conceptualization of disease and healing is central in understanding these responses and measures in combating HIV / Aids.

AbstractThis paper examines the voicelessness of theology and religious studies in post-independence Africa. It investigates the possible factors that have led to this phenomenon and explores ways and means whereby theology and religious studies can once again regain their rightful position not only in the academia, but also in society as a whole. It argues that unless theologians and religious educators make a radical U-turn to transform theology and religious studies into something meaningful and attractive, these two subjects will continue to be relegated to a second-class category of academic disciplines with disastrous consequences for theological and religious educators, as well as theological institutions.

Abstract"A compilation of professor Asante's articles, sermons and reflections on some of the many issues related to the interconnections between theology and national life ... He brings one to the hard conclusion that, the Christian's life and his theology cannot be separate from his life as an individual at the workplace, in church, ministry and even in politics."--Back cover

Abstract"HIV and AIDs both continue to spread in Africa and in some regions have become a threat to the very survival of nations. This book offers a number of perspectives on the crisis--theological, sociological, ecclesiological, public health, and more. It is a valuable resource for social analysis and theological reflection from an African perspective."--Page 4 of cover.

AbstractPurchase online the PDF of Le VIH/ SIDA, Bamuene Solo, Darius, 1965- - L'Harmattan - E-book

AbstractResponsibility in a time of AIDS: a pastoral response by Catholic theologians and AIDS activists in Southern Africa

AbstractDuring 2013, a conference on the response of the Catholic Church to HIV and AIDS was held at St Joseph's Theological Institute, Cedara KwaZulu-Natal. This book brings together papers presented at the conference together with some significant documents of the Catholic Magisterium in Southern Africa and beyond written during the course of the last 30 years. The Catholic Church in Southern Africa has been one of the principal players in the response to the HIV and AIDS crisis. From a relatively slow beginning in the 1980s it had become a major provider of health care and information on HIV prevention by the early 21st century. This book examines both the pastoral outreach and the theological motivation for this involvement

AbstractHealing was an important part of the mission of Jesus and the apostles. This ministry continued throughout the history of the Church, taking many forms. Plagues, pandemics and incurable diseases have always been a challenge to it. This challenge has been of a contextual theological model which can inform the healing ministry within Southern Africa. The narrative is constructed in terms of seven challenges which must be met to ensure this goal is reached. Three of the challenges respond to issues emerging from a miraculous cures and those who believe primarily in medical procedures. The other four challenges respond to issues emerging from a theological analysis of the context. An assessment is made of the theological merits of diverse healing procedures.

AbstractReligion has become deeply involved in HIV/AIDS treatment, care and prevention, and is substantially influencing attitudes and behaviour in the domains of sexuality, relationships and the body. At the same time, AIDS as a disease, as a field of biomedicine, and as a realm of international aid interventions is heavily affecting socio-religious formations and developments in Africa. Religion and AIDS are transforming African public and private domains together. Yet, scant attention is paid to the ways in which this intertwined engagement between the domains of religion and the domains of AIDS prevention, care, and treatment in African societies become increasingly linked to an outside world. This book seeks to address the question why so much of the transnational religious engagement with the disease has seemed to serve a conservative agenda. It is unique in drawing attention to the transnationalisation of religion and AIDS in Africa. The disciplinary scope for studying this phenomenon is wide-ranging as it speaks to anthropological, sociological, developmental, historical, and religious studies, and global health perspectives on these issues. Introducing concepts from the study of transnationalism into the study of religion and AIDS and their mutual intertwinement, this book offers the various fields which explore how religious ideologies and moralities have been shaping the experience of AIDS in Africa a new set of conceptual tools for analysis. The multi-disciplinary, empirical chapters from a wide range of localities shows how African public domains are being shaped by forces that are transnational, steered by forceful religious and moral agendas, and often have substantial international resources behind them. These are, so the authors argue, the strings attached to the present-day transnational, religious involvement with AIDS in Africa. (source: Nielsen Book Data)

AbstractLe sida représente un défi pour l’humanité, comme le montre l’engagement des gouvernements et des organisations internationales. La lutte contre le VIH/SIDA reste à la croisée des chemins, eu égard à ses enjeux spécifiques et aux différentes sphères d’intervention : Etat-Eglise-ONG/Associations. L'enquête sociologique menée au Togo, s'est révélée un outil indispensable de questionnement préalable et de source de réflexion. La présente étude explore certains facteurs mêlant des intérêts et des conflits entre les différents protagonistes. Qu’en est-il du malade lui-même ? Au delà des stratégies de prévention et de prise en charge, une alliance multiforme, thérapeutique, institutionnelle explore un nouveau chemin. L’auteur ouvre des pistes pour une plus grande efficacité du travail des acteurs concernés initiant des lieux de dialogue et une vraie réflexion sur les nœuds éthiques et théologiques de la lutte contre le sida. La prise en charge insuffisante des malades impose aux acteurs une vision holistique de la personne en lien avec ses besoins fondamentaux.

AbstractL'objectif principal de cette étude est de questionner le pluralisme médical en matière de soins et de guérison des personnes vivant avec le virus de l'immunodéficience humaine (PVVIH). Ce pluralisme implique une pluralité d'offres de soins, car faisant intervenir à la fois des spécialistes biomédicaux (médecins) et non-médicaux (marabouts, guérisseurs, prophètes, pasteurs, etc.) face aux demandes des malades. Il crée ainsi, un véritable marché de guérison conduisant à un bricolage médical ou un ordre médical bricolé, modelé par des croyances et spiritualités aussi bien de ces spécialistes que des malades eux-mêmes. Il s'agit donc de comprendre la manière dont tous ces spécialistes, tout en n'ignorant pas les catégories religieuses traditionnelles et contemporaines, interviennent et organisent leurs offres de guérison face aux demandes des malades qui, eux aussi sont porteurs de croyances et de spiritualités.

AbstractThe HI virus speaks to people across national boundaries and evokes different reactions. In this article an analysis is made of the place awarded to the notion of "human dignity" in the religion-HIV / AIDS discourse and differences in perspective on "human dignity" as possible grounding principle for this discourse in both African and Western contexts. In Africa this is related to the notion of the imago Dei and in the West to the notion of the imago hominis. Because of the danger of "human dignity", given its foundational position in international charters and jurisdiction, becoming an empty concept, it is contended that the concept of "honour", which actually encompasses that of "dignity" and its necessary counterpart, self-respect, might offer a common basis for a religious discourse uniting Africa and the West in finding a common language that will help people to not only escape the stigma, but also to act upon the need for the eradication of this pandemic. In this discourse God is seen as a friend who has compassion, shows respect for human beings, is trustworthy and non-judgemental and is One who cares unconditionally.

AbstractHIV is a health and developmental crisis that has profoundly challenged the Christian church in sub-Saharan Africa. Responding to stigma and prejudice against HIV and people living with HIV and AIDS has been a major concern of theologians and Christian leaders. However, Christians themselves and the church as a community are equally prone to stigma and prejudice. The author contends that this stigma is grounded in the dynamic of 'othering', which, among Christians, takes on religious or theological overtones. Drawing on qualitative data from theology students in South Africa, the paper assembles a model of AIDS stigma as othering. The central story or axis of the model is the dynamic of othering, comprising three themes, viz. lack of empathic contact, disconnection, and distancing. There are three main dynamics that appear to contribute to or feed into othering, viz. emotions related to sexuality and HIV, theology of health and judgement, and contextualised knowledge of HIV. Finally, the model presents two primary results of othering, viz. disengagement from HIV through passivity and hopelessness, and prejudice against those living with HIV. The paper endeavours to reveal the possible biblical roots of AIDS stigma. Through this, the deep violence embedded in such stigma is exposed and contrasted with a theology of inclusiveness and engagement. Le Virus d'Immunodéficience Humain (VIH) est un problème de santé et de développement qui a profondément remis en question l'église chrétienne en Afrique sub-saharienne. Une préoccupation majeure des théologiens et des leaders religieux était d'apporter une réponse á la stigmatisation et aux préjugés á l'égard du VIH/SIDA et des personnes vivant avec le VIH. Cependant, les chrétiens eux-mêmes et l'église, en tant que communauté, sont également enclins á la stigmatisation et aux préjugés. L'auteur soutient que cette stigmatisation est ancrée dans la dynamique de differentiation or « othering », qui, parmi les chrétiens, prend des références religieuses ou théologiques. S'appuyant sur des données qualitatives provenant des étudiants en théologie en Afrique du Sud, le papier assemble un modèle de stigmatisation liée au SIDA comme differentiation or « othering ». Le principal axe du modèle est la dynamique de differentiation or « othering », comprenant trois thèmes, á savoir: l'absence de contact empathique, la déconnexion et de distanciation ou éloignement. Il y a trois principales dynamiques qui semblent contribuer á nourrir de differentiation or « othering », á savoir : les émotions liées á la sexualité et au VIH, la théologie de la santé et du jugement, et la connaissance contextualisée du VIH. Enfin, le modèle présente deux résultats primaires de differentiation or « othering », á savoir: désengagement vis-á-vis du VIH/SIDA par la passivité, le désespoir et les préjugés envers les personnes vivant avec le VIH. Le papier s'efforce de révéler les racines bibliques de possible stigmatisation liée au SIDA. Grâce á cela, la violence profonde incorporée dans cette stigmatisation est exposée et contrastée avec une théologie de l'inclusivité et de l'engagement.

AbstractThe article highlights a process followed to bridge the gap of alienation between the church and the AIDS community in a very poor urban area of Lilongwe, Malawi. The research illuminated the fact that although it can be done, in so doing, discoveries were made regarding other essential, but unanticipated factors. Disillusionment came when the pious idea of church volunteers reaching out to assist their neighbours in need, revealed the true source of their motives, compounded by the reality and impact of abject poverty.

AbstractCultures that value virginity often seek to control women closely. This paper examines ancient Jewish, Greek and early Christian attitudes to virginity, setting them in dialogue with contemporary cultural initiatives in KwaZulu-Natal that aim to promote virginity as part of the fight against HIV / AIDS. The Church, which has traditionally advocated virginity, needs to exercise caution in such a situation, where its own traditions and teachings might combine with cultural practices to entrench patriarchy. Discussion of the topic of virginity / sexual abstinence in 1 Corinthians 7, leads to the conclusion that Paul's views (when considered in his own context) were moderate and not aimed at restricting the freedom of women. Subsequent interpretations of Paul's views have, however, been oppressive to women.

AbstractThe main argument of this article is that the response of the church in general, and that of pastoral care in particular has not been appropriate, contextual or liberating. This inappropriate response could have contributed to the extreme suffering of people living with HIV / AIDS. The article traces some of the inappropriate responses of the church and pastoral care in particular. For pastoral care to be contextual and liberating, it has to undergo a paradigm shift. Furthermore it is argued that pastoral care needs to reclaim an understanding of the true nature of the church as the body of Christ. Pastoral care needs also to learn from the methodology of liberation theology, that takes the situation and context of the people seriously.

AbstractOne of the most challenging issues in dealing with HIV and AIDS is breaking through the stigmas surrounding the disease. This article wants to contribute to the present discussion by investigating the relationship between shame and guilt and HIV and AIDS stigmatisation with specific reference to a rural community in South Africa. This will be done by looking at key features of the African worldview and culture and how it manifests in community attitudes towards people living with AIDS (PLWA). The influence of prevailing beliefs in witchcraft and the way it aggravates the experience of shame and suffering of stigmatisation by people infected and affected by HIV will also be highlighted. Approaches to Christian HIV and AIDS counselling and intervention has to be contextualised to be culturally sensitive and relevant. At the same time a Christian approach to HIV and AIDS intervention may be enriched and become more holistic in unveiling the aspects of the Christian Gospel dealing with God's merciful covering of the shame of his children and Christ having triumphed over and disarmed all spiritual powers and authorities.

AbstractThe thesis proposes a liberative Mariological model for southern African Christian women disproportionately infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. The first chapter argues that women are disproportionately infected and affected by HIV and AIDS impacts in southern Africa. It proposes the utilisation of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as an inspirational symbol for the empowerment of southern African Christian women against HIV/AIDS. The second chapter explains the basic themes of the thesis of ‘symbol’, ‘inspiration’ and ‘empowerment’ in relation to Mary. It also illustrates how Mary is utilised as a symbol of empowerment within the chapters that follow. Chapter three considers some African theological writings on Mary, mainly by African women theologians and also reflects on how Mary interacts with some communities in southern Africa. Chapters four to eight are built on chapter themes of Mary as mother, as mother of sorrows, Mary’s incarnational role, Mary as virgin, and as a revolutionary respectively. Within each chapter theme, the thesis considers how Mary could inspire southern African Christian women for empowerment against HIV infection and AIDS impacts. In chapter nine, a Marian healing ritual for women living with HIV/AIDS is proposed, using feminist ritual healing guidelines, for the women’s empowerment, followed by the concluding chapter.

AbstractThe war against the devastating effects of HIV and Aids continues to be waged on different fronts. From a medical perspective, the discovery of anti-retroviral drugs should be considered a breakthrough, as it has given life to those whom society had considered 'dead'. However, for people living with HIV and Aids, one of their greatest challenges now is stigmatisation. This is particularly so when the person living with HIV and Aids is a Christian. It is in this context that this article discusses the problem of stigmatisation, suggesting a contextually relevant reading and exegesis of John 7:53-8:11. The article argues that the passage provides valuable insights regarding de-stigmatisation in the context of HIV and Aids.

AbstractHIV / AIDS poses a serious existential challenge in Africa. Its effects have been devastating, particularly for the disadvantaged members of society. Women, children, orphans, displaced people, prisoners and others have been negatively affected by the pandemic. Patriarchy has also compounded the vulnerability of women. Women are unable to negotiate safer sexual practices with their partners, especially in the marriage context. Religious and cultural factors have combined to dangerously expose women to HIV infection in Africa. Due to the influence of Christianity in Africa, its sacred writings have been used selectively to justify the marginalisation of women. This study offers a re-reading of Proverbs 31: 10-31. It interrogates the meaning of being "the good wife" in the context of HIV / AIDS in Zimbabwe. The first section analyses the influence of African and biblical patriarchal values and how they expose women to HIV infection. The second section explores new models for appreciating "the good wife" in the era of HIV / AIDS. The third section calls for greater action by women's religious groups in HIV / AIDS awareness, prevention and care. Phenomenological techniques like cultivating empathy and recognising the value of religion guide the study.

AbstractThe scale and effect of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in countries such as Swaziland has emphasised the need for multisectoral collaborations. Multisectoral collaborations can utilise the strengths of different organisations in order to effectively respond to the pandemic, thereby preventing further declines in life expectancy and living standards. Hence, in contexts such as Swaziland, civil society organisations have a valuable role to play in the delivery of HIV/AIDS related prevention, care and treatment services. This includes faith-based organisations which are recognised in literature as providing a significant proportion of health related services in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the relationship between faith and development and the role of faith-based organisations in development has been debated in the literature. Some donors and development agencies have been cautious of engaging with faith-based organisations due to fear of them proselytising or exacerbating HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination. However, others hold faith-based organisations to be distinctive and have a comparative advantage over secular organisations in the delivery of development related services. One reason given for their distinctiveness is the assumption that they provide a holistic approach to the care of people living with HIV/AIDS, meeting their various physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs. This dissertation explores the ways in which faith-based organisations, in comparison to secular non-governmental organisations, meet the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. It will apply a needs-based quality of life framework in order to evaluate the impact that the activities of the participating organisations have on the health related quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS. This is of importance since the provision of care and treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS not only aims to increase their life expectancy, but also their quality of life. The dissertation will specifically make reference to two case studies: Shiselweni Home-Based Care and The AIDS Information and Support Centre. Using findings from literature, secondary data and primary research conducted in the form of a qualitative questionnaire, the dissertation seeks to answer the primary research question: Are the services faith-based organisations provide for people living with HIV/AIDS more holistic in their nature than those of secular nongovernmental organisations? The research found that the services both Shiselweni Home-Based Care and The AIDS Information and Support Centre provide for people living with HIV/AIDS are holistic in nature, meeting physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs. However, faith-based organisations may better be able to provide spiritual care to people living with HIV/AIDS due to their ideology and ethos.

AbstractThis article reflects on the classic theodicy problem in relationship with HIV / Aids. It first offers some general comments about the very need to address the theodicy problem. A next section offers an analysis of various sources of human suffering which is then related to an overview of some of the dominant theodicies in current theological discourse. These discussions are brought together in a final section which investigates various possible answers to the question: Where is God amidst the suffering associated with the HIV / Aids pandemic? The article concludes that one of the many challenges that HIV / Aids pose to Christian communities is to offer a plausible account of each aspect of the Christian faith.

AbstractInterview du fondateur du réseau africain contre le sida à Nairobi ROME, 29 novembre 2010 (ZENIT.org) - L'Eglise catholique est la principale organisation en Afrique pour l'assistance aux malades du sida, et pour les hommes, les femmes et les enfants...

AbstractThe inability of government, communities and churches to deal with complex HIV and AIDS challenges may foster pathological psychosocial and systemic dysfunctionalities. The reframing of pathological and disempowering pastoral therapeutic and health promotion praxes are sought. The objective was to construct a new pastoral and social therapeutic methodology. It should develop in line with health promotion praxes in strengthening both ecclesial and community health praxes. Reframing agents such as pastoral therapeutic and health praxes, as well as ecclesial and community systems, could ultimately engender a transformative process in transforming pathological HIV and AIDS praxes.

AbstractAu début des années 2000, l’Ouganda et les Etats-Unis ont connu un tournant similaire dans leur politique de prévention du VIH. Les chrétiens évangéliques ont acquis des positions de pouvoir dans l’action publique, la promotion de l’abstinence est valorisée, tandis que l’usage des préservatifs est remis en cause. Cet article interroge la convergence entre les actions publiques de ces deux pays et s’intéresse au rôle d’intermédiaire des chrétiens évangéliques. Il montre comment des acteurs impliqués dans des réseaux transnationaux ont concrètement travaillé à cette convergence. Des chrétiens évangéliques ougandais profondément transnationalisés ont particulièrement travaillé à l’importation d’actions américaines, et à leur appropriation sur le terrain et dans les stratégies d’action publique. La convergence est également étroitement liée à la volonté de certains chrétiens évangéliques de faire évoluer l’équilibre des pouvoirs au sein du champ du VIH/sida et plus largement du champ politique.

AbstractChildren who remember their parents in a positive way when they become iII or when they die are in a better position to cope with the hardships of their condition. The concept of memory boxes are used with positive effect to help AIDS orphans cope with the loss of their parents or siblings. The article reports on a pilot study being conducted jointly by the Oral History Project of the School of Theology, University of Natal and Sinosizo Home Based Care.

AbstractEn Afrique, les femmes sont plus nombreuses que les hommes à être infectées par le virus du sida. Plus vulnérables biologiquement, elles n’ont pas toujours la capacité de négocier qui leur permettrait d’insister sur l’utilisation de préservatifs ou sur la fidélité de leur partenaire. Prévention et dépistage, encore rares, leur sont cependant plus accessibles qu’aux hommes grâce aux consultations prénatales. Mais, si elles apprennent qu’elles sont infectées, leur fragilité socio-économique, la peur de l’opprobre et la pression de procréation qu’elles subissent, conduisent trois femmes sur quatre à taire leur séropositivité. Paradoxalement, elles bénéficient pourtant plus souvent que les hommes des traitements.

AbstractThe story of HIV / AIDS in Africa and the Ruth narrative both describe the extraordinary suffering of women in the face of calamity. The plight of women in Africa has never been easy and the advent of HIV / AIDS did nothing to ease the suffering. The risk of becoming infected with HIV is two to four times higher for women than it is for men. Apart from their physical and biological vulnerability, women in Africa are particularly susceptible to HIV infection due to their lower social status, lack of control over their sexual lives, disempowerment and poverty. Exposure to diseases such as Tuberculosis and Malaria further exacerbates the problem.<br> In the Book of Ruth we are also presented with two women who are also experiencing a major crisis. The legal status and social constraints of women such as Naomi and Ruth are analysed against four possible readings of the book. These four perspectives emphasise the responsibility for selfempowerment, the need to work positively towards solutions, the fact that it is sometimes necessary to change the structures of society, and the importance of sometimes cooperating with people in power.

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate how the white Afrikaans-speaking churches in the Reformed tradition are dealing with the health and well-being of its parishioners in the HIV and/or AIDS context. An electronic questionnaire was filled in by 142 clergy from various Afrikaans-speaking churches. Results showed that clergy (90%) believed that HIV and/or AIDS is a much bigger problem outside the Afrikaans-speaking church than inside the church. Although 66% agreed that HIV was also a problem in white Afrikaans-speaking churches, only 30% admitted that it was a problem in their own congregation. Most (70%) believed that HIV and/or AIDS can be ignored in their own congregations. A small number of clergy took it on themselves to provide HIV and/or AIDS counselling (21%), care (19%) and education (18%) with minimum support from church leaders. When it came to HIV and/or AIDS prevention, most clergy were only prepared to preach abstinence and faithfulness, with their main message that ‘our bodies are the temple of God and that it should not be violated’ (70%). Is it not time for clergy to confront reality and to protect their flock by also teaching them prevention skills? Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article is relevant to the fields of pastoral care, psychology and HIV and/or AIDS.

AbstractL'histoire du gouvernement des conduites humaines en matière d'hygiène et de reproduction, et plus généralement l'étude des relations entre santé, sexualité et politique sont au centre des derniers travaux de Michel Foucault. Analysant parallèlement la mise en pratique des biopolitiques et la mise en discours du sexe dans les sociétés occidentales, il montre d'une part, comment l'autorité publique déploie une activité croissante dans la gestion des affaires privées des personnes alors même que se développe l'idéologie libérale, et d'autre part, comment la médecine, se réclamant de la vérité scientifique, entreprend de rationaliser et de normaliser les comportements, tant dans le domaine de la santé que dans celui de la sexualité., SummaryIn Africa, AIDS has remained remarkably absent from the public arena, ail the while posing serious and unprecedented problems to society, in particular to the political class and the medical milieu. If the debate did not acquire public status at a time, however, when the process of democratisation made such a phenomenon possible, it is because the epidemy endangers those in power, individuals as well as the State. Any condemnation of the sickness, then, becomes as well a denunciation of auihority.

AbstractOne of the most controversial statements in the contemporary Church is surely the assertion that ‘The Church has AIDS’! This statement challenges Christians to recognize that it is impossible to do theology and engage in Christian life and ministry without taking into account the impact of HIV and AIDS on the world. Susan Rakoczy reminds us that theologians, and all Christians who take their belief in Christ seriously, have a responsibility to forge a positive theology of HIV/AIDS, since sadly so much of the Church’s official and popular rhetoric has sent the false message that at best God is silent on HIV and AIDS, and at worst God is either punishing persons with AIDS or has abandoned us in our suffering.

Abstract"Church, Theology and People Living with HIV and Aids in Africa" published on 01 Jan 2008 by Brill.

AbstractEver since the publication of Placide Tempel's epoch-making work Bantu Philosophy, African philosophers have worked to dispel the myth that there is no metaphysics in Africa. In the East African context we remember the names of Joseph Nyasmi and Odera Oruka, and in the West African context, Pauline Hotoundji and Kwesi Wiredu have made monumental contributions to elucidate African metaphysics. This compendium, presented by a group of scholars from the University of Botswana, seeks to build bridges between the seemingly estranged disciplines of African metaphysics, existential philosophy, and ec

AbstractCet article analyse les oppositions catholiques à la ratification du protocole additionnel à la Charte africaine des droits de l’homme et des peuples relatif aux droits des femmes (protocole de Maputo). Ce protocole énonce, entre autres, le principe de libre accès, pour les femmes, à une offre médicalisée de l’avortement sous certaines conditions, alors même que cette pratique est partiellement ou totalement interdite dans la plupart des États d’Afrique subsaharienne. Reposant sur une analyse d’articles de presse et de discours, cet article vise à explorer le processus de politisation des questions sexuelles et reproductives par les acteurs religieux à travers les oppositions catholiques à l’article 14. La controverse suscitée dévoile en effet les enjeux de la libéralisation de l’avortement dans le contexte post-colonial africain, où cette question est présentée comme une invasion occidentale et engendre des postures de résistance d’une nature particulière.

AbstractIntroduction. Cartography of HIV and AIDS, religion and theology: an overview / Beverley Haddad. Pt. 1. Engaging the public realm. 1. Religion and medicine in the context of HIV and AIDS: a landscaping review / Jill Olivier and Gillian Paterson. Practitioner response / Greg Manning -- 2. HIV, AIDS and religion in sub-Saharan Africa: an historical survey / Philippe Denis. Practitioner response / Alison Munro -- 3. Religion and policy on HIV and AIDS: a rapidly shifting landscape / Jill Olivier. Practitioner response / Bongi Zengele -- 4. Statements by religious organisations on HIV and AIDS: intersecting the public realm / Martha Frederiks. Practitioner response / Paula Clifford. Pt. 2. Engaging the religious and theological realm. 5. Sacred texts, particularly the Bible and Qur'an and HIV and AIDS: charting the textual territory / Gerald West. Practitioner response / Monica Jyotsna Melanchthon -- 6. Systematic theological reflection on HIV and AIDS: mapping the terrain / Steve de Gruchy. Practitioner response / Jan Bjarne Sødal -- 7. Comparative ethics and HIV and AIDS: interrogating the gaps / Domoka Lucinda Manda. Practitioner response / Farik Esack -- 8. Missiology and HIV and AIDS: defining the contours / Ute Hedrich. Practitioner response / Benson Okyere-Manu. Pt. 3. Engaging the socio-cultural realm. 9. African traditional religions and HIV and AIDS: exploring the boundaries / Ezra Chitando. Practitioner response / Phumzile Zondi-Mabizela -- 10. African cultures and gender in the context of HIV and AIDS: probing these practices / Nyokabi Kamau. Practitioner response / Ezra Chitando -- 11. Transforming masculinities towards gender justice in an era of HIV and AIDS: plotting the pathways / Adriaan van Klinken. Practitioner response / Lilian Silwa -- 12. Children seldom seen and heard: identifying the religious HIV and AIDS discourse / Genevieve James. Practitioner response / Bongi Zengele. Pt. 4. Engaging the communal realm. 13. Religion and HIV prevention: surveying the contestations / Greg Manning. Practitioner response / Johannes Petrus Mokgethi-Heath -- 14. HIV, AIDS and stigma: discerning the silences / Gillian Paterson. Practitioner response / Gideon Byamugisha -- 15. Religious community care and support in the context of HIV and AIDS: outlining the contours / Jill Olivier and Paula Clifford. Practitioner response / Edwina Ward -- 16. Stories of hope: navigating HIV pathways of life / Phumzile Zondi-Mabizela ... [et al.]

AbstractThere are 2000 new HIV infections amongst young women between the ages of 15 and 24 in South Africa each week. Research over the past fifteen years has shown that transactional sex with older men, traditionally known as “sugar daddies”, is a key driver in this vulnerability. Recently, these older men have been termed “blessers” on social media sites with a community of young urban women, #Blessed, seeking lifestyles that embrace the commodified goods of neoliberal capitalism. The article discusses the notion of “transactional sex” and positions young women as both victim and agent in the South African context of unemployment and poverty. Possible linkages between the “blesser” phenomenon and theologies that promote prosperity “as a blessing from God” are explored. The article argues that by naming these relationships #Blessed, young women choose to harness the tools of prosperity theology and link their desire for material wealth and consumer lifestyles with the unmediated power of God who intervenes and “takes the wanting out of waiting”. African women’s theologies must, the article contends, address women’s agency that does not destabilise unequal gender relations by engaging the intersections of economics, gender, and sexuality in the current South African context.

AbstractLe SIDA est présent dans nos médias et dans nos conversations depuis une quinzaine d’années environ. Il s’agit d’un fléau dont l’impact sur l’âme de notre génération dépasse peut-être celui de toutes les autres grandes préoccupations de notre temps. Qu’en avons-nous appris ? Quelles leçons en tirer pour nos Églises protestantes évangéliques ?

AbstractHIV / AIDS poses an enormous challenge for the Christian church in Africa. Though many congregations engage in practical social programmes addressing the medical and social problems related to HIV / AIDS often there is no adequate theological concept dealing with HIV / AIDS. This article argues that starting from biblical insights and Christian anthropology in the current situation a contextual theology adressing HIV / AIDS and a respective sexual ethics have to be developped which enables Christians to live responsibly in a time of HIV / AIDS without demonising sexuality. This, in turn, could contribute to the ethical discourse in civil society and thus foster the development of a public theology.

AbstractThe article argues that the missional identity of the church compels it in a context of poverty and HIV / AIDS to partake in social service ministries. It describes and illustrates the methodology of a multi-disciplinary, participatory action, praxis-oriented research project. The church (and other NGOs) took the lead and addressed poverty related issues in collaboration with the government and business sectors. The different faces of poverty were mapped in the Paarl community highlighting the HIV / AIDS situation and describing the preliminary results of the project

AbstractA la fin des années 1980, à l'apparition des premiers cas d'infection au VIH, l'Eglise Ethiopienne Orthodoxe Täwahedo (EOTC-Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahedo Church) s'est officiellement impliquée dans la lutte contre le sida au côté du Gouvernement éthiopien. Par ailleurs, dans les années 1990, les fidèles de l'Eglise éthiopienne ont commencé à se rendre sur des sites d'eau bénite dans l'espoir d'y guérir miraculeusement de l'infection. A partir de 2004, l'EOTC a reçu des subventions américaines au titre de la promotion de l'abstinence et de la fidélité. Deux ans après, les traitements contre le sida étaient distribués gratuitement et largement, entrant en conflit avec la cure par l'eau bénite traditionnellement exclusive de tout autre thérapeutique. Cette étude, combinant socio-anthropologie de la santé et de la religion, s'intéresse à la manière dont le christianisme éthiopien - dans ses composantes institutionnelle (EOTC) et rituelle (Eglise éthiopienne) - s'investit dans la lutte contre l'épidémie. En retour, elle interroge la manière dont les subventions américaines à l'EOTC et la distribution des antirétroviraux constituent des facteurs de changement pour cette religion pluriséculaire. L'analyse révèle que le christianisme éthiopien n'est traditionnellement pas l'instance en charge de l'encadrement sexuel des fidèles. L'importance du recours par les fidèles infectés au VIH à la cure par l'eau bénite témoigne de la place qu'occupe, dans cette religion, le pardon et la rédemption. Il est également montré que le christianisme éthiopien est d'abord une religion du pardon, incidemment, elle investit plus la guérison que la prévention. Dès lors, un des apports de cette thèse est d'avoir pensé la guérison comme objet de recherche en soi. La guérison ou sortie de la maladie apparaît être ainsi le reflet inverse de l'entrée dans la maladie, il peut être envisagé comme un processus-événement auquel un grand nombre d'acteurs et d'institutions participent.

AbstractFilmed in Kenya and Rwanda, this is an awareness film to help churches understand who are orphans and vulnerable children, and what are their needs. At eight minutes run time this is a good film to choose as an introduction to a discussion, or as an awareness message in a worship service. Much of its power comes from the refrain of Scripture texts that punctuate the questions raised. It is a golden award winning film. Translations are: English, Kiswahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Malagasi. It was originally produced under ISAR productions. NTSC, PAL

AbstractAs was the case with the larger South African society during the 1990s, the Catholic Church was not without error in the manner in which it dealt with HIV and AIDS. Whereas the church was involved in activism for the rights of People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) on the outside, it ironically ignored, arguably even muted, voices of PLWHA within its inner ranks, especially the priests, religious, and candidates for spiritual formation and vocation at the seminaries. Sadly, HIV testing is intricately connected to the disclosure of HIV positive status for Catholic clerics and religious on account of the vow to celibacy. An HIV positive test result presents both a health and a moral dilemma for the church. So sensitive was the issue that the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops’ Conference debated on it in the entire 1990s, and abandoned it inconclusively. Meanwhile, HIV positive priests agonised in silence and the religious in convents would only confess their status on death beds due to foreseen hostilities by their peers and superiors. Based on oral interviews and archival materials, such as correspondence letters and minutes, the article is a critical-historical review of how the Catholic Church handled HIV testing and disclosure within its inner ranks during the 1990s. It is argued that, as was the case of condom use in HIV prevention, the Catholic Church struggled throughout the 1990s to accept that priesthood and religious life was not immune to the social challenge of HIV and AIDS and thereby failed to accept and care for HIV positive priests and religious.

AbstractDisability, Society and Theology: Voices from Africa is the result of a workshop which brought together African theologians, persons with disabilities and disability expertise in the Region to prepare resource materials to enrich the disability study process in the context of the Africa region. The book is in six parts and includes contributions from scholars across the continent. The parts are: Disability Theology: Issue to Debate; The Able Disabled and the Disabled Church: The Churchís Response to Disability; Disability and Society; Disability Theology: Some Interfaces; Disability and Caregiving; and Disability in the African Experience.

AbstractDisability, Society and Theology: Voices from Africa is the result of a workshop which brought together African theologians, persons with disabilities and disability expertise in the Region to prepare resource materials to enrich the disability study process in the context of the Africa region. The book is in six parts and includes contributions from scholars across the continent. The parts are: Disability Theology: Issue to Debate; The Able Disabled and the Disabled Church: The Church's Response to Disability; Disability and Society; Disability Theology: Some Interfaces; Disability and Caregiving; and Disability in the African Experience

AbstractDiscussion of the AIDS epidemic in the light of Christian ethics seems to have got bogged down in narrow moralistic prescriptions, for example over whether or not it is right to use condoms to prevent AIDS. What is often ignores is that the AIDS epidemic is changing the kind of people we are. It has reinforced both Western stereotypes of Africa, and African suspicion of the West, and of the West's intentions in Africa.

AbstractThis paper examines the role played by the diagelo in the care of terminally ill patients in Botswana. Diagelo refers to the clinics or hospitals of the AICs. The patients studied are mainly those connected with the AIDS pandemic. The AICs have always been known as healing churches and many researchers have pointed out that healing is the major attracting factor to enrolment, recruitment and growth in AICs.

AbstractThe emotional turmoil experienced by people living with AIDS is a challenge to pastoral care in Botswana. People diagnosed as HIV positive find that their lives are completely redefined and often face ostracism because of the social stigma attached to HIV/AIDS The works of Elizabeth Kobler-Ross which deal with the process of dying, can be helpful here. Dying people go through stages of denial, anger, isolation, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Their families, and even the whole society, also pass through these stages.

AbstractThis article discusses the material and moral dimensions of the current AIDS crisis as experienced by members of a small independent church in Gaborone, Botswana. A case study, based on participant-observation research, is presented of a young woman church member whose illness and death provoked those involved in her care to reflect upon and debate the nature of her social loyalties. The article explores the multiple social and emotional significances of caretaking, of death, and of the religious and medical languages in which suffering is discussed. It is suggested that there is a need for AIDS prevention programs in Botswana to find ways to build on popular ways of affirming social belonging in the context of suffering.

AbstractIn the responses of African theologians to the challenges raised by HIV and AIDS, they often refer to the metaphor of the body of Christ. This article investigates how this metaphor is used and understood by African theologians and why it has become so prominent in their reflections on the reality of HIV and AIDS. Two dimensions of the metaphor are highlighted: an ecclesiological one, concerning the Church and its mission in the context of HIV and AIDS, and a sacramental one, concerning the significance of the Eucharist/Holy Communion in the HIV and AIDS context. It is argued that the particular attraction of the metaphor is in its notion of solidarity. For this reason "the body of Christ" has become a central biblical metaphor in what can be called an HIV and AIDS liberation theology. Furthermore, it is argued that the use of the metaphor of the body of Christ in African theologies responding to HIV and AIDS has a theological impact that transcends the African context. This raises critical questions for Christian Churches and for theology worldwide.

AbstractSur la base d’enquêtes qualitatives et ethnographiques conduites entre 2006 et 2008 au sein de l’Association des personnes infectées et affectées par le sida (APIAS) de la ville de Ouagadougou, cet article montre que l’infection à VIH est un événement modificateur de la vie des femmes séropositives en ce sens que la découverte de la maladie remet en cause leur statut socio-économique, matrimonial et politique. Ces ruptures biographiques ont été surmontées grâce aux appuis de l’APIAS, des églises et des structures de prise en charge des personnes séropositives, ce qui a favorisé leur retour à la « vie normale ». La conquête d’un « second souffle de vie » se réalise à travers la recherche de la prise en charge médicale, spirituelle, la reconstruction d’un réseau de relations sociales, d’une relative autonomie financière qui contribuent à la réfection des corps biologiques et de l’identité sociale de ces femmes.

AbstractSince the 1980s, the epidemic of the HIV/AIDS, because of its acuteness, contributed to social representations and interpretations which include the theme of apocalypse. This paper will discuss this notion in three sets of discourses. Religious movements have reintroduced this idea in a fundamentalist way, but other theological schools criticize this use, proposing other interpretations. In philosophical texts, a more profane meaning is attached tot this concept, while retaining an hyperbolic dimension to signify the catastrophic dimensions of the epidemic, a perspective criticized par some intellectuals who produced counter-discourses more in conformity with an immanent vision of this infection. Medias repetitively use this notion to underscore the sensationalist dimension of the HIV/AIDS, in spite of pharmacological innovations which can erase this type of reference.

AbstractJulian Müller has envisioned the praxis of theology, from a postfoundational point of view, to develop in two movements: engagement in a community that leads to 'real contextual outcomes' and the establishment of new traditions as deconstructed discourses that move beyond single communities. This article assesses the Churches, Channels of Hope (CCoH) training of the Christian AIDS Bureau for Southern Africa (CABSA) in terms of the two criteria laid down by Müller. Firstly, do they successfully train their facilitators to skilfully empower their faith communities to become competent in dealing with people living with HIV? In other words, does the CCoH training lead to 'real contextual outcomes'? Secondly, are the deconstructed social discourses put in place by the CCoH training that focus on the 'new' Christian values of human worthiness and agency able to constitute a contra-culture that will move beyond the boundaries of specific contexts? After the CCoH facilitator's manual and a report on the facilitators' reaction to the training course have been studied, it was found that the CCoH training embodies 'HIV competency' in practices and discourses that can indeed be called 'contextual' as well as 'contra-cultural' although they lack some much-needed skills in reading the Bible from a non-fundamentalist point of view and conducting their impact studies in a more sophisticated and non-reductionist way. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The article wants to make a contribution to HIV discoursing over a wide range of disciplines. The lifestyle changes and spiritual healing of the CCoH training that is assessed here inform the fields of counselling, life skills, law and gender. The proposed contra-culture and alternative discourses at stake touch on the fields of primary, secondary and, indeed, tertiary education.

AbstractComme le montrent les travaux sur la maladie grave, celle‐ci constitue un événement majeur qui affecte non seulement l’organisme mais aussi la perception de l’identité, et conduit les individus à devenir étrangers ou invisibles, rendant difficile l’expression du témoignage de l’expérience de leur maladie. Ces caractéristiques sont pleinement illustrées chez les personnes vivant avec le VIH/sida, jusqu’à disparaître souvent des espaces de dépistage, de diagnostic et de soins mis à leur disposition. Ces enjeux son repris à partir de l’approche éthique de Johannes‐Baptist Metz et de William T. Cavanaugh qui offrent un cadre de réflexion qui met au centre de leur argumentation les motifs éthiques touchant les espaces de réappropriation des récits de souffrance et leur réinscription dans l’espace social, en particulier dans le contexte interculturel. À partir de ces approches, les espaces de soins font l’objet d’une nouvelle interprétation, montrant comment ils peuvent devenir des lieux de réflexion, d’échanges et de pratiques qui dépassent le simple accès à des traitements biomédicaux, comme les antirétroviraux. Ces innovations, paradoxalement, font rebondir le statut du récit et du témoignage pour les personnes vivant avec le VIH/sida.

AbstractCette thèse met en jeu une double problématique. Le premier versant explore les mécanismes par lesquels des individus sont conduits à devenir étrangers ou invisibles à la suite de leur infection par le VIH, jusqu'à disparaître des espaces de dépistage, de diagnostic et de soins mis à leur disposition. Sera ensuite plaidé, dans l'exploration de l'autre versant de cette réalité, comment une approche d'éthique théologique peut aider à la résolution de ces dilemmes éthiques rencontrés dans l'espace public. Ainsi, nous soumettons, en toute hypothèse, que le théologien peut devenir un interlocuteur privilégié parmi les acteurs de la lutte contre cette épidémie. Ce parcours réflexif se déploie en cinq étapes. La première élabore un cadre théorique d'intelligibilité de ces enjeux à partir de plusieurs productions théologiques récentes (la théologie fondamentale pratique de Metz, les processus de disparition et espaces de reconstruction de Cavanaugh et les espaces biographiques de Certeau) et d'une production théologique plus ancienne (la conception aristotélico-thomiste de la gradualité des lois et de leur adaptation au contexte des plus faibles). Ce cadre est complété par des concepts issus de la sociologie (l'invisibilité chez Voirol et les pratiques clandestines chez Noali), de la philosophie (l'intrus chez Nancy), de la psychanalyse (l'inquiétante étrangeté chez Freud). Ainsi élaborée, cette théologie fondamentale pratique permet, dans une deuxième étape, une relecture de vingt-huit ans de discours de l'Église dans le champ du sida afin d'expliciter comment ils ont partiellement freiné la lutte contre l'épidémie et contribué à rendre invisibles certaines populations. Ce champ d'interprétation permet ensuite une relecture originale des processus d'étrangeté et de disparition des personnes de 50 ans et plus, ainsi que des Afro-Américains vulnérables au VIH, rencontrés par le clinicien dans sa pratique. La quatrième étape offre un travail d'intelligibilité des enjeux éthiques des soins en interrogeant l'efficacité indéniable, mais paradoxale, des antirétroviraux, à partir du concept d'espace de soins. Enfin, la dernière partie explore la place spécifique du théologien au coeur de ces débats dans un espace public appréhendé comme un espace de réapparition, de rationalité discursive et de reconnaissance pour les acteurs dont le statut est le moins assuré. Mots clés : infection par le VIH. théologie, éthique, interdisciplinarité, étrangeté. disparition, invisibilité, espace d'apparition.

AbstractAlors que l’Église est un des premiers acteurs de la lutte contre l’épidémie de vih/sida, son discours à ce sujet est souvent refusé. L’auteur montre comment les notions de gradualité du Bien chez Aristote et leur reprise théologique chez Thomas d’Aquin à partir des lois humaines pourraient permettre à l’Église de répondre plus adéquatement aux enjeux de vulnérabilité et à la dimension sociale de cette épidémie.

AbstractRésuméPlus que jamais, « la pauvreté et l’inégalité décident de qui vit ou meurt du Sida aujourd’hui ». La lutte contre le VIH ne peut se réduire aux progrès scientifiques enregistrés par les pays les plus prospères économiquement. Il faut d’urgence repenser notre solidarité à l’égard des plus fragiles en développant une véritable thique de l’hospitalité, soucieuse de promouvoir la dignité, l’autonomie et la participation des populations les plus exposées.

AbstractPart One addresses ëTheological Foundations.í The five essays in this section deal with the Bible, Theology and Ecumenism. The subjects of theological methods, contextual hermeneutics, and appropriate curriculum are given special attention. Of course even foundational issues cannot be discussed in a vacuum and so each of the essays addresses these foundational subjects in the light of African realities. Part Two deals with ëContemporary Issues.í It is particularly in this section that the traditional themes in African theology have been somewhat displaced by concerns which are today very pressing indeed. Three essays are devoted to the question of HIV/AIDS. This disease, which has devastated the African continent, demands a theological and practical response from those who claim to follow Jesus Christ. If the churches do not respond to this crisis with energy and determination we should not be surprised if the next generation wonders whether the Gospel has the power which we claim that it has. Two essays address the question of Islam and Muslim-Christian Relations in Africa. The resurgence of Islam in the world today is a concern of many. For those who believe in Jesus, this is a challenge which demands much wisdom and love. How should we respond to our Muslim neighbours? What are appropriate and thoughtful ways to share the love of Christ? Two further essays appear under the title of ëThe Marginalized.í This could, of course, be a much large section. Those who suffer from AIDS could be included in this number, and one might have expected to see at least one essay on the place of women. In this volume, however, the ëdisabledí and youth are highlighted. Both groups are clearly in need of the attention of the churches, and both groups are clearly misunderstood and neglected. The final section of Part Two contains essays, which focus attention on ëTheological Paedagogy.í All of the other contributions to this volume make suggestions and arguments about curriculum, resources, and issues of concern for theological educators. The causal aim of this book is that these essays may help us to reflect in an intentional way on the implications of contemporary realities for the future of theological education.

AbstractSabinet African Journals - reliable research that offers more than 500 African journals, including the African Journal Archive. It is the most comprehensive, searchable collection of full-text African electronic journals available on one platform.

AbstractLa Mission Évangélique de la Délivrance (M.E.D) est dans une ville où le VIH/SIDA fait rage. Ceci crée un problème social dû à la transmission par manque d’information sur cette maladie meurtrière. L’échantillon utilisé confirme l’idée selon laquelle la M.E.D contribue à la prévention de la transmission du VIH/SIDA et même cette lutte avec ses paroisses à travers les activités organisées concernant cette pandémie. Cependant, le besoin est d’étendre cette lutte dans les églises des autres communautés proches et lointaines dans la ville de Kinshasa. La MED intensifie son action pour convaincre les gens ayant une conception archaïque sur la pandémie. Elle veut bannir les mythes qui l’entourent et donner les conseils précis sur la pratique sexuelle responsable. La MED amène les gens à se faire examiner pour connaître leur état sérologique. Elle encourage les atteints à vivre positivement et à collaborer sans gêne.

AbstractThe HIV/AIDS pandemic constitutes a new kairos for the church in (Southern) Africa. The church should overcome its theological impotence in the face of AIDS and learn from African Theology how to develop a contextually relevant theology to meet this new kairos.

AbstractThe HIV / Aids pandemic is cause for great frustration to the developing countries in their attempts to improve the quality of life of their citizens. HIV / Aids in South Africa demands a specific approach to the Christian ministry in which the African world-view is acknowledged. In order for the church to play a relevant and meaningful role in combating the HIV / Aids pandemic, it is necessary that the church should be informed of the existential situation of persons living with HIV / Aids. This information is vital for raising awareness and engendering sensitivity among Christians. In the context of such awareness of and sensitivity to human pain and suffering, the community of the faithful should be moved to heed Christ's call to show neighbourly love. The possible role of the church in caring for those who are already infected with HIV is defined.

AbstractReligious and secular institutions advocate strategies that represent all points on the continuum to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. Drawing on an extensive literature review of studies conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, we focus on those secular institutions that support all effective methods of reducing HIV/AIDS transmission and those conservative religious institutions that support a limited set of prevention methods. We conclude by identifying topics for dialogue between these viewpoints that should facilitate cooperation by expanding the generally acceptable HIV/AIDS prevention methods, especially the use of condoms.

AbstractThe South African context has historically, at least since the missionary era, been conspicuously shaped by the Christian faith, and more importantly for the present article, also by the Christian Bible. This context also shares a world view that is in many respects similar to that found in the Old Testament. When confronted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, a devout reader of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible cannot remain unchanged. Informed by this (South) African context, how does one make sense of the 'unjust' suffering of the devout biblical character, Job?

AbstractThe high rates of prevalence of the HIV and AIDS pandemic in the African continent in general, and in the Southern African region in particular, has rightfully attracted the attention of scholars across various disciplines, including a few of the Hebrew Bible (HB) scholars in South Africa. Some have responded to the discourse of the relationship between HIV and AIDS and the HB by making claims that the HB is a source of moral values. Some explore whether it may reveal something about the pandemic, while others investigate whether the HB engenders stigma against the affected and infected. The scholars' response (or lack thereof) to this discourse depends largely, in the first place, on the type of questions they pose, their attitude to the biblical narrative in general and secondly, the main text(s) of their investigation in particular. They employ basically two approaches in their hermeneutical and exegetical efforts. Firstly, there is an option for what may be called "alternative readings." Secondly, there are readings aimed at providing deconstructions of specific HB texts. In this article, we propose that the link between the pandemic of HIV and AIDS and the HB could be better resolved by taking a closer look at the literary narrative constructions themselves, identifying as many ideologies as possible in our quest for a more holistic ethical reading of the HB in the context of HIV and AIDS.

AbstractThe arrival of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe in the early 1980s caused pandemonium in a young nation that was still basking in the glory of attaining political independence. With more than 75% of the population being Christian, churches were in a strong position to tolerate and support people infected and affected by the new disease. Initially Christians believed that HIV/AIDS was a curse from God for the sin of adultery and did not affect the “faithful”. Christians’ denial of the epidemic was also imbedded in the notion of AIDS as runyoka, a local sexually transmitted condition believed to attack males who had sexual intercourse with someone else’s wife. Christians’ blamed witchcraft for causing HIV/AIDS which enhanced the denial of the epidemic as a biomedical reality. While by the early 1990s church leaders declared that AIDS was not a punishment from God, the stigmatisation of people infected and affected by the epidemic took root among grassroots Christian communities. Using oral and archival sources this article argues that between 1985 and 2002 the reaction by churches to the epidemic was dominated by denial and stigma. Christian communities from the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican and the United Methodist churches in Manicaland, Zimbabwe, failed to provide safe havens for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

AbstractThis paper is an attempt to contribute to demonstrating ways in which a local church can respond to HIV/AIDS in a holistic way. The main argument in this paper is that in order for churches to respond holistically, engaging in re-structuring society's viewpoint so that men and women can relate in a healthy manner, as opposed to the manner in which they relate today, is a necessity. Also, that it is crucially important for churches to address all aspects that affect life and to reconsider the meaning of terms such as marriage and love in the context of HIV/AIDS.

AbstractExplores how the biblical narrative is used to promote the tradition le levirate marriage in Zimbabwe.

AbstractBible reading and compassionate practices play important roles in church related work for people living with HIV and AIDS in Africa. Those who are affected by this disease experience stigma and exclusion; so compassion is both relevant and important. But the Bible has to be read with the intention to reduce the power relation between the Bible reading experts and the non-experts. This is a challenge for the Ujamaa Centre in South Africa.

AbstractSince the discovery of HIV and AIDS in the early 1980 's, education has been acclaimed as a global strategy for fighting against the spread of HIV and AIDS. In 1988 the Government of Botswana adopted a national AIDS policy which calls on the Ministry of Education to spearhead the fight against the spread of HIV and AIDS by infusing HIV and AIDS education into the curriculum at all levels of education.

AbstractLa réponse des communautés religieuses face au VIH/sida a initialement été le doute, ensuite le déni, puis l'hésitation au nom de la morale - voir même la dénonciation directe - pour finalement s'inscrire dans le cadre d'une réponse de portée mondiale. Cela montre à la fois la force et les défis que représentent les croyances, les morales et la théologie. Cela montre aussi qu'une action commune sur une question aussi importante que le partage des préoccupations peut permettre de réduire le fossé entre la foi et la culture.

AbstractThis paper first explains why the HIV / Aids pandemic requires a fundamental reorientation of our theological reflection, followed by three reasons why such reflection is inhibited in the present churches' context. It then attempts to set out how God the creator; Jesus, the self-donating priest; and the Holy Spirit create the basis for the church as healing and embracing community.

AbstractThirty-five years has gone by since the first diagnosis of HIV in Zimbabwe. Causes and reasons for the disease and its spread vary from place to place and from society to society. In some cases, the usage of needles and other medical apparatus is blamed for causing the disease. In some other instances, some religious beliefs are held responsible for the pandemic. However, it is a different case with the Tonga females of the Pashu community in Zimbabwe. The belief is that HIV among the Tonga females is perpetuated by some cultural practices and beliefs. The practices and beliefs pose a danger to the lives of the Tonga females from the age of infancy to that of elderly women. The culture of silence, loyalty and submissiveness has even aggravated the suffering of these people. The culture has denied them an opportunity to seek medical aid and pastoral therapy. Hope for life and a future for these people are inevitably lost. The study is, therefore, an effort to validate the assumed claim that the Tonga females are exposed to HIV by some of the cultural practices. It is also the purpose of this study to create a pastoral care methodology which will be used to view the problem from a pastoral perspective. A review of the alleged cultural practices is also the business of this study.

AbstractIn this article Archbishop Ndungane reflects on various aspects related to the challenge that HIV / Aids poses to the church in South Africa and to Christian theology. He draws on biblical motifs to address a wide range of issues such as stigma, gender, youth, children, suffering, healing death, funerals and the availability of resources to address the pandemic.

AbstractBurial societies in Botswana provide financial relief to bereaved households. Over the last three decades of economic development in Botswana people have been exposed to new sources of vulnerability, including the HIV/AIDS pandemic. A burial society is a relatively autonomous, historically distinct local mutual aid institution which may be occupational or gender based, whose goal is to provide social relief and support to a member or members' family/kin experiencing distress due to death.

AbstractThe HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa and other major socio-economic problems call for critical reflection on how communities can be equipped and encouraged to confront these life and community destroying calamities.

AbstractThis essay offers a critical introduction to the Lutheran / Moravian programme to combat the HIV / AIDS pandemic, drafted in March 2000, which has not been exposed to public debate as yet. It includes deep going theological reflection as well as a concrete plan of action : The law of God formulates the preconditions for a healthy human existence as revealed by observation and reason, rather than an authoritarian code of conduct. The gospel of Christ, understood as God's suffering, transforming acceptance of the unacceptable makes us ready to bear the cross with those who are infected and affected. The prophetic ministry has to focus on exposing and overcoming the hedonistic assumption of the modern commercial culture. The plan of action focuses on the establishment of AIDS Committees in each parish, which spread information, identify cases, and establish a local AIDS Support Group for each patient, based on the extended family and a caring community. Unwieldy and expensive bureaucracies are discouraged.

AbstractLe sida est l’objet d’une abondante production discursive faisant intervenir une pluralité d’acteurs au Cameroun. Tous les acteurs de la communication sociale sur le sida ne lui accordent cependant pas la même signification. Les uns le considèrent comme une affection au même titre que les autres affections connues c’est-à-dire résultant de l’action pathogène d’un micro-organisme naturel appelé vih ; pour d’autres, le sida est un état physiologique ouvert à la maladie du fait de la déficience immunitaire ; une dernière catégorie le considère comme une maladie mystique c’est-à-dire, due soit à l’action des sorciers, soit à la colère de Dieu. Une analyse fondée sur la définition révèle que les convictions et certitudes exprimées par les acteurs de la communication sociale sur le sida ne sont pas le reflet d’une réalité ontologique, incréée, palpable et décelable objectivement ; il s’agit plutôt des constructions. Deux types de constructions se dégagent de ce processus : l’une, scientifique, fait intervenir des acteurs partageant les mêmes savoirs et pratiques scientifiques. Ils s’expriment dans des espaces symboliques particuliers qui sont : l’hôpital, le laboratoire d’analyses médicales, les médias et les institutions publiques. Les discours scientifiques changent, modifiant ainsi les représentations et convictions conséquentes. Le deuxième type de construction fait intervenir d’une part, les acteurs non scientifiques et les spécialistes des disciplines autres que la biologie et d’autre part, des biologistes considérés comme en marge de l’orthodoxie. Alors que les acteurs de la dynamique scientifique disposent des instances d’arbitrage et de consensus permettant d’harmoniser leurs vues, ceux de la dynamique populaire évoluent sans coordination. La dynamique populaire intègre les discours scientifiques dans des systèmes de savoirs et pratiques culturelles, autant qu’il procède à des formulations relatives aux différentes manières dont les cultures concernées se représentent la santé et la maladie. Il en résulte des convictions et représentations particulières, différentes de celles suggérées par les discours scientifiques. Parce que les discours populaires intègrent discours scientifiques dissidents, ils suscitent la réplique ou le réajustement des discours dominants. L’interaction entre les discours dominants et les discours dominés participe d’une construction de synthèse qui rend encore plus mouvante, la saisie du sida.

AbstractDo discourses of "hope" have real and practical consequences when it come to crucial issues such as policy, prevention, stigma, risk perception or funding? The following exploratory and treansdisciplinary study seeks to pull together a wide variety of the theoretical and analytical stances in order to examine the social construction of hope in the context of HIV/AIDS in South Africa. the theoretical framework is built from a base of cultural theory, discourse analysis and theology, and binds these together into a transdisciplinary argument.

AbstractThe Deliverance Church in Kenya has attempted to provide moral solutions to the HIV/AIDS pandemic by promoting behavioral change among the youth: it teaches abstinence before marriage and fidelity within marriage and requires mandatory HIV testing for those intending to get married. Such teachings confine HIV/AIDS to issues of sex, obscure the complexity of sexuality, and ignore social, economic, and political situations that fuel the spread of the virus. In this response, the church has entered into a contested moral minefield, in which it is attempting socially and sexually to discipline its members, particularly its youthful constituency. These messages reach many young people, who form the bulk of the membership of this church. Many strive to follow the church's teachings, but do not accept them uncritically, and some refuse to be morally disciplined by them.

AbstractThe HIV / AIDS epidemic continues to evolve and has now reached pandemic proportions in South Africa and other developing countries throughout the world. HIV / AIDS presents a challenge to the well-being of individuals and to the public health of proportions unprecedented in modern history. While the challenge is scientific and medical, it is also psychological, legal, economic, social, ethical and theological. It is no longer a question of "why" the church should respond but rather "how" the church ought to respond. When the churches' response to the HIV / AIDS pandemic is analysed within the framework of the disaster management continuum, one gains a schematic perspective of the current responses as well the gaps in such responses.

AbstractThe media's message about AIDS is skewed. AIDS is portrayed as a disease of ""sinners"" such as prostitutes, homosexuals and people with multiple partners. Popular media continue to carry reports of people who are deliberately infected by sufferers who are seeking revenge. Researchers have also found that the power of any media report is not embedded solely in the individual message but enters a polluted world.

Abstract"The book not only contributes to the academic debate about the pandemic but it provides a tool that needs to find a space in every household, as this would directly contribute to the government's as well as to the Religious Leaders' Awareness Campaign - that the HIV and AIDS pandemic exists and kills. Whilst the authors do not claim to have provided a medicinal cure for the disease, they do provide a source of encouragement to those broken bodies who are victims of the scourge. Well known scholars, some of them major names in South African theology, others drawn from the international scene, consider how the Bible, our ideas of Church, our practical theology, are all challenged and perhaps changed in the face of social realities, especially that of HIV and AIDS. Each of the contributors challenges us. Many of them break new ground. All of them raise questions which we need to face in obedience to God. What have been the effects of HIV and AIDS on some communities, and what have been the responses of others? Can those with better resources, both material and spiritual, offer help and healing and, in the process, become better communities themselves? How is the ambiguous response of the churches to be understood? In the absence of vaccine or cure, can healing nevertheless take place? Can suffering individuals, families and communities be helped to cope? These are questions no-one concerned with HIV and AIDS can afford to ignore"--Publisher's website.

AbstractThe rationale for this study was a desire to assist some of the alarmingly high number of orphaned children (especially in Sub-Saharan Africa) who are infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS, and who find themselves in an instant crisis after the loss of their parents as a result of the pandemic. In such a crisis, young childrenâs normal support systems are often stripped away.This study is grounded in practical theology. It adopted a postmodern paradigm, with social constructionist discourse, as its epistemological point of departure, and narrative pastoral care/therapy as the counselling approach chosen to assist HIV/AIDS orphans. In a broader sense, theologically, the study is grounded in a public theological orientation, and holistic Biblical anthropological paradigms were explored to give meaning to peopleâs broken lives.The study argues for a wider community-oriented approach to assist HIV/AIDS orphans to (re)build their lives with hope and faith by assisting them in being (re)integrated into normal society with the maximum possible support systems available to them, using a home-based care approach, rather than institutional care.Methodologically speaking, qualitative research methods were used in the study, because qualitative researchers emphasize the value-laden nature of scientific inquiry. They seek answers to questions that emphasise how social experience is created and given meaning. In this study, the following proven research methods were used: participation action research methods complemented by scientifically designed case studies, questionnaires and focus groups. Three orphans who had lost their parents due to HIV- and AIDS-related illnesses agreed to participate in the research as co-researchers. They entered into conversation with the researcher. Later, focus group work was added, involving various caregivers and a multi-professional team. As a result of this study a unique public pastoral home-based programme supporting orphans who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS has been created within the context of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and led by the SANDF Chaplaincy. This programme can easily be expanded to other contexts outside the military.The unique feature of this study was that researcher made effective use of participation action research methods in all stages of the research process. The orphans were regarded as co-researchers from the beginning and their input was seen as significant to the eventual outcome of the research. Because they could participate throughout the research process, their social constructions of being infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS were regarded as essential indicators of how they gave meaning to their lives.In order for the co-researchers to move from dominant âproblem-saturatedâ life stories to new alternative stories of hope and meaningful life, the research process involved interactive collaboration with different role players. The use of a public theological orientation and holistic Biblical anthropological paradigms as the basis for the research made it possible for other co-researchers to be invited into the process. After interacting with the orphans through scientifically designed case studies and questionnaires, various care givers, including multi-professional care personnel, took part in Appreciative inquiry focus groups. In a very short time, these discussions elicited alternative and preferred life options that assisted the orphans in mapping the direction of exciting new life scenarios.The key outcome of this study is its demonstration of how the underlying value-based Biblical-anthropological hope orientation adopted by the researcher can be applied in a contextual narrative pastoral approach to assist HIV/AIDS orphans. By making use of different methods, such as Biblical pastoral care and narrative therapy, Appreciative inquiry focus groups with key public and professional role players, and other qualitative scientific analysis, the study succeeded in developing guidelines for a useful public pastoral care home-based programme for the military, as well as in broader society.

AbstractAll Against AIDS (PLS) started in September 2002, and is coordinated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cameroon (EELC). The project is mainly financed by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). From 2003 the Norwegian Missionary Society (NMS) have been responsible for the project and the Centre for Intercultural Communication (SIK) ensure the monitoring.

AbstractThis article descriptionbes and evaluates the role, of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Botswana in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Several members of staff and students have undertaken research projects and papers have been read at departmental seminars on HIV/AIDS. Members of the department have been involved in community service to victims of AIDS, including counselling and burying the victims.

AbstractIn my view the church is more challenged than ever before to develop a theology, which is life, based. The development of such a theology would allow the church not only to preach and minister the Word of God to the suffering effectively, but also provide practical service to those who are directly infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. The church is also challenged to act decisively, because beside, the fact that HIV/AIDS is a matter of life and death, it has raised questions, which are always anguishing and in most cases difficult to answer.

AbstractThe article gives an account of the 'AIDS in Context' conference held at the University of the Witwatersrand in April 2001. It adopts a postmodern approach that concentrates on fragmented narratives and the construction of knowledge through competing discourses. It gives a critical ""who's who"" of the conference which shows that a diverse spectrum of qualified people (mainly activists) participated, who took their motivation from very different backgrounds.

AbstractWOMEN'S REPRESENTATIONS IN THE DISCOURSE ON SIDA IN SUB- SAHARIAN AFRICA This article is concerned with the discourse and representations of women and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Gender remains largely a forgotten or a mainly rhetorical dimension in the dominant discourses. New practices, more participatory interventions involving new social actors, including gender-sensitive health and educational strategies, are emerging. , LA REPRESENTATION DES FEMMES DANS LE DISCOURS SUR LE SIDA EN AFRIQUE SUB-SAHARIENNE L'article traite du discours et des représentations des femmes séropositives ou malades du sida en Afrique sub-saharienne. La dimension du genre est généralement absente dans le discours et les pratiques dominants. De nouvelles procédures de prévention tenant compte de l'inégalité entre les sexes (« gender-sensitive ») sont mises en place, avec la participation des personnes concernées par la maladie.

AbstractThe care of terminally ill patients can be physically, emotionally as well as psychologically exhausting. In the era where everyone is busy with his or her hectic daily schedule, caring for someone diagnosed with HIV on her or his deathbed can be a daunting challenge. Caring for someone dying of AIDS does not only challenge the physical being but rather leaves the carer emotionally drained. What was of concern to the author was to see the struggle that the caregiver goes through whilst caring for the sufferer. More often than not, pastoral care and counselling concentrate mainly on the pain and the suffering of the sick person. In the process, pastoral care loses sight of the agony, the emotional strain and, above all, the trauma of the caregivers in their search for answers as they care for the infected. This scenario has prompted the author to look into the theology of caring with an emphasis on pastoral care of the carers with a view of alleviating their emotional burden in caring for the HIV patients.

AbstractThis film documents the response of the Diocese of Tzaneen, Limpopo Province, South Africa, to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the region. They have adopted a three-pronged approach to fighting the disease: the Education for Life programme, home-based care and the care of orphans and needy children. Bishop Hugh Slattery, the Bishop of Tzaneen, speaks about the Diocese's concern for future generations.

AbstractFeminists have researched the link between gender and HIV/AIDS and shown that women are not always morally responsible for being HIV-positive. This article contributes to the debate by presenting a systematic discussion of women's experience of HIV/AIDS and spirituality. It offers a model of full humanity that interprets the links between HIV/AIDS, poverty, and gender and uses feminist spirituality as a resource for transformed healing. The model was developed by weaving together the interpreted experiences of black, HIV-positive women participants with the teachings of feminist Christian spirituality. This research study shows that in responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, it is necessary to adopt an integrative, multifaceted and holistic approach that embodies the gender perspective so that the fully human spirituality of people and women in particular, is enhanced.

AbstractEven though the Hebrew Bible tells us nothing directly about HIV/AIDS it is used by many people as a source of authority on contemporary ethical issues and therefore it is important to see what it does say about illness, health and healing.

AbstractPeople facing up to HIV and AIDS in Uganda. How civil society organisations, political leaders and government agencies breached the wall of silence surrounding AIDS, leading to reduced HIV prevalence in Uganda. Produced by Television for Development for the Strategies for Hope Trust.

AbstractA journey back to the village of Buwenda in southwest Uganda, where the original Stepping Stones workshop was conducted.

AbstractAn extract from the video accompanying the Stepping Stones training package on HIV and AIDS.

AbstractA film about community-based care and support for children orphaned by HIV and AIDS. How community-based organisations, rather than institutional care, are the key to meeting the urgent needs and protecting the rights of children affected or orphaned by AIDS. Produced by Small World Productions for Strategies for Hope.

AbstractVolunteers in home care for people with HIV/AIDS and TB in Zambia’s Copperbelt. How a home care programme involving over 500 volunteers from local churches has successfully integrated TB control into home care for people with HIV. Produced by FB Productions for the Strategies for Hope Trust.

AbstractThis film, along with a book of the same name, was produced to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment, in November 1987, of The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) in Uganda. TASO has since grown into one of the largest and most widely respected NGOs in Africa. It provides treatment, care, counselling and social support to over 80,000 clients and their families. All TASO ser­vices are provided free of charge, including antiretroviral therapy (ART). Peter Ssebbanja, the author of the book, was one of the original founding members of TASO and still works for the organisation. Noerine Kaleeba, TASO’s founder and first director, speaks on the film about the ‘family spirit’ which has inspired TASO staff and volunteers to maintain high standards while expanding rapidly. In both the book and the film, TASO clients describe how the organisation has empowered them to ‘live positively with HIV’ - a term coined by TASO twenty years ago, which has since resonated throughout the world. Produced by MGS Video (Kampala) for the Strategies for Hope Trust.

AbstractThe Story of TASO

AbstractThe HIV/AIDS Ministry and Messages of Gideon Byamugisha. Gideon Byamugisha is an ordained minister in the Anglican Church and Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral, Namirembe Diocese, Uganda. He is also HIV-positive. Through his life and his ministry, Gideon Byamugisha is an authentic prophetic voice, challenging people of faith to think more deeply and more creatively about their responses to the HIV epidemic. What can I do? is divided into 14 short segments on themes such as ‘Coping with stigma’, ‘Why be tested for HIV?’ and ‘Challenges for the Church’. There is also a Facilitator’s Guide which includes a transcript of the soundtrack, workshop guidelines and other tools for helping users get the most out of the video. Produced by FB Productions for the Strategies for Hope Trust.

AbstractThere is within the history of Christian worship practices a long tradition of someone offering a sermon to those gathered for worship. The primary means for many Christians throughout the world of receiving Christian education and guidance is by listening to sermons. There is generally embedded in all Christian preaching some attempt on the part of the preacher to share a worldview based upon the his or her biblical and theological interpretation of the meaning of faith and their application to daily living. This article explores how the sermon can be a source of religious instruction and aspect of pastoral caring for those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. The article also suggests that such sermons can be a form of advocating social justice for those who are stigmatized because of their HIV status. Note: The people mentioned in this article, are real but, their names, Rob, Inspiration and Pastor Able are fictitious for reasons of confidentiality. "My Africa is fading and no one sees or cares that it is happening."

AbstractThis article discusses Pauline masculinity in the context of HIV/AIDS. If any success against HIV/AIDS is to be achieved, men need to be constructively involved in this struggle rather than merely being vilified. It is directed towards those who want to live by the ideals set by Paul. The article argues that in many ways Paul challenges dangerous masculinities and that, if his challenge is taken seriously, Christian communities may witness a decline in HIV prevalence. The article focuses specifically on Paul's teaching on marriage and sex.

AbstractThere is no doubt that HIV/AIDS is humanity’s greatest enemy in this century. Millions of people have been affected and infected by this disease. In Zimbabwe statistics have it that about 2000 people die of HIV/AIDS related diseases every week. A lot of resources are spent in caring for the infected and the affected. With this scenario, HIV/AIDS no longer has to be seen as a medical problem.- It is now a social problem and so every sector of the society has to think deeply on how it can 'make a difference' in dealing with HIV/AIDS. This article argues that the teaching of Biblical Studies in Zimbabwe's theological institutions should be geared towards addressing the problem. It argues for the centrality of Biblical Studies in both theological institutions and Christian societies.' It shows how the Bible has been used to address human problems and how a Biblical studies course taking cognisancy of the HIV/AIDS problem can be rewarding. It ends by suggesting some topics and instructional methodologies to be used in teaching Biblical Studies in Zimbabwe's theological institutions in the era of HIV/AIDS.

AbstractThis article offers an assessment of the significance of The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God (MRTCG) in Uganda. It describes how the MRTCG leaders proposed celibacy and physical withdrawal from the supposed "corrupt, evil and damned world, " and urged their followers to wait for God to destroy the world and to save them through the Blessed Virgin Mary. Tragically, when their apocalyptic prophecies failed to materialize, the MRTCG leaders ritually killed hundreds of their followers in 2000 hoping to save them and through martyrdom, to deliver them directly to God in heaven. It suggests that this movement has to be understood within the context of the rise of HIV / Aids pandemic in Uganda. It describes the socio-economic, cultural, medical and political factors prevailing in Uganda (1981- 2000) and shows how the MRTCG responded to such circumstances. The final section sketches some of the subsequent developments concerning the fight against HIV / Aids in Uganda.

AbstractAwareness, care and preventative action regarding HIV/AIDS, and those affected by it, is growing in the evangelical Christian Community in French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, even though the issues seem to be addressed through teaching and preaching in the churches, the real issues, questions and struggles of the people are not discussed. This article describes some of the most important outcomes of a qualitative research in this people group, looking at the values and beliefs around sexuality and community and what impact they have on current HIV/AIDS prevention practices and strategies. This description highlights the seeming discrepancy between people’s values and their daily lives, the role community can play – as both a community of grace and a countercultural yet contextually relevant community, and the role of leaders, grass-root communities and partnership processes in strategy development. This article argues for a contextual relevant approach in which the specific evangelical worldview is encountered as a possible strength, rather than a problem.

AbstractSouth Africa has been hard hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This pandemic has had many sectors in society mobilizing and creating awareness around prevention and the effects of HIV/AIDS. One such sector is the religious community, which, with all its diversity, has tried to address the issues that stem from this pandemic. This mmor dissertation looks at the South African situation of HIV I AIDS from a gendered religious perspective, the perspective of South African Christian women's theologies. It further catalogs the research to Anglican women in Cape Town. This study aims to find the participatory levels and status of Christian Anglican women in the church's mobilization activities and decision making. Through this study two main theologies are explored, African women's theology and the theology of Hope.

AbstractIn terms of the social involvement of the Christian church within the community, it would not be an overstatement to say that never before in history has there been a greater challenge facing the church than the present, finding a way to bring hope to those suffering due to the HIV / AIDS pandemic. Yet, in spite of the enormity of this pandemic, it is possible to make a huge difference in people's lives, making use of a few willing people and a fairly conservative budget. In this article the author attempts to describe the way in which a very small congregation, where the average weekly attendance at church services is seldom more than fifty people and where nearly all members live close to or under the breadline, started making a noticeable difference in their community. Motivated by God's love for them, they decided to share this love in a practical way with all those in the community suffering due to HIV / AIDS and other serious illnesses. This is a story of hope, not only for those who receive help, but even more so, for those who want to give help.

AbstractIn a world which is slowly but surely being devastated by the HIV / AIDS pandemic, the church needs to get involved in the fight against this disease. In many places the church has conveniently denied that HIV / AIDS has anything to do with them. In this paper the author argues for the necessity of thinking theologically about the reality of HIV / AIDS , indicating that HIV / AIDS is not merely a matter of "sinners" becoming infected with a virus, but that certain circumstances are conducive towards the spreading of HIV / AIDS which need to be addressed if an impact is to be made on the spreading of the virus. Although many non-religious organisations are fighting this disease, the church is in an ideal situation to assist these bodies as it is already grounded within communities and already have integrity amongst a large part of the population. However, to achieve this goal the churches must be transformed in the face of the HIV / AIDS crisis, in order that they themselves may become a force for transformation - bringing healing, hope, and accompaniment to all infected with and affected by HIV / AIDS.

AbstractLa souffrance causée par l’infection à VIH/SIDA affecte le sujet dans toutes ses dimensions, perturbant ainsi sa vie spirituelle au point d’altérer son équilibre dans l’articulation santé - souffrance - salut. Le cas des patients perdus de vue de la prise en charge de l’infection par le virus de l’immunodéficience humaine observé en milieu hospitalier catholique de Kinshasa en est une illustration. Comment comprendre l’abandon du traitement antirétroviral par certains patients séropositifs quand on sait qu’en République Démocratique du Congo l’accès aux antirétroviraux est un véritable parcours de combattant, et que tout renoncement aux soins peut conduire à une résistance thérapeutique et même à une mort imminente ? S’agit-il d’une simple question médicale ? Élaborée en co-tutelle entre l’Université catholique du Congo et l’Université catholique de Louvain, la présente thèse montre que c’est une question existentielle, médicale, théologique et pastorale. En effet, confronté à une souffrance globale consécutive à la maladie, le patient séropositif perd l’image qu’il avait de lui-même et de l’autre aussi bien humain que divin. Sa quête de santé est aussi quête du salut entendu ici comme destinée, libération et délivrance. Comment alors concevoir l’accompagnement spirituel de la personne vivant avec le VIH/SIDA pour que se produise en elle un salut intégral ? En quoi un concept médical (santé) permet-il de penser une réalité théologique (salut) ? En parallèle, comment le salut chrétien permet-il de réfléchir sur le concept médical de la santé ? Comment ces deux notions donnent-t-elles à penser la question existentielle de la souffrance ? Par une approche empirique et herméneutique, la thèse met en dialogue la pratique pastorale, la doctrine et la situation du patient. Empirique, la recherche part de la pratique concrète en aumônerie hospitalière catholique de Kinshasa et des questions auxquelles est confronté le patient séropositif. Herméneutique, l’étude rend compte du sens et de la pertinence du salut chrétien pour ce patient aux prises avec la souffrance. Cette démarche méthodologique se déploie dans une corrélation critique entre santé, souffrance et salut. Dans cette perspective, la thèse démontre que l’accompagnement pastoral conçu comme soins spirituels pastoraux articulés et intégrés dans l’Église et dans la pratique de soins, est un lieu où doit se tisser un dialogue fructueux entre santé, souffrance et salut.

AbstractNotions on sickness and healing in the Old Testament are explored with reference to the HIV / Aids pandemic. Over and above simply collecting insights from the Old Testament, a more 'involved reading' of texts, particularly of Psalms, as suggested by Brueggemann, is argued and illustrated from Psalm 38. Perspectives from the Umwelt and the socio-religious reality in Ancient Israel are presented in order to create a framework for understanding Old Testament perspectives on sickness and healing. Furthermore, perspectives on sickness and healing from African world views and the practices in African faith healing churches are overviewed as a challenge to the African church to use the Old Testament in its dealings with people living with HIV and Aids.