Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta.
About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1987)
•A ,r. ,'jv M>)/. PAGE 8 — The Georgia Bulletin. April 23, 1987 California Bishops Urge Compassion In AIDS Pastoral SACRAMENTO, Calif. (NC) — Any Christian response to people with AIDS must start with “un conditional love and com passion," the Catholic bishops of California said in a joint pastoral letter. The bishops' pastoral let ter on AIDS, titled “A Call to Compassion," was released in Sacramento April 8. The 23 Latin and Eastern-rite bishops of the California Catholic Con ference said they took the unusual step of issuing a joint pastoral in part because “the unprece dented epidemic of AIDS has affected Californians in an extraordinary fashion." They urged their people to help prevent AIDS through sexual morality, but at the same time to treat those suffering AIDS with care, not judgment. All Catholics "as disciples of Jesus Christ" are called to “care for the sick, to show them they are loved,” the bishops de clared. Those with AIDS “are sisters and brothers of Jesus and bear a special resemblance to him because of their suffering. “Because the sick will be saved 'by personal faith and the faith of the church,'” the bishops said, "we are reminded that it is not only health personnel and pastors who bear responsibility for attending to the infirm.... All baptized persons share in this ministry." In imitation of Jesus, who healed “the outcasts and the wounded of his world without judging individuals or imputing blame," Chris tians should give those with AIDS a response “of com passion, not of judgment," the bishops said. The California prelates urged people to get over “irrational fears" about acquired immune deficien cy syndrome, or AIDS, by studying “basic facts” about “the nature of AIDS and AIDS-related complex (ARC), how the disease is transmitted, and how its spread can be prevented. " The bishops urged people to read the U.S. surgeon general’s report on AIDS for “clear biological and medical” information on the disease. Because AIDS transmis sion often touches on “such intimate and sacred areas as human sexuality." the bishops said, the scientific and medical facts must be placed “in a moral context." They said the surgeon general’s report “makes it clear that fear can be useful when it helps people avoid behavior that puts them at risk for AIDS. “And so, avoidance of il licit use of drugs, sexua.1 abstinence before mar riage and monogamous fidelity within marriage recommend themselves as medically necessary as well as morally responsi ble,” they wrote. “The AID Atlanta Has Shelter, Buddy System For AID Atlanta was founded in 1982 when a small group of people concerned about the increasing spread of AIDS formed a committee to focus on the problem. It mirrors other non-profit organizations in large metropolitan areas which have emerged as a response to AIDS and the deep impact the disease has had on the community. Ken South, a United Church of Christ minister who joined AID Atlanta in 1984 as executive director, says the group’s current client load of 462 represents 85 percent of persons with AIDS in the state of Georgia. South cites the group's outreach as twofold, encompassing both educational and social services. AID Atlanta’s social ser- Located in Christ The Kin9 Parish 3'. P„U „J f/rJL I li JJfl. ratio,,* * . Alfredo Avino, Pro Clerical Garments Alterea A Repaired Also Choir Robes, Confirmation Robes, First Communion Dresses & Suits 233-6643 Tuxodo Festival Shopping Contor 3655 Roswell Rd. Suit* 202 vice arm includes a home care program in which volunteers trained by the Red Cross assist AIDS pa tients needing help around the house. Six teams of home care volunteers do everything from watering plants to walking the dog, according to Ken South. The AID Atlanta buddy program involves assign ing a specific volunteer to a person diagnosed with AIDS for the duration of the illness. Hard to find transportation services and a “meals on wheels” program is also in place for AID Atlanta clients who re quire them. In October of 1985, AID Atlanta opened a eight-bed apartment building that provides shelter at reasonable cost to persons with AIDS. Ken South estimates that some 20 per sons with AIDS have stayed at the residence, which he calls “a place to go to live,” rather than a place in which to die. One of 12 to 14 such residences around the country, the apartment building offers hospitality for a fee of about $90 per month. The remaining costs are sub- Patients sidized by AID Atlanta and the funds they receive from private groups, founda tions, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the Centers for Disease Control and the federal government. “We’ve had very good luck with the apartment building,” South observes. “We’ve treated it much like the battered women’s shelter,” guaranteeing privacy and security. One of the most visible services rendered by AID Atlanta is the establish ment of support groups that meet regularly and in clude persons with AIDS, families and friends of per sons with AIDS, minorities, and the bereaved. Their educational activity is likewise visible, providing informational materials about AIDS as well as speakers and in-service training upon request. AID Atlanta, in conjunction with the Christian Council, is presently in the process of establishing a pastoral care program which will be the first of its kind in the U.S. For more information on the AID Atlanta outreach, call 872-0600. -JARVIS RENT A NEW BALDWIN FOR YOUR CHILD $39 INCLUDING WEEKLY PER MONTH LESSONS Expires May 2 NORTHLAKE 2 934-6300 SOUTHLAKE 961-7950 GWINNETT 476-7481 DUN WOODY 394-1727 SHANNON 969-0800 EAST COBB 977-0003 COBB PARKWAY 952-7982 DELIVERY EXTRA — ALL COSTS APPLY TO PURCHASE recovery of the virtue of chastity may be one of the most urgent needs of con temporary society.” The bishops urged “special training” for church outreach to homo sexual persons, a group facing highest risk of AIDS but also in many cases AIDS Mil (Continued from page 1) themselves ministering to persons with AIDS, the response is direct, personal and affirming. “You meet (AIDS) in flesh and blood people — wonderful, warm, loving in dividuals. Many are deeply religious, committed to their faith,” Father Dillmann observes, and judgment of these individu als is not an issue.” “There is homophobia,” he admits, acknowledging voices that speak of AIDS as spiritual vengeance and wrath directed at homosex uals. From his vantage point, however, “God is not punishing. None of us can sit in judgment. The issue of ministry is rooted in the needs and presence of the people” he serves. Father Henry Gracz, pastor of Transfigura tion Church in Marietta, confirms this viewpoint. “Someone is hurting, in pain. The best I can offer is the compassion of Christ." Father Gracz, who met his first AIDS victim four years ago at Georgia Bap tist Hospital in Atlanta, points out that reconcilia tion of all people to Christ is a vital concern of the con temporary Church. “We’re not the judges,” he says without hesitation. Ministering to persons with AIDS, both priests agree, involves more than just a one-on-one patient- counselor relationship. A wide circle of family, friends, co-workers and even hospital staff becomes part of an enlarged, inten sified ministry. Although the AIDS virus is not limited to the homosexual community, male homo sexuals make up the larg est percentage of AIDS vic tims nationally. Parents are often devastated when news of the illness is coupl ed with the first report of their child’s gay lifestyle. Some ask if God is punishing their son or daughter for a way of life they themselves have never sanctioned, Father Gracz explains. The frequently non- traditional network of friends that surrounds an AIDS patient likewise re quires special care. Ministers are counseling people who face the suffer ing and death of a friend and the possibility that they, too, may undergo the already suffering aliena tion “from the church and its spiritual life.” They asked people to avoid irrational community responses such as legisla tion or other actions deny ing the rights of those with AIDS or isolating them from the community. istry — same suffering. Those who care for vic tims of AIDS are often cast in the role of witness as well as counselor. The way in which they approach a per son with AIDS is an exam ple and encouragement to those around them. Julie Flegal, a Trans figuration parishioner and hospital nurse, says that AIDS is a subject she and her fellow nurses “have talked a lot about. A few still say there is no way they will care for a person with AIDS, but the majori ty feel that AIDS patients deserve care that is as good as anyone else would re ceive.” Mrs. Flegal, the mother of two children, remembers that only a few years ago the lack of adequate medical information kept some hospital personnel at a distance where AIDS pa tients were concerned. One AIDS victim underwent “the most horrible death I’ve ever seen,” she says, totally isolated from family and friends and suffering acutely as the disease ravaged his body. When the neurological stages of the disease set in, the patient lost total control of bodily functions and lay helplessly in a soiled hospital bed. While others held back, Mrs. Flegal and another nurse tended the man, bathing and cleaning him. “They have the right to die with dignity,” she feels, and is encouraged by the fact that education is reduc ing unfounded fears about AIDS. When visiting an AIDS patient in the hos pital, consult the nurses' station to learn what, if any, precautions to follow, she advised, emphasizing that AIDS is not spread by casual contact. “Youcanbe so afraid of the unknown that you can’t comprehend (this) reality.” Fear of the unknown is perhaps the chief reason behind the “leper” status that often dogs the AIDS victim. “People are scared of suf fering, frightened about it. The AIDS person is the leper of today’s society, the leper for today’s believ ers,” Father Gracz says. Believers are called to re ject the leper label and deal with the AIDS victim as a person, those in ministry say. “You affirm the person as they are. This is the “People with AIDS-ARC remind us that they are not distant and unfamiliar vic tims to be pitied or shunned. but persons who deserve to remain within our com munal consciousness and to be embraced with uncondi tional love,” the bishops wrote. whole ministry of the Church. The call is to be there for the patient in a non- judgmental way,” Father Dillmann em phasizes. “Sometimes they have been rejected by their family. This is the time they need the Church. Maybe they have been alienated from the Church in the past. Whatever healing and understanding we can bring is crucial." Ministry to AIDS victims is expanding. As the need grows, so does the re sponse. Father Dillmann. who attends a weekly AID Atlanta support group for family and friends of per sons with AIDS at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Atlan ta, is now involved in establishing a pastoral care program for the AID Atlan ta organization. He is joined in this effort by fellow priests, rabbis and ministers, as well as health care professionals. When in place, it will be the first of its kind in the country. “We need so many more’’ to minister to persons with AIDS, Father Gracz is con vinced, because it is a ministry “that’s not going to go away.” The work “tenderizes your heart: and we need a lot of tender hearts in ministry.” Those who answer this challenge will meet “courage. God knows there’s courage, both in the sick person and the suppor ting group," says Father Dillmann, who is currently working with about a dozen AIDS patients. He cites as an example a young man who faced his death with a sense of excitement, of wonder and openness. “This is what I’d like myself,” he says candidly, “how I’d like to face my own death.” The rules for his ministry are simple and clear-cut. He offers them to others who will eventually meet AIDS in a person with a name and face and per sonality. “Be sensitive, be com passionate. Get down and deal with the person, with the people. This is where we'll make the impact. If you deal in theory,” says Father Dillmann. “forget it. You’re dealing with liv ing, breathing people who are sick and suffering and with those who are suffer ing along with them." (Next: Pastoral Care at St. Joseph's Hospital)
