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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-
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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,
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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)
