Boksburg
13 August 2001
By Jim Rosenthal
with Miles Giljam and Siphiwe Sithole
An Anglican Priest living with AIDS has compared his feelings, about the All Africa Anglican AIDS Conference in Johannesburg, to those of Simeon when he first encountered the infant Christ at the temple. "'My Lord now you can allow your servant to depart.' For those of us who have been praying and fasting and waiting for the time when our church can break the silence and grapple with the issues... this is a very powerful opportunity and a Kairos moment for us."
Praising the Archbishops of Cape Town and Canterbury, Father Gideon Byamugisha of Uganda, told the 130 delegates and partners that the Anglican Communion is a "church that cares". Throughout his 40 minutes address he consistently urged the need for "testing" for HIV.
Father Gideon spoke of his own journey and his personal confrontation with his being infected in 1992.
He told of one parish assignment where "some people refused to come to Holy Communion" if he was the celebrant. At a meeting in Rwanda clergy tried to deny him the right to speak, saying, "you have no testimony".
The assembly of bishops, clergy and laity, from around the African continent, were moved by the young priest's words, with "Amens" and applause regularly interrupting his discourse. Father Gideon spoke of AIDS as "not just a disease, but a symptom of so many things that have gone wrong. We prefer to locate the things that go wrong in sexual acts, but I think it is a wider spectrum in society, economics and politics."
Father Gideon's theme stressed the need to enable and resource AIDS work as well as the need for advocacy around the Communion. He stressed that we should not fail God. "God wants something to be done. He chooses his time, his place and the people to use. This is the place, this is the time and we are the people!" Fr Gideon spoke of the reality that Africans are "dying of preventable illnesses including AIDS", stressing the fact that prevention is possible and "programs should be integrated" and not just focused on HIV/AIDS. Otherwise, he warned, "after AIDS something else will come".
Speaking of the situation in Uganda he told of how HIV/AIDS is manageable and preventable. "One thing that sometimes makes me cry, alone in my bed, is that despite all the knowledge I have on theology, geography, education, how did I get this virus? If I had as much information on HIV, there is a very very big possibility I would not be infected".
He spoke with a critical note on the ABC programme of 'Abstinence, Being faithful and Condoms'. "The ABC is simplistic, stigmatising and misleading". He pointed out that "Sixty-one percent of all African women living with HIV/AIDS have been in a faithful, monogamous relationship." Father Gideon said, that testing is key. "When I knew [I was positive] I said that I have the responsibility not to give the virus to anybody else. But other people do not know. This is something that we as a church should really tackle."
Father Gideon hoped for a future with people who "have survived AIDS". Modifying sexual behaviour was essential and he called on HIV infected people must pledge "never to infect anyone else". He backed this up with horrific stories of women who have been ""infected on their wedding night" and the plight women face regarding sex.
He spoke of the stress of clergy with HIV/AIDS who had little support and who were afraid to come out and declare their condition. He asked leaders to help organise "a retreat for HIV positive clergy" in Africa. "When people are infected with HIV they go to a pastor. But when a pastor is infected, where does he go?" Gideon asked.
Following Father Gideon's testimony many in the group spontaneously sang "We praise your Lord Jesus, your blood has cleansed us, and we are thankful". The Archbishop of Cape Town, Njongonkulu Ndungane, responded to the address by calling it "a very powerful testimony and we thank God for you". He spoke of Fr Gideon's address at the 2001 Primates Meeting that moved the Anglican leaders to makes "AIDS a priority".
After questions, the assembly sang quietly "I am the Lord that healeth thee" before the chaplain, the Very Revd Rowan Smith led a meditation on the cross. A large cross stands in the assembly hall, in front of which stands a large iron sculpture of Africa, supporting candles marking the areas where the delegates minister.
The Bishop of Pretoria, the Rt. Revd Jo Seoka, spoke of Father Gideon's presentations as "compassionate and eloquent" and joined with the emphasis on being tested. One delegate even suggested that everyone at the meeting be tested voluntarily during the conference. Bishop Seoka told of how the Anglican bishops in Southern Africa had all agreed to be voluntarily tested for HIV in 2000. He labeled the pandemic "a killer".
The health clinic in Uganda, supervised by Fr Gideon, is named for Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey. Archbishop Carey visited and dedicated the facility in 1998 during a visit with his wife and staff to Uganda.
Just a few weeks ago father Gideon visited Archbishop and Mrs. Carey at Lambeth Palace, London. In a newspaper article in The Sunday Times magazine, Archbishop Carey, speaking of the Ugandan priest, said, "He felt that he could either lie back and scream at the world, or it could fight it. And he decided to galvanise the church. He was the first church leader in Africa to come and declare he had aids. He gave others permission to speak about it." Father Gideon's comment in the magazine included, "I could die at any time, but sometimes I feel that with the love and care from those like our archbishop, I could live much longer".
The conference continues through Thursday. The afternoon consisted of workshops on gender, leadership, orphans, care, death and dying, men as partners and care.
"People are not testing for HIV, they are not abstaining, they are not using condoms - so should we be so surprised that our infections are rising? So I ask people that the emphasis put on lawful sex should also be put on safe sex." Father Gideon