By Thea Jarvis

At a Saturday morning workshop for parish coordinators of AIDS ministry Aug. 24, Diane Connolly shared the story of her brother Gerard.

"When someone you love is dying with AIDS, it adds a whole different dimension" to the process of illness and death, said Mrs. Connolly, a member of the Atlanta Archdiocesan Task Force on AIDS and a committed advocate for Persons With AIDS (PWAs) and their families.

The social stigma attached to AIDS and AIDS-related illness often means isolation and rejection for PWAs. Skyrocketing medical costs for this catastrophic illness increase the emotional burdens PWAs are already carrying.

Throughout her brother's illness, Mrs. Connolly and her family took turns traveling to Gerard's home in Connecticut to provide emotional and physical support. The "beautiful experience" of caring for her brother now enables her to speak about AIDS ministry with conviction and power.

"We need to get rid of our labels and look at the person," she suggested, "because, when we do, we see Christ in that person."

Seeing Christ in the PWA was the initial motivation for the Archdiocesan Task Force formed in 1987. It was also the focus of the March, 1990 pastoral letter of Archbishop Eugene A. Marino, "Called to Unconditional Love."

"All persons with HIV/AIDS deserve love, compassion and the opportunity to put their human condition into the larger Christian context of meaning," Archbishop Marino wrote.

He also called for every pastor to appoint a parish-level AIDS ministry coordinator. Such coordinators would identify parish communities as sources of compassionate care for PWAs and their families, function as a resource for needed services, coordinate ongoing parish AIDS-related education, originate programs and provide support for existing programs.

Parish coordinators are key to an effective AIDS outreach, said task force chairman, Father Alan Dillmann, because "people don't know who to turn to. We need this outreach to the whole archdiocese because AIDS is everywhere." About 50 parishes have named coordinators, he said Aug. 31.

The infection rate for Georgia is 27.3 persons per 100,000, explained Steve Schmidt, an economist and public policy analyst who is also a task force member. "(Georgia) rank(s) fourth or fifth in the nation," he said, depending on how figures are tabulated. Moreover, he said, while AIDS has principally been an urban concern in the past, recent statistics indicate rural Georgia is one of the fastest growing areas of AIDS infection.

In the South, said Schmidt, 74 percent of PWAs have no insurance, public or private. Facing medical costs of up to $60,000 each year, PWAs often lost their jobs and can face homelessness in addition to social isolation.

Having coordinators in place to help communities deal with the stresses of AIDS decreases such isolation and helps put PWAs and their families in touch with available social services.

"People can turn to you," Father Dillmann told the group that would initiate parish AIDS ministry. "People will not feel the sense of isolation."

At a task force presentation in Fayetteville, he related, a woman stood up in a group of 150 people and stated that her son had developed AIDS. He did not want her to see him in the throes of his illness and she was without hope. Afterwards, task force members were able to give her encouragement and offer practical suggestions. The woman went to see her son and was with him as he was dying.

Steps for implementing parish-based AIDS ministry were offered in the workshop format. They included bringing AIDS-related issues to the prayer of the faithful during Mass, using task force resources and presentations to educate parishioners, involving parish teens since they will be affected by the spread of AIDS, and requesting AIDS education in local school systems.

"We're the task force, and we'll travel anywhere," Father Dillmann assured the group with a smile. This fall, five task force presentations are planned for area parishes. Task force members are active in PWA support groups and assist in Tuesday evening suppers served at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception each week for PWAs, their friends and families. Members testify to the fact that, once the cold, hard face of AIDS is linked to a person who is suffering from the disease, acceptance of and compassion for PWAs flows easily and naturally.

Diane Connolly remembered bringing her dying brother an armful of Queen Anne's lace she had picked while walking the Connecticut countryside one afternoon. Hoarse with fatigue, Gerard nonetheless asked her to hand him a rose that was lying on a bedside table. He took the rose and placed it in the center of the bouquet.

"Got told me he loves the roses and the weeds," Gerard whispered to his sister.