U.S. church official says input at AIDS forum welcomed by organizers

Published: 2004-07-12

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNS) -- A U.S. bishops' conference official said the input of churches and religious groups at the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok has received more attention than previous conferences. Father Robert Vitillo, director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and a special adviser on AIDS to Caritas Internationalis, said religious groups were marginalized during the last conference, held two years ago in Barcelona, Spain. "At the Barcelona conference many people, including myself, from faith-based organizations felt that faith-based people weren't really welcomed. Our applications to present abstracts or present posters or participate in workshops were not accepted," Father Vitillo told Catholic News Service. "It was very hard to get space to hold a meeting at the conference. Yet it's been very different here. Right after Barcelona we started meeting with the organizers of this conference, and we've had a very different reception," he said. The U.S. government scaled back its official participation at the conference, citing budget restrictions. Only 50 U.S. researchers were scheduled to participate this year, compared to 236 in Barcelona.

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