Catholic AIDS ministers ask, 'Are we one body?'

Published: 2006-07-19

CHICAGO (CNS) -- Nearly 150 people gathered in Chicago July 12-16 for the 19th annual National Catholic HIV/AIDS Ministry Conference on the theme "Are We One Body?" The theme, drawn from Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, was intended to spark reflection and discussion among people who minister to people with HIV and AIDS. Elsie Miranda, a conference co-chair, said the question has no easy answers. "We would ask you to resist the temptation to answer the question 'Are we one body?' and explore all the questions this question asks of us," said Miranda, a theology professor at Miami's Barry University, which is run by the Dominican Sisters. "The AIDS pandemic, with more than 40 million living with the virus and more than 20 million who have died, demands that we answer that question not with a word, but with our actions."

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