Kenyan AIDS orphans use poems, songs to remember U.S. priest

Published: 2007-11-19

NAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) -- A group of Kenyan AIDS orphans recalled their memories of the late U.S. Jesuit Father Angelo D'Agostino, a native of Providence, R.I., who founded their Nyumbani children's home in the early 1990s. At a special Mass in Nairobi Nov. 18, the children of various ages treated the congregation to poems and songs dedicated to Father D'Agostino, who died Nov. 20, 2006, at age 80. Among those in the congregation were former Arizona Sen. Dennis DeConcini and Erin Kennedy, administrator of the Washington, D.C.-based Children of God Relief Fund Inc., which raises money for Nyumbani. In his homily, U.S. Jesuit Father Jim Strzok described Father D'Agostino as a priest who had a special love for children. He said that love caused him to found Nyumbani, "purely for the HIV/AIDS orphans." Father D'Agostino also defied international patent law when he introduced the use of generic drugs to treat the children with HIV/AIDS early this century.

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