Cardinal urges donations to new papal fund for HIV/AIDS victims (It'll also help groups that promote condom use to prevent HIV)
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service December 17,2004
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The best Christmas gift for the baby Jesus would be a donation to a papal fund dedicated to victims of HIV/AIDS, said a Vatican official.
By helping those who have been hit by this pandemic, one can "provide solidarity to those who suffer" and "give an authentic and urgent sign of our sharing between brothers and sisters," said Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, head of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers.
At a Dec. 17 Vatican press conference, the cardinal unveiled Pope John Paul II's newly established The Good Samaritan Foundation and urged people to contribute.
The foundation provides "economic support to the sick who are most in need, particularly those suffering from AIDS," he said.
The Catholic Church has always made an effort to respond to the HIV/AIDS crisis through its prevention programs and in medical and spiritual assistance to victims and their families, he said, adding that 27 percent of the world's centers that treat people with HIV/AIDS are Catholic-run.
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Cardinal Lozano said the foundation will direct funds to any legitimate facility, not just Catholic-run centers, that are desperate for financial assistance. He said the foundation will not withhold funding a group even if it also promotes condom use in preventing the spread of HIV.
"This is about emergency care, to help those in need," he said. "The argument, 'condoms, yes' or 'condoms, no,' what do I care? These people are dying and we need to come to their aid," said the cardinal. He said the foundation would earmark money first to Ethiopia, because when it comes to medical or social assistance, "there is absolutely nothing."
The pope donated 100,000 euros (US$133,000) to the fund in order to get it started and to offer an example for all Catholics to follow, Cardinal Lozano said. An additional $11,000 in private contributions from Italy and Mexico was donated in mid-December, he said.
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