Churches, HIV and Climbing in Cuenca

I got back to Ecuador last Weds (after spending 2 and a half weeks in Peru) and early on Thurs morning left Quito again for Cuenca to attend ´The First Latin American Ecumenical Meeting on HIV and AIDS'.

It was a new experience for me to be at an event where everythign is discusssed based on faith - I'm used to a very secular way of looking at the world. It was good to meet some religious leaders who are doing very progressive work on the issue, but depressing to hear some of the more conservative views of the past and present church hierarchies and some of the barriers priests and nuns and social pastorals on the ground face.

Two nuns who are doing great HIV prevention work with sex workers in Ecuador ( From Madres Adoratrices.

Have pasted below a short article I wrote on the event:

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Latin American Churches meet to discuss responses to HIV and AIDS

“Know the truth and it will set you free” (John 8:32) is the title and the thinking behind an event in the Ecuadorian city of Cuenca which brought together diverse faith communities from across Latin America to discuss experiences and perspectives on HIV and AIDS.

The conference, which is the first of its kind in the country, was organised by the Social Pastoral of the Cuenca Archdiocese (a Progressio partner organisation) with the support of the Catholic Relief Service and Progressio.

On March 14-15th, Religious leaders working on HIV and AIDS in eight countries in Latin America presented their experiences to an audience of around 60 representatives from churches, faith-based organisations and social organisations including Anglican, Jewish, Methodist, Baptist, Evangelical, and Catholic churches. Development workers and staff from Progressio also took part.

The event was an opportunity for churches to share experiences and positions. The organisers were keen to open up an ecumenical dialogue on the topic because they recognise that whilst many churches have been very active in prevention, training and care of people living with HIV, others have been silent or indifferent to the problem.

The varied presentations and discussions at the event allowed participants to analyse HIV not just as a medical problem, but as an issue which causes rights violations, poverty, emotional trauma and damage to bodies and souls through discrimination and isolation.

The topics discussed included: churches’ responses to HIV and AIDS; experiences of working on sexuality and HIV AIDS; methods of working on HIV and AIDS; and how to work with vulnerable groups including LGBT, sex workers, drug users, prison populations, street children, teenagers, women and children. The event ended with an ecumenical celebration in the city cathedral

At the end of the event a joint declaration was drafted which is to be circulated to all the groups present to sign. The document affirms Christians’ and churches’ support, love and solidarity for all people living with HIV and AIDS and commitment to work on the theme. It takes a stand against moralistic or simplistic responses and the idea that HIV AIDS is a ‘punishment’ inflicted by God.

The Pastoral Social of Cuenca hopes that this first event will be the beginning of a process of joint learning amongst churches that will lead to further meetings and ecumenical working.

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Mark came down to join me in Cuenca so on Saturday we went to a big rocky outcrop called Cojitambo with Javier a climbing friend of his. He showed us all the climbing routes that he, his brother and friends have set up and we had a go at climbing and rapelling (my first time).

I am climbing not lying down but I can't turn the photo over...