03/10/2013 • 12:58 pm Comments Off on Conclave talk on SABC 3
copyright: expresso show – you tube channel
Filed under: Catholic Church, General, Religion and Ethics, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, african pope, ballot, black smoke, cardinal, Catholic, catholic church, church, conclave, election, entertainment, expresso, new pope, pope, priest, Roman-Catholic, Rome, sabc, stefan hippler, tube channel, TV, vatican, video, white smoke
02/27/2013 • 5:46 pm Comments Off on Farewell to Pope Benedict XVI
“Why did you write not about the resignation of the pope?” I was asked frequently – you have a blog as a priest, they argue and it must be of concern for me what happens in the church on the top-level of hierarchy.
Well, the are right, it is of my interest and I follow the events unfolding very closely. But there is so much written about the pope and the resignation and the consequences for the church – and most of them are clever people; so what should I as a simple priest say to an event commented from almost all angels of life.
Well, for those who are interested:
I was not surprised, Benedict XVI had always his own mindset and he remained the theologian and professor and in my humble view never took over by heart all the demands and challenges of being a pope. This was and is not his world. Studies and books and deep thinking is different from ruling, being almost seen above human beings, having to deal with politics, human failures, ordinary administration work and demands from all sides.
I guess this is anyhow for an elderly person too much to carry in our days. So for me, he made the right decision to step down after realizing that he has not the energy to deal with it all. I take my hat off that he tried, but my feelings are somehow ambivalent. Can I take on a duty I know I cannot fill out completely? Yes, people grow with their “job description” and this applies also to a pope in a certain way. But I cannot judge it, that is between him and the Lord.
I was not surprised but I believe his eight years changed the papacy for ever. His interviews about the use of condoms, his “Regensburger” comments on Islam, his dealing with the Pius X Society and the Latin mass, his resignation – it all changes history and if you hear some comments of bishops and cardinals after the announcement – there are suddenly some nuances in comments which are very surprising to me. It somehow seems that the church has woken up in the 21st century realizing that the train of time has gone with such a speed that it is time to catch up and face the challenges of this new era. But on the other side one sees people in the hierarchy still believing that the train of time has to be reversed and send back to its origin. The church is somehow split by now – not only between those who are called “conservative” and “progressive” but also those who think “European” and those thinking “global”.
Disappointment on his stance regarding Africa and HIV / AIDS – yes, I have to admit there is a lot of it. But on the other hand: Did we really expect him to change the teaching which seems to be for him one of the pillars to fight relativism, his beloved subject. And anyhow: change does come from the Holy Spirit who is part of the church and the world and who is not confined to any single person. Change comes through each and every single calling in this world and we should never expect all answers from the person occupying the throne of Peter. The community of the bishops and within this as primus inter pares the Bishop of Rome and the sensus fidei – there the future of the church is lying and the hope for a recovery from the crisis we are in.
I am sure he tried his very best – and I am also sure he is humble enough to know that there have been made mistakes. Contra all assurance from him I believe that he was a lonely man in the Vatican, trusting only a handful of people and therefore sometimes lacking the possibilities to see all sides of a subject he was considering and deciding. But that might be the case for all high-profile people giving up their freedom for a calling, a duty or even for more power.
The only thing I put a real question mark is the ordination of his secretary to become a bishop. He did that in the knowledge that he steps down and somehow it feels wrong to me. In a world, where favoritism and nepotism regarding those supporting one seems to be normal in politics and economics there shouldn’t be a taste of it in the Vatican. For me anyhow a bishop is for the people and I cannot see why there are so many bishops in Rome in administration. Cardinal is a title and not necessarily attached to someone being e a bishop. So for me, it empties generally the meaning of the word “bishop” somehow.
So what do I make of the time of Benedict XVI – it was on one hand a tough time for somebody believing that changes are necessary into the future and not into the past – but on the other hand God is writing nicely even on uneven lines – so I hope and pray that the next pope is fit mentally and physically to face the challenges of the time and to convert the papacy and the administration in a way fit for the next centuries to come, proclaiming the value of a human being and all creation and that all and everybody is loved unconditional by God. For Benedict XVI I hope for a peaceful life as he wishes to live now and enough time for his studies and music and whatever he likes to do in his retirement.
Filed under: Catholic Church, Religion and Ethics, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, Africa, Aids, benedict, bishop, cardinal, catholic church, current-events, global thinking, holy spirit, Latin Mass, pius brothers, Pius Society, politics, pope, pope benedict XVI, regensburg, religion, Rome, vatican
12/20/2012 • 6:57 pm Comments Off on Compliments of the Season
It’s never too early: I am taking this opportunity to thank everyone who made 2012 a fabulous year…
Hoping 2013 will be a blessed and best one for all of us – Somebody shout Amen!
For all those I’ve made promises to and never kept – Ek is baie jammer, it was not intentional but I will do better in 2013.
Those that I owe lunches, kisses, dates, etc. eish, I’ll do my best to fulfil.
For those that have supported me and made me smile through all my hardships… I truly appreciate you – May God bless you!
For those I’ve disagreed with, argued with and just never got along with…… well, 2013 is another year, pasop!
Those that I’ve hurt… unintentionally/intentionally… I’ve probably apologized – “I’m Sorry” again…
For those that stuck a knife in my back… oppas, ek het ‘n gun gekry…. Nah, relax… 4giveness is the best revenge!!!
For those that have let me down… DANKIE….’twas just another stepping stone closer to my destiny!!!
To all my real friends … I bought us some superglue
But all in all, you have made 2012 a great year; I wish you and your loved ones prosperity, good health, wealth, happiness, greener pastures, abundant blessings…and a Wonderful Festive Season
May 2013 be the year you achieve wonderful things and grow in maturity and wisdom..
Blessings & Peace
Fr Stefan
Now @ sea till mid January
Filed under: Catholic Church, Center of Healing, General, HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, HOPE Cape Town Association, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, HOPE Gala Dresden, Medical and Research, Networking, Politics and Society, Reflection, Religion and Ethics, SA-German Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, blessing, God, life, love, peace, stefan hippler, unconditional love
12/03/2012 • 4:27 pm Comments Off on The day after…
Graph showing HIV copies and CD4 counts in a human over the course of a treatment-naive HIV infection (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
… is a movie called trying to imagine the aftermath of a war with nuclear weapons.
The day after is also a feeling one get’s after the first of December every year. All speeches are done, all ribbons distributed and the press focuses again on other issues while the church hurries to prepare for Christmas. It leaves those working with HIV, living with HIV, struggling for treatment somehow in the limbo till next December, 1st…
But obviously it is not that bleak – and the there is a goal to reach – to cut down to zero new infections but to achieve this, there is a steep way in front of us. It requires all our energy on different levels:
Those in power must shift the money they spend of killing people to research, prevention and treatment; not only of HIV but also other medical and social conditions. It is indeed very much a disturbance to see that for warfare and the kill always money is at hand, while for humanity and the sake of those less fortune, there is always a fight. And the outcome is – compared to the expenses for war preparations – simply laughable. This has to change if we want to succeed.
Those living with the virus must make an effort to live responsible and being an advocate in their own rights. But obviously this can only happen if they have the tools and education to reflect on their situation with adequate knowledge.
There must be room for short and long-term interventions. Churches should stop putting devil and hell onto condoms as this comes as the safest intervention for those sexual active. Instead they can contribute towards long-term strategies of changing human habits. I guess nobody is fond of the idea of a 9-year-old boy having sex. Puberty is coming earlier – that’s also true. So what can we do to bring the ability to have sex and the mindset of responsibility together?
The Global AIDS Fund is the right tool to distribute donations and oversee progress in a global way. Government should stop contravening global efforts in bi-national agreements which put to rest the achievements of global negotiations and multinational agreements.
There is more to strive for and let’s put all our thoughts and energy together to make the world infection free for the start. So that World AIDS Day celebrates the victory of human civilization over a pandemic which threatened and killed millions of women and men, especially those on the more vulnerable side of life.
Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, Medical and Research, Politics and Society, Reflection, Religion and Ethics, Society and living environment, Africa, Aids, cape town, church, Conditions and Diseases, condom, faith, Global Aids Fund, health, hiv, HIV treatment, human rights, Immune Deficiency, Immune Disorders, life, love, moral theology, people living with the virus, politics, research, stigma, World AIDS Day
11/29/2012 • 7:04 pm Comments Off on Ahead of World AIDS Day CEO’s call to end HIV travel restrictions
English: World map of travel & residence restrictions against people with HIV/AIDS: http://www.aidsmap.co. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Global leaders oppose policies as discriminatory and bad for business
GENEVA/NEW YORK, 28 November 2012—This World AIDS Day, Chief Executives (CEO’s) from some of the world’s largest companies are calling for an end to travel restrictions for people living with HIV. More than 40 CEOs have signed an unprecedented pledge urging the repeal of laws and policies in 45 countries that still deport, detain or deny entry to people solely because they are living with HIV.
The CEOs represent nearly 2 million employees in industries from banking to mining, travel to technology. They include companies like Johnson & Johnson, The Coca-Cola Company, Pfizer, Heineken, Merck, the National Basketball Association, Kenya Airways and Thomson Reuters. “HIV travel restrictions are discriminatory and bad for business,” said Chip Bergh, President & CEO of Levi Strauss & Co. “Global business leaders are coming together to make sure we end these unreasonable restrictions.” The CEO pledge is an initiative of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Levi Strauss & Co. and GBCHealth, a coalition of companies that address global health challenges. “Restrictions on entry, stay and residence for people living with HIV are discriminatory and a violation of human rights,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Every individual should have equal access to freedom of movement. I urge all countries to remove all such restrictions based on HIV status.”
CEOs oppose HIV travel restrictions because they are discriminatory and because to succeed in today’s globalized economy, companies must be able to send their employees and best talent overseas, regardless of their HIV status. “It’s time to send HIV travel restrictions packing,” said Kenneth Cole, CEO of Kenneth Cole Productions. “Using our collective might, I believe we can use our influence to eliminate these discriminatory practices.” The United States of America lifted its 22-year HIV travel ban in 2010. Other countries, including Armenia, China, Fiji, Moldova, Namibia and Ukraine, have also recently removed such restrictions. However, 45 countries still deny entry, stay, residence or work visas for people living with HIV. These countries include major hubs for international business. “Travel restrictions on individuals with HIV are unnecessary and hinder the ability for individuals and companies to operate in a truly global workforce,” said Mark Bertolini, Chairman, CEO & President of Aetna. Most HIV-travel restrictions were imposed by governments in the 1980s when less was known about the transmission of HIV, and treatment didn’t exist. Since then, we’ve learned how to effectively prevent, manage and treat HIV. Travel restrictions vary in different countries and can include preventing people living with HIV from entering altogether or deporting foreigners once their HIV status is discovered. Restrictions also include denying work visas, prohibiting short-terms stays for business trips or conferences and blocking longer-term stays or residence for work relocations and study abroad programs. The CEO call to end HIV-related travel restrictions, first launched at the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., comes on the eve of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s release of a blueprint that outlines the goals and objectives for the next phase of the United States’ effort to achieve an AIDS-Free Generation.
“Eliminating HIV travel restrictions is a win-win,” said GBCHealth Managing Director and Co-President Michael Schreiber. “It’s the right thing to do from a humanitarian perspective and the right thing to do from a business perspective.”
Participating CEOs:
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Group Managing Director/CEO, Access Bank Plc; Mark Bertolini, Chairman, CEO and President, Aetna; Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive, Anglo American plc; Vincent A. Forlenza, Chairman of the Board, CEO and President, BD; Debra Lee, Chairman & CEO, BET Networks; Andy Burness, President, Burness Communications; Lamberto Andreotti, CEO, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Muhtar Kent, Chairman of the Board and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company; Richard Edelman, President & CEO, Edelman; Mark R. Kramer, Founder and Managing Director, FSG; Glenn K. Murphy, Chairman and CEO, Gap Inc.;Jonathan D. Klein, CEO and Co-Founder, Getty Images; John C. Martin, PhD, Chairman and CEO, Gilead Sciences, Inc.; Karl-Johan Persson, CEO, H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB; Dr. Chris Kirubi, Chairman, Haco Tiger Brands; Jean-Francois van Boxmeer, Chairman of the Executive Board/CEO, HEINEKEN NV; Victor Y. Yuan, Chairman, Horizon Research and Consultancy Group; Bong Yong Dam, CEO, Hub One International Company Ltd; Jena Gardner, President & CEO, JG Black Book of Travel; Alex Gorsky, Chief Executive Officer, Johnson & Johnson; Kenneth Cole, CEO, Kenneth Cole Productions; Dr .Titus Naikuni, MD and CEO, Kenya Airways Ltd; Chip Bergh, President & CEO, Levi Strauss & Co.; Kaushik Shah, CEO/Director, Mabati Rolling Mills Ltd; Kenneth C. Frazier, Chairman and CEO, Merck; Heather Bresch, CEO, Mylan; David J. Stern, Commissioner, National Basketball Association (NBA); Blake Nordstrom, President, Nordstrom, Inc.; Ji Yong, General Manager, Northeast Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd; Douglas A. Michels, President & CEO, OraSure Technologies, Inc.; Ian C. Read, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer Inc.; Tzameret Fuerst, CEO, Prepex; Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom; Hiromasa Yonekura, Chairman, Sumitomo Chemical; Liam E. McGee, Chairman, President and CEO, The Hartford; James C. Smith, CEO, Thomson Reuters; Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO, Vestergaard Frandsen; Philippe Dauman, President & CEO, Viacom; Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Unite; Melissa Waggener Zorkin, CEO, President & Founder, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide; Andy Payne, CEO, Wilderness Holdings Ltd; David Sable, CEO, Y&R; William H. Roedy, AIDS Activist and former Chairman, MTVN International
Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, Politics and Society, Religion and Ethics, Society and living environment, Chief Executive Officer, Gilead Sciences, Hillary Rodham Clinton, hiv, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, Pfizer, politics, United States, Vincent A. Forlenza
The translation button is located on each single blog page, Copy the text, click the button and paste it for instant translation:
or for the translation of the front page:
© Rev Fr Stefan Hippler and HIV, AIDS and HOPE.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Rev Fr Stefan Hippler and HIV, AIDS and HOPE with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
This not withstanding the following applies:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE 