God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

05/13/2010 • 12:45 am Comments Off on 13.05.2010 Finally Muenchen…

13.05.2010 Finally Muenchen…

Last day in Rome and meeting with the Papal Council for Justice & Peace – a very intense and meaningful talk and we leave with the impression that it was more than good and just to approach this council for our work with HIV positive priests and religious. A lot to think about and a lot of planing ahead.
After visiting the church used by the prayer circle of St. Egidio in Rome and reminding us of all the modern martyrs we get to the airport to fly to Munich.

Our first meeting is with Prof. Beckmann from the TU Munich and we discuss certain aspects of common work lying ahead between the TU and HOPE Cape Town. Then after 10 pm we arrive at our hotel and we are left with a last drink while preparing for our first meeting tomorrow. A long day draws to an end and the 2nd ecumenical church day is waiting for us.

Filed under: HIV and AIDS, Networking, , , , , , , ,

05/11/2010 • 11:28 pm Comments Off on 11.05.2010 Wolfsburg – Rome

11.05.2010 Wolfsburg – Rome

First station on our tour to Europe is Wolfsburg to attend a working session of the World AIDS Awareness Campaign II.   A day later we are already in Rome and today we had an appointment with the secretary of the Papal Council for Health Care Workers, Bishop Jose Rotrado, on the topic of “POZ – pastoral care for HIV positive priests and religious”. When we arrive at his office – to our surprise – our first meeting is with His Excellency, the President of the Papal Council, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski himself. Fluently in German and English we have the chance to discuss with him the relevant topics before seeing Bishop Jose Retrado and discussing with him in detail the next steps and possibilities.

In the afternoon then visit of St. Peters and other “must see” places in Rome – the Manenberg parishioners are waiting for some pictures of the trip their parish priest is doing. Late afternoon/evening then reflection of the morning meetings and preparations for the next meeting  with the secretary of the Papal Council for Justice & Peace, whom we will see tomorrow.

Filed under: General, Networking, , , , , ,

05/10/2010 • 8:26 am Comments Off on 10.05.2010 Ignorance or …

10.05.2010 Ignorance or …

Brazilian Archbishop Says Homosexuality Not ‘Human’ and links it to Acceptance of Pedophilia
Brazilian Archbishop Dadeus Grings made excuses for the church’s sexual clergy scandal on Wednesday, the AP reports, appearing to blame it on society at large: Said Grings: “Society today is pedophile, that is the problem. So, people easily fall into it. And the fact it is denounced is a good sign.” But then of course, Grings had to bring gays into it:
“The archbishop also said it was important to help children avoid homosexuality. ‘We know that the adolescent is spontaneously homosexual. Boys play with boys, girls play with girls,’ he said. ‘If there is no proper guidance, this sticks. The question is — how are we going to educate our children to use a sexuality that is human and suitable?'”

And then, he goes on to link the two:

“Grings also said the acceptance of homosexuality in society could pave the way for the acceptance of pedophilia. ‘When sexuality is trivialized, it’s clear that this is going to affect all cases. Homosexuality is such a case. Before, the homosexual wasn’t spoken of. He was discriminated against. When we begin to say they have rights, rights to demonstrate publicly, pretty soon, we’ll find the rights of pedophiles,’ he said.”

According to AP, “Grings is the archbishop of the Porto Alegre diocese, one of the largest in Brazil, which has more Catholics than any other nation. He also serves as the chancellor of the Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul. Grings denounced the abuse within the church, but he said internal punishment of priests guilty of abuse was sufficient and that police should not be involved. ‘For the church to go and accuse its own sons would be a little strange,’ he said.”

Filed under: Uncategorized

05/09/2010 • 9:11 am Comments Off on 09.05.2010 On the way…

09.05.2010 On the way…

Cape Town – Johannesburg – Frankfurt – Hannover… the first leg of the trip, Fr. Wim Lindeque of Manneberg and I are flying to meet a lot of interesting people and to hopefully push forward our common agenda regarding the pastoral work for HIV positive priests and religious. While the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference considers our proposal, we are heading also to Rome to introduce our concept to two papal councils. After that to Munich where I am invited to join a podium about South African children and HIV. Lots of talks with politicians and church people are also on the agenda. Finally to Muenster Sarmsheim to join for a fundraising evening in lieu of HOPE Cape Town and the next day discussion with some students of a local school.

But first to Hannover and Wolfsburg to meet “brother” Joachim and Sandra and their team to prepare for some challenging events next year.

Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Medical and Research, Networking, Politics and Society, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

05/08/2010 • 8:23 am Comments Off on 08.05.2010 Is it murder?

08.05.2010 Is it murder?

I just read: Since 500 years the people of the South, 4.9 billion people are dominated by the Caucasians of Europe and later North America, which are 24.6% of the world population. Those quarter defines our world trade system. The consequences: Every 5 seconds a child under the age of 10 is dying of hunger. Every day we can add 47 000 people dying of hunger in the world. More than 1 billion are suffering of malnutrition. And the numbers are rising.

According to the UNO, we can produce worldwide food for 12 billion people, far more than we have in the moment.. Lets face it: If we don’t do,what we can do, if we accept a world trade system and a finance system producing such numbers of dying and death people: this is murder, as we are all able to know the consequences of our system.The dignity of every human person is untouchable…  who is really believing in this statement?

Filed under: Reflection, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, , , , ,

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