unconditional-love

The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ commands us to love one another selflessly as Jesus loved us.
Because it is at the heart of the Church’s mission in the world, this commandment is universal,
admitting of no exception. We who constitute the Church of North Georgia are challenged each day in
many ways to translate this call from Jesus into generous and compassionate service.

With full confidence in your desire to respond wholeheartedly to the great command of the Lord, I write
to focus attention on a grim and troubling human reality that requires an immediate and
comprehensive response from the Church, and from all men and women of good will.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and its acquired syndrome (AIDS) continues to spread
throughout the world. By far it is the most dramatic of diseases to beset the human community in
modern history. Compared with other infectious illnesses, HIV/AIDS “has by far many more profound
repercussions of a moral, social, economic, juridical, and structural nature, not only on individual
families and in neighborhood communities, but also on nations and on the entire community of
peoples.” (Pope John Paul II)

Alerted by the concern expressed by Pope John Paul II, and compelled by the growing evidence of the
effects of this insidious disease in our local community, I address this urgent appeal to all members
of the local Catholic community, and to all people of good will. The time for specific instruction and
decisive action is upon us. Persons with HIV/AIDS cry out for relief and the right to personal dignity.
Also, their families, friends, health care professionals and the community at large are seeking
guidance, support, and reassurance for their efforts.

Let us first consider our responsibility to those not yet touched by this disease for which there is
presently no cure. We must continue, and indeed increase our efforts to educate persons of all ages
especially our young people on the nature of this disease, how it is contracted, and the appropriate
means for its prevention. For those who are not married, chastity has always been and remains the
Church’s norm. For married persons, sexual activity is governed by the promises made at the
marriage ceremony, in the sacramental presence of God and the Church, promises of exclusive and
mutual fidelity. I call upon all involved parties - parents, educators, community leaders - to understand
and to proclaim faithful adherence to the Church’s teaching as the most effective means of preventing
the sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS.

Abuse of addictive substances must also be mentioned as a prime means by which HIV/AIDS is
contracted. Although the reasons for pervasive drug dependence in our society may be argued and
addressed, the solution to the problem first emerges from the individuals’ decision to reach out for
help. Only then, aided by faith and by the support of the community, can a person being the campaign
of being free from any dependency. We have a special duty to encourage and support individuals and
groups engaged in the treatment and rehabilitation of substance abusers. The secondary effort of this
curative work will be to reduce the incidence of drug-related HIV/AIDS.

Our immediate concern must be for those members of the human family who are infected with this
incurable syndrome and who must look to the approach of death. Some are innocent newborn infants
and others have been accidentally infected by this dread virus. All persons with HIV/AIDS deserve love,
compassion, and the opportunity to put their human condition into the larger Christian context of
meaning. For men and women of faith, death is not the end but the beginning of a new and beautiful
life. Even great pain and suffering can have meaning when accepted in the spirit of Jesus and with
hope based on His promise. To live the experience of the suffering of Christ with Christian hope can
be a true sharing in Christ’s redemptive mission. The Holy Father, on behalf of the whole Christian
world, recognizes this special place of the person with HIV/AIDS when he proclaims: “The Church is
with you as a sacrament of salvation to sustain you in your difficult path. She receives much when you
live your suffering with faith; she is beside you with the comfort of active solidarity in her members so
that young lose hope. Remember how Jesus invites you: ‘Come to me all of you who are weary and
tired, and I will give you complete rest.’”

Having expressed our loving concern for all who are beaten by HIV/AIDS, call on the members of the
Church to turn their hearts and hands to concrete and positive action. The aim of this action should be
to calm the fears and prejudices of society at large, and bring immediate relief and solace to those
suffering members of the community, without discrimination and without hesitation. Our only concern
should be to aid the one who suffers. Our duty as confirmed Christians is to heal others, not to sit in
judgment of them.

In order that the response of the Catholic community be clear and effective, it is my wish that every
pastor in the archdiocese designate a person who will serve as an AIDS ministry coordinator for that
parish. The Archdiocesan AIDS Task Force will be the resource for those individual parish
coordinators assisting them to implement the following actions:
1. Visibly identify each parish community as a source of compassionate care for Persons with AIDS,
along with their families and loved ones;
2. Function as a parish resource for needed services for Persons with AIDS, their families and
concerned parishioners regarding health related services, support groups, meals-on-wheels, hospice
care, etc.;
3. Coordinate ongoing parish education (schools, religious education programs, etc.) regarding
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) so that all, and in particular our young people, may understand
how to stop the spread of this disease;
4. Originate parish-based programs as needed, or assist existing programs in providing direct aid, for
example, “Tuesdays at the Shrine” dinners for Persons with AIDS held each week at the Shrine of the
Immaculate Conception;
5. Provide support for existing outreach efforts or residences, such as Jerusalem House, and similar
domestic foundations, established to provide decent living conditions for indigent persons with AIDS.

I appeal to every individual Catholic in the Archdiocese of Atlanta to contribute in some manner to the
corporal works of mercy demanded by the present situation. Christ’s example in the Gospel is one of
direct action to bring healing and peace. The power of the Holy Spirit urges us to be directly involved in
combating this modern health disaster and its devastating effects on the individual, the family, and the
community at large. Salvation rests in our prayers to a compassionate God, and in our response to the
trials of the helpless. May God enlighten our minds, inflame our hearts, and strengthen our hands, so
that we may be messengers of hope and agents of healing in a world where sickness and pain
abound. May Mary the Mother of Jesus, and our Mother, sustain us in this compassionate cause.

Eugene A. Marino
Archbishop of Atlanta
March 1990