ECUMENISM: IN BRIEF
“A statement on social partnership between the Christian Churches of Belarus on Hiv-AIDS” is the title of the document signed in the past days on the occasion of the world day against AIDS (December1st), by the metropolite archbishop of the Catholic Church of Minsk and Mogilyov, Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, by Filarete, metropolite of Minsk and Sluzk from the Orthodox Patriarchal exarchate of all Belarus, by the Evangelical Christian-Baptist Church leader Victor Krutko and by the Evangelical-Lutheran Association representative Nikolay Badrusov. The document, ratified in the Science Academy of the former Soviet Union, envisages the development of cooperation between religious communities in the fight against the HIV virus. “It is necessary that Christian Churches be united on the present problems of Belarus society, especially as relates to the youth”, said metropolite Filarete, who also emphasized the need to “inform those who don’t know and help those who suffer”. According to archbishop Kondrusiewicz, “the Catholic Church protects the dignity of all human beings and does not remain on the borders of society. It prays for them and brings comfort to the sick and the seriously ill”. Other signers of the statement gave their contribution in the three directions of the fight against Aids: prevention, cure of the sick, accompaniment towards death. The document envisages the creation of an inter-confessional working group within the National Christian Council. According to official data published in the past weeks, in Belarus, on 100thousand inhabitants, 88.4 are HIV-positive most of them are young people aged 15-29 years. Since 1987 484 people died of AIDS.
