A founding moment: how members of religious congregations became AIDS activists

Philippe Denis

Chapter 18 in Handbook on Religion and Health, 2024, pp 295-308 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines how some men and women religious responded to the AIDS crisis in Europe, East Africa, and Southern Africa in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, what they did to mitigate the devastating effects of the pandemic, and what prompted them to do so. An AIDS activist himself, the author uses elements of his own biography, and of the religious men and women he met during the period under review. He argues that for many if not all of them a “founding moment” triggered their involvement after they personally encountered men, women or children infected or affected by HIV. Suddenly AIDS had a face. They could no longer remain indifferent. Many of them founded or co-founded an AIDS-related project. Because of their charism and mobility allowed by their order or congregation, religious are well placed to respond to an emergency such as the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

Keywords: Economics and Finance; Politics and Public Policy Sociology and Social Policy; Sustainable Development Goals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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