On the pope and AIDS and condoms in Africa

Pope Benedict XVI in Carmeroon: Image by Reuters

I've not posted on the papal visit to Africa but it's likely that you've read about the comments the pope made on the plane about AIDS and condoms while en route to his destination. If you're unfamiliar with all of this, Rocco's post today includes helpful links including one to the Catholic News Service (CNS) report on what looks to be a case of the Vatican tweaking what the pope said on the plane for publication purposes.

Stepping away from the current fray over what the pope said (or didn't say), CNS tips us to the blog at America which in turn brings us to a 2007 interview with Michael Czerny, S.J., director of the African Jesuit AIDS Network.

Czerny's perspective is instructive and helpful.

In a Lenten spirit, this poem might lead us to prayerful consideration of Africa's plight...

On AIDS in Africa

Dark wind howls across
The land pregnant with curses
What wind is this
That brings wayward dirges?

The tender fruit falls
On the ground, premature
And dark wind sweeps it into
The gaping wound of earth
Let branches wave in loneliness
Ancient boulders bear witness
The green land is gone
Scorched with sorrow
Cold mounds sprout
In fields fertile with bones
While renegade souls lie
In helpless quietude
The sorrowful drum
Moans no longer

So when will You deliver
Tormented spirits from
This stranded nightmare?

Bring back receding hope
You who will breathe
Life into the dry bones
Bathe the barren fields
With hallowed fertility
Make lonely branches sway
Heavy with tender fruit
Come at dawn and rebuke
The dark wind of plague
Make haste and reveal Yourself
To the grief-stricken hearts
Embedded in harrowing ebony
Let them be healed
At the touch of Your hidden hand.
2009popeonaids
- Joseph Arimoso, S.J., Zimbabwe