AIDS PROPHETS IN A WOUNDED COUNTRY: A MEMOIR OF TWO CATHOLIC CLERICS INVOLVED IN RESPONDING TO AIDS IN SOUTH AFRICA (1984–1990)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2309-5792/1595Abstract
The alliance between faith and health in responding to a looming AIDS crisis in South Africa was exemplified in the collaborative work of two Catholic clerics and three nurses. Whereas their work was often eclipsed by the struggle for independence, Archbishop Denis Hurley and Father Ted Rogers envisioned a looming AIDS catastrophe and started warning, training and supporting societies with relevant strategies to minimise its impact as early as 1984. This article analyses their response to the AIDS crisis as witnessed by these nurses and two other contemporary clerics. Archival materials such as the Southern Cross magazine, plenary minutes of the South African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC), and correspondence letters shed more light on their difficult operating context.
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