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m AIDS: A 1ransformative Challenge for Clergy Joseph A. Edelheit For a true Christian and Jewish ecumenism, ... we must never again do theology in such a way that its construction remains unaffected, or could remain unaffected, by Auschwitz .-Johann Baptist Metz1 For the last thirty years, significant Christian and Jewish thinkers have all argued that the unthinkable event of the holocaust has been transformative in shaping the way theology has been done. An event of unspeakable evil has required religious thinkers to find a new vocabulary and tak(e risks in dialogue that were inconceivable before Auschwitz . It is my contention that just as the challenge presented by Metz, a noted European Christian theologian, demands a response for those who profess fundamentalist and systematic theology, a similar challenge now eJnerges for those who expound practical or pastoral theology because of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Let me state, without equivocation , that by no means am I equating the realities of the holocaust's radical evil and mass human extermination with the currently incurable disease and worldwide pandemic of HIV/AIDS. Rather, for the purpose of this reflection, I draw attention to the transformative shift the events of Auschwitz caused for religious thinkers, and in like manner, though the causal event is fundamentally different, the changes caused by HIV/ AIDS in the vvay clergy confront several essential issues of pastoral and practical the~ology. It is the transformative change that HIV/AIDS demands in the way we think as clergy that corresponds to Metz's challenge. As of this writing (the statistics will change dramatically by the time this is published), more than 180,000 persons in America have died becaus(;~ of HIV/AIDS, and another 1.5 million persons are infected with the HI'I/AIDS virus. Millions of people worldwide are infected, and epidemiological projections by the year 2000 stagger the imagination . But it is not the statistical reality that transforms the clergy; 197 rather, it is the single human life confronted with HIV/AIDS. In less than a decade clergy have been forced, often against their desire and will, to deal with these lives, and the unyielding demand will continue into the foreseeable future. It is unlikely that any active congregational clergyperson, or hospital clergyperson, will be able to remain disconnected from HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS requires immediate changes in the clergyperson's knowledge and behavior, attitude and commitment. All of these components are primarily practical. The overwhelming majority of these active clergy were ordained long before seminaries began to teach courses about HIV/AIDS ministries; courses dealing with this issue have been introduced only within the last five years. Therefore, the transformative nature of the pandemic has taken place among persons who were basically unprepared and lacked any institutional and traditional guidelines or denominational philosophies. It may well be another twenty-five years before we have enough perspective about HIV/AIDS to fully measure the complete impact of this transformative shift among clergy. With these historical caveats in mind, I hope to sketch the basic characteristics of the change and the future challenge that will lead to further reevaluations in the way clergy deal with HIV/AIDS. Fundamental to this transformation is the conflict between tradition and the complex human realities of HIV/AIDS. The conflict centers on issues of sexuality, drug abuse, homosexuality, and dying and death. Still other conflicts illuminate the clergy's social responsibility, a responsibility extending beyond individual pastoral obligations. Are clergy and their religious institutions responsible for participating in the prevention of HIV/AIDS transmission. Even asking the question creates a conflict for some who do not see their religious calling to be a prophetic response to social justice and social gospel. HIV/AIDS forces clergy to deal with issues of confidentiality in a way unlike anything they may encounter in their careers. It is my position that every significant counseling! pastoral role in which a clergyperson attempts to transmit religious values requires a new sense of purpose or a greater degree of nonjudgmental pastoral support. Helping a person who just found out he or she is HIV-positive may mean doing suicide intervention work or crisis intervention to help the person cope with rejection by a lover or parents, as well as requiring social-service networking to facilitate the full array of backup services now needed to deal with an HIV infection. Just one case, even a relatively simple case, can consume the time and tax the skills of a clergyperson who...

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