Bishops' Appeal Committee07 Apr 08

Bishops'Appeal Statement

We very much appreciate the positive tone and intention of Dermot O'Callaghan's recent published comments concerning Christian Aid's strategy in the area of HIV and AIDS prevention. Like him we are most anxious to continue an informed and constructive discussion of this vital matter. We would want to stress however that Bishops' Appeal and Christian Aid are not simply identical bodies. Bishops' Appeal has a close working relationship with Christian Aid and through the years has given it substantial support. However Bishops' Appeal also exercises an independent judgement regarding projects submitted to it by Christian Aid and the many other development agencies with which we co-operate. In that context we were content to give wholehearted support to the particular Christian Aid project, ANARELA+, which benefited from our recent Lent campaign 'The Body of Christ has AIDS'. A TearFund project based in Liberia was an equal beneficiary of that campaign. Both Christian Aid and TearFund co-operated with us constantly in relation to the resourcing of our campaign and for that we are most grateful. Christian Aid plays a vital and distinctive role on behalf of many churches in Ireland and Britain in addressing the issues which cause world poverty and in campaigning on behalf of the poor who long to hear Good News. Inevitably such campaigning will at times lead to creative debate and discussion and we acknowledge the part played by Mr O Callaghan and others in focussing such debate. At this stage and above all, we would want to thank parishes throughout Ireland for their generous support of 'The Body of Christ has AIDS' - in the near future we hope to provide a full picture of the results of the campaign