Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
October 18, 2000
AIDS Mass offers healing, strength
People living with AIDS, their families, friends and caregivers are invited to participate in the AIDS Healing Mass, tonight (Oct. 18) at 7 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The presiding priest will be Father Donald Sutton.
The Healing Mass introduces more than a month of activities designed to raise awareness of local and global AIDS issues, according to Al Hooper, executive assistant in the Office for Social Concerns.
The Annual AIDS Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 7 p.m. on Nov. 6 at Holy Ghost Parish. The presiding priest will be Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. All are invited.
The World AIDS Day Mass will be celebrated at 7 p.m. on Dec. 1 at St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Denver. The presiding priest will be Jesuit Father Thomas Jost. All are invited.
All people should be aware that the recent International AIDS Conference in South Africa truly issued a cry to the world for help and a cry for humanity, according to Hooper.
According to a report by the World Health Organization and United Nations released at the AIDS Conference, some 33.6 million people globally were living with AIDS in 1999, with some 5.6 million new infections taking place. In the same year, some 2.6 million people died from the disease.
Hooper, who helps coordinate the archdiocesan AIDS outreach, said the Conference in South Africa sought to raise awareness of the disease, and encourage the global community to respond to the crisis that is decimating the populations in some of the world's poorest nations.
The Office of Social Concerns, in conjunction with the HIV/AIDS Ministry of Colorado Springs, recently held a retreat at the Marycrest Retreat and Conference Center under the banner, "Living with HIV/AIDS, Why Me? Responding to God's Call."
Participants at the retreat witnessed the love of God and the healing power of the Holy Spirit, said Hooper.
In a written evaluation, one participant in the retreat whose life had been scarred by the brutality of street life, wrote that, by attending Mass and receiving the sacraments of Penance and Anointing of the Sick, he had found the strength to, "keep moving on!"
For information, call Hooper at 303-715-3220.
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