Archbishop Williams Urges Acceptance of People With HIV

Rowan Williams - the Archbishop of Canterbury urges his followers to accept people living with HIV.

"The church should deal with HIV and AIDS. The church in Africa deals with HIV and AIDS and we should not forget or forsake those that have the disease," Rowan Williams said.

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AIDS or HIV is an epidemic disease, a potentially deadly infection that can be prevented with precautions. AIDS/HIV symptoms manifest long after the actual infection occurs.

Williams was speaking at a communion service held at Arthur Davies stadium in Kitwe, some 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of the capital Lusaka, in the country's Copperbelt region.

"We will be friends with them and this means the fight against death," he said.

Williams started his trip in Malawi last week to mark the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Anglican missionaries in that country.

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He also stopped in Zimbabwe and met President Robert Mugabe, whom he urged to end attacks on Anglicans by followers of a breakaway bishop aligned with the president.

The service in Kitwe was broadcast live on a community radio stations and attended by over 3,000 people.

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"We are sent to share the suffering and joys with our neighbours, we are sent to be alongside them and listening to their needs. We should give our lives to others as Jesus did," he said.

"The church in Africa has given a voice to the women and the vulnerable, and all those are acts of the mission of the church," he said.

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Williams returns home on Thursday.

Source-AFP