OCA Moscow Representation Church hosts World Aids Day service, roundtable

Following a prayer service held on December 1, 2005, Archimandrite Zacchaeus [Wood], hosted a roundtable discussion on the dangers of HIV-AIDS and its spread in Russia and throughout the world sponsored jointly by St. Catherine the Great Martyr Church and USAID in Moscow.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA [OCA Communications] — The need to educate people about the dangers of HIV/AIDS and to offer loving and non-judgmental ministry to those suffering from the disease was emphasized at a roundtable discussion sponsored by the Orthodox Church in America’s Representation Church of the Great Martyr Catherine here on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2005.

The gathering opened with the celebration of a Service of Intercession for those suffering from the disease, celebrated by Archimandrite Zacchaeus, OCA representative to the Moscow Patriarchate, who organized the gathering. At the conclusion of the service, a statement marking World AIDS Day from His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, was read. Archimandrite Zacchaeus also delivered a sermon in which he emphasized the importance of ministering to the disease’s victims in a compassionate manner.

Following the prayer service, Archimandrite Zacchaeus hosted a roundtable discussion was held at a local conference center, at which specialists in the prevention of HIV/AIDS, including the Priestmonk Anatoly [Berestev], discussed ways in which the Russian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church in America’s Representation in Moscow, the US Embassy in Moscow, and other healthcare organizations could collaborate in the distribution of HIV/AIDS prevention information and in ministering to those infected with the disease.

“The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in eastern and central Europe has been widely reported,” said the Very Rev. John Matusiak, OCA communications director. “The need to address the issue, not only in terms of educating the public in the area of prevention but also in providing compassionate ministry to those already infected, is crucial. The roundtable was an important step in bringing together the healthcare community and the Church in tackling the pandemic in a wholistic and balanced manner, ministering to the soul as well as the body.”

Among those attending the service were representatives of the US Embassy in Moscow, including Ms. Lisa Carty, the wife of the US Ambassador to the Russian Federation; Mrs. Ludmilla V. Stebelkova, Deputy of the Moscow Duma; Mr. Terry Myers, the Director of the US Agency for International Development [USAID]; Ms. Margarita Nelubova of the Center for the War on AIDS of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate; Mr.
Alexei Nikiforov, of the organization “Doctors without Borders”; and numerous representatives of Alcoholics Anonymous, St. Seraphim House of Mercy, Healthy Russia, the International Women’s Club, and other organizations.

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