Neste artigo discutimos a visão da Igreja Católica sobre sexualidade na
interface com a epidemia do HIV/AIDS. Nossa reflexão está embasada em pesquisa
etnográfica que envolveu dois meses de observação participante do cotidiano de
católicos de um bairro popular da Região Metropolitana do Recife, além de contar com
entrevistas a onze dos leigos engajados nos serviços religiosos da igreja do bairro e a
oito sacerdotes que realizam seus trabalhos religiosos em outras localidades. Nelas
abordamos diferentes temáticas relacionadas ao enfrentamento da epidemia da AIDS.
Nesse contexto, conjugalidade e fidelidade se afiguram como importantes analisadores
de como aqueles lidam com a epidemia, em uma variedade de re-descrições práticas e
de re-interpretações conceptuais das assertivas do discurso moral religioso – ainda que,
muitos impasses permaneçam em aberto em termos das prerrogativas da Igreja e seus
possíveis rebatimentos na saúde sexual dos adeptos
Religious beliefs have had a key role in shaping local responses to HIV and AIDS. As the world’s largest Catholic country, Brazil is no exception. Yet little research has been conducted to document how the religious doctrine is enacted in practice among its lay leaders and followers. In this article, we present ethnographic research from Recife, Brazil, conducted to understand the way in which religious doctrines are interpreted on a local level. Contextualized within the sociology of contemporary Brazilian Catholicism, we draw on interviews with clergy members, lay leaders and parishioners in order to discuss how the Catholic Church’s vision of sexuality translates into the everyday lives of its followers by. We explore the disjuncture between the Catholic ideals of fidelity and delaying sex until marriage with the everyday reality of the Church’s followers, highlighting the role that gender plays in defining sexual roles and expectations. We conclude posing questions for future research and HIV prevention strategies considering the formal institutional response of the Brazilian Catholic Church to AIDS on one hand, and the social and cultural contexts in which Catholics live their daily lives on the other.
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