Strange bedfellows: The Catholic Church and Brazilian National AIDS Program in the response to HIV/AIDS in Brazil

Abstract

The HIV epidemic has raised important tensions in the relationship between Church and State in many parts of Latin America where government policies frequently negotiate secularity with religious belief and doctrine. Brazil represents a unique country in the region due to the presence of a national religious response to HIV/AIDS articulated through the formal structures of the Catholic Church. As part of an institutional ethnography on religion and HIV/AIDS in Brazil, we conducted an extended, multi-site ethnography from October 2005 through March of 2009 to explore the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Brazilian National AIDS Program. This case study links a national, macro-level response of governmental and religious institutions with the enactment of these politics and dogmas on a local level. Shared values in solidarity and citizenship, similar organizational structures, and complex interests in forming mutually beneficial alliances were the factors that emerged as the bases for the strong partnership between the two institutions. Dichotomies of Church and State and micro and macro forces were often blurred as social actors responded to the epidemic while also upholding the ideologies of the institutions they represented. We argue that the relationship between the Catholic Church and the National AIDS Program was formalized in networks mediated through personal relationships and political opportunity structures that provided incentives for both institutions to collaborate.

A time for dogma, a time for the Bible, a time for condoms: Building a Catholic theology of prevention in the face of public health policies at Casa Fonte Colombo in Porto Alegre, Brazil

“…After many years of public disagreements between these two agents, a tension that has been well covered by the press, we argue here in favour of the idea that public health officials as much as ecclesiastic leaders made efforts to concretize this space of understanding and action in relation to AIDS, where the observations of the directors of public policy could coexist with respect for the tradition of Catholic doctrine (see also, Murray et al 2011). In this way, the Casa Fonte Colombo, which was already active in responding to the epidemic for years, was seen as a political partner that was well suited for the health authorities of the Brazilian National STD/AIDS Program as much as it was for the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.…”

“…We also know the Catholic Church is by no means monolithic, and there is some room for negotiation at the grassroots (Murray et al 2011). There is a growing collaboration among the government and religious groups partly as a result of the accomplishments of the Brazilian National STD/AIDS Program (Seffner and Bermúdez 2006), which provides important capital in the negotiations with religious groups (Berkman et al 2005, Garcia and Parker 2011, Seffner et al 2009, Muñoz-Laboy et al 2011, Murray et al 2011).…”

Understanding the Irony: Canadian Gay Men Living with HIV/AIDS, Their Catholic Devotion, and Greater Well-being

“…In an interview in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI made statements to the media regarding the acceptable use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV, creating a surprising break in the Vatican's blanket ban on the use of contraceptives (Kington and Quinn 2010). In the last 5 years, the Catholic Church has promoted the implementation of HIV stigma reduction interventions specifically tailored to different ethnic communities in North and South America, and Africa (Derose et al 2014;Murray et al 2011). …”

Enfrentamento religioso e política: as lições da resposta à Aids

“…Esses dois extremos representavam, de um lado, a posição ofi cial do vaticano, canônica e hegemônica no Rio de Janeiro e, de outro, uma posição ofi ciosa que prevaleceu na relação semi--institucional de diversos setores da Igreja com a resposta governamental à Aids realizada em São Paulo (Murray, Garcia, Muñoz-Laboy, & Parker, 2011 Porque participavam da resistência democrática, as organizações eclesiais de base acumularam repertório político para compreender os princípios do Estado Laico consagrado ao fi nal da década na Constituição. Segundo vários entrevistados, os católicos progressistas ativos nas diversas estruturas da Igreja, nas ONG ou no governo contribuíram, então, para ampliar o respeito à liberdade de crença e até de orientação sexual nos espaços de formulação de políti-cas públicas.…”

“…Num período em que o SUS ainda não existia e os hospitais de retaguarda demoraram a reagir adequadamente, a Pastoral da Saúde incentivava os voluntários a se mobilizarem "cada um do seu jeito", fortalecendo a autonomia. Murray et al, 2011) Apoiadas diretamente pela Arquidiocese de São Paulo ou por missionários, casas de apoio foram abertas para adultos e crianças vivendo com HIV, especialmente as mais necessitadas "do ponto de vista sócio-econômico"…”