The Church Times writes an article about HIV status: Plagued by prejudice and stigma, in which Positive Faith is highlighted and our members are quoted.

HIV affects the poorest people in our society disproportionately, many live on welfare benefits, are refugees, in debt and in housing need. Despite medical advances many still suffer with debilitating sickness and die at a younger age than in the general population. They are often isolated and alone, despised by others because stigma and prejudice persist, and sadly, they are generally overlooked in our churches.

I have been involved in different pastoral responses to HIV/Aids since the late 1980s, and can easily see parallels between Julian’s time and our own, particularly when recalling the first two decades of the AIDS pandemic. In the richer nations, new treatments have relieved most of us of the imminent sense of panic in the face of death that attended HIV/Aids during those first disease ridden years. Yet HIV remains an issue in the UK today.

They described how they felt that HIV was a taboo subject, not to be spoken of, in their churches. Many explained that within the congregation several people were, like them, living with HIV - they would see each other at the HIV clinic. However, this was never acknowledged between them, nor spoken of within the congregation, nor by their priests or pastors. Still today, silence around issues of HIV is the norm in most churches.