MONROE — Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary will host the annual World AIDS Day prayer service at 4 p.m. Dec. 1 at the Motherhouse Chapel, Elm Avenue. The public is welcome. Attendees should enter through the front door of the Motherhouse.
“Let Communities Lead” is this year’s service theme.
“We come together to pray that all people will recognize the equal worth and dignity of every person. The effects of human rights violations in the context of HIV are profound,” said Chuck VanVleet, IHM Associate and HIV/AIDS committee Chair. “We must invest our personal, prayerful and collective energy to reduce inequalities in all areas of life — including in our response to HIV and AIDS.”
In its Chapter 2000 Direction, the IHM community committed itself to “collaborating with other groups to develop an appropriate response to the global pandemic of HIV/AIDS, recognizing especially its devastating impact on the children and future of Africa,” the IHM Communications Department said in a news release.
IHM Sisters have ministered in South Africa from 1969-2023. Among them were Sisters Judy Coyle, Sue Rakoczy and Peg O’Shea. Sister Peg, an IHM Sister for more than six decades, returned home earlier this year after 30 years of ministry in South Africa. She worked with people affected by HIV and AIDS. She also worked with abused children and had been principal of a Zulu schools.
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For more information about World AIDS Day, visit UNAIDS.org.
— Contact reporter Suzanne Nolan Wisler at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: AIDS Day prayer service Dec. 1 at Motherhouse