YANGON (UCAN) -- Catholics in Myanmar must strive to help make "ostracized" HIV/AIDS patients part of the community, the head of the Catholic bishops' conference urged in a pastoral letter for World AIDS Day.

Archbishop Charles Maung Bo of Yangon highlighted the plight of HIV/AIDS patients ostracized by society and even by their family, and he said the Church is called to respond compassionately to them. The title of the message was taken from Jesus' words in the Gospel of Saint John: "I have come so that they may have life and have it abundantly."

Archbishop Bo issued the letter in the Myanmar language as chairman of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Myanmar. It was circulated throughout the country's 12 dioceses by Karuna (compassion) Myanmar, the bishops' office for social development and relief, known outside the country as Caritas Myanmar.

In his letter, the Salesian archbishop said many young men and women from Myanmar who left their homes to make a living elsewhere have contracted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) "through various means" and have died. The virus causes AIDS.

Archbishop Bo said that due to a prevalent "discriminatory attitude," even "the closest and dearest" of those with HIV/AIDS, out of a sense of shame, do not reveal their relatives' situation. Some even disown these suffering family members, he added.

He said the Catholic Church has the capability to reach out to and care for these marginalized people, and help temper society's attitude in "shunning" them.

He said the Church must take care of infected persons "unconditionally," involving them in work in their locality so they do not experience "the dishonor of being ostracized by the community and their family." The Church must also encourage them to be active socially, religiously and physically, and not to feel contempt for their condition, he added.

The pastoral letter instructed bishops, clergy and Religious to learn more about HIV/AIDS from the offices of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Karuna Myanmar.

In caring for AIDS patients, the Church should not just care for Catholics but for people of any religion, and it should not make any moral judgements about the patients, the letter states.

Archbishop Bo also said Church people should encourage infected Catholics and their relatives to come to church without hesitation, and provide opportunities for them to be involved in parish activities. Church people must find ways to alleviate the suffering of people with HIV/AIDS, he exhorted.

The archbishop stressed that Catholics, as "followers and disciples of Jesus," must not abandon people with HIV/AIDS but instead defend the human dignity of these suffering people in a spirit of brotherhood.

The pastoral letter noted that the Catholic Church in Myanmar will mark World AIDS Day on Sunday Dec. 7 instead of Dec. 1, a Monday, as it is easier for Catholics to be together on Sunday.

The United Nations marks Dec. 1 as World AIDS Day. The theme for this year's observance is "Stigma and Discrimination."

According to current UNAIDS data, an estimated 500,000 of Myanmar's 48.3 million people are infected with HIV and 46,000 have developed AIDS.

END