Monday, Mar 27, 2006
Burundi Catholic Church Ties Marriage to HIV Test
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The Catholic Church in Burundi has announced that it will not conduct weddings for couples unless they produce an HIV certificate indicating their status, officials said.
 A volunteer lights candles forming a ribbon, the symbol for solidarity with AIDS patients
© AFP/File Dimitar Dilkoff"The conference of bishops has decided that from now onwards the Church will ask prospective couples to present their HIV test certificate before they are married," said Father Gelase Mugerowimana of the Bujumbura partoral parish.
"We do not demand that the fiances show us the test results, but we demand the proof that they have taken the test and told the truth," Mugerowimana said, adding that the decision reached last November was now being implemented.
About 70 percent of Burundi's 7.6 million people are Catholic faithful, and Roman Catholicism it is the most influential Church in the tiny central Africa nation.
However, the decision was criticized by the country's National Association of people with HIV/AIDS (ANSS), which argued that the move "violates the right of the individual and threatens to counter the fight against the disease."
"That the Catholic Church should play its moral role in the society is one thing, but to play the police by giving orders is prejudicial to the fight against AIDS," ANSS chief Jeanne Gapiya told AFP.
According to the ministry of health estimates, Burundi's AIDS prevalence rate stood at 10.5 according to 2002 statistics.
The Church has also said that it would not conduct weddings if the bride is pregnant as it is a transgression against God's laws.
"These decisions have been taken to restore the dignity and beauty of marriage and family and for the respect of God's commandments," Mugerowimana said.
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