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

Abstract

The Casa Fonte Colombo (CFC) is a religious organisation that assists people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The funding for its activities comes from public sources such as the Brazilian National STD/AIDS Program as well as the Catholic Church. Capuchin (Franciscan) priests run the CFC and it has an extensive group of volunteers made up mostly of women. Between 2006 and 2009, we observed daily life at the CFC and interviewed priests, volunteers, employees, service providers, and clients. We also attended meetings, group sessions, and celebrations. Everyday actions carried out by the CFC reveal the efforts to resolve the tension between the position of the Catholic Church and the Brazilian state in the politics of AIDS. These efforts affirm that the CFC presents itself as a space where the position of the Catholic Church, as much as the politics of public health, are re-worked, giving way to a progressive act of Catholic prevention and assistance for AIDS that we call ‘theology of prevention’.

Keywords:

• AIDS
• Brazilian Catholic Church
• public health policies
• faith-based organisations
• theology of prevention

Acknowledgements

This article is based on data collected from the research study titled, Religious Responses to HIV/AIDS in Brazil, a project sponsored by the Eugene Kennedy Shiver US National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (grant number R01 HD050118-05; principal investigator, Richard G. Parker). This national study was conducted in four sites, at the following institutions and by their respective coordinators: Rio de Janeiro (Associação Brasileira Interdisciplinar de AIDS/ABIA – Veriano Terto Jr.), São Paulo (Universidade de São Paulo/USP – Vera Paiva), Porto Alegre (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul/UFRGS – Fernando Seffner), and Recife (Universidade Federal de Pernambuco/UFPE – Luís Felipe Rios). Additional information about the project can be obtained via e-mail from [email protected] or at http:www.abiaids.org.br, the Associação Brasileira Interdiciplinar de AIDS (ABIA) website. Jonathan Garcia was supported by F31 HD055153-02 from the Eugene Kennedy Shiver US National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and by T32 MH020031 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NICHD, NIMH, or the NIH. We would like to thank Priscila Rodrigues Borges and Luana Rosado Emil from the research project Religious Responses to HIV/AIDS in Brazil team in Porto Alegre, who initiated the relationship with the CFC.

Notes

1. The Brazilian National STD/AIDS Programme has had a number of different names over the course of its history, representing different positions in the institutional and organisational structure of the Ministry of Health. For the sake of simplicity, we will refer to it throughout as the Brazilian national STD/AIDS Program. For more information about the Programme, including its current designation, see the Departamento de DST, AIDS e Hepatites Virais website at www.aids.gov.br.

2. The study was approved by the National Ethics Council of Brazil (CONEP 12352), and it uses clear terms of consent in all information-gathering processes.

3. The identification of the CFC results from an agreement between the researcher and the management of the institution. The final version of this text was read by the Friars who gave their informed consent in their personal names and in the name of the institution and they approved the description of their institution as accurate. The informants are not identified in the text to preserve their anonymity. More information about the CFC can be found at http://www.capuchinhosrs.org.br/fontecolombo.

4. http://www.capuchinhosrs.org.br/ – site of the Order of Capuchin Friars of Rio Grande do Sul.

5. The group of volunteers at the Case Fonte Colombo is mostly made up of women, who stay for years as volunteers. Some of them have worked there regularly since the House opened. This characteristic of stability in the ensemble of volunteers is a difference of the CFC in relation to other AIDS NGOs of Porto Alegre, where the circulation/turnover of volunteers is much greater.