By Christopher Cappiello

HIV-Positive Gay Priest Made Pastor in England

In a move that might aggravate already growing tensions within the worldwide Anglican Communion, an assistant bishop in the Church of England has appointed a gay, HIV-positive priest to a London parish, the Times of London reports.

“I’m under high pressure at the moment,” the unidentified priest told the Times. “This is not a good moment to talk about it, though I am looking forward to the challenges that the parish will present.”

The Times reports that the newly appointed priest claims to be adhering to church rules that require gay priests to abstain from sexual activity. The Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church in the United States, is struggling to reconcile differing views on gay clergy. The 2003 installation of openly gay Bishop Eugene Robinson in New Hampshire prompted several parishes to leave the Communion, and the issue continues to stir debate.

“This appointment is a sign of the church being grown-up and living in the real world,” and unidentified bishop told the Times. “The priest has a ministry to offer and clearly there is a welcome for him in this parish.”

The Times reports that a previous priest in the London parish lived with his male partner in the church’s living quarters. “He’ll be very welcome here,” a parishioner identified only as Chris told the Times.

Deadly TB Strain Found in South Africa

Health officials are concerned that an extremely drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis found in a rural area of South Africa could spread quickly and pose a serious threat to people living with HIV/AIDS.

“What actually happened here at Tugela Ferry is what we call a true outbreak ... one single bug that was fingerprinted and that was transmitted,” said Dr. Tony Moll, the doctor who identified the deadly new strain, to AP. “These people caught TB for the first time and were infected by a super bug that was already resistant to this whole spectrum of medication.”

The outbreak has occurred in the Kwazulu-Natal region of eastern South Africa. To date, all but one of the 53 people diagnosed with the strain have died.

The World Health Organization issued a warning in early September, concerned that people might be dying undiagnosed.

Drug resistance can be a common challenge in battling TB, but only about 2 percent of worldwide TB cases are labeled “extremely drug resistant,” according to the AP. Tuberculosis poses a particular threat to people with HIV/AIDS because of compromised immune systems. All 53 patients who had the extremely drug-resistant strain discovered by Dr. Moll were believed to be HIV-positive.

South African officials are sensitive about the country’s reputation for poor health care after receiving widespread condemnation for their response to the nation’s AIDS crisis. More than 5.5 million South Africans are believed to be HIV-positive in a country of 44 million. Only India is believed to have more cases.

The government has banned health ministry officials from discussing AIDS with the media and many fear that the silence will extend to TB. A Yale University doctor who has worked with Moll told AP he was prevented from making a long-planned video at the Tugela Ferry hospital where Moll works.

South African HIV/AIDS activist Zackie Achmat said the government is in “psychological denial” about AIDS and TB, “at the cost of people’s lives,” AP reports.

Rainbow Flag to Fly at Taipei City Hall

In conjunction with a series of events titled LBGT Civil Rights Movement—Queer-Friendly Taipei, city officials in Taipei, Taiwan, will raise a rainbow flag over City Hall on Sept. 17, a first for an Asian country, the Taipei Times reports.

“Conservative religious groups have been criticizing the event, and we welcome different opinions,” said Yeh Jie-sheng, deputy chief of the Department of Civil Affairs, in a press conference. “We will invite these groups this year to discuss issues of gay rights together.”

“This festival will establish a bridge and allow the public to better understand the gay community,” Wang Ping, secretary-general of the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association and one of the event organizers, told the Times.

The event will include a gay art exhibition, a parade, and gay rights forums.

Pope Speaks Out on HIV and Gay Marriage

During an emotional, nostalgia-filled six-day return to his Bavarian homeland, Pope Benedict XVI told a crowd of 250,000 that science alone cannot battle medical and social challenges like HIV/AIDS, and that people in contemporary society must use faith to combat social ills.

“Hearts must be converted if progress is to be made on social issues and reconciliation is to begin, and if—for example—AIDS is to be combated by realistically facing its deeper causes,” he told the throng assembled in a field outside Munich, according to The Associated Press.

The Vatican has long held that fidelity to a spouse and sexual abstinence are the most effective ways to prevent the spread of HIV. The church does not condone the use of condoms.

“People in Asia and Africa admire our scientific and technical progress,” he said, “but at the same time they are frightened by a form of rationality which totally excludes God from man’s vision, as if this were the highest form of reason.”

Benedict faces a shrinking church in his native country, with recent studies showing only about 14 percent of German Catholics attend Sunday Mass. A consistent message in his first year as pope has been the need for Europe to return to the church.

Shortly before his visit to Bavaria, Benedict met with a group of Canadian bishops at the Vatican Sept. 9 and denounced their country’s same-sex marriage laws and reproductive freedoms. "In the name of tolerance, your country has had to endure the folly of the redefinition of spouse, and in the name of freedom of choice it is confronted with the daily destruction of unborn children," he said, according to the CanWest news service. He also criticized Roman Catholic politicians who did not oppose such laws.