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In U.N. message, Pope urges guaranteed medical care for HIV/AIDS

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Criticizing ``exorbitant'' prices for HIV/AIDS medicines, Pope John Paul II called on wealthy nations to guarantee medical care for people infected with the deadly disease in poor countries.

In a message to a special U.N. General Assembly in New York dedicated to HIV and AIDS, the Pope praised a recently announced global U.N. fund to fight the disease as a ``cause of hope for all.''  

The message, addressed to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, was released at the Vatican on June 26.  

The Pope said the international community's battle against the AIDS pandemic ``must be inspired by a constructive vision of human dignity'' that encourages young people to develop greater sexual responsibility. Over the years, the Vatican has condemned recourse to condom campaigns to stop the disease's spread.  

- Catholic News Service

 

 

'Smart cards' help India Catholics keep up with Church events

HYDERABAD, India (CNS) -- A parish in Hyderabad in southern India has introduced an electronic ``smart card'' system to help people in the tech-heavy region access parish information easier and faster. Archbishop Marampudi Joji of Hyderabad launched the system on June 17 at St. Anthony's Parish, some 900 miles south of New Delhi, calling it ``a thought-provoking incentive'' for all church personnel, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. Parishioners can use the microchip-embedded card with a touch-screen computer near the parish hall to check on church events, renew subscriptions, transfer payments and make parish bookings. Smart cards will be given to all 556 families of the parish.   

- Catholic News Service

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