21/04/2003

At Vatican, U.S. official discusses ways Catholic charities can help

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Tommy G. Thompson, the U.S. secretary of health and human services, attended Holy Week services at the Vatican and held meetings to explore ways Catholic charities and the U.S. government could cooperate in health-care projects around the world.

Thompson was in Rome for the April 17 signing of a cooperative agreement with the Italian health ministry before flying to Afghanistan for the Easter Sunday dedication of a Kabul maternity and neonatal clinic.

Speaking April 18 to representatives of the Catholic press, Thompson said his goal was to promote better health care around the world, and greater cooperation between the U.S. government and the Catholic Church would be a step toward the goal.

Thompson, a practicing Catholic and former governor of Wisconsin, attended Pope John Paul II's April 17 Mass of the Lord's Supper and the April 19 Easter Vigil in St. Peter's Basilica.

Earlier Holy Saturday, he met with Archbishop Javier Lozano Barragan, the Vatican's health minister, and with members of the Rome-based Sant'Egidio Community.

In 2001 the community, which mediated the Mozambique peace talks in the early 1990s, began a huge project to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Mozambique.

The project, which is focused on preventing the spread of the virus from mother to child, also includes a revamping of the country's health care system, providing HIV tests and counseling, controlling the blood supply, training health care workers and providing in-home care to the sick.

Mario Marazziti, Sant'Egidio spokesman, said April 21 that Thompson seemed impressed "by the effectiveness of our program, for which we have statistical proof, not just words. He recognized the validity of the program and its potential for adaptation throughout Africa."

In the interview before visiting the community, Thompson said the U.S. government understands the Catholic Church's objections to programs relying on the distribution of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV, "but I'm talking about thousands of poor orphans" whose numbers are increasing as more and more parents die of AIDS.

"We are not forcing the distribution of condoms to any program that does not want them," he said.

While Thompson acknowledged his work and his belonging to the Bush administration sometimes placed him at odds with Pope John Paul and other Catholic leaders, "I have to minister to the needs of all Americans, not just Catholics, and to people around the world."

"I cannot do my job, carrying out the policies of this administration, by solely relying on Catholic teaching," he said. "I adhere where possible, but in some cases it is not possible."

As for the war in Iraq, he said he would not expect any religious leader to be in favor of war.

"The pope is concerned about innocent children and civilians," he said, but Thompson said he believes the administration will be able to show it actually saved lives by toppling Saddam Hussein.

"If I had my druthers, I'd much rather have had the pope on my side," he said. "Peace in the Middle East obviously is the goal of the pope and the president, although they have differences on how to get there."

Cindy Wooden