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African religious leaders admit shortcomings in AIDS fight
Yesterday was the first day of Nairobi's World Conference on Religion and Peace, in which more than 150 Roman Catholic, Ethiopian Orthodox, Protestant, Muslim, and Hindu religious leaders gathered from 30 African countries to discuss the church's role in combating AIDS.

The leaders admitted that they have remained too silent and passive as the epidemic swept through their countries and congregations. Leaders said they dragged their feet in education against AIDS and, despite their grassroots networks, had failed to support governments in combating the disease.

The group voiced the church's shortcomings in a declaration of principles:

We have been reluctant to speak openly about HIV/AIDS and have thus at times contributed to the silence and stigma that surround the disease. We have allowed fear and denial to prevent us from getting good information and education about HIV/AIDS and, in turn, sharing that information with the members of our conference.

The religious leaders vowed new activism in the fight against AIDS and to show compassion to victims, especially to AIDS orphans. "Some leaders are still afraid of them," the Rev. Jane Nuthu, told The New York Times. "They don't want to touch them."

The religious leaders also remained firm in their beliefs that abstinence, not contraception education, is the best means to fight HIV and AIDS.

"We started with condoms and have been flooded with condoms, and HIV is still spreading," Roman Catholic Archbishop John Onaiyekan told the Associated Press. "We believe it is possible for children to control themselves. We are teaching them that they are not animals, and they can control themselves."

Two monks killed in shooting; no motive found
A 71-year-old man armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and a sawed-off .22-caliber rifle opened fire inside Missouri's Conception Abbey yesterday morning. Before committing suicide, Lloyd Robert Jeffress killed two monks and seriously wounded two others.

Killed in the attack were Brother Damian Larson, 64, and the Rev. Philip Schuster, 85. The Rev. Kenneth Reichert, 68, and the Rev. Norbert Schappler, 76, were wounded.

The attack appears to be a random shooting. The abbot of the Conception Abbey, Rev. Gregory Polan, said in a press conference that the man was a "total stranger. We have not found anything to connect this man to us."

Gracia says Abu Sayyaf is desperate, weak, and down to seven members
"Statements made by Gracia Burnham, the only hostage to survive Friday's rescue attempt, and information gleaned from letters written by her husband and recovered at the site, present a more desperate picture of the Abu Sayyaf's circumstances than many had expected," The Washington Post reports today. While 100 of the Muslim guerrillas held the missionary couple a year ago, their numbers had dwindled to 14 by the rescue. "Only 10 of the rebels had weapons, and nearly half of the 14 were teenagers." Subtract those killed in the Friday firefight and you have 10 left with six guns. Subtract the capture today of 19-year-old Basher Ordonez, who was wounded in the Friday's battle, and you have nine members. And Ordonez says there's only seven. They're low on food and supplies and have no support on the island of Mindanao where they're believed to remain.

"Abu Sabaya's world is getting smaller and smaller every hour of the day," Major General Glicerio Sua, who commands the operations against the guerillas, told the Philippine Inquirer.

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June (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46