The Catholic Church, from the beginning of AIDS in Africa, has been active in alleviation and treatment, in prevention, consolation and spreading hope. Now "to interpret the present time" is to consider this complex issue seriously in the light of our scriptures, faith, tradition and practice. That is what the essays in this volume strive to do. 

• As Christ identifies with our suffering and enters into it, so the Church as the body of Christ is called to enter into the suffering of others, to stand with them against all rejection and despair. (World Council of Churches).
• The love and the respect due to the afflicted, the weak and the poor cause me to take the situation of people with HIV in Africa as a major focus of my spiritual, pastoral, and theological reflection. (Ghislain Tshikendwa)
• The theological problem raised is not merely a set of questions about biological death. AIDS forces us to ask about the very meaning of human life and God's purposes for individuals and communities. (Emmanuel Katongole)
• During a crisis such as HIV and AIDS, the essential vocation of the Church entails seeing "where God is at work" and cooperating with the divine action in partnership with the rest of society. ( Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator)
• In these times, when Africa faces the greatest danger of extinction not only in relation to HIV but in almost every regard, it is more urgent than ever to develop a community morality that corresponds, according to the African model, to the Church as Family of God. (Benezet Bujo).                                       

The contributions of those mentioned above, and others in this volume by Pope Benedict XVI, Michel Kamanzi, Paterne Mombe and Alison Munro respond to the Bishop's invitation to reflect theologically on all aspects of the pandemic.