ARHIVELE OLTENIEI - Universitatea din Craiova

256Rodica Ţuguialways announce that they have AIDS (even though they are prepared by apsychologist and a social worker in this direction) at least in situations whichcreate a very high risk situation such as a dental specialist, for example.More than that, in the HIV problem has appeared in all of the moderategroups, an exchange of opinions most of the time in a polemic way, about thebehavior of the priest when he is serving the communion 45 for a sero-positive.Actually “the controversy” was based on two points of view: the first whichconsidered that the HIV virus can not be transmited during the communion 46 andthe second one according to which it could happen in certain circumstances thatthe infection is transmitted 47 . In a case told by a priest, the sero-positive himselfcame to the church with a personal tea spoon in order to serve him for thecommunion 48 . In certain situations, “consuming the communion” from the samecup, by the sero-positives and the healthy people and even by the priest of thecommunity has the significance of not rejecting the infected ones 49 .45 The content of the dispute referred to the way in which the Holy Communion was tobe administrated with the same tea spoon and from the same cup, or would it be necessary to useanother tea spoon or another cup. Some priests were considering that he needs to be served thecommunion separately, others considered that such a gesture is not needed. We need to point outthat the priests who had to deal themselves with such cases, namely they had to serve thecommunion to a sero-positive who was known by the community. It was done with a differentspoon or even with a different cup. They took measures of precaution „because they didn’t knowthe hygiene of the mouth” of the infected one and they didn’t want to risk the health of the othermembers of the community.46 “I would like to quote the words of John Breck who is considered a great specialist ofbioethics. As an Orthodox priest in a reference book for bioethics. “The sacred gift of life.”: “It wasoften mentioned that in the period of devastating epidemics in medieval Europe there are no statisticsregarding which priests or deacons, who consumed communion, were not touched by the disease in alarger proportion than the rest of the population. So they got sick as the rest of the population did.Until the moment in which I write these lines (thinking of John Breck) there is not one single case ofAIDS which has been transmited thru the cup of communion.” (priest Alba Iulia)47“Here I will have a different point of view from many of my colleague priests. I thinkthat the saviour Jesus Christ in the Cup is disinfected and for that reason I serve the communiondifferently (for a sero-positive). I serve the communion to her separately because I don’t know theentire information about her health, about her mouth. I don’t know how the situation goes with thefluid transfer... I also am very aware that we don’t have all the elements about the charactheristicsof the disease: at first we knew that AIDS is exclusively transmited sexually. There was even acampaign that AIDS is not transmited thru a kiss. But I think it can be gotten this way. If I haveproblems with my teeth and I have AIDS and she doesn’t have it, then I kiss her and the virus.”(priest Timis)48 Still about the communion there was someone in the row in front of the altar and theperson gave me a plastic spoon. I didn`t know what to think. I was even angry thinking that theperson doesn’t want to receive the communion after the others. I stopped and I asked what was Isupposed to do with it. The person said: «father I have AIDS. I take communion with my ownspoon.” (priest Alba-Iulia)49“When we serve the communion for the holidays, all the children come and I knowthe sick ones (the seropositives). The other habitants also know them. A child suffering of AIDScomes and takes the communion and the next one doesn’t say no. I take what`s left in the cup and Idon’t think that there were six children suffering of AIDS who took the communion. We don’treject them like this.” (priest Constanta)