Annual Conference
Overview | Past Conferences | Conference Art Work
The Annual Conference has been a central focus of the National Catholic AIDS Network since the first conference held at Notre Dame University in 1988.
The conference's six basic objectives are the following:
- To provide practical training, skills, and incentive necessary
for faith-based participants to deliver effective and sensitive HIV prevention
and AIDS care in their local and regional areas, and to expand and coordinate
their efforts;
- To establish and strengthen a mutual support and resource
sharing system that will enhance the stability and effectiveness of faith-based
HIV/AIDS education and outreach services;
- To broaden and deepen the base of HIV/AIDS interest and expertise
already developing in ethnically and culturally diverse Church communities
composed of African American, Hispanic, Asian Americans and others;
- To provide models of developing expanded networks, coalitions,
and working regional and national relationships that will enhance the Church's
response to AIDS, and to create more stable, ongoing forms of mutual support
and assistance through regional caucuses at the conference leading to the
establishment of regional support networks throughout the country;
- To work aggressively to promote public awareness that the
Catholic Church views HIV/AIDS as a central concern in both prevention
and care-a reflection of the Judeo-Christian heritage of affirming life-and
that a larger, more coordinated role for the Roman Catholic Church in fighting
HIV/AIDS in America is both a moral imperative and a public health necessity;
- To strengthen and enhance the education efforts directed to youth through school-based and parish-based religious education programs that include involving young people in developing effective peer education models. The Network has entered into a formal partnership with Catholic Relief Services to enhance the outreach to colleges and universities.
Home | History | Programs | Resources | Contact