Sermon>> AIDS • South Africa
.jpg "South African pastor Xola Skosana took the HIV test")
“Today I will start with a three-part sermon on Jesus was HIV-positive,” South African pastor Xola Skosana recently said in a Sunday church service.
The words stunned the congregation in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha township who felt the pastor was portraying Jesus as sexually promiscuous.
But Skosana told those gathered that in many parts of the Bible Jesus put himself in the position of the destitute, the sick and the marginalised. He was quick to emphasise he was using the metaphor to highlight the danger of HIV/AIDS. “Of course, there is no scientific evidence that Jesus had HIV virus in his bloodstream,” the pastor added..jpg)
“The pastor’s sermon takes away the stigma that HIV is a sin and that it is God’s punishment,” said Vuyiseka Dubula, general secretary of a powerful AIDS lobby group. Skosana ended his sermon by taking an HIV test in front of the congregation—after which 100 churchgoers followed his example.
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
.png)
Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderator’s approval. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in the ‘Letters’ section of the Down To Earth print edition.