As presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and president of the Lutheran World Federation, Bishop Mark Hanson logs lots of travel time. From orphanages in Tanzania to HIV/AIDS conferences in Toronto and Mexico City, Hanson gets a global overview of challenges facing the world, and so, the church.

Hanson garnered more attention than he intended when he decided that he needed to make a strong statement about the response of the church to people with HIV/AIDS at the biannual International AIDSConference in Mexico City in early August. Hanson will come to Bismarck for the installation Sunday of the Rev. Mark Narum as the new bishop of the Western North Dakota Synod of the ELCA.

Among the 25,000 who attended the Mexico City conference, including scientists, educators, government officials and religious leaders from around the world, were two women who presented their own stories of living with HIV, narratives that included stories of "the shunning of the church, the silence of the church, the shaming of the church,"Hanson said.

Scheduled to speak following the women, Hanson thought, "how do I get up as a global religious leader and speak after these two powerful women?

"I felt a need to do a public act of repentance, humility and servanthood."

So Hanson decided to wash the feet of the women, a gesture attributed to Jesus at the Last Supper, in which he washed the feet of his disciples as a sign of servanthood and an example to them of their role and mission. Foot-washing is often done as a Holy Week ritual to emphasize humility.

The interesting dilemma is that the act has generated response all over the world, Hanson said. He's responded to interviews including one with the Vatican News Service. That attention that came to him is what he wants for people living with HIV, instead, he said.

The only other time he impulsively did a foot-washing was at a tribal college graduation in Fort Peck, Mont. Through the ELCA's Hunger Appeal, churches had given gas cards to the students so they could get back and forth to classes; he as bishop was invited as a gesture of gratitude.

"How do I as a white person give a speech to these graduates?" he thought.

He answered his own question: "We are so inundated with words. There need to be acts." Acts such as foot-washing speak more powerfully than words, he said.

He felt the same when visiting Bethlehem in the West Bank with the Lutheran World Federation council, where astark wall divides Palestinian and Israeli. The group decided to walk up to the wall, put their hands on it, and pray the Psalms of Lament, an act more meaningful than speeches, he said.

"We need to be more courageous as Christians with our public acts of witness," Hanson said.

Churches are still the best delivery system of care for those with HIV and AIDS, Hanson said.Faith needs to be allies with the world in eradicating HIV/AIDS, he said.

While we in the U.S. have come to allow ourselves to think of AIDSas an African disease, the reality is the numbers are up among some U.S. groups as well, he said.

Hanson said among the challenges of the disease is the stigma among some in religious community to those living with HIV/AIDS: "How do we break the silence in the church about the reality of this disease, and don't further marginalize (those with HIV or AIDS)?"

Any disease that seems related to human sexuality is difficult and uncomfortable to talk about for many, he said. "We have to confront our own discomfort about sexuality," he said.

"Second, if we come down as Christians in terms of the moral dimensions of the disease, partner(ing) in eradicating the disease becomes more difficult. HIV/AIDS needs to treated as a disease, not a sin."

Working with pharmaceutical companies, the ELCA is emphasizing social responsibility, he said. People can live with HIV or AIDSfor a long time, but if the drug cocktails that treat them are not available or affordable, "that's a moral situation," Hanson said.

The danger in the availability of drugs is that concern about HIV/AIDS fades as it is perceived to be "the disease du jour whose time has passed and now we're moving on," he said.

"We have the capacity to respond," he said, if people don't become complacent or develop "compassion fatigue."

"Americans do want to make a difference in the world. People want to respond out of compassion and servanthood," he said.

What's needed now is awareness, advocacy, affordable medications, acceptance, inclusion and giving, Hanson said.

Progress is being made.

"I'm not giving up,"he said. "This church is not giving up."

(Reach reporter Karen Herzog at 250-8267 or karen.herzog@bismarcktribune.com.)