The Russian Orthodox Church has been praying for the health of HIV/AIDS victims, their near and dear, as well as those, who are fighting this disease, for several consecutive years now, officials at the Moscow Patriarchate's department of external church relations told RIA Novosti.
More and more priests are praying for the health of HIV/AIDS sufferers on this day because they comprehend the fact that prayers and spiritual support are a highly important church task, department officials stressed.
Similar prayers were held in Ukraine with the blessing of Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine; services were held at all cathedrals in all 31 dioceses of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
People living with HIV/AIDS need such church prayers every day, rather than just once a year; consequently, several Orthodox Churches in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus started performing these prayers each month three years ago, RIA Novosti's interlocutors noted.
Additional churches are gradually joining this initiative, the Moscow Patriarchate noted.
The Life-Giving Trinity Church in Khoroshevo, Moscow, is offering prayers for the health of AIDS sufferers and their relatives on the last Sunday of every month.
