AMERICA: Catholic AIDS memorial finds a new home in NYC parish—but not without controversy

A decades-old memorial for people who died from AIDS-related complications has found a new home in a New York City church. On Friday, the Jesuit-run Church of St. Francis Xavier will host its annual service to mark World AIDS Day, observed on Dec. 1, an annual tradition at the parish going back decades. But this year, the evening will include the blessing of more than 500 individual plaques that comprise a memorial recently installed in the church, situated in front of an already existing space dedicated to remembering the early days of the crisis. The newly installed memorial was recently moved from another nearby parish, where it had stood since 1992, which was closed as part of the Archdiocese of New York’s reorganization plans.

Dave Harper, the executive director of the New York City AIDS Memorial, told America that AIDS memorials continue to serve important purposes. They provide a reflecting space for those whose lives have been affected firsthand by H.I.V. and AIDS and they can help educate younger generations about the challenges from a previous time. Mr. Harper pointed to “a whole generation of L.G.B.TQ. people who feel like they don't know where they came from, who don’t know who their elders are” as one reason why memorials can serve as powerful teaching tools.

“I think there’s a desire, very much so, for folks to connect to their history, especially in light of the increasing and more apparent attacks on L.G.B.T.Q. people in this country,” Mr. Harper added.