Grace Cathedral

Grace Cathedral marked the 18th World AIDS Day on Thursday, December 1st, with a midday service of the Holy Eucharist, celebrated in the cathedral’s unique AIDS Memorial Interfaith Chapel.  

The focus of the Chapel is a bronze and white-gold triptych altarpiece entitled The Life of Christ, the last work of Keith Haring completed just weeks before his own death from AIDS. Worshippers and four of the cathedral’s clergy gathered near a hanging section of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and the cathedral’s Book of Remembrance which honors over 500 persons of the cathedral community who have died of AIDS-related causes.  Keith Haring’s stunning altarpiece triptych artwork, a sermon by the Rev. Stephen Beal and the special prayers for the service emphasized our Christian hope, and highlighted:

• the theme of commitment from our nation’s official theme for 2016, “Leadership. Commitment. Impact.” 
•  the issue of continuing stigma in this country and internationally, formulated in the official World AIDS Day theme of “HIV Stigma: Not Retro, Just Wrong.“
• the U.N.’s focus on prevention as well as rights and access to treatments

We are proud to have been at the forefront of embracing this community in the 1980s and honored to continue to be an ally to all affected by AIDS.