ATLANTA—In recognition of World AIDS Day, Mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory on Saturday, Dec. 1, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Atlanta. Mass will be at 7 p.m. and the public is welcome to come. IHM parish has an active HIV/AIDS ministry. The church is located at 2855 Briarcliff Road, NE.

On World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, the international community recognizes the impact of HIV and AIDS and its effects on the global family. It is a time when the world joins hands and hearts to address the pain, the stigma, and the great loss of so many lives. World AIDS Day is also a time for Catholics to unite with the international community in addressing AIDS. It is a call to Catholics to witness, by words and actions, the compassion of Jesus by praying as a people of faith and hope for the healing of HIV and AIDS.

In addition to the Mass, the 15th annual ecumenical HIV/AIDS prayer service will be held at St. Philip Benizi Church in Jonesboro on Thursday, Nov. 29, at 7 p.m. Hosted by the AIDS Ministry of St. Philip Benizi, the main celebrant will be Conventual Franciscan Father John Koziol, the pastor. The church is located at 591 Flint River Road.

St. Philip Benizi will also display a panel of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, a project memorializing those who have lost their lives due to HIV/AIDS, on Sunday, Nov. 25, from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. The AIDS Memorial Quilt is an enormous quilt, with a typical block consisting of eight individual panels sewn together. Nearly every one of the more than 48,000 colorful panels that make up the quilt memorializes and celebrates the life of a person lost to AIDS. Panels are often handmade by family members and friends. When the entire quilt was displayed in 1996, it filled the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

All are invited to visit the panel and pray for all who have died from complications of AIDS.