The Catholic Church's official programme for international development has issued an extraordinary apology on behalf of Catholics worldwide, saying they have colluded in the persecution of HIV and Aids victims in the developing world.
Caritas Internationalis, an umbrella organisation representing around 150 Catholic relief agencies worldwide, has put itself at odds with senior figures in the Catholic hierarchy by issuing a statement of "regret".
Drawn up in advance of World Aids Day, a week today, the statement says church members including bishops and priests silently condoned discrimination against people struggling with the virus.
"We acknowledge with deep regret that Caritas members have not always acted promptly or positively to respond to the challenges posed by HIV/Aids," says the statement drawn up on behalf of Caritas by the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (Cafod), based in Britain.
The HIV infection rate is now running at 15,000 a day, according to Caritas.
"The virus tapped into dark fears and secrecy that surround sex, making it easy to falsely tag HIV as a physical manifestation of sin," said Ann Smith, one of the statement's authors and HIV adviser to Cafod.
Although the statement avoids mentioning contraception, last week the Catholic Institute for International Relations joined calls for the Church to permit the use of condoms to fight Aids.