Untold Stories of AIDS and the Catholic Church

Between 1980 and 1996, more than 581,000 Americans were diagnosed with AIDS. Most were gay men, and approximately 362,000 of them would die from the disease. Those who survived carried the memories of those lost, bearing witness at once to the horrors of the plague itself and to the stigma born by its victims. Rejected by family, accused, and condemned by politicians and religious leaders, the men who endured the AIDS crisis often found themselves isolated and alone. But not always. Amid all the suffering and death, friends and supporters arose in unexpected -- often religious -- places. In a new book, Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear, Michael J. O'Loughlin documents where these stories intersect with the Catholic Church.