comes to the issue of AIDS, chairman of the chaplaincy committee at Agape House stressed this week.

Speaking after a presentation to AIDS Ministries Bermuda by visiting Canadian prison ministry expert the Rev. Charles Taylor, the Rev. David Chisling said: "we really believe as pastors, ministering to people with AIDS requires understanding''.

AIDS Ministries Bermuda, of which Rev. Chisling is a member, is a recently formed interdenominational group of local clergy keen to offer pastoral care to those affected by the trauma of the virus.

The group was formed by the chaplaincy committee and has close ties with the newly-created Hospice Ministries Bermuda.

Rev. Taylor, who is a visiting professor of clinical pastoral education at Acadia University in Canada, is the second overseas guest to address the group since its formation.

He is also a teacher of the group's first guest and chaplain responsible for AIDS ministries at Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, the Rev. Philip Joudrey.

AIDS Ministries Bermuda invites overseas guests to exchange tips and advice on AIDS support groups.

And while Rev. Taylor has not worked with many people with AIDS, he said the need for support groups for those with AIDS and their families "is an area that greatly needs our attention''.

Rev. Taylor, who spoke about understanding grief, guilt and shame of those incarcerated and devastating effects it can have if not resolved, said this is another area which needs to be focussed on.

"To effectively minister, we need an understanding of their dynamics and how we may effectively minister in these situations,'' he said.

Rev. Taylor said the church's work with those incarcerated, particularly repeat offenders, requires "habilitation'' more than rehabilitation.

"To rehabilitate means to reclothe,'' he said, "and a great many of the people who are incarcerated have never been adequately clothed emotionally or spiritually and a lot of them come from backgrounds were there is great deprivation, so our work involves more than rehabilitation, it involves habilitation.'' Rev. Taylor said he believes repeat offenders are caught up with an addiction to crime.

"And I think that we have yet to recognise the addictive nature of crime and develop an adequate treatment to cope with it,'' said Rev. Taylor who was involved in developing and directing the Diploma in Prison Ministry given by The Institute of Pastoral Training and with Acadia Divinity College and Atlantic School of Theology -- the only programme of its kind offered in Canada and the US.

Rev. Charles Taylor.