The Church of St. Francis Xavier in Manhattan installed one of New York’s earliest AIDS memorials in its new, permanent home at the church on West 16th Street, providing families and the community with regular access.

“We as servants are invited to treat people with utmost respect and kindness, because as we do for others we do for Christ,” the church’s pastor and Mass celebrant, Father Kenneth Boller, SJ, said during a Mass celebrating the installation on Dec. 2. 

Father Boller prayed for the millions of people living with AIDS, “particularly the children who have been infected or have been orphaned by the disease. Make of us a safe haven for those who are abandoned…Let us remember those across the world who wait in hope for a cure.” He spoke of the importance of serving the Lord by serving others “with joy, peace, hope and love.”

The pastor blessed the memorial site, located to the right of the church’s altar. “May this sacred space continue always to be a place of prayer,” Father Boller prayed.

“Each year on Dec. 1 the world commemorates World AIDS Day…People around the world unite to show support for people living with HIV, and to remember those who have died of AIDS-related illnesses,” John Weber, an active church volunteer, said in opening remarks.

“This was a tragedy that needs to be remembered forever.” Weber, 67 told The Good Newsroom. Weber said he’s lost a number of relatives and friends to AIDS over the decades.

Formerly known as the Greenwich Village AIDS Memorial, the Village AIDS Memorial has moved to the Church of St. Francis Xavier from St. Veronica’s Church on Christopher Street. 

A total of 580 plaques, each commemorating the life of a New York resident who died from AIDS, were moved to allow regular access to the memorial by family and community members. The memorial was first dedicated in 1992. 

An estimated 115,000 New York City residents have died from the disease since it reached the United States in 1981. The World Health Organization believes between 38 million and 48 million people have died from AIDS worldwide to date, and a similar number are currently living with HIV globally. First observed on December 1, 1988, World AIDS Day was the first global health holiday.