Word that protesters would demonstrate in front of an interfaith exhibit at the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok spread quickly. Within a half hour, the exhibit teemed with Buddhist monks, Catholic priests, nuns and Protestant ministers.

They gathered not to counter the demonstrators, but to greet them. Instead of steeling themselves against the coming criticism, they discussed how they would invite the demonstrators to learn the myriad ways faith-based groups are helping people affected by HIV and AIDS around the world.

When the demonstrators from the group ACT UP approached shouting and waving posters and signs, they passed with little incident and little exchange. Those who had gathered at the exhibit shrugged, then got back to the business of learning what they could during the conference to help them in their work.

It was a short-lived drama, but it illustrated a larger reality. Lost in the heated debates over condoms and other criticisms is the fact that in many developing countries, faith-based groups and institutions provide nearly half the care to people affected by HIV/AIDS. This is care not just for those who are sick, but for families and communities affected by the disease and for the people who are left behind.

The Catholic Church alone provides care to one in four people around the world who are who are HIV-positive. In a 2004 study by UNICEF, more than 90 percent of faith-based organizations in six African countries provide some type of care and support to AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the international relief and development agency of the U.S. Catholic community, is poised to rapidly expand life-extending antiretroviral drugs over the next five years. This initiative, funded by the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, will help CRS and the other members of the consortium --- the University of Maryland's Institute of Human Virology, Interchurch Medical Assistance, the Catholic Medical Mission Board and the Futures Group --- to reach more than 145,000 HIV-infected people and help them live longer, better-quality lives.

"From a Christian perspective, faith not only puts us in relationship with God, but also entails, essentially, our lifelong striving to see others as God sees them and to respond appropriately," said Father Michael Czerny of the African Jesuit AIDS Network.

Faith-based organizations play a vital, yet often unrecognized role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. And while there is still a lot of misunderstanding regarding the reach and role of these organizations, some of the old perceptions may be changing.

This year in Bangkok marked the first time that an interfaith exhibit was given space. Organized by CRS, with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development and CORE Initiative, the exhibited offered conference attendees a chance to see the wide range of care and support faith-based groups provide around the world. More than 23 groups participated in the exhibit, representing Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu traditions.

"All religious have good will and want to serve the living God to bring dignity to people," Dr. Prawate Khid-arn, a representative of the Christian Conference of Asia, said of the interfaith gathering at the conference. "This has been a time of sharing, not only among the faith-based community but with others."

Cecile Sorra is a communications associate for Catholic Relief Services. She filed this story from Bangkok.