Melb church sadness for AIDS expert deaths

The loss of HIV experts coming to Melbourne for a conference has unleashed a "wave of sadness", Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson says.

At a special Mass in Melbourne, Archbishop Wilson said the HIV/AIDS experts who died on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over the Ukraine were doing important work.

"There's such a wave of sadness running through our world because of so many people affected," Archbishop Wilson told St John the Evangelist Catholic Church on Sunday.

"So many people who were to be engaged in this special work of ministry have had their lives taken away."

Monsignor Robert Vitillo, a convener of the Catholic pre-conference on HIV and AIDS, said many conference participants lost friends and colleagues in the tragedy.

"A number of people who died had committed their lives to improving the health of others as part of the global fight against HIV and AIDS," Monsignor Vitillo said.

About 100 people, including many practitioners and experts, joined the Catholic pre-conference `Stepping up the Pace; Remembering the Loaves and the Fishes', which was held ahead of the 20th International AIDS Conference.