The Newsletter of Catholic Mission
Registered by Australia Post NAR 3547 5/93 Volume 13 No4
Greetings
to all as we celebrate together this most important time of prayer, reflection and cooperation between the Churches, young and old, throughout the whole world! We give witness to Christ when, taking Christ as our model, the simplicity of our lives is a sign of God and of the eternal life already within us that is most intimately experienced when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ. And we also give witness to Christ when our concern for persons leads us to work for justice, peace, human rights, and integral human development. Recently, I had the chance to visit the mission area that is closest to us – Papua New Guinea – still a developing country but one that is growing and maturing in faith. It was a marvellous experience of Church “Alive in Christ”. I was able to participate in the concluding days of their General Assembly – Bishops, people, priests, and religious meeting together to
listen to the representatives from their nineteen dioceses as they moved towards the formulation of their Vision and Mission Statements and set the priorities for the whole Church in PNG for the next five years. Those efforts are very much in line with our theme for World Mission Day – “Life for All”. They are concerned about growth in holiness and the spread of the Gospel – they will promote Family Life, deal with the needs of Youth, seek Justice and Peace and the integrity of creation, and provide for Health, the prevention of and care for HIV-AIDS victims, and Education. Their dreaming is our dreaming and our focus for this year’s World Mission Day, Sunday 24th October. continued overleaf
Dreaming of Life for All in South Africa Abel Gabuza grew up in the black township of Alexandra on the outskirts of Johannesburg in South Africa during the worst of the Apartheid regime. As a child, he attended a school funded through Catholic Mission’s work for children. Entering the seminary in 1977, his studies were supported by Catholic Mission’s work in fostering local church leadership. It was during this time that the seminary was desegregated by
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the Bishop’s Conference, contrary to educational practices of the time. There was great questioning at the time: How can we be gospel people by dividing people through colour? Today, as Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Pretoria, Fr Abel is an outstanding leader, ever conscience of the people he serves, their hardships and triumphs. Working in the parish of Monavoni and its outstation in the informal settlement of Diepsloot, he says: continued overleaf
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