The Southern Cross - 100929

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Full speed ahead

Vatican Bank scandal

The Pope in Britain

Tribalism and the Church

www.scross.co.za

September 29 to October 5, 2010 Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 4695

R5,50 (incl VAT RSA)

SOUTHERN AFRICA’S NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY SINCE 1920

Inside The Nanny at Nazareth house Fran Drescher visits Nazareth house.

—Page 2

Calls for reform in schools Cosatu calls for reform in the education system.—Page 3

Zambian bishop threatened Bishop John Duffy of Mongu has been threatened by MMD over comments he hasmade—Page 4

Irish priests oppose new liturgy A new association of Irish priests hopes to voice opposition to he new liturgy to the Vatican apostolic visitation .—Page 5

What do you see in the mirror?

Henry Makori writes about praying to your personal God.—Page 9

What do you think?

In their Letters to the Editor this week, readers discuss hats off to those who give, lost in translation, Sr Philothea Krugger, the rejected ones, giving without debt, and exploring Newman—Page 8

Couples taking part in the Southern Cross Passion Pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Oberammergau this month renewed their wedding vows at Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle at the wedding feast. The ceremony was conducted by the tour´s spiritual direrctor, Bishop Zithulele Mvemve. With him are (left) Lawrence Felix and in front of him, wife Joan; Herman van Wyk and in front of him wife Heather; Jeanne and Peter Anderson with Annaline and Wayne Lawrence in front of them; Colin Francis and in front of him wife Marilyn; Lucy and Mark Wilson with Bishop Mvemve in front of them; and Margaret and Francis Hlobo.

PHOTO: GÜNTHER SIMMERMACHER

This week’s editorial: There is no denying the truth

Dachau martyr beatified

A

MARTYRED German priest who died at the Nazi concentration camp of Dachau, was praised for his courage and faith in God during a beatification Mass in Munster, Germany.

Blessed Gerhard Hirschfelder’s bravery in denouncing the Nazi regime was not a sign of “recklessness”, but of “the power of faith”, German Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne said in his homily. Even during his arrest and imprisonment, the young priest found strength by rejoicing in the Lord, the cardinal said, and his closeness to Christ “filled him with humble confidence” and hope.

Born in 1907 in Glatz, Germany, Blessed Hirschfelder grew up, studied and worked in an area known as Silesia—originally a Polish territory that became part of Bohemia, Austria, Prussia and Germany after the 14th century.

He was ordained a priest in 1932, the year before Adolf Hitler came to power. Although Nazi authorities denounced him as an opponent to the regime, Blessed Hirschfelder continued to criticise the dictatorship in his homilies. He was arrested in 1941 and sent to Dachau, where he died of hunger and illness in 1942 at the age of 35.

MPs too tied to party interests

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

T

HE Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO) has discussed the need for greater accountability from South Africa’s parliament.

A round table discussion in Cape Town, attended by both local and international Catholic interest groups, encouraged discussion on the role of parliament. In attendance was Member of Parliament (MP) for the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Steve Swart, who admitted to parliament’s actions being “slightly disappointing but incredibly promising”.

Mr Swart said accountability was necessary for a healthy democracy and good governance of the country. He identified a common problem with the country’s leadership: MPs were being loyal to their party first and their voters second.

“To what degree are MPs listening to the people?” Mr Swart said, citing the so-called “abortion on demand” legislation that was passed into law in 1997 while the majority of civil society was against the bill and parliament had received numerous objections and faced multiple protests.

“Even members within the ruling party were opposed to it, yet the party leadership instructed its members to approve it and so the law came into being,” he said, adding that those members who abstained from voting in support of the bill on moral grounds were disciplined.

Mr Swart referred to the Civil Union Bill and the arms deal as other examples of the ruling party’s leadership instructing its members to act in the interest of the party.

But the role of parliamentarians should be to represent the best interests of the people who put them into power.

While some delegates at the round table discussion felt that MPs had addressed their concerns—this was only possible when

civil society was prepared to be extremely vocal and when all MPs were present.

The parliamentary system provided for members to respond to the public, but, as Mr Swart explained, there were various incidents where members were absent from portfolio meetings and thereby not responding to the public’s concerns.

“Accountability is key,”Mr Swart said.

“Parliamentarians are not just there to take instructions from their parties—they need to be representing the people who voted them into those positions in the first place!”

Mr Swart said the current government under the leadership of President Jacob Zuma came into power with much expectation, with Mr Zuma saying it was important for government to be held accountable. But to what extent has this happened?

Various monitoring portfolios had been put in motion by parliament to ensure accountability. The proposed budget office would monitor the expenditure of the national budget, but this had yet to be implemented.

Mr Swart said structural reform would be beneficial—where leaders would be directly accountable to the constituency. Voters should be able to vote for the person they wanted in power and not necessarily the party. In South Africa it was the party voted into power that thereafter decided on the leadership.

The round table discussion also emphasised the importance of independent researchers giving input into the work being done by parliamentary members—this would be a direct means to measure progress and make members accountable for their actions.

The biggest concern of the international delegates was that of voter education. Some felt many in South Africa voted along loyalty lines, not delivery lines. continued on page 2

African bishops: Continent has not shared in poverty reduction

BY BRONWEN DACHS

A

LTHOUGH average incomes in Africa have risen, the continent had not shared in the global success in reducing poverty, African bishops said before a visit to Europe to share their concerns over efforts to reduce extreme poverty worldwide.

The bishops called for a new approach in Africa, focusing on implementing the Millennium Development Goals in Africa, using the “principles of morals and ethics, economic growth, subsidiarity, common good and benefits accruing from resources”.

World leaders will meet for a three-day summit at the United Nations headquarters to review the eight goals set in 2000 with a 2015 deadline.

Health issues are the backbone of the development goals, which include cutting child mortality rates by two-thirds, halving world hunger, reducing the maternal mortality rate by three-quarters, providing universal access to health care for women, and reversing the spread of HIV and Aids.

Bishop Francisco Silota of Chimoio, Mozambique, said “inadequate ambition, the lack of a human rights approach, and an emphasis on outcomes at the expense of processes” had caused problems for the Millennium Development Goals.

Noting a “growing awareness” in Africa “that we Africans, and Africans only, will find our way out of poverty”, he said the Church in Africa played an important role and “is often the only actor, in the cases of the absence of effective governments, to reach remote communities”.

The Church’s “experience puts us in a strong position to inform government policy for Africa’s development”, Bishop Silota said.—CNS

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The Southern Cross, September 29 to October 5, 2010

LOCAL

Catholic races full speed ahead

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

What’s new with you?

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

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C

hristian Brothers College (CBC) learner, Caleb Williams, 17, is the gokarting world champion.

Caleb, from Boksburg, has more than 16 titles to his name, including national and regional titles, and aims to have a long career in motor sport.

According to his father, Mark Williams, Caleb was meant to start motor-cross racing, however after breaking his elbow, in an unrelated incident, he was advised to try go-karting. Mr Williams said his son started racing “baby karts” and, following a National Challenge victory in 2000, Caleb was accepted as a Red Bull Athlete in 2001.

The CBC student has managed to find time between his studies to represent South Africa on several occasions overseas receiving junior and senior national Protea colours.

Mr Williams said Caleb had “amassed an incredible amount of victories in a number of classes including a world champion title, five national titles, four regional titles, and a few club titles”.

A recent highlight of Caleb’s career was his participation in single seat main circuit racing in South Africa. Caleb has raced in a Formula VW, a very “powerful and fast race car, very much like a slightly shrunk F1 car” at Kyalami in Johannesburg, Killarney in Cape Town and Aldo

The Nanny at Nazareth House

Caleb Williams (inset) is the current Go-karting World Champion. The CBC student has been invited to participate in class A production car tests in Europe and hopes to gain new sponsorship as he represents South Africa on the international driving circuit.

Scribante in Port Elizabeth. Mr Williams explained the formula VW car is able to attain speeds of up to 280km/h at some circuits and is the fastest class on all South African circuits.

“Caleb was dropped in the proverbial deep end after a third place at Kyalami, and a fourth place at Killarney, but he found victory in only his third race winning at Aldo Scribante. Caleb had a one-off race in a Formula Ford this year and also achieved above expectation.”

While his achievements have been impressive Caleb has lost his major sponsors. His father

described the future of his racing “rather bleak at the moment” due to financial concerns.

Despite this, the family is hopeful as he has been approached for a class A production car test and has been invited to participate in a test in Europe in October.

His father hopes Caleb will be able to participate in Europe in a similar car to the Formula VW in 2011.

Caleb’s dream is to represent South Africa and follow in the footsteps of favourite international racers, Kimi Raikonen and Sebastian Vettel.

Send your news and photographs to: The Southern Cross, PO Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000. You can also email pics@scross.co.za

HE HIV care and treatment clinic at Nazareth House in Yeoville, Johannesburg, was visited by Fran Drescher, wellknown American movie and television actress, best known for her role as Fran Fine in the 90s television series, The Nanny.

The Emmy and Grammy nominated actress was recently appointed as Public Diplomacy Envoy for Women’s Health Issues by the United States State Department and was visiting Nazareth House as part of her work.

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference’s Aids Office receives a grant from the US government which is then distributed to Nazareth House. The care facility uses the funding to provide Aids education and counselling and distributes antiretroviral drugs to the local community.

Ms Drescher was taken on a tour of the facility where staff described the various patient support groups, income-generating

activities, and the care provided in the homes.

The sisters and staff of Nazareth House provide care to 1 500 people in outreach programmes, provide care for 35 HIV orphans and terminally ill Aids patients, and care for 135 frail and aged residents, and 10 mentally challenged women.

According to Ricus Dullaert, Nazareth House board member, and Ruth Stark, head of Catholic Relief Services in South Africa, Ms Drescher also began by sharing her own personal journey. Ms Drescher is a cancer survivor and told of how her illness had led to her efforts to advocate for others.

As a result, Ms Drescher launched the Cancer Schmancer Movement, a non-profit organisation dedicated to early detection and ensuring that all women’s cancers are diagnosed while in state one, which sees a 90% survival rate.

Ms Drescher said she was “touched by the compassionate care provided at Nazareth House to those most in need”.

Parliament needs accountability Continued from page 1 CPLO Advocate Mr Mike Pothier said a common problem was that of the public complaining about service delivery and retaliating by simply not voting.

It was their opinion that “people need to be educated so that votes are transferred to other parties when service delivery fails”.

The recent debate within political alliances in the country suggests more debate and thought, as opposed to traditional loyalty, is going into the voting process.

Mr Swart said the Church was able to play a role in educating voters to ensure people were aware of the power of their votes. “The Church needs to be educating voters and encouraging civil society to make parliament accountable to their promises.”

Mr Swart explained that nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), such as the CPLO and Institute of Accountability, did in fact have clout in the governing process of the country. “The media has been a powerful tool to raise the voices of civil society. Beyond that, NGOs can litigate if they feel

a bill sits strongly against the constitution.”

The discussion, facilitated by the CPLO, saw delegates from across Africa attending to learn more about the role of the CPLO. The office has, since 1997, been a vocal group in promoting, researching and criticising proposed legislation in parliament.

CPLO director Father Peter-John Pearson said the office represented civil society as it “contributes to debates on issues of public policy, exerts an influence for the common good in areas of political, economic and social concern, and helps shape legislative and policy developments”.

The international delegates, from around the continent, attended with the hope of implementing a similar office in their own countries.

Mr Swart commended the CPLO for their substantial and significant input to parliament with solid spiritual representation. Foreign participants were eager to see similar civil structures developed in their own countries.

LOCAL Reform call: Catholic schools uneasy ‘Arms Wide Open’ set

The Southern Cross, September 29 to October 5, 2010

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

T

HE Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is calling for the elimination of South Africa’s “three-tiered structure” of the education system which includes private institutions, Model C schools and public schools.

Cosatu made the call in its recent economic growth path document which stipulates a need to redistribute resources toward ordinary public schools in working class and poor communities.

Mark Potterton, director of the Catholic Institute of Education in Johannesburg, described the move as problematic.

“The value of independent schools is that it offers diversity in the system. Independent schools can be more free to innovate and try out new things.”

Mr Potterton explained that independent schools can make a valuable contribution to the country.

Political commentator and academic Fr Anthony Egan SJ said Cosatu was concerned about the “elite” schools that offered learners better opportunities than state schools through their imposition of a

“rigid, single curriculum”.

According to Fr Egan the benefit of the country’s private schools has to do with resources and the dedication of teachers, who are “less unionised and thus less likely to strike at the drop of a hat”.

Private schools, on average, get better academic results and learners tend to get into—and survive—tertiary education.

Fr Egan said the education system proposed by Cosatu aimed to level the playing field for all pupils with the promotion of human rights, decent work and a culture of learning and teaching. This was ideal as all schools should be of equal standing and quality so that “even the poorest can get a good education and have opportunities to study further”.

However, basic problems first needed to be addressed before redesigning the entire education system. Fr Egan cited the lack of resources and training, and abundant corruption as most needing attention.

While reforming parts of the education system would be beneficial, Cosatu’s intention of levelling the playing field would involve lowering the standard of the better schools in the country.

“Skills acquisition is essen-

tial if the economy is to grow,” said Fr Egan.

He believed in developing an educational system that encouraged both academic and practical study instead of the simplification of all academic studies. These would be appropriate for both private and public schools— Catholic or otherwise— he added “The real solution is for the Model C/private schools' reasons for success to be studied, emulated and implemented in failing schools: strict discipline, dedicated teaching, tight management of funds, no excuses for failure.”

Mr Potterton said while the call made by Cosatu was problematic, the constitution and the South African Schools Act provided for Catholic schools in the country.

Cosatu’s document proposes wide-ranging reforms to the South African economy to rescue it from its current “crisis”.

Social policy proposals were included, ranging from education and health to safety and security.

The Department of Education has been redressing the backlogs in the public system, but continues to fall under scrutiny for not doing enough.

Dockda reaches out to rural communities STAFF REPORTER

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RURAL development programme is improving the standard of life in the rural areas around the Northern, Eastern and Western Cape.

Dockda, named after the four dioceses involved: Oudtshoorn, Cape Town, Keimoes and De Aar, enhances rural communities through its lifeskills courses and projects.

Founded in Cape Town in 1994 under the auspices of Catholic Welfare and Development, Dockda was the first micro-development fund to serve the Catholic Church in South Africa, with support from Misereor in Germany and Cebemo in The Netherlands.

The programme aims to strengthen rural communities through resources and skills development.

Founding programme director Tish Haynes said the initiative provided micro grants to support small projects. Over

the years Dockda had invested substantially in crucial areas of community life such as early childhood development and HIV/Aids, and has since added building programmes to its portfolio.

Dockda has been most active in the Northern Cape as its board found the region to be in much needed support.

There the project works with nine community-based organisations in home-based care through a wellness programme to strengthen the responses of their committees to HIV/Aids through mentoring and skills development”.

Dockda’s programmes include care for the caregiver which “takes cognisance of the caregiver and how much she gives in her day-to-day work, offering services in the home and emotional support to family”.

According to Mrs Haynes the initiative teaches caregivers de-stressing techniques in

breathing and stretch movements to benefit the caregiver and client. Other focus areas include food garden projects to promote improved nutrition for families infected by HIV/Aids and other chronic conditions.

“We have a gender-based anti-violence programme to raise awareness on gender issues, as well as a lifeskills programme to promote personal development. We also have an organisational development programme for project leaders and management. We look on the wellness programme as a systematic and holistic development of community organisations in the rural areas,” she said.

Operating with a staff of three in Cape Town and three in Kimberley, the Dockda initiative continues to investigate and respond to the needs of the dioceses’ rural areas through the education of its community members.

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to rock parishes

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

D

ENE SPILLER of Victory Park, Johannesburg, has taken his faith to the next level with the release of his first solo rock album, “Arms Open Wide”.

Originally from Durban, Mr Spiller is the worship leader at St Charles church in Victory Park where he plays music at Sunday evening Mass and on occasion assists with music at Resurrection parish in Bryanston.

Mr Spiller has been involved in various youth and young adult groups and initiatives at his own and surrounding parishes. For the past five years he has dedicated his time to serving others through prayer, song and worship.

“I can't say that I can really separate my spiritual life from my musical life because they both feed off one another. Music initially led me to becoming more involved and interested at church and taught me more about the Catholic Mass,” he said.

He attributed his creating more music to his growing relationship with God. The process had led him to find Catholics of strong faith which had further intensified his own.

Mr Spiller is completing his degree in computer science at the University of the Witwatersrand which, he says, affords him more time to serve God and others through the gift of music. Describing himself as a happy Catholic, he says he is continually learning “new things about my God, myself and my Catholic faith”.

Along with Byron John and Julie

Catholic rock musician Dean Spiller has been performing for five years and has been involved in various youth activities around the Johannesburg area. He launches his solo album “Arms Open Wide” in Victory Park, Johannesburg, next month.

Brenner, Mr Spiller is also part of the band Pocket Kings 3:15 that performs in and around Gauteng.

Mr Spiller will launch his album at the next Christian praise and worship concert.

The event “is for all ages and walks of the Christian journey and aims to be an entertaining and spirit-filled experience—and all are welcome to join us in this evening of praise”.  The album launch takes place on October 2 at the De La Salle Holy Cross College Junior School hall, Victory Park. CDs will be on sale and entrance is R20. For more information visit www.deanspiller.co.za

The Salesian Youth Movement participate in a xenophobia awareness campaign at the Metlife Centre in Ennerdale, Johannesburg. Youths handed out pamphlets to highlight the plight of those affected by xenophobia and made calls to respect all human life.

CONGREGATION OF MARIANNHILL MISSIONARIES

Do you feel called to the Franciscan way of life?

Ora et Labora

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Contact:

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The Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill, CMM, sprung from the Trappist Monastery of Mariannhill founded by Abbot Francis Pfanner in South Africa in 1882. We believe that: “Our missionary field is the Kingdom of God and that has not boundaries!” Faithful to the example of Abbot Francis Pfanner, the Mariannhill Brothers and Priests try to be of service to the local church through pastoral, social and development works. We make our contribution to the call for renewing, uplifting, developing and sustaining the human spirit, as our response to the signs and needs of the time. In our missionary life of Prayer and Work (Ora et Labora), we try to effectively proclaim the Good News to all people, especially to the poor and needy, so that there are “Better Fields, Better Houses, Better Hearts!”

To know more about us contact: Director of Vocations PO Box 11363, Mariannhill, 3601 or PO Box 85, Umtata, 5099

4

The Southern Cross, September 29 to October 5, 2010

INTERNATIONAL

Human dignity at root of peace efforts

BY BETH GRIFFIN

A

FUNDAMENTAL respect for the inherent dignity of the human being and the providence of divine guidance are basic to all peace and justice efforts at the United Nations (UN), according to Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, the new papal nuncio to the UN. Archbishop Chullikatt spoke at a prayer service on the eve of the opening of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly. It was his first official function since arriving in New York and presenting his credentials to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

The inter-religious service, which drew more than 300 people, is an annual event sponsored by the Archdiocese of New York, the permanent observer mission of the Holy See to the United Nations and the Church of the Holy Family, where it was held.

Clergy, diplomats, parishioners, UN representatives and staff associates streamed into the church, which is near the UN headquarters.

The congregation sang, prayed, listened to Scripture and heard encouragement from Archbishop Chullikatt, Archbishop Timothy

Dolan of New York, Joseph Deiss of Switzerland, president of the 65th session of the General Assembly, and Mr Ban Ki-Moon.

Archbishop Chullikatt read a message from Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of state, which said Pope Benedict hoped the General Assembly would pay particular attention “to the scandal of the growing gap between rich and poor in our world, to the urgent need for models of development grounded in solidarity and respect for the diversity of cultures, and the construction of a social order which embodies and respects the objective moral order”.

Archbishop Dolan said religion and faith were part of the “very fabric of the United Nations”, not as specific denominations or churches, but as the “noble sentiments of trust, honesty, mutual respect, integrity and keeping one’s word”.

“All are basic building blocks of your exalted call,” he said. “All are virtues that flow from religion, morality and faith.”

The archbishop said he was not surprised that the participants chose to pray together on the eve of the opening of the General Assembly.

“We are at our best when we are

Zambian bishop threatened by MMD

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HURCH-state tensions have escalated over a US-born bishop’s statement that the people of his diocese felt it was an appropriate time to change the government.

Members of the government’s Movement for Multiparty Democracy has threatened to “physically harm” the bishop if he does not apologise for his remarks, while the Zambian bishops’ conference and individual priests have defended the prelate.

Bishop Paul Duffy of Mongu said that the general feeling of the people he interacted with in his diocese was that Zambian President Rupiah Banda’s government should be voted out of office next year because it has failed to improve their living conditions.

“Here in Western province, people think it is time for change,” Bishop Duffy told a reporter from the Post, the country’s leading daily tabloid. A government spokesman accused the bishop of “being used by opposition political parties” to campaign against “a popularly elected government”.

Archbishop Chullekatt (left), and Bishop Michael of the Diocese of New York (right), New Jersey of the Orthodox Church in America and other clergy leaders attended an inter-religious prayer service at Holy Family Church in New York. The service is held every year prior to the opening of the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly.

PHOTOS: GREGORY A. SHEMITZ/REUTERS/CNS

most in harmony with what God intends for us, when we give away in love what is most ours.”

Mr Ban Ki-Moon said in his address: “We are all awake to the challenges of our world. Economic insecurity is all around us. So is the language of division. Communities and families everywhere are struggling to navigate these anxious times. We are being tested.”

Nonetheless, the secretary-general said he had profound hope. “It is not an abstract feeling, it is rooted in so much that I have seen and heard around the world.” He offered

examples of people in dire conditions who mustered the tenacity to build new lives.

The eight goals, set in 2000 with the intention of reaching them by 2015, address issues such as hunger, education, inequality, child and maternal health, HIV/Aids and the environment. They were accepted by 189 member nations and reconfirmed by 45 nations in a 2007 call to action. The 65th session of the General Assembly will review progress toward achieving the goals.

He referred to the ongoing controversy surrounding the proposed

Australian bishop critises government migrant policy

BY ANTHONY BARICH

T Bishop John Duffy of Mongu. Tensions have escalated lately in Zambia between the state and the church over Bishop Duffy’s statement that the people of his diocese felt it was an appropriate time for a change in government.

PHOTO: DIOCESE OF MONGU/CNS

Senior Movement for Multiparty Democracy officials, referring to themselves as the “MMD crack squad,” threatened to travel to Mongu to “physically harm” Bishop Duffy. However, the 78year-old bishop said he owed no apology because he was merely voicing the people’s feelings.

—CNS

construction of an Islamic centre near ground zero, a statement from New York religious leaders urging calm and a threat, later rescinded, by a Florida minister to burn a copy of the Quran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

“In the face of those who seek to drive a wedge between people of faith, I saw many religious leaders rise up and speak out with one voice for tolerance and understanding,” he said. “We know the way ahead can never be lit by the flames of burning books and fiery words. It is illuminated by the light of reason and justice. It shines by keeping the faith in our common humanity.”

Mr Ban Ki-Moon said the United Nations was at a “pivot point for progress on three of our biggest dreams: to build a prosperous world free of poverty, to create a sustainable world that is cleaner and greener for our children and to secure a safer world, free of menace and nuclear weapons”.

“These goals are not only within reason, they are within reach. All of it is possible, not in some distant future, but in our time. Together, let us pledge and let us pray to make it so.” —CNS

HE chairman of the Australian bishops’ social justice council criticised as cowardly the government’s policy of locking up people who arrive illegally via people smugglers.

Bishop Christopher Saunders of Broome said politicians on both major parties were playing on people’s fears by spreading the lie that Australia was being “flooded” with illegal immigrants.

“It’s the old question of ‘what would Christ have done’.” Bishop Saunders said, three days after the 95th illegal boat was intercepted and arrived at Christmas Island.

The number of people in detention there awaiting processing reached 4 900.

“To think that just because they came through [in] some dangerous manner—God only knows how many hundreds have drowned on the way—instead of arriving in a Qantas jet, that we have to lock them up, is an inappropriate response to people in

need,” the bishop told The Record, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Perth.

“We only see a tiny proportion of those seeking refuge,” he said, noting that Australia’s allocation of receiving 14 000 refugees each year is small compared to the world’s 16 million refugees and asylum seekers.

“A certain line of cowardice runs through politicians in our democracy and, when they are running neck and neck in an election, they like to trade on people’s natural fears of being overrun by refugees, misinforming the electorate and playing on their lack of education about the issue.

“This has happened with each wave of migrants to Australia, whether it is the Greeks and Italian migration of the 1950s or the arrival of the Vietnamese boat people in the 1970s.”

The bishop’s Outback Diocese of Broome is where people from Afghanistan seeking refugee status are placed in the Curtin

detention centre until their claims are processed.

He said that while the centre’s facilities had greatly improved, the far-flung Outback location was still unacceptable.

Curtin is “in the middle of nowhere and 28 hours by car from Perth and two hours from Broome, with temperatures over 40 degrees in summer”.

The bishop called for the construction of centres for the asylum seekers that are closer to major regional centers and cities, where they can access proper medical facilities and lawyers to help them with their refugee status claims.

He also condemned the moratorium the government placed on the processing of Sri Lankan asylum seekers’ claims on April 9.

“We’re talking about keeping as many of them locked up as possible and not processing their claims. I can’t see one ounce of Christian love in that.”—CNS

Carmelite missionary dies in Peru, aged 86

M

GR Albano Quinn, a pioneering Canadian Carmelite missionary who worked in Peru for more than 60 years, died on September 15.

A native of Toronto, Mgr Quinn, 86, was one of the first members of his community to arrive in Lima and was a founder of Our Lady of Carmel Parish in Miraflores, an upper-middle-class Lima neighbourhood, where he also established a parish school.

After about two decades there, he was assigned to head the Territorial Prelature of Sicuani, an impoverished rural area in the Andean highlands of southern Peru.

He arrived in the Andes to minister among Quechua-speaking farmers in the 1960s, at a time of great upheaval in both the Church and the country, said Carmelite Fr Michael Sgariato, pastor at Our Lady of Carmel Parish.

The Second Vatican Council had just occurred, Peru was engulfed in a land reform movement and Latin American theologians were beginning to write and talk about a “preferential option for the poor”. “He had great sensitivity. It wasn’t just a matter of the poor of Sicuani. He identified with the suffering of all women and men,” Fr Sgariato said.—CNS

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, September 29 to October 5, 2010

5

Vatican bank head named in money laundering probe

BY JOHN THAVIS

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HE president of the Vatican bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, has been placed under investigation by Italian magistrates in a money laundering probe, the Italian state television RAI reported.

RAI, citing judicial sources, said the move followed the seizure by Italian treasury police of 23 million euros that had been deposited in a Rome bank account by the Vatican bank.

The Vatican expressed “bewilderment and amazement” at the legal action, saying its operations were legitimate and documented.

Pope Benedict named Gotti Tedeschi, an Italian banker and professor of financial ethics at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, as presi-

dent of the Vatican bank, known formally as the Institute for the Works of Religion.

The appointment was seen at the time as a move toward greater transparency in the bank’s operations.

According to the RAI report, no proof of money laundering had emerged in the probe, but investigators said the Vatican bank had failed to disclose information about banking operations as mandated by Italy’s 2007 law against money laundering. It said a second unnamed official of the bank was also under investigation.

A statement issued by the Vatican’s Secretariat of State said the Vatican bank was committed to “full transparency” in its operations and had been actively work-

Pope expresses sorrow to sex abuse victims

I

N a personal meeting with five victims of clerical sexual abuse, Pope Benedict expressed his “deep sorrow and shame” over their suffering and promised the Church would do “all in its power” to investigate cases of abuse and safeguard the young.

The encounter in London took place just hours after the German pontiff, speaking at a Mass in Westminster Cathedral, denounced what he called the “unspeakable crimes” committed by some priests against young people.

The Vatican said in a statement that during the 30-minute meeting with victims, the 83year-old pope was “moved by what they had to say and expressed his deep sorrow and shame over what victims and their families had suffered”.

“He prayed with them and

assured them that the Catholic Church is continuing to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people, and that it is doing all in its power to investigate allegations, to collaborate with civil authorities and to bring to justice clergy and religious accused of these egregious crimes.”

The group included four women and one man, all adults, who came from England, Scotland and Wales. Each had time to speak “with great intensity and emotion about their suffering,” the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, told reporters.

He said the pope prayed with them at the beginning and the end of the encounter; the only other people present were three people who work with abuse victims and a translator.—CNS

Irish priests group oppose new liturgy

BY CIAN MALLOY

T

HE inaugural meeting of a new association to represent the views of Irish priests drew six times more participants than organisers expected.

More than 300 priests were present at the first meeting of the Association of Catholic Priests in Port Laoise. Organisers had expected only 60 priests to attend, so the meeting was delayed while proceedings were transferred to a larger meeting hall.

One of the founders of the new association, Fr Brendan Hoban, said the association did not seek to represent all priests, only those who agreed to its programme, which was published in the September edition of the theological magazine The Furrow.

“The association hopes to speak to the members of the Vatican’s apostolic visitation to Ireland to voice our opposition to the new English-language translation of the Mass,” he said.

“We believe the new translation, which is to come into effect next year, is over-complicated and over-Latinised. There has been very little consultation about it, but nobody seems to want it—it’s another example of the Church trying to fix things that don’t need to be fixed and not fixing the things that need fixing.”

The association said it would also work for “full implementation of the vision and teaching of the Second Vatican Council, with special emphasis on: the primacy of the individual conscience, the status and active participation of all the baptised and the task of establishing a church where all believers will be treated as equal; a restructuring of the governing system of the Church—encouraging a culture of consultation and transparency, particularly in the appointment of church leaders; a re-evaluation of Catholic sexual teaching and practice that recognises the profound mystery of human sexuality”.

This is the third body to have been established to represent Irish priests since the 1960s. The Association of Irish Priests fell into disuse in the early 1970s and the Irish bishops instituted the National Conference of Priests of Ireland, with elected representatives, in 1975, but it ceased operations in 2007.

The Association of Catholic Priests hopes for greater success than the National Conference of Priests of Ireland, which was often ignored by the hierarchy. When one conference president tried contacting the papal nuncio to Ireland, he was informed that he was “a nobody leading nobodies”.— CNS

ing for some time with Italian and international authorities to comply with procedures that ensure funds are not used for terrorism or money laundering.

It said the necessary information on the particular banking operations being probed were readily available to investigators.

“The Holy See therefore wants to express the maximum trust in the president and director general of the IOR,” the statement said.

The Vatican bank was involved in a major Italian banking scandal in the 1980s, when fraud led to the collapse of Italy’s Banco Ambrosiano. Although denying wrongdoing, Vatican bank officials made what they called a “goodwill payment” of about $240 million to the failed bank’s creditors.—CNS

A worshipper looks into a glass casket to view a wax replica of St John Bosco that contains relics of the saint on display at Ss Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco. The relics are on a worldwide tour to mark the 200th anniversary of the saint’s birth near Turin, Italy.

PHOTO: JOSE LUIS AGUIRRE/CNS

MidEast Catholic leaders have high hopes for synod of bishops

C

ATHOLIC Church leaders, anticipating the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, view it as an opportunity to call attention to the problems facing Christians in the region.

The synod, to be held at the Vatican October 10-24, will focus on “communion and witness”.

Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk, Iraq, who had asked the pope in January 2008 to convene such a synod, said the meeting “is an opportunity to revise the whole situation for Christians in the Middle East”.

He said it was a pastoral and practical synod, and not a dogmatic one.

Archbishop Sako emphasised that because there are so many crucial issues to tackle—liturgical

reform, formation of clergy and other religious, dialogue among the churches, and particularly the political status of Christians—he hopes this synod will be highly productive.

Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Baghdad said the synod represented “a big grace for the Middle East. We need it because our faithful are leaving their countries”.

“If we have peace and security, our people would not leave.”

The Middle East had many Catholic rites, and there was some division among them, Bishop Warduni said, “but like the first Christians, we must have one spirit and one heart, as when the Holy Spirit descended upon them”.—CNS

Palestinian children pray during Mass at Holy Family Church in the West Bank City of Ramallah. The October Synod of Bishops for the Middle East will look at issues of liturgical reform, formation of clergy and religious, dialogue among churches and the political status of Christians.

PHOTO: DEBBIE HILL/CNS

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6

The Southern Cross, September 29 to October 5, 2010

POPE IN BRITIAN

Pope, Anglican archbishop make history at Abbey

P

OPE Benedict and Anglican Archbishop of CaterburyRowan Williams knelt together before the tomb of an 11th century Christian king after affirming the need for Catholics and Anglicans to give a united witness to society.

St Edward the Confessor, who is buried in the Anglicans’ Westminster Abbey, reigned five centuries before English Christians became divided.

The pope and the primate of the Church of England paid homage together to the Christian king at the end of an afternoon that included public speeches, a 30-minute private meeting and a joint ecumenical prayer service in Westminster Abbey.

Archbishop Williams welcomed Pope Benedict as the first pope ever to visit Westminster Abbey, which was home to a community of Catholic Benedictine monks until 1540 when King Henry VIII dissolved the monastic community.

Beginning in the afternoon with a visit to Lambeth Palace, the archbishop’s residence, the pope told Anglican and Catholic bishops that he did not intend to discuss the difficulties the two com-

Pope Benedict arrives to make a speech at Westminster Hall in London. Greeting the pope (left to right) are former Prime Ministers Gordon Brown and Tony Blair and his wife Cherie; the wife of John Major, Norma; former Prime Ministers John Major and Margaret Thatcher; Foreign Secretary William Hague and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

PHOTO: TIM IRELAND, REUTERS/CNS

Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury embraces Pope Benedict after a moving prayer service at Westminster Abbey in London.

PHOTO: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE, REUTERS/CNS

munities have encountered on the path toward full unit, but rather to recognize the progress made in ecumenical relations and to encourage closer cooperation for the good of British society.

In his talk to the pope and

bishops, Archbishop Williams made similar points, emphasising particularly the need for Christians to give their neighbours concrete examples of what it means to live a faith and life filled with hope.—CNS

80 000 at Hyde Park vigil

A

GAINST a backdrop of the twinkling London skyline, the pope urged Catholics to act as a light for those around them in a world “filled with growing noise and confusion”.

“No one who looks realistically at our world today could think that Christians can afford to go on with business as usual, ignoring the profound crisis of faith which has overtaken our society or simply trusting that patrimony of values handed down the Christian centuries will continue to inspire and shape the future of our society,” Pope Benedict told tens of thousands of people at a prayer vigil in Hyde Park.

“We know that in times of crisis and upheaval, God has raised up great saints and prophets for the renewal of the church and Christian society.

“But each of us, in accordance with his or her state of life, is called to work for the advancement of God’s kingdom by imbuing temporal life with the values of the Gospel.

“Each of us has a mission, each of us is called to change the world, to work for a culture of life, a culture forged by love and respect for the dignity of each human per-

son.”

On the eve of the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, the pope said the cardinal had been an important influence in his own life and thought. He said the 19th century theologian’s experience of the “objective reali-

ty of Christian revelation” had been “at once religious and intellectual. Newman would describe his life’s work as a struggle against the growing tendency to view religion as a purely private and subjective matter, a question of personal opinion”.—CNS

Pope warns of marginalising Christianity in society

I

N a major address to British cultural and political leaders, Pope Benedict warned that Christianity risks being marginalised in Western societies and said the “voice of religion” must be heard in the public square.

The pope’s speech laid out his vision of how religious belief can influence the political process and preserve the ethical principles necessary for true democracy.

Religion, he said, was “not a problem for legislators to solve, but a vital contributor to the national conversation.”

The German pontiff addressed about 2 000 leading figures in politics, business, the arts and diplomacy in Westminster Hall, a site rich in church-state history.

State trumpeters greeted the pope with a fanfare, and he was escorted into the hall by the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, whose official duties include security and welcoming outside guests.

An ovation filled the hall as the pope, wearing a red cape, took the podium and delivered a speech televised across the country. The pope recalled that Westminster Hall was where St Thomas More, the 16th century English scholar and statesman, was sentenced to death for opposing King Henry VIII’s break with the Catholic Church. He said the saint’s trial underscored a perennial question about how much governments can impose upon citizens and their religious beliefs.—CNS

Pope Benedict leads a prayer vigil at Hyde Park, London, which thousands of young people attended.

PHOTO: MAX ROSSI, REUTERS/CNS Demonstrators protest the visit of Pope Benedict during a march outside Hyde Park in London. Groups of hecklers greeted the pope at various stops in London, holding up banners condemning clergy sexual abuse and criticising Church teachings.

PHOTO: KEVIN COOMBS, REUTERS/CNS

Public reactions to the visit: Good and bad

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ROTESTING the pope does not have to be a dreary affair. And cheering him on can take a humorous tack as well.

Despite some media making dire predictions of hostility or complete indifference to the pope, the images of the throngs of people who lined the streets in Scotland and England to see Pope Benedict “reflect the country I’m familiar with,” said Francis Campbell, the British ambassador to the Holy See. “People protest in this country— against the government, against many foreign leaders; they are entitled to protest,” he said, but “the right to protest is matched by a responsibility to allow others to be heard.”

At each site along the pope’s itinerary, protesters were present. Many of them were angered by the

Church’s handling of clerical sexual abuse, but the loudest voices were those of evangelical Christians who used megaphones near papal events to broadcast their claims that the pope is the Antichrist and that the Catholic Church leads people from Christ.

A bit of humour was scattered amid the anger and outright obscenity on signs carried by the approximately 10 000 protesters who walked through the city centre to protest government spending on the trip.

“Opium is better than religion,” said one sign, playing off Karl Marx’s assertion that “religion is the opiate of the masses.” Papal supporters tended to lean more toward cute than clever, several going so far as to decorate their bright yellow Wellington rain boots with “I love the pope” messages.—CNS

POPE IN BRITIAN

The Southern Cross, September 29 to October 5, 2010

7

October 9: Now ‘Satisfy people’s spiritual hunger’ M Feast Day of Blessed Newman EETING Catholic bishops at the end of his visit to the UK, Pope Benedict said he had spent four days witnessing signs of spiritual hunger that bishops have an obligation to help satisfy.

Pope Benedict urged Scottish, English and Welsh bishops to give people real spiritual nourishment, not just easy or popular answers to their questions and doubts.

“As you proclaim the coming of the kingdom—with its promise of hope for the poor and the needy, the sick and the elderly, the unborn and the neglected—be sure to present in its fullness the life-giving message of the Gospel, including those elements which call into question the widespread assumptions of today’s culture,” the pope told the bishops during a meeting at Oscott College in Birmingham.

I

N the central liturgical moment of his four-day trip to Great Britain, Pope Benedict beatified Cardinal John Henry Newman and said his vision of religion’s vital role in society should serve as a model today.

Celebrating Mass in Birmingham for more than 50 000 people, the pope read aloud the decree proclaiming Cardinal Newman “blessed,” a major step on the way toward official recognition of sainthood.

A giant portrait of Blessed Newman hung behind the altar, and smaller likenesses were carried to the Mass by many of the faithful who filled Cofton Park in a suburb of the city.

Blessed Newman, a 19th century theologian and a prolific writer on spiritual topics, left the Anglican Church and embraced Catholicism at the age of 44. The pope announced that his feast day would be October 9, the day of his entry into the Catholic Church, but he did not mention his conversion or his relationship with Anglicanism.

But in welcoming Pope Benedict, Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham offered a prayer of thanks for the Anglicans who nurtured Cardinal Newman’s faith and for Blessed Domenico Barberi, a Passionist priest who welcomed him into the Catholic Church in 1845.

In his homily, the pope drew a portrait of Blessed Newman as a man who had profound insight into

At the end of a trip that saw him become the first pope to visit the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury’s residence and the first pope to pray in the Anglicans’ Westminster Abbey, Pope Benedict also asked the bishops again to be generous in welcoming Anglicans who want to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

The British bishops have been criticised by some conservative Catholic commentators for an apparently lukewarm reception of provisions Pope Benedict made last year that would allow for the establishment of special church jurisdictions for former Anglicans who want to maintain some of their Anglican heritage and practices. The jurisdictions, known as ordinariates, have not yet been established anywhere in the world.—CNS

Pope Benedict walks with British Prime Minister David Cameron before boarding his aircraft back to Rome. Just before leaving the pope urged bishops to “satisfy people's spiritual hunger”.

PHOTO: CARL COURT, REUTERS/CNS

Pope urges Catholics to show faith publicly

C Pope Benedict raises the host during the beatification Mass for Cardinal John Henry Newman at Cofton Park in Birmingham.

PHOTO: ANDREW WINNING, REUTERS/CNS

the Christian call to holiness and the importance of prayer and whose eloquent prose was able to inspire many of his time and following generations.—CNS

ELEBRATING Mass for tens of thousands of faithful at Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, Pope Benedict urged Catholics to promote the “wisdom and vision” of their religion in the public square.

A society that tried to do without religion ended up living in a self-destructive moral jungle, the pope said.

The crowd cheered the 83-yearold pontiff when he arrived just after a local police bagpipe band had played “Amazing Grace”.

The crowd had already been warmed up by Susan Boyle, the Scottish singing sensation, who said performing at the papal Mass was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream.

When the pope landed in Edinburgh, he met with Queen Elizabeth II and was treated to an official state welcome.

In a speech televised across the nation, the pope warned that attempts to exclude God from social and political life can lead to disaster.

He returned to that theme in Glasgow, this time exhorting Catholics not only to be examples

Scottish singer and Catholic Susan Boyle performs at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow before the arrival of Pope Benedict. PHOTO: PHIL NOBLE, REUTERS/CNS of faith in action, but also to defend the influence of the Christian faith in public.

This was all the more needed at a time when the “dictatorship of relativism” threatened to distort the truth about human nature, he said.

“There are some who now seek

to exclude religious belief from public discourse, to privatise it or even to paint it as a threat to equality and liberty.

“Yet religion is in fact a guarantee of authentic liberty and respect, leading us to look upon every person as a brother or sister.”

—CNS

Diversity is opportunity for dialogue, says pope

P A pilgrim wears decorated wellington boots in support of Pope Benedict’s visit to Great Britain. Some papal well-wishers decorated their wellies with “I love the pope” messages.

PHOTO: DARREN STAPLES, REUTERS/CNS

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OPE Benedict left the UK saying he was struck by the diversity of the nation’s peoples, which can be challenging at times but is also an opportunity for dialogue that can enrich everyone.

At a farewell ceremony at Birmingham's international airport, the pope ended a four-day visit to Scotland and England by thanking everyone who had made his trip possible.

The pope said he had met with

“representatives of the many communities, cultures, languages and religions that make up British society” and had been able to “discuss matters of common interest, both at home and abroad” with Queen Elizabeth II and with government and cultural leaders.

The meetings, he said, should strengthen Vatican-British relations, “especially in cooperation for international development, in care for the natural environment and in the building of a civil society with a renewed sense

of shared values and common purpose”.

Throughout his trip, Pope Benedict urged members of Britain’s religious communities to assert their right to speak publicly about their faith. He reminded them of their obligation to live the values that their religions preached.

Thanking British Prime Minister David Cameron for his government's work to ensure the success of the trip, the pope said his visit obviously was primarily directed at Britain’s Catholics.—CNS

8

The Southern Cross, September 29 to October 5, 2010

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Michael Shackleton

Hats off to those who give!

There is no denying T the truth

W

HAT a contrast! Pope John Paul II had hardly been declared dead when the Romans, and many others in the Church, began to press for his immediate canonisation.

Cardinal John Henry Newman died unpretentiously in 1890 surrounded by more of a British appreciation of his achievements than by a largescale ecclesiastical reaction.

After 120 years, he has plodded his way to being declared a blessed one, a potential saint of the universal Church.

The beatification ceremony proved to be a successful occasion, with British and global recognition that the newly beatified had lived a life of heroic virtue and of intellectual acumen and, almost by stealth, had gained admittance to a reluctant Catholic theological ethos. Moreover, the positive British reception of His Holiness’ four-day visit to the United Kingdom in order to beatify Newman, took many by pleasant surprise, including the pope.

During the past couple of months, this newspaper has published a number of informative articles on the life and achievements of Cardinal Newman, not least the excellent series by Fr Michael Austin SJ. It is not necessary for us now to delve again into Newman’s pilgrimage from Anglicanism to Catholicism, from his restless enduring of doubt to his certainty of the right path to the truth, and the hard times that followed.

Nor is it required to advance theological or moral ideas for our readers to grasp that John Paul and Newman are no more than reflections or examples of Christian life.

Finding the truth is the quest of every human being.

This truth is discovered not only in the laws of nature and by scientific research but, importantly, in the revealed Word of God received in faith. Pope John Paul and Cardinal Newman lived and strived to know this revealed truth with deeper understanding. Their words and deeds

reflect this at every level.

In considering the striking difference between the highprofile attraction of John Paul at his sparkling best with the low-key reticence of Newman, we may appreciate anew that each one of us, however far we are along the road to greater sanctity, has a place in the unfolding divine plan for the Church, the world and the coming of the Kingdom.

No matter the individual temperaments we have, making us introspective, outgoing or even odd, all we need is an unswerving focus on the truths revealed by Christ to his Church and a desire to know and understand them rather than to dismiss them as irrelevant today.

Another lesson these two pursuers of the truth can teach, is that the Church has been rather slow in demonstrating the fact that Christians of all persuasions are bound together in Christ by virtue of their baptism. We are all one in Christ although visibly divided in our confessions of faith.

John Henry Newman embraced a life of prayer and service as a member of the Church of England. This church nurtured him towards the truth, in faith, hope and love, so that his conversion to Catholicism, aside from its emotional distress, was spiritually and intellectually fulfilling. Evidently, the Holy Spirit is active beyond the visible unity of the Catholic Church.

Last week Benedict XVI and Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, met in a string of events that highlighted the strained relations between the Protestant establishment and the Catholic Church over the last 450 years. They embraced with affection and demonstrated awareness of their duty to advance the unity of the baptised sooner rather than later.

This duty belongs to every baptised person so that we may fully share in the Truth, which is Christ.

The Editor reserves the right to shorten or edit published letters. Letters below 300 words receive preference. Pseudonyms are acceptable only under special circumstances and at the Editor’s discretion. Name and address of the writer must be supplied. No anonymous letter will be considered.

OO often one hears that tired remark that people are suffering of donor fatigue. I’ve always held the view that the people should decide. And one will be surprised at the results.

Some time ago I approached the Women of St Anne and asked if there was anyone in the group who could not afford R1 per month for Radio Veritas. A few months afterwards I received a cheque for R9 000. Now I have received another for R10 000. And these are ordinary women. They are an example to many in South Africa. My own 106 year old mother gives pasta demonstrations and gives the proceeds to Radio Veritas! Others do similar things .

The proposed new chancery in

Johannesburg will be expensive.

But it’s long overdue. If each Catholic made a small commitment (even a mere R12,50 per month for 24 months), there would be no problem. What is encouraging about this new campaign is that the donating entity (the parish) will receive a kickback.

So, no one is going to be left penniless. However, each one should be encouraged to make a small contribution. Yes, I know, it is one campaign amongst many. And I know how desperately we need funds at Radio Veritas! And how difficult it is to be allowed even just to inform people.

I often hear it said that these are difficult times. Ever noticed the queues waiting to place their bets

at the weekly Lotto? Casinos?

Tried to get into a steakhouse at the weekend? Noticed the cars being driven today? Clothing? Fragrances? Drink? Air travel? Cell phones? Buildings being erected?

Yes, there are also many poor and destitute people but there are many who could help and who would be prepared to help. Inform them, encourage them and let them decide.

Hats off to the Women of St Anne for their great generosity and example. Strength to the fundraisers in Johannesburg and God’s richest blessing on those who decide to help.

Fr Emil Blaser OP, Radio Veritas

Lost in translation

Kokstad and wrote the history of the churches in the Kokstad diocese. Using information from the Holy Cross Sisters’ chronicle, I also wrote their history from 1888 until their departure from Kokstad in 1995.

Sr Philothea, as she was then, came to South Africa to the Motherhouse in Mthatha with Mother Pia, who died soon after their arrival. New mother Philothea and three sisters went by oxwagon to Kokstad, where she founded the Convent. She was also mother superior from 1894-1904, when she was transferred initially to Mossel Bay, then other convents, returning to Kokstad in her later years.

Her outstanding characteristics were a true pioneering spirit and great determination, which served her well in the very difficult early years. She was one of the sisters who had to live in the dark garret in Mossel Bay. Mother Philothea was born in Switzerland in 1852, professed in 1874 and died in 1939, serving for 65 years as a Holy Cross Sister and is buried in the sisters’ section of the Kokstad Catholic cemetery.

She was indeed a grand and remarkable woman of God. Thank you Vincent Raine of Mossel Bay for the facinating addition to her life.

Jeanette Sandford, Port Elizabeth

als have become the modern day equivalent of the rejected lepers of biblical times. Yet Jesus responded with acceptance and compassion.

He always reached out and affirmed the rejected ones.

And so he would surely do the same today—reach out to homosexuals. What’s wrong after all about people having a different orientation to the majority?

Does God really have a problem? I don’t think so. And it seems to me that the Holy Spirit is slowly changing attitudes. If only the Church would give more of a lead—like Jesus.

Dorothea Russell, Cape Town

I

ATTENDED part of the presentation on the new Mass in Cape Town, very interesting but not always convincing. Unfortunately I could not stay for the afternoon session as I had a prior commitment, but in the morning the problem of the translation of the “many” came up and we were informed that it had to be explained to people that it really meant “all”, not a good argument.

I was reminded of this when I heard a presenter on the radio speaking about his trip to Russia.

He asked the Russian guide what was the name of a certain church and was told it was the church of “Good News”. He questioned that as he had never heard of a church so named but the guide reiterated the name. Fortunately the tourist noticed an English translation: “The Annunciation”. The guide translated the word literally but how much more does the Annunciation mean to us all!

Bridget Stephens, Cape Town

Sr Philothea Krugger

I

N Chris Moerdyk (August 25 “Nuns have a holy cross to bear”) I was interested to note the mention of Sr Philothea Krugger, superior at the Mossel Bay Convent from 1904.

During the 1990s, I lived in Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in Letters to the Editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy. The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate.

Letters must not be understood to necessarily reflect the teachings, disciplines or policies of the Church accurately.

The rejected ones

I

T was refreshing to read the letter from John Lee “Homosexuality and the Bible”. I found his letter clear and well argued.

He has helped us pause, and reexamine our previously unquestioned assumptions about biblical interpretation around this issue.

It seems to me that homosexu-

Giving without debt

I

COULD’NT agree more with Stephanie Callea (September 8).

We really owe it to our priests who do such a lot for us, I wish there was more we could do for them than just giving a small donation.

What they are doing for us is worth far more than what we are giving back. So come on people and donate without feeling that the Church owes you.

Gaynor Petersen, Port Elizabeth

Exploring Newman

T

HANK you so very much for publishing the recent outstanding seven-part series written by Fr Michael Austin SJ. The series was a real highlight for me, enabling so many of us to understand and appreciate the life of John Henry Newman more fully.

Your paper continues to be a weekly treat.

Jane and Donald Whitehouse.

KwaZulu-Natal

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PERSPECTIVES

Tribalism killing dream for African Church

Henry Makori

Reflections of my Life

What do you see in the mirror?

W

HAT do you pray about? Kenyan media recently reported that pandemonium broke out at Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) in Nairobi where thousands of women had turned up to hear a Nigerian pastor. The women packed the KICC auditorium that seats some 10 000 people. And there were still many more women shoving and elbowing trying to get in. The theme of the seminar and prayer service? How to get a husband.

The event is still discussed in newspapers, on radio talk shows and in social networking websites. Why? Because Christian women went to learn about how to get a suitor and to pray for one.

Our largest newspaper, Nation, carried a long article titled, “What happened to good old romance?” The writer’s assumption, of course, was that “good old romance” and praying for a spouse, or generally taking a spiritual approach to such matters are incompatible.

Indeed from the frenzied coverage, I came away with two impressions: firstly, as far as our secular media is concerned there are things people should do on their own, which they shouldn’t be taught and which, above all, they shouldn't bother praying about.

Secondly, you pray only when there is a crisis you can’t handle. If your wits can get you by, you really don’t need God, do you?

The single women who thronged KICC had supposedly failed on their own to get a husband, so they turned to God. It wouldn’t be surprising if the writers, commentators and talk show hosts holding these views are themselves Christians. They believe, like so many others, I think, that being Christian is about going to Church on Sunday because God decreed it. Thereafter, you are on your own.

Sadly, this lie has largely gone unchallenged. No one has clarified that being a Christian means a personal relationship with Jesus Christ—one that involves the entire person, with all his or her joys and the most intimate concerns. Loving God means openness to Him. If it is a spouse we need, we ask Him. That is what Jesus teaches us.

Prayer is not something we resort to only when we have hit the wall; or like they say here about women, when they are “pushing 30”. Is it not rather about being aware that we are always in God’s presence, invited to worship Him, to ask what we need and to try to listen to what He tells us? When Jesus teaches us to ask God for our daily bread, it means that for a Christian everything, everyday depends on God. That is why we pray.

But I also thought the media coverage of the KICC function ridiculed women. Why has it never been the subject of such fevered reporting and comment when Kenyans hold national prayers for rain, or when parents gather in schools and churches to pray for candidates to pass their exams? No one finds it curious when football teams pray before a match.

But when women attend a Christian service on how to get and keep a husband?

Would the writer who wondered, “What happened to good old romance?” raise a similar question— “What happened to sheer hard work?”—regarding prayers for candidates ahead of exams?

Moreover, right now there is a craze about books on relationships and there are numerous newspaper columns, entire magazines and radio and TV talk shows where supposed gurus dish out advice on that popular subject. But seeking spiritual help is laughed at.

It is serious. Pope Benedict recently warned that believers are abandoning the “personal God” of Christianity to embrace the notion of a god who is “a supreme, mysterious and indeterminate being, who has only a vague relationship” with human beings.

Our personal God is fully interested in every detail of our lives. Remember all those people who went to Jesus with all sorts of personal issues? If you want a spouse, do not hesitate to take up the matter with God in prayer.

I

T was a missionary vision of St Daniel Comboni, founder of the Comboni Missionaries, that Africa will be evangelised by Africans.

This in turn shaped his missionary activity: to found and sustain local churches so that they can give birth to their own evangelisers.

Cardinal Charles Lavigerie, founder of the Society of Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers), adopted the same view. But he would not wait till Africans would be able to evangelise themselves. He emphasised the importance of an in-depth knowledge of the people by learning their language and usage as effective means of communicating the Gospel in the very fabric of their life.

Writing to his missionaries, Lavigerie exhorted them to apply methods of evangelisation that would help people become authentic Christians— and not some copies of European models.

When we look around in Africa where these congregations have been, surely we see, touch and smell the traces of this vision put into practice.

Firstly, both founders engaged themselves in buying back slaves to freedom. They catechised and trained these liberated slaves in different professions in order to witness Christ by rendering service to their own people.

It was a vision of evangelisation to be carried out not only by priests or religious, but also by lay people.

Of course, promotion of local clergy as a way of building up the local church was just another important aspect of it. The flourishing of the African Church owes a lot also to the many other missionaries who shared this vision.

Are we making use of this development, or are we squandering it?

Let’s reflect a bit on history. Liberation from foreign colonial to indigenous rule was a revolutionary experience. This coincided with some local priests becoming bishops. To some people that may have seemed to be achieving self-rule in the Church and so, on this basis, there might have been more calls for more African bishops.

Hence, instead of appreciating the development as a growing Church which is ready to evangelise and govern itself, came to be seen more in

Evans Chama M.Afr

Echoes of African Synod terms of liberation, some sort of independence. In this way of seeing things, power and to own it become a central motivation. The result is to do more damage than good.

I

n many African countries tribalism has determined who becomes president and holds important positions.

Unfortunately, this has often also been an issue in both the appointment and reception a new bishop. A person from a different tribe, especially when that tribe is a minority, is seen as an intruder coming to take away power.

When we act this way, not only do we abuse the positive development of having a local person as a shepherd, but also lose absolutely the sense of Church. That’s why, without making reference to any particular case, some people would receive it as an insult to have a foreign missionary appointed as their bishop.

Such ill-feeling—a feeling of being insulted—certainly does not come from a desire to serve, but from a craving for the power which is given to someone deemed foreign—a foreigner not in the Church but to our tribe or race. In such mean attitudes, where is our profession of Christ as Universal King?

This is where I think the African Church needs to rise, take up her mat and walk to grow into the spirit of the Church as a family of transformed persons, true disciples of Christ, who will not lend themselves to tearing at each other but rather opt to profit from their racial, ethnic and tribal diversity as sources of mutual enrichment, thereby radiating the true image of the universal Church.

Besides, the idea that Africa will be evangelised by Africans may be true, but it’s not automatic in its profound sense. Only a determined effort and one’s full application to this vision will fulfil the hopes of this statement.

Here we are, African Church; multitudes of lay people, local religious, local clergy, local bishops! What is our African touch to evangelisation?

The Southern Cross, September 29 to October 5, 2010

9

Michael Shackleton answers your question

Open Door

How do we forgive priests who sin?

Other parishioners and I find it hard to forgive, or even begin to understand how the Lord’s anointed priests can commit such horrific sins as child abuse, while simultaneously carrying out their priestly duties as if they had haloes round their heads. What possessed them to turn their backs on their call to serve God in holiness of life?

Parishioners

L

ET’S be guided by St Paul who wrote to the Romans: “What proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners” (5:8). Christ, in other words, came to us to redeem us from sin, and he loved us in spite of sin. His love is allembracing. Therefore, God loves you. He loves all humankind and, in this context, he loves those very priests who have scandalised the priesthood and the Church by their appalling disloyalty to their sacred vocation.

So, let us be guided by Christ’s caution: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged, because the judgments you give are the judgments you will get, and the amount you measure out will be the amount you will be given.

Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How dare you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye’, when all the time there is a plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye” (Mt 7:1-5).

Shocked though we are by the sins of those anointed by God to serve him in purity of heart, it is God who does the judging (and the forgiving), and not ourselves. Let us leave it to him.

An experienced priest I knew used to tell newly ordained priests: “There are only three things you must do: say your prayers, do your duty and mind your own business.” What sound advice, not only for the clergy, but for all.

So, what possesses priests to betray their calling? Here we must pause because we cannot judge the individual. Speculation without hard evidence of why any priest gives into temptation and causes scandal is futile. Our safest bet is to pay attention to Christ’s solemn advice.

 Send your queries to Open Door, Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000; or e-mail: opendoor@scross.co.za; or fax (021) 465 3850. Anonymity can be preserved by arrangement, but questions must be signed, and may be edited for clarity. Only published questions will be answered.

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10

POPE IN BRITAIN

The Southern Cross, September 29 to October 5, 2010

Despite protests, pope gets a fair hearing While hundreds of people demonstrated during Pope Benedict’s first official state visit to Great Britain, writer JOHN THAVIS believes the pontiff’s visit was an overall “success”.

I

N terms of his primary objectives—preaching the Gospel to his flock and defending the influence of religion in society— Pope Benedict can look at his fourday visit to Great Britain as a major success.

The big question going into the visit was whether the German pope would be given a fair hearing in a country where scepticism about religion runs high. The answer was a resounding “yes”.

Not only did the pope speak his mind, but he also received unprecedented gavel-to-gavel coverage in the British media.

Papal events were broadcast live, and every newspaper devoted several pages each day to the pope’s words, which focused largely on the right of the Church to have its voice heard in the public square. Some newspapers even published full texts of his major speeches and sermons—something that rarely happens on papal trips.

The flip side of such interest was that the pope’s critics also had their day in the limelight. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in peaceful but vehement dissent on issues ranging from Aids and condoms to the Church’s record on sex abuse.

Vatican officials said they accepted this as a part of public debate in Britain.

“We expected this. We know there are groups that have differences with the Catholic Church, and they have a right to express it.

But in general, the attitude of British society and the faithful has been positive,” Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told reporters.

Not surprisingly, the image of

 J.M.J

the 83-year-old pontiff seemed to soften during his stay. Many people, Catholics and non-Catholics, often react to sound bytes and headlines in forming opinions about Pope Benedict. When he comes to visit, they get a firsthand look and a double dose of content —something that usually works in the pope’s favor.

What also impressed the British was the pope’s patient and gentle manner, which contrasted with the frequently strident tone of his critics. The pope has “a shyness that attracts”, a commentator said.

“A guest who took the time to charm his guests” read one newspaper headline after the pope lingered with schoolchildren in a London suburb, listening to their testimonials and posing for pictures. His smile seemed genuine, and why not? He was looking out at a sea of banners and posters that offered friendship in language like, “We (heart) U Papa”.

Pope Benedict came to Britain as a teacher, and his lesson plan was clear from the beginning.

In a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II and about 400 civic and cultural leaders in Edinburgh, Scotland, he warned against “aggressive” forms of secularism that risk undermining traditional religious values.

His words came across as reasonable and respectful largely because he drew examples of Christian cultural contributions from British history—the selfless service of Florence Nightingale, for example, or the missionary David Livingstone’s efforts to stop the slave trade. And when describing “atheist extremism”, he said the most sobering example was the Nazi regime, striking a chord with Britons as they commemorated the 70th anniversary of massive Nazi air strikes against the country.

In Glasgow, he donned a Tartan scarf and listened to bagpipe bands, then told Catholics it was not enough to live their faith privately; they should defend the Church’s teachings in the public square, he said.

“There are some who now seek

A woman attends the Mass and beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman led by Pope Benedict XVI at Cofton Park in Birmingham, England.

Pope Benedict became the first pontiff to officially visit Great Britain on a PHOTO: MAX ROSSI, REUTERS/CNS state tour. to exclude religious belief from public discourse, to privatise it or even to paint it as a threat to equality and liberty. Yet religion is in fact a guarantee of authentic liberty and respect,” he said at a Mass with more than 80 000 people.

The pope’s words were clearly aimed at critics such as Richard Dawkins, the popular British author who has championed atheism and who considers religion a destructive force in society.

But the pope’s most eloquent answer to high-profile atheists came in his meeting in London with some 4 000 Catholic students, when he described belief in God as a “friendship” that can fill one’s life with love of virtue.

“We need to have the courage to place our deepest hopes in God alone, not in money, in a career,

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The keynote address of the papal visit came in Westminster Hall, where the pope laid out his vision of how religious belief can help shape the moral and ethical life of a society. He warned against an effort to marginalise religion, and he pointed to an example that resonated with many: the campaign by some groups to ban public celebration of Christmas.

In his meetings with Anglicans, the pope deliberately steered clear of ecumenical differences and instead underlined the common task of fighting for the voice of religion in public affairs.

In ecumenical terms, he made his biggest impact simply by his historic presence in two places

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never before visited by a pope: Lambeth Palace, where he met with Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, and Westminster Abbey, where he joined an Anglican prayer service that a Vatican aide later described as liturgically “wonderful”.

The beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman in Birmingham was the central religious event of the visit. The pope held up Blessed Newman as an inspiration in two significant ways: in the wider culture, for his vision of religion’s “vital” role in society; and in the Church, for his vision of Catholic laity who know their faith well and can defend it articulately.

The pope’s arguments about God, religion and the social order were much-debated in the media, and not everyone agreed with him. But as British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a departure ceremony, the pope’s words had challenged the whole country to “sit up and think”.

Finally, the British trip underscored that the priestly sex abuse crisis will never go away while Pope Benedict is on the public stage. The pope has embraced that fact, as illustrated by his decision to address the issue on his plane, at his only public Mass in London and in a private meeting with sex abuse victims.

He used dramatic language, expressing his “deep sorrow and shame” and acknowledging the failings of priests and the failure of church officials to respond to abuse allegations with enough speed and vigilance. That was not enough for some sex abuse advocacy groups and other critics, who called for greater church accountability during a large protest demonstration in downtown London.

The image of thousands of protesters marching through the streets is not one Vatican officials will put on the highlight reels of this trip, but it illustrated the price to be paid in a pluralistic society if the Church wants to be part of the public discourse.

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The Southern Cross, September 29 to October 5, 2010

Sr Dity von Spaun—a nursing pioneer

S

R Dity von Spaun, a member of the Servite Secular Institute, passed away at Garden Clinic, Empangeni, September 12.

Born in Germany, Sr von Spaun grew up in Austria. Having endured much hardship during the war and its immediate aftermath, she moved to London where she trained as a nurse.

She joined the newly formed Servite Secular Institute and felt the pull

of Africa. After a short period of service in Swaziland, she was recruited for then Zululand in 1966.

Upon arrival, Sr von Spaun helped launch a mobile clinic programme (called the Good Shepherd Nursing Service) under the auspices of the Church.

Assisted by Sr Marlene Sach, she established a network of clinics and primary health centres.

They began working in

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JOHANNESBURG:  First Friday Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 10:30. First Saturday: Devotions: Our Lady’s Cenacle, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Rosary, 15:00–16:00. Special devotion to Our Blessed Lady for her priests. Our Lady of the Angels, Little Eden, Edenvale,  011 609 7246  First Saturday of each month rosary prayed 10:30-12:00 outside Marie Stopes abortion clinic, Peter Place, Bryanston.  Joan Beyrooti, 011 782 4331  Rivonia parish social evening ‘Night Fever’ September 18, 18:30, Barnyard Broadacres. For tickets contact Elvira 011 803 1229 or elvira@rivoniacatholic.co.za.

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people’s homes and small church buildings and helped improve nutrition in Catholic boarding schools in the Hlabisa, Ubombo and Ingwavuma districts, right up to the border of Mozambique.

In those early days they traversed vast areas on gravel roads and sandy tracks in Land Rovers, showing great courage and endurance in the most trying conditions. Today, in many places, there are residential government clinics where they had laid the groundwork.

Her interests were not confined to the health sector only—she had a great interest in education and a number of schools benefited from

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her support. Many young Zulu women are indebted to Srs von Spaun and Sachs for promoting their education as nurses and professional women.

She will be sadly missed by the Zulu people and the Catholic Church. May she rest in peace after many years of faithful labour.

DEATH

McMORROW—Sr M Fergus. Holy Cross Sister, Sr M. Fergus, passed away in Holy Cross Convent, Victory Park, Johannesburg on September 8, 2010. Lovingly remembered by her family in Ireland and the Holy Cross Sisters.

IN MEMORIAM

Mass readings for the week Sundays year C, weekdays cycle 2

Sun October 3, 27th Sunday of the year: Hb 1:2-3, 2,2-4; Ps 95:1-2,6-9; 2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14; Lk 17:5-10 Mon October 4, St Francis of Assisi: Gal1:6-12; Ps 111:1-2, 7-10; Lk 10:25-37 Tue October 5, feria: Gal 1:13-24; Ps 139:1-3,13-15; Lk 10:38-42 Wed October 6, St Bruno: Gal 2:1-2,7-14; Ps 117:1-2; Lk 11:1-4 Thur October 7, Our Lady of the Rosary: Acts 1:12-14; Lk 1:46-55; Lk 1:26-38 Fri October 8, feria: Gal 3:7-14; Ps 111:1-6; Lk 11:15-26 Sat October 9, Ss Denis & Comps; St John Leonardi: Gal 3:22-29; Ps 105:2-7; Lk 11:27-28 Sun October 10, 28th Sunday of the year: Hb 1:2-3, 2,2-4; Ps 95:1-2,6-9; 2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14; Lk 17:5-10

Thoughts for the Week on the Family

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ANTONIE—Maroonie. In loving memory of my beloved husband, our dad and grandpa. We warmly remember your wonderful wise advice, your great sense of humour and your trust in God. Rest in peace. Olive, Adie, Helen, Michael, Victor, Cecile and your eight grandchildren.

GRADIDGE—Rev Robbie. Its being a year since you left us yet it feels like yesterday. Greatly missed

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MEYER—To the memory of Joey (Johanna) who died suddenly on September 28, 2009. We miss you Joey, the void you have left can never be filled. From Edna.

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KOLBE HOUSE is the Catholic Centre and residence for the University of Cape Town. Beautiful estate in Rondebosch near the university. From mid

November, December and January, the students’ rooms are available for holiday guests. We offer self-catering accommodation, parking in secure premises. Short walks to shops, transport etc. Contact Jock 021 685 7370, fax 021 686 2342 or 082 308 0080 or kolbe.house@telkomsa.net MARIANELLA Guest House, Simon’s Town: “Come experience the peace and beauty of God with us.” Fully equipped with amazing sea views. Secure parking, ideal for rest and relaxation. Special rates for pensioners and clergy. Tel: Malcolm Salida 082 784 5675 or mjsalida@mweb.co.za NEWLANDS—THE CATNAP: Self-catering accommodation available December/January.For details phone Leslie Pretorius 021 685 2821.

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PO Box 2372, CAPE TOWN, 8000 Tel: (021) 465 5007 Fax: (021) 465 3850

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September 29 to October 5, 2010

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28th Sunday – Year C (October 10th) Readings: 2 Kings 5:14-17 Psalm 98:1-4, 2Timothy 2:8-13 Luke 17:11-19

T

HE older I get, the more I see that gratitude is the sanest possible stance towards life, and towards God. The readings for next Sunday say something about this.

In the first reading, Naaman, the Syrian general, has just been persuaded by his servants to do what Elisha the “man of God” had told him, and bathe in the Jordan. Reluctantly he does so and the inevitable happens: “His flesh was once more like the flesh of a little boy—and he was clean!” Then Naaman tries to offer payment, and is refused. Instead, therefore, he asks for something (did it ever occur to you that this might be a good way of expressing gratitude?), namely “two muleloads of earth” (so that whenever he worships it will be on Israelite soil, since he has now decided that God is the only God). There is a profound sanity about gratitude of this sort.

The psalm for next Sunday is an ecstatic song of gratitude: “Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has worked marvels; his right hand and his holy arm have brought salvation.” And it is done for the People of God: “He has remembered his steadfast love and

Reasons for gratitude and sanity Fr Nicholas King SJ

Scriptural Reflections his integrity towards the house of Israel.” And the psalm ends with energetic exhortations to gratitude: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth, sing praise, rejoice and make music.” It is a charming picture, and one that we shall do well to imitate.

The second reading starts off with our principal reason for gratitude: “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, from the offspring of David, according to my gospel.”

Paul is in prison, but refuses to make that excuse for ingratitude; he is “in prison like a criminal—but the word of God is not imprisoned”. So, he says, “I am hanging in there, because of God’s Chosen Ones, that they also may get hold of salvation, that which is in Christ Jesus, with everlasting glory”. And the author insists on the “reliable message”,

“dying with Christ” means “living with him”, “hanging in there” means “reigning with him”. And, above all, “That One remains faithful—he cannot deny himself”.

Now look at the gospel. For Luke it is a matter of some importance that Jesus is on a journey; immediately, it is from Galilee to Jerusalem, by way of Samaria; after the Resurrection, it will continue across the Eastern Mediterranean to Rome. And in the first line of Sunday’s gospel Luke uses his favourite “journeying” word, which modern translations hardly ever manage to capture.

The point of the journey is that it is driven by the Spirit, and there is nothing at all that can stop it. Here however, the journey could have come to a juddering halt, for as he enters a village, “ten lepers encountered him, and they stood a long way away”. If he had touched them, he would have become unclean himself; and they were forbidden to enter a village.

Then these lepers make a request of him, “Jesus, Master [the same word that Peter had used of Jesus in an earlier chapter]—have mercy on us”. Which he does; unlike Mark’s gospel, Luke does not have Jesus touch the

The joke is on you M

ANY years ago when I was in what was then called Standard Five, when schoolchildren were pupils and not learners and peoplehole covers were manhole covers and waiters and waitresses weren’t called waitrons, I got a smart clip behind the ear from a bishop for giggling in church.

It wasn’t my fault because you know what it’s like when you’re a youngster and one of your fellow altar servers pulls a face at you behind the priest’s back? No matter how pious you are, you simply cannot stop giggling. It is, in fact, easier to entice herd of elephant through the eye of a needle than to stop giggling in church.

Thinking about that incident a while back, I wondered why religions took life so seriously. I got on to the internet to see if religious humour actually existed among the gazillion bits of information on the worldwide web.

I was astounded—thousands of pages of religious and particularly, I am delighted to say, Catholic humour.

Now, I promise not fill this column week after week with religious jokes but I simply could not resist repeating these two which come off a Catholic website in the US. First up, a religious slant on the old changing-the-light-bulb-joke: How many charismatics does it take to change a light bulb? One—his hands are in the air anyway.

How many Calvinists does it take to

CONRAD This way they save money and his Holiness gets to see London!

Please send them to: OMI Stamps, Box 101352, Scottsville, 3209.

Chris Moerdyk

The Last Word change a light bulb? None. God has predestined when the lights will be on.

How many Pentecostals does it take to change a light bulb? Ten. One to change it and nine others to pray against the spirit of darkness.

How many Catholics does it take to change a light bulb? None. We only do candles.

How many Amish does it take to change a light bulb? What’s a light bulb?

How many Polygamous Mormons does it take to change a light bulb? Five. One man to change the bulb, and four wives to tell him how to do it.

How many Jehovah’s Witnesses does it take to change a light bulb? Three. One to screw in the bulb and two to knock on your door and ask you if you’ve seen the light.

How many Unitarians does it take to change a light bulb? We choose not to make a statement either in favour of or against the need for a light bulb. However, if in your own journey you have found that light bulbs work for you, that is fine.

You are invited to write a poem or compose a modern dance about your light bulb for the next Sunday service, in which we will explore a number of light bulb traditions, including incandescent, fluorescent, three-way, long-life and tinted, all of which are equally valid paths to luminescence.

Next, I was fascinated to learn what would have happened if God had to put up with today’s politically correct bureaucracy.

In the beginning God created heaven and the earth. Quickly he was faced with a court case for failure to undertake an environmental impact study. He was granted a temporary permit for heaven, but was stymied with the restraining order for the earth part.

Appearing at the hearing, God was asked why he began his earthly project in the first place. He replied that he just liked to be creative.

Then God said “Let there be light.”

Officials immediately demanded to know how the light would be made. Would there be strip mining? What about thermal pollution? God explained that the light would come from a huge ball of fire.

God was granted provisional permission to make light, assuming that no smoke would result from the ball of fire, that he would obtain a building permit, and to conserve energy. He would have the light out half the time. God agreed and said he would call the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” Officials replied that they were not interested in semantics.

God said, “Let the earth bring forth green herbs and as many seed”. The Department of Environmental Affairs agreed as long as indigenous seed was used.

Then God said, “Let waters bring forth creeping creatures having life; and the fowl that may fly over the earth”. He was told that he would require approval from the Parks Department as well as the International Bird and Wildlife Federation.

Then God insisted that he wanted to complete the entire project in six days.

Officials informed him it would take at least 200 days to review the application and the environmental impact study. After that there would be a public hearing. Then all the resultant problems would be addressed. They estimated it would be about 12 to 18 months before...

At this point God created Hell.

lepers, but he heals them at a distance, telling them to “Go [Luke’s journeying word again] and show yourselves to the priests”. And, calmly, Luke tells us that “As they went, they were made clean”. So far, so familiar; but at this point, just one of them “returned, with a loud voice glorifying God, and he fell on his face at his feet, thanking him”. Then the climax to the tale: “And he was a Samaritan!”

So he was a member of the most despised race (which race do you most despise?). Then Jesus, perhaps a shade wryly, reflects on the absence of the other nine, “Were they not found returning to give glory to God—except just this foreigner here?”.

Then Jesus concludes the tale with a fascinating touch. “Arise, go [yet again that journeying word]; your faith has saved you.”

What does this mean? What has the Samaritan received that was not given to the others? Presumably their cleansing from leprosy is not taken away from them because of the rank ingratitude. If so, what is the difference? Has it to do with gratitude? What do you think—and what difference will it make to your life this week?

Southern Crossword #412

ACROSS 4. Do learn about this saint (7) 8. You can hear one at Speakers Corner (6) 9. Joseph’s second son (Gn 41) (7) 10. Dr Evil will talk nonsense (6) 11. He was slain by Joshua (Ex 18) (6) 12. See 22 18. They make it easy to kneel (8) 20. Come to end of pilgrimage (6) 21. In a triumph. See central court (6) 22 and 12. Do in sacrament of reconciliation (6,4,4) 23. Erase the text (6) 24. The Blessed Virgin (3,4)

DOWN 1. Parting word (7) 2. Title of Christ (7) 3. Sets of twelve (6) 5. Stress for the reader of the gospel (8) 6. He was in the conquest of Britain (6) 7. God...fire and brimstone (Lk 17) (6) 13. Made the priest liturgically angry? (8) 14. South African clergyman (7) 15. Hagar’s son (Gn 16) (7) 16. Our Mol comes around in gilt (6) 17. Immoral (6) 19. Thread of contempt (6)

SOLUTIONS TO #119. ACROSS: 1 Abbots, 4 Gallic, 9 Created heaven, 10 Inkwell, 11 Doyen, 12 Harps, 14 Issue, 18 Altar, 19 Replete, 21 Hail, Holy Queen, 22 Spends, 23 Rely on. DOWN: 1 Arctic, 2 Breakfast time, 3 Tithe, 5 Agendas, 6 Love your enemy, 7 Canons, 8 Idols, 13, Parched, 15 Pathos, 16 Truly, 17l Heenan, 20 Pique.

CHURCH CHUCKLE

O

NE day the pope said to his papal car driver that he wanted to drive. The driver said no. The pope told the driver that he is the boss and wants to drive the car, whereupon the driver said “Alright, but just up the highway and back.”

The pope drove off, but a radio message came through to the traffic department that the papal car was going down the road at a thundering speed.

A traffic officer was instructed to do something about it, but he replied that he could not as the pope was driving and there must be someone very important in the back.

Send us your favourite Catholic joke, preferably clean and brief, to The Southern Cross, Church Chuckle, PO Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000.