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Rooting out abuse of women, kids By cLairE MaTHiEsOn

A

WOMAN is raped in South Africa every 17 seconds. Some 54 926 rapes were reported in 2006. Of the 22 121 reported cases that went to court, only a fifth resulted in the conviction of the accused.

In Gauteng alone, 15 645 sexual crimes have been recorded this year, and 356 children were reportedly harmed in the Eastern Cape. Such statistics from the South African Police Services are the driving force behind the annual 16 Days of Activism Campaign on No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, which begins on November 25.

The international event was adopted by the South African government to make people aware of the negative impact of violence on women and children. The event helps increase awareness of abuse and builds support for victims and survivors of abuse.

The government has highlighted the needs of women and children in the country and is striving towards reducing the negative statistics. Several pieces of legislation have been written into the country’s Constitution including international cooperation in addressing challenges of violence against women and children.

Following the murder of ten people in three families in Shongweni and Mariannhill, KwaZulu-Natal, minister for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities Lulu Xingwana said it was the “most brutal” crime committed against women and children seen in recent time. Speaking to reporters, she described the act as “barbaric” saying that “we should all ensure that it never happens anywhere else in our country”.

Ms Xingwana said the 16 Days of Activism campaign was important as it “brings together various government departments and civil society organisations in an effort to mobilise all of our society to act against abuse of women and children”.

The campaign, which was started in 1991, will take on the 2010 theme “Score a goal for gender equality: Halve gender based violence by 2015”. The minister noted that gender activists (such as Genderlinks), faith-based organisations as well as members of civil society and government are leading the fight against the abuse of women and children, but emphasised the need for all communities to get behind the effort.

Dawn Linder of the Justice and Peace (J&P) desk of the archdiocese of Johannesburg said there is a real need for campaigns like the 16 Days of Activism to be observed.

“Every day we see examples of abuse in our newspapers. The issue is obvious, and it’s obvious that something needs to be done”.

However, Ms Linder said the dialogue should not just be limited to a two-week period. “This needs to be spoken about all the time”.

According to the Genderlinks website (www.genderlinks.org.za), the organisation aims to take the campaign beyond big cities and hopes to reach remote areas that are “usually marginalised and left out of such campaigns”.

The start of the 16 Days of Activism campaign coincides with the International Day of No Violence Against Women and Children. It covers with World Aids Day on December 1, the International Day for the Disabled on December 3, the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre—where 14 female engineering students were gunned down by a man because they were feminist—as well as International Day for the Disabled on December 6, and will end with Human Rights Day on December 10.

Ms Xingwana said one of the key events of the campaign would be held in KwaZuluNatal on December 10 to ensure that “we mobilise the community of this province to act against abuse of women and children”.

The minister said the campaign will “emphasise the obligation that all of us have to report cases of abuse, to assist the police and social workers in their investigation and to be available to act as witnesses in court to increase probability of a conviction”.

While the Catholic Church is not directly involved in the campaign, Ms Linder said the Church had not limited its dedication to the time frame of 16 days.

“The Justice and Peace department of the [Johannesburg archdiocese] works with the parishes and other organisations” beyond limited time frames. J&P seeks to help “people who come to us from off the street. We help wherever we can”.

Ms Linder said more needed to be done by everyone involved.

“Women need to be regarded, promoted and developed consciously. We need to be aware of the situation women are in.” She said the efforts exerted over the 16 day period need to be extended throughout the year.

The government is encouraging people to get involved by wearing a white ribbon, volunteering at community-based projects and non-governmental organisations—and most importantly to speak out against abuse of women and children.

Bishop: corruption causes poverty

By Francis njuguna

T

HE archbishop of Burkina Faso questioned why poverty persists across Africa despite an abundance of natural resources during the opening session of a conference for African theologians on ethics, ecclesiology and evangelisation.

Archbishop Anselme Sanon of BoboDioulasso, Burkina Faso, said in an interview that he was saddened to see the continued exploitation of the continent’s natural resources in the face of dire human needs.

Prior to the wave of independence in the 1950s and ’60s, “our economic saboteurs

were colonialists”, the archbishop said.

“Some of our new leaders have continued to undertake the same bad mission”.

Archbishop Sanon attributed current difficulties to corruption and the mismanagement of natural resources by political leaders.

“One of the challenges of the African continent as she marked its 50 years of independence is to make every effort to stamp out corruption, mismanagement and other practices that went against the pastoral teaching of the Church,” Archbishop Sanon explained.

The Church can play a role in overturning corruption and exploitation by stressing its social teaching, he said.—CNS

an activist lights a candle during an aids awareness campaign in agartala, the capital of india’s north-eastern state of Tripura. To mark World aids Day on December 1, we look this week at the state of HiV/aids in south africa today and the catholic response. (Photo: jayanta Dey, reuters/cns)

Sentenced to go on a pilgrimage

By MicHaEL KELLy

A

N Irishman who was promised by a judge that he would be spared time in prison if he undertook a religious pilgrimage and said “a few prayers” has completed the task and raised about R30 000 for charity in the process.

Joseph McElwee had been convicted of drunken behaviour and verbally abusing a police officer and faced a prison sentence.

However, in March, Judge Seamus Hughes came up with a novel opportunity for Mr McElwee to avoid prison time and ordered him to climb Ireland’s holiest mountain, Croagh Patrick in County Mayo.

Having competed his sentence, Mr McElwee reported to the court and showed Justice Hughes photographs of himself and 13 friends on top of the roughly 760m mountain where St Patrick fasted for 40 days in the 5th century.

At the time of his conviction, the judge said: “I want you to come back with evidence that you did the four stations of Croagh Patrick and say a few prayers. You then might have a different impression of County Mayo and its people.”

The police officer whom Mr McElwee insulted grew up near the mountain.

Mr McElwee told the judge he regretted what he had done and had managed to raise money for charity during the climb.

Justice Hughes asked if he had found climbing the mountain therapeutic and Mr McElwee agreed that he had.

“I hope that when you come out of a pub in the beautiful village of Rathmullan in future, you take in a deep breath of fresh air from nearby Lough Swilly and you will appreciate that gardai [police] are there for your own protection,” the judge said.

He ordered half of the cash to be given to a local hospice and the other half donated to an adult mental health services programme. He also asked Mr McElwee to write a note to be included with the donations explaining the circumstances surrounding the donations.

While community service orders are common for less serious offences, it is believed to be the first time that an Irish judge ordered someone to undertake a pilgrimage in lieu of a prison sentence.

The judge’s initiative at keeping someone out of prison may prove popular with the cash-strapped Irish government, which is considering R60 billion in cuts to public spending.—CNS

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LOCAL

The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

R100 000 raised as the journey ends By iLLa THOMPsOn

A

SPECIAL welcome was held at Emmanuel cathedral in Durban for Fr Stephen Tully who returned after completing the 780km Camino walk to raise funds for Denis Hurley Centre.

Fr Tully returned to Durban after four months away. He undertook the Camino walk to raise funds for, and create awareness of the proposed Denis Hurley Centre in the city centre.

While on his travels, Fr Tully also completed a month-long biblical course in Jerusalem, as well as attending meetings, making presentations and delivering proposals to key international stakeholders and potential partners.

Hundreds of cheering wellwishers created a walk-through “guard of honour” as he arrived at the cathedral from the airport.

As the procession entered the cathedral with Fr Tully leading, welcomers sang “Walk, walk in the light”. Fr Tully, who was wearing the clothes he wore as a pilgrim on the way to Santiago de Compostela (The Way of St James), was invited to put his rucksack, walking stick and Camino shawl before the altar.

In response to a welcome speech from Bunny van der Merwe, chairperson of the parish pastoral council, Fr Tully could not hold back his tears as he

shared his experiences of the pilgrimage in which thousands took part. He thanked the many people who had supported him through prayer and pledges for the centre.

“I did not think the welcome would be like this. We deal with gut-wrenching stories every day here at the cathedral, but to have the place filled with ululation, dancing and song is really overwhelming for me.”

“The pilgrimage has been a wonderful part of my life and I’m happy to have had the opportunity to do the walk and travel overseas on behalf of homeless people and refugees in South Africa.”

Well-wishers joined Fr Tully for refreshments in the cathedral piazza afterwards—a joint celebration to welcome him home and to celebrate his 50th birthday which took place while he was away.

In the piazza, he was treated to a foot spa and foot massage by Precious Masuku and Sharon Govender from Mogi’s Beauty and Health, and while enjoying the pampering, conducted a press briefing with his overjoyed dog Rebecca on his lap.

One of the pivotal fundraising drives was to pledge support of Fr Tully for each kilometre he walked. More than R100 000 was pledged by Emmanuel cathedral

parishioners and by friends and supporters.

The Denis Hurley Centre is a project of the cathedral. The hope is to build a safe, environmentally-sensitive multi-purpose building in the CBD. The centre will be situated between the cathedral and its neighbour the Juma Musjid Mosque. It will provide a 24/7 outreach to refugees, street people, people living with HIV/Aids and others in distress; education and skills training for people of all ages, and venues for meetings, workshops and conferences.

A resource centre including a library, bookshop, museum and exhibition space housing collections associated with the life of Archbishop Denis Hurley, and a coffee shop and catering facilities for a feeding scheme and for meetings and events, will be housed there.

The Camino de Santiago is a 780km trail/pilgrimage which stretches from France across northern Spain and has existed for over a thousand years. Its destination is the city of Santiago de Compostela where according to tradition the remains of St James were carried by boat before burial.

It was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times and was declared the first European Cultural Route

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Fr stephen Tully celebrates after completing the 780km santiago de compostela pilgrimage. by the Council of Europe in 1987, and named one of UNESCO’s world heritage sites. n For more information on Fr

Tully’s trip or about the Denis Hurley Centre contact Paddy Kearney on 031 201 3832 or 072 806 4417, or e-mail pkearney@saol.com

New technology helps with pastoral care of refugees By cLairE MaTHiEsOn

T

HE archdiocese of Durban has launched a new website for Refugee Pastoral Care (RPC) in a bid to bring more attention to its efforts.

In addition to awareness, RPC chaplain Fr Stan Augustijns CSSp said the website (www.refugeepastoralcare.co.za) will fill the gap online where sites about refugees are plentiful, but fewer are dedicated to pastoral work for and with refugees.

The RPC serves asylum seekers in everything from accommodation and food to medical assistance and the care of orphans and unaccompanied minors. Fr Augustijns says the RPC has a holistic approach to the care of refugees, also offering pastoral attention.

The RPC promotes human rights, empowers the refugees by offering skills training and educates them on health issues including HIV and Aids. \ In addition to life skills, the RPC also assists in meetings with the Department of Home Affairs and prepares people for returning to their home countries.

Fr Augustijns said the mandate to offer hospitality to strangers included “food to the refugees [here and abroad]; water to the immigrants cross-

The refugee Pastoral care’s website hopes to expose the needs of refugees and asylum seekers. ing the desert; an open church door to the stranger with nowhere to turn; clothing to the migrant newly arrived or the refugee being resettled in our town of Durban; medical care for migrant workers, immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers; prison visits to detained asylum seekers and immigrants”.

He says responding to these needs was part of the foundation of RPC. Today, Durban’s RPC goes further, offering education and trauma counselling.

The RPC has registered in excess of 12 000 asylum seekers over eight years, with 2 884 registrations made last year.

According to the website, 70% of them are originally from

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the Great Lakes region in central and east Africa (including Tanzania), 25% from Zimbabwe and 5% from other countries. Some 60% of the asylum seekers are Catholic.

Fr Augustijns said his vocation was inspired by Jesus, who was “not only a refugee and a migrant.

He was also ‘undocumented’ both as a child and at the end of his life on the cross, naked”.

The RPC tries to address all issues refugees might encounter. “In the coming year the RPC hopes for an even greater collaboration resulting in a more efficient service to refugees [and] asylum seekers”.

He hoped the website would act as a new service platform.

LOCAL

The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

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Priest celebrates 40 years By cLairE MaTHiEsOn The historic 150 years celebration of indians coming to south africa, takes place throughout november.

Priest: First Indians in SA teach a lesson today By cLairE MaTHiEsOn

I

N a homily delivered at St Anthony’s church, Durban, Fr Noël Peters OMI said it was the sacrifices of the community and their saintly acts that were to be celebrated on the occasion of 150 years of South African Indians.

“In 150 years, Indians have toiled their way out of slavery to excellence in different fields,” Fr Peters said.

He said the development of the community could be traced to the first Mass for the new arrivals from India by Fr Sabon OMI on December 4, 1860.

Indian Catholics, who numbered about 300, spread out over the various farming areas of Natal. Over time schools were established, the population increased and the Catholic community grew.

Fr Peters said one of the reasons for this growth was down to the people who got involved in the community. “A great contributing factor to the cohesiveness of Catholic Indians and the subsequent progress they made was the warm personality of Fr Sabon.”

The achievements of this immigrant community have

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been “great in all spheres”, Fr Peters said, but it was also important to give thanks to those that were part of the community today, and who are still upholding the values the early settlers established. It was vital that the community take inspiration from the indentured workers and sustain their Christian values, the priest said.

“There is no doubt that early Indian immigrants brought with them a solid foundation and practice of the Christian faith. Throughout the decades this was witnessed in their contributing of faith to subsequent generations, handing from generation to generation the richness and legacy of faith.” Fr Peters described them as “heroic women and men of faith”.

Fr Peters said the day’s celebrations were in honour of the indentured workers who aspired to sanctity.

“This celebration gives us a peek into our eternal destiny.

These saints we celebrate were men and women like us. Where we are now they used to be and where they are now we hope to be someday.”

He said these ideals could be seen in the practice of

J.M.J

the beatitudes.

“The beatitudes propose to us a way of life, inviting us to identify with the poor, those who mourn, the meek, and those who hunger and thirst after justice. They challenge us to be compassionate people, to be men and women who are pure in heart, and to become the peacemakers in our dealings with one another, in our families and in the society at large, even when this approach to things exposes us to ridicule and persecution.”

The jubilee celebration was an invitation to today’s community to walk the path of our ancestors, Fr Peters said.

“We need faith and courage to walk it,” he said, likening the difficult path the indentured workers walked to that of today’s life.

The months of October and November have seen several celebrations in honour of 150 years of the South African Indian community. Most of the Indian community in the country today are direct descendants of the 152 184 indentured workers that came to the country to work on the sugar plantations of KwaZulu-Natal.

O

BLATE Father Allan Moss of St Mary’s parish in Pietermaritzburg has celebrated the 40th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.

Mostly active in KwaZulu-Natal, Fr Moss’ interest lies in catechetics, saying he sees his vocation as a way to highlight education. “Catechetics is a priority following the divine injunction of Jesus who said 'Go and teach all nations’,” he said.

Born in Durban, Fr Moss grew up in St Michael’s parish, Redhill. He was the first from that parish to become a priest.

Following his ordination, Fr Moss was sent to further his studies at Corpus Christi College in London, specialising in catechetics, and furthered this at the Catholic University of Lyon in France where he obtained a licentiate in communication. He completed his Master’s degree in Philosophy with the University of South Africa and finally completed his studies at Berkley University in California where he obtained a doctorate in theology.

St Mary’s parishioner Sheila Dale said Fr Moss’ vocation has been busy.

“He has served at a number of parishes in KwaZulu-Natal: Holy Trinity in Berea, Durban; Esigondini in Pietermaritzburg, where he was not only pastor but also ran a catechetical training centre; Mbava in the Valley of a Thousand Hills, where he was appointed by Archbishop Denis Hurley as director for formation for the archdiocese of Durban. Later he was sent to St Anne’s in Sydenham, then to Holy Family in Newlands East, which he formally established as a parish, and to St Francis Xavier parish on the Bluff.”

Oblate Father allan Moss As an academic, much of Fr Moss’ time has been dedicated to education.

He has lectured at St Joseph’s Theological Institute, Cedara, in various disciplines of theology and philosophy, has served as provincial for the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in the province, and has held a professorship at The Oblate University in San Antonio, Texas.

Ms Dale said that Fr Moss has had a private audience with Pope John Paul II and has written a book—History and Theology of Catechetics—as well as a number of papers and articles for various publications.

Ms Dale said her fellow parishioners appreciate Fr Moss’ dedication.

A well-attended thanksgiving Mass was concelebrated by Fr Moss, Fr John Patterson, Deacon Keeble McKenzie and Fr Brian Duffey.

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The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

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Vigils for the unborn By riTa FiTcH

P

OPE Benedict has encouraged Catholics around the world to participate in a prayer vigil for unborn babies to be held on the eve of the first Sunday of Advent, November 27.

Speaking after reciting the Angelus, the pope said: “The season of preparation for Christmas is an appropriate time for invoking divine protection over every human being called into existence and for thanking God for the gift of life we received from our parents.”

The pope called for the vigil to pray for the unborn and their parents, for an end to abortion and research that destroys embryos, and recognition of the dignity of every human life.

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Bishop gregorio Martinez sacristan of Zamora, spain, follows the World youth Day cross as it is carried by young people during a service in the town square of Zamora. The cross is travelling throughout spain in advance of the august 16-21 international catholic youth gathering in Madrid. (Photo: Paul Haring, cns) Life will include prayers for overturning of laws that permit the destruction of innocent lives, and for the healing of those who have acted against innocent human life.

Pope Benedict will preside

over an evening prayer vigil in St Peter’s basilica on November 27 and asked that parishes, religious communities, associations and movements around the world hold vigils of their own.—CNS

Pope: Bible ‘Church’s book’ By cinDy WOODEn

G

FRANCISCAN NARDINI SISTERS

OD constantly tries to enter into dialogue with the people he created— speaking through creation and even through silence, but mainly in the Church through the Bible and through his son Jesus Christ, according to Pope Benedict.

In his apostolic exhortation, Verbum Domini (“The Word of the Lord”), the pope encouraged Catholics to embrace and value each of the ways God tries to speak to humanity.

The document, a papal reflection on the conclusions of the 2008 Synod of Bishops on the Word of God, emphasised the need to improve Catholics’ familiarity with the Bible and with the need to read and understand it in harmony with the Church.

The Bible is not a dusty collection of ancient writings addressed only to ancient peoples, the pope said. But it’s also not some sort of private letter addressed to individuals who are free to interpret it any way they please, the pope said in the document, which is close to 200 pages long.

The pope said he wrote Verbum Domini because “I would like the work of the synod to have a real effect on the life of the Church: on our personal relationship with the sacred Scriptures, on their interpretation in the liturgy and catech-

esis, and in scientific research so that the Bible may not be simply a word from the past, but a living and timely word”.

Pope Benedict asked for greater Church efforts to teach Catholics about the Bible, to help them learn to read it and pray with it, to treat it with great dignity during the liturgy and emphasise its importance by making sure homilies are based on the day’s readings.

For centuries, Catholic laity were actually discouraged from reading the Bible themselves.

Even though that began changing 100 years ago, Bible-reading often is seen as a Protestant activity.

In fact, some evangelical Christians use passages from the Bible to preach against the Catholic Church, which the pope said is truly ironic since “the Bible is the Church’s book”.

It was the Church that decided which of the ancient Christian writings were inspired and were to be considered the New Testament, the pope said. And it was the Church that interpreted it for hundreds of years.

“The primary setting for scriptural interpretation is the life of the Church,” he said, not because the Church is imposing some kind of power play, but because the Scriptures can be understood fully only when one understands “the way they gradually came into being”.

Obviously, he said, the key message of the Bible—the story of God’s love for his creatures and the history of his attempts to save them—can be grasped only if people recognise that the fullness of God’s word is Jesus Christ.

The Scriptures themselves teach that God created human beings with a special dignity, giving them intelligence and free will. In approaching the Scriptures, the pope said, people must use that intelligence to understand what is written.

Pope Benedict, a theologian who served for more than 20 years as president of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, said academic approaches to Scripture studies were essential for helping people understand the Bible, as long as those studies recognise that the Bible is not simply a piece of literature.

For example, he said, a lot of Catholics—including priests giving homilies—are completely at a loss when dealing with “those passages in the Bible which, due to the violence and immorality they occasionally contain, prove obscure and difficult”.

Those passages, he said, demonstrate that “God’s plan is manifested progressively and it is accomplished slowly, in successive stages and despite human resistance. God chose a people and patiently worked to guide and educate them.”—CNS

Vatican in high definition By cinDy WOODEn

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HANKS to a $1 million discount from Sony and a contribution of the same value from the US Knights of Columbus, the Vatican television centre has a multimillion-dollar highdefinition (HD) mobile television studio, which will be operational in time for the pope’s Christmas midnight Mass.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican television centre (CTV) and the Vatican press office, told reporters that the mobile studio—an 18wheel truck with 16 workstations—and its all-HD equipment were worth just more than $6 million.

He said he knows people may think the project was too extravagant, but with television broadcasters around the world moving to HD, “the image of the pope would gradually disappear from the world of television over the coming years”.

journalists visit the Vatican's new high-definition mobile television studio during a demonstration at the Vatican. (Photo: Paul Haring, cns) CTV is responsible for all video images of the pope taken at the Vatican; the television centre provides those images to broadcasters and filmmakers around the world.

If the Vatican’s production values do not meet the standards of broadcasters, he said, “we, in fact, would be blocking the broadcast of the image and, therefore, the message of the pope”.

Fr Lombardi said there is a continuing dialogue at the Vatican between communications professionals and papal liturgists to find ways to meet the needs of both. For example, Pope Benedict’s altar often has high candlesticks and a crucifix that block camera shots and the pope has insisted on having moments of silence during the Mass.

The silence makes television directors nervous and can send radio producers into a panic because it can appear they’ve lost their signal. In dealing with the silence, the television people add cameras to provide a variety of images, but it is still a challenge for radio, he said.

Archbishop Claudio Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, also spoke at the news conference and said the new HDTV service is just one part of the Vatican’s ongoing effort to reach a wider audience in formats people use today.—CNS

INTERNATIONAL

The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

5

Call to keep eyes on South Sudan

By BrOnWEn DacHs

T

HE head of a delegation of African Church leaders visiting Sudan has urged the Sudanese government to respect the choice of the majority of the people of Southern Sudan in the January 9 referendum that may split Africa’s largest country.

Cardinal Polycarp Pengo of Dares-Salaam, Tanzania, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), warned that “anybody trying to go against the will of the majority of the voting of the people can be sure that he is standing against the will and plan of God”.

He urged the people of Southern Sudan to “seek God’s intervention when they make choices” in the referendum.

The referendum was called for in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 that ended Sudan’s decades-long civil war. The referendum will determine if the largely Christian and animist South, with

its significant oil deposits, will secede from the predominantly Islamic North. Observers consider the referendum a step that could significantly shape the region’s future.

Opening the SECAM meeting, Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak of Wau, president of the Sudan bishops’ conference, said Church leaders are looking for “ways of sending a collective message to the community preparing for the referendum”.

Marko Col Maciec, a government official from the Lakes state of Southern Sudan, told the bishops that local authorities expected advice from the bishops in preparing for the referendum so that the election might be free and secure, Radio Good News reported.

Sudan’s Catholic bishops have urged their fellow African prelates “to lobby and advocate” for the people of Southern Sudan.

The bishops warned of the possibility of a return to civil war if the results of the vote—widely expected to result in the seces-

sion—are not upheld by Sudanese political leaders.

The Sudanese bishops said that the agreement required the Islamic government leaders in Khartoum to address the root causes of conflict to convince people living in the South to remain part of a unified Sudan.

However, the government has failed to “guarantee the fundamental rights of the multicultural, multilingual, multiethnic and multireligious society of Sudan”, choosing instead to administer the country through the “Islamisation of the laws, institutions and political systems”, the bishops said.

“All indications are that national unity has not been made attractive to the people of Southern Sudan,” the bishops said, observing that Sudan’s political establishment “bear a great responsibility for this tragic situation”.

The bishops cited several concerns that have gone unaddressed as the referendum nears, including demarcation of the border between

Pope: Even with new media, actions speak loudest By carOL gLaTZ

W

HILE the Church is looking for creative ways to evangelise through new media, the actions of Catholics always speak louder than words, Pope Benedict told participants of a meeting hosted by the Pontifical Council for Culture.

“Only love is worthy of belief and turns out to be credible,” he said, adding that the virtuous lives of saints and martyrs fascinate and attract others in a way words cannot.

“We need men and women who speak with their lives, who know how to communicate the Gospel with clarity and courage, with the transparency of their actions, and with the joyous passion of charity,” he said.

The pope spoke to members and invited speakers attending the council’s plenary assembly on the theme, “The Culture of Communication and New Languages”.

Priests and lay Catholics have noted, “with concern, some difficulties in communicating the

Gospel message and conveying the faith within the Church community itself”, he said.

The Church not only faces the challenge of evangelising people who are indifferent to or unaware of the Christian message, it must also “persuasively re-proclaim the word of God” to Christians so that they can “concretely experience the power of the Gospel”, said the pope.

Often the Gospel message is presented to people in a way that is “not so effective or engaging”, he said.

The Church seeks to commit itself to its mission of communicating the Gospel “with renewed creative dedication, but also with a critical sense and attentive discernment” of the new modes of communication available today.

Many young people are “numbed by the infinite possibilities offered by the Internet and other technologies” as they take part in methods of communication that risk increasing a sense of solitude and disorienta-

tion, the pope said.

He reiterated his concern for this “educational emergency” that the Church and others must respond to with “creative intelligence”. People must promote communication that upholds human dignity and encourages “a critical sense and the ability to evaluate and discern” what has real worth in the plethora of information available.

While the Church works to improve the way it presents its message and show God’s true face, he said it will also seek to “purify, bring balance to, and elevate” the best characteristics of new media and forms of communication so that new technology can be at the service of the whole human being and world community.

The Church wants to engage in dialogue with everyone, but in order to communicate in a way that is fruitful and effective, “it is necessary to be on the same wavelength in friendly and sincere settings”, the pope said.—CNS

Probe on Irish ‘culture of secrecy’ starts By saraH DELanEy

T

HE apostolic visitations of four Irish archdioceses, Irish seminaries and religious orders in response to the scandal arising from sexual abuse of minors by clergy has officially begun.

A Vatican statement said that apostolic visitators appointed by Pope Benedict would begin their investigations into the widespread problem that Irish government reports said had gone on for decades within a “culture of secrecy”.

The pope announced the apostolic visitation in March.

The Vatican statement said the visitators would not deal with new allegations, which, should they arise, must be reported to civil and local Church authorities.

However, the Church officials appointed by the pope will “make themselves available to those who have been deeply wounded by abuse and who wish to be met and heard”.

Those victims and their families, the statement said, will be received “in the same fatherly manner in which the Holy Father has on several occasions

greeted and listened to those who have suffered the terrible crime of abuse”.

The visitators will monitor how the guidelines established in 2009 by the Irish Church to prevent further abuse of children in Catholic schools and parishes are being followed and if they are effective.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, said that the rules and guidelines had been issued “at the highest level” and had been approved by Pope Benedict. They are the result of earlier meetings at the Vatican between Irish bishops, the visitators and leaders of several Vatican offices, including the Vatican Secretariat of State.

The Vatican statement said visitators would meet and listen to other Church figures, including other bishops, the vicar general of the archdioceses, judges of the Church tribunals.

Anyone wishing to meet with the visitator—including pastors, priests, lay faithful and any other individual—may request an appointment or submit a statement in writing through the office of the Vatican nuncio in Ireland, the statement said.

Each archdiocese is encouraged to organise a penitential service with the visitator; in his March letter to Irish Catholics, the pope recommended penitential services to complement the prayer, fasting and other penitential activities being organised by the Irish bishops’ conference.

The “first phase of the visitation” should be completed by Easter 2011, the Vatican said.

Fr Lombardi said it was likely that the visitators and the Vatican congregations involved— the congregations for bishops, for religious and for education—would meet again in the northern spring to devise the next phase of the “path to renewal”.

Irish bishops met with the pope in February after an independent study known as the Murphy Report said the Church operated with a “culture of secrecy” in dealing with charges of abuse by victims and their families in the Archdiocese of Dublin from 1975 to 2004.

Other reports showed the problem was widespread throughout other dioceses and often involved the complicity of Irish authorities.—CNS

the North and South.

The peace agreement also called for residents of Abyei, one of three transitional areas in the centre of Sudan, to vote on whether their region belongs to the North or the South. The bishops pointed out that, amid ongoing disputes, no commission has been established to carry out that part of the agreement and as a result the vote is likely to be delayed.

The bishops raised similar concerns for the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile areas that straddle the North-South boundary.

Failure to offer the people of the three transitional areas “the chance to determine their own future could lead to instability and violence, which could soon draw in the rest of the country and spread to another full scale civil war”, the bishops said.

The renewal of violence would “inevitably have devastating effects on neighbouring countries and the region,” including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic

sarasia Emilio anisie shows her new registration card and a finger she dipped in ink as she finishes the registration process for january’s referendum on south sudan’s secession from the country’s north.

(Photo: Paul jeffrey,cns) Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, Libya and Egypt, the bishops said.—CNS

MISSIONARY SISTERS OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

Our name identifies us and gives us our mission work in response to Jesus who shed His Blood out of love for all people.

Why don’t you come to share with us in this redeeming love of Christ.

Please Contact: Provincialate Eastern Cape P.O. Box 261 MTHATHA 5099 E.C. Tel: 047 535 0701

Provincialate Mariannhill P.O. Box 10487 Ashwood 3605 KZN Tel: 031 700 3767

6

The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Shifting culture

W

HEN Pope Benedict in 2009 flew to Africa, he was asked about his views on HIV/Aids. He outlined the Church’s concern for those infected by the disease and affected by it. He pointed out the great work Catholic institutions and agencies are doing worldwide in addressing the myriad problems created by HIV/Aids.

We echo the Holy Father’s sentiments this week when we look at four different Catholic organisations engaged in HIV/Aids-related initiatives.

These organisations are representative of all the remarkable contributions by Catholic bodies in areas such as palliative care, social upliftment, homecare, administration of medicines, protection and care of Aids orphan, research and advocacy, and so on.

When the pope had outlined that great work, he raised the thorny subject of condoms, presumably in acknowledgement of the fact that no survey of HIV/Aids is complete without discussing the means of prevention.

While the Church has yet to arrive at a teaching governing the use of condoms as a means of preventing infection, Pope Benedict stated his view that the distribution of prophylactics can be counterproductive in restricting the spread of HIV, because their use encourages irresponsible sexual behaviour.

The criticism he received for that was as excessive as the pope’s response was too brief.

When Catholics are calling for a modification of sexual behaviour, they are offering the best solution to the HIV problem. Those most at risk of spreading the virus must change their behaviour, and those not yet at risk must not adopt dangerous practices.

This requires a social and cultural shift that redefines attitudes towards sexuality and gender.

That transformation must also include the social, economic and sexual empowerment of women, who in most of Africa are most at risk of infection, but often not due to their free decisions.

The notion that HIV/Aids is invariably a consequence of immoral conduct must be

robustly challenged. Sexual activity is not always a question of choice.

Our sexual culture, in which even rape is trivialised and in which many women have no autonomy over their own sexuality, will not conquer the virus.

Sexuality in South Africa is not always well understood, partly because the subject is not talked about openly enough.

For example, many young South Africans believe that only vaginal intercourse constitutes sex. So when they are asked whether they abstain from sex, they might well say that they do, even if they engage in other dangerous sexual practices.

The Church’s message must be shaped to address people in the realities they live in. It cannot be conveyed in generalities (never mind platitudes), and it must not patronise.

In terms of prevention, behavioural modification is a long-term project. Individuals may well take heed of the imperative of sexual responsibility now, but they are the pioneers. The task of cultural modification must be taken seriously now, and a determined effort be made to make sexual responsibility a prevailing cultural trait in all of our diverse societies. But we must acknowledge that this will take time.

The more immediate challenges concern the elimination of the stigma of Aids and the associated reluctance to be tested for HIV. Destigmatisation of Aids will diminish resistance to HIV-testing and the often attendant denial of a distressing result. With greater openness to testing and acceptance of HIV-positive results, sexual behaviour should be more widely amended to prevent the spread of the virus.

But there is another danger South Africa faces: a rising indifference towards Aids-related discourse. Much as the subject is unpleasant, frustrating and even unexciting, we must not allow ourselves to be overcome by Aids-fatigue.

Aids will define the future of Southern Africa, our continent and much of the world. Aids is everybody’s business. We must talk about it.

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.

Finding my way back to God

I

COULDN’T agree more with John Lee’s letter “Show lapsed Catholics Jesus” (October 27).

Like Mr Lee’s relative, I have been trying to get back to the Catholic church after being away for more than 20 years. I have been attending Mass for over a year, but I just cannot seem to find myself in the Church and God. The Church prays to bring lapsed Catholics back home, but there is little guidance of any kind for one who is trying to come back or is

A lively and memorable event

I

would like to congratulate Fr Shaun Mary Von Lillienfeld, the choir, all the organisers and of course the assistants who together made the Golden Jubilee at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Johannesburg such a vibrant, lively and memorable event.

I knew that Fr von Lillienfeld and his parishioners had been preparing for eight months, since March, and all their hard work really showed: during the customary Pentecost pilgrimage, I saw the cathedral of Chartres, in France, packed with 10 000 pilgrims praying and singing during the Tridentine Mass. What I witnessed in Johannesburg compares absolutely and will remain forever in my memory and with an equal fondness.

Congratulations to Fr von Lillienfeld and his parishioners.

Jacques-Louis Carbonell, Pretoria

Traditional not boring!

P

LEASE allow me to respond to the grievance or complaint by Paul Ifeanyi Nwobi (November 14). As Parish Pastoral Council chairperson I feel I must give the correct version to all Southern Cross readers.

• At the cathedral we do have structures that are effective and functioning well.

• The celebration of our 50th Anniversary in a traditional way was not Fr Lillienfeld’s idea.

• This matter was discussed in PPC meetings since 2009 and we all agreed that we wanted to celebrate this Mass in a traditional way. As Catholics, we are all aware that in the past Mass was celebrated in Latin, and we don’t believe we have contravened the rules of the Catholic Church by holding a Tridentine Mass on our celebration day.

• I am surprised that Mr Nwobi

new to the Church.

What I have observed is that as a new person in a parish, unless you know someone, no one talks to you.

I almost did not want to go back when I first started going to church again. But I have continued. I have also attended some of the weekly meetings hoping to find something there, but I have not quite found it.

I really want to find myself with God. I read widely and Catholicism has become one of my favourite subjects. I feel encouraged by the decided to go to the media and not discuss the matter with his PPC representatives that took this decision.

• In the PPC meeting on November 3, we assessed our celebration that Mr. Nwobi is referring to, and representatives from different communities were given an opportunity to say something. No one brought up any complaint from their community.

The cathedral has an effective PPC structure and other structures in place—you should have taken the matter to the PPC through your representatives.

With regards to the issue of the speakers, I believe that if this is your main concern you should have spoken to Fr von Lillienfeld; he is always willing and prepared to listen to any complaint, especially if it is about the Mass celebration. I was also sitting in the last row at the back, but I enjoyed the whole celebration.

I urge you to come and see me after Mass on Sunday.

I hope Mr Nwobi will agree with me that as Catholics we need to teach our children about the traditional Mass.

In conclusion I want to stress and emphasise that this was a PPC decision, and anyone who feels that he/she was left out, please don't attack our priest, but raise your issue with the PPC. Veronica Mesatywa, PPC Chairperson, Cathedral of Christ the King, Johannesburg

Conservation not exploitation

R

HINO poaching has been very much in the news lately and should give us cause for reflec-

tion.

Should this trade be made legal (provided, of course, that this trade outlaws killing of animals and restricts trade to current stockpiles and is only augmented by natural deaths)?

If doing this saves one rhino and these associated funds are used for

readings and I want to be part of the Catholic Church in the full manner.

One year later I am still unsure how to go about it. I have read that people like myself and perhaps Mr Lee’s relative would need a spiritual guide to help us along—but who would that be in my parish, for I have not managed to be part of the little circles of friends that seem to be typical in the parish?

I would encourage parishioners to be more welcoming and offer guidance to newcomers or lost Catholics.

Mulambo Silio, Cape Town conservation, then there may be merit in this suggestion. There must be a better way certainly to the current one.

The ongoing killing of such animals for human gratification is a sad reflection of our society.

One can condemn the culture in the east which seems to have an insatiable need for these trophies, but there are South Africans that aid and abet this trade. Consider the recreational fishermen in their expensive ski boats on the South Coast who recently tried to stage a shark fishing contest for the sole purpose of killing sharks. It shows a total lack of appreciation and understanding of nature, of life.

That so many poachers have been arrested recently is cause for hope. Well done to the police and rangers that have made this possible. Our government must do more to conserve our heritage, our fauna and flora.

The government has many dealings with China and eastern countries trying to increase trade. It is about time that they put preservation of our wildlife and flora on this agenda (human rights should already be on this agenda). Also, making locals prosper more from tourism in wildlife will make them appreciate this heritage more.

The Church should also be promoting preservation of the environment, fauna and flora. She has made a small start but more emphasis is required.

The Genesis verses 26 and 28 must be rewritten. Man should not be ruling over the fish; over the birds; over the livestock; over all the earth and over all the creatures.

Rather human beings should be the custodians of these resources; to be used with care and respect.

Steve Lincoln, Ekurhuleni 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.

WORLD AIDS DAY

The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

7

Aids in SA today: Time to play a role With an estimated 5,7 millionpeople infected with HIV/Aids in South Africa, CLAIRE MATHIESON examined the role the Catholic Church has played, and still plays, in the fight against the epidemic.

M

ORE than 12% of South Africa’s population is infected with HIV. The government provides the most Aids care, but there are many that do not qualify for government support and others that are not in reach of the support.

The Catholic Church has provided health care in areas of need in the country since the first nuns arrived in 1849. While the diseases may have changed, the support has not. Aids does not discriminate as all ages, races and both genders can be affected.

The 2007 United Nations Aids report estimates that 5,7 million South Africans are infected HIV/Aids—a number higher than any other country in the world.

According to Dominican Sister Alison Munro of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) Aids Desk, there is evidence that in some areas there is a decrease in the number of new infections.

This has been seen in younger people who have fewer sexual partners and who use contraceptives regularly, which could be a result of education programmes. However, Sr Munro stressed, this is not so in all parts of the country, and “we continue to see new infections in all age groups”.

“The study released recently by the [Department of Health] concerning HIV infection in pregnant women, an obviously sexually active group, indicates that it is really too early to say that rates of infection are dropping. There are also new infections in people in their 30s and over who may be married, but who have more than one sexual partner,” Sr Munro said.

“Despite education and knowledge of HIV and Aids transmission, people continue to involve themselves in risky sexual behaviour.”

Sr Munro said factors that could have contributed to the high number of infections in the country include high rates of sexual violence, age and unemployment.

“We experience high rates of transgenerational sex, [in other words] between older men and [for example] teenage girls; girls are often paid for sexual favours.

Teenagers who have their sexual debut at a young age are at risk of HIV infection; teenage girls are the most vulnerable group.”

Sr Munro said on account of the high infection rate, there has been a response to Aids by every diocese. A presentation made by the SACBC in 2008 at the 15th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, held in Boston, Massachussets, pointed out that faithbased organisations, particularly the Catholic Church, have expanded access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in community clinics across South Africa. The Catholic Church is second only to the South African government for Aids care in the country.

That care took on many forms, Sr Munro said. “Some programmes offer home-based care, others treatment, others life skills and education, others care for orphans and vulnerable children”.

She said Southern Africa has a strain of the virus that is particularly “virulent”, different from that found in other parts of the world.

O

NE of the largest ART treatment programmes is jointly run by the SACBC and Catholic Relief Services. It is funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, which has been widely involved in responding to the epidemic.

In addition to the challenge of reducing the number of infections, effective and regular treatment is problematic. In 2007, 350 000 people died from Aids-related complications—many of which could have been superseded by the treatment offered by government and faithbased organisations. Today about one-third of all pregnant women in South Africa are HIV-infected.

Data from the SACBC’s South African Medical Journal submission in 2008 revealed that 51 out of 925 patients (6%) were lost to follow-up treatment within six months of starting ART. This means that patients ceased being treated for some reason. “The univariate analysis showed that younger age (under 30 years) and pregnancy for women were significantly associated with higher rates” of people lost to follow up treatments.

The submission found “high rates of loss to follow-up diminish treatment options and substantially limit the effectiveness of ART strategies”.

Research at one Catholic-run clinic showed 35% of the patients discontinued ART within six months of the treatment initiation.

The study found that sex and pregnancy status were significantly related to drop-out rate and that pregnant women had the highest risk of stopping treatment.

Sr Munro said the priority is not only to prevent the spread of the disease, but also to keep those infected successfully treated. “Interventions to successfully retain pregnant women in care are urgently needed,” she said.

N

OT only is the loss of life concerning, but the repercussions of mothers not continuing with treatment result in a high number of orphans.

According to project spokesman Johan Viljoen, the Catholic Church has two projects in the Umhlabuyalingana district. The area occupies the northern-most parts of KwaZulu-Natal, and lies along the border with Mozambique.

The programmes—the Ndumo School Orphan Project at Ndumo and Isibane Sezwe at Kosi Bay—offer care and support to orphans. The area is considered the poorest area in the country by Statistics South Africa.

“Many of the orphans are not South African citizens; their parents were Mozambican refugees. They are therefore unable to access even the meagre social assistance offered by the South African government, and live in total destitution,” said Mr Viljoen.

a patient receives treatment at the Holy cross aids Hospice near Emoyeni in KwaZulu-natal. (Photo: Mike Hutchings, cns/reuters) Faith-based organisations are therefore entirely necessary as many people who do not qualify for government assistance.

At the beginning of 2010, the SACBC entered into partnership with Homeplan, a Dutch NGO. Homeplan sponsored the building of 20 houses for orphans in the Umhlabuyalingana District.

With 12% of the population infected with HIV, the challenge remains to maintain education initiatives, as well as treatment programmes which can contribute to HIV-positive people living long lives.

Sr Munro said programmes currently active in the Church include the Education for Life Programme “which is used in many dioceses is a life skills programme promoting abstinence before marriage and fidelity within marriage”.

Catechetical programmes in different dioceses promote education and awareness of the Church’s teaching about sexuality, she said, and furthermore “various Aids programmes in the dioceses offer coun-

selling, training, awareness programmes around primary and secondary prevention of HIV transmission”.

The Catholic Church has reached 170 communities through 100 programmes, 56 outreach centres and has treated in excess of 75 000 people.

Aids has impacted on the development of the country, socially and economically. South Africa’s biggest company, SAB Miller, has said that the cost of the disease included reduced productivity, increased turnover costs, and healthcare costs.

This does not take into account the burden the disease has on the government as a whole.

While statistics suggest education and care schemes are working, South Africa remains the country with the highest infection rate and confirmed cases. The problem does not simply belong to the government.

The Church is playing an important role in the country but, according to Sr Munro, more needs to be done—by everyone.

ST FRANCIS CARE CENTRE

e-mail: development@stfranciscarecentre.co.za

REGISTRATION NO: 011-441 NPO

St Francis Care Centre PostNet Suite # 125 Private Bag X1 East Rand 1462

Re. INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY Dear Friends of st. Francis care centre, The st. Francis care centre is currently providing residential care to 34 children aged between 3 months and 6 years – all of whom have been affected by HiV and aiDs. Fourteen of these children are infected with the HiV virus and are receiving antiretroviral treatment with excellent results. Most of the children have lost their parent/s due to HiV/aiDs and are orphaned. it is true that children are the future, and the centre works tirelessly to place these children back into the family environment as soon as possible. children need love, guidance and nurturing of a family in order to develop into well adjusted and productive adults.

The centre invites you to invest in the future of our country by supporting us financially in order to render the services that these children require. This financial investment in the life of a child will ensure a brighter future for the child - give hope where there was only hardship, poverty and despair. (if you would like to ”adopt a virtual child” and contribute on a regular basis this can be arranged, and you would be provided with regular progress reports). all donations, both big and small, will be appreciated. Donations to our Centre are tax deductible in terms of Section 18A of the Income Tax Act and a receipt will be issued for tax purposes.

Our Banking Details are as follows: naME OF accOunT: sT. Francis carE cEnTrE BanK: sTanDarD BanK OF sa BrancH: BOKsBurg K90 BrancH cODE: 011842 accOunT nO: 220938245 sWiFT cODE: sBZaZajj For more information on our services please visit our website: www.stfranciscarecentre.co.za We thank you in advance for your favourable consideration of our request to invest in the future of a child. yours sincerely cynthia Dicks development@stfranciscarecentre.co.za

8

The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

WORLD AIDS DAY

When the obvious isn’t obvious South Africans seem to have given up on finding a cure for the causes of HIV/Aids, preferring to concentrate on treatment, jOsEPH WiLsOn Msc argues.

A

NEW book by the Rev Frank Chikane, the former close aide to ex-President Thabo Mbeki, provides a fascinating insight into Mr Mbeki’s personal thinking and response to the HIV/Aids pandemic facing South Africa on the threshold of the third millennium.

In The Chikane Files, the former director-general in the Presidency writes: “There were five critical questions we had to answer. The first was about how we could prevent transmission from pregnant mothers. The second was about treatment for those living with HIV. The third was about the impact of HIV on the poor. The fourth was about research to find a vaccine. This led to the fifth, key question: about the science of HIV/AIDS. “This debate went on for a shorter time than we imagine— only about two years, from 2000 to 2002.”

Another emperor without clothes! Probably more accurate to say: another emperor without wisdom.

I honestly thought Rev Chikane was building up to the crescendo question: “This led to the fifth, key question, indeed the most obvious: how could we convince South

Africans to change their behaviour to mitigate these preventable deaths?”

Imagine a very large river in front of the emperor’s palace (and I don’t mean that casino!) where more than a thousand dead bodies float past every day. The emperor looks out and cries: “My God, treatment, research, science! My kingdom for a non-toxic drug!” Would he not be better served by sending some of his wiser cabinet ministers upstream to try to find out why the people are dying in the first place?

And on finding the reason, prevent it at source? Instead, our emperor orders cabinet ministers to wear red-ribbons to work and chooses to spend his time acquainting himself with the contra indications on the medicine bottle.

But if you ask the wrong question, you get a detour.

Mr Mbeki seems to have addressed every question except the essential one: How do we prevent HIV at source? When prevention did come up, it was always to lift up that uncontested saviour of the masses: the condom.

But rather than address behavioural change, that is, the source, Mr Mbeki’s “key” focus became the campaign to mitigate the toxicity of antiretrovirals.

While this might not be wrong in itself, the emphasis however was—and still is—in the wrong place. No one in leadership pointed upstream. Rev Chikane did not mention government’s about-face around 1990 from enthusiastically advocating CBA (condomise, be faithful, abstain) to ABC as the pandemic increased.

Notwithstanding Mr Mbeki’s

concern about the toxicity of the drugs and the need to use them in combination with other drugs to prevent mutation, it is unforgivable that government did not do more to publicly endorse tried, tested, proven and far cheaper methods of HIV prevention.

Despite his unending trips around Africa, Mr Mbeki might have put ideology aside and lingered longer in Uganda to find out first-hand a successful African solution to a global pandemic. Instead, he became fixated on the West’s double standards.

They expected Africans and developing nations to ingest toxic antiretroviral drugs which they would not countenance alone for their own citizens. The US Food and Drug Administration was loath to recommend monotherapy antiretroviral treatment for its own citizens, but Africans could chance it for themselves! The recommended triple combination of drugs would prove prohibitive in price. Mr Mbeki saw politics. But none of this stopped the body count coming down the river.

Ten years on, what can we say?

The body count coming down the river has slowed, and like decreasing homicide figures (down from 20 000 to 18 500), people go away thinking: “Oh, it must be on the mend!” The sad reality is that it is not on the mend.

South Africans have settled for treatment rather than cure. When last did you hear an official government warning to change behaviour?

One behaviour that won’t change in the foreseeable future is, come December 1, government ministers will pan out all across

President jacob Zuma waves a flag as he dances during the launch of a massive HiV counselling and testing campaign in april. in his article Fr joseph Wilson questions whether south africa is addressing the aids crisis correctly. (Photo: Peter andrews, reuters/cns) South Africa stadia, like the old guard on the Kremlin, solemn and wearing their red-ribbons, calling gravely the now well-torn line: Comrades, wear a condom! This is the unchallenged orthodoxy of the day and will be repeated like a tired responsorial psalm.

But with so many bodies still floating down the river, isn’t it time that this orthodoxy be fundamentally questioned? Is this the best we can do: merely plugging a hole with latex in the bursting dyke of human misery? Is this Africa’s best: bringing barrier technology to solve what Pope John Paul II called “a pathology of the spirit”?

Despite its antipathy to the West, this government will knuckle under and chant orthodoxy, which ensures continuing and badly-needed overseas funding for its programmes.

To prove her credentials, it will only be a matter of time before we see the South African flag on the government issued condom itself.

We do this for Africa! Cometh the day, the reassuring noises will be made, the ribbons worn, the stir-

ring speeches made. Yeah, we will go home feeling we have struck our annual blow against the disease, and like donning the Bafana Bafana jersey every Friday, it is bound to help the boys to kick the ball straight. It costs nothing; it means everything!

“We know with great confidence that at least one in ten of all people in South Africa is HIV-positive,” says the Treatment Action Campaign. UNAids and the World Health Organization estimate that Aids has claimed 350 000 South African lives in 2007—nearly 1 000 every day (UNAids/WHO “2008 Report on Global AIDS epidemic”).

Imagine the outcry, the rolling mass action in this country, with cabinet ministers outdoing each other to demand “real change”, if a thousand bodies were pulled out of South African mine-shafts every day!

But then, like everything else in South Africa, even death itself has become politicised. n Fr Joseph Wilson MSC is the priest in charge of St Martin de Porres parish in Geluksdal, Johannesburg.

St. Joseph’s Home for Children with Chronic Medical Conditions was established by the Pallottine Missionary Sisters and is located in Cape Town. This year marks our anniversary, a 75-year legacy of healing poor, medically fragile children at no cost to the families.

Please visit our website at www.stjosephshome.org.za and we invite you to join us for a tour of St Joseph’s to experience first-hand the big and small miracles that make St Joseph’s unique.

If after learning about us, you feel that we are worthy of your support and trust, we would welcome your joining hands with us.

We need caring people like the readers of The Southern Cross, if we are to continue to give children, a second chance at a healthy childhood.

May God’s blessings be upon you.

The Pallottine Missionary Sisters and the Staff of St. Joseph’s

children@stjosephshome.org.za

www.stjosephshome.org.za

WORLD AIDS DAY

The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

9

Willing to get involved in the messiness of life When it comes to the reality of HIV/Aids in Southern Africa, the Church and its affiliated HIV/Aids organisations are at the forefront of the battle against the pandemic. Many times however, this fight is done under trying circumstances as NEILAN ADAMS discovers.

I

N her document, “Conversation with the Catholic Church: a response to Aids”, Sr Alison Munro OP writes of the many challenges faced by organisations in the field.

The Church and other faithbased organisations “bring an enormous commitment to the fight against Aids and very few resources in the grand scheme of things other than an army of people of faith who recognise their own personal call to try and make some difference”, said Sr Munro who heads the Aids Office of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC).

This army of workers is incorporated into more than 100 different HIV/Aids relief organisations in the Southern African region. They work in conjunction with the Aids Office to coordinate funding, share information, enable learning opportunities, and facilitate training. These organisations often work out of the limelight and the vital work they do across the region—in rural and urban areas— provide care, education and support to those infected and affected by the disease and their communities.

Morning Star Children’s Centre (www.morningstar.org.za), a Catholic day-care facility for children infected and living with HIV and Aids, in Welkom in the Free State, is well aware of the reality facing young children affected by the virus.

Driven by a deep Christian compassion for the plight of those suffering from the disease in her community, Joan Adams became involved in establishing the centre in January 2000.

It provides a range of services to the community including daycare and Grade R for children from birth to seven years old. Meals, medication, doctor consultations, handing out of food parcels to impoverished families, counselling as well as HIV/Aids education in the surrounding areas take place and are free of charge.

When speaking about the perception of the illness in the community, MS Adams said: “Aids is a socially unacceptable disease accompanied by stigma, isolation and rejection.” She says many children are orphaned and abandoned and end up at the mercy of caregivers, lawmakers and institutions who cannot provide the appropriate care for these children.

Much of Morning Star’s funding comes from Britain, where annual trips are undertaken to solicit funds. Besides funding, their most pressing need is a mini-bus and additional premises in neighbouring townships.

H

OPE Cape Town (www.hope capetown.com), was founded in 2001 as a project of the Germanspeaking Catholic Cmmunity of the peninsula. It provides outreach, education and counselling at a Community level, focusing on HIV/Aids and tuberculosis (TB) in the peninsula.

The organisation is based at and works with the Ithemba (Hope) Infectious Paediatric Ward at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, and is linked to the University of Stellenbosch. It also works with “Kid-Cru”, Tygerberg Hospital’s research unit for paediatric infectious diseases.

At HOPE’s core is the training of community health workers who live in the community where they work and are chosen for their people skills, maturity, energy and commitment. They are thoroughly trained and provide an essential service in 18 clinics in and around Cape Town, Paarl, Hermanus and Grabouw.

Board member Fr Wim Lindeque says that “massive” denial of the disease as well as fear, stigmatisation and ignorance are among the challenges faced by the organisation. Fr Lindeque said another great challenge is “providing health care workers for the poorest and most under-resourced communities in the Western Cape”.

The workers are “trying to see that people who are living with HIV/Aids and are on medication get enough healthy food so that they are able to take the medications properly and successfully”.

Funding for the organisation is secured through donations, mostly from overseas and an annual fundraising ball.

L

OCATED in the heart of the HIV/Aids pandemic in the region is the Blessed Gérard Care Centre in Mandeni in the Eshowe diocese, KwaZulu-Natal. The centre cares for people living with the virus and is run by the Brotherhood of Blessed Gérard (www.bbg.org.za), which is the relief organisation of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The centre, which includes as Aids hospice, provides Aids education to the community, home care, and Aids orphan care.

The hospice, the largest inpatient unit in South Africa, runs the Highly Active Anti Retroviral Therapy Programme, which provides antiretroviral medication to the poor in the Mandeni municipal district. It also provides palliative care and counselling to terminally ill patients, and counselling to their families.

Benedictine Father Gérard Tonque Lagleder, director of the care centre, said the Brotherhood is a community-based organisation with over a thousand community volunteers involved in various projects.

But, says Fr Lagleder, the centre is faced with many challenges.

Running such a large project solely on fundraising is a of the biggest difficulties. Another significant problem is the lack of professional personnel because of the rural location of the centre.

S

T Joseph’s Care and Support Trust (www.stjosephcare.org.za) at Sizanani village near Bronkhorstspruit, 55km east of Pretoria, was initiated in 1999 by Elisabeth Schilling.

The trust owes its existence to Fr Karl Kuppelwieser who started a Catholic mission on the Roodepoort Farm just five kilometres outside Bronkhorstspruit. The mission was run by St Vincent de Paul Society and would eventually become the

a health care worker from the Brotherhood of Blessed gérard care centre in Mandeni, KwaZulu-natal, administering to a home-based care patient.

Even though these boys from the Morning star children’s centre in Welkom have been affected by the aids pandemic, they are still full of smiles.

Sizanani Village Trust.

The trust has a thousand patients who are on antiretroviral treatment with 10 258 patients in HIV/Aids care. It also takes care of 520 orphans and vulnerable children, most of whom have lost their parents due to Aids.

Robert Mafinyori of St Jo-seph’s, said that negative perceptions about those infected by the disease persist in the community. He says that those living with the virus are viewed with suspicion within their families, their workplace and the broader community.

Despite the myths around the disease, St Joseph’s is working to dispel these negative perceptions and has been well received into the community.

Through its health services department, the trust strives to offer holistic palliative care to patients.

The in-patient unit offers respite, terminal care, pain and

SACBC AIDS OFFICE 012 3236458 aidstype@sacbc.org.za www.sacbc.org.za

SOPHIATOWN COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES offers free and confidential counselling services to individuals, couples, and families in distress.

Contact Florence at 011 482 8530 for an appointment or come and see us at 4 Lancaster Street, Westdene (opposite the University of Johannesburg).

After hours sessions are available for adult clients.

symptom control. Patients are also provided with counselling, spiritual and physical support.

The care flows out to the homebased care programme where patients’ needs are met.

Through support groups, patients also have a platform to share their experiences and learn from each other.

This support is provided to patients with the hope that their health improves enabling them to become active in the community again. St Joseph’s tries to empower patients through income-generating projects which are run by its community development department.

“As an NGO most of our funding comes through donations both locally and internationally,” said Mr Mafinyori. Approximately 80% of funding comes from the international community, while 20% comes from the local community, government and local companies.

MASIKHULISANE is a community-based care agency.

Established in 1998, it offers lifeskills and survival tips amongst rural people as it offers: l Home-based care in Ixobho and surrounding communities; l Youth lifeskills and counselling; l Kick start funding and income generation.

For more information please contact: Nozipho Memela Telephone: 039 834 1200 Mariannhill: 031 700 2799 (head office) Fax: 039 834 1126 E-mail: bheki.jama@gmail.com

10

The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

WORLD AIDS DAY

Support Needed!!!

The parish: A place to fight HIV/Aids The parish can play an important role in addressing issues of HIV/Aids. BrucE BOTHa sj explains what his multicultural parish in Johannesburg does.

Sacred Heart Mission Clinic, Parish of Nzhelele HIV/AIDS Response Caring for the young, old, sick and dying.

Feeding and clothing Orphans and Vulnerable Children Ministering to People Living With Aids HIV Counselling and Testing Education for Life and Peer Education P.O.Box 1189, Louis Trichardt, 0920 Phone & Fax: (015) 973 0018 nzhelelehbc@webmail.co.za

World AIDS Day, 1 December We, the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg AIDS Commission, encourage you to join us in praying for men, women and children living with HIV. May our active Christian service be an outflowing of the love and compassion of Christ to our brothers and sisters.

Christ has

No body now on earth but yours No hands but yours No feet but yours Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion looks out to the world, Yours are the feet with which he goes about doing good, Yours are the hands with which he blesses now.

God of Healing and Hope We bring before You now all who live with HIV and AIDS, Families and communities broken and struggling to survive.

Give them the strength and courage of Your peace.

In the power of the Spirit, Bless all who offer loving care and who work to sustain and rebuild communities.

God of healing, God of hope, Save us and help us.

God of knowledge and understanding, We bring before you now all those deceived by ignorance and rumour; All those possessed by prejudice and fear; All who act harshly and oppressively.

Give them the freedom of Your redeeming truth.

In the power of the Spirit, Bless all who work in AIDS prevention and education, All who seek to raise awareness; All who are searching for new forms of treatment.

God of knowledge, God of understanding, Save us and help us.

God of love and faith, We bring before You now all who are shunned and condemned by their neighbours; All who find themselves isolated and alone; All who fear for their children’s future without them; All who are denied treatment; All who are abused.

Give them the assurance of Your unfailing love.

In the power of the Spirit, Bless all who welcome, support, befriend, All who respect and value the dignity of fellow human beings, All who take action on their behalf.

God of love, God of faith, Save us and help us — Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen

E

XPERIENCE has shown that in a sub-Saharan African context, the parish can be a privileged place to fight HIV/Aids.

Pastors and parishioners are involved in a ministry of solidarity with those infected by HIV and affected by Aids: visiting the sick, organising home-based care, doing pastoral and counselling ministry, organising burials and supporting widows and orphans.

Let me begin by giving the context of our Holy Trinity parish in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. We are located on the edge of the city centre, next to the University of the Witwatersrand.

The parish includes areas of great wealth and great poverty. It is multiracial, multiethnic, multilingual and multinational. There is also a large population of homeless and vulnerable people, mostly men, many from Zimbabwe.

Approximately five years ago a small group of medical students, who were connected to the university residence that the Society of Jesus runs, asked if they could begin a basic clinic for the homeless that came to the parish on a Monday evening for the soup kitchen that we run.

Last year this group decided to expand the services that they provided into HIV care. A non-governmental organisation volunteered to do counselling and testing training for the medical students. This NGO also provides the test kits that are used, with ongoing quality control and mentorship. Those individuals who test positive are referred to local clinics for follow-up CD4 counts, so that they can access anti-retrovirals.

We had hoped to become a satellite treatment centre of Nazareth House but this plan has fallen through, due to a cut in their funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief.

W

e are also running a prevalence study in conjunction with the VCT (voluntary counselling and testing) programme. This has the approval of the university’s ethics committee for research on human subjects.

When we began the VCT programme, we realised that no-one had a clear idea of the public health issues that the homeless experienced.

This study is meant to explore their vulnerabilities and resilience, so that future interventions would be more focused.

Though the sample size is not yet statistically significant, it would appear that the HIV prevalence among this group is approximately 30%, twice the national average for this demographic population.

Two years ago, the parish established an HIV/Aids group to explore ways in which the community needed to be served and to plan a pastoral response to HIV/Aids in our parish community. Following on from this, the group was trained in HIV education and basic listening and counselling skills. Their names have been published in our bulletin as resource people to whom anyone infected with HIV and affected by Aids can turn.

On a number of occasions, the group has arranged VCT after all the weekend Eucharist, with large numbers of parishioners being tested.

They have provided educational opportunities, showing topical movies and hosting discussions on issues raised.

The challenges that we face are the following: expanding the services that we give to the homeless so that we can offer holistic medical and psychosocial care; greater sensitisation of parishioners so that they are aware of the need and benefits of knowing their HIV status; and working with students in the area of responsible sexuality.—CISA n Fr Bruce Botha SJ writes from Holy Trinity parish in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

Loreto Convent School realises the devastating effect of Aids on the community, and would like to extend a message of support to all caregivers, social workers and counsellors.

May God bless you in your endeavours and give you courage and strength

PERSPECTIVES

The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

Getting ready for Christmas T HE popular definition for Advent as “preparation for Christmas” is good—but it’s not the full truth.

It is good, because Christmas is the birthday of Christ, which is important for the whole of humankind.

The importance of the birth of Jesus was highlighted by the search for him by the Magi, who came from the far-away east; an event we celebrate soon after Christmas on the feast of Epiphany.

In our time, the preparation for Christmas begin in the business world as early as in August. The closer we get to December, the more the business world keeps telling us that Christmas is the time for buying gifts, because the shops want to boost their sales.

Not that giving gifts to our loved ones at Christmas is not a good. Our giving of gifts reminds us of the love God our Father has for each one of us: “So great is the love of God for us, that he sent his only Son to be our Saviour.”

So in preparation for this Christmas, let us desire to rediscover the true meaning of the giving of gifts to each other: to express our selfless love for each other. In doing so we try to imitate God our Father, who loves us with a truly selfless love.

Read 1 John 4:7-12: “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God...”

If you have children, impress on them that they should not look forward to

Christmas solely because they hope to get presents. Help them to look forward to Christmas because it is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, who has made God’s love for us visible.

We are reminded in the gospel of St John which is read on Christmas Day: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, as the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” (1:14).

As Advent begins, I strongly recommend that homes have an Advent wreath.

Gather around it with the whole family on a particular day of each week during Advent, and light a candle at the beginning of each new week of Advent. Perhaps sing a few hymns with your chil-

in the first article of his three-part series on advent, Bishop Bucher suggests that families pray around an advent wreath. (Photo: Lisa a johnston, cns)

A dangerous silence

K

ENYA’S The Star newspaper recently ran two major stories which, in my opinion, should have met with a strong and clear response from Catholic authorities here.

The first was headlined, “How the Catholic Church’s child sex abuse scandal affects Kenyans”. The second was a frontpage report titled, “Cardinal Njue faces rebellion”, with the subhead, “Priests complain of dictatorial leadership”.

In the first story The Star merely recounted what everyone already knows about clerical sexual abuse—overseas.

There was little on Kenya. The paper rehashed last year’s abuse allegations against well-known Italian missionary, Fr Renato Kizito Sesana. Police had promised to make the findings of their investigations public, but never did.

And then The Star made fresh claims against Mgr Cornelius Schilder, the immediate former bishop of Ngong diocese (which serves the famous Maasai). The Dutch Mill Hill missionary retired last year, reportedly on health grounds. But the report said, without citing any evidence, that he was forced out after a Vatican probe established he had sexually molested altar boys as while a priest and as a bishop.

The archbishop of Nairobi and chairman of the Kenya Episcopal Conference, Cardinal John Njue, was said to be aware of the case against Bishop Schilder. Again the report did not provide any evidence for this.

More curiously, neither Bishop Schilder, nor the diocese of Ngong, nor Cardinal Njue, nor the Vatican (represented in Kenya by papal nuncio Archbishop Alain Paul Lebeaupin) were ever reached for comment on the allegations.

The Media Institute, which monitors and defends media freedom, freedom of expression and media professionalism in East Africa, questioned the story run by The Star. In its weekly press review, the institute said there were many uncorroborated claims in the story. The organisation also stated that “journalistic ethics require practitioners to balance a story by giving persons adversely mentioned the opportunity to respond to allegations against them before publication”.

What is terribly sad, however, is that Cardinal Njue (who also happens to be the apostolic administrator of Ngong diocese), the Catholic Church in Kenya and the nunciature have not yet seen the need to come out to protest against The Star report and to set the record straight.

Days after that report, The Star ran the second story about the “doctorial leadership” [sic] of Cardinal Njue and alleged rebellion in the archdiocese of Nairobi.

Things have become so bad that some priests don’t pick up Cardinal Njue’s calls, the report said. Although the cardinal’s secretary was quoted as denying the claims, the whole report painted a very bad picture of the leading bishop in Kenya’s Catholic Church and the country’s only cardinal.

Like in the Ngong diocese case, neither

KRUGER PARK VIVA SAFARIS

Bishop Hubert Bucher

reflections on advent

dren, and pray from a prayer book, or pray a decade of the Rosary, or say prayers just as they come from your hearts.

Of course, while gathering round the Advent wreath one should switch off the TV—and explain to the children why—so that everybody can really concentrate on the celebration of this domestic Advent service.

If you are familiar with Bible Sharing, you could also read a passage from the Bible during the service and invite everybody to say whether there was perhaps a word or a sentence in that passage which touched them in particular.

One could also invite a person from the neighbourhood to join such a service, especially a person who is very lonely.

This would bring joy into his or her life.

In this way, you and your family would live out the love of God which became apparent in the birth of his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at Christmas. n Bishop Hubert Bucher is the retired bishop of Bethlehem in the Free State. This is the first of his three-part series of reflections on Advent.

Henry Makori Letter from nairobi

the archdiocese of Nairobi nor the Catholic Church here has come out in defence of Cardinal Njue and to clarify matters. Only four priests, all officials of the diocesan clergy association in Nairobi, wrote to The Star challenging the report.

The reports have obviously caused considerable confusion among the eight million or so Catholics in Kenya. You can imagine the amount of damage caused to the Church in a country where the media is rated as the most trusted institution.

The situation has certainly been worsened by the silence of Church authorities.

The silence is unfortunate—and dangerous. When the Pharisees and scribes accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons, did Jesus simply keep silent about the claim (Mk 3:22; Mt 12:24)?

How did the Apostles react to the many lies told about Jesus and his work?

And has the Church throughout the centuries failed to respond to those who attack it? The answer to all these questions is no.

When very damaging claims are made so publicly against Church leaders and there is hardly any response, what is to stop people from concluding that the allegations are actually true? That is one way by which people, slowly, begin to lose faith in Church leadership and, eventually, in the Church itself.

Chris Chatteris SJ Pray with the Pope

Understanding pain General Intention: That our experience of suffering may help us better understand the pain of the many people who are alone, sick, or aged, and stir us to generous help.

HE term “compassion fatigue” aptly describes that feeling of being so overwhelmed by media reports of the human condition in a world of 24/7 “rolling” news bulletins that we want to switch off.

The initially disappointing response of the international community to the devastating floods in Pakistan this year was an example of how, confronted by the world’s woes, humanity can dull its conscience and close its heart.

If that is the case with our brothers and sisters that we are aware of through the media, what chance do those who suffer in hidden silence have of experiencing our compassion? The isolated old, or the sick in hospital with no one to visit them, these do not normally have the opportunity to make media appeals to the local, let alone the international community.

As the intention suggests, their appeal comes not through the media, but through the powerful message sent to us by our own experiences of what they are suffering. A time in hospital with its inevitable pain, discomfort and sense of bored isolation, can remind us of our neighbour’s plight. It’s striking how, when visiting the sick, patients are often acutely aware of and sympathetic towards those in the ward who are worse off than themselves. Indeed, sometimes one is inspired by how some patients will minister to fellow-sufferers through their compassionate presence and practical assistance.

What makes the human condition of loneliness, illness and old age bearable is “the milk of human kindness” of those who take the trouble to practice the Lord’s ministry: “I was sick and you visited me.” Such souls are likely to have understood the salvific significance of their own suffering.

T

Open the doors Missionary Intention: That the peoples of the earth may open their doors to Christ and to his Gospel of peace, brotherhood and justice. any of the peoples of the earth have indeed opened their doors to the Gospel. However, some very significant ones remain closed for political, ideological, religious or cultural reasons. And some societies which once welcomed the faith seem to be shutting their doors to Christ and his Good News.

A particular perplexing closed door that the Church stands before today is the secular one.

The contemporary secular person simply does not see the point of faith, feeling he or she can cope perfectly well without God, thank you very much.

Here we are confronted by the mystery of indifference to religious sensibility. There may be an element of intellectual fashion here (also pretty mysterious), with the snobbery that goes with it. In some circles today it would be considered quite bad form to believe in God and even worse to proclaim a belief in an institutional form of it. The worst horror would be to admit to being a practising Catholic, which for some has become a byword for obscurantism and backwardness.

However, it is the very nature of fashion to change, and we can therefore hope that a greater openness to belief might succeed the fashion of indifference and the affectation of indifference.

To our hopes we add our prayers, that this and the other doors to the Good News might be opened by people with open minds and hearts.

M

(Member of SATSA)

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on DStv audio channel 170

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Father Xico with partially completed church building

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11

12

The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

COMMUNITY

The Pilgrimage of grace, with pilgrims from all over gauteng, this year celebrated 21 years of pilgrimage and the start of their rosary group, which is still going strong. Over its 21 years pilgrims have visited Lourdes, italy, Poland and Medjugorje.

newly ordained Fr Thabo Mmolaoa receives a gift from a child who attended his ordination at the shrine of the immaculate conception in Tsheseng, Qwa Qwa. Bishop jan de groef of Bethlehem ordained Fr Mmolaoa. (submitted by Br rex Harrison)

Fr Michael Flattery of good shepherd church in Hartbeespoortdam celebrated an outdoor Mass at the parish’s garden of remembrance. Parishioners placed photos of their deceased loved ones on the wall during the Mass.

archbishop stephen Brislin of cape Town presided over the confirmation of 16 candidates of st raphael’s church in Khayelitsha.

With the youths are Fr audecius Tindimwebwa, archbishop Brislin, Fr Mengisto Kedo and Deacon Dominic Maruping.

Members of the Legion of Mary renewed their vows at st Blaize church in Mossel Bay in the diocese of Oudsthoorn under the spiritual direction of Fr Edward alkaster. (submitted by sr johanna Monica)

youths from st joseph’s Mission in richmond in the nothern cape, received their first Holy communion.

Pictured with the youth are Fr Dominic Muheim cMM and Deacon Lufeyo Mpaha cMM.

CONGREGATION OF MARIANNHILL MISSIONARIES

A great gift for SA Catholics abroad Get Southern Africa’s national Catholic newspaper to South African Catholics living overseas every week by giving them this Christmas a subscription to

Ora et Labora 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

IN FOCUS Edited by Nadine Christians

The Southern Cross Digital

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Send photographs, with sender’s name and address on the back, and a SASE to: The Southern Cross, Community Pics, Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000 or e-mail them to: pics@scross.co.za

PERSPECTIVES

The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

13

Expert sees surge in retreats among young Noted British retreat director Fr Ron Darwen is curently in South Africa. He cspoke to cHris cHaTTEris sj about how retreats are becoming increasingkly ecumenical and about a quest for spiritual silence among young Brits.

‘L

ISTENING to what God is saying to you in your life and sharing it with someone else.” This one-line definition of Ignatian spirituality comes courtesy of Fr Ron Darwen SJ, who currently is in South Africa to give a 30-day silent retreat at the Mohale Retreat Centre in Pretoria.

Fr Darwen comes from Preston in the north of England. He’s in his 80th year but still managed to survive the rigours of the cattleclass flight from London.

He’s a busy man back in Birmingham, where he works as a spiritual director and gives different types of retreats: weekends of recollection, 8-day silent retreats and 30-day retreats.

He also gives the “19th Annotation” retreat which is an adaptation of the 30-day retreat. It enables those who cannot afford

the time and/or money to go on the full 30 days, to spread the experience over a year or more, working it into their normal lifestyle.

Asked about trends in spirituality in Britain, Fr Darwen said that, as in South Africa, retreats are usually ecumenical and that many of his “directees” are therefore Anglicans and Methodists.

He recently gave a 30-day retreat to a Methodist minister who travelled all the way from Port Elizabeth to be directed by him. Incidentally, Fr Darwen’s current retreat in Pretoria caters for an ecumenical group and the Mohale Retreat Centre was set up and is run by a Methodist couple.

In Britain today, retreats are appealing to the media. This began with the BBC television reality programme The Monastery. In the show, a group of ordinary young men—some with faith, some without it—shared the life of the Benedictine community of Worth Abbey in Sussex.

During this time they received spiritual accompaniment from individual monks and they attended the offices and liturgies and generally entered into the regime of ora et labora (work and prayer) laid down in St Benedict’s rule.

Apart from having a deep impact on some of the partici-

Fr ron Darwen: “retreats challenge us to find out what god has to offer.” pants, the programme was a great media success.

As a follow-up, the Benedictines and Jesuits in Britain have recently completed a programme in which a similar group of mostly “unchurched” men and women, having been introduced to silence at Worth Abbey, then go on to do an 8-day Ignatian retreat at St Beuno’s Retreat Centre amid the wild beauty of North Wales.

The series is called The Big Silence and Fr Darwen believes that the title illustrates a growing interest in silence in a busy, noisy world.

Fr Darwen suggests that this

current popular, media-based fascination with retreats is an interesting phenomenon in Britain. He thinks Ignatian spirituality speaks to a pluralistic, individualistic and secularised society because, as St Ignatius himself observed, retreats can be profitably made by a very wide range of people.

The focus of a retreat is primarily on the individual before God. Organised religion stays in the background for a while. However, once the relationship with God has been deepened through experiences of conversion and renewal, retreatants will often look again at their relationship with the Church and society.

“It starts with you and moves to us,” Fr Darwen said.

In the popular Catholic mind, the word “retreat” is often still associated with priests and religious, something for the ‘professionals’ and not the laity. The statistics suggest otherwise, with around 50% of people doing 8-day retreats with the Jesuit Institute here in South Africa being laypeople. Some laypeople have made the 30-day retreat.

Another common reaction to retreats is that they are like military obstacle courses in which the silence is the mother of all the obstacles, fiendishly designed to test one’s spiritual mettle.

a priest hears confession during a retreat.

Certainly, silence is a challenge for some, though many people are amazed to find how easily they move into it and how it turns out to be a “sacred space” where God speaks powerfully to their hearts.

And the point of having shorter retreats is to introduce people gradually to the practices of silence, reflection and prayer. No one starts off with a 30-day retreat!

Fr Darwen would therefore stress that retreats, especially in the Ignatian tradition, are not some great, impenetrable mystery for an elite, but are for the whole Church.

They very simply “challenge us to find out what God has to offer”. n For more information on retreats visit www.jesuitinstitute.org.za

Exorcist’s life turns into a Hollywood movie Fr Thomas is one of the last exorcists in the United States. Now his experiences are being turned into a movie. He tells MarK PaTTisOn about the film and his life.

R

ARE is the priest in the United States who holds the title of diocesan exorcist. Rarer still is the priest who is the focus of a book on his training as an exorcist, not to mention that the book has inspired the making of a feature film called The Rite—starring Anthony Hopkins, no less.

But that’s all become part of the life of Fr Gary Thomas, a priest of the diocese of San José, California, who is pastor of Sacred Heart church in Saratoga.

When some of his fellow priests were discussing that another priest had declined an offer from the bishop to serve as diocesan exorcist, he thought to himself: “I could do that.”

Not that it was easy, Fr Thomas said.

For one thing, he could find no US-based course of study for priests to be trained as exorcists. He wound up taking a threeand-a-half-month sabbatical to go the Rome seminary of the Legionaries of Christ to get training from a priest based there.

His experiences are recounted in the 2009 book The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist by Matt Baglio.

But Hollywood being Hollywood, when reality isn’t good enough for the big screen, it invents a new reality. “In the movie, I don’t start out as a priest. I start out as a seminarian who has a faith crisis,” Fr Thomas said. “I am ordained eventually before the end of the movie.

In the book, I’m already a priest and I’m not having a faith crisis.”

Hopkins plays a priest-mentor to the seminarian, who anchors the story.

Fr Thomas explained that “two months before Pope John Paul II died, he issued a directive through Cardinal Ratzinger’s [now Pope Benedict XVI] office that every bishop train and appoint an exorcist”.

With no US training available, Fr Thomas studied three days a week during his sabbatical. “Partially, I made up my own curriculum,” he said. “There’s no cookbook for this stuff.”

A priest for 27 years, Fr Thomas has been San José’s exorcist for the past four years. In that time, he said, he has conducted exorcisms on five people. The results, he acknowledged, are mixed.

“One is ongoing and has been successful, but has not been completely delivered,” Fr Thomas said. “Two decided not to continue after a time because they lost patience. And the other two, the persons are dramatically better.”

Fr gary Thomas holds a crucifix he uses in performing an exorcism. Fr Thomas’ training as an exorcist is recounted in a 2009 non-fiction book titled The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, and now the book is being made into a feature film starring anthony Hopkins.

(Photo: Don Feria, cns) But those are just the five whose cases he’s taken. “I get calls from all over the United States and e-mails, and I try to direct them to their own local church. It’s difficult to diagnose these things over the phone,” Fr Thomas said.

“Every person who approaches you has a different story. You have to be able to discern [if] what they’re bringing is a psychological matter or a preternatural matter or a combination of both—or neither, none of the above. Quite honestly, no two situations are identical.”

Exorcism, he added, is the last step. He said he has uttered a “prayer of deliverance” over some people who fear they’ve been possessed.

Fr Thomas said he served as a consultant on the set of The Rite, with an anticipated released date in the US of January 28, 2011.

“I’m very excited about the release of this movie,” he said. “I think the movie is very authentic about the topic. I was very impressed with Anthony Hopkins and Colin O’Donoghue [who plays the seminarian] and their portrayal of the ministry of exorcism as accurate…as was the scene that specifically involved exorcism.”

Mark Tuohy, a co-producer of “The Rite,” said of Fr Thomas: “I think he’s a great guy.”

Fr Thomas said he is certain that demonic possession exists. He noted that one theme in common with his five exorcism clients is “they had opened doorways to the demonic, either through

witchcraft or going to witch doctors or other people having gone to witch doctors on their behalf”.

Asked about the case of the unsuccssful Republican US Senate aspirant Christine O’Donnell of Delaware and her comment that she had “dabbled into witchcraft” in high school, Fr Thomas replied: “I find that incredibly troubling that a person who had taken part in witchcraft would run” for office.

Ms O’Donnell made the comment in an appearance on a 1999 television show.

The segment had never aired until the host of the show, comedian Bill Maher, aired it during the election campaign.

In interviews, Ms O’Donnell has attributed her experimentation with witchcraft to being a teenager. Raised in a Catholic family, she describes herself as an evangelical Christian.

“I think that immediately disqualifies her from public office [as it would for] anybody who engages in witchcraft or engages in any new age activities,” the priest said. “It opens doorways to the diabolical. I think it impairs people’s judgments.

“There’s a difference between witchcraft,” Fr Thomas said, “and somebody who goes and has their palm read.”

With no American training for exorcists available, Fr Thomas said he has given orientation sessions to other priests. “But spending a day and a half with me is nothing compared to the three and a half months I spent in Rome.”—CNS

Who are the Norbertines?

To misquote William Shakespeare: “A rose by any other name smells just as sweet”

For further info, contact: Vocations Director, St Norbert’s Priory PO Box 48106, Kommetjie, 7976 (Cape Town) OR Tel 021 783 1768 Fax 021 783 3742

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The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

PILGRIMAGE

The desert life T HE Holy Land is tiny. It covers about half the size of Mpumalanga—and that’s South Africa’s second smallest province.

With that in mind, the geological and meteorological variations in the region are striking. Our group of Southern Cross pilgrims left the fertile Galilee, and before we could catch our breath, we were in the desert, where the sun shines hotter and the air is drier and not much grows.

It is on the Mount of Temptation, which overlooks the oasis of Jericho, that we remember Jesus’ 40 days and 40 nights in the desert. Our Lord’s battle of wills with the devil is, of course, a pivotal chapter in Jesus life, and therefore in our faith. Every year we remember it when we prepare for Easter in the season of Lent.

Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness reminds us that God equipped his Son, like all of us, with free will.

Imagine, for a moment, the implication for humanity had Jesus chosen to yield to the devil’s empty promises.

Other than a tradition dating to the 12th century, there is no evidence that the Mount of Temptation is indeed the place of where Jesus rebuffed the devil. It is a spectacular site, however, which suitably honours that great episode in the story of salvation.

The mountain did host early Christian hermits, suggesting that these pioneer monks saw something mystical there.

In the 4th century, monks turned an old fortress that was built on the cliff into a monastery, which they occupied until the devastating Persian invasion of 614.

The monastery was a vacant, crumbling structure until the Greek Orthodox rebuilt and repopulated it. It’s one of the few Greek Orthodox monasteries that allow entry to female guests.

Our group took the cable car to the level of the monastery, thereby experiencing a world record. The Mount of Temptation cable car is the longest to stretch entirely below sea level. The cable car at Masada is longer, but just at its summit, it peeks out above sea level.

Alas, there was no opportunity for our whole group of 45 to visit

Günther Simmermacher

The Pilgrim’s Trek

the monastery. Two of our group surreptitiously peeled off to see it, and were suitably impressed. The rest of us admired a great view, which however did not quite compensate for the expenditure in time.

T

he pressure of time meant that we did not see much of Jericho.

And, truth be told, there isn’t much to see there. Still, Jericho holds a couple of world records itself: it is the lowest-lying city in the world, at 250m below sea level, and it is reputedly the oldest continuously inhabited city, having first been settled around 9000BC. One could haggle over the latter record: modern-day Jericho is 2km from its ancient position, where at least 20 distinct settlements have been unearthed.

Jericho is associated with two important stories in the Gospel.

The road from Jerusalem to Jericho set the scene for Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan, and in Jericho Jesus scandalised his admirers by inviting himself to the home of the corrupt Zacchaeus. What is claimed to be the diminutive collaborator’s sycamore tree can be seen on a Jericho street. Tour guides tend to point it out only under duress because, well, it probably isn’t the actual tree upon which Zacchaeus perched.

Jericho is a West Bank town, meaning it is not part of Israel but falls under the Palestinian Authority. Because gambling is illegal in Israel, a shiny casino was built just outside Jericho, a controversial venture supported by Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat that included Israeli and Austrian business interests (and allegedly some highranking Israeli politicians going through a crisis of ethics).

The Oasis casino opened in September 1998. It faced a Palestinian refugee camp, but at night that couldn’t be seen from the parking lot (never mind through the casino’s non-existing windows), because it had no electricity.

The greek Orthodox monastery on the cliff of the Mount of Temptation, where Our Lord is said to have rebuffed two of the devil’s three challenges. (Photo: günther simmermacher) The whole exercise was supposed to bring in much-needed revenue for the Palestinian Authority. Just two years later, Israel’s prime minister Ariel Sharon did all he could to provoke the second intifada, or uprising. Israeli punters, already nervous about entering the West Bank, ceased to visit the casino, and most Muslims have no appetite for reviving what they see as a sanctuary for sin.

The intifada is over, but the casino remains empty, another crumbling ruin in a land where remnants of disused buildings often serve as metaphors and symbols of broken promises and hostility.

T

he whole area from Jericho down to the Dead Sea and towards Jerusalem and Bethlehem can be seen from Mount Nebo across the border in Jordan. That’s where Moses stood when he saw the Promised Land and promptly died. I surveyed the vista on The Southern Cross’ 2001 pilgrimage, and remarked to spiritual director Fr Nicholas King SJ: “Moses must have been annoyed: ‘Did I spend 40 years in the desert for that?’” Fr King replied, quite rightly, that the landscape might have looked quite differently then.

All the same, the rocky Judaean desert can’t have looked too inviting to Moses, or those who stood there with him. And still, people settled in places that at first sight seem uninhabitable. One such place is Qumran, 15km from Jericho, where a Jewish sect called the Essenes settled, probably around 100BC. At first sight, Qumran looks entirely uninviting. But it has a generous water supply thanks to nearby springs and annual winter

floods. And not too far away there is the Ein Gedi oasis, where dates grow and ibex roam free—and both charred dates and ibex bones have been found at Qumran. At the time, the Dead Sea probably shored up to the southern end of the hill, providing a measure of security.

The Essenes were mostly forgotten until in 1946 a Bedouin lad went in search of a stray goat.

Passing one of the many caves among the rolling hills, he threw a rock into it. To his surprise, he heard something shatter. And so the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered (alas, there is no word about the fate of the stray goat).

The scrolls were written by the monastic community of Essenes, a messianic group of religious purists which also had a presence in the general society. These writings—reproduction of the Torah (what we call the Old Testament), exegeses and community rules— are immensely important to Scripture scholarship, since they are the oldest and only transcripts of the Torah in the original Hebrew.

For some Jews, the scrolls have near-mystical properties beyond their value to scripture scholarship. The first scrolls found at Qumran, then still Jordanian territory, were sold by antiquity dealers from Bethlehem. Four were bought by the metropolitan of the Syrian Orthodox Church, but the other two were bought by the Jewish academic Eliezer Lipa Sukenik— coincidentally on the same day on which the United Nations voted to establish the state of Israel, November 29, 1947.

Not much was known about the Essenes, aside from mentions by the 1st century writer Flavius Jose-

phus, the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder and the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria. We do know that they expected the End of Days any time soon—and when the Romans destroyed their protomonastery in 68AD, the end of their days, as a group, had come.

There is speculation that the survivors might have joined the nascent Christian group.

Before visitors view the ruins of Qumran—including the ritual baths (or mikvahs), dining room and scriptorium—they are shown a short movie about the settlement and the Essenes. In it, the narrator speculates suggestively about whether the John of whose beheading he has just learned might be the same peculiar fellow who had spent some time with the community.

There is no evidence that John the Baptist ever was at Qumran.

Still, his ways of baptism reflect the Essenes’ emphasis on ritual purification baths. More than that, the late Benedictine Father Bargil Pixner constructed a good (albeit entirely speculative) case that not only John was a member of the Essene sect, but the Holy Family as well.

Fr Pixner acknowledged that Jesus was close to the Pharisees, whom he criticised so emphatically. Certainly Jesus’ message of love contrasted with the animosity the Essenes (at least those at Qumran) had towards other sects and the world at large.

We did not have much time at Qumran, because after a dip in the Dead Sea, our group still had to visit Bethlehem. n This is the fifth part in Günther Simmermacher’s series on The Southern Cross’ Passion Pilgrimage in September.

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The southern cross, november 24 to november 30, 2010

Fr Edmund Hill OP

F

ATHER Edmund Hill OP, a member of the English Dominican Province, died on November 11 in Cambridge, England, at the age of 87 after suffering a severe stroke some months ago.

Edmund Hill, born in July 23, 1923, joined the Dominican Order in 1948 and was professed on September 24, 1949.

He was amongst a crop of exceptionally brilliant friars. After his ordination in September 19, 1954, he did a stint of lecturing in England until 1966 when he was sent to Stellenbosch, travelling by boat.

It was during this boat trip that he learnt that he had been elected prior of St Nicholas’ priory in Stellenbosch. He was warmly welcomed and distinguished him-

self as a caring and compassionate priest. He taught mainly scripture.

While being a rigorous student, his humanity shone through in his relations with people. He never bore grudges and was always someone with a cheerful heart. He had the gift of making people feel relaxed.

Fr Hill was a renowned scripture scholar and distinguished English gentleman. He would lecture in Scripture, translating the New Testament from the original Greek into impeccable English. Earlier in his life he was a pipe smoker and even this he did with refinement.

He was an outspoken critic of the apartheid government and in 1973, while on sabbatical in England, he received news that he

Community Calendar To place your event, call Claire Allen at 021 465 5007 or e-mail c.allen@scross.co.za (publication subject to space)

BETHLEHEM:

all welcome.

shrine of Our Lady of Bethlehem at Tsheseng, Maluti mountains; Thursdays 09:30, Mass, then exposition of the Blessed sacrament.

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CAPE TOWN: Holy Hour to pray for priests of the diocese, 2nd saturday monthly at Villa Maria shrine Kloof nek rd 16:00-17:00. adoration chapel, corpus christi church, Wynberg: Mon-Thurs 6am to 12pm; Fri-sun 6am to 8pm. adorers welcome 021-761 3337 st Pio Holy Hour. june 20 at 15:30 at Holy redeemer, Bergvliet. good shepherd, Bothasig.

Perpetual Eucharistic adoration in our chapel. all hours.

JOHANNESBURG: Exposition of the Blessed sacrament: first Friday of the month at 09:20 followed by Holy Mass at 10:30. Holy Hour: first saturday of each month at 15:00. at Our Lady of the angels, Little Eden, Edenvale. Tel: 011 609 7246 First saturday of each month rosary prayed 10:30-12:00 outside Marie stopes abortion clinic, Peter Place, Bryanston. joan Beyrooti, 782 4331

PRETORIA: First saturday: Devotion to Divine Mercy. st Martin de Porres, sunnyside, 16:30.

Tel shirley-anne 012 361 4545.

REMEMBERING OUR DEAD

“It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins” (II Macc XII,46) Holy Mass will be celebrated on the first Sunday of each month in the All Souls’ chapel, Maitland, Cape Town at 2:30pm for all souls in purgatory and for all those buried in the Woltemade cemetery.

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had been declared a prohibited immigrant in South Africa. This did not deter him. He loved Africa and would return.

And so in 1974 he was sent to Lesotho where he taught dogmatic theology and scripture at St Augustine’s Seminary in Roma.

He was loved by his students. When his contract came to an end he took up residence in the Dominican House in Maseru where he was superior for many years and continued to contribute to the academic world of Lesotho.

His most outstanding contribution in the academic world was his interest in St Augustine. Fr Hill translated many of his works from the original Latin and wrote about him.

He had an incredible knowledge of classical languages. His outstanding translations were of St Augustine’s “De Trinitate” and many of his sermons.

Fr Hill was somewhat of a Luddite—for many years he did all his writing on a small typewriter. It was only later when his publishers

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CLASSIFIEDS Births • First communion • confirmation • Engagement/Marriage • Wedding anniversary • Ordination jubilee • congratulations • Deaths • in memoriam • Thanks • Prayers • accommodation • Holiday accommodation • Personal • services • Employment • Property • Others Please include payment (R1,15c a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

DEATHS wanted his material on computer that he was given a computer and entered this new world.

Be that as it may, he never got round to using e-mail—only fax.

In 1991 he took another sabbatical and asked to go to Papua New Guinea where he spent a year teaching in the seminary and came back with loads of stories.

He returned to Lesotho and continued teaching there until 1991 when he made the big decision to return to England by boat. He retired to Cambridge where he was loved by his community and the townspeople.

It was a privilege to have known him and even more so to have been taught by him.

Emil Blaser OP

Family Reflections NOVEMBER – GOOD LOSER, BAD LOSER It is in families from very early days, playing catch or hide-and-seek that children learn how to be good losers rather than bad losers. Parents may have to work hard with some children that sulk or throw tantrums while others don’t want to try for fear of losing. Loss in life is inevitable and games and sport are some of the best way to learn the skills to cope with the big and little losses of life.

How do you practice the skills of being good losers?

November 28–1st Sunday of Advent A: The Day of the Lord. Advent is a time of preparation but also of rejoicing in the gift that is coming, the gift of the Son of God who has come to save God’s people. Being a good or bad loser has something to do with how we look forward to events in our lives.

Talk about the need for courage, preparedness and wakefulness to be ready for the good things to come.

Liturgical Calendar sundays year a, weekday cycle 1

Sun November, 28th Sunday of the Year: Is 2:1-5; Ps 122, 1-2, 4-5,6-9; Rom 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44 Mon November, 29th, feria: Is 4:2-6; Ps 122:1-2, 4-9; Mt 8:5-11 Tue November, 30th, St Andrew: Rom 10:9-18; Ps 19:25; Mt 4:18-22 Wed December 1, Bl Clementine Anuarite: Is 25:6-10; Ps 118:1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27; Mt 7:21, 24-27 Thur December 2, feria: Is 26:1-6; Ps 97:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7; Mt 6:7-15 Fri December 3, St Francis Xavier: 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23; Ps 117:1-2; Mt 16:15-20 Sat December 4, St John Damascene: Is 30:19-21, 23-26; Ps 147:1-6; Mt 9:35-10, 1, 6-8 Sun December 5, 2nd Sunday of Advent: Is 11:1-10; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13,17; Rom 15:4-9; Mt 3:1-12

TEHINI—yvette. Passed away november 4, 2010. i sadly miss you my dear sister. May you rest in peace. isabel.

IN MEMORIAM

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HEUVEL—ninah Leighanne, our only daughter passed on to be with her Maker on Friday17th november 2006. Will always be remembered by her Mom Doreen, Dad Bev, brothers craig, ryan and daughters-in-law, Verna and nicki. Precious memories never whither—she is a special angel gracing the Kingdom Of god.

LEBONA—aaron David. in loving memory of my husband “aD”, our father and grandfather who passed away november 24, 2003. you will always be lovingly remembered and greatly missed by your wife Evelyn (55 years altogether), children, sons and daughtersin-law and grandchildren.

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PRAYERS HOLY st jude, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of jesus christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron in time of need. To you i have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you to come to my assistance. Help me now in my urgent need and grant my petitions. in return i promise to make your name known and publish this prayer. amen. Bill

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HOLY st jude, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of jesus christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron in time of need. To you i have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you to come to my assistance. Help me now in my urgent need and grant my petitions. in return i promise to make your name known and publish this prayer. amen. MB HOLY st jude, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of jesus christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron in time of need. To you i have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg

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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 selfcatering 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 LONDON: single £25, twin £40 pound per night. houseprotea@hot mail.com 021 851 5200.

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2nd Sunday of Advent – (Dec 5) Readings: Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 Romans 15:4-9, Matthew 3:1-12

D

URING this time of Advent or “Coming”, our task is to look out for the arrival of the One who is expected; and that also means that we are going to have to respond in an appropriate way.

The first reading for next Sunday looks for a “Coming One”, who will “come forth, a shoot from the stump of Jesse”. The context into which Isaiah is prophesying is that of the recent defeat of the Assyrians; this new leader, however, is not to be a military leader, but “the Spirit of the Lord is to rest upon him”, and that “spirit” is one of “wisdom and perception...counsel and strength...knowledge and fear of the Lord”, not to mention “justice...and integrity”.

Given all that, though, the world which this Messiah will bring into being is going to be a remarkably different place: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid.” There follows a lovely vision of the co-existence of all creation: calf and young lion, cow and bear, and even young humans playing (against all the rules

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Get ready: Christmas is on the way Nicholas King SJ sunday reflections

of Health and Safety) with cobras. And why is this? Because in the time of this “Coming”, “the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord”. So our response matters as well as what God is going to do.

The psalm for next week is a “coronation psalm”, and it is not just simple-minded praise for the virtues of the new monarch.

He is firmly reminded that he has to be “just”, in other words to do what God wants him to do.

That is the point of saying “your judgement to the king, your justice to the king’s son”, and continuing, “Let him judge your

people with justice”.

The one who comes has a responsibility to God and to the people of God, one that he must take seriously.

The psalmist prays that “justice may flourish in his days, and abundance of peace”, and this comes before a prayer for the size of his empire: “May he rule from Sea to Sea, from the River to the ends of the earth” (an immense extent).

Then, however, he has to be reminded of his need to look after the “poor and needy”; and only after he has been reminded of all this do we hear the prayer, “May his name be blessed for ever”.

The second reading reminds the Romans (delicately, for he does not know them, and they have misgivings about him), of their need to “think the same thing among yourselves, in line with Christ Jesus” and to “give each other hospitality”. That is to be their response to the Coming One. In the gospel for next Sunday, we hear the message of John the Baptist, that (in the

A correct Christmas?

W ELL, it’s only a month away from Christmas and once again the shops are full to bursting with toys and treats for young and old.

In some countries, Christmas trees and bright decorations are springing up like massive commercial fishing nets ready to empty the wallets of billions of people heading for their annual splurge into the world of excess and diminished responsibility.

Oh well, I suppose at least those countries are still celebrating Christmas without having to bow to the vagaries of political correctness by insisting that their citizens go about saying “happy holidays” instead of Happy Christmas just so that non-Christians don’t get offended.

Political correctness has, of course, reached heady heights and I would not be in the least bit surprised if the following message, sent to me by e-mail, will take the place of the good old-fashioned Christmas card.

“Good day. I wanted to send you a holiday greeting, but it is so difficult in today’s world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So, I met with my lawyer yesterday, and on his advice I wish to say the following: ‘Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially

www.birthright.co.za

responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the summer solstice holiday, practised with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your The Last Word f o r t h e choice with respect religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practise religious or secular traditions at all.

‘I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2011, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make our country great (not to imply that South Africa is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

‘By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms: ‘This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform a

Chris Moerdyk

Conrad

...And then with an eye to the future, Your Holiness, the curia has designed this popemobile, in case we need to send the pope to Mars!

‘s expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

‘Disclaimer: no trees were harmed in the sending of this message; however, a significant number of electrons were slightly inconvenienced.’”

While I am sorely tempted to embark on a tirade against political correctness and nanny states, I have decided that in the spirit of yuletide I should look rather at some positively pertinent points others have made about Christmas.

“He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.”–Roy L Smith “Christmas, children, is not a date.

It is a state of mind.”–Mary Ellen Chase “I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”–Charles Dickens “There has been only one Christmas—the rest are anniversaries.”–WJ Cameron “Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.”–Laura Ingalls Wilder “Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!”–Hamilton Wright Mabie “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.”–Author unknown.

“Christmas is forever, not for just one day, / for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away / like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf. / The good you do for others is good you do yourself…”–Norman Wesley Brooks, (Let Every Day Be Christmas, 1976) On reflection, I suppose that the real spirit of Christmas is in concentrating on how we spend it and not on how others don’t.

Coming One) “the Kingdom of Heaven has drawn near”, and so they must “repent” (or “turn it round”). We hear, perhaps with some alarm, of John’s prophetic authentication (by Isaiah) and his prophetic clothing (camel-hair and leather girdle), and his message to fellow-Jews, that “the axe is laid to the root of the trees”, and that they are in danger of being “cut down and thrown into the fire”.

The Coming One, it turns out is “mightier than [John]”, is going to baptise “with the Holy Spirit and with fire”, and is going to “destroy the chaff, and gather his wheat— and he will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire”.

If we are calmly thinking to ourselves that we can be quite comfortable in this time of Coming, we may have to take another look at reality. The Coming One is indeed on his way, but we are going to have to make our response.

What is your response going to be this week?

Southern Crossword #420

ACROSS 5. Pop group named in New Testament (4) 7. Inquisition’s digital form of torture (10) 8. It dams the river (4) 10. Deflates with disappointment (4,4) 11. Birds that covered Moses’ camp (Ex 13) (6) 12. The Anointed One (6) 14. It holds a lot of wine (6) 16. Coterie found in many parishes (6) 17. He was strict about Moses' law (8) 19. Plaything with ups and downs (2-2) 21. Was Old Father Time the original one? (10) 22. It’s Holy before Easter (4)

DOWN 1. Store away in best owner’s place (4) 2. Misgrant, feeling the pain (8) 3. Biblical song book (6) 4. Extremely cold circle (6) 5. Stricken by reverence (4) 6. Student's colourful reverie?

(5,5) 9. Portion justly distributed (5,5) 13. Damp time of future need (5,3) 15. It means Christmas will not be white (2,4) 16. Office workers like clergymen of old (6) 18. Shelf of torture instrument?

(4) 20. They propel propellerless boats (4)

sOLuTiOns TO #419. acrOss: 1 Host, 3 Promised, 9 reforms, 10 ruins, 11 insufficient, 13 Thrash, 15 Egress, 17 Musical value, 20 acorn, 21 Bowling, 22 Desolate, 23 Bees. DOWn: 1 Harpists, 2 safes, 4 rustic, 5 Marriage vows, 6 science, 7 Dust, 8 Professional, 12 asperges, 14 raucous, 16 rabbit, 18 Loire, 19 Land.

Due to popular request, as of this week, the solutions for the weekly crossword will be published on the Classifieds page (this week on page 15)

CHURCH CHUCKLE

A

PRIEST was visiting the Sunday school class that was being taught the ten commandments with specific reference to the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.”

He asked the class: “What would the cookie jar in the pantry say if it could speak?”

One little lad put up his hand and says: “Suffer little children to come unto me!”