The Southern Cross - 110309

March 9 to March 15, 2011

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Gospel Series: Meeting the gregarious Jesus

Outrage over murder of Pakistan’s Catholic minister

Page 7

Page 5

No 4717

Why we must pray for teen star Justin Bieber Page 10

Priest: JP2 was ‘the same’ in private as in public

By SARAH DELANEy

T

Holy Cross Sister Anne Catherine Güntensperger of Aliwal celebrated her 100th birthday on February 23, still able to play her beloved violin. Sr Güntensperger resides at the Holy Cross Sisters’ Fatima Home for Aged and Sick.The Swiss-born nun, from St Gallen, had celebrated her oak anniversary—80 years—as a Holy Cross Sister in January.

Bishop Michael Wüstenberg of Aliwal North was among the guests at Sr Güntensperger’s musical birthday celebration. The centenarian was presented with a special birthday cake in the shape of a violin, while Grade 5 learners from the Aliwal Laer School sang songs for her in English and German, and performed a liturgical dance. Among the stars of the day was a local boy, Keano Nel, who performed a violin solo. The party was topped with Sr Güntensperger and her compatriot, Holy Cross Sister Angelika Häller, singing Swiss songs.

HE man responsible for promoting the cause of sainthood for Pope John Paul II has said the thousands of documents that crossed his desk showed the public pontiff and the private man were one and the same.

Mgr Slawomir Oder, who as postulator of the process of canonisation of the late pope oversaw the gathering of innumerable papal documents, personal letters, diplomatic dispatches, testimony from friends, prelates and the faithful, said the material showed “the complete transparency of his life as a man and as a priest”.

Mgr Oder spoke at the Pontifical Regina Apostolorum University in Rome about how he had come to know the Polish pope intimately through the material that testified to his life.

In January, after five years of investigation into the life of the late pontiff, Pope Benedict approved a miracle attributed to his intercession, clearing the way to the beatification, which will take place on May 1 at St Peter’s Square.

The Pope John Paul II the world came to know through his many travels and high visibility was the real Karol Wojtyla, Mgr Oder said, referring to the late pontiff’s birth name.

“His friendliness, his love for prayer, his spontaneity, his ability to create a rapport with people” were not traits that were invented by the media but rather “constituted the essence of his own personality”, the monsignor said.

Mgr Oder said Pope John Paul’s life was like a mosaic with many pieces, the fundamental one being his identity as “a man of prayer”. Prayer had been like a “daily pilgrimage” and a “spring of life” from the time he was a young boy to the end of his life.

Mgr Oder described some of the pope’s prayer habits: from 5-6am he prayed in the chapel with members of the papal household; he spent the hour of 6-7am in meditation, with Mass at 7am. The pope was especially devoted to saints, and after breakfast he would venerate relics that he kept. At night, he would read about the lives of saints.

A second, fundamental tile in the mosaic

Pope John Paul II hikes in the Italian Alps in 1999. (Photo: L’Osservatore Romano/CNS) of Pope John Paul’s personality was “an extraordinary inner freedom”, Mgr Oder said. He called the late pope a “man of poverty” who was “completely detached from money and things [...] who did not seek personal realisation”.

This personal freedom allowed him to accept counsel and criticism from his aides, while remaining autonomous when making decisions and when taking difficult positions, Mgr Oder said. The pope felt his duty was “not to be liked at any cost, but to announce the truth”.

His ability to empathise with the pain and the joy of the faithful is what made him so dear to so many people who saw in Pope John Paul a father, an uncle or a grandfather, Mgr Oder said.

He was seen as a father figure by the thousands of young Catholics who attended the World Youth Day events, thanks to his ability to enter fully into dialogue with young people, the monsignor said.

The postulator also spoke of the meaning of the cross to Pope John Paul, especially during the last years as his suffering became so visible. “He bore his illness with serenity, and carried out his duties without being a burden to anyone.”

Despite the difficulties he suffered in the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease, the pope wanted to celebrate his last Easter of April 2005, Mgr Oder said. “Millions of people throughout the world will always remember the image, shown on television, of the pope seen from behind in his private chapel, holding tight the cross during the celebration of Good Friday,” he said.—CNS

Interdiocesan Consultation findings presented to bishops STAFF REPORTER

T

HE results of Phase I of the Inter-diocesan Consultation which began in July last year has been presented to the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC).

The results, compiled by Fr Barney McAleer of the SACBC’s Department of Evangelisation, were presented to Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria, the department’s liaison bishop, and Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg, president of the SACBC. “Phase I focused on the past and looked to establish how effective the suggestions of the 1989 Pastoral Plan and subsequent forums for laity in 2000 and 2007 were. The forums of 2008 and 2009 looked at renew-

ing the local Church, and to what extent they were still operational,” Fr McAleer said.

Phase I consisted of separate questionnaires for parish pastoral councils (PPCs), Small Christian Communities (SCCs), and for individual Church members who were not members of either PPCs or SCCs. Of the region’s 29 dioceses, thirteen participated in the consultation, with 4 531 people taking part in the Inter-diocesan Consultation. Participants came from a cross-section of dioceses including Johannesburg and Durban, and the rural areas of De Aar and Aliwal North.

“The results of the questionnaires and consultation do not paint a complete picture of the Church in South Africa,” Fr McAleer said.

“There was no attempt to measure liturgi-

cal or catechetical status of parishes as not every parish in the participating dioceses were present,” he explained.

“The findings, however, indicated the present status of a number of parishes in terms of their ongoing formation, their areas of involvement and their functioning of SCCs or neighbourhood gospel groups,” he said, adding that they have laid the foundation for further research on different aspects of Church life.

“It has proved informative even given the limitations of its scope. The overall conclusion, given the data presented, is that the Church is heavily concerned with rituals, with its members mostly engaged in internal Church affairs. But the data also shows that SCCs are not functioning as they were originally intended,” Fr McAleer said.

Fr Barney McAleer (centre) presents the results of Phase I of the Inter-diocesan Consultation to Archbishops William Slattery and Buti Tlhagale. (Photo: SACBC)

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The Southern Cross, March 9 to March 15, 2011

LOCAL

Bibliolog: Quality over quantity

The late Fr Lorriman SJ was well known for his involvement in the struggle. A father of two, he entered the Jesuits after the death of his wife. The priest has died at the age of 95.

By CLAIRE MATHIESON

T

HE most recent training session of the interactive and interpretive Bible study method called Bibliolog, took place at St Benedict School in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal, in late February.

Two training sessions were hosted: an advanced training session and a training and workshop on Bibliolog.

According to trainer Andrea Schwarz, who first brought Bibliolog to South Africa, it was the first time an advanced training session had taken place outside of Europe.

It was facilitated by Professor Uta Pohl-Patalong from Germany, who is considered the “gogo” of Bibliolog in central Europe.

The weekend of Bibliolog saw 15 people participate in the advanced training, and 30 in the workshop.

They came from across South Africa and Zimbabwe and included representatives of the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood, Sacred Heart Fathers, Nardini Sisters, members of the Catholic Bible Foundation, Dominicans of Montebello, Assisi-Sisters, Catholic Schools Office, Lutheran Church and various Catholic educators.

Ms Schwarz said Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban welcomed the participants and expressed his own interest in the new way to work with the Bible.

“It is just two-and-a-half-years ago that the first Bibliolog basic training took place at the convent of the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood in Mariannhill. Since then eleven basic courses of Bibliolog have been held not only in Mariannhill but also in Ixopo,

Participants of the Bibliolog training hold their certificates which will allow them to use the interactive Bible study method in their parishes.

Mthatha and Pietermaritzburg, training 88 participants in total,” said Ms Schwarz of the growing popularity of the teaching method.

The method has spread to Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Ms Schwarz said that one of the intentions of the workshop was to explore ways of spreading the Bibliolog method.

Sr Ulrike Diekmann CPS raised the possible connections between Bibliolog and African culture, especially ubuntu. “When I think about the tool called Bibliolog then I think Africa. Here is an interactive experience with the Bible that does not depend on experts but invites everyone to an indaba where each and everyone has something valuable to contribute. Nothing is too learned or too simple—everything is simply significant.”

Ms Schwarz said the development of Bibliolog, quality is more important than quantity. “The best

way to spread Bibliolog is to do it and let others experience it,” she said. But Ms Schwarz said the quality can only be maintained by specially training leaders.

“It is important to make clear that reading about Bibliolog does not empower anybody to do it— and to know how to do it, after participation in a basic course, does not empower to teach it to others.

The tracks of an African way of Bibliolog and a comparison with other ways to work with biblical texts should follow—Bibliolog understands itself not as a competition but as a supplement to other methods,” she said.

Prof Pohl-Patalong said she was “deeply impressed how marvellously Bibliolog has developed in South Africa in not even three years”. n The next training will take place in Mariannhill in July. Those interested can contact Sr Maria Corda CPS at 031 700 2411.

Big send-off for late priest who fought apartheid

By CLAIRE MATHIESON

A

N English-born Jesuit who fought against apartheid in township parishes has died at 95.

Jesuit Father Gerard (Gerry) Lorriman died peacefully on February 21 and was buried on March 4 at Our Lady, Help of Christians church in Landsdowne, Cape Town.

The funeral Mass was concelebrated by among others, Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town, Jesuit regional superior Fr David Smolira and Jesuit Father Graham Pugin, who delivered the homily. Also in attendance were various members of the Society of Jesus as well as parishioners from Nyanga, where Fr Lorriman served for many years.

Fr Lorriman was born in Tyne and Wear in north-eastern England and earned a degree in medicine from Durham University.

According to Fr Chris Chatteris SJ, Fr Lorriman served in the army during World War II and took part in the Italian campaign where he was decorated for bravery.

“An unusual fact about him is that he was married and widowed before becoming a Jesuit, and had two children,” Fr Chatteris said.

His children, John and Francesca, were at the funeral. After the death of his wife, Fr Lorriman decided in 1970 to apply to enter the Society of Jesus.

He studied in London, Rome and the United States before being assigned to South Africa.

From 1982-83, Fr Lorriman was chaplain at Groote Schuur Hospital, and then worked in Crossroads and Nyanga in Cape Town.

It was in Nyanga where Fr Lorriman shared in the apartheid struggle. According to the Jesuits’ website (www.jesuit.org.uk), during his first year at Nyanga, Fr Lorriman achieved “notoriety for confronting armoured personnel carriers and tear gas at the funeral of four black South Africans, who had been killed the previous week in clashes with the police”.

Fr Chatteris said Fr Lorriman’s courage was tested during the struggle as he presided over a number of extremely tense funerals for young people killed in political unrest. These funerals were in defiance of the military presence, and thousands flocked to follow Fr Lorriman.

Fr Lorriman served the community of Nyanga for 20 years.

The priest said that while the area had seen much violence in the past, a “menace more deadly than the violence has begun to surface—Aids”.

“The light which all of us must bring to bear on Africa is the light of God’s compassion for the millions who are suffering from poverty, starvation, homelessness and above all from the effects of the pandemic Aids,” he said.

LOCAL

Taxpayers do not get

By CLAIRE MATHIESON

T

HIS year’s budget speech has been described as sober, calming and unspectacular.

Mike Pothier, research coordinator of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office, an associated body of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said the speech, while predictable in many areas, showed that finance minister Pravin Gordhan is “comfortably in charge of his portfolio”.

Mr Pothier pointed out that the speech suggested that calls by factions within the African National Congress-led alliance for the nationalisation of mines and the devaluation of the rand might be ignored.

He noted that the minister was careful in his wording, more than once referring to the “decades-long transformation” of the economy. “Was this perhaps a hint to those who are calling for radical measures like mine nationalisation that they are wasting their breath?”

Mr Pothier said the minister stressed that the Reserve Bank would focus on “trying to minimise volatility in the rand exchange rate, rather than committing it to a weakening of the currency, which COSATU and others appear to regard as an economic panacea. [Mr Gordhan] also stated that the commitment to inflation-targeting would remain in place, another stand that is unpopular in some parts of the alliance.”

He said on the whole the budget covered the expected and there was no need for Mr Gordhan to announce any particularly tough measures.

There were “no increases in income tax; no more than the usual jumps in sin taxes and fuel levies; a borrowing requirement

that, although a bit higher than previously, remains low, and quite manageable, by international standards,” Mr Pothier said.

He added that the minister did well not to make rash promises and imprudent predictions. “Thus, while he listed the allocations that will be made to job creation and skills training, he did not mention the absurd figure of ‘five million jobs by 2020’, which the president and other ministers have bandied about.”

“What tax relief [the finance minister] offered was, as he very openly stated, no more than compensation for the effects of inflation and cost-of-living wage increases,” Mr Pothier said. Most ministries received modest budget increases, with education, health, social development and the expanded public works programme seeing the largest chunks of the budget.

M

r Pothier said that while the speech was reasonably uneventful, noting that the public sector wage bill has more than doubled over the last five years (it now accounts for 40% of state expenditure), he said it was possible Mr Gordhan was hinting that significant increases in the next few years are unlikely.

“And for those who argue that we should incur debt now in order to finance a muchexpanded state expenditure on socio-economic needs, [the minister] had a ready answer: we must have ‘inter-generational equity’, not thrust the burden of paying back today’s loans onto the shoulders of our children and grandchildren.”

Excluded from the speech was any reference to the R5 billion youth employment subsidy.

“[Mr Gordhan] first announced this scheme in last year’s budget speech, but it has effectively been blocked by organised labour, which sees it as a threat to the jobs of its members,” Mr Pothier said.

He said delaying the implementation of this would be disastrous as 42% of 18 to 29-yearolds are unemployed, according to the minister. “It is more than worrying that, in the face of this figure, government is still ‘consulting’ about a simple intervention,” said Mr Pothier.

At one point in this year’s budget, Mr Gordhan admitted that “taxpayers do not get full value for money” in state procurement deals.

Mr Pothier said the truth of this statement could not have been better illustrated than by the report of the Public Protector, issued the day before the budget speech, into the R500 million lease of a new police headquarters in Pretoria.

“The lease was approved by the minister of Public Works despite the opinion of two senior counsel that it was null and void. The minister’s action was found to be unlawful and reckless,” while the report found Police Commissioner Bheki Cele was culpable of improper conduct and maladministration.

“President Zuma’s response to the Public Protector’s findings will tell us a lot about whether Mr Gordhan’s various protestations about tackling corruption and giving taxpayers ‘value for money’ represent a genuine commitment on the part of government; or whether they are merely his personal views, conveniently served up for the record, while the financial improprieties of senior colleagues in the public service go unpunished,” Mr Pothier said.

The Southern Cross, March 9 to March 15, 2011

3

Order elects new leaders STAFF REPORTER

M

EMBERS of the secular institute of the Servants of Christ the Priest from Southern Africa met at Lapeng Le Lerato Mahobong Retreat Centre in the diocese of Leribe in Lesotho to elect a new director general and new consultors.

Bishop Augustine Bane of Leribe presided over the proceedings in which the focus fell mainly on vocations training and formation and the charism of the founder. The bishop said it was necessary to adapt these teachings for the mod-

J.M.J

ern age.

At present there are 16 priests, two brothers and one seminarian in the Servants of Christ the Priest.

Fr John Thoamola has been elected as the new director general, taking over from Fr Tobias Msomi. He will lead the order for the next six years.

Fr Tobias Mariti has been elected secretary general and Fr Cosmos Matoane as bursar general. Frs Thoamola and Mariti are on the staff at St Augustine Major Seminary in Roma, Lesotho, while Fr Matoana is parish priest at St Thomas More in Diepsloot, Pretoria.

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By CLAIRE MATHIESON

T

HE Cape Town office of the Catholic Bible Foundation (CBF) is set to close at the end of March.

Br Mike Chalmers, the CBF’s national director, said the foundation has served the country for 18 years from the city centre but will now be serving indirectly through newsletters and programmes.

The CBF in South Africa was set up in 1993 under the guidance of Bishop Daniel Verstraete (then bishop of Klerksdorp), Sr Mary Doyle, Sr Mary-Anne Ralston and Br Mike Chalmers.

“During its first year of existence the foundation operated in the archdioceses of Durban and Cape Town”, said Br Chalmers said. Since 1999 the CBF has served the Church from its Cape Town offices.

He said the foundation has been served by many over the years with a huge investment in time, staff and financial commitment.

“The years and age have dimmed the memory, but to all those who participated in this mission we offer sincere thanks,” Br Chalmers said.

The foundation has made a big impact in spreading the Scriptures around the country.

Br Chalmers said group after group went away “with a new appreciation of and love for the

IRISH SOUTH AFRICAN ASSOCIATION

Scriptures”.

Not only has the CBF held a presence in various parishes through courses offered, but it also brought international speakers to the country.

“Among others, I recall Fr Paul de Kok, Francis Hogan, Fr Walter Vogels, Fr Denis McBride, Sr Teresa Okure, Br Jack Driscoll and many others. These experts brought us new insights, a sense of inspiration and gave encouragement to all involved in the biblical apostolate,” Br Chalmers said.

“The most recent programme to be offered is “Bread for the Journey”. This Scripture programme for catechists, deacons and adults extends over three years. “Each year we offer instruction in the gospel of the year; Matthew, Mark and Luke,” Br Chalmers said. In October, 20 people completed the programme.

While the CBF is closing its formal office, programmes such as “Bread for the Journey” will continue to run.

Br Chalmers said the office will also continue to produce articles for various Catholic publications around the country.

The foundation will now operate from Johannesburg but can be found on Facebook (Catholic Bible Foundation of South Africa) and can be contacted on 011 4357 488.

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4

The Southern Cross, March 9 to March 15, 2011

INTERNATIONAL

Pope: Capture tech-savvy hearts

By CAROL GLATz

J

UST as Jesus was able to effectively commun icate God’s word with parables involving pastures and sheep, the Church needs to discover modern-day metaphors that will capture the attention and hearts of today’s tech-savvy men and women, Pope Benedict has said.

However, proclaiming the Gospel can’t be based on punchy slogans or “linguistic seduction”, he said, but the communicator must be a true witness who displays Christian values and respect for dialogue.

The pope spoke to participants of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications’ plenary assembly on the theme “Language and Communication”.

“The digital culture poses new challenges to our ability to speak and listen to a symbolic language that speaks of transcendence,” the pope said.

Jesus knew to use symbols and ideas that were an essential part of the culture at the time, such as sheep, fields, seeds, the banquet or feast and so on. “Today we are called to discover, in the digital culture, too, symbols and metaphors that are meaningful to people, that can be helpful in talking to modern men and women about the kingdom of God,” he said.

However, communicators must never base their effectiveness on “linguistic seduction, as is the case with the serpent [in the Garden of Eden] or on incommunicability and violence as with Cain”.

Communicating the Bible “according to God’s will is always tied to dialogue and responsibili-

ty as, for example, the figures of Abraham, Moses, Job and the prophets bear witness”, he said.

Communication needs to be “truly human” and based on spiritual values and meaning.

Catholics can help the digital realm by “opening up new horizons of meaning and values that the digital culture is not able to indicate or represent by itself”.

That would mitigate some of the risks present in today’s digital communication such as the loss of inner reflection, superficial relationships, wallowing in emotionalism, and the prevalence of persuasive opinions over the truth, he said.

Pope Benedict held up as an effective communicator Fr Matteo Ricci, the 16th-century Jesuit missionary to China who not only learned the Chinese language, but adopted the lifestyle and customs of cultured Chinese people and gained the people’s respect.

The pope said Fr Ricci spread Christ’s message by always considering the people he was speaking to “in their cultural and philosophical context, their values and their language, gathering all that was positive from their tradition, and offering to enliven it and elevate it with the wisdom and truth of Christ”.

Faith, in fact, always “penetrates, enriches, exalts and invigorates culture”, while culture in turn offers faith a vehicle for expression—namely its language, he said.

That is why Church leaders must be aided in becoming able to “interpret and speak the new language of the mass media” for their pastoral work, he said.— CNS

No fast-track for Mother Teresa

P

OPE Benedict will not waive the mandatory second miracle required for the canonisation of Mother Teresa, according to the former head of the Missionaries of Charity.

“No, the Holy Father will not waive it,” Sr Nirmala Joshi, who succeeded Mother Teresa as head of the Missionaries of Charity, told reporters in response to rumours, the Times of India reported.

Candidates for canonisation

need to have at least one miracle of a medical nature attributed to them for beatification, and another miracle after the beatification process for the person’s canonisation.

After her death on September 5, 1997, Pope John Paul II fasttracked the sainthood cause for Mother Teresa by waiving the usual five-year waiting period. He beatified her on October 19, 2003, after the apparently inexplicable cure from a brain tumour of an Indian woman, Monica Besra.

Vatican Museums put hands on art

By CAROL GLATz

T

Sr Mariam Almiron, a member of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word from Argentina, spins a small child around following Sunday Mass at the Holy Family parish in Gaza. There are only some 3 000 Christians in Gaza, of whom just a little more than 200 are Catholic. (Photo: Paul Jeffrey, CNS)

Maronite patriarch retires

P

OPE Benedict has accepted the resignation of Lebanese Cardinal Nasrallah P Sfeir (pictured), the 90-year-old head of the Maronite Catholic Church.

In a letter, Pope Benedict said the cardinal began his ministry as patriarch or head of the Maronite Church in 1986, “in the turmoil of the war that bloodied Lebanon for too many years. With the ardent desire for peace for your country, you have guided this Church and travelled the world to comfort your people who were forced to emigrate”.

“Peace finally came back,” the pope said, and while it is “always fragile”, it continues to reign in Lebanon.

As the head of an Eastern Catholic Church, Cardinal Sfeir could have served for life but chose to ask the pope to accept his resignation.

In a country where religious identity and political identity often are entwined, Cardinal Sfeir has been criticised at times for being too political, while at other times he was criticised for not engaging directly enough in the practical affairs of the country.

During Lebanon’s civil war, Cardinal Sfeir tried to continue the tradition of the Maronite

patriarch serving as a reference point of Lebanese cultural identity in a way that would bring the country’s Christians and Muslims together; he urged Christians and Muslims to stop fighting, to respect one another and to rebuild the country.

In 1990, during a Christian vs Christian battle for East Beirut, the cardinal-designate threatened to excommunicate anyone ordering or carrying out a shooting.

In November 1989, supporters of one Christian leader, General Michel Aoun, broke into the patriarch’s Beirut offices and ransacked them, dragged the patriarch from his bed and asked him to kiss the general’s picture. The cardinal said he refused.

Born on May 15, 1920, in Reyfoun, Lebanon, he attended the seminary in Beirut and studied at the theology school of the Jesuitrun St Joseph University in the capital. He was ordained to the priesthood a week before his 30th birthday.

In 1956, he was named secretary of the patriarchate, and the Maronite bishops elected him to be a bishop in June 1961. They elected him patriarch in 1986, and Pope John Paul II made him a cardinal in 1994.—CNS

HE Vatican Museums have launched special tours for the deaf and blind.

The two-hour tours are free to the hearing- and visually impaired and seek to offer a multi-sensory experience of some of the Museums’ most famous works.

The initiative also marks the first opportunity for the deaf in Italy to receive training and work in a museum as an experienced guide rather than solely as an interpreter.

Seven women, five of whom are deaf, received specialised training in art history and archaeology at the Museums so they could work as professional guides for the new tour for the deaf.

The tour for the deaf includes stops in the Raphael Rooms, the Sistine Chapel, and visits to the classical statues collection. The guides are fluent in a number of sign languages, including British and French sign languages.

The itinerary for the blind and visually impaired includes a blend of sensory experiences to help the person appreciate a work of art “without making them wish they could see”, said Isabella Salandri, who is in charge of the new tours.

For example, to examine Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio’s “Deposition From the Cross”, visitors first listen to a passage from the Bible explaining the scene in which Christ is taken down from the cross and readied for burial.

One by one, each visitor’s hands are then placed on a resin bas relief of the scene in the painting of Nicodemus and John laying Christ on a stone while Mary and other women look on.

Visitors then feel real items depicted in the painting such as the thick velvety leaves of a common mullein herbal plant and a linen shroud that smells of myrrh and aloe, the same herbs used in burial cloths at the time.

Sara di Luca, a restorer at the Museums, said she used the same materials and techniques Caravaggio used in his masterpiece to make a sample canvas and oil painting of a section of the “Deposition”.—CNS

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INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, March 9 to March 15, 2011

5

Fear and fury after Bhatti assassination

By SARA ANGLE & ANTO AKKARA

T

HE Vatican has strongly condemned the killing of a Catholic government minister in Pakistan who had spoken out against anti-blasphemy laws.

“The assassination of the Pakistani minister for minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, is a new and terribly serious act of violence. It demonstrates that the pope is correct in insisting on the issue of violence against Christians and against religious freedom in general,” said Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi SJ. Mr Bhatti, the first Catholic to serve in that position, received several threats against his life after criticising the country’s antiblasphemy laws, which have been used to persecute Christians and other religious minorities.

Mr Bhatti was received by Pope Benedict last September and spoke about his commitment to promoting peaceful coexistence between the religious communities of his country.

“Along with prayers for the victim, with the condemnation of the unspeakable act of violence and with assurances of closeness to Pakistani Christians who are

suffering from hatred, we urge that everyone will now realise the dramatic urgency of the need to defend religious freedom and Christians targeted by violence and persecution,” Fr Lombardi said.

Mr Bhatti was attacked in his car in Islamabad on March 2, when gunmen opened fire on his vehicle and proceeded to drag him out, according to press reports. Mr Bhatti was immediately taken to the hospital, where doctors were unable to save him from massive gunshot wounds.

A note found at the crime scene led authorities to believe Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, a radical Muslim group, was responsible for the murder, the Catholic agency AsiaNews reported.

After an emergency meeting led

by Lahore Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha, president of the Pakistani Catholic bishops’ conference, the country’s Christian leaders urged the government to “go beyond the rhetoric of ‘minorities enjoying all the rights in the country’ and take practical steps to curb extremism in Pakistan”.

“If the country becomes a killing field of the democrat and liberal individuals who exercise

their freedom of conscience and expression, it would embolden the criminals trying to take charge of the country,” the Church leaders cautioned.

Christian churches across the country closed for three days to honour Mr Bhatti.

Since the January 4 assassination of the governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer—who defended a Christian woman accused of blasphemy—Mr Bhatti had been one of the only public figures to speak out against the laws.

Despite threats, Mr Bhatti continued promoting religious and social harmony.

Bishop Rufin Anthony of Islamabad-Rawalpindi told AsiaNews: “The minister lived under constant threat, and the government did not know how to adequately guarantee his safety.”

Bishop Anthony knew Mr Bhatti’s daily routine, saying: “He would go to see his mother, he would pray with her, then he would call me and ask me every morning to pray for him.”

The bishop was particularly affected by the murder because he knew Mr Bhatti as a child and said he had been a devout Catholic from a very young age.

Christians protest against the killing of Pakistani minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti (right) during a demonstration in Lahore. Mr Bhatti, a Catholic and the country's only Christian government minister, was the second senior official to be killed this year after challenging a blasphemy law that mandates the death penalty for insulting Islam. (Photos from CNS) The bishop described him as “a courageous, fearless man who had taken a very strong position in support of minorities”. The bishop believed that because Mr Bhatti was so outspoken about minority rights “the minister paid the price with his blood”.—CNS

Rescued miners give thanks in Holy Land

By JuDITH SuDILOVSKy

D

Chilean miners, who were trapped in a collapsed mine for 69 days last year, touch the Stone of Anointing in the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City. Tradition holds that the stone is believed to be where the body of Jesus was anointed before his burial. The miners visited the church during a week-long visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

(Photo: Ronen zvulun, Reuters/CNS)

ESPITE the overwhelming media attention they received and heated debate over the purpose of their visit, 25 Chilean miners who arrived in Israel said theirs was a visit of thanksgiving.

“We want to thank God for all that he did for us. Our faith and hope were fundamental for our survival,” said Mario Gomez, the oldest of the 33 miners trapped for more than two months underground while dramatic rescue efforts attracted worldwide attention.

“It was a miracle,” Mr Gomez said of his rescue; he was 63 at the time. “There is one being who could achieve that, and that is God. He gave us a second life.

When we exited the capsule, we returned to being ourselves.”

The miners said they were eager to see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Via Dolorosa—the traditional route of Jesus’ Way of the Cross.

Richard Villarroel and his wife, Dana Castro, brought along their four-month-old-son, Richard, born six days after the rescue. “We prayed every day. I lost count of the numbers of Hail Marys and Our Fathers we said.”

Maintaining a vigil above ground during the rescue, Dana Castro said she was strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit, whose presence she felt. “Now I want to give thanks to God and his son who was here.”

Since their rescue the miners have been special guests at various

places, including Disney World and England, where they met the Manchester United team.

The miners were given a hero’s welcome by Israel. They received an equally warm welcome from shopkeepers and pedestrians in the West Bank city of Bethlehem as they walked through the market. A representative of the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism greeted them on their arrival and a Chilean Franciscan monk guided them through the Church of the Nativity.

Some Palestinian non-governmental groups accused Israel of extending the invitation as a public relations stunt at the expense of the miners.

The miners said the trip was purely a pilgrimage of thanksgiving and they did not want to be entangled in politics.—CNS

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LEADER PAGE

The Southern Cross, March 9 to March 15, 2011

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Conversion, prayer, penance

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

The ghosts of racism

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LMOST 17 years after South Africans stood in long queues to officially bury apartheid, the ghost of racism continues to haunt us.

The reported observation by government spokesman Jimmy Manyi that the “over-supply” of coloureds in the Western Cape is a supposed economic disadvantage should alarm us not only for its content.

The idea that coloureds should leave their ancestral homes in the Western Cape to satisfy the policies of the government (and Mr Manyi has said he was “only articulate[ing] the government’s view”) is patently absurd. Mr Manyi’s remark— which he made, crucially, as the powerful director-general of the Department of Labour—reflects notions of social engineering that would not have been foreign to the apartheid regime.

The ANC’s equivocation over the Manyi issue suggests that his opinions are not unique within the party. By rights, a government spokesman who has expressed racist views should be immediately dismissed—unless he was indeed articulating, as he has claimed, the government’s views. His limp apology through a third party for the offence people have taken, rather than the content of his remark, should constitute another firing offence.

The forthright response to Mr Manyi by Trevor Manuel, minister in the presidency, is therefore welcome. In a letter to Mr Manyi, the former finance minister wrote: “I now know who Nelson Mandela was talking about when he said in the dock that he had fought against white domination and that he had fought against black domination.

Jimmy, he was talking about fighting against people like you.”

Despite the stinging criticism of his own government—the minister suggested that “racism has infiltrated the highest echelons of government”—Mr Manuel has saved the ANC some face and may have succeeded in tempering people’s outrage. He has done his party a great service, for which he is unlikely to be thanked.

Coloured people, meanwhile, will be concerned that Mr Manyi’s rhetoric does in fact reflect the government’s thinking. Since the fall of apartheid, it has been a common complaint that the ANC has failed to acknowledge the very real suffer-

ing of coloureds under apartheid, and itself discriminates against that group now.

More than that, the language of displacement hits a raw nerve in a community still suffering the devastating social effects of forced removals under apartheid.

The Manyi episode has brought South Africa’s fragile state of race relations into focus again. Two years ago Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr issued what amounts to a white supremacist rant in which he appeared to claim personal credit, by virtue of his DNA, for the accomplishments of white people in Europe centuries ago. The entertainer doubtless articulated the zealous views of some obtuse whites, but they were neither accurate nor helpful in a dialogue on race.

Mr Hofmeyr’s career seems not to have suffered on account of his repulsive tract, with even mainstream television offering him continued high profile exposure.

And therein resides a fundamental problem: South Africans are so tolerant of racism that the expression of racist views tends to have no serious repercussions.

More than that, both Mr Manyi and Mr Hofmeyr will claim that their statements are not racist.

Certainly, neither regards himself as a racist.

On racism, South Africans are well-guided by the social teachings of the Catholic Church. The bishops of the United States expressed that teaching most forcefully in a 1979 pastoral statement: “Racism is a sin; a sin that divides the human family, blots out the image of God among specific members of that family, and violates the fundamental human dignity of those called to be children of the same Father. Racism is the sin that says some human beings are inherently superior and others essentially inferior because of race. It is the sin that makes racial characteristics the determining factor for the exercise of human rights.”

It seems that in 2011 there is still a place in South Africa for racial chauvinists and their loathsome views, be they white supremacists or the proponents of a narrow black hegemony.

This was not the promise of 1994, and it is not a tribute to those who sacrificed so much for the promise of a South Africa free of bigotry.

I

FOUND the recent articles by Fr Patrick Noonan (January 5 and 12) concerning the sexual abuse scandal very helpful. Like many Catholics, I have frequently been asked by non-Catholics how I feel about the scandal. I have been trying to formulate a reasoned, honest response.

Fr Noonan’s candid and comprehensive articles I find to be in marked contrast to Chris Moerdyk’s recent column “Defend your Church” (January 2).

I was deeply disappointed by Mr Moerdyk’s take on the issue. His attitude seems to be that of a victim feeling unfairly picked on, and responds by pointing to the specks in other offenders’ eyes. I have heard this victim mentality from other Catholics.

Fr Noonan’s article puts this in perspective—showing that in fact the media has been of service to the

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N a recent commendable and refreshing letter (Homosexuality and the Bible September 1, 2010), for our edification and in compassion for our gay Catholic brethren, John Lee gave us examples of multiple variants in human relationships from the Bible.

Our brothers and sisters with same-sex orientation, who are in many respects the outcasts and lepers of our day, have the heaviest of crosses to carry and often lead lives of quiet desperation and anxious secrecy.

They are entitled to friendship, perhaps even more than heterosexuals are, for they cannot look forward to the companionship of marriage and the joy of having children.

I consider it utterly preposterous that Peter Throp (February 2) should accuse Mr Lee of “promoting same-sex unions” by showing compassion for those with same sex orientation, as Jesus surely would, in their difficult and lonely Christian pilgrim walk.

John Ahern, Port Alfred

Bad sermons

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HE quality of the homilies delivered in many South African parishes is of a very low standard. In some cases they are very poorly researched. Sunday after Sunday the priest or deacon “rabbit” on and on, explaining the readings and the gospel.

All they are doing is telling the congregation something they already know. They should listen to EWTN and learn how to deliver a sermon.

Albert Vianello, Vosburg, Northern Cape

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Reservations:

Church, exposing things which otherwise may have remained hidden.

After having spent some time in Ireland over the last few years, I can vouch for the deep anger and disillusionment felt by Irish Catholics towards Church authorities concerning the way the scandal was handled. Ordinary people did not need to be told by cynical journalists to feel outraged—once the government-sponsored Murphy report into child abuse was released, the truth was plain to see.

I think Pope Benedict’s call to repentance to the Church should be taken seriously. I found the Holy Father’s words on the subject last year very moving: “The Church has a profound need to relearn penance, to accept purification, to learn on the one hand forgiveness but also the necessity of justice. And forgiveness does not substitute justice. We have to relearn these essentials: con-

Show compassion Who we are

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www.volunteersafaris.co.za

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.

Father Xico with partially completed church building

082 450 9930 Trevor 082 444 7654 Piero 082 506 9641 Anthony

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IDEEN Gonlag (February 9) asks for clarity from the newly-established (in South Africa) movement “We Are Church”, which is affiliated to the international movement IMWAC. As yet, no spokesperson has been elected. I do not presume to give anyone clarity on where the movement stands on controversial issues.

However, I can state that: • we want and work for the will of Christ; • we are not a movement in opposition to the Church’s teaching authority, but we want dialogue and inclusion; • we are all loyal members of the Mystical Body of Christ.

The world may very well be hostile to our faith because of institutional, as well as individual, faults and failings, but we will never be hostile towards the “People of God”.

Asking less than a hundred concerned Catholics for clarity on critical issues such as same sex unions and abortion on demand is like asking for fruit from a sapling.

We are also, I might add, not a local clone of IMWAC. Rosemary Gravenor, Durban

Call to be obedient

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OW refreshing to read Bishop Hugh Slattery’s comments in your report “New initiative helps the person and the family” (February 23).

It’s a breath of fresh air to read solid-based traditional, truthful and obedient Catholicism. This humble, faithful priest is clearly in tune with our Holy Father in Rome.

Perhaps all thinking Catholics will seek out Pope Benedict’s book

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version, prayer, penance.”

My response as an ordinary Catholic therefore, is to acknowledge that terrible harm and suffering have been caused by the sinful actions of several thousand priests in various countries. Despite this, the Catholic Church continues to be a major provider of education, health care and welfare services throughout the world. In Southern Africa, through the work of the SACBC Aids Desk, the Church is second only to Government in providing HIV/Aids care and treatment.

There are still thousands of religious pouring their lives out in service to the poor—unseen and unheard, often in rural, isolated places. Millions of ordinary Catholics, especially in the poorest areas of the world, continue to live meaningful lives of faith and service, inspired and supported by their local parish. These actions all speak louder than any words.

Stephen Carpenter, Botha’s Hill, KZN Light of the World and thus become au fait with the Lord’s true message given to his Church and magisterium through the successor of the fisherman, Peter.

I salute Bishop Slattery and will pray along with him for the success of the Foundation of the Person and the Family.

Peter Throp, Cape Town

Our Lady statue

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UR congregation, church of St James the Great in Klawer, is a parish within the Anglican diocese of Saldanha Bay on the West Coast.

Most of our congregation are seasonal workers and poverty is rife within our wider community. Our parish is involved in both spiritual and community activities and strives to uplift the people who have been committed to our care.

Amid all of this, 2011 is a historical year for our congregation as we will be celebrating the 85th anniversary of its existence. As part of the celebrations we would like to erect a statue in honour of Our Lady. If you by chance have an unused or redundant statue or know of a school, parish, convent or monastery who are willing to donate a statue, I ask you to kindly contact me on 027 216 1242 or 072 202 4417, or e-mail elsieskid@ yahoo.com.

Rev Craig Abrahams, Klawer 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.

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PERSPECTIVES Catherine Upchurch

The gregarious Jesus

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F only I had lived in first century Palestine, I’m sure I would have recognised Jesus. It would make such a difference just to see him and watch him work.”

These and similar words are often expressed when 21st century people struggle with how to respond to Jesus and his message.

The reality is that the challenge to see and believe, to witness and to follow, would be very much the same then as now. In fact, our generation may have a definite advantage. We have the witness of centuries of people from every part of the globe who have responded in faith to spread the Good News of Jesus. We have the gift of the Spirit among us to stir our hearts to respond. And yet the struggle to recognise him fully is still with us.

The gospels are filled with episodes of people encountering Jesus, with as wide a variety of results as there were types of people: scribes and Pharisees; tax collectors and prostitutes; the hale and hearty as well as the blind and lame; women, men and children; foreigners and fellow Jews. What becomes clear throughout the gospels is that Jesus was a people person.

He conducted his Father’s business in the day to day interactions that are a part of every culture in every time and place.

Yes, he gathered people on mountainsides (Mt 5:1-2) and plains (Lk 6:17-17), and spoke to others in the synagogue (Mt 12:9-14; Mk 3:1-6; Lk 4:15-21; Jn 6:59) and yes, he was often surrounded by crowds who had heard of him and came with suspicion or curiosity. Mostly, Jesus interacted with small groups and individuals, and often these interactions began

with a question.

In the first public act of Jesus in Mark’s gospel (1:21-28), an unclean spirit cried out: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” This encounter allows the gospel writer to demonstrate the power of Jesus to rebuke and overcome all that is opposed to God. Even an encounter with the opposition becomes an opportunity to demonstrate the authority of the Son of God. When the Pharisees asked the disciples: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mt 9:11), Jesus used the overheard question to remind his followers that mercy outweighs legalism. Such insight set him in opposition to the religious leaders of his day, but it also breathed new life into what it means to respond to God’s call.

When two blind men cried out for pity, Jesus replied first with a question: “Do you believe that I can do this?” (Mt 9:28). Such a question, found in many exchanges, is a way of helping the person in need to articulate his or her desire and trust. Such a question sets the stage for the kind of transformation that leads to discipleship.

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profound teaching came in another story, when Jesus’ disciples asked him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (Jn 9:2) Jesus could have simply answered that neither sinned; that alone would have been a shocking revelation in a world that believed if the effect was illness, then sin was the cause. But Jesus used this moment to identify himself as “the light of the world”.

S

OUTH Africans should cease the practice of elevating stupidity to the level of controversy.

During the last elections, President Jacob Zuma said something lame along the lines that the African National Congress will govern until the second coming of Christ. People, especially Christians, were up in arms about it. This year, true to form, he said something along the lines that only those who vote for the ANC will gain a ticket to heaven.

As a practising Catholic, I didn’t really feel offended by these comments. I was just embarrassed by the realisation that we have entrusted high office to such a character. Which is why I’m surprised by the controversy it generated.

I could not even understand the aim of the South African Council of Churches in requesting a meeting with the president. Even if he were to relent and apologise, what purpose would that serve? Mr Zuma has time and again shown that he does not place too much importance in what he says. There’s a yawning gap between his words and deeds.

For one, he keeps telling us how his government is fighting corruption, nepotism, and so on, yet his family and friends are just about the only people getting obscenely rich while most of the people are sinking ever deeper below the poverty line. So I don’t take anything the president says seriously.

Who I find rather more pathetic are the defenders of Mr Zuma’s utterance, especially those from the religious fraternity.

We’ve grown accustomed to people within the ruling alliance demonising and calling anyone who does not agree with them “counter-revolutionary”, especially if that critic is black. Whoever criticises the ANC is depicted as unpatriotic.

They want to dogmatise our social con-

science through forced assumption and a repressive collectivist mentality.

This rude meddling in people’s intellects, attempts at brainwashing methods of social management, is a fascist attitude and has no place in a democracy. The resultant effect is the snowballing perplexity and indignation from the public which looks with disgust at the loss of values born of the Zuma era’s pompous degradation of ideals that mocks everything we’ve struggled for.

There is a moral and religious bankruptcy in trying to coerce people to vote for the party based on the promise of heaven or fear of hell. This was the colonialist attitude; abusing God as a useful tool of political exploitation. It was despicable in the missionaries, and is even more despicable in the hands of the so-called liberators.

The Zuma administration patronises our people with these colonialists manoeuvres. Indeed, it looks like the pigs have really taken over the animal farm.

O

When Jesus used parables to teach his followers about the kingdom of God or the qualities of discipleship, his closest followers often did not understand the meaning of the stories. In one instance, when Jesus described the vigilant servants who were prepared to meet their master, Peter spoke for all the disciples: “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” (Lk 12:41).

Jesus always looked for the teachable moment. He always found a way to draw his listeners into a story and then turn it inside out so that it fit his audience to a tee. Yes, the story was for them and for all of us.

When we read the gospel accounts or hear them proclaimed at Mass, we are being given the opportunity to encounter Jesus. The Second Vatican Council in its Constitution on Divine Revelation stated: “The Church has always venerated the divine scriptures as it has venerated the Body of the Lord” (21). We venerate the scriptures because we believe that God is truly present there.

In a particular way, the gospels reign supreme in revealing Christ and in inviting us into relationship with him. Each time we recognise in the ancient stories our own story, we have the opportunity to respond in faith. n Catherine Upchurch is the director of Little Rock Scripture Study in Arkansas. This article was originally published in the Arkansas Catholic, newspaper of the diocese of Little Rock. This is the 10th part of a series of 13 articles that explore the four gospels.

f course, what Mr Zuma might be doing when he evokes his brand of amateur theology is to deflect from his government’s performance.

Shortly before Mr Zuma became South Africa’s president there was public agitation about lurking dangers to our democracy: disrespect for the rule of law and encouragement of eyewash and bribery, servility, and glorification impotence.

Nothing the president has done since has managed to convince us that we are on a different path now.

There has been no effective effort to bar dishonest, pushy self-aggrandising people from positions of power (in fact the opposite has been the case). There have been numerous attempts at suppression of criticism and free expression, and the general gradual erosion of ideo-

Pushing Boundaries logical and moral values. A parasitical attitude towards public office is now the norm.

Studies after commissions were made of our economic and social positions, but the results have been superfluous, repetitive paintwork over cracks designed to produce padded reports that go nowhere.

Since he came to power the principles of justice have been distorted and eroded by empty sloganeering. And there’s general retardation and stagnation in higher government to refine the mechanism of our economic and social management.

To answer all of this, JZ tells the nation that only those who have ANC membership cards will go to heaven. And the ANC’s secretary-general, Gwede Mantashe, thinks this is revolutionary.

Do they have any idea about what constitutes a revolution? A revolution is about resolute and radical elimination of outdated modes, methods and obstacles hindering progress in social and economic development. In short it is about leaving behind passé attitudes.

A revolution is happening and accumulating out there alright, but it is not what Mr Mantashe and JZ have in mind.

This revolution is not prompted nor fostered by paralysing officialdom, incompetence, attitudes of careerism and other selfish needs that define today’s politics.

It is inspired by true revolutionary conscience which has realised that 17 years later the majority of our people are still suffering chronic poverty.

It is inspired by courage, initiative, high ideological standards, moral purity, and by commitment to ideals and values inherited from the authentic quest for freedom and the renewal of our society.

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7

Mgr Paul Nadal Priesthood and Ministry

Hearing the Good News

Mphuthumi Ntabeni

Deflecting from failure

The Southern Cross, March 9 to March 15, 2011

The problem of faith

S

PEAKING of the ministerial priesthood and priestly ministry is possible only in the wider context of faith and the role of the Church in the world today.

In his first Synodal Exhortation in April 1992, Pope John Paul II pointed out that the phenomenon of faith (or the lack of it) is affecting and challenging the whole Catholic (and even Christian) world. He spoke of the widespread rationalism which in the name of science “renders human reason insensitive to an encounter with revelation and divine transcendence”.

He spoke of “a personal subjectivity which tends to close off in individualism”. He mentioned a “sort of existential atheism which coincides with a secularist outlook on life and human destiny”. He spoke of “the break up of family life” and finally “the scarcity of priests which creates the most serious problems”.

This theme has repeatedly been taken up by Benedict who speaks of the “dictatorship of relativism”. As the pope pointed out last September in Britain, “the world of faith and the world of reason need to enter into a dialogue”.

Rational secularism without the influence of religion can and does lead to tyranny or worse. On the other hand, the pope said, religion needs to be purified by reason in order to avoid “distorted forms of religion such as sectarianism and fundamentalism”.

Moving from the theoretical and theological level to the pastoral, all those involved in ministry, whether priestly or lay, have experienced these problems. There is the break-up of family life, an ever increasing divorce rate, the thousands of children who have never experienced a good Catholic home and as a result have very little, if any, understanding of God, let alone faith. Many children and young people receive no systematic religious instruction. One is becoming increasingly aware of the toll and havoc that HIV/Aids is playing in our Southern African society.

Added to all this there is the chronic shortage of priests.

It is no wonder that one continually hears the word “crisis” when speaking of the priestly ministry. Personally, I don’t care to use the word “crisis” because of its strong emotive overtones, but that does not mean that there are not real problems in the ministerial priesthood. These genuine problems have been exacerbated by media attention on clerical sexual abuse and scandals in many parts of the world.

I

n many ways the problems of the ministerial priesthood reflect the problem of the Church in the world. The problem of the priest’s identity and role, like that of the Church, is primarily one of faith and the theological expression of religion.

If the basic problem is in the area of faith, then one cannot look to the social sciences for an answer. One cannot determine or define the role and function of the priest in terms of the human sciences of economics, sociology or psychology, as one might do if one were studying the role and function of a medical doctor, lawyer or architect.

By all means one should have the fullest possible research into the role and function of the priest from the human sciences, but one cannot look there for an answer or solution.

The study of the ministerial priesthood belongs first and foremost to the study of dogmatic theology. Unfortunately dogmatic arguments and pastoral consideration are often confused leaving those (like myself) who are not dogmatic theologians, even more confused.

If it is necessary to rediscover the original form of Christian priesthood, then that is the task of the dogmatic theologian.

Pastoral theology and practice should try to embody this fundamental idea in the cultural and social milieu of the world in which the priest lives and works. That is pastoral ministry.

One therefore needs to reflect on the ministry of the priest in the context of a changing Church and its relationship to the world. One needs to pinpoint and highlight the things that are affecting the Church’s understanding of herself in relation to the world, and in turn show how this new understanding is affecting the priesthood and pastoral ministry.

Ever since Vatican II there has been a shift away from a “cultic” understanding to a more “relational” understanding of the priesthood as exemplified in the words sacerdos and presbyter. It is the difference between the cultic priest who offers sacrifice and administers the sacraments and the priest who is leader and overseer.

Obviously one is not either/or. The priest is both, but where one places the emphasis can have repercussions on one’s self-understanding and one’s pastoral ministry. n This is the third instalment in of Mgr Nadal’s sixpart series on the priesthood.

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The Southern Cross, March 9 to March 15, 2011

Advertisement

FOCUS

In January a delegation of the Southern African Catholic Church travelled to South Sudan to observe the independence referendum, which would result in the region’s secession from Sudan. Cardinal WILFRID NAPIER OFM shares his impressions.

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RRIVING in Juba means arriving on a dusty airstrip. As I stepped off the plane from Nairobi, I was greeted by two banners. One said “Welcome to the 193rd Country in the World”; the other “Vote for Secession”.

These two signs captured the quiet exuberance of the people of Southern Sudan as they prepared to vote in an historic referendum.

I wasn’t able to get to Juba the last time I was in Sudan—it was judged too dangerous to be in this dusty little town. A war was still on—a bitter and bloody war. I had visited Torit, Rumbek, Yei and Yambio and was struck by the utter devastation of a country shattered by a bitter war of oppression and exploitation.

Juba is still a war city, in a sense.

Peace here is fragile; fragile not so much because of the people of the South, but fragile because of the guile and cunning of the government of Khartoum.

In the few short years since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, Juba, as capital of the South of Sudan, has made tentative steps towards becoming a sign of hope, change and development. It has a long way to go. Houses are scarred with bullet holes, roads are unpaved, water is delivered to most people by tanker and electricity is more often than not privately generated. It is also one of the most expensive places in the world, possibly due to the large presence of the aid community.

Why was I in Juba? The simple answer is solidarity. Solidarity means standing with, being part of, supporting or strengthening. I was there as part of the commitment of

the Catholic bishops of Southern Africa to stand shoulder to shoulder with the suffering Church of Sudan.

Solidarity is not easy. As a South African, I’m keenly aware that many in Africa quickly come to resent what is called the “Big Brother” attitude of South Africans; telling others what to do and then exploiting situations for gain.

Solidarity means that I can be here as someone who lived through the worst of South Africa and the hope that we have become. I can be here to say that the referendum on secession of South Sudan from the North parallels our South African experience of darkness into light, so powerfully symbolised in our vote in 1994.

Witnessing the voting lines, often hundreds deep on Sunday, reminded me powerfully of South Africa in those heady days of fear and hope. I asked one man how long he had been standing to vote.

He responded that he had been in a line for more than 12 hours. When I asked if that was not too long, his response was that he had waited 55 years for this—a few hours were nothing.

I celebrated a Solemn Mass with Archbishop Paulino Lukudo Loro of Juba. In the cathedral of St Theresa of the Child Jesus were President Salva Kiir, US Senator John Kerry and many ambassadors, envoys and dignitaries, including actor George Clooney. But far more important than all of these was the vast amount of ordinary people who had gathered to pray for peace and for a new country.

I didn’t see any of the South African delegation sent to monitor this referendum. I believe former President Thabo Mbeki was in town the day before, giving one of his lectures.

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owhere in Juba was there a single poster or sign calling for unity. The people clearly did not want to be partners with the North.

It was touching to witness people in the polling stations making their mark under a curtain and then showing their marked ballots for all to see—not one had marked the joined hands of unity.

The people of South Sudan related stories, in their pained, gentle way of how much they had lost and

suffered during the prolonged exploitation by the Khartoum government. How every doorframe and piece of corrugated iron was stripped and sent north, how the oil revenue never made it to the south, how the bridge across the White Nile had become a killing zone, how Arabic was imposed as the language of tuition in colleges and schools.

There was extra bitterness when they mentioned the Khartoum government’s efforts to impose Islam on the people of the South. There was clearly no love for the Khartoum government and the discrimination, neglect and oppression that it had perpetrated on the South for generations.

So who wins and who loses in this referendum?

I was impressed by the logistical professionalism of the referendum.

When so many had been saying loudly that nothing would work and nothing would be organised, I was amazed at the order and dignity that marked the conduct of the poll.

The Southern Cross, March 9 to March 15, 2011

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Cardinal Napier stands outside the polling station in Juba with South Sudanese prelates, including the Catholic and Anglican archbishops, who show their inked thumbs after voting in the independence referendum. Members of the All Africa Council of Churches/Secam ecumenical monitoring delegation were among those observing the referendum.

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he voting took place over a week, but in most places around Juba that I visited, almost 90% of people had already cast their votes in the first three days. This type of organisation, discipline and goodwill can only benefit what I’m sure will become the newest state in Africa.

And the North? Consider what the North loses. Oil, arable land, natural resources and ready labour.

The Southerners who find themselves in the North are a concern.

Already there are fears of mass migration south should the situation deteriorate.

The Christians in the North are also a deep concern to me. The Christian community in Khartoum in particular has been made to feel unwelcome over decades. If the North continues with its intent to intensify the application or imposition of its own brand of Shari’a law, this can only mean a greater insecurity for Christians.

And Africa? One of the major gains and losses for Africa is the idea that the borders imposed by the 1884/85 Berlin Conference—essentially the colonial borders of Africa—which have been seen to be carved in stone are not so. I’m very

Cardinal Napier and Hollywood star George Clooney in conversation.

(Photos: Fr Chris Townsend) impressed at the growing realisation that Africa has “soft borders”.

The transition will not be easy.

After spending over an hour with President Salva Kiir, the opposition to the South will grow on the border regions with armed militias with axes to grind and points to prove.

One only has to ask then who is arming and funding these groups.

I have full confidence in the government of South Sudan. This is going to be an investor’s paradise.

And my lasting impression of this vote. I am thrilled and privi-

leged to have been part of witnessing the birth of a new nation. Solidarity means “standing with”. It also means “learning from”.

I have learnt that true solidarity, true development is not about coming with ready-made answers, but being willing to engage, listen, and sit with another. The Southern African Catholic bishops have done this with the Catholic Church of Sudan over the last 17 years.

Solidarity is about reverential friendship.

We will stand by the South Sudanese Church and people—and learn from them—for years to come. n Cardinal Napier is the archbishop of Durban and the spokesman of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

Pretoria Archdiocesan Pilgrimage to Italy 2011

The Pretoria Archdiocesan of Pretoria and Micasa Tours invites you to join a spiritual Pilgrimage to accompany our New Archbishop, William Slattery, to Rome in June as he receives his Pallium. We will be visiting Rome, Assisi, Milan in Italy and Paray Le Monial and Lourdes in France.

Features: Pallium Mass with the Pope and our Archbishop, William Slattery. ● Tour of St Peter. Mass at St Peter, Angelus, Vatican Museums. ● 2 nights at Paray Le Monial to Visit the Shrine of St Margaret Mary Alacoque, to honour the Sacred Heart the Patron of our Archdiocese. ● Supper with Archbishop William Slattery. ● Tour of Rome ● 2 Nights in Lourdes. ● Lunch at the Franciscan House. ●

PACKAGE INCLUDES: Return economy flights on Air France - JHB/Paris/Rome/ Rome/Paris/JHB Roundtrip private transfers to airport/hotels 12 nights accomodation hotels mentioned above Breakfast & Dinner as per itinerary Sight seeing as per itinerary English Speaking Guide Spiritual Pilgrimage to Italy, led by Archbishop 23 June 2011 - 7 July 2011 R22 595.00 (Exclusive) Tel: 012 342 0179 / 072 637 0508 (Michelle) E-Mail: info@micasatours.co.za

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FOCUS

The Southern Cross, March 9 to March 15, 2011

Teen star Bieber’s mom–Pray for Justin One of the biggest pop stars right now is 17-year-old Justin Bieber. Aware of the fate of many teenage stars, Bieber’s mother is asking her son’s fans to pray for him, as DAVID DiCERTO reports.

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HOSE familiar with the ancient Greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus know that flying too close to the sun can be perilous.

The story serves as a useful, cautionary allegory for our media-saturated age, in which young stars, elevated on wings of fame and fortune, often crash and burn, scorched by the spotlight of celebrity.

Few child stars’ ascents have been quite as meteoric as that of the YouTube curiosity turned global pop sensation Justin Bieber, who, in a little more than a year, went from playing guitar on street corners in his small Canadian hometown of Stratford, Ontario, to filling arenas and performing for US President Barack Obama.

In that short time, he has sold more than 9 million albums and triggered a pandemic of “Bieber Fever”.

One wonders what effect this sudden success has had on the young mind beneath what are, currently, the world’s most famous bangs? It also prompts one to ask: What are the chances of the 17year-old going down the same selfdestructive path as Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and other teen stars who have ended up in rehab, prison or, tragically, an early grave.

It is a question that worries Bieber’s mother, Pattie Mallette. As a woman of faith, she has turned to God and fellow believers, surrounding her son with people who will be a positive moral influence, and trusting in prayer—lots of it.

“I’m very careful about who I allow into his life,” said Ms Mallette, who attends a non-denominational Christian church, as does her son.

“I’m aware of the dangers,” she explained, having herself used drugs as a teenager and attempted suicide at age 17 before she turned her life around. “Justin’s faith is strong, but he is young and hasn’t come completely into himself yet.

So what I can do is pray and continue surrounding him with strong Christian influences.”

To that end, she has carefully chosen an inner circle of people who share her values, including a “travel pastor” and a manager, Scooter Braun, an observant Jew, who help “provide a great moral

base” and keep Bieber grounded— making sure “Bieber mania” doesn’t go to his head.

Their family-like relationship is captured in Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, a new 3-D film that chronicles the North American leg of the singer’s first world concert tour and shows “Team Bieber” gathering in prayer before taking the stage each night.

Having raised Justin as a single mom, Ms Mallette said she never prayed for Justin’s success, but prays that God will protect her son from the temptations and traps that often accompany fame.

And she’s not stopping there.

She is asking that others pray for him as well—believers and “beliebers”, as fans of the pop star are dubbed.

“He is on a wonderful journey and I love him and I am asking for people’s prayer support,” Ms Mallette said.

One organisation, the Hollywood Prayer Network, has responded. Founded in 2001 by Karen Covell, the non-denominational Christian group’s stated mission is to pray for members of the entertainment industry, including a monthly calendar of prayer intentions for specific young performers. The network’s website has a special appeal to pray for Bieber.

The power of prayer is not lost on the teen idol. In fact he’s written a song about it, appropriately enti-

Comboni missionaries Founded by Saint Daniel Comboni

Justin Bieber and his mother, Patti Mallette, are pictured in a scene from the 3-D movie Never Say Never. The film chronicles the North American leg of the performer’s first world concert tour. As a woman of faith, the teen star’s mother says she trusts in prayer and has turned to God and fellow believers to surround her son with people who will be a positive moral influence.

(Photo: Paramount/CNS) tled “Pray”—inspired by Michael Jackson’s 1987 hit “Man in the Mirror”. The song’s video includes footage of Haiti and Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, and petitions for “the life not started” and “all the souls in need”.

Mature for his age, Bieber remains sober-eyed about the hazards of being young and famous, as the lyrics of his song “Up” admit:

“It’s a big world. It’s easy to get lost in it.”

Will he get lost? He openly acknowledged in a recent Vanity Fair interview that there are “people just waiting for me to personally mess up” and become fodder for tabloids. But, hopefully, Bieber’s story, which is just beginning, has a happy ending.

One can only pray.—CNS

An incredible journey: The Ghent Altarpiece STEALING THE MYSTIC LAMB, by Noah Charney. PublicAffairs, New York. 2010. 319 pp.

Reviewed by Graham Yearley

A We are committed as Priests or Brothers to EVANGELISATION and DEVELOPMENT in Africa, Europe, America and Asia

Join us in bringing the good news to the world Contact Father Vincent Mkhabela 0769756846 or write to Vocation Co-ordinator Comboni Study Centre, P.O. Box 73514 0040 Lynnwood Ridge, Pretoria

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

RT historian Noah Charney’s Stealing the Mystic Lamb is subtitled “The True Story of the World’s Most Coveted Masterpiece”. It is the story of the Ghent Altarpiece by Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, painted between the years 1426 and 1432, one of the hallmarks of Western art.

An enormous work, the altarpiece is made up of 20 separate panels in two tiers. Some of the smaller panels, particularly those of “The Annunciation”, “The Heavenly Choir” and “Adam and Eve”, may be more famous than its central lower panel depicting a lamb upon an altar, its blood flowing from its side into a golden cup.

Even at its installation in St Bavo cathedral in Ghent, Belgium, the altarpiece was too large for the space it was designed for and the side panels could not be opened flush to the wall. It is remarkable that this altarpiece, weighing over 2 000kgs, has moved at all, much less been stolen seven times.

The Ghent Altarpiece hung undisturbed for 140 years and then became the target of Protestants eager to destroy graven images of God. The first attack in 1566 was repelled by the outer doors of the cathedral; by the second assault with a battering ram, the altarpiece had been hidden in one of the towers and it escaped the wrath of the mob.

In 1794, the French Republican army invaded Flanders and began a campaign of looting artworks and sending them to France. On August 20, 1794, the central panels were taken from the St Bavo cathedral and transported to Paris and put on immediate display at the Louvre.

It is not clear if the side panels had been hidden or were ignored by the invading army, but they remained in Ghent. A few years later, the director of the Louvre would ask the Ghent authorities if they would consider giving over the side panels, so the altarpiece could be whole again, albeit in France, not Belgium.

With Napoleon’s defeat in 1814, the monarchy was restored in France. But when Napoleon escaped from his first exile on Elba and amassed another army and marched on Paris, King Louis XVIII fled from France and found refuge in Ghent. After Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo, King Louis, in gratitude to the city that had sheltered him, arranged for the return of the central panels to Ghent. The painting was once again a complete work for a year until the side panels were severed from the central panels and stolen on December 19, 1816.

The side panels ended up in the collection of Edward Solly, an Englishman based in Berlin.

In 1821, the Prussian emperor, Frederick

William III, bought Solly’s collection and used his legitimately purchased works of art as the core of the collection for the newly established Prussian national gallery, the Berlin Museum.

In a move that would horrify art conservationists today, the side panels were split vertically, so both sides could be viewed by museum goers at once. The side panels remained until 1920 on Museum Island in Berlin. The side panels were returned to Ghent in one of the most humiliating and painful reparations inflicted on the defeated Germany by the Allies.

The Ghent Altarpiece was whole again for 20 years until the Nazis stole it during the Second World War and placed it, along with hundreds of other major paintings, in the Alt Aussee salt mine in Bavaria.

Adolf Hitler had planned to build a vast museum in Linz, Austria, near his birthplace of Braunau-am-Inn, to house the thousands of artworks that had been looted from the defeated nations of Europe.

The story of how these precious artworks were rescued from almost certain destruction by a zealous local official determined to carry out Hitler’s “scorched earth” policy is one of the most fascinating sections of the Ghent Altarpiece’s complicated history.

It is a reminder that our art treasures that hang quietly on museum walls or in apses of cathedrals were probably stolen from someone at some time. Most European museums are filled with artworks taken in one invasion or another.

More chilling is the thought that a work as singular and beautiful as the Ghent Altarpiece could be destroyed in a few seconds by a frustrated criminal who did not get the ransom he expected or a passing soldier eager to avenge his fallen comrades.

The Ghent Altarpiece has endured these calamities and many more, a glowing tribute to the genius of the brothers Van Eyck and the God who inspired them.—CNS

The Southern Cross, March 9 to March 15, 2011

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Theology of the body books

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URTHER to the article “Theology of the Body” by Mike Harrington (February 2), I can recommend an affordable book about the same subject written

by Christopher West: Theology of the Body for beginners, Ascension Press.

By the same author for experts there is: Theology of the Body Explained, which covers the topic in detail over 600 pages. Also by the same author: Good news about sex and marriage, Servant Books.

Mr West is a Catholic theologian who works for the archbishop of Denver and is one of the most sought after speakers in the Church today, having delivered more than 1 000 public lectures on four continents, in nine countries, and in over 150 American cities.

All the books mentioned above could be beneficially used for marriage preparation courses so essential for Catholic life as stated in the same issue of The Southern Cross by Cindy Wooden.

Jan Goossens, Dundee, KZN

Family Reflections 2011 FAMILY THEME: PEACE ON EARTH BEGINS AT HOME” MARCH—IF YOU WANT PEACE WORK FOR JUSTICE. – Pope Paul VI

9th Ash Wednesday. Using the words “if you want peace, work for justice” as a focus this year, resolve during the season of Lent to reflect on all aspects of life and relationships in our family, workplace and school, and consider how just and fair we are being and acknowledge the need for repentance. Begin this process today.

13th 1st Sunday of Lent. Christ, the Second Adam. The first Sunday of Lent always focuses on temptation. Adam and Eve gave in to temptation to become like gods. Jesus did not give in to his temptations for power and glory. Consider what the temptations are in each of our lives? What particular weakness needs to be addressed or where is selfishness preventing us from being just?

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: Shrine of Our Lady of Bethlehem at Tsheseng, Maluti mountains; Thursdays 09:30, Mass, then exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. 058 721 0532.

CAPE TOWN: Holy Hour to pray for priests of the archdiocese, 2nd Saturday monthly at Villa Maria shrine Kloof Nek Rd, 16:00-17:00.

Good Shepherd, Bothasig. Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in our chapel. All hours. All welcome.

Day of Prayer held at Springfield Convent starting at 10:00 ending 15:30 last Saturday of every month—all welcome. For more information contact Jane Hulley 021 790 1668 or 082 783 0331.

DURBAN: St Anthony’s, Durban Central: Tuesday 9:00am

Mass with novena to St Anthony. First Friday 5:30pm Mass—Divine Mercy novena prayers.

Tel: 031 309 3496.

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, 011 782 4331.

PRETORIA: First Saturday: Devotion to Divine Mercy. St Martin de Porres, Sunnyside, 16:30. Tel Shirley-Anne 012 361 4545.

Liturgical Calendar Year A, Week 1 Sun, March 13, First Sunday of Lent Gen 2:7-9; 3:1-7, Ps 51:3-6, 12-13, 17, Rom 5:12-19 or 5:12, 17-19, Mt 4:1-11 Monday, March 14, feria Lev 19:1-2, 11-18, Ps 19:8-10, 15, Mt 25:31-46 Tuesday, March 15, feria Is 55:10-11, Ps 34:4-7, 16-19, Mt 6:7-15 Wednesday, March 16, feria Jon 3:1-10, Ps 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19, Lk 11:29-32 Thursday, March 17, St Patrick Es C:12, 14-16, 23-25, Ps 138:1-3, 7-8, Mt 7:7-12 Friday, March 18, feria Ez 18:21-28, Ps 130:1-8, Mt 5:20-26 Saturday, March 19, St Joseph 2 Sam 7:4-5, 12-14, 16, Ps 89:2-5, 27, 29, Rom 4:13, 16-18, 22, Mt 1:16, 18-21, 24 or Lk 2:41-51 Sunday, March 20, Second Sunday of Lent Gen 12:1-4, Ps 33:4-5, 18-20, 22, 2 Tim 1:8-10, Mt 17:1-9

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.

IN MEMORIAM KLAASEN—Milton. In loving memory of my dearest husband, our father and grandfather who passed away on March 15, 2007.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on him.

Loved and missed by your wife Elaine, children and grandchildren.

PERSONAL ABORTION WARNING: ‘The Pill’ can abort, undetected, soon after conception (a medical fact). See website: ww.human life.org/abortion_does _the_pill.php LEBANESE Community.

The President of the World Lebanese Cultural union Mr Eid Chidrawi, will be visiting South Africa from April 1, 2011 to April 8, 2011.

For further details contact: Ken 084 783 0726.

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. Amen.

Carol E

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Say this prayer for 3 consecutive days and then publish. Anastasia.

HOLY St Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus. The church honours and invokes you universally as the patron of hopeless cases, or those most despaired of. Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone. Make use, I implore you, of that particular privilege given to you to bring visible and speedy help when help is almost despaired of. Come to my help of this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, sufferings, particularly (make your request) that I may praise God with you and all the elect for ever. MRN..

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Red Acres Retreat Centre

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St Jude mosaic, Franco Cosmo Panini 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. Amen.

For Robin.

O MOST beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of Heaven, blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me where you are, Mother

CAPE TOWN, Cape Peninsula: Beautiful homes to buy or rent. Maggi-Mae 082 892 4502. Colliers International False Bay, 021 782 9263, maggi maev@colliers.co.za

Sea B&B and self-catering.

Holy Mass celebrated every Sunday at 6pm. Tel: 022 451 2650.

FISH HOEK: Self-catering accommodation, sleeps 4.

Secure parking. Tel: 021 785 1247.

FISH HOEK: Peninsula Fever self-catering, against mountainside overlooking False Bay. Sleeps up to 4 people at R680 per night.

Lounge with sleeper couch, kitchenette, double bedroom, timber deck with sea views. Phone Lizette 084 827 0385.

GORDON’S BAY: Beautiful en-suite rooms available at reasonable rates. Magnificent views, breakfast on request. Tel: 082 774 7140.

E-mail: bzhive@telkomsa. net KNYSNA: Self-catering accommodation for 2 in Old Belvidere with wonderful Lagoon views. 044 387 1052.

LONDON, PROTEA HOuSE: underground 2min, Picadilly 20min.

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Self-catering. Single per night R250, twin R400.

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MARIANELLA Guest House, Simon’s Town: “Come experience the peace and beauty of God with us.” Fully equipped with amazing sea views.

Secure parking, ideal for rest and relaxation. Special rates for pensioners and clergy. Tel: Malcolm Salida 082 784 5675 or mjsali da@mweb.co.za UMHLANGA ROCKS: Fully equipped self-catering 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, sleeps 6, sea view, 200 metres from beach, DStv. Tel: Holiday Division, 031 561 5838, holidays@ lighthouse.co.za

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HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION BETTY’S BAY: (Western Cape) Holiday home, sleeps seven, three bathrooms, close to beach, R600/night. 021 794 4293, marialouise@mweb.co.za CAPE TOWN: Vi Holiday Villa. Fully equipped selfcatering, two bedroom family apartment (sleeps 4) in Strandfontein, with parking, R400 per night. Tel/Fax Paul 021 3932503, cell 083 553 9856, vivilla@telkom sa.net CAPE WEST COAST yzerfontein: Emmaus on

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

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2nd Sunday in Lent – March 20 Readings: Genesis 12:1-4, Psalm 33: 4-5, 1820, 22, 2 Timothy: 1:8-10, Matthew 17:1-9

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F we are to make it through the apparently interminable desert journey that is our Lenten preparation for Easter, then we need a vision to keep us going. This is what the readings for next Sunday offer us.

The vision, however, does not mean that we shall be aware of everything that lies ahead of us (we probably should not set out on the journey if we were!). Consider Abraham, in our first reading. He is summoned

by God, to “leave your country and your family and your father’s house, and go to a land I am going to show you”. He is promised blessing, and multiplication (“I shall make you into a great nation”); but if he had known what lay ahead of him, in the next thirteen chapters of Genesis, he could have been pardoned for making his excuses, and suggesting that the Lord invite somebody else. But he heard the command, and plodded into history; and that is what we are invited blindly to do, knowing that God is in charge.

That would not be a problem for the poet who composed the psalm for next Sunday, “for the word of the Lord is upright”, he sings, “and all his deeds are done with integrity”.

And as we plod on, we are to be encouraged by the vision, for “look! The eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, to rescue their soul from death.” There is a resounding confidence here in the psalmist’s vision of the

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A vision for our Lenten journey Nicholas King SJ Sunday Reflections Lord: “Our soul waits for the Lord; our helper and our shield is he.” So even your long journey through Lent is manageable, if you will only put your attention where your attention ought to be.

The second reading likewise speaks of the vision that we need, in order to keep us going.

For God, the author says, is “the one who rescued us, and who called us with a holy calling, not because of what we have done, but because of his own plan and free gift”. The plan, it seems, goes back to all eternity (“given to us in Christ Jesus before eternal times”), but has become evident in Christ, “through the apparition of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who cancelled out death, but illuminated life and immortality through the gospel”. Ask, this week, to see that vision.

And now the gospel, which is, as always on the second Sunday of Lent, that visionary experience of the Transfiguration, which the Church presumably gives us because of the

Chris Moerdyk The Last Word give us the strength to compete.”

“It’s Pope John Paul II who was our example,” said one of the priests. “He loved to ski, especially in these very Beskidy mountains when he was a young priest, and then as a bishop and a cardinal.”

Competitors range in age from 20 to almost 70. At 68, Fr Wladyslaw Nowobilski from the nearby village of Cisce was the oldest to take part.

Backed by 30 of his parishioners, from the southern Polish town of Bedzin, armed with whistles, tambourines and castanets, Fr Krzysztof Sontag makes no secret of his passion for the slopes.

“I train all year at the gym. Skiing and sports in general give me a lot of joy,” he said.

“Our priest is really fantastic,” said parishioners. “We come here each year to cheer him on. It really brings us closer.

There aren’t many priests like him in our region.”

“Skiing in cassocks is also a way of demonstrating that the spirit and the body always go together, like the Latin expression Mens sana in corpore sano (A healthy mind in a healthy body),” Fr Sontag told AFP.

Conrad Bless me Father, I de-friended 20 friends on Facebook

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recognition that we need something to keep us plodding on with our journey.

In Matthew’s gospel, it is dated “six days” after the remarkable experience at Caesarea Philippi; and Jesus takes his “inner cabinet”, of Peter, and the two brothers James and John, the sons of Zebedee, “and he brings them up a high mountain, on their own”.

Quite without any preparation, we learn that “he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light”. As we reel before this vision, we realise that there is more: “Look!

Moses appeared to them, and Elijah; they were chatting with him!”

So part of the vision has to do with who Jesus is, and at the very least he is to be understood as on a par with those two iconic figures of Scripture, Moses who represents God’s Torah or Law, and Elijah, standing for the great prophetic tradition. Peter panics, you may feel, but his heart is in the right place, as he proposes to construct a camping-site: “Lord —it’s good for us to be here. If you like, I’m going to construct three tents here, one for you and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

The order in which he names them means at least that Peter rates Jesus way above Moses and Elijah. And so, it seems, does God, for “while he was still speaking, Look! A radiant

Selector Moerdyk’s team READ the most amusing story in the weekly Southern Cross e-newsletter a few weeks ago about priests in Poland holding their annual “Papal Cup Ski Championships”.

If you have a computer by the way, and have not yet subscribed to our weekly enewsletter, you should do so because the content is entirely different to that of The Southern Cross newspaper. You can subscribe by going to www.scross.co.za and clicking on the newsletter button on the left hand side. It’s easy, it’s free and it’s fascinating.

Now, having shamelessly punted the enewsletter, I can carry on with what I found so amusing about this story.

First of all, it was the fact that they sped their way downhill in full clerical garb, with cassocks flying wildly. It made for quite a bizarre picture.

They were all competing for the “Papal Cup” in memory of their late compatriot Pope John Paul II. According to Agence France Presse, each year ski-mad priests flock to Poland’s southern Beskid Slaski mountain range bordering the Czech Republic to indulge their passion, as bemused fellow skiers watch them whiz by in their priestly garb.

So far no nuns have taken up the challenge, but the priests insist that the slopes are open to them too.

In this race, prayers are a standard part of the warm-up routine: “May the good Lord watch over us and protect us, may he

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Pope Benedict: “It is important always to remember that virtual contact cannot and must not take the place of direct human contact with people at every level of our lives.”

“We can do both—hold the rosary and ski poles, get down on our knees and on our skis,” he said.

The second thing I found amusing about this story was that it left me with several mental pictures of Southern African priests and bishops indulging in sport in their vestments. I seem to recall that Bishop Graham Rose of Dundee in KwaZulu-Natal was a champion hockey player and remains youthful and athletic.

I still battle, however, to imagine him in his Sunday best vestments running down the wing, hanging on to his mitre and using his crosier to swat the ball across to his forwards.

I also know that Cardinal Wilfrid Napier is extremely fond of rugby and a great Sharks supporter. I can easily imagine him captaining an ecumenical team from his position as front-row forward. I remember The Southern Cross publishing a picture of the future cardinal, his leg in cast after he injured himself playing action cricket.

Bishop Edward Risi has all the makings of a world-class scrumhalf, not only because of his tough, stocky build, but also for his ability to intimidate the opposition into dropping the ball and running away.

Alongside the cardinal, I’d have Archbishops Stephen Brislin and Buti Tlhagale in the front-row, with Archbishop William Slattery and Bishop Frank De Gouveia at lock. At flank there’d be Bishops Patrick Mvemve and Botswana’s Frank Nabuasah (who would be a great ball-winner), with the new bishop of Kimberley, Bishop Abel Gabuza, driving the pack forward at number 8.

Bishop José Ponce de Leon would bring Argentinian flair to the flyhalf position, with Bishops Sithembele Sipuka and Louis Ndlovu at centre, Kevin Dowling and Michael Coleman on the wings, and Bishop Barry Wood at fullback.

The coach would be none other than Archbishop George Daniel.

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference could put up such a formidable team that they could take on any outfit the Vatican could throw at them.

Sport certainly seems to be a good way for clergy to interact with their flock. For example, only a few weeks ago in the Philippines, 100 priests from all over the country congregated to play in a two-day national tennis tournament at the Manila Polo Club to promote prayer and sport.

So, any takers, your graces?

cloud overshadowed them, and look! A voice from the cloud!”

And what does the Almighty say (for clearly it is the voice of God)? The message is not just for baffled Peter, for God speaks in the plural (“you lot”), so it is for James and John as well, but it also comes down the ages to us as we continue the Lenten journey: “This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased,” echoing the Song of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah.

Then comes an instruction that we must take with us through Lent: “Listen to him.”

Instead, the inner cabinet, perhaps engaging our sympathy, dive for cover. “They fell on their faces and were very afraid.”

That is not, however, the correct response to the presence of God, as we learn next: “And Jesus approached and touched them and said, ‘Be raised up, and don’t be afraid’.”

Then the shape of the vision alters: “They lifted up their eyes, and saw nobody, except for just Jesus.” And the journey continues: “As they went down out of the mountain, Jesus gave them orders, saying: ‘Don’t tell anyone of the vision, until the Son of Man is raised up from the dead’.”

So the vision is to keep them (and us) going on the journey until Easter. Let the vision help you on the journey in the coming week.

Southern Crossword #435

ACROSS 1. You should do it daily (4) 2. Make a second apparition (8) 9. Marks of disgrace (7) 10. In mid-nave I appear a simpleton (5) 11. As our earliest ancestor, Adam may go in on Rome trip (12) 13. Pardons your offences from mixed timers (6) 15. Where contents of chalice originates (6) 17. She may perform in liturgical steps (6,6) 20. Receiver of audio messages (5) 21. Not quite accurate (7) 22. He’s concerned with what's right and wrong (8) 23. Speed past (4)

DOWN 1. Document not needed to enter heaven (8) 2. Evidence of not being present (5) 4. End use, as happened afterwards (6) 5. Papal terms of office (12) 6. Meet Pio. He’s the perfect example (7) 7. Regretted sounding unmannerly (4) 8. Spirit that can deserve eternal life (8,4) 12. Ted Hardy absorbed the water (8) 14. Follow a winding course (7) 16. Saints could get bad marks (6) 18. Muscle contraction from kneeling too long? (5) 19. A strong drink for Lily (4) Answers on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

T

HE preacher’s five-year-old daughter noticed that her father always paused and bowed his head for a moment before starting his sermon.

One day, she asked him why.

“Well, honey,” he began, proud that his daughter was so observant of his messages. “I’m asking the Lord to help me preach a good sermon.”

“How come he doesn’t answer?” she asked.

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