June 22 to June 28, 2011
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r5,50 (incl VaT rSa) reg No. 1920/002058/06
The new missionaries in SA’s Church
Church gives hope to Congo’s rape victims
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No 4731
Parish of the Month from the E. Cape Page 10
Confidence a fruit of World Cup By CLaIre MaTHIeSON
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The Lord’s Table is set for the distribution of the Bread and Cup of life in Jerusalem’s church of all Nations in the garden of Gethsemane. The Church celebrates the feast of Corpus Christi— the Body and Blood of Christ—on June 26 this year. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher)
Security fears after regime kills church workers in Sudan By BarB Fraze
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WO church workers were murdered by government forces in Sudan’s South Kordofan state in what one Church adviser called a campaign of “ethnic cleansing”. John Ashworth, an adviser to the Sudan Ecumenical Forum and official of the Denis Hurley Peace Institute in Pretoria, would not elaborate on the religious affiliation of the church workers, who were killed after two days in detention, because church officials on the ground were becoming more nervous about drawing attention to the church. The two were among “a huge number of murdered civilians”, Mr Ashworth said, referring to a “deliberate policy by the Khartoum regime to kill its own citizens. It is ethnic cleansing, and it is not new,” he said in an e-mail. Mr Ashworth said the people being killed are Nuba, an indigenous people of Sudan. “The international community should stop trying to fudge this as part of the North-South conflict,” he said. “The killing needs to be stopped, and this is the first priority.” South Kordofan sits along the disputed border of Sudan and Southern Sudan, which is due to become independent on July 9. Fighting between members of the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army from the South began in midMay. Sources on the ground in South Kordofan have reported finding dead members of both armies along the road between the towns of Heiban and Kauda, where cell phone lines had been cut. The United Nations reported bombing and artillery shelling in the Nuba Mountains area, which
spilled into Southern Sudan. Coadjutor Bishop Michael Didi Adgum Mangoria of El Obeid, the diocese that includes South Kordofan state, said the entire population of the city of Kadugli had fled. The bishop told the Vatican missionary news agency Fides that two Comboni nuns and a priest who had been working in Kadugli had taken refuge in a UN compound. He said UN personnel there “are simply observers and not peacekeepers. They aren’t even able to protect themselves, let alone the civilians.” Mgr Roko Taban Mousa, apostolic administrator of Malakal, Southern Sudan, told Fides in early June that the tens of thousands of people fleeing the disputed area around Abyei, also in South Kordofan, had resulted in a serious humanitarian problem. While aid is arriving from other areas of Southern Sudan, it is not enough to cover the needs of the refugees. A referendum on Abyei’s political future had been scheduled for January but never took place because of disagreements over who was eligible to vote. The Sudanese government insisted that the nomadic Misseriya, a northern-aligned tribe that takes its cattle to Abyei during several months of the dry season, be allowed to participate, but that was rejected by the permanent residents of Abyei, mostly members of the Dinka Ngok tribe who support the Southern Sudan government. Caritas Internationalis, the umbrella body of Catholic relief and service agencies, said that its organisation in Southern Sudan aimed to provide water, food, shelter and health care to the 100 000 people they expected would be displaced because of the border fighting.—CNS
YEAR after South Africa hosted the football World Cup; Church commentators believe the tournament has taught the country much, but say the true legacy of the World Cup—positive or negative—is still a long way off. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban reflected on the pride the nation felt after FIFA president Sepp Blatter scored the 2010 tournament nine out of ten. “We were the first African nation to have the World Cup assigned to us, and we had done a pretty good job,” the cardinal told The Southern Cross. He also reflected on the infrastructure that was built for the tournament. “We provided new or renewed or upgraded stadiums in every metropolitan centre, as well as in nonmetropolitan centres like Rustenburg, Nelspruit and Polokwane; a spanking new airport at Durban; substantial expansions and upgrades at Cape Town and Johannesburg; training grounds established in many places.” Mike Pothier, research co-ordinator of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office, said the initial success of the World Cup was evident in the infrastructure that went up in time for the big event—stadiums and transportation systems in particular. “We got all the stadiums built on time and to the correct standards, and ensured all the necessary infrastructure around it was sound. One year before the event, there was a lot of negativity around the progress the country had made. People were questioning whether South Africa could do it and rumours were rife about FIFA having a backup plan. But we did it!” Mr Pothier said that the fact South Africa hosted the event with everything in place showed success. However, he said, it was far too early to draw conclusions on the lasting effects of the World Cup. “One legacy it did leave was that of confidence. So many projects never occur on deadline, but we learnt that with sufficient pressure it can be done,” Mr Pothier said. Cardinal Napier said the World Cup taught South Africans that if one wants a project to succeed, it is necessary to state clearly what is needed and wanted, as well as “to make clear what everyone from government to humblest fan will need to do to ensure that the required goods are delivered”. But this should lead to certain questioning, Mr Pothier said. If the country can build
a stadium for billions of rands, then surely housing and public transport can also be sorted out. Mr Pothier said the difference between the day-to-day running of the country and hosting the World Cup was the presence of an external force which applied pressure. But, he added, if the work ethic and high levels of service delivery was achieved once, there is no reason it couldn’t be achieved again. South Africans should demand these levels of efficiency, he said. “Currently there is not enough pressure from the electorate. We need to learn from it.” Cardinal Napier said there were three main things the country learnt from the event. “When people are given an attractive vision and set a clear goal they will rise to the occasion remarkably well. If those in authority are transparent and honest, treat the people with respect by explaining their intentions and plans, our people will climb on board and go beyond the call of duty”. The second lesson is that government can no longer take it’s people for granted. Empty promises will not suffice, the cardinal said. “The last lesson to be learned is just how much we are indebted to God for the many graces and blessings he gave us at the time of the World Cup and since. “I count it a particular grace and mercy that even with the exposure of amazingly high levels of graft and corruption, a considerable majority of the electorate is still willing to give government a last chance to get it right,” Cardinal Napier said. Mr Pothier said the country felt a large amount of “positivity, pride and a sense of achievement” during the tournament and while this would not last, he hoped the other effects would. “The real lessons will be learnt only in years to come when the positive and negative effects can be seen: whether tourism has grown, whether the infrastructure is being used and maintained, and whether the country can attract other large events,” he said. For the cardinal, the highlight was the nation’s uniting behind the national team. “South Africans, one and all, put their collective weight behind an African country.” However, he said that the sense of pride and national support the country felt at that time has since dwindled. He said government has stopped attempting to promote unity and the only way to maintain it will be to deliver more projects as successful as the World Cup.
Giant footballs outside parliament in Cape Town marked the 2010 World Cup. Church commentators say that the long-term benefits of hosting the event cannot be measured yet.