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September 14 to September 20, 2011
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No 4742
the african giants of the early church Page 11
SA Church gets ready for new missal BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
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HE second phase of the new English translation of the Mass will be implemented on the first Sunday of Advent, November 27. The newly translated Roman missal will be made available to all parishes and communities during September. The third phase—the new lectionary using the Revised Standard Version—will be implemented at the beginning of Lent in 2012. Despite the time difference, the English Language Liturgy Implementation Committee of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) has assured local Catholics that publications have been made available for the interim. Training has been conducted with bishops, priests and deacons around the country. Christopher Busschau, a member of the implementation committee said a proactive response was needed to address the concern around the country regarding the change in liturgy. “People were confused and upset with the impending changes. There was a lot people did not know about the new translation—the why and the how,” Mr Busschau said. Using his executive management experience, the liturgy department at the SACBC launched a subcommittee that is tasked with the implementation of the new translation around the country. The preparations take on various forms and will continue until next Lent. “We started with a road show. We visited Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth [for the metropolitan see of Cape Town] and Durban to meet with the country’s bishops for a one-day workshop where they learnt how to implement the changes and how to reinforce the new translation.”
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he new missal will take effect throughout the English-speaking Church with the beginning of the new liturgical year on the first Sunday of Advent. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, writing in Durban’s archdiocesan monthly newsletter, said that the implementation of the new Roman Missal is a “key moment for leaders in the Church to give good, clear and committed leadership”. He said the new missal is “a fact”—the result of extensive research and examination to produce the best possible and most accurate translation. He said that the product is “the best it could be” and therefore should be embraced by local Catholics. He called on all Catholics, especially leaders in the Church, to ensure that the Mass does what “it was instituted to do— to bring about the greatest unity possible
among the People of God”. Mr Busschau said: “The second phase is the distribution of altar missals for use by the clergy and an abridged version of the missal for the laity. Every parish in the country will receive altar Missals a few weeks before the Mass changes and parishioners can either use the pamphlet or the ‘Simple Order of the Mass’ booklet to follow the Mass.” The ‘Simple Order of the Mass’ booklet is pocket-sized, 80 pages and contains the congregational parts of the Mass and the Eucharistic prayers, but no readings. “The booklets are available from diocesan bookshops, are affordable and will allow you to participate fully in the Mass,” Mr Busschau said. The third phase of the changeover will occur by Ash Wednesday in 2012 when the new lectionaries and Sunday missals will be available to everyone. There will be a Sunday missal and a daily missal—which contains both the Sunday and weekday Masses. “The new missal contains the new translation of the Eucharistic prayers. These have changed in style and wording, but not in substance and meaning,” Mr Busschau said. The readings, he added, come from a different translation of the Bible. “We’ve moved from the Jerusalem version to the Revised Standard Version.”
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ardinal Napier called on the priests in his archdiocese to manage the change and help their parishioners along. “Build a guiding team and create liturgy teams in the deanery or parish and get the vision right,” he suggested, adding that leaders need to help make the change stick. “The Mass must be better. It is the centre of our lives,” he said. To further assist Catholics around the country, Mr Busschau said, the liturgy committee has developed a series of articles across various media, for distribution with Mass bulletins and to anyone interesting in learning more. “The seven-article-series has been written for the average Catholic. It will run from the ‘why’ and ‘how’ to the ‘what’.” Günther Simmermacher, editor of The Southern Cross, said that an extensive series of articles will run weekly in the newspaper in October and November, concluding with the end of the current liturgical year. Mr Busschau said Southern Africa’s churches are ready for the new Mass— most of the responses in Mass were already implemented in this region in 2008—and that every effort is being made to ensure that the country’s Catholics are also ready. It is now up to the local leaders in the Church to carry out those changes effectively, he added.
A priest surveys materials relating to the new Roman missal. The new liturgical translations will become effective throughout the English-speaking Church in late November.
Ex-Mthatha bishop dies at 81 BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
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ETIRED Bishop Andrew Zolile Brook of Mthatha (pictured) died on September 5 at his home in Uitenhage, age 81. Born on November 22, 1929, he grew up in Port Elizabeth and entered the seminary in Lesotho. He was ordained a priest in 1957 before earning a further degree in theology in Uganda. Bishop Brooke wanted to work in his home diocese of Port Elizabeth, but at the time the bishop reportedly wanted only missionary priests and locals were not accepted for local ministry. As a result, Bishop Brooke worked mostly in the diocese of Queenstown where he emphasised the importance of catechesis and educating people in a way that was accessible and easy to understand. He was ordained bishop of Mthatha (then Umtata) in May 1979. Bishop Sithembele Sipuka, current
bishop of Mthatha, said his predecessor was known for his gentleness, humility and for being down to earth. “He was the first Xhosa-speaking bishop and was known for being very accessible to the people,” Bishop Sipuka said. “He trained as a catechist and always drew from culture when he spoke. He had a special way of connecting culture to faith.” The late bishop emphasised the importance of pastoral work on the level that the locals could understand easily. “He was always very down to earth which made him easy to relate to and learn from,” Bishop Sipuka said. Bishop Brooke served Mthatha until his retirement in 1995. He returned home to the diocese of Port Elizabeth where he lived with his family. The bishop suffered for many years with Alzheimer’s disease and was cared for by his family. He passed away quietly surrounded by loved ones.
Activist: If the poor Church can help, why can’t govt? STAFF REPORTER
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F the under-resourced Catholic Church in Klerksdorp could manage to conduct a research survey of hundreds of families and secure an amount of R400 000 to assist 30 households, why can’t the government do more than that through the poverty alleviation which President Jacob Zuma has promised? This is the question of Pretrus Moshe, development coordinator of the Klerksdorp diocese. The diocese’s development structure, its Justice & Peace Commission and the Siyab-
habha Trust of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference hosted an event in Kopela village, North West Province, for extremely poor people who were identified as beneficiaries of a new household gardening project. The funding was obtained by the Siyabhabha Trust, the Southern African arm of Caritas International, through the lottery distribution board. The event for the project was attended by officials from government departments, non-governmental organisations, churches, the local chief and the local ward council-
lor. Thirty people were presented with certificates for successfully completing training, and four people received awards for outstanding achievements in the implementation and completion of the project. The main objective of the project, which has not been given an official name, is aimed at self-employment. “Each household has access to food security by means of selling and buying foodstuff”, said Mr Moshe. The R400 000 funding covered training and the purchase of garden equipment. The diocese’s research included hundreds
of households which were then narrowed down to 30. It found that in wide unemployment, many families keep going through household projects, Mr Moshe said. Each of the 30 families is expected to train their neighbours. In this way, the project is intended to benefit the entire community, he said. Mr Moshe called on the local municipality “to replicate this model”. He urged local government to sustain the project, and to learn from the people of Kopela and the diocese development structure how to implement the project.