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January 11 to January 17, 2011
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Big boost for Denis Hurley centre
What’s behind Nigeria’s bomb?
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No 4754
Pilgrim destination: Latin America
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Pope Benedict’s busy year ahead BY JOHN THAvIS
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TRIP to Latin America, a Synod of Bishops on new evangelisation, the start of the Year of Faith, creation of new cardinals and proclamations of new saints are all on Pope Benedict’s calendar for 2012. The pope will also continue his meetings with groups of US bishops making their ad limina visits to the Vatican during the first half of the year. His talks to the bishops are expected to focus on themes of education, religious freedom and the relationship between culture and religion. The 2012 highlights are only a small part of the pope’s day-to-day schedule, which includes hundreds of meetings, speeches, messages and liturgies. The German pope, who turns 85 in April, also pursues a “private” agenda of writing whenever he gets the chance, as he works to complete the latest in his “Jesus of Nazareth” series of books— this one on Jesus’ infancy and childhood. Pope Benedict is virtually certain to call a consistory to create new cardinals in 2012. He may do so as early as February, when there will be at least 13 “vacancies” in the roster of voting-age cardinals (those under the age of 80); or he may wait until October, when 10 more cardinals will have turned 80. Pope Benedict plans to travel to Mexico and Cuba in March, on a trip that will turn a spotlight once again on Latin America, home to nearly half the world’s Catholics. It will also move the pope onto the radar of US media, which have cut back on their coverage of the pope and the Vatican in recent years. The pope may also travel to Lebanon, probably in the second quarter of the year. An invitation from Lebanese leaders came a month ago, and Vatican officials have said the pope wants to deliver his follow-up document on the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, held at the Vatican in 2010. Such a visit would give the pope a highvisibility platform to weigh in on religious freedom issues during a period of volatile
political change in the region. The later part of 2012 will bring several important events, including the world Synod of Bishops October 7-28. New evangelisation has become the leitmotif of almost everything Pope Benedict does these days, and the gathering of bishops will help translate the term into practical pastoral initiatives. The essential idea is to find ways to energise Catholics, reminding them of their duty to witness the faith publicly and proclaim it to others. The synod will follow the somewhat streamlined format introduced by Pope Benedict in 2005: a shorter assembly, shorter individual speeches and more free discussion in the synod hall. The Year of Faith was designed by the pope to help Catholics rediscover the basic content of their faith, and the Vatican’s preparation materials—due out very soon—will have a strong doctrinal element. The special year will begin October 11, 2012, which is the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, and some Vatican sources say the pope may publish a document that connects the two events. Sometime during 2012, the pope is expected to proclaim 7 new saints, including 2 American women: Blessed Marianne Cope of Molokai and Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, who will become the first Native American to be canonised. Also included are French Jacques Berthieu, a Jesuit priest shot to death in Madagascar in 1896 for defending Christianity and the Spanish nun Mary of Mount Carmel. In 1892 she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. The teenager Pedro Calungsod will be the second saint in Philippine history. He was martyred in 1672 for defending missionaries. The last on the list is Germany’s Anna Schäfer, who always wanted to be a missionary. In 1901 she suffered burns on her legs, she was then bedridden for 24 years and offered her pain for the salvation of souls. The date for these two canonisations has not been set, but many think it may happen on October 21, World Mission Sunday.
The Association of Catholic Tertiary Students (ACTs) recently gathered at the Bertoni Conference Centre in the archdiocese of Pretoria for a national leadership conference which focused on the development of leadership skills among students from different universities and abroad. The group of young Catholics reviewed the year that was and discussed a way forward for Catholic students in 2012. The students are pictured with national youth chaplain, Fr Sammy Mabusela CSS (pictured wearing blue, centre, back.) (Photo submitted by Mulaudzi Gift Fhiwie)
Bishops accuse Nigeria of fraud
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GROUP of Nigerian bishops accused the government of selfishness, collusion and fraud and said removal of a fuel subsidy showed “insensitive timing”. “Must the poor suffer to make the rich smile? It may not be fair to blame the government alone for all the woes of Nigeria, but this government must take full responsibility for the insensitive timing and execution of this policy on fuel subsidy,” said the statement, signed by Archbishop Felix Alaba Job of Ibadan, president of the Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria. The bishops said the government made “the poor suffer in the selfish interest of a few who have fraudulently enriched themselves in collusion with those in the corridors of power” in setting public policy. The statement from the bishops of the Ibadan, Ilorin, Ondo, Osogbo, Oyo and Ekiti dioceses said the announcement by the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to end a widely supported fuel subsidy would mean additional hardship for poor people. After the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulation Agency announced the end of the subsidy, pump prices of for fuel rose
between 100% and 250% across the country, immediately leading to higher prices for goods and services, according to reports. Prices rose from about 41 cents per litre of fuel to between 89 cents and $1,57 per litre, surveys showed. Labor leaders quickly mobilised and began mass protests in opposition to the new policy. The government has had no further comment. The bishops called upon the government to investigate alleged corruption between the petroleum industry and government officials before removing the subsidy. They also said the government’s failure to provide a secure environment for people and property must be reversed in order to attract investors to the Nigerian economy. The bishops said that the government action serves to penalise ordinary Nigerians for fraudulent practices within the government. “We declare that it is immoral to impose removal of the petroleum subsidy on economically weakened Nigerians while political office holders continue to live in embarrassing opulence,” the statement added. —CNS
New Rector takes the reins of St John Vianney Seminary BY MATHIBELA SEBOTHOMA
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ATHER Molewe Simon Machingoane has been named as the next president and rector of the Saint John Vianney Seminary (SJV) in Waterkloof, Pretoria. Fr Machingoane's appointment was recommended by the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference Seminary Committee together with two other priest candidates. His name was approved and subsequently appointed by the Vatican based Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples. The 42-year-old priest will be the amalgamated seminary’s third rector, succeeding Fr Enrico Parry
and Bishop Sithembele Sipuka, when SJV and St Peter’s Seminary merged in 2008. Fr Machingoane was born in a village called Tafelkop, in the Diocese of Witbank. As a young person he wanted to be a teacher but everything changed when he became actively involved in the activities of the Catholic Youth Club. It was his involvement in the Catholic Youth Club which prompted him to think about offering himself to God and to serve as a priest. He was accepted to study for the diocese of Witbank and trained at St Paul’s Seminary, St Peter’s Seminary and St John Vianney Semi-
nary from 1990 to 1996, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology. In January 2001, he was appointed the pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Witbank. During his stay there he studied towards a masters degree in philosophy from St Augustine College. In 2005 he was granted a scholarship to study Canon Law in Rome where he completed the course in 2008 obtaining a Licentiate. After returning to South Africa he was appointed as a formator and lecturer at SJV. Before his appointment as rector, he was vice rector and dean of students at the Seminary. “For three years now I have had
the privilege of serving this singular seminary community in different capacities. And so—relying on the competence and goodwill of the faculty and staff, the dedication and commitment of our seminarians, the generous spirit of bishops, priests and lay Catholics, and the grace of almighty God—I look forward to assuming my new role here as rector," said Machingoane. The new rector said he felt privileged to be appointed. “I am honoured to have been asked to lead one of the most innovative institutions in Southern Africa’s philosophical and theological circles,” Fr Machingoane said.
New rector, Fr Molewe Simon Machingoane.