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March 7 to March 13, 2012
Vatican II led a Catholic Bible revolution
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Reg No. 1920/002058/06
No 4766
From kissing Elvis to the convent
Excerpts from ‘My Brother, The Pope’
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Land: Act soon or face another Zim BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
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Fr Stephen Tully, administrator of Emmanuel cathedral in Durban, held a cake sale (including four cakes that he personally baked and auctioned), raising more than R11 000 for the Denis Hurley Centre. Fr Thami Zuma, assistant administrator, had earlier held his own cake sale which raised a further R6 000 for the same cause. There is no truth in the rumour that Tully & Zuma’s Confectioners will soon be in operation. (Photo: S Tamika, Berea Mail)
Nuns win farming award BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
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WO Franciscan nuns have walked away with the Emerging Farmers award during the Master Dairy Association of South Africa awards held in Bloemfontein. Srs Priscilla Katase and Winifred Mosololi of the Assisi mission farm in Marseilles, Bloemfontein, were selected winners on account of an “above average performance”, said awards convener Rampie de Wet. “I’m so grateful to have won this award. I know it’s not easy to win this on a national level,” said Sr Katase, who had been the recipient of the regional award in 2009 and 2010 for the Free State. Mr de Wet said there were two farms that outperformed this year out of the five regions—Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern region. Apart from production figures, “we also take into account [the nominees’] enthusiasm for the breed they farm with and the general management of the dairy herd and the contribution towards the dairy Industry as a whole”. He said: “Sr Priscilla and Sr Winifred are two very positive people who give hope to everyone crossing their road, and their Hol-
stein herd near Westminister in the Eastern Free State was something a lot of farmers could learn from.” “With the attitude of these two wonderful people I can only predict that we will hear of them again in the future. The dairy they run is one of the finest managed by an emerging farmer,” Mr de Wet said. Sr Katase, who is the manager of the farm, said it was wonderful to be recognised for all their hard work. The farm is home to a herd of 46 Holstein cattle that are milked twice daily and a truck comes to collect the farm’s milk, 640 litres of it, every second day. Sr Mosololi manages the books, while Sr Katase handles the day-to-day management of the farm. “Sr Winnie is my right hand. She keeps all the books and official records,” Sr Katase said. When she arrived at Assisi, Sr Katase worked with Oblate Brother Anton Raab who ran the mission farm—a commercial farm at the time. “But when Br Anton returned to Germany, all the equipment was sold. We were left with just four milking points— enough for just the school children and sisters.” Since being left with a small herd and a fraction of the farming equipment, Sr Katase
HE levels of inequality between the rich and poor in South Africa are so extreme that the country is becoming “a ticking time bomb”, especially if we don’t get behind the land redistribution effort, one of the key inequities, a delegation of Catholic bishops told the minister for land reform. Dominican Father Mike Deeb, coordinator of the Justice & Peace Department (J&P) of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC), warned: “We all have to work together if we’re going to avoid a Zimbabwe-like situation.” Six bishops and representatives of J&P met in Pretoria with Gugile Nkwinti, minister of Rural Development and Land Reform. J&P presented the minister with the Catholic Church’s “Vision for Land Reform in South Africa”, a document released in late January as a “bold attempt by our Church to highlight some key theological criteria which may assist the quest for land justice in this country”. Fr Deeb said the meeting was positive, encouraging and enlightening. The SACBC delegation gave a presentation on land reform and invited Mr Nkwinti to respond to the challenges of the situation. “Then all the bishops shared concerns being faced in their own dioceses,” said Fr Deeb, adding that the issue of land invasion was one of the concerns highlighted. “The minister said he felt overwhelmed by the experience as he has never been exposed to the realities and difficulties the Church was experiencing in answering the question of land reform,” said Philani Mkhiza, J&P’s land desk coordinator. The minister, he said, was impressed, positive and exhausted by the stories. Bishops Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg, Graham Rose of Dundee, Xolelo Kumalo of Eshowe, Peter Holiday of Kroonstad, Joe Sandri of Witbank and Jan de Groef of Bethlehem shared their personal experiences with the land reform issue in their respective dioceses. “Four of the bishops represented those dioceses that are most at risk, with the other two being particularly interested in the issue—and specifically how it affects the poor of the country,” said Mr Mkhiza. However, Fr Deeb stressed that while the issue is located in rural areas of the country,
the problem is a national issue. “Most people think the issue affects only big land owners and landless people,” said Fr Deeb. And while on the surface these two parties are those directly involved in the process, “we will all ultimately be affected if the process is not conducted properly”. The priest said that all South Africans must engage with the land question. “It’s a multipronged issue. Resolving the land question means taking into account training, resources, cultural considerations, NGOs as well as government needs.” He said the SACBC delegation was pleased with the outcome of the meeting. “There was a great sense of urgency from the minister. He was open about failed projects and showed great concern and urgency to act,” said Fr Deeb. He added that the Church’s vision is very much in line with the government’s proposed green paper, but further consultation will take place. “There were three very positive outcomes from the meeting: firstly, the minister invited us to become part of the national reference group which will develop the green paper further. Hopefully our input will help with the evolution of the legislation,” Fr Deeb said. Secondly, in response to the bishops’ frustration in dealing with the land issue and not knowing whom to talk to, the minister gave the Church a direct line of contact. Finally, the minister addressed the issue of how state land will be used. On the latter point, said Mr Mkhiza, the Church would push for clarity. “The minister was frank about the weaknesses of the process so far. He didn’t duck and dive on issues, which we found encouraging. He was also apologetic that the Church had suffered in her efforts to redistribute land,” Mr Mkhiza said. Still, J&P feels there are areas that need more work. “We’re going to make use of this opportunity to contribute to the process,” he said. J&P is currently assisting communities in the dioceses of Mariannhill, Queenstown, Witbank and Dundee and works closely with the six dioceses represented at the meeting. “We need to push forward,” said Fr Deeb. “Catholics should be interested in how Church land is being used in their diocese and South Africans should care about the redistribution process.”
Our new-look website
The Southern Cross has revamped its website (scross.co.za) with a new, cleaner look which will enhance the visitor’s browsing experience. “An important aspect of the redesign was the website’s usability on smartphones, iPads and other mobile media platforms. The feedback we have received from users of these media has been very positive,” said webmaster Sean Twomey. The Southern Cross is constantly working on integrating the newspaper and its various services with new technologies. The digital newspaper site (digital.scross.co.za) has also been redesigned.
has made it her mission to build the farm once again. Her daily 2am mornings and dedication to building the farm once again have been recognised by the award. The sisters are constantly working to improve their farming practices. From better breeding practices, optimal feeding programmes to proper milk recording, the sisters are learning it all. This, Sr Katase said, will help them expand. Sr Katase said she is passionate about her
ongoing farming education. She has a diploma in animal husbandry with Stanford Distance Learning and has also completed various short courses with Grain SA. She hopes to raise more funds for the farm which will enable them to plant additional fodder, provide access to more grazing, and possibly afford the sisters an opportunity to expand into other farming operations. “My dream is to pasteurise the milk at the farm and deal directly with local supermarkets.”