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April 4 to April 10, 2012
How the Church embraced Judaism
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Fr Rolheiser: Sometimes fear can be holy
The Editor and staff of The Southern Cross wish all readers, advertisers, Associates, supporters, contributors and friends a blessed Easter filled with the hope and joy of our Risen Lord.
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No 4770
Why Easter is still credible
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Tlhagale: Africa’s Church ‘a mirror for Europe’ BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
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A man prays next to a giant Easter egg outside St James church in Medjugorje, BosniaHerzegovina. Easter Sunday falls on April 8 this year. (Photo: Adam Tanner, Reuters/CNS)
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FRICA is a “mirror for Europe”, the archbishop of Johannesburg told a meeting of African and European bishops in Rome. The text of Archbishop Buti Tlhagale’s speech, titled “The African Contribution to the Church in Europe”, was released by the archdiocese of Johannesburg in late March. Archbishop Tlhagale said that due to the growth of Christianity on the continent, “Christian Africa is...the living yardstick of the successes of the evangelising mission of the European Church. The African Church offers the European Church a measure against which the latter can evaluate her missionary efforts during the past hundred years. Africa is the mirror against which Europe assesses her own commitment, generosity, perseverance, credibility and fidelity to missio ad gentes.” And now, he noted, the African Church is increasingly evangelising in Europe. “The African Church is being called upon by the European Church in her hour of need,” the archbishop told his audience. It was the missionaries from Europe who planted the seed of faith on the African soil and through their personal example, nurtured vocations to the priesthood and to religious life, he said and “today the African Church is being invited to cooperate with the European Church to reach out towards those who no longer practise their faith”. Noting that Africa’s Church still requires external aid, Archbishop Tlhagale stressed the need for self-sufficiency, “to become...a Church that drinks from her own wells”. “While acknowledging with gratitude the legendary generosity of the missionaries, the African Church is resolute to claim ownership of the Church and to become a dependable steward of the goods of the Church,” he said. The Church in Africa is also continuously working towards the goals of Africae Munus, Pope Benedict’s apostolic exhortation that followed the Synod of Bishops on Africa in 2010. These aims include an inner-purification, self-evangelisation and education in the faith. “The Church is also committed to selfpropagation as she harnesses vocations to the priesthood and to religious life. Posi-
tions of leadership, challenges notwithstanding, have by and large been assumed by indigenous clergy and indigenous religious,” Archbishop Tlhagale said. The archbishop attributed much of the continents spiritual growth to the “difficult but sterling work of the missionary societies in the areas of education, health, development and other social services which were enhanced by funding and the expertise offered by international non-governmental organisations”. These functions now have by and large been taken over by the national governments of the various African countries, he added. Archbishop Tlhagale said among the current goals of the African Church was the effort to widen and deepen faith by subscribing to an increase in the variety of devotions, spiritualities and liturgical forms. He said there was a need for both the European and African Church to complement each other’s partiality in order to become a genuinely Catholic family. “The African Church has been encouraged to preserve and develop her own traditions in consultation with the magisterium. It was the Synod Fathers themselves who considered inculturation an urgent priority in the life of the African Church.” However, the archbishop noted that the inculturation project had regrettably not taken off, “suggesting perhaps that it is not a priority after all”. Archbishop Tlhagale paid homage to the saints the continent had produced. “They give honour to the African Church. They point to an admirable level of Christian maturity in some parts of the continent. Not only are they a gift to the African Church, they are also a gift to the universal Church.” The archbishop called the continent’s saints “perhaps the greatest contribution of the African Church”, because they are evidence of a successful missionary endeavour. In spite of the failures and hardships encountered, they offer a paradigm for Christians that a life of virtue is indeed possible and desirable. Today both “the African and European Church can venerate and call upon the African saints as a source of grace from God just as they do with all the saints of the Church”, he said.
Chinese bishop, priest taken for brainwashing
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OADJUTOR Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou, China, and his chancellor, Fr Paul Jiang Sunian, were taken into custody by government officials in midMarch to attend “learning classes”, sources told the Asian Church news agency UCA News. Bishop Shao, 49, was appointed by the Holy See to lead Wenzhou’s unregistered, or underground, Catholic community in 2007 and is not recognised by the government. If Bishop Shao and Fr Jiang are what the government calls “intelligent enough in their learning”, they will be allowed back soon; if not, they will be detained longer, local Church sources quoted government officials as saying.
“This implies their release depends on whether they accept the government’s religious policies,” one of the sources said. Sources also said a few of Wenzhou diocese’s 17 underground priests were summoned to meet with religious officials. Some were told to remain behind while others were allowed to return home the same day, the sources added. Though no official reasons have been given, the sources said they suspect the recent events may be linked to the secret episcopal ordination in Tianshui diocese in Gansu province last year. Government officials are investigating who was involved in the ordination, they said. In January, Bishop John Wang Ruowang of Tianshui was taken away for “learning
classes” at an undisclosed location. A Church observer, who asked not to be named, said China’s religious policy is “moving backward”. The spate of detentions of underground clergy since last fall was the result of a conscious government decision, he noted. Patrick Poon, a member of Hong Kong’s diocesan Justice and Peace Commission, said that Catholic priests and other church workers were especially vulnerable to detention without charge under new revisions to China’s Criminal Procedure Law. “Police tend to confine them in detention centres, guesthouses or force them to take the so-called learning class for a prolonged period of time without giving any reason,” he said.—CNS
A worker arranges flowers in a church in Kunming, China. Lately underground clergy in China have been detained for “learning classes”. (Photo: Reuters/CNS)