The Southern Cross - 120801

www.scross.co.za

August 1 to August 7, 2012

After attacks, priest wants end to gun violence

Page 3

R6,00 (incl VAT RSA)

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 4786

The great benefits of forgiveness

Focus on women and faith

Page 7

Pages 8 & 10

SACBC office shows Africa’s Church how to engage in politics

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

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Orphans in Inkomazi, Witbank diocese, who have received houses from SACBC Aids Office went to houses built by the SACBC for elderly grandfathers caring for orphans, and cleaned them up. Houses were cleaned inside and outside, and yards were swept. In the diocese of Queenstown, the Aids Office will fund the construction for a couple that cares for its 26 orphaned grandchildren, all presently living in a single-room home. (Photo: SACBC Aids Office)

Aids Office builds more than hundred houses for orphans STAFF REPORTER

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HE Aids Office of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference works not only in the fields of healthcare and education, but has also been involved in the care of those children left orphaned by the disease.

The office’s “Houses for Orphans” project which provides houses in rural dioceses for orphan headed households and for elderly grandparents has been a great success in the Inkomazi district of Mpumalanga.

More than 15 houses have been built there, for orphan headed households and for elderly grandparents looking after their orphaned grandchildren. .

Construction is set to begin on the first houses in the Eastern Cape dioceses of Queenstown and Aliwal North.

The Aids Office’s field visits have revealed the abject poverty in which almost all rural black South Africans live—undeniably the legacy of Apartheid, said the office’s Johan Viljoen.

“Particularly acute is the situation of people living in the former homelands—in these areas shelter is inadequate across the board,” he said.

Of particular concern to the Aids Office is the plight of orphans being cared for by widowed grandfathers.

“Much has been written in the media about ageing grandmothers who look after their orphaned grandchildren. However, nothing is ever mentioned of grandfathers who look after their orphaned grandchildren,” said Mr Viljoen.

The Aids Office said the situation in these grandfather-headed households is more

complicated than in those headed by grandmothers.

“For all their good intentions, grandfathers lack maternal instincts. The homes [often] are dirty and the children are neglected. Yet many orphans have no choice.”

Until recently, the largest number of orphaned siblings living in a single hut found by SACBC staff was in Pomeroy, Dundee diocese, where one man looks after his 11 grandchildren in the village of Ntili.

That record has now been broken.

74-year-old Sitoti Dyasi lives with his wife in Sada, in the former Ciskei homeland, in the diocese of Queenstown. Together they look after an astonishing 26 orphans—all their grandchildren, all living together in the same one-room house.

“It is difficult to imagine how they all fit into the room at night,” said Mr Viljoen.

“The Dyasis were identified by the Philani Queenstown Catholic Development Committee to be the first recipients of a new house.”

Mr Viljoen said the builder has already dug the foundation, to ensure that completion of the house proceeds as quickly as possible, once the Aids Office has released funds to the building material supplier.

“The Dyasi’s are elated by the prospect of finally having more room. And in one of the coldest parts of the country, the importance of adequate shelter cannot be overemphasised,” he said.

To date more than 100 houses have been built, in the dioceses of Ingwavuma, Dundee, Bethlehem, Witbank, Mthatha, Port Elizabeth and Tzaneen.

OR the fifth consecutive year, the Catholic Parliamentary Office (CPLO) has conducted training for representatives of the Church in other African countries with a view to establishing similar offices around the continent to facilitate active engagement between the Church and governments.

“We ultimately want to help the Church to set up a parliamentary liaison capacity in all countries in Africa,” said Mike Pothier, research coordinator of the CPLO, which is the link between the Southern African Bishops’ Conference and South Africa’s parliament.

This year the office saw 12 representatives of countries and Church organisations, including Catholic Relief Services, the InterRegional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (Imbisa), and a religious order attend the African Exposure & Training Programme 2012.

“We offer a picture of what we do and how we do it,” said Mr Pothier. “Our delegates are then able to return to their home countries and apply the systems we’ve shown them or decide how to adapt these to their country.”

The CPLO was the first office of its kind in Africa. Today, there are similar offices in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ghana, Lesotho and Uganda, with a number of countries exploring possibilities, said Mr Pothier.

And the projects these offices undertake “do make a difference,” said Mr Pothier. “It has to do with the Church supporting and endorsing growth and consolidation of democracy in Africa.”

Africa is slowly being more democratic, he said. “We are aware of the retrograde stops along the way, but democracy is happening. There is a growing awareness of democracy among civil society and pressure on governments. The Church needs to be a part of this pressure and lend its resources to entrenching democracy.”

The CPLO differs from Justice & Peace in that it does not campaign or mobilise people in the same capacity. The CPLO is focused on advocacy, parliamentary activity and research.

The CPLO was founded in 1996, around the same time abortion was legalised in the country. “The bishops wanted to make a formal submission to parliament and realised there would be more in the future,” Mr Pothier told The Southern Cross.

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he founding principles of the office included an attempt to respond to as much legislation as possible—and not only on “Catholic issues” such as abortion and contraception.

“We followed the principles of [Vatican II’s pastoral constitution on the Church in the Modern World] Gaudium et Spes—to work with the hopes and the joys of all the people of the Church,” said Mr Pothier.

Today, the office covers seven broad areas of research including education, environment, refugees, democracy and government, unemployment and poverty, and vulnerable people (which includes children, youth, elderly, disabled and prisoners.)

“It’s a vehicle for contact and dialogue between the Church and the country’s parliament and government,” said Mr Pothier.

Participants in the African Exposure & Training Programme 2012 which was hosted by the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office for representatives of bishops’ conferences and other Catholic bodies to prepare them for engagement with politics in their countries.

But it’s not only national bishops’ conferences that want to get more involved in policy and democracy around the continent.

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ne participant, Fr Claudio Zuccala, represented the Missionaries of Africa, as his order wants to “evolve into missionaries of the 21st century”.

The priests, also known as the White Fathers on account of their garments, were the first Catholic ministries to arrive in Malawi and Zambia, and moved into South Africa with the migrant miners in 1970s.

Since 2010, the order has explicitly committed its charism to justice and peace, encounter and dialogue, as well as the integrity of creation.

Fr Zuccala said his order was interested in being the voice of the laity, even in countries were public participation is unwelcome.

“Even in the most closed environments, there is room to be a voice. Something is always possible,” the White Father said, using the Church in Burundi as an example.

“They are managing. They are taking up issues. The Church in Burundi has a small voice but it has a voice.”

Delegates from Burundi attended the CPLO programme to make this voice more effective.

Fr Zuccala said the value of the CPLO training was not just learning about practices but being exposed to the Church in other African countries.

“There are so many people of goodwill here that we learn that the Catholic Church is here to stay. It is clear that the Church is one of the largest entities on the continent and it’s wonderful to be able to pool our resources like this,” he said.

Countries such as South Africa, with well established expertise, can help others. “Networking is so important in the Church,” he said. “I leave this conference with a renewed sense of hope as I can see so many people committed.”

Mr Pothier said a liaison office is a way for the Church to be active in civil society and while parliamentary structures around the continent do differ to South Africa, the intention for the Church to get involved remains the same.

“We are trying to show them one way of doing it,” he said.

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LOCAL

The Southern Cross, August 1 to August 7, 2012

Warm hearts help ward off winter chill

BY MANdY KINg

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Revs Francis Mahubane, Joshua Sienge and Bongani Manzini were ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Joe Sandri at the cathedral of Witbank. They are now serving different parishes in preparation for their ordination to the priesthood early next year. Bishop Sandri (third from left) is seen here with Revs Mahubane (right), Sienge and Manzini.

J&P to host abortion seminar STAFF REPORTER

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HE Justice and Peace Commission of Cape Town’s cathedral parish will host a seminar on abortion on August 5.

“The event is being mounted as a collaborative effort in engaging and promoting awareness of public good within the concept of social communication of the local Church,” said convenor Br Emmanuel Onyejeose.

The J&P of St Mary’s cathedral collaborated with the archdiocesan Justice and Peace Commission and the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO) in organising the event, Br Onyejeose said.

The seminar will be chaired

by Fr Peter-John Pearson, director of the CPLO, and the keynote address is scheduled to be delivered by Mgr Andrew Borello, a

vicar-general of the archdiocese.

Günther Simmermacher, editor of The Southern Cross, will speak on “Communicating the pro-life message to a sceptical public”.

Joan Armstrong, director of the archdiocesan Pastoral Development Centre, will speak on the Church’s response to societal care of pregnancy, with special reference to the Mater Domini home, which serves pregnant women in crisis.

Fr Wim Lindeque, spiritual director of the Justice and Peace Commission, will speak on “Church Response to moral evaluation of abortion issues in global changing realities”.

The seminar will begin at 11:00 on August 5 at the Leslie Johnson Parish Centre. n For more information contact Br Onyejeose at 071 2749500

ARISHIONERS of a Cape Town church opened their hearts—and cleaned out their cupboards—to clothe others in the cold winter.

A Panorama chapter of the Ecclesia group of Parow parish, Cape Town, took the initiative after businesswoman and former teacher Michelle Smith, identified of the needs of pupils at Welwitschia Primary School, in Delft.

Ms Smith knows the school from working as an invigilator.

Principal Batandwa Sonamzi, also a Catholic, said of the 1 115 pupils at the school, about 500 are “in dire need” of clothes and food”.

“I am very, very happy about these goods,” he said. “Actually, I’m overwhelmed. My priority is to make a difference in the lives of our children. I can do so by touching their lives at our school.”

He says many come to school in spite of having to wear torn clothes. Some even walk barefoot and have the wrong colour clothes for the uniform.

“The school code of conduct says pupils must wear a school uniform of navy or black jackets and a grey jersey. When they come wearing other colour jerseys—and it is all they have—I cannot turn them away or tell them to take it off. Some don’t have anything else to wear, and winter is upon us.”

It is not only clothes the pupils need, but also food. Mr Sonamzi’s request to extend the nutrition programme has resulted in the education department now providing breakfast three mornings a week.

“By 7:00 the children are already at school for their porridge,” he said.

He expressed thanks to the tenmember Ecclesia group which had roped in the assistance of the entire parish community.

“We are thankful to every person who donated clothes or books.

We could not have done this without their generosity. This is not just about talking, but doing for other people—especially children,” said Ana Maria de Sousa, head of the Ecclesia group.

Welwitschia Primary School principal Batandwa Sonamzi (centre) with the clothes and books donated by the Ecclesia group of the Immaculate Conception church in Parow. With him are Ana Maria de Sousa (right), head of the Panorama Ecclesia group and Michelle Smith, also of the group and Catholic Women’s League member. (Photo: Mandy King)

CIE Literacy training in Lesotho

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

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EACHERS in the diocese of Leribe in Lesotho spent three days training with the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE) to improve literacy amongst local Catholic learners.

Anne French and Julie Dawjee travelled to the neighbouring country in what they described as “one of the coldest weeks of winter”—but instead of being cold, they found “a warmth and dedication in the teachers which surpassed all expectations”.

The training took place at St Paul’s school for the deaf where “not much distracted the teachers from their focus,” said Ms French.

“The Lesotho teachers were

eager, enthusiastic, willing in their presentations of lessons, and keen to learn. Even though the training took place during their holidays, they came and came and came—and more importantly they participated right to the end,” she said.

This was the fourth year the CIE had conducted training in the diocese and this year a programme of sustainability was put in place.

“We identified lead teachers whom we will support this year so that the programme can continue without CIE intervention,” Ms Dawjee said.

She said the teachers impressed the CIE facilitators.

“Many of them have only a cer-

tificate in education...Many have had to overcome great difficulties to get to where they are now.”

Ms Dawjee noted that the Basotho teachers had implemented many CIE resources and were conducting good lessons.

“Before I left I received notes from schools reminding of the fact that many children have no shoes and warm clothing for the harsh winter—I am trying to find second-hand clothing as well as asking a supplier to help with donating shoes,” said Ms Dawjee.

“Despite the cold, and the poor roads in Lesotho, the response we received from the Leribe teachers will have us going back and back and back—funds permitting.”

BLIND READERS OF Our Lady of Fatima Dominican Convent School, Durban North

A group of readers is preparing audio tapes of excerpts from The Southern Cross, including editorials, selected articles, and regular features, as well current affairs in the Church. Anyone wanting to receive tapes as part of this service, available for an annual subscription fee of only R50, is invited to Mr

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Duties will include: ♦ Attendance at related workshops and parent interviews. ♦ A full and active role in the co-curricular life of the school incl. extra-curricular activities, etc.

Failure to meet the advertised minimum requirements for the post will result in applicants automatically disqualifying themselves from consideration.

Applicants are required to fill in a covering information form which is available from Mrs Bennison, or it can be posted to you on request (Tel. 031-563-5390). You can email fatimacs@fatima.co.za for an electronic version of this form.

Detailed CV to be submitted with the information form to: The Principal, Our Lady of Fatima D.C. School, 155 Kenneth Kaunda Road (Northway), Durban North, 4051.

CLOSING DATE: Friday, 24 August 2012

Len Pothier, ‘High Timbers’, 13 Bisschop Road, Hout Bay 7806 or phone 021-790 1317

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LOCAL

The Southern Cross, August 1 to August 7, 2012

Priest calls for end to gun violence STAFF REPORTER

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UN violence is hampering the work of priests and the lives of average South Africans, said a Pretoria priest following the recent “Batman shootings” in Colorado, and his own ordeal with multiple assaults on South African soil.

It’s time for guns to be removed from our social norm, said Fr Mathibela Sebothoma.

Fr Sebothoma was involved in an attempted hijacking last month when he stopped at a local petrol station one night.

“I stopped at a petrol station convenience store to buy a newspaper. A man approached me asking for a lift. Without thinking I opened the back door of my car as the front seat was occupied with papers and other paraphernalia.”

A few minutes later Fr Sebothoma felt a gun pressed against his neck. He was told to stop the car and hand his keys over. “I felt death. For a moment I died, curs-

ing myself for offering a desperate man a ride when there were no longer taxis on duty,” he said.

“Fortunately, I resurrected, drove as fast as I could with my thumb on the car hooter, rushing to the filling station nearby. It was the garage attendants who saw the guy flying out of my car. I lived to tell the tale,” the Pretoria priest said.

Fr Sebothoma said the Batman shootings ignited memories he was trying to forget. Apart from the attempted hijacking, Fr Sebothoma was also forced to recall the time he was held at gun point during his years as an underground African National Congress activist during apartheid, as well as being the victim of an armed robbery in 1999 at the archdiocese’s Siyabuswa mission house, and a further incident when the priest was held up during a Catholic conference on racism in 2008.

“The United Nations considers South Africa as one of the highest gun violence countries in the

Fr Mathibela Sebothoma world. Our own South African Police Service statistics indicate that guns are increasingly being used in murders,” said Fr Seboth-

oma, adding that South Africa has the highest number of police officers being killed by stolen guns.

Fr Sebothoma said South Africans are faced with gun violence daily.

“Recently the people of Cape Town were calling for the national defence force to be deployed into their townships because the police are failing to deter gun violence in the Cape Flats, and a disturbing number of our security officials are using guns to commit suicide and to kill family members.”

The priest said guns are a part of our lives and even children see guns regularly. He noted that toy guns and violent video games are common gifts for children.

Fr Sebothoma said guns are just too easy to obtain and politicians and citizens are not dedicated to ending gun violence. With the country’s youth unemployment issue and education crisis, there is always temptation for the youth to “find easy solutions with a barrel of an easily accessible gun,” the

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Pretoria priest said.

The screening of the new Batman film The Dark Knight Rises in South African cinemas will remind viewers about the Americans who died and were injured while watching the premiere of the film, said Fr Sebothoma, but it should also remind South Africans of the “ugliness of guns in our society”.

Until such time as the country has started to address the issue, Fr Sebothoma said he will be cautious. Guns should not be commonplace in South African society.

“People are accusing me of being unavailable and always locking myself in the house,” Fr Sebothoma said. “Yes, violent crime in South Africa has made me paranoid. Until criminal gun violence is abolished, I will do the sensible thing: self-preservation; though not always guaranteed.

“Once bitten, twice shy. In South Africa I might be dead by the time this article is published.”

Call for memorabilia and former students

BY PAddY KEARNEY

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SPECIAL Mass of Thanksgiving will be held at the Emmanuel Cathedral parish centre in Durban on August 16, for all former pupils of the old St Augustine’s School which was based in the Cathedral’s parish centre from 1906 to 1956. The Mass will be a farewell for the old building which will be demolished to make way for

the construction of the Denis Hurley Centre.

The principal celebrant will be Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, who will be joined by Oblate Fathers Albert Danker and Joe Money, who are past pupils of the old school.

Also taking part in the Mass will be Holy Family Sisters Joy Money and Myrtle Beaunoir, as well as Oakford Dominican Sr

Felicity Isaacs. Singing will be led by the choir of the “new” St Augustine’s School.

After the Mass there will be an opportunity for reminiscences about the old school. A display of memorabilia is being put together for the occasion by Ben Pottier who attended the school in the 1940s.

Those who would like to offer items such as photos, school

reports, press clippings and other memorabilia for this display should contact Mr Pottier on 031 208-6434 or 071 828 8434.

The event will start at 10:00 and conclude with a brief presentation about the Denis Hurley Centre and discussion about how past pupils, both here and overseas, could contribute to this project.

All 600 pupils of St Augustine’s school assembled in the mall between Emmanuel cathedral and the parish centre. This photo was taken in the 1940s or early 50s.

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INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, August 1 to August 7, 2012

Church expert: Talk of Aids cure is premature

BY PAuL JEFFREY

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S more than 20 000 people descended on the US capital Washington for the XIX International Aids Conference, Mgr Robert Vitillo felt right at home.

As the Catholic Church’s point man on HIV and Aids, he has worked for years to make sure that those involved in faith-based responses to the disease have their voices heard in the biennial gatherings.

Yet, Mgr Vitillo has not always been welcomed. In the early years of the pandemic, he was provided with a bodyguard at an Aids conference in Europe.

“A lot of the resistance to our participation has been based on misinformation and accepting some of the media’s perspective on what the Church says and does rather than what we actually say and do,” said Mgr Vitillo, special adviser on HIV and Aids for Caritas Internationalis.

“I meet people all the time who are shocked when they hear what the Catholic Church does in response to Aids. They thought all we did was tell people they were terrible sinners.

“The Church has been there from the beginning of the response to HIV and Aids. In fact, it was mainly Church organisations that began to accept people who were dying of these very strange illnesses and infections before we even knew that it was caused by HIV or we had coined the terms Aids. It’s always been there, and it has responded very well, without stigma and discrimination,” Mgr Vitillo said.

Mgr Vitillo warned that it is too early to celebrate news of

research into a vaccine for the virus, as well as rumours that a cure for Aids is on the horizon.

“There has always been a tension in the field of HIV response because many people are looking for the easy solution. They did that when they tried to promote just the use of condoms, arguing that was the solution to everything. Thirty years on, the experts realise that we need many different approaches to prevention,” he said.

“I know we’re talking a lot about ‘the cure’, but at the point where science is right now, we only have antiretroviral treatment as the best approach medically.

“We have a long way to go. I hope there’s a miracle. I hope we find a cure or a preventative vac-

cine soon. But so far we don’t have that, and we shouldn’t forget the social, developmental, psychological and spiritual responses that are part of a comprehensive response to HIV and Aids,” he said.

Mgr Vitillo said antiretroviral treatment has not only saved the lives of people living with HIV, but it has reduced the infection rate dramatically in some countries, primarily in Africa. Studies show people on antiretroviral treatment are 96% less likely to pass on the virus. This development has been critical in reducing mother-to-child infection rates.

Although the cost of antiretroviral treatment has dropped to roughly R800 per patient per year in poor countries, Mgr Vitillo said Church workers are continuing to push pharmaceutical companies to respond appropriately to the crisis. He said a Caritas campaign to develop better pediatric dosing of antiretroviral drugs has enjoyed some success.

At this year’s Aids conference, he and other Church leaders pushed the Medicines Patent Pool, where drug companies will deposit their patents for HIV medicines, allowing faster development of needed drugs. Some companies have agreed; others were encouraged to participate.

Mgr Vitillo said he has worked hard to keep open a dialogue with the giant pharmaceutical companies.

“We recognise that they have a purpose that includes making a profit, but they can’t forget the fact that we have large numbers of people who need their help in order to survive,” he said.—CNS

SSPX: ‘Chase out Church’s enemies within’

BY CINdY WOOdEN

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INTING at a willingness to continue discussions with the Vatican and recognising the full authority of the pope over the Church, the traditionalist Society of St Pius X (SSPX) said it must defend church teaching from error.

“As for all the novelties of the Second Vatican Council, which remain tainted with errors, and for the reforms derived from it,” the statement said, “the society can only continue to uphold the affirmations and teachings of the constant magisterium of the Church.”

The statement from the society’s general chapter meeting in July, said members believe “the paramount duty of the society, in the service which it intends to offer to the Church, is to continue with God’s help to profess the Catholic faith in all its purity and integrity with a determination matching the intensity of the constant attacks to which this very faith is subject nowadays.”

Chapter members formally affirmed their faith in the Roman Catholic Church and its hierarchical structure in which “the supreme power of government over the universal Church belongs

only to the pope, vicar of Christ on earth.”

Ending with a prayer, the statement asked Mary “to chase the enemies out from inside the Church”, saying some inside the Church “are trying to destroy it more radically than its enemies from outside”.

Pope Benedict launched a new series of doctrinal discussions with the SSPX in 2009, lifting excommunications imposed on its four bishops, who were ordained in 1988 without papal approval, and expressing his hopes they would return to full communion with the Church.—CNS

divers from Mexico jump from the 10-meter platform at the Aquatics Centre in London. Pope Benedict has expressed his blessings to all those taking part in the Olympic games. The pope said he prayed the Olympics would be “a true experience of brotherhood between all peoples on earth”.

(Photo: david gray, Reuters/CNS)

Magazine calls for ‘interactive prayer’

BY CINdY WOOdEN

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HE Church must offer people—especially the young—a spirituality that responds to their computer-driven desire for interactive experiences, said the influential Jesuit magazine La Civiltà Cattolica.

The magazine said the Church does not have to invent a new spirituality for a new generation, but has to recognise that because of intensive computer and social network use, people have changed, the Church must change the way it offers its spiritual treasures.

The key, the magazine said, is to help people take the step from superficial interaction—“surfing the net” and clicking on link after link—to contemplation.

First, people must recognise the need “to safeguard spaces that allow interiorisation to develop”.

That means a bit of silence and being out of arm’s reach of the computer or smartphone.

But the Church also must offer Catholics ideas of what to do with

that quiet time, and the magazine started with something its Jesuit staff knows something about: the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits.

The exercises, it said, offer a systematic formula for helping someone take the already-interactive experience of reading to a new level.

For example, its suggestion for contemplating the birth of Jesus begins by asking the reader to “see with the imagination the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem, considering the length and breadth of it, whether it is a flat road or goes through valleys or over hills; and similarly to look at the place of the Nativity, to see how big or small it is, how low or high, and what is in it”.

Through the use of prayerful imagination, the Bible becomes a “virtual reality” for the reader.

The Church needs to help people “learn to live their spirituality interacting and immersing themselves in the word of God,” La Civiltà Cattolica said.—CNS

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INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, August 1 to August 7, 2012

5

VatiLeaks valet asks pope to forgive him

BY CINdY WOOdEN

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VERYTHING Paolo Gabriele did, he did for love of the church and the pope, said the lawyers for the personal assistant to Pope Benedict accused of leaking private documents.

However, Carlo Fusco and Cristiana Arru, the defence lawyers, said whether or not anything Gabriele did was a crime will be up to Vatican magistrates or a Vatican court to determine.

The lawyers spoke to reporters after Mr Gabriele was allowed to leave a Vatican cell and return to his Vatican apartment to be with his wife and three children.

Mr Gabriele was arrested on May 23 after confidential letters and documents addressed to the pope and other Vatican officials were allegedly found in his Vatican apartment. Similar documents had been published in Italian media over the previous five months; many of them dealt with allegations of corruption, abuse of power and a lack of financial transparency at the Vatican.

Mr Fusco said Mr Gabriele cooperated with Vatican investigators “very broadly” throughout the investigation.

“One thing Paolo repeated to us and to the judge was that he always was and still is motivated by

a desire to do something that would be an act of helping, an act of love for the pope. There was no network, no conspiracy inside or outside the Vatican related to Paolo” and his actions, Mr Fusco said.

Ms Arru added: “I absolutely exclude the idea that he received any money or benefit of any kind” from what he did.

At the same time, the lawyers said that Mr Gabriele, who had worked in the papal apartment since 2006, has expressed a desire to speak to the pope and ask his forgiveness. Mr Fusco said that did not mean that Gabriele did anything criminal, but the pope has

Couples told to pray, talk

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Families fleeing fighting between the democratic Republic of the Congo army and rebels walk towards the eastern city of goma. More than 200 000 civilians have had to leave their homes and several hundred fighters have been killed in the recent clashes in North Kivu province. (Photo: James Akena, Reuters/CNS)

OING to Mass together and setting aside time each day to talk to each other are two simple practices that can help Catholic couples strengthen their marriage and be examples to others, according to a papal message, signed by Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

In a message to participants in the international meeting of the Teams of Our Lady, the pope “invites Christian couples to be ‘the gentle and smiling face of the Church’, the best and most convincing heralds of love sustained and nourished by faith”.

The group, a movement for Catholic couples started in France in 1938, was meeting in Brasilia, Brazil.—CNS

Vatican withdraws Catholic University’s recognition

BY CINdY WOOdEN

T

HE Vatican has withdrawn the titles “Catholic” and “Pontifical” from a university in Peru after decades of discussions over the school’s Catholic identity and after tensions between university officials and the local cardinal over control of the school’s assets.

In a communiqué, the Vatican said Lima’s Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, founded in 1917 and given Vatican recognition in 1942, could no longer call itself a pontifical Catholic university.

A decree formally stating the decision was issued by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, “on the basis of a specific papal mandate”, the communiqué said.

In an interview published on the university website, rector Marcial Rubio said the decree was “not the best example of tolerance and respect” and it is likely to end up “doing harm to the Church, especially in its relation-

ship with young people”.

Dr Rubio said the university has registered the name Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

“This is our official name and through it we are recognised nationally and internationally.

We have a full right to continue using it as we see fit.”

The Vatican said that since 1967, the university’s governing body repeatedly has “unilaterally modified its statutes with serious prejudice to the interests of the Church”.

Beginning in 1990, the Vatican said, it repeatedly asked the university to rewrite its statutes in accordance with the principles outlined in Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the 1990 apostolic constitution on guaranteeing the identity and mission of Catholic colleges. The Vatican said the university had a “legal obligation” to adopt the norms called for in the constitution.

In December, Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, carried out an apostolic visitation of the university

at the request of the Vatican.

Dr Rubio had sent Cardinal Bertone two letters asserting “the impossibility of enacting what was requested” and stating that the university would not modify its statutes unless the archdiocese of Lima “renounced control” over the university’s assets, the Vatican said.

The university has been mired in a long-standing dispute with the archdiocese over property willed to the university more than half a century ago. Lima Cardinal Juan Cipriani Thorne has publicly questioned the way the university manages the inheritance and has insisted on more transparency and accountability to the archdiocese.

The pontifical designation allows certain Catholic universities to grant special ecclesiastical degrees in addition to the normal civil degrees. Some universities and seminaries require, for instance, that those teaching theology or canon law hold pontifical degrees in those subjects.—CNS

Priest gets jail for ‘child endangerment’

BY MATTHEW gAMBINO

T

HE former secretary of clergy for the US archdiocese of Philadelphia has been sentenced to three to six years in state prison after being found guilty in June of one felony charge of endangering the welfare of a child.

Mgr William Lynn, 61, recommended priest assignments to the archbishop of Philadelphia and investigated claims of sexual abuse of minors by clergy.

He became the first official of the US Catholic Church to be convicted of a felony not for abusing a child, or even witnessing it, but for his responsibilities in managing priests, some of whom abused children.

“We held responsible a man who did not abuse children himself, but who did not do enough to protect children,” said district attorney Seth Williams.

The priest’s defence lawyer, Thomas Bergstrom, incredulously referred to the sentence as “gross-

ly unfair” and “unbelievable”.

“He’s being punished for things he did properly: He met with victims, he met with accused priests, he documented everything, he sent it up to the cardinal,” Bergstrom added.

Mgr Lynn’s conviction resulted from the actions of a former priest, Edward Avery, who last March pleaded guilty to abusing an altar boy in 1990. Avery, who was laicised in 2006, is serving two and a half to five years in prison.—CNS

said he was saddened by what happened and Mr Gabriele is sorry for that.

“He has been able to reflect much in these days and has come to the conclusion that his methods could have been different. Yes, he regrets the means he used,” Mr Fusco said.

Later Mr Fusco told an Italian newspaper that Mr Gabriele had written “a confidential letter to the pope”, asking for his forgiveness and telling the pope he had acted alone.

The lawyer said that because it was not part of the legal process, he had not read the letter After his arrest, Mr Gabriele was

held in a 3,6m by 3,6m room in the Vatican police barracks. He was allowed to see his lawyers and his wife, and Vatican police accompanied him to Mass in the Vatican.

Paolo Papanti-Pelletier, a Vatican judge not directly involved in the Gabriele case, told reporters in June that the papal butler faced between one year and six years in jail if convicted of aggravated theft under Vatican law. If found guilty after a public trial in the Vatican, he would serve his term in an Italian prison.

The pope can intervene at any stage to suspend the process or to pardon or grant clemency to the accused.—CNS

6

LEADER PAGE

The Southern Cross, August 1 to August 7, 2012

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Witness to the truth

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Finding God in the taxi driver

H

AVE you felt like harming a taxi driver lately? It would not be too flippant to note that taxi drivers seem to make it a sport to provoke such an impulse, even as many of their colleagues are considerate and responsible in their approach to traffic etiquette.

Of course, the minibus taxi driver is trying to make a living, one which depends on reaching destinations in as short a time as possible—even if this involves recklessness and the endangerment of their passengers and other road users. For drivers in urban traffic, there is a perpetual temptation to rise to the bait of engaging in a battle of wits with taxi drivers.

This provocation is not peculiar to taxis alone. There are many drivers who have an aptitude for enraging usually composed individuals to the point of road rage—a relatively new word which merited entry into the Oxford English Dictionary in 1997.

The dictionary defines road rage as “a violent anger caused by stress and frustration of driving in heavy traffic”.

This corresponds only partly with reality. In South Africa, the most notorious cases of road rage—those that have resulted in serious assaults or even killings—have often happened at night, outside peak traffic hours.

Some psychologists suggest that road rage or similar aggressive conduct, which can vary from a shake of the fist to aggravated assault and even murder, is an acquired behaviour of conditioned retaliation. The experts ominously warn that children learn aggressive driving manners by observing adults who, once behind the wheel, suspend the common rules of interpersonal conduct.

Other psychologists believe that road rage, when sustained and exceptionally aggressive, is the result of Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), which is said to affect 5-7% of the population and requires a treatment that combines psychotherapy and medication.

In that definition, anger behind the wheel exhibited by those not affected by IED is a

common expression of frustration, and, unwelcome though it is, should not qualify as road rage.

Whichever definition one may apply, it is a disquieting sign of our times when ordinary, respectable citizens turn into angry, aggressive, vindictive and dangerous cranks once their foot hits the accelerator.

As Christians, we have not only the motivation but also the means to beat these traffic demons.

“Refrain from anger, leave rage aside, do not get heated—it can do no good,” the Psalmist advises (37:8).

Even in the taxi driver we should see the face of God. Instead of cursing him (and perhaps cutting him off, for good measure), one may offer a prayer for him, and his passengers, that the taxi will reach its destination safely.

Indeed, some pastoral experts recommend prayer as a fruitful source of serenity in traffic. For many in these busy times, drive time may be a rare opportunity for contemplation and to speak to God—instead of illegally conducting conversations on the cellphone or, worse, texting while driving.

On the road, Christians can do God’s will by exhibiting good will, courtesy and patience, and by distributing random acts of kindness. Traffic experts emphasise these virtues as key in averting instances of aggressive behaviour.

The golden rules of sensible road manners are threefold: to pay regard to fellow road users, to avoid futile engagement with angry drivers, and to prevent confrontations by yielding to aggressive drivers.

For many drivers, this may require a modification in habit and temperament. It means seeing other road users not as adversaries, but as part of a contingent that shares in a common infrastructure.

Sharing the roads with drivers who have the capacity to exasperate us can be frustrating.

Yet, if ever there is a time when we can exercise our calling to sainthood without much demand on our time or energy, it is when we are driving.

A

LLOW me to comment on the continuing Pius XII debate in your excellent editorial (July 11).

Claims that Pope Pius XII never instructed religious to protect Jews during WWII are strongly contradicted by the chief rabbi of Rome at the time Israel Anton Zolli.

The American Hebrew in New York published an interview with Rabbi Zolli in 1944. Rabbi Zolli was hidden in the Vatican during the German occupation of Rome.

He emphatically stated: “The Vatican has always helped the Jews and the Jews are very grateful for the charitable work of the Vatican, all done without distinction of race.”

It’s in the details

I

FOUND your front-page report “Jo’burg priest’s 2009 murder part of new TV series” (July 18) particularly poignant because I was reading a book by Hanlie Retief titled Byleveld: Dossier of a Serial Sleuth.

It explains how investigator Piet Byleveld, now retired, exposed serial killers, and details his wonderful methods of getting to the truth by gaining the trust of the perpetrator.

Detective Byleveld was going to study theology but changed his mind and became a policeman instead. He is very humane and humorous as well.

Some details of the detective work are most intriguing. For instance, it is a curious fact that before a killer confesses he will ask for a glass of water. He drinks it and then spills the beans.

Some amazing facts are revealed. South African serial killers, unlike others in the world, change their modus operandi and often outwit even the greatest minds in the detective pool.

I look forward to watching the Crimes Uncovered TV series directed by Sharon Black.

Angela Botha, Cape Town

Freedom from evil

I

N the July 15 edition I read that a noted German theologian, Archbishop Gerhard Müller who is an expert on liberation theology has been appointed to head the Vatican Congregation on Doctrine, and also that John Sebide, a noted exponent of black consciousness and liberation theology, had passed away.

The concept of salvation as liberation from poverty and oppression is a vital part of the message of scripture in the Old Testament.

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After the war Rabbi Zolli converted to Catholicism, claiming to have witnessed a vision of Christ, who called him to the faith.

The voice he heard said: “You are here for the last time.” It was Yom Kippur.

The people of Rome willingly assisted in the evacuation of the Jewish population into remote villages. Christian families in the heart of Rome accepted Jews. Jews were even housed in make-shift dormitories at Castel Gandolfo.

The Holy Father gave instructions via the bishops to lift the enclosure from convents and monasteries in order for them to become refuges for the Jews.

The rabbi knew of one convent where the sisters slept in the base-

In the New Testament it is extended to freeing men from bondage to evil spirits and sin.

Unfortunately teaching on salvation has often been abstract and irrelevant to the lives of people because it focuses on spiritual realities that do not seem to touch on the lives and concerns of people rather than the suffering and depravity that both personal and social evils inflict on so many. But the real gift of Christ is fullness of life as children of God and liberation from the many forces of evil that threaten and impoverish life.

The task of the Church and individual Christians lies in proclaiming and being a channel of divine love, power and freedom.

In this way Church institutions and leaders are called on to make the Church vibrant and life-giving and Christianity much more attractive and credible.

The lives of millions are under threat from ruthless and corrupt governments that routinely murder and torture their critics and appropriate the resources of whole nations to satisfy private greed.

In Africa in particular the lot of many is far worse since attaining political independence as some leaders continue to inflict atrocities and injustices on their own people.

The Church, especially in Africa, needs to continue its mission of fearlessly and energetically working for justice and the elimination of poverty and disease whatever the risks.

It is however a mistake to regard the Church’s mission of working for liberation as confined to political liberation. There are many, especially in developed countries, who have the power to express their opinions freely and undertake whatever they wish

ment, giving up their beds to Jewish refugees.

Rabbi Zolli is the most important non-Catholic witness to the role of Pius XII in wartime Italy during the Nazi occupation and persecution of Jews—a biblical scholar whose courage and integrity cannot be challenged.

Zolli was baptised a Catholic in Rome’s basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. He chose the name Eugenio in gratitude to Pius XII. A year later his wife and daughter were also baptised.

In his book Antisemitismo, Zolli wrote: “World Jewry owes a great deal of gratitude to Pius XII...no hero in all history was ever more heroic than Pius XII in pursuing the work of human charity...and this on behalf of all the suffering children of God.” John Lee, Johannesburg

without interference from the state and yet remain deeply enslaved to sin and destructive attitudes and habits that impoverish their lives.

It is the task of believers to show that through God’s grace the evil in our own lives can be conquered as well as the evils in society.

Christ came that we might have life to the full and when the Church is able to preach and live this message it becomes an important force in society.

Not only must we attack the injustice, maladministration, greed and corruption that is so rampant in South Africa today, we must also be able to show that by living in the power of the Spirit those things that destroy and devalue our lives can be beaten Frank Bompas, Johannesburg

Pun offended

I

WAS disturbed by the headline “OMG! Catholic school learner burns with Usher on stage” (July 4). Don’t you know that the abbreviation “OMG” stands for an expression that takes God’s name in vain? I’m sure other readers felt the same way I did.

Edwin Schell, Johannesburg n The headline punned on the titles of two hit songs by the R&B singer Usher, “Burn” and ”OMG”. In the case of the latter title, the lyrics of the song as played on radio and television are “Oh my gosh”.—Editor Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in Letters to the Editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy.

The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate. Letters must not be understood to necessarily reflect the teachings, disciplines or policies of the Church accurately.

PERSPECTIVES

The great benefits of forgiveness Judith Turner H AVE you ever said the words: “I will never forgive you for what you have done to me”? Maybe not, or maybe not often, I hope.

But these are common words spoken in anger after an experience of deep disappointment, rejection, violation, manipulation or abuse. We express ourselves in anger because our hearts are wounded by such an experience.

The pain that we feel when someone has hurt us, for example, can be so intense, and our immediate reaction is then to direct our anger towards that person in order for him or her to feel the same pain in return.

Immediately we want to react, for example by sending hurtful messages via e-mail, BBM, SMS, Facebook or Twitter. We want to contact their friends and family and share what they have done and how bad they are. We want to take revenge.

Because it is our hearts that are wounded, it makes forgiveness from the heart very difficult and sometimes forgiveness seems impossible. And forgiveness is impossible if we think that we are doing the forgiving.

It is God who forgives the person through us. None of us have a supply of forgiveness stacked up somewhere among our possessions which we can take out and give to other people as needed. We have to pray to God and ask him to give us the grace to forgive whoever has wronged us. Forgiveness is not ours to give.

Unfortunately, the tragedy of our lives is that those who love us, wound

On Faith and Life

us too. These are mostly people very close to us: our parents, our friends, our spouses, our lovers, our children, our neighbours, our teachers, our pastors.

The person whom we expected would be there for us might have wounded us, thereby breaking the bond of communion that existed between us.

We live in community, even between two people, and that community has been broken. This community will never be possible again without the willingness to forgive one another “seventyseven times”. This means, forgiving until the matter is settled.

What can help us during our experience of woundedness is the fact that we see our friends and family as just that, friends and family—and not God. We love God, we try to understand God, we know about God, we spend time with God in prayer, but, we are not God. Our expectations of each other some-

times do not take this into consideration. We expect our friends and family to love us perfectly and never to fail us or to wound us. And when they do, we struggle to forgive.

Forgiving the other is first and foremost an inner movement. It is an act that removes anger, bitterness and the desire for revenge from our hearts and helps us to reclaim our human dignity.

When we forgive someone, it does not mean that we are able to forget. The memory of the wound might stay with us for a long time, even throughout our lives.

But when we forgive, it changes the way we remember. It converts the curse into a blessing. When we forgive we claim our own power back and we no longer have to experience ourselves as the victims of events.

These painful events become experiences that deepen the wisdom of our hearts. We ourselves are better able to give and receive love through the power of forgiveness.

Let us find courage in the words of St Paul to the Colossians when he says: “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

The preacher with a golden mouth Margaret Mollett I N this second of six monthly articles on preaching, I would like to introduce you to one of the great preachers of the early Church: St John Chrysostom.

John, later nicknamed Crusostum (or “golden mouth”) was born around 350 AD in Antioch. His mother Anthusa, widowed at the age of 20, had taught him from the Bible but as he grew older she insisted that he receive formal training in Greek classics.

However, those able to offer this were all pagans. Being a devout Christian John’s mother required that the educator should at least be tolerant of Christianity. The orator of the day, Libanius (314-393), proved to be the man most suitable for training him in logic and rhetoric.

Before long, Libanius’ protégé became well known for his brilliant performance in the law courts—but not for very long. With support of Anthusa, his friend Basil, and Melitius, the bishop of Antioch, who showed him how to use his skills in service of preaching and evangelism, as well as his own study of Scripture, Chrysostom first became a monk, then a deacon, a priest and eventually archbishop of Constantinople.

The congregation of Antioch listened intently to every word that came from the mouth of their preacher; so much so that they became the prey of pickpockets, an occurrence that Chrysostom would frequently alert them to.

Though empathetic and encouraging, he never minced words when it came to the prevailing vices of avarice, luxury, sensuality and excessive love of the circus and theatre. After repeatedly preaching against the shameful behaviour that arose, particularly from the latter, he warned: “But if you continue in the

• •

•

Point of Preaching

same courses, I will make the knife sharper, and the cut deeper; and I will not cease, till I have scattered the theatre of the devil, and so purified the assembly of the Church.”

There were those Christians in Antioch who headed for the circus on Sundays, but there were also a number of the faithful who loved Chrysostom and knew that he loved them, albeit it a rather tough love. Of their handclapping and foot-stamping after a sermon he would remark that the only praise he desires is that they perform what they hear from him.

C

hrysostom could preach for two hours: “I treat of so many things in each of my sermons and make them so varied because I want everybody to find something special in it and not go home.”

He suggested, however, that they should hear and receive, as much as they can, and having received enough should retire.

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“There is no one who forbids, or compels them to remain beyond their natural strength.” For those deciding to stay he would give solutions to the questions addressed, but if they were found to be “gaping and non-attentive” he would conceal them.

While some of Chrysostom’s sermons were multi-thematic, sermons on books in the Bible were expository, that is, they were a point-by-point explanation and application of a sequence of verses in a specific text, to which he added a sprinkling of other texts.

Chrysostom also developed the Antiochene school of exegesis founded by another of his mentors, Diodorus.

Unlike the Alexandrian school that allegorised Biblical texts, this school focused on the historical situation of a text as well as how the author’s message could be applied in day to day life.

A refrain throughout Chrysostom’s sermons was that men should read from the Bible to their wives and children, “not lightly” or “in any sort of way but with much earnestness.”

A special time for this was after Communion: “As soon as ever we get home to take our Bible into our hands, and call our wife and children to join us in putting together what we have heard, and then, not before, engage in the business of life.”

Next month: St Augustine of Hippo seeks a response

Pray that AFRICA may draw closer to the HEART OF CHRIST 2 Chron 7:14 Matthew 7:7-12

Community Notice Turffontein Catholic Church Holy Family parish is building a New Wall of Rembrance and would like to relocate the existing Memorial Plaques to the new wall and garden.

Families of these deceased parishioners are asked to contact the Parish on 011 434 0206 asap.

Fr Duncan Tsoke, Priest in Charge, 078 479 2781

The Southern Cross, August 1 to August 7, 2012

7

Michael Shackleton

Open door

What is the truth?

We are taught that the Church cannot stray from the truth that Christ gave it. What is this truth? Is it Christ himself who is the way, the truth and the life? Is it the Church’s teaching and, if so, is it this teaching that makes the Church infallible? And, incidentally, can infallibility be defined clearly for all to understand?

Pen Evans

I

NFALLIBILITY in the Church means that, having faithfully received the truths revealed to it

by God in Christ, the People of God express and profess their faith in the form of doctrines and dogmas that cannot contradict or stray from those divinely revealed truths.

Put very simply, the Church does not fundamentally hold or teach error.

So, if error cannot penetrate the faith of the Church, you ask: what is the truth against which we measure error?

This truth is the Holy Spirit himself, the “Spirit of truth” (Jn 14:17) “whom the Father will send in my name and will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you” (Jn 14:26). The Spirit comes in Jesus’ name and therefore, yes, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He is the only road to God’s everlasting kingdom, he is the truth itself and he infuses divine grace into humanity to prepare us to live in the company of divinity.

The entire Church, as an organic living community of believers and doers, is infallible in this way. All its members, right up to the head of the Church, the pope, share in the gift of infallibility.

There have been times when there was uncertainty about what really is the truth. For instance, Arius in the fourth century understood Christ’s being Son of God to mean that he was the first and highest creature of God. Arius had a large following.

This confused many in the Church until the Council of Nicea in 325 condemned his views— the Arian heresy—and gave us the specific definition of Christ’s divinity: he is not a creature of the Father but he is “consubstantial with the Father”, he is God. This is the truth we proclaim when we recite the Nicean Creed at Sunday Mass.

When the pope, in union with the episcopal college which he heads, clarifies and declares what we must believe, this is done only to bring greater unity to the People of God, because that is the function of the Church’s magisterium.

n Send your queries to Open Door, Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000; or e-mail: opendoor@scross.co.za; or fax (021) 465 3850. Anonymity can be preserved by arrangement, but questions must be signed, and may be edited for clarity. Only published questions will be answered.

The St Boniface Community

is presenting its annual Church Bazaar on Sunday 26th of August, 2012.

Starting with an open-air Mass at 9.30am at the St Boniface Community Centre, Cnr Puttick Ave and Kowie Road, Sundowner Ext 8, Randburg.

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8

HOPE&JOY

The Southern Cross, August 1 to August 7, 2012

Women who inspire the Church Claire Mathieson

I

N South Africa women bear the brunt of crime and poverty, and are usually the least educated of the population.

Yet, the strength of a woman can also inspire others to go far beyond their circumstances.

“History prescribed long-standing beliefs concerning gender roles of which most are based on the premise that women are less important or less deserving of power than men,” says Kim Smith, a developmental studies masters student from Cape Town.

Ms Smith says these beliefs are often perceived as being reinforced by the institutionalised Church.

“We cannot negate that women worldwide experience various forms of oppression, marginalisation and social injustice because of deeply embedded patriarchal structures and systems. Women often are the victims of physical and sexual abuse and violence, have to be caretakers and breadwinners, and are more at risk to diseases and poor health,” she said.

“In addition, women have to juggle their various social roles and identities and are often conflicted by their personal aspirations versus those expected by society.”

However, Ms Smith adds that the Catholic Church has for many years defended women’s rights, influenced law and policy protecting females, and has a long history in the involvement with educating females.

For one young woman, the Church proved supportive through education.

Both Phumzile’s parents died within four years of each other.

Since being orphaned at age 11, Phumzile—whose surname is being withheld—has moved between the homes of family members and has recently been told to live with a distant cousin at a location two hours from school.

At 18 years of age and in her final year of school, Phumzile is now staying in an overcrowded

ATTORNEYS

l

NOTARIES

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A Church of Hope and Joy

hostel for single women, worried about getting to school and making the grade.

But despite these challenges, Phumzile has been encouraged to set her eyes set on a goal. She wants to become a nurse so that she can help others.

Through the help of funders, Phumzile attends Dominican Convent School in Belgravia, Johannesburg. Through this, a talent has been discovered.

Phumzile is a soloist in the school’s choir, which recently toured the Britain. “The tour deeply affected me,” Phumzile says. “It made me realise I could pursue singing as a profession.”

Phumzile is now investigating studies in both music and nursing. Either way, she has hope for a bright future.

Marina Burger, head of the high school at Dominican Convent says the school’s ethos encourages both boys and girls to grow in confidence.

“A young woman who comes through the Catholic school system has a strong belief in her own abilities. She also has a vision for her life and is empowered to make responsible choices.” She says this would have contributed to Phumzile’s drive to succeed.

B

ut it is not only the learners that the school inspires. Choir director Rosalia Motha was inspired by former Dominican Convent principal, Sr Natalie Kuhn OP. As a teacher, Ms Motha said she has learnt that one has to be selfless in giving and doing whatever one has to do.

“Sr Natalie expected us to always do the best in everything.

At times I felt like I was not good enough or at times I felt discouraged. But it is only now that I realise that what happened then

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Phumzile, a student at dominican Convent in Belgravia, Johannesburg, performs during the school choir’s tour of Britain. was preparing me for the future,” Ms Motha says.

“I am proud to say that I am still surrounded by dedicated women in this community who are doing a sterling job. Whether part of management, administration, teaching, boarding or cleaning staff, they are all wonderful.”

She says she never dreamed of directing a choir, never mind taking one abroad, but with the right guidance, Ms Motha says she has become a dynamic woman, making a difference.

Anna Rust is a catechist at St Paul’s parish in Somerset West, outside Cape Town. She says while her primary vocation is that of mother and wife, she believes women have a very important role in the Church.

“I’m often inspired by many of the women in Scripture, both Old and New Testament. If we understand the roles of these women correctly, we see that we each have a distinct God-given role to play, regardless of the situation we find ourselves in.”

Ms Smith says the importance of the role of women in the Church needs to be made known.

“We need to highlight the importance and reverence of women and their role in the Church.

Female leaders must become more vocal and visible. We need strong, modern-day role models.”

One such female leader is Precious Blood Sister Hermenegild Makoro, the secretary-general of the

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“I believe I have to deliver on the position, not because I am a woman and have something to prove, but because I am able to,” she says.

“I hope that one day we will be able to look at each other—not as men or women, but to look at people in general and to be able to identify people who are capable of the job.”

Sr Makoro says she takes pride in whatever she does. “If people look at me believing in my faith and my strength to do something, then that will serve as an inspiration for them to do the same.”

The nun believes that if she is given a responsibility, then she must perform and this is the lesson she passes on to others.

W

hile it is the women and children that carry the burden of poverty, crime and HIV in South Africa, Mrs Rust says the Church is active in all these areas. She says the relief, support and aid work done by many Church-based organisations makes a difference in the lives of many women.

“One thing that I feel is very important in the upliftment of women and their families is skills training. Feeding the poor will always be part of the Church’s mission,” she says, “but helping women to support themselves gives them dignity and selfrespect”.

Sr Makoro says most of the work done by the Church in the country is around issues affecting women.

“Women bear the brunt of our social issues,” she says. “But a lot is being done to help them move from where they are.”

She refers to the SACBC’s Aids Office and the Catholic Health Care Association of South Africa, both of which encourage women to step up and help each other.

Ms Smith said parishes around the country could do more. “We are the Church. Collectively we can have a greater impact as an international community by exercising our political, economic, social and cultural rights, and by taking responsibility for empowering those who are unable to enjoy these rights.”

Ms Smith is doing the same in her own life. She is a member of the all-women team travelling to the Antarctica to raise awareness on water issues. She is also starting a social enterprise in female sanitation.

Through the LifeTeen programme, Mrs Rust spends time focusing on two themes. She teaches the importance of the notion that humans are created in God’s image and likeness, and she highlights the commandment, “Love your neighbour”.

“I feel that if the teens can grasp these two ideas then they will go back to their homes, schools and communities with a more respectful attitude towards others,” she says.

Ms Smith says: “Many times I struggle with finding my place socially as a ‘modern’ woman; understanding what it means to be a Catholic woman in this day and age, what roles I am expected to fulfill and which roles I am comfortable with fulfilling. I am often conflicted.”

But it is through the examples of other women—both high profile leaders and those with very little—that she is inspired.

“I admire these women for rejoicing and giving thanks despite their circumstances, and for not waiting until something happens before they do so. I marvel at how much faith and expectation they have,” Ms Smith points out.

“They exude hope and joy and have taught me about the strength and resilience in being a woman!”

Souther n Cross

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The Southern Cross, August 1 to August 7, 2012

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10

FOCUS

The Southern Cross, August 1 to August 7, 2012

Is there a place for John Paul II’s ‘new feminism’?

In 1995, Pope John Paul II called for a new feminism.

COLLEEN CONSTABLE reflects on what shape such a new feminism coud take, within and outside the Church.

I

feelings of guilt about the commitment towards the advancement of women in a modern world where they are still marginalised, violated and exploited.

Pope John Paul’s new feminism is understood to offer a complimentarily perspective of women and men, acknowledging biological differences without emphasising superiority or domination of one gender over the other. It is not a “rights-based” approach to women’s emancipation: rather a focus on women using their authentic femininity in a dignified manner, eliminating competition and encouraging equality of both sexes.

AM excited about the “new feminism” mentioned by John Paul II in the 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life).

And I am inspired by three categories of women: those who change history, those who conquer the unknown and those who n the Middle Ages Hildegard of have child-like faith in God. Bingen—a multi-talented Bene“In transforming culture so that dictine abbess who has been it supports life, women occupy a described as a composer, writer, place, in thought and action, philosopher, mystic, visionary and which is unique and decisive. It public preacher—broke new terridepends on them to promote a tory for women. She wrote theo‘new feminism’ which rejects the logical, medicinal and botanical temptation of imitating models of texts, and her writings on ‘male domination’, in order to women’s reproductive health were acknowledge and affirm the true unknown for her time. genius of women in every aspect Hildegard’s critics argue that of the life of society, and overcome she wrote in a demeaning manner all discrimination, violence and when referring to her exploitation,” Pope or women in general, John Paul wrote. hence she is the subject The notion of a Every of study by feminist “new feminism” can scholars. Hildegard’s woman has either encourage participation in public women to respond preaching (she an inherent differently to the 21st preached to clergy and century challenges or the faithful) were also right to it can ignite rejection unknown for her time. of the concept.

St Joan of Arc, herodignity, The suggestion of ine of France, saint and a “new feminism” is not a feminist. equality and martyr may imply that She is best understood mainstream femias a young woman respect. nism in its various inspired by voices and categories has not believed that she served the purpose. received a specific misFeminism is aimed at securing sion from God: to fight for the equal rights for women at all freedom of her country. Joan died, spheres in society. A feminist is an burned on a stake, falsely accused advocate of women’s equality and of heresy. rights. Feminists are influenced by I would argue that Joan could ideologies that set women free be a model of John Paul II’s “new and not keep her prisoner of the feminism”. The manner in how world. she conducted herself clearly indiModern-day feminists still face cates she fought the battle with rejection from those who attach a faith and trust in God and through negative connotation to the term. collaboration with her male counSuch attitude is aimed to create terparts.

I

Women pray during a Vatican event to promote the new evangelisation. In her article, Coleen Constable discusses how modern women can exist in today’s Church and society. (Photo: Paul Haring, CNS) She had no reason to prove her equality as a woman: she simply fought her battle with authentic femininity. She knew that she was entrusted with the task and capable to complete it by the grace of God. For many women of faith their feminist approach is centred in the teachings of Jesus Christ and his attitude towards women, as drawn from Scripture.

Every woman has an inherent right to dignity, equality and respect. She is entitled to pursue the vocation of her heart.

Some women who uphold their right to equality make bold decisions. A few years ago during implementation of a programme to stop gender-based violence, I worked with a very spirit-filled young woman. She is a devout Christian, a pious woman: a former Catholic and member of an evangelical movement.

I asked why she left the Catholic Church. “I wanted to be a priest,” she responded. She was ordained as a pastor in the United States. Her approach to a complex and controversial issue sends a new message.

She opted for an alternative strategy: ordination outside the Catholic Church. Instead of burning bridges within the Church, she

acted with courage to pursue her holy desires. She may have applied thought leadership and concluded that if women in the Church desire priesthood, they have to pursue it elsewhere.

The Catholic Church is a faithbased institution, a hierarchical organisation with culture and customs derived from tradition. The institutional preference towards a male priesthood is rooted in tradition by design. Learned opinion suggests that there is no theological reason to justify prohibition of women priests.

The arguments for women priests may be justifiable from a theological and policy (that is, anti-discrimination) perspective. It has been raised with boldness and courage over many years, without any success.

T

o continue advocacy for women priests clearly is a waste of valuable time. Women inspired to the priesthood have two choices: to pursue their holy desires outside the Church or accept the tradition of the Church—the reality that the Church will never ordain women as priests.

Once this reality is accepted, it provides opportunity to present a compromise strategy: a new discussion, a new role.

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Pursue the possibility to become deacons. It is a legitimate debate as the early Church had Phoebe, who in Scripture is described as a deacon of the Church. It would close the campaign for women priests and open a vibrant discussion, one that would be in the spirit of John Paul II’s “new feminism”.

Sometimes young women in the Church find themselves in extremely challenging situations, yet they remain upbeat: sources of inspiration are everyday saints of the 21st century.

I know one such a woman of great faith: a mother, a wife, a sister, a friend, a career woman, a prayer warrior. This is her second year that she stands as the pillar of strength for her family while her husband underwent major surgery.

This woman never complaints: she accepts everything as God’s will for her life and her family. I spoke to her recently and was deeply touched by her faith. After her husband’s operation, the doctor explained the context of the procedure. She thanked him for his role. “It is God who heals,” she told the doctor. She is at peace as she believes complete healing is in God’s hands.

I am inspired by a teenager who prepared for confirmation last year and announced her choice of saint: St Maria Goretti.

She wanted to follow the values and virtues projected by St Maria Goretti: the latter a teenage saint who fought her attempted rapist. At a time when nine-yearolds are sexually active in this country, a teenager chooses purity in all areas of her live. She is a breath of fresh air and a signal of hope for the teenage world of today.

The new feminism represents all these women who stay true to the teachings of Jesus Christ, and embrace a pro-active approach to life and service to others, giving a fresh emphasis to their role as women in a contemporary world and in the Church.

And it includes the teenagers who confidently uphold positive principles and virtues in the face of peer rejection.

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The Southern Cross, August to August 7 , 2012

CLASSIFIEDS

Deacon Bert Haupt

Births • First Communion • Confirmation • Engagement/Marriage • Wedding anniversary • Ordination jubilee • Congratulations • deaths • In memoriam • Thanks • Prayers • Accommodation • Holiday Accommodation • Personal • Services • Employment • Property • Others Please include payment (R1,15 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

D

EACON Bertram Stanley Haupt was born on Robben Island on March 5, 1928 to Frederick and Rhoda Haupt, who were nurses in the island’s hospital (it later became a hospital for lepers).

He was one of 11 children—all, except the last, were born on Robben Island to a wholesome Catholic family.

In his early educational years, Bertram attended St Edmonds, Nazareth House, and through the assistance of the Catholic missionaries, attended the Salesians shool in Lansdowne. He became a sacristan and worked closely with his mentor Fr Connolly.

Bertram entered the navy at the tender age of 16, after bluffing his way in, and endured a world war.

He found that he wanted to become a priest and so his request to leave the ship “The Transvaal” was granted and in July 1946, Bertram moved to the Salesian Institute as an aspirant for the priesthood. He spent three years at Salesian Institute and was then sent to England to further his studies.

When he returned to Cape Town a year later, he found that in order to further his studies, he would have to wait for the bishop to return from a long vacation in Europe. He was told to get a job until the bishop returned.

He joined an insurance company as a junior clerk in 1949. There he met his future wife—Norma Rushton. They were married at the Holy Name church Observatory, Cape Town, on April 11, 1955.

Deacon Bertram Haupt was ordained on the December 10, 1983 by Bishop Reginald Orsmond at the cathedral of Christ the King, Johannesburg. He served with many priests and bishops and gave amazing sermons. He served mainly with Fr John De

11

IN MEMORIAM

Bertram Haupt with his wife Norma Nobrega and Fr Ignatius Fidgeon in Roodepoort.

He baptised all nine of his grandchildren. He also looked after the parish in Davidsonville. Deacon Haupt was a great supporter of The Southern Cross and made his voice heard.

Brothers Bert and Eric Haupt celebrated their sister’s diamond jubilee as a religious at the Holy Cross Sisters convent in Pretoria. They both served at the altar when Sr Collette Haupt died on August 29, 2004. Deacon Bertram Haupt passed away on June 17, 2012 at the age of 84.

A requiem service was conducted by Fr Keith Gordon-Davis of St John the Apostle church, Florida.

He leaves Norma, his loving wife of 63 years, four children, nine grandchildren, loving sisters Doreen, 92, Stella, 90, his brother Deacon Eric Haupt, 83 and Valarie, 80.

Catherine Haupt-Economides

Family Reflections

AUGUST FAMILY THEME. GENDER MATTERS. Women in many cases still need empowerment but in other cases men do too. The way relationships between men and women are managed is a key issue in building healthy families and beyond that a healthy social environment. Human beings are gendered and sexual and act and react as males or females to members of the same sex or the opposite sex. Men will be boys and women will be girls. That is part of their nature, their beauty and value and a gift from God. We owe it to God, to one another and our families, Day by Day, to live out our gender roles with grace.

God created man in his image, in the divine image he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them saying, be fertile and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. God looked at everything he had made and he found it very good.” Gen 1:27-30.

August 5, Sunday. A Spiritual Revolution. Fr Peter asked: “Is being a good planner a gender issue, a personality thing, a lesson of life or a skill that is acquired?” and added, “Probably something of all of those, not just gender. In one family Mirriam was a neat methodical person, John a happy-go-lucky “loskop.” Who achieves the most in the end? At school methodical people manage their lives well, but in the hurly-burly of modern life the Johns sometimes race ahead. Until the wheels come off and he had his bookkeeper and the tax man on his back. He felt upset that he left some clients in the lurch and resolved to make good management a real value.

I want to urge you in the name of the Lord not to go on living the aimless kind of life the pagan live. That is hardly the way you have learnt from Christ. Eph 4:17

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Liturgical Calendar Year B Weekdays Year 2

Sunday, August 5, 18th Sunday Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15, Psalm 78:3-4, 23-25, 54, Ephesians 4:17, 20-24, John 6:24-35 Monday, August 6, The Transfiguration of the Lord Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 9, 2 Peter 1:16-19, Mark 9:2-10 Tuesday, August 7, Jeremiah 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22, Psalm 102:16-21, 29, 22-23, Matthew 14:22-36 Wednesday, August 08, St Dominic, 2 Timothy 4:1-5, Psalm 37:3-6, 30-31, Matthew 5:13-16 Thursday, August 9, St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross ( Edith Stein) Jeremiah 31:31-34, Psalm 51:12-15, 18-19, Matthew 16:13-23 Friday, August 10, St Lawrence 2 Corinthians 9:6-10, Psalm 112:1-2, 5-9, John 12:24-26 Saturday, August 11, St Clare of Assisi Hosea 2:16, 17, 21-22 or 2 Corinthians 4:6-10, 16-18, Psalm 45:11-12, 14-16,John 15:4-10 Sunday, August 12, 19th Sunday 1 Kings 19:4-8, Psalm 34:2-9, Ephesians 4:30-5:2, John 6:41-51

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 509. ACROSS: 3 Peters out, 8 Norm, 9 Aegean Sea, 10 Expels, 11 Strew, 14 Theta, 15 Tart, 16 Nouns, 18 Epic, 20 Cater, 21 Crepe, 24 Ankles, 25 Fireplace, 26 Anon, 27 Irish stew. DOWN: 1 Unsettled, 2 Prophetic, 4 Ewes, 5 Elect, 6 Sunset, 7 Uses, 9 Alban, 11 Spume, 12 Wasteland, 13 At present, 17 Scone, 19 Creeds, 22 Palls, 23 Bier, 24 Acre.

Word of the Week

IHS: Three letters from the Greek name, Jesus INRI: The initial letters form the Latin inscription written on the cross: Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum, (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews) PX: a monogram of the first two Greek letters for “Christus”.

Kindly note our offices will be closed from 21 July to 10 Aug, 2012 inclusive

PAGE—Noel. In loving memory of my devoted husband and father who passed away a year ago on August 1, 2011.

Always in our thoughts and prayers. Rest in peace.

SANVIDO—Tony. In loving memory of my dear husband, our father and grandfather who passed away August 1, 1998.

Always remembered with love by his wife Nancy, his children, grandchildren and sons and daughters-in-law.

WILLIAMS—Rita. In loving memory of my dear daughter and our sister Rita who passed away August 1, 1999. Always in our thoughts and prayers.

We who love her will never forget. Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord.

Still deeply missed by her mother, sisters, brothers and their families.

PERSONAL

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NOTHING is politically right if it is morally wrong. Abortion is evil. Value life!

PRAYERS

AND JABEZ called on god of Israel saying “Oh, that You should bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!”

So God granted him what he requested. 1 Chronicles

4:10; Emphasis added.

HOLY ST JUDE, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron in time of need. To you I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you to come to my assistance. Help me now in my urgent need and grant my petitions. In return I promise to make your name known and publish this prayer. Amen. RCP HOLY SPIRIT you make me see everything and show me the way to reach my ideals. You give me the divine gift to forgive and forget. In all instances of my life you are with me, protecting me and opening for me a way where there is no way. I thank you for everything, and confirm once more that I never want to be separated from you, no matter how great the material desires. I want to be with you and my loved ones in your perpetual glory. Amen.

Say this prayer for three consecutive days. Publication promised. PMd. O MOST beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of Heaven, blessed Mother of the Son of god, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity.

O Star of the Sea, help me and show me where you are, Mother of god. Queen of heaven and earth I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity. There is none who can withstand your power, O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands. “Say this prayer for 3 consecutive days and after that the prayer must be published.

PMd

THANKS

GRATEFUL thanks to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Our Mother Mary and Ss Joseph, Anthony, Jude and Martin de Porres for prayers answered. RCP.

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19th Sunday: August 12 Readings: 1 Kings 19:4-8, Psalm 34:2-9, Ephesians 4:30-5:2, John 6:41-51

Walking in love with our Creator

‘W

Nicholas King SJ

ALK in love” is the line from next Sunday’s second reading, which might serve as the mantra for meditating on all the texts that we shall be hearing on that day.

In the first re adin g , Elijah is not so much walking in love, as running away in fear. He has made the understandable error of alienating Queen Jezebel by first showing up her beloved prophets of Baal and then butchering them on Mount Carmel.

So when we see him, he is underneath a broom tree and asking to die. Instead of which, he is woken by an angel who instructs him to eat (and provides the wherewithal); then he is allowed to go back to sleep, but not for long, since he is then instructed to eat and drink again.

This time it has a remarkable effect, and he is enabled to walk, not in love, perhaps, but at least for forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God. There he has a remarkable encounter with the Almighty, but you will have to read that for yourself, in the following verses in 1 Kings 19.

The author of the psalm for next Sunday is unambiguously (as so often with the

Sunday Reflections

psalmist) walking in love: “I shall bless the Lord at all times, continually his praise upon my lips,” and he invites us to “magnify the Lord with me; and let us lift up his name together”.

He has no fear of looking at God, and invites us to “look at God and be radiant”, because of his certainty that the Lord looks after the poor: “This poor person called, and the Lord heard”, and our portion ends with the lovely line “taste and see how good the Lord is; happy are those who trust in God”.

The seco nd reading expands a bit on what it means to “walk in love”: “Don’t grieve God’s holy Spirit”, and lists a series of potential obstacles to such walking (and we shall do well to examine our consciences

here): “Bitterness, anger, rage, shouting, insults...all evil.”

There is also a list of the opposing qualities: we are to be “kindly, merciful, gracious to each other, just as God has been gracious in Christ”. Better than that, we are invited to be “imitators of God, like beloved children”, and our walking in love is to be “just as Christ loved us, and gave himself over for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a lovely fragrant odour”.

There is a word in the g ospel for next Sunday for what Jesus’ opponents were doing, and it is not “walking in love”. The word is “they were muttering” (only one word in Greek); and the reason for their complaints is that he had said: “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” And they are simply not open to the mystery: they think they know precisely who he is, “Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know”.

If you know him, of course, he cannot be the mysterious figure whom John’s gospel presents to us, the one who has “come down from heaven”. Jesus’ response may

We must be patient with God T HERE’S an adage which says that an atheist is simply someone who cannot grasp metaphor. Thomas Halik, the Czech writer, would suggest rather that an atheist is someone who cannot be patient enough with God. There is a lot of truth in that.

Patience with God is perhaps our greatest faith-struggle. God, it would seem, is never in a hurry, and because of that we live with an impatience that can test the strongest faith and the stoutest heart.

Life, as we can all attest to, is not without its bitter frustrations and crushing heartaches. We all live with a lot of pain and unresolved tensions.

Who among us doesn’t experience regularly the pain of sickness, various kinds of personal and professional failure, some kind of humiliation, the inadequacy of self-expression, the soul-searing losses of loved ones, every kind of frustrated longing, and the nagging pain of life’s inadequacy?

In this life, there’s no such a thing as a clear-cut, pure joy; rather everything comes with shadow. We do in fact live inside a certain valley of tears.

We are built for happiness, but pure happiness never quite finds us. Neither, it would seem, does justice.

Jesus promised that the meek would inherit the earth, but mostly it doesn’t seem that way. The arrogant among us often believe that.

There’s an infamous Ziggy cartoon which shows him praying to God in

Classic Conrad

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

these words: “I just want to let you know that the meek are still getting clobbered down here!” Often that appears to be the case.

So where is God? Where is the truth in Jesus’ promise about the meek inheriting the earth? In the face of longstanding global injustice we either live in a long-suffering patience with God or we come to believe that neither God’s promises nor God’s existence hold true.

When Jesus was dying on the cross, some onlookers where taunting him and challenging his message with the words: “If you are the Son of God, let him rescue you!” In essence: If God is real and your message is true, prove it right now! And God let Jesus die!

The same held true for Jesus himself in the face of the death of Lazarus. He was being challenged: If you possess God's power in this world and you love this man, why don't you save him for dying? Jesus first let Lazarus die.

The first community of disciples, immediately after the Ascension, painfully struggled with the same question: Jesus is God and he loves us—so why does he let us die?

Each of us asks that question in our own way because what we want is a God who rescues us, who intervenes actively for justice and goodness in this world, who acts visibly now in this life, and who doesn’t let us get sick and die.

None of us want a God who asks us to live in a life-long patience, predicated on the promise that in the end, whenever that will be, love and justice will prevail, all tears will be dried, and all will finally be well. We want life, love, justice, and consummation now, not in some distant future and only after a lifetime of heartache.

God, as an old Jewish axiom puts it, is never in a hurry.

And so we live with a lot of expressed and unexpressed impatience with God. Atheists, it would seem, at a certain point just give up on playing the game and, in essence, say the words: I’ve seen enough; I’ve waited enough; and it’s not enough! I will no longer wait for God. But if atheism is just another way of saying, “I will no longer wait for God”, than the opposite is also true: Faith is just another way of saying, “I will wait for God”. If atheism is impatience, faith is patience.

The Italian spiritual writer Carlo Carretto, after spending more than 20 years in solitude as a monk in the Sahara desert, was asked what single thing he felt that he heard God most say to him inside of the long, deep silence. What, he was asked, do you hear God saying to the world? His answer: “God is asking us to wait, to be patient.”

Why the need for such great patience? Does God want to test us?

Does God want to see if we indeed have a faith that is worthy of a great reward?

No. God has no need to play such a game, and neither do we.

It’s not that God wants to test our patience. The need for patience arises out of the rhythms innate within life itself and within love itself. They need to unfold, as do flowers and pregnancies, according to their own innate rhythms and within their own good time. They cannot be rushed, no matter how great our impatience or how great our discomfort.

And neither can God be rushed because it is his timetable that protects us from perpetually stunting life and love by drawing them through the birth canal prematurely.

not have clarified things to them very much, although we who hear the words purr complacently because we know what he means: “No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me attracts them; and I shall raise them up on the last day.”

What we are talking about is a deep and intimate relationship between Jesus and the one called “Father”: “No one has seen the Father except for the one who is from God, this one has seen the Father.”

Then, solemnly, he insists on the importance of our response: “Amen, amen I’m telling you, the one who believes has eternal life”, and follows it with another self-identification: “I am the Bread of Life”, elucidated by a reference back to our first reading: “Your ancestors ate manna in the desert— but they died.” In contrast “this bread” (that is to say, Jesus himself) is a guarantee against death.

“The bread that I shall give is my flesh on behalf of the world’s life”, he says, hinting to us how, this week, we may “walk in love”.

Southern Crossword #509

ACROSS 3. Diminishes because saint is not at home (6,3) 8. Standard short name for a man (4) 9. Waterway of the Greeks (6,3) 10. Casts out from college (6) 11. Scatter (5) 14. The thanks you get for a Greek letter (5) 15. Pastry with sharp flavour?

(4) 16. Proper names (5) 18. Heroic poem (4) 20. Crate from which to provide food (5) 21. Creep about for a pancake (5) 24. Joints for going on foot (6) 25. The devil has one in his lounge (9) 26. No name soon (4) 27. St Patrick writes his scrambled menu (5,4)

DOWN 1. Unhappy colonist who’s not paid the bill? (9) 2. Kind of message from Isaiah (9) 4. Sheep found in the west (4) 5. The chosen (5) 6. Evening when sick were brought to Jesus (Mk 1) (6) 7. Applies (4) 9. First of the English martyrs (5) 11. Foam (5) 12. Let dawn steal over barren place (9) 13.Pan street right now (2,7) 17. Take a cake from al fresco needs (5) 19. Expressions of faith (6) 22. They may cover the coffin (5) 23. It may carry the coffin (4) 24. Race about the land (4) Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

‘D

o you believe in life after death?” the boss asked one of his employees. “Yes, sir,” the new recruit replied.

“Oh, well that’s okay then,” said the boss.

“Because after you left early yesterday to go to your grandmother’s funeral, she stopped in to see you!”

Send us your favourite Catholic joke, preferably clean and brief, to The Southern Cross, Church Chuckle, PO Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000.