March 13 to March 19, 2013
Shoptalk: Meet the tailors to many popes
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The faith, hope and love of Mandela
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Church speaks out on SA’s rape crisis BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
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A pilgrim dances in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican as the world’s cardinals were meeting behind closed doors. (Photo: Stefano Rellandini, Reuters/CNS)
Cardinal Napier in the media spotlight as cardinals met STAFF REPORTER
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S the world’s cardinals gathered in the Vatican to bid Pope Benedict XVI farewell, discuss the state of the Church and then elect a new pope, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban was among the prolific voices in the world media. Moreover, according to US network ABC, Cardinal Napier was the most active of the at least nine cardinals with a Twitter account. Other actively tweeting cardinals included Cardinals Timothy Dolan of New York, Luis Tagle of Manila, Philippines, Odillo Scherer of São Paulo, Brazil, and Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture under Pope Benedict, who has an English and Italian Twitter account. Cardinal Ravasi’s Twitter account fell silent for the period of the interregnum, until a new pope is chosen (should that pope be Cardinal Ravasi, he will inherit Pope Benedict’s @pontifex handle). Cardinal Napier told the US-based Catholic News Service (CNS) that getting on Twitter “was the best decision I made”. He said at first he was “very, very sceptical and very hesitant” about this “new-fangled” platform. However, he said it’s “amazing” to be able to condense so much meaning in so few words. “Those 140 characters sound so little and yet you can communicate quite successfully,” he said. “But for me the greatest virtue has been in response to the call to Rome for the conclave,” he said, because so many people have been tweeting him their thoughts and prayers. “I’d imagine that the one thing the [new] pope would like to get would be the constant interaction from ordinary people with what he’s doing and how they’re doing and so on. It takes time, unfortunately, to go through all [the news feed] every morning, but it’s well worth it in the end.” The cardinal, until recently the liaison bishop for media of the Southern African
Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban at the Irish Franciscan College in Rome before an interview on March 1. Cardinal Napier, a Franciscan, has been a prolific voice in the world media this month. (Photo: Paul Haring, CNS) Catholic Bishops’ Conference, also revealed that he had been googling some of the cardinals whom he did not know very well. Before consistories (the meetings of cardinals convened by the pope), Pope Benedict would invariably “call the cardinals to a meeting a day before”, which gave them an added chance to get together, the archbishop of Durban told CNS. “That doesn’t mean I still don’t have to look up on Google” to see who is who and match a face to a name, he added. Cardinal Napier pointed out that he wouldn’t put all his trust in the powers of the Internet. “We’ll have to put a lot of faith in the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit” in helping the cardinals make decisions. Even after media reported that the Vatican had given the cardinals a much-denied “gag order”, Cardinal Napier spoke to the media, telling the US TV network CBS that the pre-conclave talks couldn’t be rushed because, after all, the next pope was in the room. Before that, Cardinal Napier, who also appeared on Ireland’s RTE television, told the AFP news agency that the reform of the Roman curia would be “come into the picture as well” in the cardinals’ deliberations.
HE high incidence of violence against women in the country “calls for action from all people of good will”, said Bishop Abel Gabuza of Kimberley, liaison bishop for Justice & Peace in the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC). “The Justice & Peace Department, like many other organisations—schools, media, civic, business and NGOs—condemns these many ongoing instances of violence, rape, abuse and brutality,” he said in a statement following the increase in rape cases and gender-based violent reported in the media. Jesuit Father Russell Pollitt of Holy Trinity parish in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, agreed: “This is an issue that affects people’s lives. The Church cannot be separated from this. We need to be involved at all levels—especially on the ground at parish level.” Bishop Gabuza said that “numerous awareness campaigns have been launched by different sectors of our society to highlight this scourge”. While the bishops support and encourage these campaigns, action on the ground is needed. “We urge serious dialogue on the underlying causes that have led to the current deplorable state of affairs in our country. We condemn, in the strongest terms, any act of violence against another human being,” the bishop said, adding that violence is in direct negation of the Christian command “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:12). Fr Pollitt, who has been preaching on the issue, said he has been inundated with women sharing their experiences. “There is an atmosphere in the country at the moment. Everyone is talking about rape and there’s a great deal of sympathy for victims. Women might have been scared to come forward in the past—many having been put off by police or others that were meant to help them. But now, people feel encouraged to speak out.” Fr Pollitt said awareness campaigns are not enough, but that churches and schools also need to act. “Rather set up groups where victims of sexual abuse can share and support each other; groups for men where male identity can be discussed, and the culture of female submission [be] suppressed; and groups where people are educated on their rights.” Schools have also taken a stand. Sacred Heart and Dominican Convent in Johannesburg and Springfield Convent in Cape Town have had days of protest and solidarity with victims of abuse, and McCauley House in Parktown West has launched a campaign titled “Kwanele Kwanele” (Enough is Enough), which Braamfontein parish launched on March 6. “Ten years ago, when I was principal at Maris Stella in Durban, I was so horrified by the news of a toddler being found raped in Kimberley. It was then that I knew schools had to do something,” said Eleanor Hough, principal of McCauley House.
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nti-rape campaigns were not popular at the time and her attempts to get other schools involved saw very little response. “I believe that McCauley House was ideally situated to launch a campaign. Our girls understand and have seen abuse in their lives. We started planning and then the news hit of the tragedy that came of Anene Booysen,” she said, referring to the Bredasdorp teenager who died on February 2 after being gangraped and mutilated. The very next day, T-shirts were printed proclaiming the school’s stance against rape.
The logo of the Kwanele Kwanele campaign launched by McCauley House, a Catholic school in Johannesburg. More than 1 000 have since been sold. “The response from the wider community has been great. We are now trying to get other schools involved. This isn’t about us, this is about fighting a massive social problem in this country,” said Ms Hough. McCauley House’s year-long campaign has included a silent protest which will take place every Friday in March, which is Human Rights Month, on every Friday in August, which is Women’s Month, and once a month for the rest of the year. “The children have been absolutely unbelievable. The silence and dignity that they showed was inspiring,” Ms Hough said. Every week the learners have different speakers address them on various topics helping them understand their rights and what abuse actually is.
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ather Pollitt said that preaching the idea of “zero tolerance” for sexual violence is important. “We need to face up to the fact that [some] perpetrators of this violence are members of our churches. These are people sitting in our pews,” he said. The problem is not just limited to a “stranger attacking women in the streets at night”, but also extended to women in marriage who “tell their husbands ‘no’ but are forced to submit to their husband as he believes it is his right”. Bishop Gabuza’s statement said: “Along with a growing global consensus of all people of good will, Catholic social teaching proclaims that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This includes gender issues, the way men understand themselves, others and how they act. “Dignity is protected and a healthy society is realised only when human rights are protected and duties are met. Corresponding to these rights and duties are responsibilities—to one another, our families and to the larger society,” he said. “The dignity of the human person, our responsibility and the inherent call to solidarity, demands that we promote peace in a society engulfed by violence, rape, abuse and brutality,” said Bishop Gabuza. “We are one human family and are therefore called to solidarity with others no matter what our national, racial, ethnic, economic, gender and ideological differences are. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they may be. At the core of the virtue of solidarity is the pursuit of justice and peace.”