The Southern Cross - 130320

March 20 to March 26, 2013

Parish launches anti-rape campaign

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SA Church’s joy over Pope Francis

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

S

OUTH African Catholics have welcomed the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the 266th pope of the Catholic Church; someone who has “faced similar problems to those in South Africa” and someone with whom “local Catholics can relate”.

Pope Francis has been hailed as a breath of fresh air to many South Africans as the first pope from the southern hemisphere.

“His election might also be a critique of the curia, which many have called to be overhauled,” said Fr Anthony Egan—like Pope Francis a Jesuit. The priest said that the new pope did not have a role in the curia and might overhaul it with a new perspective. “He could turn the curia into something that reflects what the Church actually is. We could see a rebuilding of a Church broken down by Vati-leaks and the abuse scandals,” said Fr Egan.

He expected that not only would Jesuits not get preferential treatment from their papal confrere, but would have to work harder to remain central to the workings of the Church.

“He has had the courage to make some difficult decisions,” said Bishop José Luis Ponce de León of Ingwavuma, a native of the Argentinian capital himself.

Media reports have accused the new pope of having colluded with Argentina’s brutal military junta, which ruled from 1976-83. In the junta’s “Dirty War” against opponents, some 30 000 people were killed, including

clergy.

The archdiocese of Buenos Aires has described the allegation of collusion as “slander”.

Bishop Ponce de León said that in 2005 Cardinal Bergoglio initiated the sainthood process of five Pallottines—three priests and two seminarians—who were killed by the junta.

“This was a clear step for the Church in her stance against that government. It is something not common in Argentina,” said Bishop Ponce de León, adding that the fact that it took nearly three decades to start the process indicates how sensitive the country and Church in Argentina were to those dark years.

Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria, a Franciscan, said he was “absolutely thrilled” with the choice of the new pope’s name.

While the Vatican has confirmed that Pope Francis named himself after the saint of Assisi, Archbishop Slattery pointed out that there are other famous saints by the same name. St Francis Xavier, the patron of missionaries, was the co-founder of the Society of Jesus and was “aligned with simplicity”, said Archbishop Slattery.

Fr Egan said the new pope might have also taken influence from St Francis Borgia, another Jesuit saint who denounced wealth and title. “This is not unlike Pope Francis who when made a cardinal told those in Buenos Aires not to travel to Rome to see him installed, but to rather give their

money to the poor.”

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis moved out of the archbishop’s residence and into a small apartment “which made him very close to the people”, said Bishop Ponce de León.

“Even though he was a very busy man, he was always known as someone who would make time for you.”

Bishop Ponce de León said the new pope “relates to people easily”. From regularly inviting people to his house, to meeting with those suffering from disease, “if he keeps this up, there will be no problem with people relating to him”.

N

ational youth chaplain, Fr Sammy Mabusela CPS, who will see the new pope at World Youth Day in Rio later this year, said he expects ope Francis to be an excellent role model to the youth.

“I’ve heard he is down to earth and always with the people. The youth have had negative role models recently and Pope Francis sounds like someone who they can relate to and be connected to. I expect his message will touch the youth and transform them spiritually to take their faith into every area of their lives.”

Fr Mabusela noted that the problems Pope Francis saw in Argentina were similar to those in South Africa. “We have common problems and challenges and I think having a pope that understands these will be great for South Africa.”

Social networks were abuzz with positiv-

ity. Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town tweeted that this would be a “very special papacy”, and Bishop Edward Risi of Keimoes-Upington said not to worry about the labels being attached to the new pope as “anyone who gives God first place in his or her life will be called a conservative”.

Catholic journalist Sydney Duval was impressed with Pope Francis’ first words as pope.

“His simple ‘buona sera’ [Italian for ‘good evening’] to the huge crowd gathered underneath their umbrellas at St Peter's Square, his first greeting to the world, was for me a moment that set the Church and its people on a new journey of faith and hope illuminated by a spirit of caritas and service, of simplicity and humility. This is our Church and it’s on the move renewing itself by taking the first step in responding to the signs of the times,” Mr Duval said.

“The fact that he asked the people to pray for him first is a very good sign,” said Fr Egan. “He seems to represent a deep need for more open and frank conversation and hopefully, he will bring with him the notion that differing opinions on the Church do not necessarily mean hostility or disloyalty to the Church. He comes from a deeply polarised country and should bring with him his openness to talk.” n More on pages 8 and 9

2

The Southern Cross, March 20 to March 26, 2013

LOCAL

Jo’burg parish launches anti-abuse campaign STAFF REPORTER

F

ROM school to university to parishes, people are saying “enough is enough” as the Kwanele Kwanele campaign spreads.

Launched at McAuley House School in Johannesburg, the campaign calls for South Africans to actively do something about the plague of abuse and rape in South Africa.

“Holy Trinity parish in Braamfontein has officially partnered with the school to deal with this scourge in our society,” said Deacon Billy Davies. “The parish spoke out in a loud voice against abuse, rape and violence, particularly against women and children.”

Following Fr Russell Pollitt SJ and Deacon Davies, parishioners filed out of weekend Masses to voluntarily sign a petition against all forms of abuse and to buy T-shirts

Correction

W

E inadvertently published the wrong phone number in our story “New edition for Passion” (March 6) to contact Sr Jordana Maher about ordering copies.

The correct phone number is 012 323 6458.

We apologise for the error.

identifying them with the initiative.

“In a powerful homily, which can be listened to on the Holy Trinity website (URL), Fr Russell quoted frightening statistics pertaining to the incidence of rape in South Africa and even more frightening statistics of the conviction rate for these crimes in the judicial system.

He debunked the commonly held beliefs that men are superior to women and that men are the head of the house and therefore women should submit them.”

Fr Pollitt called on men everywhere, but especially in the parish, to denounce these beliefs and practices. “These crimes are not happening out there but also right here in our pews,” he said, challenging cultures that perpetuate these oppressive practices against women and children.

Fr Pollitt quoted from St Paul, telling parishioners that when they

have clothed themselves in Christ their other culture must be surrendered to serving Christ. He stressed, that South Africans, Nigerians, Zimbabweans, and men or women of the other label, when we are clothed in Christ are all one and equal in Christ.

“Outside, as parishioners signed the petition, people were handed a pamphlet on the Kwanele Kwanele initiative of McAuley House School,” said Deacon Davies. “The pamphlet helps readers reflect on what the parish can do to fight this scourge; it defines rape clearly and states what consent is as well as challenges men to ask: ‘Are you a rapist?’ ”.

Deacond Davies added that the pamphlet also included snippets of stories from women who came forward “to tell of their experiences when Fr Russell challenged the parish last week to do something” following further reports of abuse at local universities.

Kwanele Kwanele T-shirts were sold at the launch of the initiative.

“At the launch of Kwanele Kwanele more women came forward to tell their stories but the weekend’s powerful events saw some men coming forward admitting their guilt and asking for help,”

Deacon Davies said.

“The message from McAuley House partnered with Holy Trinity —and the challenge to all of South Africa—is clear: Kwanele Kwanele, Enough is Enough,” he said.

Swazi security cracks down on prayer meeting

A

“BATTALION of police officers” stopped a prayer meeting in Manzini, Swaziland, claiming it was illegal.

The police, carrying batons, took control of the Caritas Centre and stopped a commemoration prayer called by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA).

Riot police later arrived to ensure

that no prayers took place.

The Swazi government had, without a court order, decided that the prayers were illegal because the trade union congress was not officially registered with the state.

TUCOSWA had been refused permission to register by Swaziland’s industrial court which said there was no legislation in the kingdom that al-

lowed such registration to take place.

TUCOSWA had organised the prayer meeting to mark the first anniversary of its inception.

The Times Sunday—an independent newspaper in Swaziland, where most media are state-controlled—reported that the “battalion” of batoncarrying police was later joined by the riot squad, the Operation and

Support Service Unit.

They stopped the prayers despite protests from leaders of TUCOSWA. TUCOSWA president Barnes Dlamini said police did not have a court order to ban the prayer gathering. The Times Sunday quoted Mr Dlamini saying that the police had misinterpreted the industrial court order.—CISA

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The Southern Cross, March 20 to March 26, 2013

LOCAL

3

Tlhagale: Church must fix its own problems STAFF REPORTER

T

Organised by Marie-Anne teBrake and Diana Chigumba of the Foundation for the Person and the Family, the annual Theology of the Body (TOB) Leaders’ Team retreat was held at Ha’Phororo Youth Centre. The participants included leaders from areas such as Alexandria, Johannesburg northern suburbs, Daveyton, Soweto,Johannesburg Central and Edenvale.

Participants were encouraged to think of their life experiences and to reflect on how and why Pope John Paul II’s TOB has affected their lives so profoundly that they are inspired to share this ‘good news’ with others. Fathers Bonga Thami and Anton Borras delivered inspiring talks on prayer and apostolate respectively. Much of Saturday was spent in silence and contemplation. Leaders also had an opportunity to share with each other some of the methods used to assist in delivering the message to young people, such as drama, poetry and music. For more information on TOB, please contact Marie-Anne on 083 449 1129.

HE Catholic Church is facing a “virulent attack by secularism”, but must also address its own problems, according to Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg.

Interviewed by Vatican Radio, Archbishop Tlhagale said that the challenges facing clergy cannot be underestimated., “The behaviour and integrity of clergy is one of the main issues to be looked at. The more scandals we have in the Church, the more its reputation and the credibility of the Church and of the Church leadership suffers,” he said.

While it is an internal matter, “it does have an impact on how the Church is being looked at by both those who are inside the Church and those who are outside the Church,” the archbishop said.

ROMAN UNION OF THE ORDER OF ST URSULA

Bishops protest abuse by police

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

T

HE bishops’ Justice & Peace Department (J&P) has praised the accomplishments of the country’s police personnel, but condemned abuses committed by some within the South African Police Services.

“While we commend the courage and wonderful work being done by so many dedicated police officers, we strongly condemn the torture and outright violation of human rights that is becoming the order of the day for others,” the J&P of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) said following the increase in reports of police brutality around the country.

Bishop Abel Gabuza of Kimberley, liaison bishop of J&P, said the SACBC is “deeply concerned that a growing number of police officers are taking the law into their hands as they show little regard for human

life in their daily operations”.

Bishop Gabuza said a culture of violence is continuing to grow in South Africa.

“More than ever we need a police service that will be a counter-sign to this culture— that will be seen as a force for peace and the protection of all people,” the statement said.

“Only this will earn the police the respect of the population and enable them to win their support in the fight against crime and violence.”

J&P has questioned the adequacy of training the police force receives and whether the police are in fact working in the interests of the communities they serve.

“We understand the incredibly difficult tasks the police deal with. There are so many courageous men and women doing great work, but there are certain things that should never be done,” said J&P coorinator Fr Mike Deeb OP. “The police need adequate training to deal with

the problems they are faced with.”

Fr Deeb said his department had been working hard to bring the Church and the police force together through initiatives such as the recent Police Day, where members of the police were invited to share with parishes, and communities were asked to pray for the police.

“There’s a long way to go.

There is a lot of corruption and brutality in the police force, but we can [also] foster these positive relationships and work towards the elimination of violence, crime and corruption in the country. The police are central to this,” said Fr Deeb.

The SACBC has formally called on the government at all levels to denounce violent behaviour from police officers and to provide more thorough training of police officers to “empower them to deal with difficult situations with dignity and with a minimum use of force”.

Umzimkulu shepherd dies

BY STEPH JORDAN

B

ISHOP Gerard Sithunywa Ndlovu, retired of Umzimkulu, has died at the age of 74.

Born in 1939 in Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal, the future bishop was ordained a priest in 1971 by Bishop Josef Bilgeri of Eshowe.

Before being ordained a priest, Bishop Ndlovu both studied and taught at the catechetical school in Pietermaritzburg, which was run by Archbishop Denis Hurley.

He also studied philosophy at St Peter’s Seminary in Hammanskraal in 1964.

On December 22, 1986 he was appointed bishop of Umzimkulu, and was ordained and canonically installed on April 25, 1987.

Bishop Ndlovu was only the second shepherd of the diocese and took over after the diocese had been without a resident bishop for nearly 18 years.

Bishop Ndlovu was known to

Bishop Gerard Sithunywa Ndlovu be a “good, kind and caring man”, said the Holy Cross sisters who cared for him as his health deteriorated in Eshowe.

“He had a great sense of humour and was always cracking jokes, even when he fell ill,” they recalled.

The Consolata Missionaries remembered the late bishop as “one of the friends to many of us.”

“He was very human and nice person, may the Lord give to him the reward of the apostles.”

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference said in a statement: “We pray and remember Bishop-Emeritus Sithunywa Gerard Ndlovu for the many years of service in the diocese of Umzimkulu and the Conference area. May God give him the place he prepared for him in his kingdom.”

Bishop Ndlovu resigned in August 1994, following which Umzimkulu was without a resident bishop again for several years.

He served the Church as a priest for 42 years and as a bishop for 25 years.

Archbishop Tlhagale noted that the Catholic Church was losing members. To address that, he said, “perhaps we need a new way of presenting the Gospel, of maintaining the Catholics we have, and certainly getting more to join the Catholic Church and hence this New Evangelisation theme that is being promoted”.

The archbishop warned that “we are facing a very virulent attack by secularism; we are living in an age where people emphasise individual choice, in an age where people do not think that morality matters, where people think that one can blindly follow their own individual conscience”.

These “are challenges of our times that have to be looked at in as much as moral issues and secular beliefs have an impact on traditional values such as marriage and family life”.

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The Southern Cross, March 20 to March 26, 2013

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The Southern Cross, March 20 to March 26, 2013

Youths’ Way of Cross now for new pope

BY DOREEN ABI RAAD

W

HEN a committee of Catholic youth in Lebanon set out to compose the meditations for the Way of the Cross, they had no idea that a new pontiff, Pope Francis, would preside over the Good Friday service at Rome’s Colosseum.

By custom, the pope invites a cardinal or an ecclesial community to prepare the meditations.

This year is the first that young people of a particular country were asked to participate. Pope Benedict XVI invited the youth of Lebanon to participate through Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai. The meditations were submitted to the Vatican on February 10, the day before Pope Benedict announced he would resign.

“Now, on Good Friday, the Lebanese Catholic youth will be like a bridge between Pope Benedict XVI and his successor, because it will be one of the first official ceremonies of the new

pope after he is elected,” said Fr Toufic Bou Hadir, who directs the Maronite patriarchate’s youth programs.

More importantly, Fr Hadir said, “we are taking all the wounds and suffering of the Middle East and uniting it with the passion of Christ and the prayers of the universal Church.”

Describing the opportunity to compose the meditations as “a great honour,” Fr Bou Hadir said the invitation is considered a symbolic gesture of gratitude from the pope for the warm welcome he received from young people during a visit to Lebanon in September.

S

ome 20 000 young people gathered on the grounds of Bkerke, the seat of the Maronite Catholic Church north of Beirut, to meet Pope Benedict on September 15, waving papal flags, singing and chanting in what amounted to an energy-filled World Youth Day for the Middle East.

Under the direction of Cardi-

Pope Benedict XVI holds the cross as he leads the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome in 2007. When a committee of Catholic youth in Lebanon set out to compose the meditations for the Way of the Cross, they had no idea that a new pope would preside over this year's Good Friday service at the ancient Roman site. (Photo: Max Rossi, Reuters/CNS)

nal Rai, the task of composing the 14 meditations was divided equally among committees from the six rites of the Catholic Church represented in Lebanon: Latin, Maronite, Melkite, Armenian, Syriac and Chaldean. In addition, six Catholic youth groups, a special needs group and a non-governmental organisation were randomly chosen and assigned a station to focus on, “so as to be fair and transparent”, Fr Bou Hadir said.

“It was a very beautiful experience, because working together with all the different rites, it gave us an opportunity to live a real communion in the Church,” Sr Gioia, 29, a member of the Maronite Mission of Life congregation, said of her participation.

“It gave the youth a chance to really say what is in their hearts,” she explained. “We tried to show the biggest difficulties facing the youth, not just in Lebanon but for the whole Middle East, so that we can unite them with Jesus Christ on that [Good Friday].”

Yet in all the passages, “there’s a vision toward the resurrection, a hope,” noted Tattiana Rouhana, a member of the patriarch’s youth committee. “We believe that even if our youth are living difficulties, they will surpass it, through the help of God.” Pierre Nacouzi, a 32-year-old engineer who serves on the Maronite patriarch’s youth committee, said the main objective of the effort “is to pray with all Catholics in the world and to present our suffering here, and also to be a testimony of God’s love”.

“It’s a way of saying, ‘Don’t forget that Christ was born here, and here is the origin of Christianity. Don’t forget the Christians of the Middle East,’” Mr Nacouzi said.

About one-third of Lebanon’s 4 million citizens are Christian.—CNS

CAF rebels target Christians

BY JONATHAN LUXMOORE

C

HRISTIANS in the Central African Republic are being systematically targeted by armed rebels, a missionary priest in the country said.

Comboni Father Leo Tibenda told Catholic News Service that rebels seeking to overthrow the government of President François Bozizé arrived at his mission in early January promising not to harm anything belonging to churches or mosques.

“But they started victimising local Christians, telling them their cattle, many given by the Church via Caritas, now belonged to the state. Most wear turbans, which isn’t the custom here, and are much better armed than the government’s soldiers.

Their presence is fuelling serious tension between local Christians and Muslims,” the Ugandan-born priest said.

“The general mood here is that the Muslim community has been in collusion with Seleka,” he said.

Fr Tibenda spoke with CNS after accompanying Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga of Bangui on a visit to the southern town of Grimari. Troops from the Multinational Force of Central Africa (FOMAC) escorted the Church contingent.

Many priests had fled their parishes in the region, leaving their churches to be ransacked

and desecrated, while most local Christians feared attack if they left their homes and farmsteads, Fr Tibenda said.

“It startled us that most spoke in Arabic, rather than the national language, Sango, and appeared to have come from nearby Mali, Chad and Sudan,” said the priest, whose order has 32 members, including two bishops, in the land-locked country.

“Government forces were quickly beaten back when they tried to protect each area, and people are living in fear of being beaten and robbed if they venture out,” he said

T

he Catholic Church’s nine dioceses account for about 30% of the Central African Republic’s 4,4 million inhabitants while Muslims are about 10% of the population.

The country is one of the world’s poorest, with high child mortality and malnutrition rates, and has experienced numerous rebellions since gaining independence from France in 1960.

Insurgent groups calling themselves Seleka launched an offensive against the government in early December, accusing Mr Bozizé of reneging on 2007 and 2008 peace deals to share government posts and integrate rebel forces into the na-

tional army.

The insurgents seized most major towns within weeks, but held back from attacking the capital in January when Mr Bozizé agreed to form a national unity government after a lastminute intervention by troops from neighbouring countries and South Africa.

However, last month the Catholic bishops of the country warned that the January 11 peace agreement, under which the president must step down by 2016, was not being “fully realised”. The bishops urged the government to take steps to “save the Central African people from asphyxiation”.

Fr Tibenda said women had been abandoned by men and were being “physically and psychologically tortured” by the rebels. He said he had heard of at least a dozen killings, including several in the Bambari diocese in the southern part of the country.

“We’ve noted the foreign press is not interested in Central Africa, although gross violations of human rights are occurring here. Not a day passes without the media talking about of Mali.

When the world begins thinking about us, it may be too late.”—CNS

5

Grade 6 learners at a Catholic school in Marietta, in the US state of Georgia, canvass a hall looking over information on 12 potential candidates for the papacy during a mock conclave.

(Photo: Michael Alexander, Georgia Bulletin)

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The Southern Cross, March 20 to March 26, 2013

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Our new pope

O

PEN as the conclave of 2013 was, few would have predicted with any measure of confidence that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires would emerge on the balcony of St Peter’s as Pope Francis.

Even though Cardinal Bergoglio was a known quantity—he reportedly received the second-highest number of votes in every round of ballots in the 2005 conclave—he was not considered among the favourites, especially given his age, 76.

His election was a surprise and a break with tradition: he is the first Latin American and the first Jesuit pope. And the new pontiff added to these innovations by becoming the first Pope Francis.

All three elements, which as a combination represent a sensation, testify to a collective will to reshape and purify the Church.

The election of a pope from Latin America signals that the Church in the developing world must now be seen as an equal partner; Pope Francis stands as a validation of the younger churches.

At the same time, the choice of a pope from an ethnic Italian background indicates that this must not be seen as a repudiation of the old Church.

Papal names tend to be richly symbolic, and the new pope’s choice of name stakes out his personality and vision.

Pope Francis, like the saint whose name he has adopted, is a man who values simplicity over pomp, ceremony and fine lace. As archbishop of Buenos Aires he was known to take public transport and cook for himself. His flock knew him not as Your Eminence, but as “Padre Jorge”.

This sense of humility and what is often called the “common touch” found expression in his first public action as pope: he asked the people to bless him before he would bless them.

And with that beautiful, collegial gesture, Pope Francis instantly won over the multitudes gathered in the wet St Peter’s Square and the millions watching on television.

There were some unmistakable echoes of the presentation of Pope John Paul II on October 16, 1978.

Catholics invariably love their popes; it is safe to say that

they will love Pope Francis deeply, whether they agree with him on specifics or not.

The name Francis also evokes a sense of the new pope’s mission to evangelise, and to do so creatively. St Francis of Assisi broke much new ground in bringing the Gospel to the people.

Moreover, the pope’s fellow Jesuit, St Francis Xavier, was a pioneer in evangelisation, especially in the field of inculturation, which must be a keyword in the Church’s missionary endeavours.

Pope Francis will know from experience that the Catholic Church in Latin America is losing membership to pentecostal and evangelical churches, while in the West it is under tremendous pressure from the advancing secularisation of nations which once were solidly Christian.

The structures for the New Evangelisation are in place: Pope Francis will now have to take the Church’s mission forward, communicating the Gospel and the richness of the Catholic faith in ways that will reach the people who have heard it and yet do not believe, or who have taken their faith elsewhere.

In 2009, the then-Cardinal Bergoglio said: “Listen to the dreams of the young people, open their hearts to the wise memory of their elders.” Armed with this wisdom, Pope Francis will doubtless forge a solid rapport with young people.

During their meetings this month, many cardinals have prioritised a reform of the Roman curia as a challenge for the new pope. The forthrightness with which they criticised the corruption in the curia was startling, indicating that the problems run deep.

It is no secret that Pope Benedict was not always the best judge in his appointments to crucial curial positions. We must pray that Pope Francis—who as a former seminary rector is no push-over—will have the fortitude to see through a curial reform, for a Church that is seen as lacking in the highest ethics can neither effectively evangelise nor assert its moral authority.

In all these objectives and in his ministry as bishop of Rome, the pope will need our prayers.

May God bless our Pope Francis.

St Gerard's Holy Tours

Exorcism needs particular care RECALL a schoolgirl, let’s call her There are different types of exorby the pseudonym Angelina, cisms which may be subdivided Icoming home quite excited. There into simple and solemn, depending was a girl apparently possessed in one of the classrooms.

Angelina enacted the scene with the hayiza, a Zulu term for the strange noises one makes when seemingly possessed. The victim was rushed home, hopefully to be exorcised by a priest. Little Angelina did not know the word “exorcise” and so could not understand why they might call a priest.

Exorcism is misunderstood not only by children but even by priests. It is a dimension of demonology that needs to be properly dealt with and is appropriately referred to in the Church’s teachings, sacred rites, scripture and life experiences. Apart from trying to enlighten Angelina, permit me to explain a little more.

Election of pope

I

REFER to Cindy Wooden’s article, “Strict rules govern papal elections in conclave” (March 6)—an interesting and seemingly impregnable process, but one possibly flawed by what could be a very human weakness hidden in the oath: “I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected.”

The oath carries no indication of why the voter thinks this way (there could be any number of “valid” thoughts, several of which might not be in the best interests of the Church) and something stirred in my head when reading this, but did not ring any real alarm bells until I had read the following article, “Next pope must fix curia”.

When the conclave/curia is heavily loaded/biased towards a particular nationality, how easy it would be in all conscience to think that it would serve their interests best to vote for “their” man— whether he would be the best for the Church or not!

Perhaps the oath should include the candidate’s ability to actually lead the Church on Christ’s chosen path?

A more specific oath should rule out much of the effects of lobbying and latent nationalism that are rumoured to prevail.

Geoff Harris, Rooiels, Western Cape

No to toy guns

R

EFERRING to the picture of Mexican Fr Humberto Alvarez with a toy gun (February 27) I could not help but think how inappropriate his action was.

Blessings are solemn. Even if we

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on the nature of possession. It is important for priests or exorcists to know what they are dealing with in the deliverance ministry: be it demoniacal oppression, obsession, infestation or full possession.

Saints like Alphonsus Liguori, Vincent Palotti and John Vianney recognised the different levels, dealing with them in various ways.

Adolphe Tanquerey, a 20th-century spiritual writer, explains the different levels and how to be treated accordingly, as a therapist recognises different states of illnesses.

A doctor does not treat every disease in the same way. So we should be careful playing around with the devil or rushing into exorcisms. The devil is the father of lies and likes us to think we got him when in fact he want to make blessings exciting for children, using a gun, including a toy water gun, is unacceptable.

Fr Alvarez needs to go back to the seminary for a refresher course on the solemnity of the Mass. The images that a gun, even a toy gun, holds can be of violence and destruction. As for his cartoon-laden robes, the Catholic Church is not a Mickey Mouse church.

Walter Peterson, Durban

Mass is for all

R

EFERRING to Fritz Rijkenberg’s letter (February 13), the format of the Mass does not lose followers.

After baptism parents do not come to Mass with their babies; if they did our cry rooms would be overcrowded.

Why do parents not come with their children into the church to attend Mass? Just imagine the wonderful sight of so many children in Mass sitting with their parents.

This is not happening, I see it regularly.

Do we pray with our children at home? Read the Bible? Explain about why we make the sign of the cross? Why we have sacraments, the rosary, the Holy Trinity, Advent and Lent, stations of the cross?

Why we must attend Mass on Sundays and be in a state of grace, conOpinions 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.

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gets us, especially when simony is involved and huge fees are being extorted.

If we do deal with genuine cases, how well do we prepare ourselves for the spiritual encounter? What about the personal purification of self after? To be blunt, if you deal with excrement, you will smell of it.

A spirit can contaminate you, as in the famous Port Royal exorcisms in a convent in France.

Yes, we have much to teach but let us make sure we know what we are talking about. Diagnose satanic power first and exorcise according to the rites of the Church (the Church is the full embodiment of the Risen Lord who conquers all evil), which can deliver our children, be it at school, home or play.

Importantly, canon law prescribes that a solemn exorcism cannot be done without the express permission of a bishop (1172).

Fr Allan Moss OMI, Pietermarizburg fession? Do we explain that intimate moment with Jesus when we receive the Eucharist into ourselves after the priest has consecrated it?

Jesus and St Peter do not need you to act for them. Jesus chose Peter to head the Church, that unqualified man.

We of this generation must lead the next generation by our example and work with priests and the Church. Ask your priest to let you have a praise and worship celebration, and take it from there.

Let our Mass be Mass, and we change for the Mass, not the Mass for us.

Mary Bowers, Cape Town

Poisonous words

T

HE poisonous article by Raymond Perrier (March 13) is an example of Pope Benedict’s complaint of destructive forces right inside the Church.

Mr Perrier lauds the “triumph of human rights post-apartheid” and miserably fails to condemn those victims of apartheid who now deny South Africans the most basic human right, the right to life, having enacted a law resulting in 350 South African babies being murdered in abortion every day!

He has a veiled attack on Pope John-Paul II’s injunction against ordaining priestesses. He falsely equates the unnatural homosexual condition with being black, being Jewish, being female.

Mr Perrier attacks the structure of Church authority set up by Our Lord himself and he does not give the Church full credit for its remarkable human rights record, which is better than that of any other institution. Whither goest thou, Mr Perrier?

Franko Sokolic, Cape Town

PERSPECTIVES

Popes and the Catholic Social Teachings

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EADING the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church one may well ask a curious question: how has the Church arrived at such a systematic body of social teaching?

What we have today as Catholic Social Teachings is the Church’s response to social issues over history. We could describe it as the Church’s rucksack in her social witness.

Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (1891) is generally accepted as the first social encyclical.

It addresses issues related to the Industrial Revolution of which its principal matter is the conflict between capital and labour.

Pope Leo examines the condition of salaried workers and disproves socialism as solution. He affirms the right to property and posits the spirit of collaboration between classes as vehicle of change, instead of class struggle.

The poor have rights and the rich have the obligation to render them justice through charity. The encyclical is concerned about “ordering society in a just manner” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church 89) and serves as the basic form of the Church’s social teaching.

Pius XI’s Quadragesimo Anno (1929) marked the impending 40th anniversary of Rerum Novarum. It addresses economic and social situation of the post-World War I years, especially the rise of totalitarian regimes in Europe (and Hitler hadn’t even seized power yet) and class struggle.

It calls for freedom of association, the need for salary to be proportional not only to the needs of the workers but also of their families. It also tackles the relationship between the state and private sector expressed in the principle of subsidiarity.

Non Abbiano Bisogno (1931), also by Pius XI, speaks against totalitarian regimes like the fascist regime in Italy, whereas Mit brennender Sorge (1937), addressed to Germany under the swastika, confronts the repressive measures employed by the Hitler regime. The encyclical called all Catholics

to resistance.

I

n Mater et Magistra (1961), Pope John XXIII gives a holistic view of economic growth, which is not just about satisfying people’s needs but also promoting their dignity.

His later encyclical, Pacem in Terris of 1963, focused on peace during this epoch marked by the proliferation of nuclear weapons. One memorable mark of this encyclical is that the social doctrine is given a universal appeal by addressing it also to “all men of good will”.

Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution of the Second Vatican Council, views Christian life as a way of making visible the presence of God in the world. The Church journeys with humankind in its joys and struggles on earth, thus, serving sas “leaven and…the soul of human soci-

Pope Leo XIII, whose 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum forms the basis of Catholic Social Teachings.

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Catholic Social Teachings

with them, treating them as his friends and not servants.

Life-giving: physically raising the dead to life and giving hope to the hopeless.

Dependent: making himself dependent on us human beings, allowing himself to be maltreated and killed.

Faithful: belonging fully to his Father and to his followers, not abandoning them.

Passionate: “With great desire have I desired to eat this Passover meal with you,” he told them before giving them the gift of himself in the Eucharist.

The MARFAM booklet Marriage and the Paschal Mystery would apply it more specifically to marriage, and in many Church documents it is dealt with in that way. However, as we well know, in South Africa a first-time married couple and their own biological children are just not the norm for a family. There are ten or more different types of family structures.

But it isn’t about the structure; it is about the functioning of families that we should be most concerned. A reflection on a “father-brother” or an elderly man or woman caring for young children, or even vice versa, are all contexts in which we are invited or challenged to love one another as Jesus loved us. We can look at how well we are doing and give ourselves a rating.

There are times of joy and pain. It may be easier at times to love one’s spouse than one’s teenage children, but not always. There are also times when in any of those many types of families there is conflict between siblings, between in-laws, or unmarried cohabiting couples.

What is the calling? To integrity, to justice, to the right way and also the “rights

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Chris Chatteris SJ

Pray with the Pope

Make a pilgrimage General Intention: That the public, prayerful celebration of faith may give life to the faithful.

ety in its renewal by Christ and transformation into the family of God” (40).

In Populorum Progressio (1967), Pope Paul VI affirms that “development is the new name for peace”. The central ideas of the encyclical are the integral development of the human person and development in solidarity with all humanity. Paul VI defines development as “the transition from less humane conditions to those which are more humane” (98).

However, this should not to be limited to economic and technological development; it includes also each person’s acquisition of culture, respect for others and the recognition of God the creator of the universe.

The same year, Paul VI established the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace, as a way of motivating Catholics in promoting development and social justice.

In his apostolic letter, Octogesima Adveniens (1971), the 80th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Paul VI warns against the inadequacy of any ideology to respond sufficiently to the problems of post-industrial society, such as urbanisation, condition of youth and women, unemployment, discrimination, emigration and ecology.

On the 90th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, John Paul II in his Laborem Exercens (1981) addresses the spirituality and the ethic of work.

“Work must not be understood only in the objective and material sense, but one must keep in mind its subjective dimension, in so far as it is always an expression Continued on page 11

Toni Rowland

To love one another...

OVE one another as I have loved you. During the Year of Faith how well are you, or am I, getting to know Jesus? Do we feel closer, understand him more deeply?

In order to love our other dear ones— and the not so dear ones too—we need to know quite a lot about Jesus and how he has loved us. Footwashing, life-giving, cross-carrying, forgiving—even remonstrating—were some of the qualities that Jesus displayed during these days.

The Holy Week reflections in the booklet Family Moments and Faith Moments are on this theme and it, no doubt, is a source for spiritual growth.

Some 30 years ago when my late husband Chris and I first became involved in marriage ministry I remember being really struck with that sentence, that calling one could say: How did Jesus love us?

In the manual for “Evenings for the Engaged”, an old programme which is still being well used in places, the qualities of his love are spelt out and presented for us to reflect on and imitate in our own lives, possibly as an examination of conscience before Confession or a family reconciliation service.

Total and permanent: every moment in good times and in bad, his love was not based on feelings alone.

Forgiving and non-critical: he didn’t sulk when his apostles deserted him or fell asleep when he asked for their prayers.

Warm, tender and gentle: to his friends, children, the sick, the lonely, to almost everyone—except the hypocritical Pharisees whom he roundly and justly condemned.

Open and intimate: sharing deeply

Evans K Chama M.Afr

The Southern Cross, March 20 to March 26, 2013

Family Friendly

way” to go about it, especially during this Human Rights month.

Would getting the structure right be part of the call? Right in the eyes of God, of the Church, of one’s family?

Why are unmarried people having babies, people having abortions, people hurting the ones they love, destroying their own lives and health through substance abuse?

There is a lot to think about this coming week when it comes to footwashing, life-giving, cross-carrying, living through the tough times together.

It could be a very meaningful activity, possibly using the Stations of the Cross for Families, to reflect in this way on the events of Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday. Or reading the gospel, getting to know the Jesus of the story—Superstar or Messiah—learning to understand his love and responding to the invitation to love as he did should bring the whole experience more deeply to life and end with a joyous Resurrection moment to be shared with the ”one another” we are called on to love most personally.

And then, with St Paul writing to the Colossians, we can “sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and whatever you do in word or in deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him.”(3:17) Giving thanks for the possibilities opened up for us and our families by the example set by Jesus.

A blessed Easter to all.

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HAT did Pope Emeritus Benedict have in mind as a “public, prayerful celebration of faith”? The upcoming World Youth Day (WYD) in Rio perhaps?

Thanks to the modern media such large-scale acts of prayerful witness are probably as much in the public eye, including the eye of non-Catholics, than ever before. However, they take place infrequently, and most people who witness them only do so in brief news reports on television.

But most Catholics, young or old, are unable to travel to a Youth Day or a Papal Mass in St Peter’s Square. Being there is different. Many of us have met young people who have returned from a WYD and we have noted how the experience has given new life to them and boosted their faith.

The intention, I think, is asking us to focus on what happens locally. So what local events, publically and prayerfully celebrated, can “give life to the faithful”? Processions have an abiding popularity, ecumenical processions of the cross on Good Friday for example.

And pilgrimages still have a powerful attraction, and not only to the Holy Land. In Europe the Camino of Santiago de Compostela has had a remarkable surge in popularity in recent years. Here at home, pilgrimages to local shrines such as Ngome, Shongweni, Maria Ratschitz, Schoenstatt, Kevelaer, Vleeschfontein and others, have maintained and increased their popularity (see Sr Joanne Peterson’s article for more information: www.scross.co.za/2009/12/sa_pilgrimages/).

Muslims try to make the pilgrimage to Mecca once in their life and it clearly strengthens their faith. We have many options, both local and international. Perhaps an idea for the Year of Faith would be to take one up.

Signs of hope Missionary Intention: That mission churches may be signs and instruments of hope and resurrection.

W

HERE there’s life, it is said, there’s hope— and it is in the mission churches that we find it.

According to CatholicCulture.org: “In 1900, there were 2 million Catholics in Africa. Today, there are over 165 million—triple the 1978 figure of 55 million. 14% of Catholics worldwide now live here; nearly half of the children in Catholic elementary schools study here, and 43% of the world’s adult baptisms—over a million a year— take place here. There are more Catholic hospitals in Africa than there are in North and Central America combined.”

The institutional Church often seems gloomily preoccupied with the shaky state of faith in Europe, and unmindful of the hope-filled signs of the risen Lord on other continents. I suppose the fact that the institutional centre of the Church is located in Europe is one reason why this happens.

However, the Lord did command us to move on from the places that wouldn’t listen to the Gospel message and go to the places that would.

He did the same himself when he was rejected, so why should our experience be any different?

Hence, we should actually expect a mixed reception, and sometimes we may simply have to “wipe the dust from our feet” and take the road to more promising pastures and more fruitful vineyards.

Sometimes, when I’m saying Mass in a packed township church for a congregation that is young and full of life, I have the fantasy of transporting the members of the Roman curia to the celebration! I feel it might cheer them up a bit by being for them “a sign of hope and resurrection”!

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The Southern Cross, March 20 to March 26, 2013

CHURCH

This is Pope Francis

BY FRANCIS X ROCCA

T

HE election of Pope Francis— Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76—came on the first full day of the conclave on the conclave’s fifth ballot. It was a surprisingly quick conclusion to a conclave that began with many plausible candidates and no clear favourite.

White smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney at 19:05 Rome time signalling that the cardinals had chosen a successor to retired Pope Benedict XVI. At 19:07 the bells of St Peter’s Basilica began pealing continuously to confirm the election.

At 20:12, French Cardinal JeanLouis Tauran, the senior cardinal in the order of deacons, appeared at the basilica balcony and read out in Latin: “I announce to you a great joy: We have a pope! The most eminent and most reverend lord, Lord Jorge, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Bergoglio, who has taken for himself the name Francis.”

The crowd in the square responded with cheers, applause and the waving of national flags.

Inevitably, a fake Twitter account in Cardinal Bergoglio’s name conjured a message from the newly-elected pope, with many websites, including that of the Daily Mail, reporting on the supposedly tweeting pope.

Cardinal Bergoglio reportedly was the cardinal with the secondhighest number of votes on each of the four ballots in the 2005 conclave.

He has had a growing reputation as a very spiritual man with a

talent for pastoral leadership serving in a region with the largest number of the world’s Catholics.

Since 1998, he had been archbishop of Buenos Aires, where his style was low-key and close to the people.

He used to ride the bus, visit the poor, lived in a simple apartment and cooked his own meals. To many in Buenos Aires, he was known simply as “Father Jorge”.

After becoming archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, he created new parishes, restructured the administrative offices, led pro-life initiatives and started new pastoral programmes, such as a commission for divorcees.

He has mediated in almost all social or political conflicts in the city; the newly ordained priests are described as “the Bergoglio generation”; and no political or social figure would miss requesting a private encounter with him.

He co-presided over the 2001 Synod of Bishops and was elected to the synod council, so he is wellknown to the world’s bishops.

He has also written books on spirituality and meditation and has been outspoken against abortion and same-sex marriages.

In 2010, when Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalise same-sex marriage, Cardinal Bergoglio encouraged clergy across the country to tell Catholics to protest against the legislation because, if enacted, it could “seriously injure the family”.

In 2006, he criticised an Argentine proposal to legalise abortion under certain circumstances as part of a wide-ranging legal reform. He accused the government of lacking

respect for the values held by the majority of Argentines and of trying to convince the Catholic Church “to waver in our defence of the dignity of the person”.

His role often forced him to speak publicly about the economic, social and political problems facing his country. His homilies and speeches are filled with references to the fact that all people are brothers and sisters and that the Church and the country need to do what they can to make sure that everyone feels welcome, respected and cared for.

While not overtly political, Cardinal Bergoglio has not tried to hide the political and social impact of the Gospel message, particularly in a country still recovering from a serious economic crisis.

J

orge Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital city, in December 17, 1936.

His father was an Italian immigrant and railway worker, and his mother a housewife. He has four brothers and sisters.

He only has one lung. His other lung was removed after it got infected when he was a teenager.

He studied and received a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires, but later decided to become a Jesuit priest and studied at the Jesuit seminary of Villa Devoto.

He studied liberal arts in Santiago, Chile, and in 1960 earned a degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of Buenos Aires. From 1964-65 he was a teacher of literature and psychology at Inmaculada high school in the province of Santa Fe, and in

1966 he taught the same courses at the prestigious Colegio del Salvador in Buenos Aires.

In 1967, he returned to his theological studies and was ordained a priest on December 13, 1969. After his perpetual profession as a Jesuit in 1973, he became master of novices at the seminary of Villa Barilari in San Miguel. Later that same year, he was elected superior of the Jesuit province of Argentina.

In 1980, he returned to San Miguel as a teacher at the Jesuit school, a job rarely taken by a former provincial superior. In May 1992 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires. He was one of three auxiliaries and he kept a low profile, spending most of his time caring for the Catholic university, counselling priests and preaching and hearing confessions.

On June 3, 1997, he was named coadjutor archbishop. He was installed as the new archbishop of Buenos Aires on February 28, 1998.

Some controversy had arisen over the position taken by Cardinal Bergoglio during Argentina’s 1976-1983 military dictatorship, which cracked down brutally on political opponents. Estimates of the number of people killed and forcibly disappeared during those years range from about 13 000 to more than 30 000.

Citing a case in which two young priests were detained by the military regime, critics say that the cardinal, who was Jesuit provincial at the time, did not do enough to support Church workers against the military dictatorship.

Others, however, have said that he attempted to negotiate behind the scenes for the priests’ release, and a spokesman for the cardinal, quoted in the daily newspaper La Nacion, called the accusation “old slander”.—CNS

The Southern Cross, March 20 to March 26, 2013

CHURCH

9

What to make of new pope What can we make of the new Pope Francis? Fr ANTHONY EGAN, like the pope a Jesuit, reflects on the new leader of the Church.

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ARDINAL Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, an Argentinian of Italian immigrant parents, embodies the globalisation of Catholicism.

Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital, mirrors both the wealthy and secular North and the poor but religious South. Its Church combines, often uneasily, radical progressive thinking with traditionalism.

Pope Francis as a Jesuit, and later as cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires, is a product of such contradictions.

Seen by many fellow Jesuits as conservative (indeed in some areas as arch-conservative), his life and ministry has been marked by a commitment to the poor expressed in a personal lifestyle that rejected the accoutrements of office—priesthood and episcopacy— in favour of simplicity.

He was a commuter on buses

and trains to work in both offices, like many or most of the poorer Portenos, the citizens of Buenos Aires. He was fierce in his criticism of policy that further widened the distance between rich and poor Argentinians.

Granted, as some note, he was less than vocal when the fascist dictatorship that reigned from 1976-83 killed many on the left, including clergy. He did not denounce the detention and torture of two Jesuits by the military, but worked behind the scenes for their release.

Some might call that collaboration; others might regard it as pragmatism during what any reasonable observer of Argentine politics might say was a tormented and divided time in the country’s history. (And, yes, both Jesuits were released.)

Progressive Catholics might also object that his thinking, theological and political, has been cautious, even conservative, but we must ourselves acknowledge a principle in Jesuit formation—to try and give the best interpretation to others’ actions before we rush to overhasty condemnation. (And of course to remember that even those we might loathe in aspects of their thinking or practice are de-

serving of Christian love as a brother in Christ.)

What have we seen in the last days? I can speak only for myself.

I saw on that Roman balcony a humble man, dressed in the white robes of baptism, who only assumed the symbols of office (the stole, originally a sign of Roman governorship) when it was appropriate to his role as pastor.

I saw a man who spoke first to the people of Rome, as one would expect of one elected bishop of Rome (a job that history has extended to leadership of the Western Catholic Church), with warmth and humility. I saw a pastor who had the good grace to say to those gathered in miserable weather first of all “Good evening”.

As Shakespeare observed, what is in a name, like Francis? As a Jesuit I think of Francis Xavier, great missionary and companion of Ignatius Loyola, or Francis Borgia, who led and renewed the Jesuits.

For most the name is associated with Francis of Assisi, who set out to renew a Church drowning in opulence and corruption, to reform it from within, by love, simplicity and service.

Could this be the vision of Pope Francis for us? I hope so.

New pope turns eyes on South

BY EzRA FIESER

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ATIN Americans said the election of the first pope from the region is recognition of the role the global South plays in the Church’s future.

“This is the news of the century.

This is a moment of happiness for all of us,” Archbishop Óscar Vian Morales of Guatemala City told a news conference. “We have received the news with great joy.”

Pope Francis has long advocated for a better life for Argentina’s poor, carrying a message of social justice that resonates in a region where roughly three in ten people are poor.

“We’re very happy. This is a man who has always represented the interests of the impoverished,” said Jesuit Father Jesús M Sariego, representative of the Jesuit mission in Central America, based in El Salvador. “In terms of what this represents in the world, this is a signal of the importance and support” for our work.

While Church participation wanes in areas of the world where it had long flourished, such as Europe, Latin America is home to nearly 40% of the world’s Catholics, and Africa is the Church’s fastestgrowing region.

“The global South is where the Church should focus,” Fr Sariego said. Although millions of Latin American Catholics have defected to evangelical sects or secularism,

A rosary on the Argentinian flag. more than 70% remain Catholic.

In Brazil, the world’s most Catholic country by population, Bishop Leonardo Steiner, secretarygeneral of the Brazilian bishops’ conference, said: “It is a moment of much happiness for all of us. We were surprised with the election of a Latin American pope.”

Brazil is home to roughly 124 million Catholics, or one of every ten around the world.

“The choice of a Latin American shows that the Church is opening up; that it is looking out for the [universal] Church and not only for Europe,” Bishop Steiner said.

In the run-up to the conclave, speculation had mounted that Cardinal Odilo Scherer, archbishop of São Paulo, was a front-runner.

On March 13, the day Pope Francis was elected, inhabitants of the little town of Cerro Largo, where Cardinal Scherer was born, flocked to the hall at the city’s main church when they heard about the white

smoke coming out of the chimney at the Vatican.

“We were a little disappointed, but that does not mean we will not pray for the new pope,” Rozane Scherer, Cardinal Scherer’s cousin, told Brazilian TV. Brazil will likely be Pope Francis’ first official international trip when he visits for World Youth Day in July.

In a statement, the organising committee for the event—already expected to draw at least 2 million—said: “Young people around the world are happy with the ‘yes’ given by Pope Francis and with his visit to Brazil in July for the [World Youth Day] in his first international apostolic trip.”—CNS

Left: The Bergoglio family, with Fr Jorge second from left at the back. The Bergoglios’ father, Mario José, was an Italian immigrant from the Turin area and railway worker; mother Regina María Sívori was a housewife.

Above: Fr Bergoglio in 1973 when he was 36 years old.

SA bishops on Pope Francis The statement on Pope Francis’ election from the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, signed by its president, Archbishop Stephen Brislin:

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ATHOLICS throughout the world heard with joy of the election of a new pope. The cardinal-electors have already expressed their obedience to him, as has Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. It is now for each and every Catholic in the world to acknowledge and gratefully accept Pope Francis as our new pope, our shepherd on earth, our leader and our symbol of unity.

The symbolism of choosing a pope from Latin America delights and touches us, most particularly in developing countries.

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis, is a person from humble beginnings. He is the son a railway worker who entered the Jesuit Order and is known as a humble and simple person. Reputedly he abandoned his car and opted to use public transport—a person of the people. He is well aware of the problems and challenges facing the developing world. He has fre-

MICASA TOURS Pilgrimage Of Healing

quently and courageously spoken of the grave inequalities afflicting the world and his thirst for justice for all people will be a strong characteristic of his papacy.

His first appearance to greet the crowds in Vatican square demonstrated his humanity and humility as he gently spoke to people and not only asked for their prayers but asked all to pray for a blessing upon himself as he bowed before them.

He has much pastoral experience but also experience of the Vatican itself through a number of administrative appointments in the curia. This is of great significance as he has a pastoral heart through running his archdiocese in Buenos Aires, but he will also be able to deal with issues of governance in the global Church.

Many people expected a younger person to be elected, but we do not doubt the action and guidance of the Holy Spirit and we anticipate great things from the leadership of Pope Francis.

Catholics throughout the world will sleep with the prayer “Thanks be to God” on their lips.

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Pope Benedict XVI greets Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis, at the Vatican n January 2007. (Photo: L’Osservatore Romano/CNS)

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The Southern Cross, March 20 to March 26, 2013

Fr Jeffrey Johnson, who has been appointed rector of the Salesian institute in Cape Town, addresses learners at the Institute on the occassion of the feast of the founder of the Salesians, St John Bosco.

(Left) Dominican Convent School in Johannesburg pre-school and foundation phase held their annual inter-house athletics event. Pictured is Kanye Kobeli of Grade 1.

Pauline and Morrell Rosseau and Anne and Ian Bowes Taylor were each awarded the Bene Merenti papal medal at a special Mass celebrated by Cardinal Wilfrid Napier at St Anne’s Parish in Sydenham, Durban.

The church of the Presentation in Montana, Pretoria, handed over a cheque of R11 000 raised by the parish to Brett Sandler (right), a representative from the Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). Pictured left is parish priest Fr Michael O’Leary SMA and Don Goodman (centre).

The parish of St Martin De Porres in Bishop Lavis, Cape Town, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the church. Archbishop Emeritus Lawrence Henry was the main celebrant. (From left) Deacon Edward Hansen, Fr Victor Fernandes, Archbishop Henry, Bishop Reginald Cawcutt, Fr John D'Souza and Deacon Arthur Arries.

NEW FOR 2013 NEW PILGRIMAGE DESTINATION! 29 JULY TO 6TH AUGUST

EMMANUEL CATHEDRAL DURBAN PILGRIMAGE TO NIGERIA Visiting the Lumen Christi Adoration Ministry Maryland Issele-uku; Lagos; Benin.

A 30-day retreat was held at Mariannhill Retreat Monastery directed by Fr Urs Fischer CMM. The retreatants are pictured with the workers of the Retreat House.

Under the care and leadership of Rev Fr Stephen Tully and Fr Mario Dibie Cost from R17 030 Tel: (031) 266 7702 Fax: (031) 266 8982 Email: judyeichhorst@telkomsa.net

Archbishop William Slattery visited Good Shepherd parish in Hartbeespoort, Pretoria archdiocese on Holy Communion Day. With him (left) is recent convert, Morris Mhuruyeni, a mining engineer, with his sponsor Manfred Blankenstein (right).

NEW FOR 2013 7 TO 20 SEP

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ST PAUL AND JESUS PILGRIMAGE Visiting the Holy Land, Rome, Vatican City (with Papal Audience), Assisi and Egypt Organised and led by Rev Mgr Joseph Kizito

Cost from R28 500 Tel: (031) 266 7702 Fax: (031) 266 8982 Email: judyeichhorst@telkomsa.net

ST. KIZITO CHILDREN’S PROGRAMME St. Kizito Children’s Programme (SKCP) is a community-based response to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children, established through the Good Hope Development Fund in 2004 in response to the Church’s call to reach out to those in need. Operating as a movement within the Archdiocese of Cape Town, SKCP empowers volunteers from the target communities to respond to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) living in their areas.

The SKCP volunteers belong to Parish Groups that are established at Parishes in target communities.

Through the St. Kizito Movement, the physical, intellectual, emotional and psycho-social needs of OVCs are met in an holistic way. Parish Groups provide children and families with a variety of essential services, while the SKCP office provides the groups with comprehensive training and on-going support.

In order to continue its work, SKCP requires on-going support from generous donors. Funds are needed to cover costs such as volunteer training and support, emergency relief, school uniforms and children’s excursions. Grants and donations of any size are always appreciated. We are also grateful to receive donations of toys, clothes and blankets that can be distributed to needy children and families.

Members of the Salesian Youth Movement (SYM) celebrated the feast of St John Bosco at Westridge parish in Cape Town. The Mass was celebrated by Fr Patrick Lonergan. The SYM consists of youth from the Cape Town archdiocese parishes of Mary Help of Christians in Lansdowne, Our Lady of the Rosary in Hanover Park and St John Bosco in Westridge.

If you would like to find out more about St. Kizito Children’s Programme, or if you would like to make a donation, please contact Shirley Dunn on (021) 782 2792 Email info@stkizito.org.za. Donations can also be deposited into our bank account: ABSA Branch: Claremont, 632005; Account Name: Good Hope Development Fund; Account Number: 4059820320 This advertisement has been kindly sponsored

The Southern Cross, March 13 to March 19, 2013

Sr Louis Carmel Moore HC

H

OLY Cross Sister Louis Carmel Moore died on January 28, at the age of 100.

Born Caroline Josephine Moore on March 21, 1912, she had four siblings, one of whom became a priest in Australia.

Her father, Michael George Moore, was the last of a long line of Moores in the Irish Lighthouse Service. Her mother, Caroline Josephine McKenna, was a grandniece of Cardinal Paul Cullen of Dublin, Ireland’s first cardinal.

Sr Moore boarded with the St Louis Sisters’ school Kilkeel, County Down, and during a three-month visit to France, “fell in love with God” and began to experience an interest in religious life and a call to the African missions.

In 1932, at nearly 20, she left home, against her mother’s initial wishes, for the Holy Cross convent in Belfast, and then set off for South Africa, arriving in Aliwal North in November 1932. At that time Holy Cross missionary candidates from Europe left home for good.

Caroline became Sr Louis Carmel in 1934. She studied for her South African matric, earned a de-

gree, trained as a teacher and was sent to teach in St Augustine’s in Parow, Cape Town.

She was given various responsibilities and for some years was principal of the Teacher Training College. She loved teaching and her students and all things to do with education. Many of her former students remember her influence on their personal and professional lives.

In 1964, the government decided to close St Augustine’s College—it was a college for coloured people in a “white” zone. The college complex was bulldozed.

The following year Sr Louis was elected as the representative from Africa to the first-ever Holy Cross congregation’s international general council, based in Switzerland.

Sr Louis had to learn German, was stationed in Europe for 14 years and had the opportunity to visit Holy Cross provinces in Asia and Europe as well as Africa.

In December 1979, she returned to South Africa where she was active within the congregation until her retirement in 1991 to Holy Cross home in Pretoria.

The social teachings Continued from page 7 of the person” (CSDC 101). Through work human beings fulfil their supernatural vocation.

In 1988’s Sollicitude Rei Socialis—20 years of Populorum Progressio—John Paul II deals with development: “the failed development of the Third World and the meaning, conditions and requirements for a development worthy of man”. He marks the difference between progress and development since “true development cannot be limited to the multiplication of goods and services...but must contribute to the fullness of the being of man” (CSDC 102).

At the 100th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, in his Centesimus annus (1991), John Paul II calls for the need of “recognising God in any person and every person in God as the condition for true development” (CSDC 103).

Here we have a best example of the progression of the social teaching: John Paul II speaks about principle of solidarity: what Leo often called friendship, Pius XI called social charity, and Paul VI called a civilisation of love.

These are some of the documents that have marked the development of the Catholic social teaching. Our challenge is to enrich this social teaching by responding to our today’s social questions in a prophetic way.

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DEATH

HARDIMAN—Sister Aine OP. Teacher and community activist who touched many lives. Lala ngoxolo sisi othandekayo.

Sr Louis had a very rich, full and varied life, spanning 100 years.

There was a lot of suffering and painful goodbyes but she was never given to self-pity.

Though small in stature, she was a strong, determined, focused person who gave herself completely to any ministry or task entrusted to her.

She was very interested in everything and was very knowledgeable about many things. She had an excellent memory and could tell many stories about her own experiences and things she had heard about. She was always a great lover of God.

Liturgical Calendar Year C Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday, March 24, Palm Sunday Isaiah 50:4-7, Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24, Philippians 2:6-11, Luke 22:14, 23:1-56 or 23:1-49 Monday, March 25 Isaiah 42:1-7, Psalm 27:1-3, 13-14, John 12:1-11 Tuesday, March 26 Isaiah 49:1-6, Psalm 71:1-6, 15, 17, John 13:21-33, 36-38 Wednesday, March 27 Isaiah 50:4-9, Psalm 69:8-10, 21-22, 31, 33-34, Matthew 26:14-25 The Easter Triduum Thursday, March 28, The Lord’s Supper Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14, Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-15 Friday, March 29, Good Friday Isaiah 52:13, 53:12, Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25, Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9, John 18:1, 19:42 Saturday, March 30, The Easter Vigil 1) Genesis 1:1 - 2:2 or Genesis 1:1, 26-31, Psalm 104:1-2, 5-6, 10, 12-14, 24, 35 or Psalm 33:4-7, 1213, 20-22, 2) Genesis 22:1-18 or Genesis 22:1-2, 913, 15-18, Psalm 16:5, 8-11, 3) Exodus 14:15, 15:1, (Ps) Exodus 15:1-6, 17-18, 4) Isaiah 54:5-14, Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13, 5) Isaiah 55:1-11, (Ps) Isaiah 12:26, 6) Baruch 3:9-15, 32 - 4:4, Psalm 19:8-11, 7) Ezekiel 36:16-28, Psalm 42:3, 5; Psalm 43:3-4 (Read when baptism is celebrated), (Ps) Isaiah 12:2-6 or Psalm 51:12-15, 18-19 (Read when baptism is not celebrated), 8) Epistle: Romans 6:3-11, Psalm 118:12, 16-17, 22-23, 9) Gospel: Luke 24:1-12 Sunday, March 31, Easter Sunday Acts 10:34, 37-43, Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23, Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, John 20:1-9

IN MEMORIAM

ARENDSE—Martin passed away 30 years ago on March 23, 1983.

Deep in our hearts you will always stay, loved and remembered every day. Always in our thoughts. Jacoba and family.

LEFEBVRE—On March 25, 1991, Archbishop Lefebvre left us for his eternal reward, after a life on earth as a great missionary in Africa, as Superior-General of the Spiritans, and Founder of the Priestly Society of St Pius X in 1970. He was dedicated to the mass of all time which Pope Benedict confirmed on 7/7/07 was never abrogated. The Church therefore owes him a huge debt of gratitude for being largely responsible for saving the mass from extinction. Deo Gratias.

PILLAY—Mrs Johanna of Springbok, Namaqualand. In loving memory of our dearest mother, passed away March 31, 2001. A loving mother gone to rest, for all of us she did her best. Dearest mother we still miss you very much. Rest in peace. Always lovingly remembered by your children, daughter-in-law, grandchildren, great and great-grandchildren, and all other families.

SMITH—Ted died March 28, 2006. My dear love I

miss you more and more as time goes by (sad am I, without thee) From your loving wife Carmen and all the family.

SMITH—Michael died March 23, 2007. We miss you and honour your efforts on behalf of the less fortunate. Love, from your mother Carmen and all the family.

PERSONAL

ABORTION WARNING: ‘The Pill’ can abort, swiftly and undetected. It clinically makes the womb inhospitable, and rejects those early ‘accidental’ conceptions (new lives) which sometimes occur while using it. (Medical facts stated in its pamphlet) HOUSE-SITTER/PETLOVER: Based at Benoni Parish, will travel/with references. Phone Therèse 076 206 0627.

NOTHING is politically right if it is morally wrong.

Abortion is evil. Value life!

PRAYERS

REMEMBER O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession and was left unaided.

Inspired with this confidence, we fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins our Mother. To you do we come, before you we stand sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but in your mercy, hear and answer us. Amen.

HOLIDAY

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 542. ACROSS: 4 Godless, 8 Oracle, 9 Clovers, 10 Fakirs, 11 Thrive, 12 Roncalli, 18 Renowned, 20 Ribald, 21 Radium, 22 Our Lady, 23 Demean, 24 Fridays. DOWN: 1 Confirm, 2 Mankind, 3 Gloria, 5 Oblation, 6 Livery, 7 Shrive, 13 Lord's Day, 14 Invited, 15 Adamant, 16 Liquor, 17 Failed, 19 Onager.

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MARIANELLA: Guest House, Simon’s Town: “Come experience the peace and beauty of God with us.” Fully equipped with amazing sea views.

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The Southern Cross is published independently by the Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Company Ltd. Address: PO Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000. Tel: (021) 465 5007 Fax: (021) 465 3850 www.scross.co.za Editor: Günther Simmermacher (editor@scross.co.za), Business Manager: Pamela Davids (admin@scross.co.za), Advisory Editor: Michael Shackleton, News Editor: Claire Mathieson (c.mathieson@scross.co.za), Editorial: Claire Allen (c.allen@scross.co.za), Mary Leveson (m.leveson@scross.co.za) Advertising: Elizabeth Hutton (advertising@scross.co.za), Subscriptions: Avril Hanslo (subscriptions@scross.co.za), Dispatch: Joan King (dispatch@scross.co.za), Accounts: Desirée Chanquin (accounts@scross.co.za).

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Easter Sunday: March 31 Gospel Readings: Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-9

N

EXT Sunday (at last!) our long Lenten journey comes to its end with the celebration of Easter, the greatest feast of the Church’s year. The readings for Saturday night and Sunday morning are too rich and too abundant to go through all of them, so it seems good to concentrate on the two gospels that you will hear if you are at both services.

Both readings are about the women in Jesus’ group, and it may be profitable to look at their Easter role, since we do not always get the women right in the Church.

In the reading from Luke, it is they who are brave enough to come, “in the deep dawn” in order to put spices on Jesus’ body.

That means, we observe, that they did not believe that Jesus was going to be raised from the dead, but at least they are better placed than the men, who have made an undignified and panic-stricken scramble for the door.

When they get to the tomb, they discover that “the stone had been rolled away”, and, not surprisingly, “they did not find the body of Jesus”.

Instead, they find “two men in lightningwhite clothing”. This terrifies the women, but the “men” (whom Luke clearly regards as angels) ask, with a hint of reproach: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?”

Then comes the Easter proclamation,

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The crux of our Christian faith Nicholas King SJ

Sunday Reflections

which our world so urgently needs to hear, “He is not here—no, he has been raised”.

Then they are reminded of what Jesus had said to them back in Galilee: “The Son of Man must be handed over into the hands of people who are sinners, and on the third day be raised.”

So the women remember Jesus’ words, and now understand that they have a job to do, which they set about: “They returned from the tomb and proclaimed all these things to the Eleven, and to all the others.”

At this point the women are identified: “Mary the Magdalene, and Johanna, and Mary of Jacob, and the rest of the women with them; they were telling these things to the apostles”. So the women were the first evangelists of the Resurrection; sadly, though, the men, as so often, gave them no credit: “These words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe them.”

There is just one exception, perhaps, for good old Peter, impetuous to the end, “ran to the tomb; he stooped down and saw the wrappings. And he went off home, wondering at the thing that had happened.” He has not yet reached Resurrection-faith, but the women have put him on the way there.

During the day it is John’s gospel that we shall hear proclaimed. Once again it starts with a woman, and ends with male disciples: “On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene comes early, while it was still dark [brave woman!] to the tomb. And she sees the stone, lifted away from the tomb.”

In this account, she has not yet been given the good news of Resurrection (which is at the heart of the Gospel message that you and I are to proclaim). Instead, she “runs” (just like Peter in Luke’s version of the story, though in the opposite direction), “to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and says to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb—and we don’t know where they have put him.”

In this account, she does not meet any angels, and therefore does not know that Jesus has been raised. So the two men go to investigate; once again, running takes place, and, in a charming detail, we learn that the

How to live a mature faith I

N his autobiography, the author Morris West suggests that at a certain age our lives simplify and we need have only three phrases left in our spiritual vocabulary: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

He is right, if we understand fully what is implied in living out gratitude. Gratitude is the ultimate virtue, undergirding everything else, even love. It is synonymous with holiness.

Gratitude not only defines sanctity, it also defines maturity. We are mature to the degree that we are grateful. But what brings us there? What makes for a deeper human maturity?

I would like to suggest ten major demands that reside inside both human and Christian maturity: 1. Be willing to carry more and more of life’s complexities with empathy.

Few things in life, including our own hearts and motives, are black or white, either/or, simply good or simply bad. Maturity invites us to see, understand and accept this complexity with empathy so that, like Jesus, we cry tears of understanding over our own troubled cities and our own complex hearts.

2. Transform jealousy, anger, bitterness, and hatred rather than give them back in kind.

Any pain or tension that we do not transform we will retransmit. In the face of jealousy, anger, bitterness, and hatred we must be like water purifiers, holding the poisons and toxins inside of us and giving back just the pure water, rather than being like electrical cords that simply pass on the energy that flows through them.

3. Let suffering soften rather than

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Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

harden our souls.

Suffering and humiliation find us all, in full measure, but how we respond to them, with forgiveness or bitterness, will determine the level of our maturity and the colour of our person.

This is perhaps our ultimate moral test: Will my humiliations soften or harden my soul?

4. Forgive! In the end there is only one condition for entering heaven (and living inside human community), namely forgiveness.

Perhaps the greatest struggle we have in the second-half of our lives is to forgive: forgive those who have hurt us, forgive ourselves for our own shortcomings, and forgive God for seemingly hanging us out unfairly to dry in this world.

The greatest moral imperative of all is not to die with a bitter, unforgiving heart.

5. Live in gratitude. To be a saint is to be fuelled by gratitude, nothing more and nothing less.

Let no one deceive you with the notion that a passion for truth, for Church, or even for God can trump or bracket the non-negotiable imperative to be gracious always.

Holiness is gratitude. Outside of gratitude we find ourselves doing many of the

right things for the wrong reasons.

6. Bless more and curse less! We are mature when we define ourselves by what we are for rather than by what we are against and especially when, like Jesus, we are looking out at others and seeing them as blessed (“Blessed are you!”) rather than as cursed (“Who do you think you are?”).

The capacity to praise more than to criticise defines maturity.

7. Live in an ever-greater transparency and honesty.

We are as sick as our sickest secret, but we are also as healthy as we are honest. We need, as Martin Luther once put it, “to sin bravely and honestly”. Maturity does not mean that we are perfect or faultless, but that we are honest.

8. Pray both affectively and liturgically.

The fuel we need to resource ourselves for gratitude and forgiveness does not lie in the strength of our own willpower, but in grace and community. We access that through prayer.

We are mature to the degree that we open our own helplessness and invite in God’s strength and to the degree that we pray with others that the whole world will do the same thing.

9. Become ever-wider in your embrace.

We grow in maturity to the degree that we define family (Who is my brother or sister?) in a way that is ever-more ecumenical, interfaith, post-ideological and non-discriminatory.

We are mature only when we are compassionate as God is compassionate, namely when our sun shines on those we like and those we do not.

There comes a time when it is time to turn in our cherished moral placards for a basin and a towel.

10. Stand where you stand and let God protect you.

In the end, we are all vulnerable, contingent, and helpless both to protect our loved ones and ourselves. We cannot guarantee life, safety, salvation, or forgiveness for ourselves or for those we love.

Maturity depends upon accepting this with trust rather than anxiety. We can only do our best, whatever our place in life, wherever we stand, whatever our limits, whatever our shortcoming, and trust that this is enough, that if we die at our post, honest, doing our duty, God will do the rest.

God is a prodigiously-loving, fully-understanding, completely-empathic parent.

We are mature and free of false anxiety to the degree that we grasp that and trust that truth.

Beloved Disciple outran Peter, and got there first, and, like Peter in Luke’s account, “stooped down and saw the wrappings lying there. But he did not go in”.

That privilege turns out to be Peter’s, as he comes puffing afterwards; he goes in, and sees rather more: “The wrappings lying there, and the sweat-cloth, which had been on his head, not lying with the wrappings, but apart, rolled up in one place.”

Only then does the Beloved Disciple go in; but he goes deeper into the matter. Like Thomas at the end of this chapter, the evangelist tells us that “he saw and he believed”.

But the men were a bit slow, “for they did not yet know the Scripture that it was necessary for him to rise from the dead”.

Both these stories tell us of the doctrine that is at the heart of our Catholic faith, that God raised Jesus from the dead, from which it follows that the gospels are true.

In both cases the men are both cowardly and somewhat dim-witted, whereas the women have the bravery to go to the tomb, even in the dark.

As we rejoice next week at this great feast, let us ask for the grace of courage and intelligence in fulfilling our mission to preach the Easter gospel.

Southern Crossword #542

ACROSS 4. Profane atheist? (7) 8. Carole turns out to be a prophet (6) 9. Trefoils that could be lucky (7) 10. If Ark’s turned, you may see ascetics (6) 11. Prosper (6) 12. Surname of Pope John XXIII (8) 18. Endower nun initially.

She's well known (8) 20. Irreverently humorous bridal confusion (6) 21. Chemical element found by the Curies (6) 22. The Blessed Virgin Mary (3,4) 23. Dane takes me inside to lose respect (6) 24. They are first to honour the Sacred Heart (7)

DOWN 1. Uphold evidence of what bishop will do (7) 2. All humanity (7) 3. She begins the Latin hymn of praise (6) 5. Religious offering (8) 6. Verily, about uniform dress (6) 7. Hear confession and absolve (6) 13. You’re commanded to keep it holy (5,3) 14. Asked to come to the event (7) 15. First man followed by insect is stubborn (7) 16. Pledge-takers avoid it (6) 17. Did not succeed (6) 19. Wild ass comes from Orange (6) Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

A

TURTLE named Herman was walking through the forest one day when a gang of snails beat him up and left him with several cuts and bruises.

Several hours later he gathered up enough strength to go to a local police station.

“What happened to you?”, the officer asked.

“A gang of snails beat me up,” Herman replied.

“Can you describe what they looked like?”

“I don’t know,” the turtle said, “It all happened so fast.”

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