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The

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January 14 to January 20, 2015

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no 4907

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Religion in schools under threat

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Everybody’s Beautiful Campaign

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Rolheiser: Best books of 2014

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Catholic matrics excel

BY STUART GRAHAM

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A worker holds up necklaces with portraits of Pope Francis on sale at a store in Manila, Philippines. Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the Philippines on January 15-19. (Photo: Romeo Ranoco, Reuters/cnS)

Zuma foundation funds Zulu Bible translation MAURicio LAnGA & STUART GRAHAM

T

HE diocese of Mariannhill has received R500 000 from the JG Zuma Foundation to fund the Bible translation from its original languages of Hebrew and Greek into Zulu.

This was in fulfilment of a pledge made in January 2014 when the president attended Mass at Mariannhill with Catholic businessman Patrice Motsepe, KwaZuluNatal MEC for Education Peggy Nkonyeni and eThekwini mayor James Nxumalo. “The Bible is a holy book. That is why believers should get the gist of it as it is, and it needs to be translated properly,” President Zuma said on that occasion.

Returning to Mariannhill early this year, President Zuma, the chairman of the JG Zuma Foundation, said, “we are here today to fulfil our promise that we made last year to assist in the project of the Bible translation”. According to the president, when they received the appeal they were touched by the fact that the people of God would have the chance to read the word of God in their own language.

Presdent Jacob Zuma presents a cheque for R500 000 to Bishop Pius Dlungwane of Mariannhill.

The president told the packed to capacity cathedral that the partnership between the Church and the government was in line with the government’s policy that every language should be equally respected.

He also asked the Church to continue praying for the country and its leaders. He said the government could not fully succeed without the participation of the Church and that there was a need to work closely together. He said that the Continued on Page 2

ATHOLIC school matrics were among the top achievers in the 2014 National Senior Certificate results, with schools writing Independent Examinations Board examinations achieving a 99,32% pass rate.

“We congratulate all those who worked hard and passed,” The Catholic Institute of Education’s deputy director, Ms Anne Baker, said.

“Once again Catholic school learners were among the top achievers.”

Ms Baker said 1 613 learners from Catholic schools wrote the IEB examination with 2 319 distinctions achieved and 88,3 receiving bachelor’s passes. This is compared to the national IEB figure of 85,45.

The national IEB matric pass rate was 98,38%.

Most Catholic schools offering the IEB exam achieved 100% passes.

“There were six learners in the IEB’s commendable category which is the top five percent in achieving distinctions in 5 or more subjects and above 80% for Life,” Ms Baker said.

Another seven pupils from Catholic schools made the outstanding category—the top five percent with six or more distinctions. Learners from three of the five Marist Brothers schools were among these seven.

An important point to note, said Ms Baker, is that 63% of pupils in IEB Catholic schools had maths as a subject and of those 95% passed. Some 53% took science as a subject with 90% passing.

Ms Baker said the better than average results at Catholic schools is likely due to an ethos of hard work and discipline.

“Catholics schools have an ethos of discipline and hard work which is a heritage they are really proud of,” she said.

Ms Baker said many Catholic schools serviced rural areas in KZN, the North West, Limpopo and the Free State, which wrote the state exams.

“The teachers in most of our schools believe in the children. They are very proud of their results. They work hard throughout high school. Not only the last two years.”

In the state exams, Catholic schools achieved a 92,1% pass rate against the provincial pass rate of 72,9% in Limpopo. In the Free State 87,6% of matrics at Catholic schools passed as opposed to 82,8% in the province.

In Gauteng in the State exam, St Mathews in Soweto had a 100% pass rate for its 122 pupils as did McCauley House, Maryvale and Iona Convent.

At the St Francis finishing school in Gauteng, 80% of 422 young people who rewrote

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matric passed.

“These are kids who have failed. This is a phenomenal place. It gives youngsters a second chance at passing matric.”

The 2014 matrics, writing state exams, were the first to write the new simplified Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) exams.

The curriculum was revised to achieve clearer outcomes.

Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the CAPS exams are cognitively more challenging, which is why some of the pupils struggled in certain subjects in 2014.

However Ms Baker warned against placing too much emphasis on the National Senior Certificate.

“What must be emphasised is the foundation phase and what we are doing as a Catholic community to ensure younger children are getting a quality education.

“Matric is what we measure, but the true measure is whether children can read and do maths in the foundation phase.

“If they can do that, they have a chance in life.”

This, she said, is why the CIE has a literacy intervention in the foundation phase in some Catholics schools.

Ms Baker said an IEB certificate does not impact a pupil’s chances of getting into university.

Although not offical, university acceptance is said to depend on quotas. Universities will note where school children came from and what their chances of success are.

“Even if a pupils has passed matric with a bachelor’s, it does not mean they will succeed at university,” Ms Baker warned.

“At university you have to swim. University is a big challenge.”

The struggle to achieve at university is one of the reasons why the Church has an associate body, the Rural Education Access Programme (EAP), to help rural children at university, she said.

Top achievers at Catholic schools included Rearabilwe Lesibana Mmatli from Pax High School in Limpopo who attained second place in Quintile 4 schools, Luvo Luzipho from St James Senior Secondary School in the Eastern Cape, who came first in the Quintile 3 schools and received second place in mathematics and science in the whole country.

Ms Baker said a major concern for all schools was the drop-out rate over the 12 years of education.

Only 48% of children who began school in 2003 wrote the NSC in 2014 and of these only 36% passed, with 14% obtaining a bachelors’s pass.

Continued on Page 15

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The Southern cross, January 14 to January 20, 2015

LOCAL

Justice ‘working well’

BY STUART GRAHAM

H

IGH-profile criminal cases in 2014 may not have worked out in the way the public wanted them to, but they have shown that South Africa's justice system is “working well”, says advocate and Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office researcher Mike Pothier.

The dismissal of a murder charge against British businessman Shrien Dewani and a perceived “light sentence” for Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, who admitted to shooting dead his girlfriend, left many disappointed in the South African legal system.

Pothier, however, believes the criticism was uncalled for.

“There have been one or two examples this year of poor police work or prosecution cases that have not worked out like the pub-

lic wanted them to,” he said.

“But we have to distinguish between public feeling and what the law actually says.”

Mr Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013. Ms Steenkamp was standing behind a locked door in a small cubicle when she was hit by three of the four “black tallon” bullets that Mr Pistorius fired.

Mr Pistorius claimed that he mistook Ms Steenkamp for a burglar who was threatening his life.

Judge Thokozile Masipa found Mr Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced him to five years in prison.

Mr Dewani, who told the Cape Town High Court that he was “bisexual” at the time of his marriage, was accused of hiring hitmen to kill his Swedish wife Ms Anni Hin-

docha in November 2010.

The case against Mr Dewani was thrown out of court by Judge Janet Traverso after she found that the State’s case against him was too weak to prosecute. Mr Dewani has since returned to London.

“Judges have taken an oath to uphold the rule of law,” said Mr Pothier. “One of the hallmarks of a criminal law system is that people who might be innocent are found not guilty. If a prosecutor has not proved beyond reasonable doubt that a person is guilty, then that person must be found not guilty.

“The public may feel the person is getting away with murder, but this actually shows our criminal justice system can work well.”

The legal system, said Mr Pothier, is slow but “very thorough” and has “very good people running the show”.

Zuma foundation funds Bible translation

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A first in the history of the catholic church in Madadeni (almost 50 years): the ordination of two consolata Missionaries as deacons. They are Kirimi Jasper njuki, iMc, from Kenya (left) and Sunda Kumbu Didier, iMc, from DRc (right). Both of them studied theology at St Joseph’ institute, cedara.

They were ordained at christ the King parish in Madadeni by Bishop José Luis Ponce de Leon of Manzini (centre).

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Continued from Page 1 Church was fully active in moulding the spiritual wellbeing of the people, praying for the nation as well as being involved in a wide range of community activities such as looking after the needy and poor.

Mariannhill Bishop Pius Dlungwane appealed to all Christians and people of goodwill to join hands with his diocese and donate towards the translation of the Zulu Bible.

According to the bishop, the idea of embarking on the translation of the Zulu Bible came from the bishops of the Zulu region. He said there was no complete standard Zulu version and the existing Zulu Bible is a translation from the Xhosa version by the South African Bible Society.

Therefore, they decided to commission a Bible translated directly from the original biblical languages.

Bishop Dlungwane said that since the start of this project about ten years ago, funding has been a serious challenge. The late Bishop Paschal Rowland from Dundee had offered a lump sum towards the project. Later on, the bishops of the Metropolitan were asked to contribute R7 500 a year towards the project, which began in earnest in 2006.

“The Montebello Dominicans assigned three of their sisters to work fulltime on this project of the Bible

translation,” said Bishop Dlungwane. He himself was appointed by the bishops as chairman of the translation committee and Archbishop Jabulani Nxumalo, an expert in biblical languages, was one of the translators. At the time he was an auxiliary bishop of Durban but continued even when he was appointed archbishop of Bloemfontein.

Unfortunately, lack of funding brought the work to a standstill.

The archdiocese of Durban had contributed R7 000 towards the translation and then decided to stop the project for a while. But the leadership of the diocese of Mariannhill appealed to the bishops of the Zulu region to continue.

In view of these challenges, the Mariannhill diocese established a fundraising committee. “Among other efforts in fundraising, the Jacob Zuma foundation was approached. Fortunately the foundation welcomed our request and on January 5, 2014 an agreement was signed between the diocese of Mariannhill and the JG Zuma Foundation in which the foundation committed to pay R500 000 for a start,” said Bishop Dlungwane, adding that the diocese of Mariannhill pledged to continue with the work of translation until the completion of the project.

The Southern cross, January 14 to January 20, 2015

LOCAL

Book sales up in search for ‘spiritual food’

BY STUART GRAHAM

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OOKSHOPS run by the Daughters of St Paul (the Paulines) are reporting excellent sales amid an increasing desire for “spiritual food” from both Catholic and nonCatholic readers.

Sr Christiana D’Aniso of the Paulines order in Johannesburg said it was heartwarming to see the laity looking for spiritual guidance through books.

“People take the books home and form small groups and study together,” she said. “Young people especially need guidance.”

“There are so many challenges in married life, family life and with the youth.”

A challenge faced by the Paulines, however, is the rising price of books.

In spite of this, some continue to show exceptional sales, particularly those written by Pope Francis.

Some, like Apostolic Exhortations, are bestsellers, Sr D’Aniso sad.

“It’s amazing. Thousands of them are selling. The way Pope Francis leads makes his books bestsellers the moment they come out.”

Pope Francis’ books are loved because he speaks “a very common language”, said Sr D’Aniso.

“People are more familiar with this language. Pope Francis’ approach is very pastoral and human.

“He is very close to the needs of people. His books are requested because readers know he speaks the language of people and understands the problems of people.”

The Holy Father, she said, had

opened doors of the Church “very wide”. “We can see this from audiences and the contact people have with the pope. We can see his books are in great demand,” said Sr D’Aniso.

Interestingly, those buying books are not only Catholics but Anglicans and other Christian groups.

“People of all denominations are reading, from the young to the elderly. And all Christian groups are coming to the stores to buy.”

Mercy and love are topics many readers want to understand better.

Besides Pope Francis, the top of the bestseller list in 2014 has been Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life by Cardinal Walter Kasper.

The book gained prominence after it was recommended by Pope Francis who said it “has done me so much good” because it “says that mercy changes everything”.

Before serving as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Kasper was bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart. He has taught theology at the University of Tubingen, the Westphalian University of Munster, and the Catholic University of America.

Another book attracting attention, said Sr D’Aniso, is Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi by Franciscan Fr Richard Rohr. St Francis of Assisi, Rohr notes in the book, found an “alternative way” to follow Jesus, one that disregarded power and privilege and held fast to the true path of the Gospel.

Singer takes to the road of healing

BY DYLAn APPoLiS

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OUTH African singer-songwriter Natalie Chapman will kick off her #90Days 2015 tour at the Atterbury Theatre in Pretoria.

She will be joined on stage by some of SA’s finest acts including Josie Field, Andra, Raoul and Black Friday, Garth Taylor and Shotgun Tori.

The objective of #90Days2015 is simple: for Chapman to reach one person in each town to encourage survivors to speak out about their experiences in order to find healing, and to motivate and mobilise everyday South Africans to get involved in helping women, men and children who have suffered an ordeal.

“She will travel over 15 000km across South Africa, visiting 90 different towns and performing 180 gigs in 90 consecutive days,” Monica Steyn from MS Publicity said.

Chapman will endeavour to spread her message of hope and awareness to all corners of South Africa, plus Botswana, Namibia and Lesotho.

“Apart from spreading her message at performances in community halls, live music venues, and theatres, Chapman will also be performing at women’s and children’s shelters, children’s homes and schools during the day to motivate and encourage our youth to protect themselves, speak out when they become victims and change the future of the country by being involved in creating better communities for themselves,”

natalie chapman sharing her love and hope with children.

Ms Steyn said.

“In 2015, she will be adding prisons to this list as she believes we should be speaking to the perpetrators as well—people who have so often been victims themselves—and encouraging change through hope.

“The stories of inspiration and mobilisation after her visits last year poured in and everyday South Africans have, in their own capacities, begun to make a change in their communities.”

Chapman said: “This journey has been life-changing for me. I could never have guessed that what many South Africans needed

Franciscan sisters celebrate

BY DYLAn APPoLiS

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HE Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Siessen in South African Province have celebrated the jubilees of seven sisters and the first profession of a sister in Bloemfontein.

Sr Johanella Malao celebrated her 60 years jubilee, Sr Tresia Makhema 40 years, and Sr Deborah Endres, Sr Veleria Taole and Sr Victorina Maseko their 25 years. Sr Chrisentia Pitso celebrated her first profession.

“There were a lot of people present for the jubilees, including the Archbishop of Bloemfontein, Jabulani Nxumalo, who was the main celebrant accompanied by the Bishop of Bethlehem, Bishop Jan de Groef,” Sr Winifred Mosololi said.

“The celebration had brought vis-

3

itors from around South Africa, Botswana and Lesotho. Among the visitors was our general superior Sr Anna-Franziska, one of our general councillors Sr Claudea-Maria, and our general father superior Fr Francis from Kloster Siessen in Germany since Sr Endres was among the jubilarians,” Sr Mosololi added.

She told The Southern Cross: “We thank God the Almighty for the life of the sisters in our congregation and for their selfless contribution to the poor, the neglected and the underprivileged.”

Sr Chrisentia Pitso added: “We wish you God’s richest blessings and perseverance in your call of service to his humanity. Like St Francis, may he give you the instrument of his peace.”

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was to simply start a conversation they had never had before; that planting the seed would be enough. I am more determined than ever to tell my stories and inspire individuals to get involved.

“The reality is we cannot change our society, government and police overnight but we can make small changes in our own lives and the lives around us that could impact one person at a time and in time have an enormously positive effect.” n For more details on each event go to www.nataliechapman.com, or contact Monica Steyn on monicasteynpr@gmail.com or 082452 2095

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The Southern cross, January 14 to January 20, 2015

INTERNATIONAL

Pope names 15 new cardinals

BY FRAnciS X RoccA

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NDERSCORING the geographical diversity of his selections, Pope Francis named 15 cardinal electors “from 14 nations of every continent, showing the inseparable link between the Church of Rome and the particular Churches present in the world”.

The pope announced the names after praying the Angelus with a crowd in St Peter’s square, and said he would formally induct the men into the College of Cardinals on February 14.

With the list, the pope continues a movement he started with his first batch of appointments a year ago, giving gradually more representation at the highest levels of the Church to poorer countries in the global south.

According to the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the new cardinals will include the first in history from Cape Verde, Tonga and Myanmar.

The consistory will bring the total number of cardinals under the age of 80 to 125. Until they reach their 80th birthdays, cardinals are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Bl Paul VI limited the number of electors to 120, but later popes have occasionally exceeded that limit.

Three of the new cardinal electors hail from Asia, three from Latin America, two from Africa and two from Oceania.

Of the five Europeans on the list, three lead dioceses in Italy and Spain that have not traditionally had cardinals as bishops—another sign of Pope Francis’ willingness to break

precedent. While giving red hats to the archbishops of Ancona-Osimo and Agrigento, Italy, the pope will once again pass over the leaders of Venice and Turin, both historically more prestigious dioceses.

None of the new cardinals hails from the US or Canada. Fr Lombardi noted that the numbers of cardinals from those countries have remained stable since February 2014, when Pope Francis elevated the archbishop of Quebec. The US currently has 11 cardinal electors and Canada 3.

The continuing geographic shift is incremental in nature. With the new appointments, cardinals from Europe and North America will make up 56,8% of those eligible to elect the next pope, down from 60 %.

The shift reflects the pope’s emphasis on Africa and Asia, where the Church is growing fastest, and on his native region of Latin America, home to about 40% of the world’s Catholics.

A number of the selections also reflect Pope Francis’ emphasis on social justice. The new Mexican cardinal leads a diocese that has been hard hit by the current wave of drug-related violence in his country.

And one of the Italian cardinals designate, the archbishop of Agrigento in Sicily, leads the Italian bishops’ commission on migration, an issue on which Pope Francis has placed particular importance. In July 2013, the pope visited the southern Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, a major entry point for undocumented immigrants to Europe, and mourned the many who had died attempting to cross the sea.

Only one of the new cardinals,

The new cardinals will include the first in history from cape Verde, Tonga and Myanmar. (From left) cape Verdean Bishop Arlindo Gomes Furtado (Photo: Diocese of Santiago, cape Verde), Tongan Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi (Photo: Paul Haring/cnS), Myanmar Archbishop charles Maung Bo (Photo: Lynn Bo Bo, ePA/cnS) the head of the Vatican’s highest court, is a member of the Church’s central administration, the Roman Curia, which currently accounts for about a quarter of all cardinal electors.

Announcing the appointments, Pope Francis noted that the ceremony to induct the new cardinals will follow a two-day meeting of the entire college on February 12 and 13, “to reflect on guidelines and proposals for reform of the Roman Curia”.

The pope’s nine-member Council of Cardinals is currently working on a major reform of the Vatican bureaucracy, including a new apostolic constitution for the curia.

In addition to 15 new electors, Pope Francis named five new cardinals who are over the age of 80 and, therefore, ineligible to vote in a conclave. Popes have used such nominations to honor churchmen for their

scholarship or other contributions.

Pope Francis said he had chosen to honour five retired bishops “distinguished for their pastoral charity in service to the Holy See and the Church”, representing “so many bishops who, with the same pastoral solicitude, have given testimony of love for Christ and the people of God, whether in particular Churches, the Roman Curia or the diplomatic service of the Holy See”.

The five new honorary cardinals hail from Argentina, Colombia, Germany, Italy and Mozambique.

Here is the list of the new cardinals: • French Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Prefect of the Apostolic Signature, 62.

• Portuguese Patriarch Manuel Jose Macario do Nascimento Clemente of Lisbon, 66.

• Ethiopian Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel of Addis Ababa, 66.

• New Zealand Archbishop John Atcherley Dew of Wellington, 66.

•Italian Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli of Ancona-Osimo, 75.

• Vietnamese Archbishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon of Hanoi, 76.

• Mexican Archbishop Alberto

Suarez Inda of Morelia, 75.

• Myanmar Archbishop Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, 66.

• Thai Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok, 65.

• Italian Archbishop Francesco Montenegro of Agrigento, 68.

• Uruguayan Archbishop Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet of Montevideo, 55.

• Spanish Archbishop Ricardo Blazquez Perez of Valladolid, 72.

• Spanish-born Panamanian Bishop Jose Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan of David, 70.

• Cape Verdean Bishop Arlindo Gomes Furtado of Santiago de Cabo Verde, 65.

• Tongan Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi, 53.

• Colombian Archbishop Jose de Jesus Pimiento Rodriguez, retired, of Manizales, 95.

• Italian Archbishop Luigi De Magistris, 88.

• German Archbishop Karl-Joseph Rauber, 80.

• Argentine Archbishop Luis Hector Villalba, retired, of Tucuman, 80.

• Mozambican Bishop Julio Duarte Langa, retired, of Xai-Xai, 87.—CNS

John Paul II’s shooter takes flowers to his tomb BY cinDY WooDen

E

XACTLY 31 years after St John Paul II personally forgave him for shooting and trying to assassinate him, Mehmet Ali Agca returned to the Vatican with a bunch of white roses and laid them at the late pope’s tomb.

Ali Agca, who was released from an Italian prison in 2000 and extradited to Turkey where he was jailed for killing a journalist in 1979, phoned the Italian newspaper La Repubblica to announce his presence in St Peter’s Square.

It was on December 27, 1983, after celebrating Mass in the chapel of Rome’s Rebibbia prison, that Pope John Paul personally forgave him during a 15-minute meeting in a cell. Ali Agca had been sentenced to life in prison for shooting the pope on May 13, 1981, during his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, did not issue a statement about Ali Agca’s visit to the late pope’s tomb nor about the Turk’s repeated requests to meet Pope Francis. “He put his flowers on John Paul’s tomb; I think that’s enough,” Fr Lombardi told La Repubblica.

The newspaper reported that Ali Agca travelled by “plane, car and foot” from Turkey to Greece, then to Austria, through northern Italy and to Rome. He apparently was not stopped at any of the borders.

Standing in line at the metal

Pope John Paul ii's tomb in the crypt at St Peter’s basilica. (Photo: Paul Haring/cnS) detectors to get into St Peter’s basilica, a member of the Italian state police recognised him and called the Vatican police. Vatican agents accompanied Ali Agca to St John Paul’s tomb, but then handed him over to Italian police.

The police said he did not have a visa to visit Italy and, La Repubblica reported, he was taken to an immigration centre near Rome’s Fiumicino airport and scheduled for deportation back to Turkey.

Ali Agca was released from prison in Turkey in 2010. Over the years, he has claimed to be the second coming of Christ and to have the “real” third secret of Fatima. When nothing came of his request to meet Pope Francis during the pope’s November trip to Turkey, Ali Agca held a news conference and told reporters the current pope’s life was not worth the price of a bullet.—CNS

The Southern cross, January 14 to January 20, 2015

INTERNATIONAL

Vatican: Preserving ethnological artifacts

BY JUDiTH HARRiS

O

This African reliquary, called mbulungulu, comes from the Kota people of Gabon and would have been kept inside a basket where the bones of ancestors were stored. (Photo: courtesy Vatican Museums/cnS) The oldest single item in the collection is a chipped stone tool believed to have been made 2 million years ago. Otherwise, most are of particularly delicate materials, from feathers to woven straw, leather and glass beads. To protect this heritage, the Vatican also created the Ethnological Materials Laboratory of Conservation, recognised today as a world leader in conserving cultural artifacts that are not part of the European standard, which is based largely on classical and Renaissance antiquities.—CNS

Cardinal Burke: Shortage of priests caused by altar girls in ‘feminised’ Church

BY FR cHRiS cHATTeRiS SJ

C

ARDINAL Raymond Burke has pinned some of the blame for the fall in priestly vocations on the “feminisation” of the Church and the presence of altar girls in the sanctuary.

“The introduction of girl servers led many boys to abandon altar service. Young boys don’t want to do things with girls. It’s just natural.

The girls were also very good at altar service. So many boys drifted away over time,” Cardinal Burke said in an interview on a website entitled “The New Emangelization—Drawing Men to Jesus Christ and His Catholic Church” (http://www.newemangelization.com/) “I think that this has contributed to a loss of priestly vocations. It requires a certain manly discipline to serve as an altar boy in service at the side of priest, and most priests have their first deep experiences of the liturgy as altar boys.

“If we are not training young men as altar boys, giving them an experience of serving God in the liturgy, we should not be surprised that vocations have fallen dramatically,” the cardinal said.

The cardinal added that “Apart from the priest, the sanctuary has become full of women.”

The parish, too, he thinks has been “feminised”. “The activities in

the parish and even the liturgy have been influenced by women and have become so feminine in many places that men do not want to get involved.”

Cardinal Burke also felt that radical feminism was having an impact on the confidence of some young men in regard to marriage.

He said he had heard “young men telling me that they were, in a certain way, frightened by marriage

because of the radicalising and selffocused attitudes of women”.

“These young men were concerned that entering a marriage would simply not work because of a constant and insistent demanding of rights for women.”

Cardinal Burke recently stepped down from his post as head of the Signatura, the supreme court of the Holy See and is now patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

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Israeli president cites pope in address to Christian leaders

BY JUDiTH SUDiLoVSKY

Read and comment on our articles online www.scross.co.za

St David’s Marist Inanda congratulates our Matric Class of 2014 on the outstanding results achieved in the IEB Examinations.

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We are immensely proud of our 100 Matrics who achieved a 100% overall pass with a 98% Bachelor Degree Pass and a total of 201 subject distinctions.

8LIWI VIWYPXW FYMPH SR E PSRK WXERHMRK XVEHMXMSR SJ EGEHIQMG I\GIPPIRGI JVSQ 7X (EZMH´W 1EXVMG WXYHIRXW ERH VI¾ IGX E commitment to one of our Marist pillars, ‘Love of Work’ from all involved in the process. We wish our Matric Class of 2014 every success in their future endeavours and our 2015 Matric Class the very best for the year ahead.

MATTHEW ELLIOTT

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MATTHEW EVERSON

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MITCHELLE CRYER

Top 1% of Candidates in Geography

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FRANCESCO MARIANO

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Top 1% of Candidates in LO

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AUSTIN GOVENDER

Top 1% of Candidates in Business Studies

LOGAN DUFFY

Proudly Marist

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DANIEL WEISZ

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Top 1% of Candidates in Accounting and Maths

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MARK BONNEY

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MIGUEL ZENHA

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THOMAS HARTMANN

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MICHAEL SYMMONDS

IEB Outstanding Achiever IEB Commendable Achiever Top 1% of Candidates in Top 1% of Candidates in Life Afrikaans, English, Geography, Sciences and Maths LO, Life Sciences, Maths, Physical Sciences and AP Maths

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“The peace that we seek for our region can never be built on the foundations of such acts,” he said.

In a season where the world has been particularly darkened by violence, persecution and war, people are looking toward the Holy Land, which shines with a divine light for renewed hope and inspiration, he said. “(In) the work of building a society based on peace, justice and reconciliation, we (Christian Churches) have learned the power of dialogue. To be engaged in constructive dialogue does not mean we have to settle every question or reach political consensus on every matter.

“The chief fruit of genuine dialogue is the spirit of deeper understanding.

Dialogue reduces tensions, eradicates prejudice and promotes compassion. We understand the harmonious coexistence of the Abrahamic faiths is essential to the integrity of the Holy Land.”—CNS

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in his first public address to christian religious leaders, israeli President Reuven Rivlin said he was “particularly encouraged by the strong and clear voice of Pope Francis”. (Photo: Marcin obara, ePA/cnS)

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OPEN DAY Saturday, 14 February 2015, 09:00-12:00

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N his first public address to Christian religious leaders, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said he was particularly encouraged “by the strong and clear voice of Pope Francis that the corruption of the spiritual position is a desecration of God’s name”.

During the traditional presidential holiday reception, Rivlin expressed concern over religious persecution in the region and restrictions on freedom of worship for minorities in the Middle East, where he said many have been forcibly converted, exiled or killed.

The military effort in the region —led by a coalition of forces, including the United States—is a “war against extremism,” he said.

They are fighting against “those who carry the flag of destruction and hatred”.

“We will continue to live together and build bridges of peace with God’s help here in the land of our fathers,” Rivlin said.

The president, a former member of parliament of the Likud party, who was elected to the largely symbolic office in July, has surprised many by his strong condemnation of numerous acts of vandalism against Christian and Muslim sites and other acts of racism. In October, he became the first Israeli president to participate in an annual memorial ceremony in the Arab village of Kfar Qasim, Israel, commemorating a 1956 massacre that left 47 residents dead.

In his response, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III said the Christian leaders of the Holy Land acknowledge the importance of coexistence and strongly condemned all acts of violence against people and holy sites and attempts to persecute people and religious communities.

in an interview cardinal Burke stated that he believed that the introduction of girl altar servers had led to a loss in priestly vocations. He serves as cardinal patron of the Knights and Dames of Malta. (Photo: Paul Haring/cnS)

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NE of Rome’s best-kept secrets is the collection of 100 000 ethnological artifacts housed in a special section of the Vatican Museums.

Most of the items were sent to Italy by missionaries over the course of hundreds of years and turned into a collection at the Vatican 90 years ago. They come from as far afield as the Easter Islands, South America and Congo. They include objects from Native American tribes and from Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic religious cultures.

“When people think of the Vatican Museums collections, they often forget that over half of what we have is not European,” said Father Nicola Mapelli, a member of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions and director of the Ethnological Missionary Museum within the Vatican Museums.

The unusually large collection was begun in 1692, when such objects were first sent to the Vatican by missionaries in Oceania, China, Australia and the Americas. Then, for the Holy Year of 1925, Divine Word missionary Father Wilhelm Schmidt, an Austrian anthropologist, asked Catholic missions worldwide to send artifacts for display at the Universal Missionary Exhibition called by Pope Pius XI to document the missionary activity of the Church beyond Europe.

The 100 000 artifacts that arrived for the missionary exposition and now form the core of the Vatican’s collection, were displayed in 24 pavilions in the Vatican Gardens and seen by a million people.

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TRISTAN FLYNN

36 Rivonia Rd, Inanda, Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa Tel: 011 215 7600 Fax: 086 686 3886 Enquiries: admissions@stdavids.co.za St David’s Marist Inanda @StDavids_Marist Web: www.stdavids.co.za

6

The Southern cross, January 14 to January 20, 2015

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher Acting editor: Fr Chris Chatteris SJ

Cardinals from the peripheries

I

T must have been quite a surprise for Bishop Soane Patita Panini Mafi (just 53) from Tonga, a Pacific island nation of only 103,000 people, to receive a red hat. No doubt the new cardinals from New Zealand, Myanmar, Cape Verde, Ethiopia and Mozambique had similar reactions. Everyone has noticed that Pope Francis’ new appointees include the poorer “peripheries” of the Church.

Although people tend to think of their own place as being at the centre of the world, one imagines the average Tongan or Cape Verdean realises that their small islands are far from the focus of world affairs and that it is the hefty countries on the world’s continents which are at the centres of gravity of global political, economic and cultural power and influence.

So not only has Pope Francis passed over or delayed the appointment of cardinals to populous and wealthy sees which, by tradition, have the privilege of having cardinals, but it seems he has deliberately chosen some places which most people will only find by consulting Google!

The media have been intrigued. The Times Live headline ran, “Pope Appoints United Nations of Cardinals”. It is clear that the pope wants the College of Cardinals to reflect better the universality of the Church and to put the younger and growing areas of the Church more on the map.

With a rather secular, commercial analysis, the International Business Times headline proclaimed: “Pope Francis’ Cardinal Appointments Could Boost Catholic Church’s Gains in Africa”.

“Numerically, that’s where the Church’s centre of gravity is now,” added Mark Faulkner, a senior teaching fellow at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. And according to the Pew Research Center, “16% of the world’s Catholics now live in Africa, where the Catholic population grew almost 21% between 2005 and 2010, a rate unmatched by any other region of the world”.

But before we start slapping our collective continental backs and reimagining Africa as the new centre of the Church, it is worth reflecting on just how radical Francis is being here. After all,

some of the places the new cardinals come from are not, and will never be, large centres of Catholic population. So he is saying that it’s important to acknowledge those parts of the Church that are simply small and insignificant.

It’s a fundamental questioning of what we mean by “important” and “unimportant”, “centre” and “periphery” and the value we place on those words.

This should not be news to Christ’s followers. In the Kingdom it’s the humble who find themselves exalted and the last who turn out to be first. Our Lady’s Magnificat expresses this in a prayer of reversals of what human beings normally expect.

Mary’s son is not a king according to the values of his own or any other epoch. His cradle is a manger and his charger a donkey; his throne is the cross and his crown is of thorns. His whole life was lived on the “peripheries”. He grew up in a small village in an unimportant province of the Roman Empire. In his public life he attracted some very marginal people as his followers, many of whom we would today term “losers”. It was not an auspicious beginning for his Church.

But our reforming pope is reminding us of those humble, peripheral beginnings and that therefore the Church is semper reformanda, always in need of reform. She does this by always returning to the sources, the vision and values that the Master handed down to us and which we try to live out.

Hence it is important that even the highest bureaucratic structures of the Church should reflect that which the Lord proclaimed.

These structures are not about pomp and power; nor should they reflect which local Church has the most money or the most buildings and institutions or even the largest numbers of people at Mass.

Rather, they exist to serve and represent what Jean Vanier calls the “little people”, the ones who are forgotten or not even noticed, those like the all but invisible widow putting her savings into the Temple treasury.

It seems that just as the last shall find themselves first, so shall those at peripheries find themselves at the centre!

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The Editor reserves the right to shorten or edit published letters. Letters below 300 words receive preference. Pseudonyms are acceptable only under special circumstances and at the Editor’s discretion.

Name and address of the writer must be supplied. No anonymous letter will be considered.

Input of laity critical for synod

T

HE December 24 issue of The Southern Cross contains an article headed “Bishops get questionnaire for 2015 family synod”. Together with a copy of the final report of the family synod held in October 2014, the world's Catholic bishops have received a questionnaire of 46 questions “on a range of topics, including matters of marriage and sexuality, that proved especially controversial at the synod”.

Midway through the 2014 synod, an interim report was issued that seemed to indicate a new tone calling for mercy, understanding, respect, and a new spirit of listening by the Church in matters such as homosexuality, divorced and remarried Catholics, and matters relating to contemporary society.

Gated living can cut us off from life

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Y family were wont to complain about the frequent rings on our front doorbell—not announcing visiting friends but poor people, mostly African, looking for a handout. We had starting feeding those who asked a few years back, and as was inevitable, the visitors’ numbers grew with time, settling down at about 20.

Sandwiches, breadcrusts, meal leftovers, the occasional cup of coffee—nothing to write home about, and certainly nothing which affected our resources.

And then we relocated to a closed community, a place where access was controlled by security guards, a place where the poor people could not visit us for the little we had been offering.

At first the business of settling in occupied our time. But once things were in their place, the realisation came that an element was missing: there were very few rings at the front door, and these only by acquaintances and family—our “beggars” were no longer around.

I’m sure they miss the little we gave, I hope they’ve found others who are able to help them; but the realisation dawns that we’re probably the bigger losers. You see, we were unknowingly very fortunate: the opportunity to be charitable came knocking at our door. We didn’t have to look for the stranger to help—he came to us!

As Christians we have the duty to treat the less fortunate with compassion and mercy—it’s not an option but an imperative. Now we have to venture out of our security village to seek out recipients for our charity. We are the losers, more than those to whom we previously were benefactors!

Is it not important that we become one people, one nation, inter-

The final report seems to backtrack on the interim document.

Archbishop Bruno Forte, who acted as special secretary to the 2014 synod, said publically that the final report of the synod would be circulated worldwide to enable the “faithful in their local churches” to make their views heard.

The article in The Southern Cross states that bishops’ conferences are being asked to consult with “academic institutions, organisations, lay movements and other ecclesial associations”. This seems to be at odds with what Archbishop Forte said as quoted above.

I pose the question: What about the views of the ordinary devout Catholic in the pew?

I ask the bishops of South Africa

acting and communicating with all our neighbours? “That they may be one, even as we are one” is Jesus’ prayer to the Father in John’s gospel.

I am well aware of the risks associated with living in the unprotected suburbs in South Africa today, yet most people do just that; gated communities are for those who can afford them.

There must be a solution other than running away from the problem—but perhaps the way that Christ has shown us is too painful, too difficult to attempt. We should perhaps consider with whom Jesus associated while he was on this earth, and then ask ourselves whether his second coming is likely to be in Sandton or Soweto!

Perhaps the walls and gates should come down, as did the Berlin Wall.

Tom Drake, Alberton

Doom and gloom

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T a time when the African National Congress is reflecting on its relationship with the mainstream churches, as reported in the secular media, your December 24 front page headline “Dark, angry start for 2015” is most unfortunate.

The headline and contents of the article spell nothing but doom and gloom. Nothing can be further from the truth unless, of course, you are one of those pessimists of the “when Mandela dies...” ilk.

The article and so-called “analysis” casts no light on what the Church is going to do to help tackle a national crisis; that is, the preservation of energy.

South Africa is not facing blackouts. Those are experienced in countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan. We are experiencing loadshedding which is scheduled and thus entreats all sectors of society to play their part in preserving and being proactive in saving energy.

Given that your “analyst” Mike Pothier misses this important difference brings into sharp question his ability to comment on this matter.

Refreshingly, but in contrast to the headline article, Fr Mike van Heerden’s photo shows what he and his parish envisage doing to help preserve the environment.

In the sphere of corruption: when will the Church herself start taking the fight against corruption and report corrupt activities, within her own ranks, to the police? Or will we have to wait for the magnitude of the cases of the sex scandals before something is done? In fact, it would seem misuse of parish or organisational funds or property is not that scandalous.

Yet all Mr Pothier and the CPLO, he as their “lead” researcher, can do is cast aspersions on South Africa’s future. Mr Pothier is a prophet of doom of note with none of his predictions being original or coming true.

The bishops should really invest in better “lead” researchers for we seem to be left with more questions than answers.

Wesley Seale, Cape Town

to circulate the report and questionnaire to every parish to enable the widest range of views possible to be gauged of the ordinary lay person.

Let us not have a repetition of the questionnaire of late 2013 where only a narrow group of lay Catholics was consulted. The excuse was that there was not enough time to consult more widely.

In his address to the Vatican curia of December 22, Pope Francis made some highly critical comments on the “ailments” of the curia. These were unprecedented and have a lesson for the Church hierarchy worldwide that the pope is determined to change the outlook of the Church from that of strict doctrine to one of “the House of the Father, with doors wide open”.

In achieving this, the laity must be listened to.

Mervyn Pollitt, Waterfall, KZN

Mercy for those who are divorced

I

T was reported on EWTN that Pope Francis is likely to change the position of the Church on Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics.

I do not believe that Pope Francis means to make any kind of doctrinal change but he wants to go some way to solving a major pastoral problem that is causing untold hurt to many Catholics and incalculable damage to the Church.

Marriage is by nature intended to be permanent and is an image of the everlasting union between Christ and the Church. Problems arise when men and women do not enter into or go through their marriages as committed Christians in a covenant relationship with each other.

Perhaps I am being rather cynical but I am convinced that today a large proportion of marriage relationships that break up could be annulled by ecclesiastical marriage tribunals if they were brought before them for a verdict.

Sometimes what prevents this happening may be a lack of resources on the part of the Church to examine the many cases that should be brought before it.

I hope that a change in the Church in the practice of Communion for the divorced does not lead to further breakaways by dissident conservative Catholic groups.

When all is said and done, I believe that the validity and insolubility of marriages is an issue best left to God and the consciences of the parties involved.

The Church does not have either the wisdom or the resources to pass judgment on every marriage case. If people are convinced that a previous marriage was either invalid or could be dissolved, nothing should stop them from receiving Communion.

Frank Bomas, Johannesburg

Kiss of peace

I

F Blessed St Damian of Hawaii and Mother Teresa took Maureen Serra’s advice (December 30) on not shaking hands in church because of germs, we would have thousands of dirty and diseased people crying out for the mercy and love of God. We don’t need a sanitised Church; a hospital should adhere to such stringent measures.

Pope Frances reaches out to touch people, not asking if they are germ-free first.

The Bible says we should greet each other with a holy kiss; now wouldn't that be disgusting!

Lucy Rubin, Pretoria opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in Letters to the editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the catholic hierarchy. The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate.

Letters must not be understood to necessarily reflect the teachings, disciplines or policies of the church accurately.

Letters can be sent to PO Box 2372, Cape Town 8000 or editor@scross.co.za or faxed to 021 465-3850

PERSPECTIVES

Dom Lambert’s long exile

O

CTAVE Beauduin was born in 1873 in Belgium. At 33, as a diocesan priest, he became a Benedictine monk at Mont-César Abbey and received a new religious name: Lambert.

Already as a young novice he was marked by the liturgy, which would serve as the foundation for his ecumenical initiatives.

Dom Beauduin’s ecumenical sensitivity was born from deep insight of the communion at the liturgy where Christians are with one another around Christ the head.

Owing to this relationship between liturgy and ecumenism, for Dom Beauduin, celebrating the liturgy in the midst of existing divisions among Christians was a contradiction of liturgy itself. Therefore, any effort towards Christian unity is simply a return to the true sense of liturgy.

The catalyst was when Dom Beauduin lectured theology in Rome: he discovered the Oriental world through the Greek College and also Russians who had fled the revolution. He was overwhelmed by the richness of the Orthodox world, equally part of Christ’s Church but forgotten by the Latin Church, only to be branded as schismatic and heretical.

Given Christ’s earnest prayer for unity, something had to be done. Dom Beauduin reflected: And who was better placed for this type of work than monks? Were monks not the great agents of evangelisation?

So he elaborated his project for Christian unity, supported by a fellow Belgian, Cardinal Mercier, and presented it to Pope Pius XI, who responded by writing an apostolic letter, Equidem Verba, entrusting to the Benedictine order the mission of rapprochement with the Orthodox world.

For Dom Beauduin this type of work called for an institution whose activities and spirituality were thoroughly consecrated to ecumenism.

In fact, Dom Beauduin had just elaborated his thesis with the celebrated title: “The Anglican Church, United not Ab-

Dom Lambert Beauduin sorbed”. Given the mentality of the time, this position was revolutionary.

It was a time when it was seen as normal for the Latin Church to do missionary activity in order to convert Eastern Christians. That was not the way for Dom Beauduin. So, what next?

In 1925, Dom Beauduin started a monastery of union at Amay sur Meuse in Belgium. It was composed of both Catholic and Orthodox monks—the first ecumenical monastery. The monks gave witness by living, praying, and working together.

This prophetic witness anticipated by more than half a century St John Paul II’s vision of the West and East as two lungs that the Church needs to breathe.

R

ight from the start Dom Beauduin posed a fundamental question regarding the method of ecumenical work: “In what spirit do we want to work?” He published an article portraying the spirit in which this monastery was going to work for unity. Its title was, “The West at School of the East.” In it, he warned: “No fishing with the hook in the neighbour’s reserve, especially not with a fishing net.”

However, before long it would be impossible for the monastery to live accord-

Fr Evans Chama M.Afr

Saints of christian Unity ing to its ideal. On January 6, 1928, three years after its foundation, Pope Pius XI published his encyclical Mortalium Animos in which he addressed the true and false means of ecumenism. It was devastating for the monastery of union.

The pope wrote: “It is not allowed to procure the union of Christians by any means other than calling for the return of the dissidents to the only and true Church that they were unfortunate to abandon in the past.” Thus, the means to unity was constricted to the return of the “heretics” to the bosom of the Roman Church.

Dom Beauduin rightly felt personally targeted, especially since he was subjected to canonical trial. He resigned as prior of the monastery and was not allowed to participate in international ecumenical meetings.

Besides that, he was exiled from his monastery and confined to a monastery in the south of France for two years. Then the Holy See slapped him with an indefinite exile from Belgium.

Dom Beauduin lived these events calmly and without resentment, an attitude perfectly ecumenical. Though exiled, his spirit was not imprisoned; he remained ablaze with an ecumenical zeal which infected all who met him.

After 23 years in exile, Dom Beauduin returned to Chevetogne, where the monastery of union had been transferred.

Looking at his life today we see no longer a rebel but a saint of Christian unity. His inspiration lives on through the witness of the various ecumenical monasteries where Catholics and non-Catholics live together, such as the Taizé community and the Monastic Community of Bose in Italy, to mention just two.

The inscription on his tomb is revealing: Vir Dei et Ecclesiae—Man of God and of the Church.

Tune out and into family and friends Judith Turner I N today’s world there seems to be an ever-increasing demand for people to produce; for one person to do more functions at work; to be multi-skilled; to be able to get more production from one person with the least impact on the salary bill.

People often work longer hours than before. It is very common for some people to work twelve-hour shifts, six days a week. I know of a man who has worked twelve-hour shifts, seven days a week, for many months. Sadly, many times, there is no choice and economic situations force people to be enslaved in such conditions.

On the other hand, though, very often people do have a choice, but they work within these slavelike conditions in pursuit of a life of grandeur, being motivated by financial gains that all too often do not satisfy or meet their ever-growing pursuits.

What they are trying to do is to create a life of material abundance. What kind of life is this?

“I have come that you may have life, and have it in abundance.”

I am sure you have heard stories of the things people who are on their deathbeds say they would rather have done throughout their lives. And making more money is never one of them.

Most people in their last days say that if they had the chance they would want to spend more time with the people in their lives, be it their spouse, children or friends.

That is what being alive is about—our interactions with others. That is when we feel alive. Over this past holiday season many of us have had a taste of feeling this life through the connections we’ve made with friends and relatives.

In my family my eldest brother and his

Faith and Life

Visits from family abroad give us a new delight in connectedness. family came to visit us after many years abroad. It was a visit we were looking forward to and preparing for, for many months. The joy and excitement already at the airport when we welcomed them was extremely palpable as we turned the arrivals hall into our own backyard.

We had welcome home banners, colourful garlands, joyful shouts and noises, and lots of hugs and kisses while the cameras and cellphones were clicking away trying to capture the moment. And share it with the world. We had an abundance of joy to give.

Yet this was just a taste of what was lying ahead for the next four weeks of vis-

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iting and holidaying which was filled with many exciting things to do.

During this same period, sadly, my niece gave birth to a stillborn baby and my younger brother and his family were devastated. It was heartbreaking. Again, we were all there with them offering assistance and just spending time. Just being with them in the moment, serving them and sharing their experience as best we could was also a sense of feeling life—feeling the sad emotions and stuff that life is made of. And realising again that life brings joys as well as sorrows and that we can experience both with a sense of abundance.

God is a God of abundance. Just as he has given us an abundance of joy, peace and beauty to share with others during our happy moments, so too he has given us an abundance of compassionate hearts and spirits to love and support each other during our moments of sadness.

We can live abundantly every day. We do not have to wait for special occasions or significant days to practice and experience abundance.

If we are going to put in those long hours every day, let us ensure that some of them include real connections and interactions with others. Let us work in pursuit of a joyful abundant, love-filled life.

Inside each of us is an abundant supply of love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness and all that we need to give each other life, and give it abundantly.

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The Southern cross, January 14 to January 20, 2015

Michael Shackleton

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open Door

Falsified degrees hurt society Public figures now seem to be getting away with telling lies or denying what is plainly true. Some claim to have degrees they never had, and get away with it for a long time because no one dares to contradict them. Does the Church today accept that lying to the public is the norm, and we must get used to it?

Pam Evans O, the Church cannot accept that lying to the public is the norm. The norm must always remain the virtue of truthfulness because social life is kept functional when people do their jobs justly and honestly in accordance with society’s expectations.

A person who is contracted to perform a public office must fulfil the obligations of the contract.

The Church sees this as a matter of strict justice.

Someone who fraudulently declares that they have the qualifications required to hold and exercise their office is guilty of deceiving the public, and offends against the common good.

They get rewarded for holding down a job they are not fit for and so unfairly obstruct those who are fit to do it.

Truthfulness is consistency in communicating to others what we know to be a fact. When we deliberately mislead others by telling lies, we impair their ability to make an objective judgment.

This deception is a grave injustice to the community.

Your own life will be on shaky ground if you go to a doctor who, it turns out, has no degree in medicine and is practising illegally. You will not only fear for your health but also will be outraged by the man’s falsity.

On a broader level, leaders in society who have no formal qualifications or experience for their mandates, wreck the stability of that society when they leave it to subordinates to do the work while they scoop in all the benefits and prestige of their exaltation.

Without competent supervision and direction, the subordinates can manipulate their way to their own advantage.

This makes society sick and in need of qualified management.

There is a great deal of emphasis in our society on having high status and material wealth.

These goals are often achieved not by what individuals know about a job, but who they know to get them the job and, of course, by deception.

All exchanges between persons and institutions comprise certain rights and duties.

The state has the right to tax us and the duty to use the proceeds for the good of all.

Our duty is to pay taxes but we have the right to expect them to be justly and openly used for the benefit of one and all.

N

n Send your queries to Open Door, Box 2372, Cape Town,

8000; or e-mail: opendoor@scross.co.za; or fax (021) 465 3850. Anonymity can be preserved by arrangement, but questions must be signed, and may be edited for clarity. Only published questions will be answered.

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8

The Southern cross, January 14 to January 20, 2015

COMMUNITY

Youth at our Lady of Light parish in Hermanus, cape Town, were confirmed

by Archbishop Stephen Brislin. (Back from left) Archbishop Brislin, Brittney Lakay, Renato Luiz, and parish priest Fr Barry Matthews. (Front) catechist Aubrey Ball, Simone ohlson, Jeraldo Feltman, and Bredasdorp congregant Liam Louw. Photo: Dr Toks Potgieter.

Fr Dick Broderick MSc (third from the left, back) presented a weeklong PRH course to 11 young Salesian priests and brothers of the Southern African province, as part of their ongoing formation at Bosco Youth centre.

(Back from left) Fr Sean Mcewen, Br Victor ndlovu, Fr Dick Broderick, Deacon Lingoane Tlaile, Br Mojela Fihlo, Fr Joseph nguyen. (Front) Frs Bongi nhleko, Moeketsi Khetla, Peter nguyen, Tumelo Pone, Victor Kyanga.

Victor and Lee okkers of St John Bosco parish in Robertsham, Johannesburg, celebrated their 50-year wedding anniversary They are pictured at a senior citizens christmas party given by the youth of the parish.

The volunteer cleaners of Holy Redeemer parish in Bergvliet, cape Town.

St Anne’s Sodality of the Klerksdorp diocese held their 11th convention.They are pictured with chaplain Fr chris Mathaha.

Christian Brothers College Boksburg

Congratulations to the Class of 2014 on achieving excellent results in the IEB Matric Examinations – you have done yourselves and the College proud!

The College has once again maintained its record of a 100% pass rate, with 90% achieving University Entrance. 48 sat for the Examinations and a total of 51 distinctions were attained by 24 students. We are very proud of our young men and wish them every success as they step out into life and continue to honour the principles which they have learned as part of their College education.

JUSTIN VAN TONDER 7 DISTINCTIONS

RENATO CALDEIRA 6 DISTINCTIONS Address: Konig Road, Boksburg

GUGU TSHABALALA 5 DISTINCTIONS Educating for life

JOSHUA PEEBLES 7 DISTINCTIONS

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school for boys from years 000 to

Enquiries: admissions@cbc.org.za

Senior boys from year 8 to Matric

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Send your photo to pics@scross.co.za.

Name the event and the people in the photo!

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The catholic Women’s League of our Lady of Fatima parish in Durban hosted a christmas tea for the retired members of the parish. (From left) Anna Accolla, Tottie Bremner, Liz newberry and carol Price. Parish priest Fr Desmond nair is seated.

Matric with weekly boarding for

Regina coeli parish at Madadeni, newcastle, held a nativity play.

FOCUS

The Southern cross, January 14 to January 20, 2015

9

Everybody’s beautiful! Campaign fights negative body image messages Photoshopped images of models are making many women self-conscious of their bodies. A campaign launched this year by a photographer in the United States aims to change that, as BLAncA MoRALeS reports.

I

n a society saturated with photoedited images of models on magazine covers, not to mention billboards pushing plastic surgery, three young Catholic women from Miami are facing down the beauty industry—and not just figuratively.

Alanna Cuadra and sisters Katherina and Christina Parrilla participated in a new campaign to promote positive body image.

The initiative, Go Boldly, was started earlier this year by photographer Bri Luginbill to counteract negative body image messages imparted by the media.

Driving on the highway, Ms Luginbill spotted ads she found to be contradictory: billboards promoting Botox and plastic surgery that urged women to “go confidently” by changing their appearance.

Ms Luginbill’s images are not photoshopped and feature women of different ages and body types, including those with disabilities. The

goal is to promote the natural beauty that is found in all women, as well as men, who also can suffer from body image issues.

Ms Luginbill’s portraits of Cuadra and the Parrilla sisters are now being sent to women’s magazines, and plans are in the works to feature them on billboards. The goal is to offset the discouraging messages that abound.

The three young Florida women are featured in a public service announcement video by Go Boldly (bit.ly/1oA6Qe7).

Ms Cuadra, 18, an active Catholic, has noted the media’s negative influence on her peers.

The media “says that the only way to look beautiful or love yourself is to become, or look like, something you’re not”, she told The Florida Catholic, newspaper of the Miami archdiocese.

The images of celebrities and models presented in ads even had her second-guessing her own sense of self—until she remembered the teachings of her faith.

“I know I should be thankful for what I have and that God made all of us in his image and likeness,” she said.

T

wo years ago, when Christina Parrilla was struggling with her body image, she did not consider herself worthy of being photographed.

“I was unhappy with my body and hated looking at myself in the

Alanna cudra and christina Parrilla pose for photos to promote “Go Boldly” The initiative counteracts negative body image messages imparted by the media. (Photos courtesy of Go Boldly) mirror,” said the 21-year-old, who is now a college student in Michigan.

At the Go Boldly photo shoot, however, she was affirmed and encouraged to embrace who she is.

“I am not a model, and a lot of times I feel weird just standing there and having someone take a

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bunch of pictures. What I loved most about being photographed by Bri is how comfortable she made me feel,” said Ms Parrilla. She and her 16-year-old sister Katherina grew up in a Miami parish.

“We were reminded how we are all special and that we should love ourselves the way we are,” added Ms Cuadra.

Ms Luginbill’s type of photography, called photo therapy, helps those in front of the lens accept their image and appearance. Many photo-therapy photographers feature pre- and post-natal bodies, as well as people afflicted by medical conditions of various kinds.

Christina Parrilla said she was able to see the impact of her nonphotoshopped portrait when it was enlarged for a rally organised by Go Boldly supporters. Rally participants displayed the campaign’s photographs on a highway near Grand

Rapids, Michigan, where cosmetic surgery billboards are located.

“I am still not used to seeing myself blown up on a poster, but it’s always fun to see,” Ms Parrilla said. “I am so grateful to be a part of such a beautiful movement.”

The young women say they now feel compelled to communicate the importance of positive body image with others, especially in a bodyconscious city such as Miami.

“I think women should love their bodies because it’s the only one they are going to get. Your eyes, nose, curves—those are all things that make you, you,” said Ms Parrilla.

Ms Cuadra said she will “constantly remind myself and others how truly special we each are”. n The website for the campaign is www.goboldlygr.com

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The Southern cross, January 14 to January 20, 2015

EDUCATION

Freedom to observe religion in schools may be under threat An application to limit the practice of religion in schools will come before the High Court in Johannesburg in 2015. STUART GRAHAM interviewed Professor Pieter Coertzen, a professor of theology at the University of Stellenbosch about the effect this legislation could have.

T

he Catholic Institute of Education (CIE) has warned that if successful, the application to curtail religion in schools could open the door to a range of legal challenges against Catholic schools and that is should be taken seriously.

Theology Professor Pieter Coertzen, chairman of the Council for the Promotion and Protection of Religious Rights and Freedoms (CRRF), recently hosted a conference of religious groups about the court action.

Southern Cross reporter Stuart Graham asked him what transpired.

What was the purpose of the conference?

An application has been brought before the High Court in Johannesburg with regard to the role and practice of religion in schools. This matter will come before court sometime in the first half of 2015. A team of legal specialists and academics have recommended that the CRRF

participates as amicus curiae in this matter to ensure that sound jurisprudence is developed in support of the constitutional provisions for the protection of religious freedom in South Africa. It is to this end that the workshop has been scheduled.

Who attended the conference?

The meeting was jointly hosted by the Commission for Culture, Religion and Languages and the CRRF. Participants representing a wide spectrum of faiths including the Jewish, Christian, Hindu and African traditional religions from both academic and educational backgrounds were present.

What was the outcome?

In the end we were unanimous.

People said it was wonderful that all the religious groups could talk together and come to a common decision that they do not want religion and religious observances to be removed from schools.

Will the religious groups that attended the meeting join the legal fight in the case?

Fighting the case is not our intention. Those churches’ minsters involved in the case summons will fight the case. We will take a final decision on whether to become friends of the court so that we can bring forward arguments that will strengthen the jurisprudence around the freedom of religion in schools.

Is the freedom to practise religion

lic schools if they are done on an equitable basis and attendance is free and voluntarily. There are clear guidelines in the Constitution.

If children do not want to take part in religious observances, it will have to be with the consent of their parents. That child enrolled voluntarily into the school. His or her parents knew the ethos there. If they do not like that ethos, they may look for another school that does not practise religion.

Professor Pieter coertzen, chairman of the council for the Promotion and Protection of Religious Rights and Freedoms (cRRF) says that if legislation is passed to limit religion in schools, all institutions could be affected.

(Photo: Sam Lucero, The compass/cnS) not protected by the Constitution?

Why are religious groups concerned by the court action by the Organisasie vir Godsdienste-onderrig en Demokrasie (The Organisation of Religious Education and Democracy—Ogod)?

Religion is very well protected by article 15 of the Constitution, but we have very little jurisprudence on article 15. If the case comes to court it is a chance to create jurisprudence which safeguards the practice of religion in public places.

The court application wants the High Court to impose an interdict forbidding the Christian practices and activities at six schools and have them declared unconstitutional. Among the schools affected are the Oudtshoorn High School,

What impact could this court action have, if it is successful?

It could have a severe impact on children. In terms of the Education Act, schools are allowed to have a specific ethos, be it Anglican, Dutch Reformed or Catholic. They are allowed to have that. It is the task of the governing body to lay down rules on how the school is going to practise this ethos. It is not for an independent teacher to determine that ethos.

It is wonderful that all the religions can agree on this and take a strong view of religions in schools.

There are so many schools who say we have a certain ethos we want to apply in the schools.

Langenhoven Gimnasium and Linden High School. Will the case affect private schools too?

This case will affect all schools, including private schools. And if they can succeed in removing religion in all schools, they could eventually succeed in removing it from all public places. That is what we do not want and that is why we are looking for a decision from the court.

Does a child have the right not to take part in religious observances at school? Can religion be “imposed” on children as the court application suggests?

No one can be forced to attend religious observances in schools. The Constitution says that religious observances can be conducted at pub-

What do you feel was the message that came across at the meeting?

Through the council for religious rights and freedoms, religions took a very strong standpoint to say “no, we don't want religion taken out of our schools”.

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The Southern cross, January 14 to January 20, 2015

HISTORY

The brief life of a Catholic magazine Five decades ago a small Catholic magazine struggled to make a difference in the fighht against apartheid. Its editor PAUL GoLLeR recalls the heady days of challenge magazine.

I

N 1963 I was asked by Fr Colin Collins, in discussion with a small group of lay people in Johannesburg, to edit a lay Catholic journal of opinion.

I did not have any journalistic training or experience, but after some hesitation I agreed to try.

David Craighead and Colin Collins committed themselves to write regularly and did so; David until he was banned in 1965 for his work on the Defence & Aid Fund.

I wrote almost all of the editorials which appeared and take full responsibility for the views expressed therein. Some contributions were solicited, some were submitted by their writers, and others were “lifted” (usually but not always, with permission) from other sources.

Very little of the submitted material was not used, but today, with hindsight, I would edit some of the material more stringently. Also I would never state in one issue what the next would contain; it usually did not!

Editorials, I have since discovered from the highly political fortnightly London Review of Books, are not a necessity and could often

have been done without.

At the time the major organs of the resistance movement—the African National Congress, the Pan African Congress and the South African Communist Party—had been banned; much of their subsequent activity in the rest of the 1960s was to take place underground.

Challenge was launched during the course of the Rivonia trial, appearing during the premiership first of Hendrik Verwoerd and then of BJ Vorster, and ceased to publish in the years of the emergence of the black consciousness movement. Its pages contained much discussion of Africanisation of the local Church and some indication of the growth of black consciousness.

Pope John XXIII had died in June 1963, soon after presiding over the first session in late 1962 of the Second Vatican Council, an historic event which Challenge supported wholeheartedly. Many Catholic graduates of my generation saw it as the coming to fruition, and extension, of the ideas central to our formation in the Catholic student

movement of the 1950s.

The US National Catholic Reporter, a seminal Catholic weekly, was founded about the same time as Challenge as part of the same desire to open up discussion on important aspects of the life of the Church. Indeed, the need for lay voices in the local Church was to be illustrated dramatically within months of our first issue when the politically conservative Archbishop William Whelan of Bloemfontein issued his own kind of challenge to the Southern A f r i c a n Church. It is just as necessary today.

We received unstinting support from many indiv i d u a l s within the Church— lay, clerical and relig i o u s — many of w h o s e names or graphic work appear in its pages.

Others worked behind the scenes, people such as Ian van Niekerk, our printer at Sherry & Sherry who taught me sub-editing, proofreading and layout skills, and Tess Murray, whose administrative and other support was of great value.

We also received substantial support from the US lay Catholic peri-

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odical Commonweal which gave me a free airmail subscription and allowed us to reprint any material we chose.

However, it has to be said that, apart from Archbishop Denis Hurley, there was no formal or informal support whatsoever from the structural Church nationally and, more significantly, from Bishop Hugh Boyle of Johannesburg. Such support could have been financial, it could have been access to potential readers, it could have been some kind of arm’s length endorsement or, perhaps, even some participation in the debates we provoked.

There had, however, been an anti-intellectual spirit in the diocese ever since Archbishop Whelan was so unfortunately banished to Bloemfontein in 1954. Indeed it was the general absence of any signs of intellectual life which emboldened me into trying to occupy one of the empty foothills.

To illustrate my point I would refer to the limitations of The Southern Cross in the time of the apartheid years and the many fruitless attempts at the time to reform it; also the gradual collapse of the Kolbe Association as it declined to give a lead to the wider Catholic community.

A

lthough our black support was wider than would appear from a list of contributors, challenge was firmly situated in the white Church; it is therefore quite properly open to some of the very criticisms it levelled at other parts of the local Church.

In what would nowadays be called a ”principled” decision, it was decide not to take advertisements and this policy was carried out faithfully, except for one plug for our patient printers. In truth, it was unlikely that we would have attracted many, other than “blackmail” money from pretty unwilling parties.

At the outset a copy cost 15 cents, a year’s subscription for 6 issues costing R1. Five years later these costs had doubled. Some 1 500 copies were usually printed (up to 2 000 at its peak), perhaps a thousand subscribers.

After three years of regular publication we began to appear erratically, in the main due to lack of money to pay our printers; contributors were never paid.

By 1969 debts incurred amounted to some R800 (perhaps R25 000 in today’s money), a formidable amount which we had to borrow from David Cobbett before we

An illustration by Sr Pientia in the February 1966 issue of challenge magazine. Main graphic: The index page of the first edition of challenge. closed shop. Forty five years’ inflation make these figures seem derisory, but they were more than we could find to keep going.

The fact that there was no formal or informal support whatsoever from the diocesan authorities was probably due to the issues we highlighted; for example we published the controversial majority opinion of the papal commission on birth control in 1968. We also had a go at the Vatican’s record on the Holocaust.

Certainly it was also due to the unwillingness—or inability—of the bishop and his immediate advisers to grapple with the need for change in the local Church and the need to oppose the apartheid regime more vigorously.

Looking back some 45 years later from the vantage point of the new South Africa, it seems to me that challenge had some success in raising issues relating to lay responsibility within the Church and society.

Far less successful was its attempt to oppose the evil of apartheid.

Certainly no direct action was taken against the magazine or any of its contributors solely because of their contributions to, or involvement with the production of the journal—at least to the best of my knowledge. Its survival for six years was an exercise in lay responsibility.

Its attempts to steer the Church into greater opposition to the apartheid regime would probably have had to be completely rethought if it had survived into the revival of political opposition by the black consciousness movement at the end of the 1960s, and even more so with the emergence of the black labour movement in the early 1970s. In both of these developments Catholics were well represented.

The Southern cross, January 14 to January 20, 2015

FOCUS

13

How to be a virtuous business The parable of the Good Samaritan has a lesson also for busineses, as GRAHAM WiLLiAMS, DoRiAn HAARHoFF & PeTeR FoX, the authors of a new book on ethical business, argue.

There are a growing number of other inspiring examples of people and businesses changing vicious circles to virtuous circles.

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H

UGE wisdom may be contained in a small story. Jesus taught by using parables, and that of the Good Samaritan carries lessons for today’s businesses.

Everything (and everyone) is intimately and immediately connected to everything else. Priest, Levite, Samaritan, innkeeper, robbers, a man who is robbed—all their paths intersect on the same road.

Chief Seattle of the Native American Duwamish tribe made a remarkable statement in 1854: “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.

All things are bound together. All things connect.”

The speech from which this quote is taken speaks eloquently to our need to care for the environment, society and indeed the future of humanity.

Walter Baets of the University of Cape Town offers this wisdom: “Since your company is a network and the market is a network, it is crucial to understand the mechanics of the network. A network cannot be deconstructed into basic elements so that, if they could be optimised individually, the entire network would be optimised. A network can only be ‘optimised’ or managed if we accept it as a complete network, a holistic structure.”

Every day we hear about corruption, fraud, tender collusion, bribery, tax evasion, excessive executive pay, failures and disasters from the worlds of oil, banking, construction, mining, arms trading.

There is a vicious circle of increasing consumption and diminishing resources, waste, degradation and pollution, poverty, unemployment, disease, escalating conflict. More species are becoming extinct, levels of education are poor. Space debris is a looming problem.

A third of all food produced in the world goes to waste. The gap between the rich and poor is still widening: 85 individuals have the same wealth as half the people on our planet.

The Jericho road was the notorious “Way of Blood”. Is the road we travel as businesses all that different?

Few identify with the robbers when reading the parable. But every time business uses a “tax haven”, pollutes the environment, or cuts corners because of profit pressures, someone somewhere is harmed or robbed in some way, something is taken away, either directly or indirectly.

Pope Francis gave this message to the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2014: "What is needed, then, is a renewed, profound and broadened sense of responsibility on the part of all. Business is in fact a vocation, and a noble vocation, provided

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“By and large, mindless chasing after maximising profits (a concept introduced in the 1970s) is still a clear driver of many businesses today.” (Photo: Kai Pfaffenbach, Reuters/cnS) that those engaged in it see themselves challenged by a greater meaning in life. I ask you to ensure that humanity is served by wealth and not ruled by it.”

The priest and Levite probably acted reasonably, given their context and situation. Business circumstances often lead to a disconnect from espoused values.

Chosen and stated business values are often meaningless.

And all too frequently there are disconnects between what organisations state their operating values to be and what actually happens in practice. When things go wrong, there is avoidance, denial, coverup—a crossing to the other side of the road.

There has been some movement to adopting a triple-bottom-line approach: people, planet and profits in balance. We’re also seeing more compliance measures and controls.

India now has a law mandating businesses to allocate 2% of proceeds to corporate social responsibility. These minimum standards typically lead to a “speed limit effect”— business complies by doing only what is mandatory, no more.

By and large, mindless chasing after maximising profits (a concept introduced in the 1970s) is still a clear driver of many businesses today— and, of course, this works against sustainability on many levels.

for bags of trash. Off-season fishermen were paid for garbage collected. The Curitiba rate of garbage separation, at 70%, became the highest in the world These and other initiatives saved Curitiba many millions.

Their average income per person went from less than the Brazilian average in the 1970s to 66% higher than the Brazilian average in a few decades.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammed Yunus of Grameen Bank has made access to money easy for more than 100 million people without any assets as security and previously unable to break out of their cycle of poverty.

He says that “a tiny little business can become a huge force to solve global problems”.

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he Samaritan did more than was expected. There are some examples of that in business.

Acuiser in Peru have a Bio Pencil project to mass produce pencils using a natural collagenous, seaweed-based compound that is farm grown. No chemicals are used in production. No natural resources are consumed or harmed. Cost and price compare favourably with wooden pencils.

The pencil casing contains and protects seeds (vegetable, fruit, plants, shrubs, endangered flora species) and can be planted at the end of the pencil’s life. When these seeds are put into the ground their casing acts as a fertiliser.

Jaime Lerner, three times mayor of Curitiba in Brazil since the 1970s, creatively reinvented the city for people, planet profit sustainability by: • Building parks instead of canals to reduce flooding. Sheep are used to “mow” the lawns, and the wool is used to fund children’s programmes.

• Revamping waste disposal and recycling. People living in slums were given bus tokens, bags of groceries and transit passes in return

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ur book, The Virtuosa Organisation, encourages being before doing, uses seven Leonardo da Vinci virtues to illustrate how to achieve this, and includes case studies on the ways to practically bring about what habit reversal and behaviour modification is needed.

Franciscan Father Richard Rohr says that “we mend and renew the world by strengthening inside ourselves what we seek outside ourselves, and not by demanding it of others or trying to force it on others”.

There is a danger that leaders may adopt “good” behaviours for the wrong motive. There has been a recent scramble into “cause marketing”, where businesses showcase the good things that they do, but which initiatives may not be genuine, authentic or virtues-based.

Their motive may be public relations, better market performance or higher profitability.

It comes down to this story: The miser visits a rabbi to complain how miserable he is. The rabbi takes him by the shoulders and places him in front of a mirror.

“What do you see?” he asks. “I see myself,” mutters the miser.

The rabbi steers him to the window and asks, “What do you see now?” The miser responds, “I see people and trees”. “The difference,” says the rabbi, “is the silver on the mirror”.

In The Virtuosa Organisation we

offer a comprehensive, practical blueprint for leaders and businesses wishing to transition into becoming a virtuous organisation.

Our hope is that more organisations will change their strategic narrative and become forces for good in society, and in this way build their own sustainability. This requires them to look in the mirror, contemplate the parable of the virtuous business.

Without doing that there can be no reflection, and reflection is a prelude to change. n Graham Williams is an author, executive coach and a certified management consultant active in leadership development. Dorian Haarhoff is a poet and former professor of English, and a writing coach for local and international clients. Peter Fox is a Presbyterian minister, author, and pastoral and grief therapist. The Virtuosa Organisation is available as an eBook from www.haloandnoose.com. Knowledge Resources will publish the hardcopy version early in 2015.

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14

The Southern cross, January 14 to January 20, 2015

BOOK REVIEWS

Pope Francis and the ‘dirty war’ POPE FRANCIS: UNTYING THE KNOT, by Paul Vallely. Bloomsbury Academic. 2013. 240pp Reviewed by Winnie Graham RGENTINE-BORN Pope Francis, elected head of the Catholic Church less than two years ago, carries a cross with which many South Africans could identify.

He has been accused of not doing enough to protect his people during Argentina’s guerra sucia, the “dirty war” of 1976-83 which began after the military overthrew the democratically elected government and embarked on a ruthless campaign to eliminate “communists”.

It is an accusation that has followed him all the way to the Vatican. Virtually on the eve of the election for a new pope, following the resignation of Benedict XVI, someone sent what appeared to be a damming dossier to the cardinals gathered in Rome to elect a new pontiff. The sender did not want the Argentine cardinal to be elected.

Nevertheless, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was elected and took the name Pope Francis. As “the pope of the poor” he has become probably the bestloved of all the Church’s leaders.

But to what extent was Bergoglio

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guilty through acts of omission?

Should he have done more to protect the opponents of the military regime, which in ten years tortured and killed more than 30 000 people?

In Pope Francis: Untying the Knots, British-based writer Paul Vallely takes a hard look at the accusations, and at the way in which Jorge Bergoglio reacted as a leading Catholic churchman in Buenos Aires at the time.

Vallely is one of the world’s leading writers and commentators on political, religious and ethical matters and in his biography he tells a riveting story of a very human clergyman on the horns of a dilemma.

For starters, the pope at the time, St John Paul II, had been a victim of communism in his home country, Poland, and his strong anti-communist leanings permeated throughout the Church, taking a focus especially in the liberation theology of South America.

Bergoglio, as a young Jesuit superior, had to walk a tight rope. He certainly was no supporter of liberation theology.

The military regime’s “cleansing process” started with a range of people, from students and journalists to academics and artists, summarily picked up and tortured. Tens of thousands of people disappeared

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in a campaign of kidnappings and torture. Pregnant women suspected of leftist leanings had their babies removed and these were given to more “conventional” families— while the mothers were “removed”, their bodies dropped into the sea.

B

ut it was Fr Bergoglio’s handling of two Jesuit priests working in the slums of Buenos Aires for which he is often judged.

The question that is being posed is what the Jesuit superior did and should have done when Frs Francisco Jalics and Orlando Yorio were picked up and charged with communist tendencies, for no better reason than working among the poor?

When the two priests refused to abandon their people, they were taken in, shackled, and spent the next four months in a torture detention camp.

Vallely describes the circumstances: “The two Jesuits, Yorio and Jalics, naked apart from the hoods which blinded and confused them, were fastened with shackles hand and foot....The method of torture involved semi-drowning and shocks from electric prods....”

Vallely asks: “Was Bergoglio complicit in this?”

In the first part of his book the author closely investigates the circumstances of the superior’s role.

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Chris Moerdyk

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Owen Williams

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Order from books@scross.co.za or www.books.scross.co.za or call 021 465-5007 or buy at 10 Tuin Plein, Cape Town

He gives an honest assessment and concludes, to put it briefly, that during the dirty war Fr Bergoglio did much to protect many victims of the military junta.

Oddly, it is the background the author provides—rather than his conclusions—that makes the early chapters so eminently readable.

The second part outlines the impact the period had on Bergoglio himself. Despite the ups and downs of the junta era, it was to be the making of the priest.

There is no doubt he must have asked himself if he’d done all he could to protect his people. In the years that followed he is known to have spent considerable time in prayer and contemplation, a time he must surely have examined his role in his country’s tragic history.

What is apparent is that Bergoglio emerged a changed man, given more to consultation than to the dictation he was prone to, by his own admission, as Jesuit superior.

Even more importantly, he began to see the people—specifically the poor—as the foundation of the Church.

And this is the pope whom Catholics around the world have come to know and love, a man who does not stand on ceremony, who cares nought for creature comforts, and whose thoughts are constantly

on the poor. He is, in short, a pontiff who has tossed aside the red slippers of his predecessors and kept on his old shoes.

If, indeed, he has sinned—as he constantly asserts he has—then a life of constant prayer and meditation has literally transformed Pope Francis into the man he has become.

Vallely’s well-researched work provides the world with the true story of the man ordinary folk have come to love. He is first a human, then a man.

The telling of his story will endear him to people even more.

Spotlight on the Blessed Virgin MARY: VIRGIN, MOTHER AND QUEEN: A Bible Study Guide for Catholics, by Fr Mitch Pacwa SJ. Our Sunday Visitor.

2014. 160 pp MARY: HELP IN HARD TIMES: Stories and Prayers, by Marianne Lorraine Trouve FSP. Pauline Books and Media. 114 pp Reviewed by Allan F Wright ATHER Mitch Pacwa, a biblical scholar and host on the Eternal Word Television Network, provides a “hands-on” approach for those seeking a biblical understanding of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in his new book, Mary: Virgin, Mother and Queen.

While the subtitle reads “A Bible Study for Catholics”, this book is a wonderful evangelisation tool for non-Catholic Christians who have reservations concerning Mary in the life of the Catholic Church and in the devotional life of individual Catholics.

This book supplies biblically based references that provide the foundation for Catholic devotion to Mary and opens the reader up anew to devotional observances which have fallen out of practice in recent years.

Fr Pacwa opens with a brief survey of the first three chapters of the Book of Genesis and then proceeds to examine specific incidents where Mary is mentioned or alluded to in the New Testa-

F

quotes from encyclicals, Church documents and saints that speak of Mary as virgin, mother and queen. The book concludes with a chapter on Marian intercession and various Marian prayers.

M ment.

Dispersed throughout each chapter is a call to, “consider, discuss, investigate and practise”, which invites the reader to make their own discoveries and put faith into action.

In the chapter titled “The Birth and Infancy of Jesus”, Fr Pacwa focuses on a familiar word, “ponder”, and brings to light various meanings based on the word’s etymology which may enhance our understanding of the interior disposition of Mary when she pondered all these things in her heart.

“The word ranges in meaning from ‘converse’ to ‘fall in with, engage or fight someone’. This variety of meanings adds nuances to the word ‘ponder’ that includes interaction with a new idea and struggling with it’,” Fr Pacwa writes.

Important to the author is the connection between Scripture and the teaching tradition of the Catholic Church. The reader will find valuable the myriad short

ary: Help in Hard Times, written and compiled by Sr Marianne Lorraine Trouve of the Daughters of St Paul, is a compact book on Mary that answers the questions: “What difference can Mary make in our lives of faith?

Who is Mary, and how can she help us today?”

This book follows four key moments in the life of Mary—her Immaculate Conception, the Annunciation, her divine motherhood and her Assumption—through the lens of Scripture, apparitions and the teachings of the Church that have developed through the centuries regarding the mother of God. For those who have a devotion to Mary already, this book will reinforce the beauty, gentleness and tender care of the mother of Jesus.

Those who have ever wondered about the devotion to this first-century Middle Eastern Jewish woman, won’t be disappointed in both the clarity of the writing and in the affection displayed towards this woman who continues to inspire action and love.—CNS

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.

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 Wayne Golding on (021) 782 7941 or 082 301 9385 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

CLASSIFIEDS

Reflections of a spiritual writer

BY FRAnceS coRReiA

M

ANY years ago I remember listening to Rabbi David Rosen giving a talk on inter-faith dialogue. He spoke of the impact of Vatican II and quoted both Nostra Aetate and a number of other Vatican documents. As he was speaking, I became deeply conscious of how much less than a Jewish rabbi I knew of Catholic teaching.

At that point I had a generic feeling for the teachings of the council. I knew that it had introduced reforms to the liturgy, but I knew very little about it. However, I remember picking up a copy of the council documents and discovering that they were accessible, inspiring, and fleshed out the theology and philosophy that I realised had underpinned my whole life.

In retrospect, the Catholic education I had at Sacred Heart College during the 80s and 90s, which at the time emphasised non-racialism, and was gently but

firmly against apartheid, was completely rooted in the teachings of the council.

In addition, during my childhood and particularly as a young adult I was involved with Jesuits as my parish priest, school chaplain and university chaplain. Ignatian spirituality’s emphasis on finding God in the world and living a life that is completely congruent with faith was what the council was also preaching. For me, Jesuit Pope Francis is reaching people across the world because what he says is relevant to their lives and experience of faith. This same pastoral concern is what makes the writings of Vatican II so appealing.

As I began to read the opening paragraph of Gaudium et Spes, I discovered that this document in particular spelled out the rationale for everything that I believed about morality and the call to follow Christ in the world.

As a response therefore to both Pope Francis and the celebration

Liturgical Calendar Year B Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday January 18, Second Sunday 1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19, Psalms 40:2, 4, 7-10, 1, Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20, John 1:35-42 Monday January 19 Hebrews 5:1-10, Psalms 110:1-4, Mark 2:18-22 Tuesday January 20, Bl Cyprian, St Fabian, St Sebastian Hebrews 6:10-20, Psalms 111:1-2, 4-5, 9-10, Mark 2:23-28 Wednesday January 21, St Agnes Hebrews 7:1-3, 15-17, Psalms 110:1-4, Mark 3:1-6 Thursday January 22, St Vincent Hebrews 7:25--8:6, Psalms 40:7-10, 17, Mark 3:7-12 Friday January 23, St Marianne Cope Hebrews 8:6-13, Psalms 85:8, 10-14, Mark 3:13-19 Saturday January 24, St Francis de Sales Hebrews 9:2-3, 11-14, Psalms 47:2-3, 6-9, Mark 3:20-21 Sunday January 25, Third Sunday Jonah 3:1-5, 10, Psalms 25:4-9, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, Mark 1:14-20

Word of the Week Second Vatican Council: A major meeting of the bishops of the world convened by Pope John XXIII to bring about a renewal of the Church for the second half of the 20th century. It ran from 1962 to 1965 and produced important documents in liturgy, ecumenism, communications and other areas.

of 50 years since the ending of the council, my colleague, Raymond Perrier and I decided to write a book of Lenten reflections inspired in part by the council teachings, by Pope Francis, and by our own lived experience as lay Catholics.

As a mother of three small children, I have become aware of how much the experiences of married life and motherhood have shaped my understanding of faith and the love of God. Hopefully all of these have interwoven in the reflections in a helpful way. Much of the spiritual and theological reflection that I have read comes from a celibate point of view, so I offer the insights of a mother to my Church community in the hope that these may also add to the fullness of our experience of faith.

I hope that Catholics will read and find helpful our new book, Pilgrims in the Modern World. n Contact admin@jesuitinstitute. org.za or +27 11 482 4237.

Continued from Page 1 “It is of vital importance that education in the foundation phase is given the highest priority as without a sound grounding in literacy and numeracy, learners are unable to progress adequately,” said Ms Baker.

The transparency of Umalusi and the Department of Education with regard to the cheating that took place is “appreciated”, said Ms Baker.

“This is an indication that checks and balances are in place to ensure the integrity of the exam.

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 637. ACROSS: 5 Alps, 7 Exhumation, 8 Thou, 10 Immunity, 11 Branch, 12 Thrift, 14 Kittim, 16 Delict, 17 Agnostic, 19 Gilt, 21 Goody-goody, 22 Asia. DOWN: 1 Left, 2 Huguenot, 3 Parish, 4 Kismet, 5 Anon, 6 Pontifical, 9 Harbingers, 13 Religion, 15 Motion, 16 Decays, 18 Olga, 20 Toys.

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CLASSIFIEDS

DEATHS

FR O’CONNOR—Peter. A capetonian and former christian Brother, he died peacefully on December 25, 2014 in the parish of St Michael, Parana, Argentina. Fondly remembered by his brother Michael and nephews Jeremy, Timothy and John.

HARTWANGER—Kevin Michael. Died peacefully at home on December 24, after a long illness. Loving husband of Sheila, muchloved father and father-inlaw of Aidan and Tamara, David and Lyndee, Stephen and Julie, Paul and Doris. Precious grandpa of Daniel, Luke, Sophie, Alice, eva, Gabriel, James and Lara.

May his dear soul rest in peace.

BRAAF—eugene.

Beloved husband, father, grandfather and father-inlaw, passed away peacefully on 21/01/2010. You are always in our thoughts and prayers. We miss you dearly. May the Almighty God Bless you. May your dear soul rest in peace. Always remembered by Daphne, eugenie, Michael, noleen, Wayne, Lucretia, carol, Ryan, Andrea, Amy-Leigh and Tehillah.

DAVIDS—in loving memory of Dominic, passed away on December 31, 2012, still unreal, miss you much. Love Mom, Dad, Tina Langley and family, Stephanie v d Berg and family, Angeline Davids and family.

VAN DRIEL—James.

10/01/1937-19/01/2009. in loving memory of a husband, father, grandfather and friend. it’s been six years since God called you home to your reward.

We speak of you daily, you live in our hearts and your spirit remains with us. May the Holy Family keep you, from your wife eunice, children and grandchildren.

Member of the NFDA

The Southern Cross Associates

The Mass for all Southern Cross Associates will be held on Saturday January 24, 2015 at St Mary’s catholic cathedral, cape Town All Welcome our Associates also help keep The Southern Cross alive!

Please become an Associate For further info contact the office: 021 465 5007 or e-mail admin@scross.co.za

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in time of need. To you i have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you to come to my assistance. Help me now in my urgent need and grant my petitions. in return i promise to make your name known and publish this prayer. Amen.

Rc.

HAVE mercy on me, o God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For i know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Against you, you alone, have i sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment. indeed, i was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me. You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and i shall be clean; wash me, and i shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. create in me a clean heart, o God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Psalm 51

PRAYERS

HOLY ST JUDE, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of Jesus christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron

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41809 MASS followed by Mass intention 41809 VeRi followed by comments

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THANkS be to thee, my Lord Jesus christ, For all the benefits thou hast won for me, For all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me. o most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother, May i know thee more clearly, Love thee more dearly, And follow thee more nearly, For ever and ever.

NOAH OLD AGE HOMES

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Help us to create an avenue to generate much needed funds for our work with the elderly.

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O MOST beautiful flower of Mount carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of Heaven, blessed Mother of the Son of God, immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. o Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein that you are my Mother, o Holy Mary Mother of God, Queen of heaven and earth, i humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to secure me in my necessity. There are none who can withstand your power, o show me that you are my mother. o Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Thank you for your mercy towards me and mine. Amen.

PERSONAL

ABORTION is murder—Silence on this issue is not golden, it’s yellow! Avoid pro-abortion politicians.

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Secure parking, ideal for rest and relaxation. Special rates for pensioners and clergy. Malcolm Salida 082 784 5675, mjsalida@ gmail.com LOVING FATHER bless us, the people of AFRICA, and help us to live in justice, love and peace Mary, Mother of Africa, pray for us For prayer leaflet: sms 083 544 8449

The Southern Cross is a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa. Printed by Paarl Coldset (Pty) Ltd, 10 Freedom Way, Milnerton.

Published by the proprietors, The Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Co Ltd, at the company’s registered office, 10 Tuin Plein, Cape Town, 8001.

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: Stuart Graham (s.graham@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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3rd Sunday: January 25 Readings: Jonah 3:1-5, 10, Psalm 25:4-9, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, Mark 1:14-20

T

•

HE call of God comes uncomfortably to us; but answering it is the only thing that we can do. That is what the readings for next Sunday are telling us.

The first reading is from the splendid and (it must be said, light-hearted) book of Jonah, a challenge to all those who in the author’s day (and in ours) think that God is interested only in the people who share our religion.

You remember how it goes; in the first chapter, Jonah makes an unsuccessful attempt to run away from God’s very demanding calling, the upshot of which is that (at his suggestion) the reluctant sailors in the boat with him fling him into the sea; in the second chapter he is swallowed by a large fish, and sings a song, at the end of which Jonah is vomited onto the shore.

Now the reluctant prophet gets the message, and sets about God’s task. To the reader’s astonishment, the mission is successful, and the entire city of Nineveh puts on sackcloth and holds a fast.

The result is that “God repented of the evil which he said he would do to them; and he did not do it”. And was Jonah happy about the result of his God-given calling? To find

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What is your uncomfortable task?

Fr Nicholas King SJ

Sunday Reflections

out, you will have to read the final chapter of the book; but you may have to restrain your laughter.

The psalm for next Sunday is well aware that we can get things wrong, and that we need God’s help: “make me know your ways, Lord, and instruct me in your paths”, he sings; but the heart of the matter (and we shall do well to imitate this) is his trust in God, “for you are the God of my salvation”; and he can confidently ask the Lord to “remember your compassion, Lord, and your steadfast love, for they are from of old”.

God is not indifferent to our (self-inflicted) plight, but “makes sinners to see on the way”.

You might count the number of times the

singer uses the words “way” or “path” in this excerpt from the psalm: it is very significant.

You can feel the discomfort in next Sunday’s second reading, also. Paul is trying to answer some tricky questions from his Corinthians as to what they are to do about sex. Corinth was the kind of city where people did pretty well whatever they pleased in that department, and some of the Christians had gone scandalously “over the top”, while others, by contrast, were saying that “all sex is bad”.

Paul wants to walk a tricky tightrope between these two extremes, and manages this by reminding them that the end might come at any time. Their vocation as Christians means that they have to recognise that while marriage is good, it is not the only good; what matters is the context, and the fundamental question: where is God calling me?

The final sentence is the background of the vocation of each of us: “The shape of this world is passing away.” God is in charge, and has an uncomfortable call for each of us.

The gospel has no less than five uncomfortable callings.

My top ten books for 2014 T

HE pressures of work and ministry, unfortunately, limit the time I have available for books but I scrupulously carve out some time most days to read.

I’m never without a novel lying open.

Good novelists have insights that psychologists and spiritual writers can only envy.

As well, always lying open somewhere within reach too will be a good biography or a book of essays.

Finally, there are theological and spirituality books which, given both my temperament and my vocation, I read with passion, but which also serve as a source of professional development for me.

So, what are the best ten books that I read in 2014?

Among novels, I particularly recommend these four: • Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See. This isn’t just one of the top books that I read this past year, it is, making an exception for the great classics of English literature, for me, one of the best novels that I’ve ever read. This is simply a great book; not quite the Diary of Anne Frank, but a story which moves the heart in a similar fashion.

• Marilynne Robinson, Lila. Robinson picks up some of her characters from Gilead, inserts a lost, young woman named Lila and, through her voice, gives us a near poetry of loneliness and faith. Aside from her emotional depth and perfect prose, Robinson also offers an apologia for the compassion and mercy of God that can help make faith more credible to many of its sceptics today.

• Sue Monk Kidd, The Invention of

Conrad

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

Wings. This is a powerful historical novel about both the evil of slavery and of sexism. Mirroring the Christian story of redemption, good ultimately triumphs, but not before someone has to sweat some blood in martyrdom. Sue Monk Kidd is always worth reading, but this book stands out, even for a novelist of her calibre.

Jhumpa Lahire, The Lowland. Like many of Lahire’s novels this story also sets itself within the particular trials of emigrating from India to America, but the flashlight that it shines into human relationships helps lay bare some very universal struggles.

Among biographical essays, two books stood out for me this past year.

• Trevor Herriot, The Road is How, A Prairie Pilgrimage through Nature, Desire and Soul. The flow of the book follows its title.

Herriot does a walking pilgrimage across part of Saskatchewan’s prairies, a land roamed for centuries by the buffalo, and lets nature and desire speak to his soul.

The result is a remarkable chronicle, a deeply moral book about nature, human nature, sexuality, faith, and desire.

• Nancy Rappaport, In Her Wake, A Child Psychiatrist Explores the Mystery of Her

Mother’s Suicide. In this book, Nancy Rappaport does what all of us should do if we have lost a loved one to suicide, namely, work through that person’s story and find the threads to cleanse and redeem his or her memory.

Among theological and spirituality books, I recommend: • James Martin, A Pilgrimage. This is Jim Martin at his best, offering a good, balanced, healthy Christology, presented in a reader-friendly way. Scholarship accessible to everyone.

• Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark. She made the cover of Time magazine for this book, deservedly.

Taylor offers an insight into the dark night of the soul for those who can’t, or won’t, read more technical theological literature.

• Gerhard Lohfink, Jesus of Nazareth, What He Wanted, Who He Was. This is more of a scholarly book, though still pretty accessible to the non-professional.

It combines solid scholarship, creative insight, good balance, and committed Christian faith.

• Christian Salenson, Christian de Chergé, A Theology of Hope. Christian de Chergé was the abbott of the community of Trappist monks who were martyred in Algeria in 1996. This book collects his key writings, particularly as they pertain to the question of the relationship of Christianity to other religions, especially to Islam.

An exceptional book, though hardly surprising, given the exceptional faith and character of Christian de Chergé.

May many good books find you in 2015.

The first is that of Jesus; and the sign that his vocation has started is a reminder of the discomfort: “after John had been handed over”. Later on in the gospel we shall hear the terrible story of John’s decapitation, and we shall also hear, several times, of Jesus himself being “handed over”.

So now he comes into the Galilee, proclaiming his slogan: “The time has been fulfilled, and God’s reign has drawn near”, with the uncomfortable message “turn around and believe in the gospel”.

Then he spreads the discomfort, as he calls a further four persons to his side; they are fishers, these two sets of brothers, and Jesus even makes a little joke of it, telling them that it is a different kind of fishing to which they are called.

We watch in astonishment as first, Simon and his brother Andrew, and then Jacob, Zebedee’s son, and John his brother, abandon, in one case, their precious nets, and in the other, their precious father, “and went off after him”.

What is the uncomfortable new task to which the Lord is calling you this week?

Southern Crossword #637

ACROSS 5. Hannibal’s hurdles (4) 7. The way to bring up the bones (10) 8. You are in here, although in old English (4) 10. You are not liable to have it (8) 11. Jesus said it grows on the vine (6) 12. Frugality (6) 14. The islands of this island are the destination (Jer 2) (6) 16. Violation of the law by Celt I’d upset (6) 17. He doesn’t know what to believe (8) 19. Covered in gold leaf (4) 21 Holy Joe who takes little treat twice (5-5) 22. Continent (4)

DOWN 1. It’s not right, this way (4) 2. French immigrant to the fruitful Cape (8) 3. European capital hospital will have a resident priest (6) 4. Turkish destiny (6) 5. Author unknown shortly (4) 6. If pilot can be around the pope (10) 9. Bring share to precursors (10) 13. System of faith (8) 15. Formal proposal may be moving (6) 16. Rots (6) 18. Some cool gallant has girl’s name (4) 20. These are child’s play (4)

Solutions on page 15

CHURCH CHUCKLE

A

T the pearly gates are a taxi driver and a priest.

Saint Peter says: “Who are you?” The guy replies: “I’m Joe Ntini, Johannesburg taxi driver.”

Saint Peter smiles and says: “Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter heaven."

The priest is next: “I am Joseph Snow, parish priest of of Saint Mary’s for the last 43 years."

Saint Peter says: “Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the kingdom of heaven."

“Hey!” says the priest. “How can this be?”

“Up here, we work by results,” says Saint Peter.

“While you preached, people slept. While he drove, people prayed.”

Send us your favourite catholic joke, preferably clean and brief, to The Southern cross, church chuckle, Po Box 2372, cape Town, 8000.