150617 by The Southern Cross

The

S outhern C ross

June 17 to June 23, 2015

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 4929

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Priests speak on Church and the youth

Page 25

16-page Catholic education supplement

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Why priest couldn’t hear confession

Page 23

Church must preach to fight witch hunts BY STUART GRAHAM

he Church must use the Gospel and preach its moral teachings to fight the spread of witchcraft, a retired Catholic bishop based in Musina in Limpopo has said. Bishop Hugh Slattery, retired of Tzaneen, spoke after a spate of violent witch hunts in the Nancefield area in Musina. He stressed that it is important for the Church to be clear on its teachings. “Witchcraft and all those kinds of things flourish on hearsay and gossip,” said Bishop Slattery, who led the diocese of Tzaneen from 1984 to 2010. “There is fear around it. People are scared. They don’t speak openly about it,” Bishop Slattery said. “The Church can play a role in stopping the spread of witchcraft by using the Gospel to teach its faith and sacraments. We also have to use religious means like rituals to help people,” he said. “We need to preach the moral teachings of the Church. We have to be clear on these issues.” Dozens of people, including children, were arrested after they allegedly burned down a 70-year-old pastor’s house.

olice spokeswoman Ronel Otto said the pastor had been seen in a video on Charis TV, which broadcasts charismatic Christian church services, in which he confessed that he was involved in witchcraft and that his teenage daughter was an evil spirit. The community saw the video, went to his house and tried to burn it down with the family inside, Ms Otto said. The police were called and rescued the pastor, his wife and daughter before they could be harmed. The group later threw stones at police officers and their cars before blockading the N1 between Musina and Beit Bridge. The group mobilised again later. On this occasion it succeeded in burning down the pastor’s house. The following day a group

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threw rocks at the pastor’s brother’s house. No one was injured in the attacks. The South African Council of Churches’ provincial secretary for Limpopo, Lechipisha Mohlala, said that the council was deeply disturbed by the pastor’s televised confession and the actions of the residents who had destroyed his property. “The problem of the day is that we have all these commercialised churches who use public media to lure people for personal gains. People have now taken the church for a business enterprise. We condemn all those acts of commercialising the church.” Limpopo government spokesman Phuti Seloba called on charismatic churches to stop encouraging people to make dangerous public statements.

ishop Slattery said the beatification of Benedict Daswa, who was beaten to death by members of his community on February 2, 1990, after he refused to take part in a witch hunt, will be an important step in stopping the spread of witchcraft. “Daswa is a hugely important figure. He had a special grace. He rejected witchcraft. A lot of people were with him silently but not in public,” said the bishop, who launched the sainthood cause for Daswa. “Daswa was prepared to stand up and be counted and take the consequences without forcing his views on people.” Benedict Daswa, a school principal and father of eight, is due to be beatified in Thohoyandou on September 13. Bishop Slattery said all kinds of misfortune feed into witchcraft, including droughts, thunderstorms and unseasonable weather. Pentecostal churches, which often blame the devil for everything, also have to take responsibility for halting the violence. “It is a complex issue. Tension and stress feed into it,” Bishop Slattery said. “People will try and make an enemy into a witch. There is much dishonesty in the whole thing.” (See also page18)

When Bishop Abel Gabuza visited the small church of St Theresa in Manyeledi in the remote Kalahari for the confirmation of 16 candidates, he was advised to get out of the car and leave it on the side of the road in order to cross the sandy street to arrive at his destination. On his first visit to the church, Bishop Gabuza expressed appreciation to the community for the organised way of his welcome. He noted the grinding poverty in the area, saying: “It needs faith to make life from here, and I really admire the people who live this side of the diocese.”

Fr King lectures touch listeners STAFF REPORTER

ATHER Nicholas King SJ has wrapped up his Winter Theology lectures in Gauteng and Bloemfontein, and is now preparing to deliver his lectures in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. The world-renowned Jesuit Scripture scholar and long-time Southern Cross columnist is in South Africa to present the series of lectures entitled “The Scandal of Christian Disunity: A Biblical Approach”. In the lectures King looks at disunion in the Church and between churches. It is a return to South Africa for Fr King, who served in the country from the late 1980s until 2002, and is returning to England after a year-long stint in Boston, Massachusetts. He still writes his weekly reflections on the Sunday readings exclusively for The Southern Cross. “I was really touched by Fr King’s reading and insight into the Scriptures,” said a participant who attended the first week of the annual Winter Living Theology in Bryanston, Johannesburg, hosted by the Jesuit Institute.

St John Paul II Pilgrimage to Poland Southern Cross

Fr Nicholas King speaking in Johannesburg. “I really appreciated the input and the gentle manner in which it was presented,” said the participant, who declined to be named. Fr King, in a series of nine lectures over three days, looked at disunion in the early Church and how they managed it. He looked at divisions that arose in the Pauline writings and then took each of the gospels and examined various conflicts. Fr King also used a lecture to look at the Continued on page 3

A journey to the places of St John Paul II’s life and devotions, led by a Bishop who knows Poland intimately.

Led by Bishop Stan Dziuba 13 - 21 May 2016

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

LOCAL

SACBC publishes new Catholic Directory BY DYLAN APPOLIS

bishop, the location of a nearby Catholic bookshop or a Bible institute, telephone numbers for a Catholic school or even an e-mail address for any religious men or women,” Mr Mkhabela said. It also includes information such as previous bishops in a diocese. “The new Catholic Directory reflects the recent restructuring of the SACBC, general contact detail updates and even Mass times in parishes and many more additions, as well as deletions [of obsolete information],” said Rob Riedlinger, director of Mariannhill Mission Press, which assisted in the production of the directory. Each archdiocese and diocese is listed, giving a brief history and a list of previous bishops. The diocesan sections include the names, addresses and contact details for every parish and mission. Mr Mkhabela told The Southern Cross about the problems when producing the directory: “When relying for information coming from dioce-

STRIKING black cover with a blue-lit image of the world depicts how the new Catholic Directory for 2015-2016 has become modernised, with an online version going live soon. The latest edition of the Catholic Directory, published by the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) every two years, is now available. It is an essential resource, especially for those working in the field of Catholic projects. Where in the past the covers of the directory were plain, featuring the SACBC logo with only changes in colour differentiating one edition from the others, for the past three editions they have had covers with creative graphic images in striking colours. The Catholic Directory is edited by long-serving SACBC librarian Johnson Mkhabela. “We needed quite a lot of time, dedication, patience, full heartedness and hard work in trying to

SACBC librarian Johnson Mkhabela with the new 2015-2016 edition of the Catholic Directory, which he edited. make the new directory more userfriendly and easy to navigate,” Mr Mkhabela told The Southern Cross.

“The directory is a vital resource for people who need to know the address of a parish or the name of a

ses and parishes it takes time, and sometimes you have to run after someone to supply you with information, which sometimes he or she also does not have.” He added: “Sometimes one has to wait for the reshuffle of the personnel in the diocese. There are big dioceses and small dioceses, some don’t have a secretary and you have to deal with the bishop, who sometimes is overseas on business, and one must just wait until he is back in the office.” A long-held vision to place the directory on the Internet will be realised soon. “We are blending the old with the new, by using the Catholic Directory book to form an online Catholic directory,” Mr Riedlinger said. n The Catholic Directory is available from Catholic bookshops, or directly from the SACBC at R220 plus postage of R30. Contact Johnson Mkhabela at JMkhabela@sacbc.org.za or 012 323 6458.

New community development centre needs food and donations BY DYLAN APPOLIS

HEN Labeekah Peters saw the great need to help the community of Tafelsig in Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town, she reached out to Kevin Roussel, executive director of Catholic Welfare and Development (CWD). Ms Peters and her team of 11 volunteers met with Mr Roussel, proposing that they use CWD premises

to open a community development centre in Tafelsig. Mr Roussel then called on CWD’s Early Learning Services Organisation (ELSO) manager Rhonda Qually to work with the group of volunteers. “The group of 12 volunteers were enthusiastic and willing to make a change in the Tafelsig community. They took just over three weeks to clean up the centre to

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make it ready for the children,” Ms Qually said. The community development centre is hoping to open its doors this month, starting with 20 children—but the organisers intend to include after-care and eventually workshops for the parents and caregivers in the future. The ELSO programme is supporting the initiative by raising funds through a Facebook campaign.

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some educational equipment, tables and chairs for the kiddies,” Ms Qually added. Should the centre fail to get enough donations, it won’t be able to keep its doors open. The centre can operate only if it has enough food to feed the children with. n For more information or to help, contact Rhonda Qually at rhonda.qually @cwd.org.za or 073 131 6052.

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“Ultimately we hope to get sponsors to ensure that there is a regular income for the food and upkeep. “The ELSO will involve the Tafelsig volunteers in all training programmes that we run, in order to ensure that the development of the children is optimum,” Ms Qually said. “I have managed to raise funds for around ten mattresses so far, I have collected and delivered toys,

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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

New parish priest Fr Rampe Hlobo SJ (left) greets parishioners with outgoing priest Fr Terry Mutesha SJ at St Mary’s in Nyanga, Cape Town.

Jesuit in, Jesuit out BY NOLUTHANDO HONONO

T MARY’S church in Nyanga, Cape Town, welcomed its new parish priest, Fr Rampe Hlobo SJ. Fr Hlobo, former director of the Jesuit Refugee Service in South Africa, has just returned from the Philippines where he has been since last year September to complete his Jesuit training. Outgoing parish priest Fr Terry Mutesha, also a Jesuit, introduced his successor to the congregation. The long-awaited arrival of the

new parish priest was celebrated with traditional and contemporary hymns. During the Mass, the St Anne’s Sodality brought groceries for offertory as a symbol of the parish’s hospitality to Fr Hlobo. Fr Hlobo was presented with two welcoming speeches, by a representative of the parish pastoral council and a member of the youth;. Both speeches highlighted the nature of interaction in the parish as well as the willingness of parishioners to assist where necessary.

Ethiopians bid member farewell

HE Ethiopian and Eritrean Catholic community attended a celebration Mass in the archdiocese of Pretoria at Holy Rosary church in Tembisa for Tesfaye Lobduno, who is returning to Ethiopia after living in South Africa since 2008. The Mass was said by parish priest Fr Herman Van Dijk MSC. After Mass, community chair Kidane W/Yesus gave a speech and catechist Demeka Lamango offered prayers. Community national Coor-

dinator Hailu Adalo shared the word of God about the meaning of seven gifts of Pentecost from Isaiah 11:2-10 in lighting seven candles to symbolise the Pentecost light. At end of the event the family elders, community leaders and all participants offered many blessings and a safe trip home to Ethiopia for Mr Lobduno. Finally, everyone gathered to enjoy Ethiopian traditional food together.

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

LOCAL

Children’s home: We’re sick and tired of crime BY DYLAN APPOLIS

T In support of World Environment Day, De La Salle Holy Cross College in Johannesburg joined the #KeepOurCityClean movement run by the Johannesburg Junior Council. They launched a competition challenging students to take a selfie while doing something environmentally friendly, and posting it to social media to compete for prizes. The winning team, Kristin Solomon and Matthew Bernhardt, grabbed the chance to “do something meaningful” and took first place after cleaning up an entire rugby field. Xanthya Kriel (centre), manager of Doppio Zero’s Greenside branch, presented them with a Doppio Zero voucher for their efforts.

The annual Corpus Christi High Mass at Holy Trinity church in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, was followed by the traditional procession, with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, in first the Franciscan Nardini convent grounds and then at the grotto of Our Lady in the church grounds. The celebrants were Frs Sizwe Zungu and Bongumenzi Zulu of Eshowe diocese. (Photo: Sydney Duval)

HE Love of Christ Ministries (TLC) has fallen victim to crime in the past weeks and founder Thea Jarvis is fed up with being a target. TLC, a home for abandoned babies run by a Catholic family with volunteers, has been in existence for 22 years. In that time, it has placed almost 900 babies into families. “We always struggle with funding and support, as most organisations of our kind do. There’s very little coming from the government and the Lotto seems to have closed its doors to charities for the past two years. We really live quite a hand-to-mouth existence,” Mrs Jarvis said. In recent times TLC, based on a farm in Eikenhof, just outside Johannesburg, has fallen victim to crime. “We realise that TLC is not the only place that suffers from the constant battery of criminals. Nevertheless, the security situation continues to be our enemy on every front,” she said. “We have always had problems with petty theft, sometimes more troublesome than other times. But now it is very serious all the time. The things they are robbing from us now are things we cannot do without and we cannot afford to replace.” In recent weeks TLC and its neighbouring properties have suffered crimes, from petty theft to

These children have found families, and have moved on years ago. Therefore, TLC is now permitted to show their pictures. But there are children just like them, in TLC’s facility right now, who desperately need safe and loving homes. murder. “We had a couple of serious break-ins in which we lost all our computers and other office equipment,” Mrs Jarvis said. “We have installed alarms and my sons have been patrolling our property between 2:00 and 4:30 every night. “It’s very heavy-going on their nerves, though. These young men are really taking a lot of strain, especially after the murder that had occurred so close to our home,” she said. But TLC won’t give up. Rather,

Mrs Jarvis said, they will work even harder to make sure the little ones at TLC don’t fall through the cracks. “We need to persevere for them, so that at the end of the day they can be guaranteed a settled and peaceful family that will enable them to live a long and satisfying life.” TLC are now appealing for assistance in providing more security for the property. n For more information on how to assist TLC with anything, contact Thea Jarvis on 083 462-1363 or e-mail at thea@tlc.org.za

Fr Nicholas King tours SA Continued from page 1 Catholic epistles including Hebrews, James, 1&2 Peter and Jude. “Many people found Fr King’s lecture on the book of Revelation especially helpful. It’s a book that causes countless people anxiety and is often used against Catholic Christians who are not well versed in the imagery and message of Revelation,” said Fr Russell Pollitt SJ, director of the Jesuit Institute. “Many questions and a good discussion followed this lecture and a number of people remarked on how Fr King had opened their eyes to see Revelation in a new way,” he said. Another participant from a nonCatholic Church said: “I found the humour, hope and careful preparation wonderful. I am very grateful that I was able to seize this opportunity and attend this week which has opened up the Scriptures for me in a new way.”

Besides the three-day lectures course, Fr King also gave evening lectures in parishes—one at Regina Mundi in Soweto and another at Christ the King, Queenswood, Pretoria. In the evening lecture he addressed the question of the role of Mary in ecumenical relations: Is the Catholic stance on Mary an obstacle to Christian unity? Looking at Mary in the New Testament, most notably in Luke’s gospel, he showed how Mary makes sense only when we realise that she is always pointing towards Jesus, her son. After the lecture, Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria said: “Fr King has a real gift for talking about deep mysteries of our Catholic faith in a very accessible manner.” Fr King also delivered a talk to members of the faculty of theology at the University of Pretoria. After

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the lecture there was much discussion about the state of ecumenical relations. It was agreed by all present that Pope Francis has peaked a new interest in the Catholic Church and is certainly helping all Christians reflect on what it means to be a Christian today. One of the participants, a DutchReformed New Testament scholar, said that he had never followed a pope so closely in the last 30 years. Fr King told the faculty: “I am very hopeful that we will find a way of working more closely together because God is in charge and if we allow the Spirit to lead us we will be taken to places that surprise us.” Fr King will present Winter Living Theology in the following places: June 23-25 in Durban, July 7-9 in Port Elizabeth and July 14-16 in Cape Town. He will also deliver evening lec-

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Fr Nicholas King is in South Africa for a series of lectures looking at Christian unity. tures while in those cities. Full details are available on www.jesuit institute.org.za

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The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

INTERNATIONAL

German Church elects its own Berlin bishop BY JONATHAN LUXMOORE

T Pilgrims pray around a statue of Mary on Apparition Hill in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS)

Vatican to announce decision on Medjugorje BY CAROL GLATZ

OPE Francis said the Vatican was ready to make an announcement concerning the alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith met recently to discuss the issue and “we’ve reached the point of making a decision and then they will say”, he told journalists. The expected announcement will include “just some guidelines [the congregation] will give to the bishops”, he said in response to a reporter’s question. An international commission of cardinals, bishops, theologians and other experts, working under the auspices of the doctrinal congregation, was set up in 2010 to investigate the claims of six young people who said Mary had appeared to them daily beginning in 1981. The apparitions purportedly

continue and thousands travel to the small town each month to meet the alleged seers and to pray. After a few years, the commission completed its study in which the members “did a beautiful job, a beautiful job”, Pope Francis said at the end of his one-day visit to Sarajevo. For years the local bishop, Bishop Ratko Peric of MostarDuvno, has said he believes nothing supernatural is happening in Medjugorje. While the Vatican has said dioceses should not organise official pilgrimages to Medjugorje, it has said Catholics are free to visit the town and pray there, and that the diocese of Mostar-Duvno and the Franciscans should organise pastoral care for them. Pope Benedict XVI had reaffirmed that the Church never requires the faithful to believe in apparitions, not even those recognised by the Church.—CNS

HE election of Bishop Heiner Koch of Dresden-Meissen, Germany, as archbishop of Berlin follows tradition and stems from good Church-state relations, said a Church official. “One can never tell how well this system works, since the voting is secret and there’s no public consultation like in Germany’s Protestant churches,” said Stefan Forner, spokesman for the Berlin archdiocese. “However, elements of democracy are clearly at work here, since this is a real election. Although the process generally lasts too long, the same problem can occur in dioceses which don’t elect their bishops,” Mr Forner said. Pope Francis confirmed the election of Archbishop Koch which occurred under the Vatican’s 1929 concordat with Prussia and revived after Germany’s reunification in 1989. A concordat is an agreement between a pope and a government concerning the regulation of Church affairs. Mr Forner said the final tally was secret, “but we’ve been informed Bishop Koch gained a sufficient majority”. “There’ve been calls to make the election procedures clearer and more transparent, but this wouldn’t reflect Catholic tradition,” he explained. “Nor could our German system be easily reproduced in other countries.” Archbishop Koch, 61, was elected to succeed Cardinal Rainer Woelki, who was transferred to Cologne archdiocese after three years as archbishop of Berlin.

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Bishop Heiner Koch is pictured following the announcement of his election as the new archbishop of Berlin. (Photo: Arno Burgi, EPA/CNS) KNA, Germany’s Catholic news agency, said that under concordat rules the state governments of Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern had to be officially notified of the election, which could only be confirmed by the pope if they raised “no concerns of a political nature”. “Although it’s sometimes questioned whether this system allows for genuine choice, we’re pleased with this appointment, and the current methods seem to suit everyone,” Mr Forner said. Procedures for appointing bishops, disputed for centuries by ecclesiastical and secular authorities, were codified by the Catholic Church’s 1917 Code of Canon Law, which stipulated that nominations rested solely with the pope. However, the right to elect their own bishops, from a terna, or list

of three candidates approved by Rome, is still held by 13 of Germany’s 27 dioceses and archdioceses under the concordat as well as by the archdiocese of Salzburg, Austria, and the dioceses of Basel, Chur and Sankt Gallen in Switzerland. Besides ensuring no local government objections, elected bishops also must swear a loyalty oath to the state constitution. Mr Forner said the Church was required only to notify, rather than to consult, government officials about episcopal nominations. However, he added that the Vatican and Church leaders traditionally had been glad to seek government approval, as a means of avoiding conflict. Germany’s Deutsche Welle radio said that Archbishop Koch would face “tough challenges” in the Berlin Archdiocese, which announced plans in 2012 to merge its parishes into 30 larger “pastoral areas” and pool its resources in the face of falling Church membership. In 2009, the archdiocese closed unused churches and laid off 40% of its staff. The former East Germany is widely considered Europe’s least religious territory, and ordained just six priests for its five dioceses in 2014 and three in 2013. However, in its commentary, Deutsche Welle said Archbishop Koch was considered “a Churchman in the spirit of Pope Francis”, who would approach his tasks “without ideological blinders” in the “mostly non-Christian and very non-Catholic German capital”.—CNS

Patriarch: World’s conscience is dead L EBANON’S Maronite Catholic patriarch, visiting war-torn Syria, condemned “the death of the world’s conscience” in its response to the violence in the Middle East. In a homily at the Maronite cathedral of St Anthony in Damascus, Cardinal Bechara Rai also issued a call for peace, “for stopping the war, for political solutions and for the honoured return” of the 12 million Syrians who have been uprooted by the country’s four-year civil war. “We condemn injustice, the death of the world’s conscience and all those who provide arms and money for sabotage, destruction, killing and displacement,” Cardinal Rai said. Following Mass, the patriarch inaugurated a new Maronite social centre. His pastoral visit to the Syrian capital also included attending the inauguration of the Greek Orthodox patriarchate and participating in the annual meeting of the Catholic and Orthodox Eastern patriarchs. The religious leaders chose to meet this year in Damascus instead of Lebanon to reassure Middle East Christians troubled by war and displacement. “We will reflect together, we unite in thought, word and deed, bringing together the concern of our people in Syria and Iraq as well as in various countries of the Middle East...in the hope that this Way of the Cross is followed by the Resurrection,” Cardinal Rai said of the patriarchs’ meeting. “We carry the cause of all Christians, people of Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Yemen and any country that suffers,” the cardinal said. “We, the five Eastern patriarchs, are

here to pray for peace. We pray for peace in Syria and the region; we pray for the dead conscience of the international community. We pray for a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Syria, and that Syrians— Christians and Muslims—remain attached to their land, and for the return to their homes in dignity, of those that the war displaced.” Cardinal Rai also urged the faithful to persevere and hold on to hope, despite numerous atrocities. “Despite proponents of war, those who fund [it] and mercenaries who make a trade and profit, I am convinced that this wave of violence is fleeting. We are invited to hold on. Many have shed their blood, many were martyred but their blood was not shed in vain. Many also have been forced to flee,” he said. “I add my voice to that of Pope Francis, who does not let a week go by without praying for peace in Syria,” Cardinal Rai added. “The essential thing is not to lose our Christian maturity. That is the meaning of what we will discuss [during the meeting]. We patriarchs are with you, before you, with you in prayer.” Cardinal Rai last visited Syria in February 2013 for the enthronement of Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X of Antioch and all the East. His visit was considered an historic milestone because it was the first by the head of the Maronite Church since Lebanon’s independence from France in 1943. Lebanon is hosting more than 1,5 million Syrian refugees. Prior to the onslaught of waves of refugees, Lebanon’s population was around 4 million. Now about one in every 4 people in the country is a Syrian.—CNS

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

Pope: World War III being fought piecemeal BY CAROL GLATZ

O overcome fear, discrimination and conflict, people must have a deep desire to open themselves up to God and his mercy, and work actively for peace every day, Pope Francis said. God’s plan for creation is peace, “which always meets opposition from humanity and the devil”, he said during a one-day visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The cold reality today is that the world is facing “a kind of Third World War being fought in piecemeal” amidst “an atmosphere of war” worldwide. But the “ray of sunshine piercing the clouds” is Christ’s appeal to work for peace, the pope said during an outdoor Mass in the capital’s Kosevo sports stadium, where more than 60 000 people gathered from different parts of the Balkan region under a hot, hazy sky. Signs of peace emerging from a war-torn nation stood out throughout the city, whose residents are mostly Muslim. Small groups of well-wishers and cheering families lined the main avenues from the airport as armed military helicopters circled the sky. Sleek modern glass and steel commercial buildings were scattered among rows of towering communist-era apartment buildings whose grey cement walls were riddled with bullet holes and gouged by shrapnel. The holes left behind are marked with large dark grey splotches where the newer cement was troweled on and left unpainted. Flowers adorned some

Pope Francis arrives for a meeting with priests, men and women religious and seminarians in Sacred Heart cathedral in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Also pictured in the popemobile is Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS) gravestones in a makeshift cemetery on a grassy plot between a snarl of highway bypasses. During the years of urban warfare, it was difficult to bury the dead in established cemeteries on the outskirts of town, so parks and roadsides became burial grounds. “War means children, women and the elderly in refugee camps; it means forced displacement of peoples; it means destroyed homes, streets and factories; it means above all, countless shattered lives,” the pope said in his homily.

Christians: Seek Jesus not seers B BY CAROL GLATZ

EING Christian is looking for, following and imitating Jesus Christ—nothing more, Pope Francis said at Mass in his residence. Being Christian is not looking for those who always have something new to reveal, saying, “‘Where are the seers who will tell us today about the letter that Our Lady will send at four o’clock in the afternoon?’ for example,” he said. “This is not Christian identity. God’s final word is called ‘Jesus’ and nothing more,” the pope said. Christian identity is “beautiful” and concrete, he said, according to Vatican Radio; it is seen in a living witness to Christ, the Beatitudes and the “Judgment of the Nations”, which refers to feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and the other actions mentioned in Matthew 25:31-46. However, because of human sin, Christians may not be faithful to their identity and may be tempted to weaken or misplace it, the

pope said. The danger of a weakened identity is seen when someone “goes from witness to ideas, watering down witness: ‘Well, sure, I am Christian. Christianity is like so, a beautiful idea. I pray to God,’” the pope said. The person goes from concrete Gospel commandments to “this religion that’s a bit ‘soft’, in the air and on the path of the Gnostics,” who emphasised special knowledge over witness. The danger of losing the proper focus of Christian identity can be seen with “those who always need some novelty” and don’t realise it all begins and ends with Jesus. They have “forgotten that they have been chosen, anointed”, and have the Holy Spirit, not seers, to guide them. There is also the risk of being too open to the world and “widening the conscience so much that everything fits in there. ‘Yes, we are Christian, but this is OK...,’” Pope Francis said.—CNS

Nuns trapped in lift for the weekend ‘just prayed’

SISTER from Ireland and a sister from New Zealand were rushed to a hospital in Rome after having spent a weekend trapped in a lift without food or water. The 58-year-old Irish religious and the 68-year-old religious from New Zealand “are fine, but are not speaking to the press”, a receptionist at the Marist Sisters residence in Rome told Catholic News Service . Neither sister had a phone with her when the lift at the Marist residence got stuck the Friday evening of the weekend, said Italian press reports based on the po-

lice record of the incident. No one else was in the residence all weekend, so the sisters’ cries for help went unheard. A cleaning woman, reporting for work early Monday, called police, who managed to get the lift open. The sisters told the police they had “prayed a lot”, according to the Italian daily, Il Messaggero. An ambulance took the sisters to the hospital for treatment for dehydration. The temperatures in Rome over the weekend reached 30˚C each day and the sisters had no water or food with them.—CNS

hile there are those who foment war and profit from it by selling weapons, he said, there are those who hear Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the peacemakers”. “He does not say, ‘Blessed are the preachers of peace’, since everyone is capable of proclaiming peace, even in a hypocritical or indeed, duplicitous, manner,” the pope said. “No. He says, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’, that is, those who make peace.” Peacemaking requires putting justice into practice, and it takes

patience, passion, experience and the tenacity to never give up, every day, “step by step”, he said. A vital step, one that cannot be skipped, he said, is personal conversion since nothing in the world can change without a change in the human heart—one that makes room for God, his love and mercy. Only with such change can a person see that former enemies “really have the same face as I have, the same heart, the same soul,” he said. Signs of unity were seen throughout the Mass. An ecumenical choir of 1 600 people from Catholic and Serbian Orthodox Churches and the country’s national choir were accompanied by the nation’s military band. Behind the altar was an intricately detailed chair for the pope, hand-carved from dark walnut wood by a Muslim father and son. A large cross placed near the altar still bore the punctures of ammunition from the three-year-long conflict. In just the first hours of his visit, the pope said he saw signs of hope in the joy and smiles of the Muslim, Jewish, Orthodox and Catholic children who greeted him at the airport. He told government and religious leaders during a morning meeting at the presidential palace, that “I saw hope today in those children. ...That is hope. Let’s bet on that.” “In order to successfully oppose the barbarity of those who would make of every difference the occasion and pretext for further un-

speakable violence, we need to recognise the fundamental values of human communities,” values that help people communicate, forgive, build and grow, Pope Francis said. “This will allow different voices to unite in creating a melody of sublime nobility and beauty, instead of fanatical cries of hatred,” he said. Pope Francis met with priests, religious and seminarians at Sarajevo’s Sacred Heart cathedral and called on them to be “sowers of hope”. “People have a right to remember and share their past, not in order to feed hatred and revenge, but as part of the process of building peace,” he told them. Two priests and a nun shared personal stories of being captured, threatened and tortured by militants during the conflict. Walking to the lectern slowly and unsteadily with crutches, Fr Zvonimir Matijevic of Banja Luka said his Serb captors beat him so hard, their military commander sent him to the hospital where doctors and six pints of blood helped him survive. His wrists still bear scars from handcuffs squeezed too tight. However, the priest, who has since developed multiple sclerosis, said he forgives those who hurt him and prays that God help them choose a life dedicated to the good. After the priest finished his testimony, the pope bowed deeply before him, kissed his wrist and then held him in a long embrace. —CNS

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Nuclear power can preserve life

Editor: Günther Simmermacher Guest editorial: Kenny Pasensie

Educating our children beyond the mind

OST South Africans will have been at a loss for words when they learned of reports of racial segregation at a private school in Pretoria. The Curro Foundation School in Roodeplaat was accused of racially segregating pupils into different classrooms, holding separate meetings for white and black parents, employing an allwhite teaching staff, and not teaching indigenous African languages. How can it be that in 2015, two decades into building our rainbow nation, we should hear that a school had taken the decision to separate young learners by their race? The incident was made worse by the school’s attempts to justify its practices. The regional manager of the Curro group of schools explained that the reason for keeping the black and white learners separate had nothing to do with their race but rather that children are better at making friends with their own kind—those from their own culture. According to reports, the school’s management also conceded they adopted the segregation measures to prevent “white flight” from the school in the face of increasing black enrolments. Alarmingly, this was not an isolated incident by one school; rather it represents a growing phenomenon of racism in schools. Should South Africa’s schools not be seen as places for nationbuilding and social integration (which many doubtless are)? Is the school not a place where our children learn to interact and socialise with not only those that look and sound like them but also with those who are different from them, even the complete opposite? Is school just a place where our kids learn that one plus one equals two and that an amoeba is a single-celled organism? Do we educate only the mind and not the heart? Education is much more than just acquiring knowledge. It is, as Pope Francis told Italian school teachers, parents and learners, “either positive or negative; either it

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.

enriches or it impoverishes; either it enables a person to grow or it lessens, even corrupts him”. “The mission of schools is to develop a sense of truth, of what is good and beautiful. And this occurs through a rich path made up of many ingredients,” Pope Francis said. “This is why there are so many subjects—because development is the result of different elements that act together and stimulate intelligence, knowledge, the emotions, the body, and so on.” True education, the pope went on to say, “enables us to love life and opens us to the fullness of life”. So how do we become enablers of Pope Francis’ idea of education? More importantly, why should we become champions of Pope Francis’ idea of education? The “why” part is perhaps easier to answer. It is simple: if we don’t follow the philosophy articulated by the pope, our society is doomed to repeat the same errors of the old South Africa. The “how” part is a challenge because it requires us to move out of our comfort zones and be far more vigilant about what kind of education our children receive. How can we do this? Firstly, we must get more involved in school governance by being available to stand for school governing bodies or school boards. We often convince ourselves that we don’t have the time or ability to serve, but shouldn’t we simply just make the time? Secondly, when comment is sought on draft education policies and legislation, we must make an effort to express our views, even if only to say that a particular policy or piece of legislation is a move in the right direction. Lastly, parents should never forget that they are the first teachers. It is in the family that our children learn to co-exist with others and above all to learn to value differences. These values they then take to school, for better or for worse. It is incumbent on us to make sure that our children receive a true education, one that not only teaches them the mathematical relationship between numbers but also the relationships between human beings.

S a member of the Christian Life Community, I am mindful of the benefits of networking with others about good practices and using spiritual tools such as reflection to gain a better understanding of the challenges which face society today. The article “Nuclear test-ban advocate thanks pope for support” (May 6) highlights the challenge of the abuse of nuclear power and

We must choose priests wisely

READ with great interest your article “Seminary is full” (April 1) about St John Vianney Seminary and seminarians in Pretoria, and wish to make a few comments. Firstly, let me say that I am a parent of a young priest in the Johannesburg archdiocese, and ask that my name therefore be withheld. Your final sentence is the one that really needs some scrutiny. I believe that is where we have the biggest problem with the recruitment process. Some of these young men see the priesthood as a job where the benefits are limitless. They will get free accommodation, food, clothing, a car, computer and the likes. They might also have an opportunity to look after their extended families at the parish at no cost. Very few other career paths have such handsome benefits. By taking in potential seminarians straight out of school with just a matric is also problematic. They have never had to go out into the world and fend for themselves as adults. A few years ago four young men in Johannesburg were ordained. They came from very different backgrounds. They were an advocate, an aeronautical engineer, a doctor of languages and an actuary. Two of them were called to serve the Vatican. These men are not only wise to the world but have a good understanding of running a business, dealing with the public, being qualified to make good decisions and now to serve the people as good shepherds of God’s flock. Let us rather look for quality seminarians as opposed to filling in the numbers. In my parish there are about 520 Masses throughout the year. I am very disappointed to say that I have not heard a single homily on vocations in the past 12 months. We do not have programmes in place to nurture those young people who are called to God’s service. In business, if the CEO wants good people he sets the minimum requirements. Could our bishops

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raises the following considerations and reflections. While it is important for restrictions to be placed on the testing of nuclear weapons, because of humankind’s use of them to destroy the life and land of opponents, it is good to be reminded that nuclear weapons are only one facet of nuclear energy, and that nuclear power is used in life-preserving contexts as well.

not also demand of our priests a vocations programme started in every parish to nurture those who have a calling and select the best? A priest, apart from his religious duties, needs to run the parish just as a CEO would run his business. He needs to know about financial control, building maintenance and upkeep, training, human resources, fundraising, advertising and recruitment. These are not subjects taught in a seminary but are learned through on the job experience in a commercial workplace and through tertiary education. The biggest problem that I see is that some bishops may be too scared or ill equipped to deal with the many young academically trained men who have a calling but are then just cast aside because a priest cannot recognise this calling, or worse, couldn’t be bothered. It is sad that it is only in later years that men, now too old and made to feel no longer acceptable to the priesthood, end up disillusioned and disappointed, and move on with their lives. Who knows how many saints we have lost because a young man was “overqualified” when God called him. Name withheld

Joy of home visits

HE article by Fr Kevin Reynolds (June 3) on the necessity of the reintroduction of home visits by parish priests should be essential reading for all Southern Cross readers, including priests. I was one of six sibling in a family where my late mother, who was Afrikaans-speaking, was a member of the strict Dopper Calvinist church. Very much in awe of my Irishborn Catholic great-grandfather, 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

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For example, in the medical field, nuclear energy (as used in the radiopharmaceutical context) is successful in the early detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. So while the abuse of nuclear energy is deplorable and needs to be curbed, let us highlight its benefits too, by encouraging discussion about and focusing on examples of its uses to preserve life. Colleen Callahan, Port Elizabeth and having great respect for him, my mother had my five siblings and myself all baptised into the Catholic Church and educated at Catholic schools. When my brother and I were pupils at Christian Brothers’ College in Boksburg in the 1950s, we lived on a mine property near Springs. My father could not afford a car so it was difficult for us to get to Sunday Mass. Frs Peter Paul Feeny, Geoffrey Lynch and George Taylor were the parish priests at the Dominican parish at Springs during that period. Since my brother and I had no way of getting to Sunday Mass, Fr Feeny even arranged to bring the Eucharist to us each Monday and for the Brothers to give us breakfast afterwards. The Dominicans were regular house visitors and their routine was usually to visit our family on a Friday afternoon, when my mother would be frying fish for our supper, and a meat meal for herself. Fr Feeny could smell the stew on the coal stove and demanded a helping from my mother. My mother was quick to announce: “But Father, it’s Friday.” Fr was quick to reply: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do!” When my mother died in 1958, so impressed had she been by the witness of these saintly Dominicans, that she was received into the Church on her deathbed. I know of many South Africans who can testify to the witness of these Dominicans, their home visits, and especially the delightful eccentricity of Fr Feeny. Worthy of special mention is the occasion when Fr Feeny visited a certain family one evening. Seeing the lounge window open, he decided to surprise the occupants by making a grand entrance via the window, in his flowing Dominican cloak, with the words: “Hi everyone, it’s Batman!” You can imagine the confusion when he discovered that it was the wrong house! I hope this letter may somehow help to revive the practice of home visits by the clergy, aware as I am of the shortage of priests, and how burdened they are with work. John Lee, Johannesburg

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Special Focus on CATHOLIC EDUCATION Special supplement to The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

Edited by Stuart Graham & Kelsay Correa

Sometimes even politicians are pro-education Politicians tend to have a bad reputation when it comes to showing concern for the problems of the nation, but in the field of education KENNY PASENSIE finds that there are engaged parliamentarians.

HE title of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel Far From the Madding Crowd often springs to mind when I attend the parliamentary meetings of the basic education portfolio committee— precisely because it is not as frenzied (the meaning of the word “madding”) as our country’s public political discourse. It is less frenzied than the National Assembly. There are no men in white shirts, red overalls, chants of “pay back the money” or the occasional expletive that characterises the political theatre of parliament. It is here that politicians from across the political spectrum sit shoulder to shoulder and stare down department officials, demanding answers to difficult questions. It is here that the real work of the legislature is being done. As the education researcher and parliamentary liaison for the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office and the Catholic Institute of

‘Catholic schools, which always strive to join their work of education with the explicit proclamation of the Gospel, are a most valuable resource for the evangelisation of culture.’ Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium

Education, I have been attending almost all of the parliamentary meetings of the basic education portfolio committee. Although many may share the popular sentiment that nothing gets done at parliament, my experience has been to the contrary. In fact I often leave a meeting thinking that despite the ideological differences of the political parties represented in the committee, the members have all one thing in common: the education of our country’s children, especially the poor rural children. However, there are times that I leave the meetings with a feeling of frustration at the inability of the committee to be far more proactive in leading the way to finding solutions to the many challenges our education system is faced with. Since the beginning of the year the committee has dealt with some contentious policy and legislative issues such as school infrastructure, scholar transport, school sport, teacher provisioning, learner wellness, and so on. Some of these meetings were more interesting than others, such as the briefing the department gave on the draft scholar transport policy. The committee was to be briefed jointly by the Departments of Basic Education and Transport. However, before the meeting could get underway the Department of Transport was called away to another meeting.

Learners at Dominican Convent School in Johannesburg at prayer. Even if many Church schools no longer have a mostly Catholic student body, the Catholic ethos these schools instil in their pupils represents an essential form of evangelisation, as several authors in this supplement point out. That was just as well because the policy document they produced was lambasted by all as shoddy, littered with spelling errors and replete with drafting inconsistencies—and this was before the meeting got underway. The chairperson immediately decided not to deal with the amateurish draft policy document. Unfortunately this left the basic education department officials to answer tough questions that should have been directed at the originators of the policy, namely the transport department. What was clear, though, was that none of the members were happy with the draft policy that

was more than two years in the making. The portfolio committee members argued that while the two departments are fiddling with getting a workable policy on the table, learners in the rural areas are still walking vast distances to access their education. On another occasion members took the department to task for its slow progress with its Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery (ASIDI) programme. This is the department of basic education’s flagship programme to eradicate the backlogs in school infrastructure, from the provisioning of basic sanitation and electricity to

replacing mud schools. However, the portfolio committee has criticised the department for its lack of progress. The veracity of the department’s ASIDI statistics was constantly challenged by the portfolio committee members who often accused the department of misrepresenting the progress of the programme. What these meetings illustrate is that far from the madding crowd, the politicians who represent us do actually work to make better policies and legislation. It does not mean that there is no political point-scoring going on in these meetings—it is just far less obvious.

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The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

No escape from violence: What can we do? Educators strive to nurture the youth towards healthy futures, yet negative life events interfere with the ability to facilitate learning, writes educational psychologist DR GLORIA MARSAY.

HYSICAL, psychological and social wellbeing are interrelated and develop in a stable social environment. However, our nation is unstable and burdened with negative life events. South Africans have not been left untouched by socio-political changes in the country. There was a time in the 1990s when we hung on to the notion of the “Rainbow nation”. It was a nation committed to fairness, equality and hope for a peaceful future. The euphoria and trust we experienced seems to have evaporated. We don’t know whom or what to trust. Yet, trust is the glue necessary for healthy psychosocial development. It is within healthy social relationships that we grow and develop. The burden of violence, however, has led us full circle back to high levels of negative life events. These social and psychological factors contributing to violence are different and interrelated.

They include widespread poverty, chronic unemployment and income inequality, gender inequality, patriarchal notions of masculinity, exposure to abuse in childhood and compromised parenting, access to firearms, widespread alcohol misuse and weaknesses in the systems of law enforcement. Sadly, recently published research indicates that South Africa produces an extraordinary annual burden of violence-related morbidity and mortality. This triggers significant health, economic, and social consequences. Imagine how difficult it is for effective learning to take place when learners literally fear for their lives. Health and wellbeing is influenced by a person’s exposure to life events—negative and positive—and to their ability to access effective coping strategies. The impact of living in a country shattered by negative life events results in problems with healthy development, the decline of the psycho-social self, and leads to physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual dysfunctions. A shattering of this kind changes the way people engage in higher order thinking, and it interferes with the ability to learn. Intrusive thoughts interfere with concentration. Learning is slower. Learners become frustrated with their perceived lack of progress and are inclined to give

up. Learners lack presence, often dissociating, daydreaming and appearing to “switch off”. Learners lack confidence in themselves and their academic ability. Learners who live in unstable environments may provoke crises because to them this is a familiar social dynamic. Learners mistrust adults and often misinterpret educators’ motives and intentions. Learners may use learning as an escape and withdraw from useful social interaction.

urthermore, negative life events interfere with the ability to facilitate learning. Educators are often the first persons to hear stories of negative life events. It is becoming increasingly apparent that in some cases the only support system our learners have are their peers, their educators and the school community. Educators often assume the role of primary caregivers. Educators are also exposed to their own negative life events, and at the same time, are confronted with the difficult task of working with those who have been effected by negative life events. Such work requires deep reserves of physical, emotional and spiritual strength. Educators are vulnerable to compassion fatigue, and so it is necessary to create their own social support systems and to develop resilience factors essential to survival in the atmosphere of violence.

Negative life events can have an impact on learners at school—as well as on teachers—psychologist Gloria Marsay writes. (Graphic: Emily Thompson) There is no inoculation against the effects that violence has on the healthy psychosocial development of our learners. It is a myth that we have grown accustomed to and immune to the effects of violence. Everybody is vulnerable to the effects of violence. Some experience it in their homes where they should be safe. Others see the effects of violence in their surroundings. Our television news and popular programmes seem to be made of the

fabric of violence. There is no escape. Growing up in a supportive environment allows for the healthy development of self-esteem and self-efficacy. This growth should start in the family where secure attachment assists the development of selfworth and trust, thus allowing healthy relationships in other life domains to develop and be sustained. n Dr Gloria Marsay is an educational psychologist based in Johannesburg.

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

Seven myths about Catholic schools in SA From outdated methods of discipline to expensive fees: ideas about Catholic schools are shrouded in myths. KELSAY CORREA clears the air. MYTH 1: Catholic schools are too expensive

ome Catholic schools are “expensive”—but the majority of South Africa’s Catholic schools are not. Almost a third of Catholic schools, 32%, are no-fee schools (that is, they charge no fees as they serve the most marginalised), and 45% charge less than R5 000 per year. No-fee schools offer education at no cost to ensure that children from marginalised communities have access to education. These are public schools on private property, that is, funded by government. Independent (private) education is expensive if schools are going to offer competitive salaries, a selection of extramural activities and provide science laboratories, up-todate technology and libraries. Government subsidies for independent schools are based on a set of formulae determined by the Department of Education and vary from 0% to 60% of the separate provincial average estimate per learner, depending on the fees charged by the school.

MYTH 2: Catholic schools don’t understand when parents can’t pay fees

f course, all schools should be sensitive to parents who are experiencing financial difficulties for short periods of time. However, it is the duty and responsibility of parents to pay school fees, unless the school is a no-fee school. If parents are no longer able to afford the fees of that school they ought to consider moving their child to another school where they can afford the fees. A school’s budget is based on the number of pupils attending the school. The school, however, cannot afford to offer good-quality education if it is not receiving the fees that are due to meet that budget. However, every Catholic school must be sensitive to the situation of parents whose circumstances change and should set aside a budget to provide for worthy cases.

MYTH 3: Catholic schools pay low salaries

n many instances, Catholic schools were established by missionary congregations from Europe. The schools were staffed by the religious brothers and sisters. As the numbers of religious dwindled, lay people were employed to work in

the schools. In order to keep costs down, and because teaching was considered to be a vocation, lay teachers were given very little financial compensation for their efforts. Today, salaries vary between public and independent schools, Catholic and other schools, urban and rural settings. It is unlikely that salaries in the teaching profession will ever be sufficient, unless parents and government are prepared to pay (even) more. Two thirds of Catholic schools are public schools, so teachers are employed by the State and their salaries are therefore on a par with State salaries.

MYTH 4: There are no Catholic schools close by

ue to the increased costs of education many congregations could not continue running their schools without passing the cost of education on to parents, so some decided to close their schools. Many schools continue today under immense financial pressure. Today, there are no more missionaries from Europe and the local Church does not have the resources to establish new schools. Any new schools will need to be established by congregations who have the means to do so, bishops, lay people or trusts. But that doesn’t mean that there are no Catholics schools to which Catholic parents can send their children. In South Africa there are 346 Catholic schools; some are independent, most are public. Here is a list of schools per province: KwaZulu-Natal 115 Gauteng 53 Eastern Cape 52 Western Cape 41 Limpopo/Mpumalanga 26 North West 20 Northern Cape 20 Free State 19

It is a subtle blend of some of these that makes a Catholic school catholic. Catholic schools are appraised annually to: l Ensure that their policies and procedures are in line with, and give effect to, their distinctive religious character (RE). l Ensure that a substantial and coherent religious education programme is offered across the whole school. Here it must be noted that religious education is not catechesis. The RE curriculum teaches children about the Catholic faith, other faiths, personal and structural morality and the world around them from a Catholic perspective. l Uphold, develop and celebrate its distinctive religious character in all aspects of school life. Each school is different. Some schools find it easy to maintain a Catholic ethos and tradition. Other schools struggle as they are not supported by local government officials, do not have qualified and knowledgeable RE teachers, do not have a Catholic church community close by, have few Catholics on the staff, or have a principal who is not actively supportive of the ethos.

MYTH 6: Catholic schools offer mediocre education

atholic high schools offering the National Senior Certificate (matric) and the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) exams consistently achieve above the national average overall.

MYTH 5: Catholic schools are not Catholic enough

atholic schools form part of the Church’s evangelising mission. The intention is to provide excellent education from a Catholic perspective for children who otherwise would not have access to education and, in so doing, spread the Good News. Catholic education is meant to be inclusive, not exclusive. The Catholicity of the school is not determined by the number of Catholics in the school (learners or educators), the number of times Mass is celebrated in the school year, whether or not the school prepares learners for the sacraments, the number of religious sisters or brothers on the staff (or the board), or even the quality of the religious education programme.

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The difference ranged from 27,8 percentage points difference in 2008 (85,2% national Catholic schools pass to 62,5% national pass rate) to 9,3% in 2013 (89,5% to 78,2%). For 2014 the national Catholic schools pass rate was 88,9%, compared to the national pass rate of 75,9%.

MYTH 7: Catholic schools have outmoded methods of discipline

or most of the last century, corporal punishment was considered an acceptable form of discipline in schools, and Catholic schools were no exception. In 1996, the South African Schools Act made the administering of corporal punishment in schools illegal. Many teachers expressed a need for a different approach to disci-

pline. The Catholic Institute of Education explored the process of restorative justice and developed the Building Peaceful Catholic Schools programme, which aims to improve the school climate through communication and the development of sound relationships (see pages 10-11). It moves discipline from the punitive approach to the restorative approach, which helps to restore what went wrong. It encourages dialogue between the one harmed and the one doing the harm with a view to reaching an outcome that is satisfactory to both parties and restores the relationship between the two. The CIE and Catholic Schools Offices are now offering workshops on restorative justice to Catholic schools. n Kelsay Correa is the communications manager for the Catholic Institute of Education.

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

The trouble with corporal punishment The ban on corporal punishment in schools has made it more difficult for teachers to maintain discipline. But a call for its reintroduction is misguided, argues MDUDUZI QWABE.

NE morning I received a call from a principal in a school where a teacher had been arrested for beating a learner. The beating was so severe that the foundation phase pupil had wet his pants in front of the class. The mother of the boy, a police woman, after trying to resolve the issue with the school, opened a case of assault but was unsuccessful. Corporal punishment has been banned in South Africa since the dawn of democracy in 1994, but studies and cases that have been widely publicised show that the practice is still rife in schools. The reason cited is that teachers feel that they have no alternative to corporal punishment. In one 2012 case, quoted in The Sowetan newspaper in September last year, a seven-year-old boy was beaten with a broomstick by his teacher, and when he ran out of class the teacher ordered other learners to chase and beat him up. The boy died four days later in hospital. In another case, also quoted in The Sowetan, a matric learner was allegedly flogged so severely at a school in Mpumalanga that she died of her injuries at the Nelspruit hospital. The SA Human Rights Commission is investigating a case from November 2013 in which a YouTube video showed a female teacher in an Eastern Cape school caning girls on their hands because she was not happy with the way they cleaned their classroom.

A Legalbrief article of September 2013 alleged that a five-year-old was forced to eat his excrement by a teacher in a school in Mpumalanga. There are many other cases in the public domain that we know about, some even more severe than the ones above. Many of the cases are not about using corporal punishment for classroom discipline but are acts of excessive power and control. There is no one who can argue that teachers do not face difficult disciplinary issues in schools and can feel overwhelmed by learners being unruly. In 2012, a study undertaken by the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention on school violence found that 49,8% of learners surveyed had been subjected to corporal punishment at school. The percentages may vary according to the methodology used, but the fact is that there has been a lot of what academics term an â&#x20AC;&#x153;official ambivalenceâ&#x20AC;? to the prohibition. The National Education Policy states that no one may administer corporal punishment to a learner or even subject a learner to any other form of physical or psychological abuse. The South African Schools Act 84 of 1996 states in Section 8 that governing bodies must develop codes of conduct for their schools. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Guidelines for the Consideration of Governing Bodies in Adopting the Code of Conduct for Learnersâ&#x20AC;?, published in 1998, legislates that schools must rather use â&#x20AC;&#x153;positive disciplineâ&#x20AC;? instead of adopting punitive measures. It goes on to state: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Corporal punishment has been abolished. Educators and learners have to learn the importance of mediation and cooperation, to seek and negotiate non-violent solutions to conflict and difference and to make use of the due process of law.â&#x20AC;? The Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Act of 2005 makes it obligatory for educators and adults to report any suspected

cases of alleged child abuse; all that is required is reasonable suspicion. Provinces also have legislation that protects children against this form of humiliation. Other legislation includes the Employment of Educators Act 76 of 1998, which makes corporal punishment a dismissible offence. The South African Council for Educators Code of Conduct, drawn in accordance with the SACE Act 31 of 2000, states that educators must refrain from any form of abuse of learners, physical or otherwise. Furthermore the Abolition of Corporal Punishment Act of 1997 repeals all laws, including those governing traditional leaders, that allowed for the use of corporal punishment. There are many examples of court cases that have come before the courts, and even the Constitutional Court, that have consistently upheld the prohibition of corporal punishment. Educators and practitioners are aware of this prohibition and this article only serves as a reminder.

et, numerous surveys have been conducted, with learners as respondents, which support the reintroduction of the practice. A recent study by Wits University academic Ahmed Veriava, conducted in Durban schools, states that â&#x20AC;&#x153;even where learners saw corporal punishment as an effective punishment, they nevertheless felt sad, hurt and angry when beatenâ&#x20AC;?. In some cases this type of punishment can cause irreparable psychological and physical harm, and in extreme cases victims have had to go through counselling or even medical surgery. It is not just our legal but also our moral duty as Catholics to eradicate this inhumane practice. Supporters of this practice often argue that corporal punishment is not a problem per se, but that its misuse is the problem. The fact is that corporal punishment is meant to inflict pain resulting in fear and humiliation. This in itself is an abu-

MARIS STELLA

A recent study found that corporal punishment in schools, which in South Africa is outlawed but still takes place in many institutions, â&#x20AC;&#x153;can cause irreparable psychological and physical harm, and in extreme cases victims have had to go through counselling or even medical surgeryâ&#x20AC;?. sive practice. Educators often say that they do not have alternatives to corporal punishment, and that the practice being banned has rendered them helpless. I reiterate: no one can underestimate the daily challenges faced by schools in resolving discipline issues; they can be time-consuming and emotionally draining. Yet schools have to make an effort to use positive approaches to discipline. The Catholic Institute of Education has for the past two years been rolling out a programme called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Building Peace in Catholic Schoolsâ&#x20AC;?. The programme is based on the belief that relationships are affected when things go wrong and conflict arises. In such situations it is crucial that we find ways of ensuring that the affected relationships are restored. Helping things go right is the underpinning mantra for this programme. The programme assists schools to understand a restorative approach to resolve and minimise conflict and then put it into practice (see page 11). The essential concept in this approach is that children must be led to take responsibility for their actions, whether positive or negative. It is not about letting them off easily but about encouraging the wrongdoer to take responsibility for

their actions and to repair the harm they have caused to others. A book has been produced to that effect. Titled Fairness for All: Doing Discipline Differently, it states that restorative justice is based on the following values: l Respect and appreciation for individual rights. l Taking responsibility for our behaviour. l Believing that people have the ability to resolve their own problems given the time, support and a chance to tell their story. l Acceptance of the diversity of people. l Believing that people can change. l Being open to those who wish to change their behaviours. l Believing that restorative responses are more helpful than retributive ones. The amount of violent crime already affecting every facet of our society challenges us, as adults, to teach our children that violence is never a solution to any problem, no matter the magnitude. If we do not model what we are trying to teach children, then they will learn from how we treat them and our neighbour. We cannot claim to be loving our children and then be subjecting them to some of the barbaric treatment that we have seen in the cases above.

St Teresaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s School - Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1930 -

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CATHOLIC EDUCATION

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

Better way than old-school punishment At a time when learners know their rights, is there an alternative to corporal punishment? ANNE BAKER explains how discipline based on the restorative justice model can make for happier schools.

N 2012, the Catholic Schools Proprietors Association (CaSPA) launched a new policy to protect children at school from harm. Catholic Social Teaching has as its first principle the principle of human dignity: “Every human being is created in the image of God and redeemed by Jesus Christ, and therefore is invaluable and worthy of respect as a member of the human family.” This means that every person— regardless of race, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, employment or economic status, health, intelligence, achievement or any other differentiating characteristic—is worthy of respect. Our children therefore need protection from any form of harm. To help schools understand and implement the policy, workshops were delivered to numerous schools across the country during 2012. Tools to assist in reporting and recording incidents of abuse were made available. School governing bodies and boards of governors are expected to adopt this policy and ensure that school management implements it. What became clear during these workshops was that teachers find themselves under pressure to ensure discipline but struggle with how to do this. We heard that since children know that they have rights, discipline at schools has become very difficult. There were strong feelings that while corporal punishment was made illegal, teachers were not assisted to manage discipline any other way. It became apparent that corporal punishment was still administered in some schools, against the law

In the restorative justice model of discipline, the accent is not on punishment but on respect, responsibility, repair and reintegration. and in spite of principals’ efforts to stop this. It was also clear that bullying in schools was a major problem. These issues raised the question of whether children were actually safe in schools. A further problem appeared to be that the traditional parent-school partnership of working together to help children with discipline issues has disappeared. Schools now relate how parents do not cooperate when their children are in trouble and in fact actively oppose school solutions to problems. After reflection and deliberation, the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE) developed a “Building Peaceful Catholic Schools” programme. This involves building on the Catholic ethos of care and safety for all members of the school community. It also enables wrongdoers to be accountable for their actions to those whom they have harmed, and enables them to put things right, as far as possible. It develops the social skills of those whose behaviour causes harm and develops their self-image. The first step in this programme involves a climate survey for teachers to help understand their con-

cerns and the challenges they face. Workshops for teachers, parents and pupils outline and explain this new way of discipline.

n addition, schools will be offered support by CIE regional managers as they explore and implement peace-building and alternative ways to deal with discipline issues. A further aspect will be the drafting and reviewing of Codes of Conduct. The foundation for the programme is the restorative justice model which focuses on conflict resolution and “making things right”. Restorative Justice has the potential to make schools happier,

safer places and reduce the need for disciplinary hearings and suspensions. It helps schools to become places of inclusion and belonging, as well as to raise morale and selfesteem, increase attendance, address the issue of bullying in the whole school community, and assist teachers with stress and the need to leave the profession. The four key features of restorative justice are: Respect—for everyone by listening to other opinions and learning to listen to them; Responsibility—taking responsibility for your own actions; Repair—developing the skills within the community so its individual members have the necessary skills to identify solutions that repair harm; Reintegration—working through a structured, supportive process that resolves the issue and ensures that behaviours are not repeated, allowing pupils to remain in school while also achieving all of the above. Staff of the CIE and the Catholic Schools Offices are offering formation and training on this programme. Restorative justice in schools provides empowerment for teachers and pupils to have their needs voiced, their feelings heard and to heal harm if caused, as well as being included in the process of repairing damage. This programme aims to help ensure that the dignity of every member of the school community is respected by all and that schools will truly develop their Catholic ethos.

One school’s experience

‘R

ESTORATIVE justice has changed the concept of our discipline structure and has changed the atmosphere of our school,” says Petrus du Toit, deputy principal of Dominican Convent School in Johannesburg. “The merit and demerit system was thrown out, so was detention and keeping kids after school,” Mr du Toit says. The training of teachers was 15 minutes once a week at staff meetings “The intervention needn’t be long and time consuming; it can be a quick comment in the classroom, followed by a short discussion, he explains. For example, when children misbehave in class, the teacher gently asks the learner to stop and mentions that they will have a discussion after the class. If the teacher and learner are unable to solve the conflict, it is taken to the Grade Coordinator who uses the restorative approach to mediate between the two. The benefit is apparent. “Teachers have more knowledge about their students because they are engaging with them meaningfully and finding out what is going on in that child’s life,” Mr du Toit says. “The children are taking more responsibility for what they do. The staff and school is training and guiding them to make good decisions.” The children “in the wrong” offer to apologise and take responsibility for their actions. “The majority stick to their resolutions,”. Mr du Toit says.

/Ĩ ǇŽƵ ǁĂŶƚ ƚŽ ƚĞĂĐŚ ǇŽƵŶŐ ƉĞŽƉůĞ͕ ĮƌƐƚ ǇŽƵ ŵƵƐƚ ůŽǀĞ ƚŚĞŵ Ͳ ůŽǀĞ ƚŚĞŵ Ăůů ĞƋƵĂůůǇ͘ St Marcellin Champagnat, Founder 1817

St. Catherine’s School

PO Box 5013 Delmenville 1403

31 Piercy Ave Parkhill Gardens Germiston

Tel: 011 827-4102 Fax: 011 827-4117 principal@stcatherines.org.za

Vision and Mission

St. Catherine’s School provides a holistic approach to education to both boys and girls from Grade 000 to Grade 12. This gives rise to well-balanced young adults who are prepared for the challenges of life. When making decisions, we strive to act in the best interests of the child at all times. As a school, we are driven by our value-based Catholic ethos and focus on the development of the whole person. Being a relatively small school enables us to nurture the learners in a family environment based on compassion and respect for one another.

Academics

As education is the gateway to the world, the promotion requirements at St Catherine’s are higher than prescribed by the Department of National Education. All assessment is based on IEB assessment standards, in both the Primary and High Schools. The medium of instruction throughout the school is English Home Language. In the Primary School Afrikaans is offered as the first additional language and isiZulu as a second additional language while in the High School, they can choose between the two subjects. Additional support is offered free of charge.

Extra-curricular activities

St Catherine’s oﬀers learner a wide range of Cultural, Sporting, Social and Leadership activities.

OUR MISSION

DĂƌŝƐƚ ƌŽƚŚĞƌƐ >ŝŶŵĞǇĞƌ ŝƐ ĐŽŵŵŝƩĞĚ ƚŽ ĚĞǀĞůŽƉŝŶŐ Ă ĚǇŶĂŵŝĐ͕ ŚŽůŝƐƟĐ ĐƵƌƌŝĐƵůƵŵ ƌĞůĞǀĂŶƚ ƚŽ ƚŚĞ ŶĞĞĚƐ ŽĨ ŽƵƌ ůĞĂƌŶĞƌƐ͘

MARIST BROTHERS LINMEYER

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The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Kolbe House CATHOLIC CHAPLAINCY AT UCT

Finding a place in the world of work Young people need to shift from choosing a career path to finding work that needs to be done in which they can transform knowledge into action, writes educational psychologist DR GLORIA MARSAY.

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111

HE economic crunch has changed the world and left it in tatters. People are unemployed because they don’t have relevant marketable skills and have not adapted to the changed techno-economy. Jobs are scarce because needs have changed. Finding a place in the world of work is more difficult for young people than it was for their parents. Now more than ever it is essential to provide our young people with appropriate skills to navigate their way in a constantly changing world. Career construction is a lifelong and dynamic process that will need to be visited and revisited several times during a person’s life and requires essential skills. Young people need to learn marketable skills that will give them definite opportunities in the world of work. While it is important to encourage young people to follow their dream, their dream needs to be marketrelated and realistic. General education and training is fundamental. However, the key that unlocks doors in the world of work is the ability to transfer knowledge into action. Jobs in the formal sector are becoming extinct. So, to survive, people of all ages are forced to construct and reconstruct their own careers, create their own jobs and become selfemployed in the informal sector running small business enterprises. Young people see things differently and should be encouraged to use their creative skills to make changes in the world. If we want to see positive change, we need to change our approach. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are examples of people who have turned their innovative thinking into success stories. The skills shortage in South Africa can present young people with interesting opportunities if they are willing to become self-navigators. The giant leap from the secure structured school environment into the insecure and unstructured world of work is daunting. No wonder some of our

Young people need to learn marketable skills and plan a livlihood in this world of job insecurity, says educational psychologist Dr Gloria Marsay. young people fall into an abyss of chaos and desperation. They need the tools and skills to develop and manage their lives, and be able to market themselves with confidence. The ability to adapt and reposition oneself according to the needs displayed in the economy requires lifelong learning and is a process that never ends.

aking decisions is difficult because of the uncertainty prevailing in the world of work. Young people are overwhelmed by too many choices, and often don’t have the skills to make informed decisions. Schools need to equip young people to become authors of their own destiny. Our Catholic schools are well positioned to provide young people with these powerful tools that are value-based and will provide self-fulfilment within the context of dignity, equity and service to humanity. The approach to teaching entrepreneurial skills is twofold. Young people need market-related skills, as well as personal skills as described above. They need a firm sense of identity and need to be aware of their strengths and unique abilities. Incorporate work experience into the school curriculum. The irony of the present-day world of work is that young people need to acquire work experience before they can find someone to pay them for the work they can do. Establish a network within

the school community that will allow learners to do volunteer work or shadow work so that they gain experience. In this way, learners will be able to explore the possibilities available in the world of work and to build a network of people in the industry of their interest. Exposure to the world of work provides young people with valuable informal learning, and empowers them to make evidence-based decisions. Teach young people how to forage. Help them to look for work opportunities and find learnerships. Teach learners how to build impeccable portfolios of evidence and CVs for themselves, and at the same time develop contactable references. Teach decision-making skills. Help learners to look at the positive and negative outcomes of all the decisions they make. To make a good career decision, young people need to be able to integrate self-knowledge with knowledge of the labour market. To arrive at a good answer, one needs to ask a good question. The question that young people can ask themselves is: “What can I do that will make me happy, that will contribute to the smooth running of the community in which I live, and that will provide me with a livelihood?” In South Africa, we triumphantly refer to our young people as the “Born Frees”—but sadly they may become the “Generation Jobless” unless we empower them appropriately.

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

What is a skills centre? One way of preparing learners for jobs is to provide them with skills before they enter the job market. KELSAY CORREA describes the efforts by the Catholic Institute of Education to do so.

KILLS centres are finding it challenging to place learners in work spaces that allow them to gain the experience required to complete their skills programmes. Few companies take on young inexperienced learners, and those that do find it troublesome. The CIE Thabiso Skills Institute supports 27 skills centres in South Africa in providing programmes that will equip learners with practical, recognisable and high-demand skills with which to gain entry into the world of work. In many instances, Workplace Integrated Learning (WIL) comprises 70% of skills development programmes. Although this is a great stride forward in preparing learners for the world of work, skills centres have reported that these placements are hard to come by. Some companies which have placed learners have found that their own staff feel that their jobs are threatened by learners coming in and being mentored. The success of mentorship programmes relies on good mentors who are able to transfer knowledge to their students, but many companies do not yet have such personnel available. In addition, companies and skills centres would need to employ coordinators for their placement programmes. The issue of who is responsible for the insurance in case of an accident as well as possible damage to machinery and equipment by the learners is also a concern.

Are you sorted? REVIEW BY ANNE BAKER

HE most frequent question facing young people in Grades 11 and 12 is: “What are you going to do when you leave school?” Expectations, both personal and parental, place pressure on these youngsters and they end up being confused. Dr Gloria Marsay, drawing on her lengthy experience as an educational psychologist, in 2008 published a practical and accessible book to help with this vexing question. Titled Career? Sorted! (published by Shuter, Pietermaritzburg), it is aimed at the school leaver. It begins with a clear picture of the world of work into which young people are moving. Emphasising self-knowledge as the key to choosing a career, Dr Marsay offers a series of reflective exercises that enable a learner to grow in self-knowledge and what this means for a career choice. The book is laid out in an inviting way with shaded key points and helpful diagrams and tables. The strong emphasis on career guidance in Life Orientation also makes this book a must for the high school LO teacher. What would have been helpful is the addition of a teacher’s guide and some key pages being made available for copying as not all schools can afford to buy a book for each learner. School libraries would do well to purchase several copies and inform parents about the book. n The book’s ISBN number is 78-0760-3606-3.

Many learners participating in skills programmes would require stipends to cover transport costs to and from the workplace, placing additional financial burdens on companies and/or skills centres. Fawzia Naidoo and Yvonne do Santos of the CIE Thabiso Skills Institute are working with government and other NGOs to find solutions to these problems. “We are in the process of setting up a forum with various stakeholders to have a focused discussion around these challenges and together work out a realistic WIL programme for learners who are doing skills programmes,” says Ms Naidoo. “We need companies to come forward that are aware of these challenges and are prepared to work with us in overcoming them and finding work placements for our learners,” adds Ms dos Santos. According to the University of Johannesburg (UJ), learners benefit from WIL by being exposed to the world of work while still studying

and gain valuable work experience in their chosen profession. WIL assists learners in making a transition from student to employee and acquiring skills that make them more employable. Employers benefit by being able to assess potential candidates before employing them. UJ also explains that the role of the employer is to provide learning opportunities in the workplace, to explain duties and tasks, to provide a safe working environment and to oversee the placement, orientation and mentoring of the learner. Employers would also be required to assess the learner on their performance. The CIE Thabiso Skills Institute provides support services to skills centres to enable them to offer quality programmes such as life skills, welding, carpentry, motor mechanics, catering, plumbing, electrical and many others. Skills centres range from smallscale rural centres delivering basic education and training, to large-scale

urban centres delivering accredited and non-accredited learning and skills programmes. These 27 skills centres train in the region of 4 000 learners per year. The institute guides and supports skills centres to become centres of excellence by providing assistance with accreditation, assisting centres to ac-

cess funding, brokering strategic partnerships and developing a centralised repository of resources and materials. The CIE has a B-BBEE SED (SocioEconomic Development) recognition of 100% and is tax-deductible. The CIE has a black beneficiary base of 91%.

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Why Catholic schools still need chaplains Even in a time when Catholic schools do not always have a majority Catholic student body, the role of the chaplain remains essential, as FR HUGH O’CONNOR argues.

HE Catholic school chaplain plays an important role in the spiritual and emotional lives of students, teachers and parents. Every school that carries the name Catholic and subscribes to a Catholic ethos should have a chaplain. Chaplaincy should not depend on the percentage of Catholics in the school, for the work of chaplaincy is a part of the Church’s evangelising outreach and mission to all people. Historically, in South Africa, there has been a close connection between the school and the parish community with the parish priest often serving as the school chaplain. This relationship was, in many cases, further strengthened by the presence of religious sisters and brothers in the school who saw to the running of the school as well as to the maintenance of the Catholic ethos. There were also, in many cases, a significant number of Catholic children in the school, and because of this many schools offered sacramental preparation as well. Chaplaincy was often seen simply in terms of celebrating Mass, teaching a catechism class or two, and seeing that the sacra-

ments were properly celebrated. All of this took place in a Catholic environment where the roles of the chaplain, the religious, lay staff, parents and children were carefully structured and ordered. Times have changed and the “good old days” are not going to return—but that does not mean that school chaplaincy is no longer important. The responsibility for providing a priestchaplain belongs to the bishop in whose diocese the school falls and with whose blessing the school operates as a Catholic school. Usually the task of chaplaincy falls to the parish priest in whose parish the school is situated. There are some well resourced schools who can afford a dedicated chaplain, but in South Africa this is the exception rather than the norm. Fewer Catholic parents are sending their children to Catholic schools—and there are many reasons for this—so the percentage of Catholic children in many schools has fallen dramatically. The low number of Catholics and an interdenominational and multifaith environment in the schools raise questions about what a Catholic chaplain should do—or, indeed, whether or not there is a place for the chaplain. But these should not be excuses for not having chaplains appointed to schools. There are very few religious brothers and sisters teaching in Church schools, and most of the Catholic schools in South Africa are ably led and run by lay people who are committed to upholding the Catholic ethos in changing times. They too need the support of a dedicated chaplain. The Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic

Fr Tony Daniels blesses a learner at St Benedict’s College in Johannesburg. He is now chaplain at Assumption Convent in Malvern. In his article, Fr Hugh O’Connor (inset) argues that even in Catholic schools with a multifaith student body, the chaplain can and must proclaim the Gospel through a ministry of presence. Education, in a 2014 document entitled “Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion”, recognised some of the challenges facing education today. It said that often “schools are the only places where young people encounter the bearers of Good News”,

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and in changing circumstances lay men and woman must become the face of this proclamation. The school has become a real site of mission and this calls for creativity and dedication. Catholic schools exist as part of the mission of the Church—a mission not just focussed on Catholics only but also towards the education of all who choose to be part of the school community. If schools are an important part of the mission of the Church, then there needs to be a renewed passion for chaplaincy—a chaplaincy that is broader than just the priest. A chaplaincy that proclaims the Gospel not just through good liturgy but also through a ministry of presence; a ministry that is carried out not by the priest alone but also by a committed team of people. The call for a chaplain for every school requires creative ways of ministry in changing circumstance. The challenge as well as the joys of ministering in a school environment among young people of different faiths and of no faith takes the chaplain to the margins—and it is to the margins that the Church is called according to Pope Francis. n Fr Hugh O’Connor is the vicar for education in the archdiocese of Cape Town.

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CATHOLIC EDUCAT ION

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

Moral values key to education

Catholic schools are contributing to the nation’s moral regeneration through the subject of religious education. PAUL MODUPE argues that it should be taught in all schools.

HEN the new curriculum (OBE) was introduced, Biblical Studies was never accommodated. Religious studies is still taught in some schools, including Catholic schools, but it is generally regarded as unpopular. In the democratic era, the curriculum has changed three times—and the more it changes, the more poorquality academic results. Matriculants are the product of spoonfeeding schools, except for the few who are naturally hard workers. Our national education system is failing in transmitting moral values. The Department of Education will say that Life Orientation is the answer to imparting moral values as it is the study of the self in relation to others and society as a whole. But the subject is seen as irrelevant by many educators, even among those who teach it. I believe the department is contemplating phasing it out—instead of renewing it and developing relevant people to continue teaching it. For many parents, Catholic schools are seen as an answer to moral decay and as the source of moral regeneration. Some of the children at Catholic schools come from families that contributed to the abolishment of Biblical Studies. However, parents who cannot af-

A class in a Catholic school. Paul Modupe, a teacher at a Catholic school, argues that teaching religious education contributes to moral regeneration, including an alternative vision to an economy that exacerbates inequality. ford to take their children to private Catholic schools are now left “Ba tshwere mamphele ka sekotlo” (Facing the problem alone). The big gap in equality is important. Moeletsi Mbeki in an article titled “What drives black anger?” says the driver of anger among black South Africans is the rapid growth of the black super-rich who, only two decades ago, were the leaders in the fight against apartheid. They are the beneficiaries of the government’s get-rich-quick schemes: black economic empowerment and affirmative action in public sector employment, developed to benefit its leaders, their families and

favoured insiders. “Another and more potent driver of anger in yet another circle of blacks is the government policies that have led to South Africa’s deindustrialisation, rising unemployment, and incompetent and corruption-ridden service delivery to the black poor,” Mbeki writes. He also notes that there are “circles of white South Africans who are also angry”. Our country is a capitalist state of inequality. Louis Even (1885-1974), a lay Christian leader and publisher who founded the social credit movement in Quebec, Canada, put it like this:

“Capitalism is restricted to the minority and is not distributed to be enjoyed by the majority. One cannot say that a country lives under a capitalist system when capitalism concerns only 5% of the population and that 95% of the people only live thanks to the permission or goodwill of the other five. Such a system is therefore only 5% capitalist and 95% slavery.” The Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire, one of the most influential thinkers in the field of education, said that the middle class perpetuates the inequality. “People from the middle classes view many people in society as un-

fortunately not yet ready to be part of the ‘real’ bourgeois culture,” he writes. “Therefore, this makes them experience their situation as fate, as being natural.” They don’t ask if it could be different but just conform. This conformity, Freire writes, is fed by myths, such as that of equal opportunities in education, the myth of private property as a necessary basis for personal success, the myth that white people are superior to other races. “We are not just individuals; we are products of the society we are living in,” Freire writes. The patronising way of distributing wealth in capitalism results in people being ready to conform to the society the way it is. People are then kept in the place of “naive consciousness”, as Freire puts it. Morality in such a mindset is superficial. American writer Mark Twain said that “to raise a child without morals is to create a menace in society.” I believe that religious education plays a major role in Catholic schools as a means of shaping the future of our learners, even if it is not an assessed subject. I suggest that all Catholic schools which teach religious education produce morally successful learners to the society. Indeed, religious education should be taught in all schools. I appeal to our government that it implement in all schools, even secular ones, throughout the country, a way of producing morally formed members of society who recognise the imperative of equality. n Paul Modupe teaches at St Boniface CBC High School in Kimberley. He writes in his personal capacity.

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

School teaches the blind and the sighted A Limpopo school has taken the revolutionary approach of teaching sighted and sight-impaired pupils at the same time. CATHERINE BRUYNS explains.

SCHOOL for sighted and visually impaired learners is paving the way for an educational revolution in inclusive learning while creating a generation of well-equipped and empathetic learners. St Francis Catholic Academy in Tzaneen presented its first matric results last year: it produced a 94% pass rate with nine distinctions, achieving first place in the Mogodumo circuit in Limpopo. Six matric learners from St Francis Catholic Academy were admitted to university; three of these were visually impaired. The school was started in 2009 by Polish sisters. Its first group of Grade 8 learners were from the Siloe Special School for the Blind in Polokwane and sighted learners from Vrederust Primary School. The school’s intergraded programme provides for the inclusive learning of sighted and visually impaired learners and exposes educators and learners to learning of a different nature. This inclusive approach to education allows for visually impaired learners to compete with sighted learners and achieve good results, provided that sufficient support is available. The academy encourages its pupils to draw strength from one

another, assist and support each other, and learn to share and interact irrespective of their physical conditions. Sighted learners are exposed to braille, a technique that affords learners the opportunity to dismiss the stereotyping that usually occurs between the visually impaired and the sighted. Educators are trained in the reading and writing of braille, with a number acquiring braille certificates through the SA National Council for the Blind. Classrooms are well equipped with various resources, ensuring learners are sufficiently assisted. An example of this is the availability of large magnifiers that enable partially sighted children to read from the chalkboard. Hand magnifiers help partially sighted learners to read from their books, while totally blind learners are provided with braille pens, iPads, braille machines and scanner readers. The commitment of the academy’s approach to inclusion is ever-present and the spirit of St Francis is perpetuated in the learners’ exposure to religion. The religious education room is well resourced. The children’s work is displayed around the school and they are given the opportunity to critique Christian themes. The school has introduced the Computer Applications Technology subject from Grades 10 to 12, and is hopeful that the early approach to computer literacy will lay a foundation for technological development. Learners are exposed to com-

Learners at St Francis Academy in Tzaneen, Limpopo, which integrates blind, partially-sighted and sighted students.

struments such as saxophone, piano, trumpet and guitar. Other activities include an outreach programme which assists children in Somalia, a developing vegetable garden, poultry farming and a braille production workshop which is well stocked with specialised equipment. The school gives sighted and visually impaired learners hope for the future, through their inordinate level of motivation and their creative approach—but they are not without challenges. Visually impaired learners lack

puters from Grade 4 in order to develop their technological literacy. The academy’s library is open to all learners, staff and members of the community. It is resourced with traditional and audio books. Internet access is available to further the learners’ research and skills.

he music school at St Francis Catholic Academy is available to all learners and is accredited by the University of South Africa. Learners are given the opportunity to sit for national exams in in-

confidence and self-esteem, and educators often have to work hard to ensure the children’s belief in their own ability matches their potential. Blind learners have immense difficulty approaching mathematics, physical science, life science and geography because these subjects employ the use of diagrams, pictures and practical work, demanding the use of full vision and making it difficult for educators to explain abstract concepts. Braille equipment is expensive to buy and maintain, and many books are not available in braille, which requires extra effort with regard to lesson preparation. The motto of the school is “Peace and Goodness”, and their emblem is a cross and heart. Peace is the fruit that comes from accepting the cross in our lives, and goodness the spirit in each and every heart. The St Francis Catholic Academy strives to give learners the conviction they need to take responsibility for their own lives and to further develop into mature and confident adults. It supports all learners, and encourages them to embrace their own uniqueness, filled with optimism and integrity of character. In Catholic tradition, St Francis of Assisi, who lived a simple life, is a patron of peace. He sowed love, pardon, faith, hope, light and joy in the face of hatred, injury, doubt, despair, darkness and sadness. These are the founding values of the St Francis Catholic Academy with which learners are educated, and that they take out into the world.

Jamaican student on South Africa’s diversity A Jamaican student in the US, ANDRE ARCHER came to South Africa to learn about diversity. Here’s what he experienced.

WAS privileged to spend eight thrilling weeks of summer 2014 at Dominican Convent School and Kgosi Neighbourhood Foundation in Johannesburg. The University of Notre Dame in the US state of Indiana, through its Centre for Social Concerns (CSC), provided funding for my trip. The centre’s mission is to “facilitate communitybased learning, research and service informed by Catholic Social Tradition”, thus embodying the university’s overall mission. Through the CSC’s International Summer Service Learning Program, students are prepared and sent around the world to increase their cultural awareness and sensitivity, as well as to utilise their knowledge and skill sets to tackle global issues. The most pressing issues to me were human rights and poverty. As a Jamaican citizen studying in the United States, I considered myself to be culturally aware and able to adapt well to my environment. South Africa tested every bit of this. On numerous occasions my motive for being in the country was met with great scepticism. I was asked why I made the journey half way across the world to view issues that existed in my own country. To this, I explained that I was in search of understanding issues pertaining to poverty and human rights from a global rather than local perspective. To be fair, this scepticism I encountered was by no means a representation of the typical South African. The majority of the individuals with whom I interacted were very warm and genuine. During my stay, I met and befriended many remarkable individuals

Andre Archer with children at the Kgosi Neighbourhood Foundation in Johannesburg. who helped me to understand the different facets of the country. The Dominican Convent School family and Kgosi Foundation director, Paul Horn, helped me to gain insights into the economic disparity in South Africa. As the weeks went by and I learned more and more about the culture, social economic and political climate of South Africa, I realised how many similarities there were to my home country of Jamaica. I discerned that the spirit of ubuntu, to which I had been exposed, was a fundamental concept that was lacking in a lot of regions globally. I have always been a big proponent of experiential learning and my time in South Africa allowed me to identify some of my strengths and weaknesses. I was forced to think on my feet and critically assess situations. To say the least, the experience was invaluable. Perhaps one of the greatest take-aways is the fact that there is something special about the simplest of human interactions. The effects of a simple “Good Morning” or “How is your day” to strangers goes so much further than I would have ever imagined. Such things have been engrained in me and have propelled me into a reintegration stage where I hope to assimilate lessons learned from summer 2014 into my daily life.

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

EDUCATION

Experts: Address bullying at its roots Bullying in schools takes different forms and has various sources. US experts gave their views on how to address the problem, as TOM TRACY reports.

ULLYING can be a testy topic on which few agree on any single definition, let alone the best way to respond once it happens in or around the classroom. Still, no fewer than six presenters at an annual US convention for Catholic educators took on the problems and controversies surrounding student and school-related bullying. Frank DiLallo, a consultant to Catholic schools in the diocese of Toledo, Ohio, said he defines the phenomenon as one causing physical or emotional harm to a student and one also interfering with learning. Mr DiLallo, who is responsible for responding to virtually all reported incidents of bullying in his diocese, was among the presenters at the US National Catholic Educational Association’s gathering in Orlando in April. He is author of a bullying-prevention programme, “Peace Be With You: A Christ-Centered Bullying Solution”. He would prefer not to even use the words “bullying” and “victims” when helping students and parents respond to an incident. He counselled that all parties deserve a compassionate response. “Mother Teresa said we cannot do great things, we can only do little things with great love, and I think there is a lot to be said for being loving and compassionate around this area,” Mr DiLallo said. He urges Catholic schools staff not to shy away from first praying with all parties before handling a

bullying report. He also proposes that each particular school community best define for itself precisely what the benchmarks will be for unacceptable student behaviour. Research shows one-shot presentations about bullying are not sufficient and that bullying-prevention requires training infused into overall school programming, he pointed out. He gave an example of how to talk to parents about a report of bullying without incurring pushback. “I think we are serving our parents better when we say something like, ‘There has been some mistreatment going on in the school and I would like to partner up with you to see how we can partner up with you to help serve you and make sure your child is safe and work through this together,’” said Mr DiLallo. “Let’s get down to the person and what is happening there. We are all about formation, so it is about every situation that comes up and making it a teachable moment and planting a seed for helping that student in formation,” he said. “That’s what’s different [at Catholic schools] and what Christ calls us to do.”

arynn Wiggins, principal of Our Lady of Fatima School in Monroe, Louisiana, cited research indicating that physical bullying peaks in middle school (for students of age about 10-14 years) and levels off in high school, whereas verbal bullying stays constant throughout. Anyone could be a bully, but studies show school bullies often exhibit aggressive, impulsive tendencies and may experience poor adult supervision, exposure to violence and low self-esteem, she noted. “Girls have a more subtle style of bullying and are therefore harder to

subtle kinds of bullying. Her own anti-bullying programme for Catholic schools is called “VirtueBased Restorative Discipline”. “What is really critical is spiritual transformation around virtue education with one holy habit for the year,” Ms Lang said. “Everyone in the [school] building is working on an individual virtue and collective virtues.”

catch,” said Ms Wiggins, who urges her school’s staff to stay engaged with students throughout the day to reduce the time and space for bullying to fester. “One of the greatest deterrents we have is friendship: Children with friends tend not to be bullied as much,” she said. Ms Wiggins noted that online and cyberbullying is “almost impossible to get away from because it is there all the time; the audience has no boundaries and easily grows exponentially”. The greatest gift educators can give children is to teach them to first try to resolve their own conflicts but ultimately to respond to bullying participants “as an individual”, discerning: “How can I help them as if it were [my] own child?” Lynne Lang, director of school climate for the archdiocese of St Louis, noted: “Everyone thinks that at Catholic schools everything will always be great, but kids leave their

little [primary] schools and go on to high school where they fall into traps, because we haven’t taught them skills they need to make decisions in the moment.” Ms Lang, who in 2011 was part of a discussion on online safety for women and children and cyber-bullying for the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See at the United Nations in New York, promotes a Christian virtue-based training programme for bullying prevention. Youths, she said, should be the last people educators talk to about bullying behaviours. “Kids walk into the environment that we create for them, and bullying is an adult problem,” she said, adding: “Bullying in schools will go away when adults model better behaviour for kids.” Ms Lang said that aside from general, secular anti-bullying programmes, Catholic schools need a further faith-based approach for

hen anti-social or bullying behaviour occurs, school staff should look for ways to be less punitive with students and to foster discussion of what virtues would have prevented the disruptive behaviours. “When we deal with the little stuff, big stuff is less likely to happen,” Ms Lang said. Chicago-based bullying expert Jodee Blanco, who has authored four books on the topic, said: “I always get this question, ‘Is bullying worse?’ Bullying is the same as it has ever been, but what is different is that the weaponry to achieve it cuts a wider and deeper swath. “Thirty years ago if you wanted to start a rumour about somebody, you passed it around math class. Today that same rumour can be uploaded on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest or Snapchatted to a thousand people with the push of a button or group-texted the same way.” When she goes into schools, Ms Blanco said she also meets what she calls the “elite tormentors” who realise they are bullying and who want help changing. She urges educators to abandon the old clichés about bullying and encourages them to help bullied students to find alternative social outlets and clubs outside of school with new friends and for schools “to find compassionate forms of discipline that teach kids the joy of being kind”.—CNS

Cyberbullying: How to spot and stop it C

YBERBULLYING occurs when electronic communications such as text messages, e-mails, instant messages, and social media updates are used to threaten or humiliate someone. Its consequences can be just as serious as the effects of bullying that occur in person. Harassment is taking place if the bully is directly contacting someone with one or more of the following types of messaging: • Hateful or threatening verbal messages. This includes name-calling, attempts to control someone’s behaviour by threatening to expose embarrassing information and/or threats of violence. • Embarrassing or threatening images or videos. • An unending barrage of e-mails, instant messages or SMSs, whether or not they are threatening in nature.

• Lies about the person to make them look bad. Another common form of cyberbullying happens when the bully harasses a target by way of public embarrassment, rather than directly contacting him or her. Cyber bullies may use these public tactics: • Posting humiliating messages on a social media site, a blog, or another public space. • Spreading rumours and gossip using social media, text messages and other tools. • Sharing pictures or videos that are embarrassing or explicit in nature, or are altered with the intent to humiliate, on social media websites and through text messaging. • Creating a website filled with defamatory images, insults, and rumours about the target. If you or somebody you know is targeted by a cyberbully, try to iden-

tify the cause. Bullies want to elicit a reaction from their targets, so firing back a text will only make things worse. Don’t threaten the bully to get back at him or her. Sending a threatening message out of exasperation will only provoke the bully to keep up the bad behaviour, and it may get you in trouble, too. Save the evidence. File away every evidence you collect from the bully. Record the time and date that each message was sent. Having as much information as possible about the bully’s behaviour will help you determine how to stop his or her behaviour. Don’t wait too long to ask for help. You might be tempted to let the bullying run its course instead of bringing attention to the problem, but if you do that the bully will get the message that there’s no penalty

for putting someone else in danger. Don’t assume the problem will go away on its own; speak up immediately to put a stop to it. If you’re a child or teenager, ask an adult for help. Your parents, teachers, principal and school counsellor are all in a position to put a stop to the situation before it goes any further. If you’re a parent, take the situation seriously and address it immediately. Cyberbullying has often had tragic consequences. Every school has a policy for dealing with bullying, and more and more schools have a specific plan for putting a stop to cyberbullying. No matter what your school’s individual policy might be, it’s the administrators’ job to resolve the situation. If you’re a parent, set up a meeting with the school principal or dean to address the problem head-on.

•

• •

Cyberbullying usually violates the terms of service laid out by social media sites, cellphone providers, and other service providers. Read up on your providers’ policies and take steps to report threatening behaviour. You may have to send your records of the cyberbully’s messages to the provider as proof. In some cases cyberbullying may be classified as a crime. Call the police if the cyberbullying involves one of the following elements: stalking and use of intimidation, threats of violence, sexually explicit photos or descriptions of a minor (which is considered child pornography), secretly-recorded photos or videos, hate-related communications or actions. • Source: wikihow.com/Stop-CyberBullying

We uphold a Catholic Ethos leading to a deeper faith in Jesus Christ. We are committed to an excellence in Education within the Mercy Ethos We aim to provide a positive happy environment in which our learners are able to achieve their potential. We try to ensure that each member of our school community is valued for their talents

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The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

A martyr’s lesson for rural schools In September a South African school principal will be beatified. STUART GRAHAM looks at Benedict Daswa, the teacher.

N a field across the gravel road from the neat stone Catholic church, a teacher dressed in a pressed dark suit and tie shouts at pupils from Nweli Primary that it’s time to return to class. The hot, rural environment is hardly conducive to suits, but formal attire for teachers is non-negotiable at the school, located in Nweli village outside of Thohoyandou in the northern Limpopo province. Poorly resourced rural schools are not always associated with excellence, but at Nweli the belief is that setting an example is one of the first and most important steps in educating a child. It’s an approach that was started many years ago by a man named Benedict Daswa, who was martyred in 1990 and is to beatified in September. “Benedict insisted on the highest standards,” says Chris Mphaphuli, a community leader and a close friend of Daswa. “He insisted that male teachers always wear a suit and tie and polished shoes. He felt that was important that the pupils had excellent role models whom they could look up to,” said Mr Mphaphuli. “That approach has lived on to this day. You won’t find a male teacher at

Benedict Daswa with children at Nweli Primary School where he was principal. Nweli who is not wearing a jacket and tie.” When Benedict Daswa, who was born in a village nearby, was promoted to principal of Nweli Primary in the late 1970s the school was a collection of dilapidated mud buildings with a single temporary teacher. Benedict was determined to change that. He immediately applied to the Department of Education to build a proper school. The department agreed and soon the dilapidated buildings were replaced with more modern structures. In those days Nweli could cater

for pupils up to what we now call Grade 8, but under Daswa the school was soon catering for Grade 7s. There was another problem. The area is often hit by droughts and food shortages. In 1979, when a food shortage hit the area, Benedict approached Operation Hunger to start a feeding scheme at the school. He realised that the children had to have food available. No child could learn on an empty stomach. And so, while the buildings were going up, Benedict planted a vegetable garden in the school grounds. Benedict, who was a keen gard-

ner, believed that farming was a perfect way to teach youngsters about hard work, humility and respect for the environment. If pupils couldn’t afford to pay their school fees, they could make up for it by working in the vegetable gardens. “There were parents of learners who were very poor,” says Mr Mphaphuli. “Benedict would help those who couldn’t pay their child’s fees. He went to their parents and sometimes he would pay for them. Sometimes he would say: ‘I will pay for you, but on Saturday come and work

in my garden so that I can give you some money which you can use to pay.’” Benedict also insisted that learners should wear uniforms. “There were learners who didn’t have money to buy their school outfits but he helped them one way or another,” Mr Mphaphuli recalls. Benedict’s family and friends remember him as a resourceful man who believed in setting an example for youngsters to follow. He had used his bakkie to bring rocks up from the nearby river bed to build the local Catholic church. He unloaded the rocks himself and was often seen building and laying stones for the walls of the church. He was also a keen football player and had a pitch built so that the teams could take part in tournaments. Women and men were equals in the Daswa home, despite the maledominated culture in the Venda area. Benedict’s mother, Theambi Daswa, recalls her son washing babies’ nappies and preparing dinners, tasks traditionally reserved for women in the area. “Benedict was always thinking ahead of time,” she says. “He wanted to set an example for his children and for the pupils at his school. He wanted them to know that men and women are equal and that a marriage means you have to share the responsibilities.” The story is repeated by Benedict’s brother Tanyane and son Lufuno. “He reared me,” says Tanyane who was planting in a field nearby. “We stayed together until we Continued overleaf

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CATHOLIC EDUCATION started working...we were at the University of Venda. We studied together,â&#x20AC;? he recalls. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the Christian sphere, the social sphere and in our family, he was a leader.â&#x20AC;? Lufuno Daswa was 14 when he last saw his father alive. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I remember my final conversation with my father. I was going into the second year of secondary school,â&#x20AC;? he says. He drove me to St Brendanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. We chatted for a long time. He was teaching me some words in Sepedi, about how to greet my mother. We prayed and then we hugged and then he closed the door, and then I had to close my door, and then he drove off.â&#x20AC;? Lufuno, who is training to be a teacher at the University of Venda in Thohoyandou, says his father insisted that he study at St Brendanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Catholic school, which was the best school in the area at the time. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He believed in the power of education. He was a hard worker. He was a visionary. He had future plans. He planned for our family, for our education.â&#x20AC;? Some in the area felt that Benedict might have been â&#x20AC;&#x153;bewitchedâ&#x20AC;? and was betraying his culture. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One day Benedict said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Gentleman, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s try to help our wivesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;,â&#x20AC;? says Mr Mphaphuli. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We grew up traditionally. Women were married to cook and carry firewood on their heads or water from the rivers. They would also look after little ones. Benedict said it was high time we think differently,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The men would say, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Your wife has bewitched you. She has given you some muti so that you say yes, yes, to whatever she saysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Benedict said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;No, that is not how you should think. Think of it as the way God created man. He created man and woman alike.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Benedict believed poor education and ignorance was behind the witch hunts that were prevalent in the area at the time. In 1990 when lightning struck huts in the nearby

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Education is integral to the mission of the Church to proclaim the Good News. First and foremost every Catholic educational institution is a place to encounter the living God who in Jesus Christ reveals his transforming love and truth.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Pope Benedict XVI

Mbahe Village, the local headman and his councillors called for donations of R5 to hire a sorcerer, who would find the person responsible. Daswa tried to explain that lightning was a natural phenomenon, but his explanations were met with scepticism. â&#x20AC;&#x153;At that time people had already started burning the witches,â&#x20AC;? Mr Mphaphuli recalls. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If they saw that you were prospering in your work or garden or orchard, they would say you are using the zombies. These are people who are dead but at night they use them to work in the garden,â&#x20AC;? Mr Mphaphuli explains. â&#x20AC;&#x153;That is just a superstitious idea. But many people were killed in those months because they had orchards that were bearing fruit.â&#x20AC;? On February 2, 1990, Benedict was killed by a mob. On the same night his uncle was identified as a witch and was also beaten and burned to death. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This uncle of Benedict used to have circumcision schools for boys,â&#x20AC;? says Mr Mphaphuli. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some in the community realised he had money because the initiates pay a lot. They said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We better kill himâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, because they suspected that he might have been the one who was causing lightning that had burned houses at that time.â&#x20AC;? The community in Nweli was distraught when news of Benedictâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death arrived. They had lost a teacher, a principal, a father and a friend. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The community loved Benedict,â&#x20AC;? Mr Mphaphuli says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When he started as principal they realised he loved children. He loved his work. He would stay behind after school to be with the children. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He has been gone for many years now,â&#x20AC;? Mr Mphaphuli says sadly before he looks at the pupils following their teacher back to class. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But you can see from the teacher in that suit,â&#x20AC;? he says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Benedictâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s example lives on.â&#x20AC;? n Benedict Daswa will be beatified as a martyr at Thohoyandou Stadium on September 13.

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

We must protect the dignity of our children BY RICHARD HAYWARD

ECENTLY I was in the audience at a talk given by retired Constitutional judge Albie Sachs. In his talk the judge recounted an appeal brought before the Constitutional Court. A religious organisation had asked that corporal punishment be allowed in its schools. The organisation claimed that it was a basic tenet of their faith and quoted biblical texts to support the viewpoint. Furthermore, the organisation stated that parents who sent their children to their schools wanted the children to be punished using corporal punishment. Speaking to us, Justice Sachs graphically described two encounters with corporal punishment from his own life. As a youngster he was a pupil at a well-known private Cape Town school. On an almost daily basis, he was given â&#x20AC;&#x153;six of the bestâ&#x20AC;? by a particular teacher who always seemed to find fault with his work. The young Albie realised the total injustice of the teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actions but simply had to endure the pain. A second encounter with corporal punishment was when he was in solitary confinement in jail as a politcal activist. Outside his cell he could hear juvenile offenders being regularly beaten by the warders. What made the situation more agonising for his vivid imagination was that he could never see what was happening. All he could hear were the terrified, feral screams of the victims. When he was later taken out of his cell to the courtyard, he would see the selfsame warders calmly drinking their coffee while reading the daily newspapers. Broken canes were scattered on the ground. The judgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rejection of the appeal for corporal punishment to be allowed in schools was not based solely on his personal experiences. Yet those experiences made him aware of how corporal punishment could be both unfair and violent. The core of the argument that he handed down was that corporal

punishment was a denial of the basic human rights of any individual. At the end of his talk, the chairperson invited questions from the floor. A teenage girl from a Johannesburg private school told the judge that there was no corporal punishment in her own school. However, her friends at a Sowetan school were beaten by the teachers. What, she asked the judge, could be done? Twenty years into our democracy and it being banned by law, corporal punishment is still happening in our schools. This occurs not only in Soweto but across the land. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pertinent to ask the question whether your own children or any of their peers are subject to corporal punishment. Ask them. Remind them that children have responsibilities to behave in certain ways in their interaction with their parents, teachers, peers and others.

Crucially though, children also have certain inalienable rights. One of them is not to be physically assaulted. Remind them of that right too. What was Albie Sachs reply to the young questioner? He told her that he admired her courage in raising the question. She was advised to report it to others, which by implication were adults. The principal of the teenager happened to be in the audience on that afternoon. I think that there would have been a knock on his door the next day! The judge challenged the organisers of the function to do something to help the girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sowetan friends. Silence can sometimes be seen as a sign of agreement. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the saying that sums it up succinctly: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Evil triumphs when good people do nothing.â&#x20AC;? n First published in e-Quality Edge, a publication of SAQI

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The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

The benefits of centering meditation Learners are usually told to be wide awake and alert in school. PAUL FALLER argues that quiet time for meditation has benefits— for everybody.

INCE 2012 the Catholic Institute of Education has been promoting meditation in schools. Why? For one thing, it is an integral but forgotten part of the religious education curriculum. More urgently though, the need to find a quiet place within the self becomes more and more important for our learners’ psychological and spiritual health—and our own—in a world that is constantly subject to noise and distraction. The number of “assess your stress level” tests found on the Internet is indicative of the unbalanced lifestyle of our society. There are many traditions of

meditation and many ways of practising it. In this article, I want to introduce you to the way of Christian meditation promoted by the Benedictine monk, John Main, and the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM), which he inspired. It is sometimes called the prayer of the heart because it consists in the simple act of listening within the heart. In the words of the modern Sufi mystic Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee: “We bring the mind down into the heart, into the feeling centre of our self. And here we wait and listen, not to the sounds of the outer world, but to the silence that is within our self.” The two birds in the picture alongside represent two ways of engaging reality. The bird on the right is turned outwards interacting with the world around it. The other bird looks within the bath reflectively. These two dimensions are the active and contemplative dimensions of our lives.

Unfortunately, in the world today we live almost exclusively like the first bird, constantly busy, never still, subject to stress which as it grows tends to aggression of one kind or another. What is the cause of this? The fact is that we are seldom at home with ourselves as we constantly strive to become the image we and the media create for ourselves. We are never content to be who we are, the human made in the image of God. Meditation, the activity of the second bird, helps to restore the balance. Meditation is a coming home to ourselves, a discovery of who we really are, and the beauty of the journey is that we discover at the same time the God who dwells at the centre of our being. St Augustine put it this way: O Beauty ever ancient, ever new. Too late have I loved you. I was outside and you were within me. And I never found you Until I found you within myself. In order to meditate—or listen within the heart—we need to do two simple things: finding stillness of body in a relaxed but upright posture, and stillness of mind using a prayer word or mantra as a means of focusing and letting go of the buzz of mental activity going on within us. Saying these are simple does not suggest that they are easy. However, we do not judge ourselves in meditation. Its healing effects are found, not in success, but in fidelity to the practice. Meditation effects a gradual change in the practitioner. If you are considering to embrace the practice, you will want to know what its fruits are. Those who have become regular meditators attest to a growth of the following

A group of Catholic school learners exercise meditation. characteristics in their lives. This list you might recognise as the fruits of the Spirit given by St Paul in his Letter to the Galatians (5:22): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is not surprising since it is the Spirit of God that we invite to work within us when we still ourselves in body and mind in the act of meditation. Meditation has many other benefits besides—both physiological and psychological—too numerous to mention here, but well attested by rigorous research. One might say that meditation is a healing process, bringing wholeness and balance to each dimension of the human person. Those who have experienced the fruits of meditation will readily imagine what a different world we would live in if everyone adopted the practice. That may be far from the actual case, but we can have a significant impact on our society by teaching it to the children in our care as part of their spiritual heritage.

One bird is turned outwards, interacting with the world around it. The other bird looks within the bath reflectively. These two dimensions are the active and contemplative dimensions of our lives, Paul Faller writes.

n Paul Faller is the coordinator of Religious Education in Catholic Schools at the Catholic Institute of Education.

Ten ways for parents to become part of school life BY RICHARD HAYWARD

HAT is it that stops parents from giving even more support to their children’s schools? Perhaps it’s the hectic pace in their 21st century workplaces. At the end of a long day, many parents have little energy left. There are those parents who feel unsafe travelling to school at night and leaving their children unattended at home. Many schools are now having meetings in the late afternoons or even on Saturday mornings. Parental support is crucial to making quality education happen, but there are tried and trusted ways for schools to increase their support. 1. Welcome new parents with a function: At the start of a new year there are always new parents especially in Grades R, 1 and 8. Have a “Welcome to our school” function or braai. 2. Write a weekly newsletter: The weekly newsletter can help parents become aware and interested in what’s happening at school. Make the newsletter cheerful and invitational in tone. Fill it with good news about what’s going on at school. 3. Ask: “Can you help?” Every family has expertise or skills to give to the school. Send out a questionnaire indicating areas where the school would welcome help. Yet also invite parents to state if they have skills or areas of expertise that would benefit the school. 4. Have an active PA or PTA: Give parents the opportunities to meet each other and the staff. Have a Parent or Parent-Teacher Association. Meet regularly. Make sure that the meetings end with refreshments and time for social chats. 5. Set goals and targets: Make parents’ attendances at PA and PTA meetings worthwhile. Set goals and targets such as, for example, building a new classroom or upgrading the grounds. Working together on a project brings parents together.

6. Have socials: Parents enjoy meeting each other socially. Have social activities where folk can relax with events such as bingo nights, dances, fish & chip suppers and golf days. 7. Celebrate and respect cultural diversity: Families need to feel “at home” and comfortable whatever their culture. You might like to have events that celebrate different religions and get the respective families involved. Ensure that the food at the tuck shop and at functions caters to all cultures found in the school. 8. Make the School Governing Body or Board of Governors visible: At the heart of a quality school is good governance. Parents on a governing body are the official voice of the parent community. Let the governors be well known to parents through their frequent verbal and written report-backs. 9. Invite involvement in school activities: Encourage parents to help with school activities. Schools benefit hugely from parents who assist at sports events and concerts. There are parents who help every week in places like the outgrown-uniform shop and tuck shop. They’ll give generously and for mahala of their talents and time. 10. Remember to say “thank you”: Parents’ contributions are to be appreciated. Remember to send the thank you note or letter. Pick up the phone and give a verbal bouquet. Acknowledge them in the newsletter and at the actual events. At the end of the year, you could have a “Thanks a million” event. It’s time to tell parents how much everyone is grateful for all their valued support. It’s impossible for the staff of a school to provide quality education by themselves. They need willing hands, heads and hearts to help them. Parents can give that invaluable help. Invite them to get involved so that together with the staff, they’ll take the school to new heights of educational excellence. • This article was first published in The Teacher.

CATHOLIC EDUCAT ION

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

Teachers tangled up in red tape When a British Jesuit tried to introduce a development project into a rural Catholic school in North West Province, he came face to face with bureaucratic chaos. FR JOHN MOFFATT SJ shares his experience.

gate what had gone wrong. Advisers were in and out like yo-yos inspecting, investigating and berating everyone from the principal downwards. Towards the end of the first month the school had a working timetable and most classes were covered.

T was a simple enough idea. Take a taxi to Taung Hospital, live at the St Paul’s mission by the kind and gracious hospitality of the Focolare community, and see if some of the things I had worked with in London schools could be of help in this small town in North West Province. On paper, to the uninitiated, a South African Public School on Private Property (PSPP) school looks a very similar animal to the British equivalent I was used to: Church schools that maintain their own distinctive ethos while being paid for by the state. So I expected to find similar tensions between the call on teachers to satisfy government demands on them and the call to satisfy the ethos-related demands of the Church. I also expected to find traces of reluctance among non-Catholic staff to engage with specifically Catholic things and a stronger sense of obligation to the paymasters (the local education department) than to the landowners (the local bishop). My latter expectations were a little justified. There was some resentment from some teachers about loss of class time for Catholic feast days and occasions. Nevertheless, relations at the level of ethos mostly felt good. However, my first set of expectations proved amply justified and had a very significant effect on the outcome of the project.

efore we go on, let me give a little background. The idea was to provide a framework for teachers to reflect on their own motivation and the classroom techniques that they choose, in the light of the Ignatian

Pupils in Taung in North West Province, where bureaucratic interventions brought more harm than good. (Jesuit) vision of education, based on a similar project in Britain. This brings questions about ethos out of the chapel and into the classroom and thus enables every teacher to take some ownership of the ethos of the school irrespective of their own religious affiliations. In the UK, there seemed to be no room for a separate thing called “Ignatian education” and no reason for an ordinary member of staff to take such a thing seriously. However, what the Ignatian material did offer was a way into an enriching, personal vocational sense of teaching, which often seemed absent from the purely technocratic demands of the government educational machine. In fact, I have consistently found staff to be inspired when their daily work is connected to things that they actually believe in. My hypothesis was that if teachers were given an opportunity to reflect on the best of their motivations for teaching, it could free them to explore teaching tech-

niques that might enhance their own and their pupils’ experience of life in the classroom.

n Taung, my volunteers responded positively to the invitation. They liked the approach and the material and took to some of the ideas. There was, however, an interesting level of scepticism about some of the techniques. What was the point of giving students time to think before answering questions? You would lose class time and receive no answer. There was a genuine issue about the reluctance of students (for whom English was very much a second language) to express themselves in class and risk the ridicule of a wrong answer. We experimented with the use of individual white-board slates and suddenly found that members of most classes were ready to respond when given a non-threatening tool with which to do so. There were some promising early signs.

What I had not bargained for was the level of administrative chaos in which public schools have to survive and over which they have little control. I arrived in the first week of the January term. The department had given the final decree on the amalgamation of the middle school and high school in mid-December. Numbers of entrants at Grade 7 and Grade 10 were still in flux, with people coming in from outside the school’s system. The department had not taken a final decision on teaching staff when I arrived and the school was now overstaffed. In the confusion, temporary timetables were put together, only to be blown apart a week later, when the department removed five teachers for redeployment. This left many classes unattended for large periods during the day. Meanwhile, because the school had fallen below the 70% minimum pass rate at matriculation, the department was anxious to investi-

The College provides a caring, family-oriented ĞŶǀŝƌŽŶŵĞŶƚ͕ ŽīĞƌŝŶŐ Ă ďĂůĂŶĐĞĚ ĐƵƌƌŝĐƵůƵŵ ǁŚŝĐŚ ĞŶĐŽƵƌĂŐĞƐ ƉƵƉŝů ƉĂƌƟĐŝƉĂƟŽŶ Ŷ Ă ǀĂƌŝĞƚǇ ŽĨ ƐƉŝƌŝƚƵĂů ĂĐĂĚĞŵ Đ ĐƵůƚƵƌĂů͕ ƐƉŽƌƟŶŐ ĂŶĚ ĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƚǇͲƌĞůĂƚĞĚ ĂĐƟǀŝƟĞƐ Ŷ ƉƌĞƉĂƌĂƟŽŶ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ / EĂƟŽŶĂů ^ĞŶŝŽƌ ĞƌƟĮĐĂƚĞ ǆĂŵ ŶĂƟŽŶƐ Ͳ ĂŶĚ ƌĞƐƉŽŶƐŝďůĞ ŚƌŝƐƟĂŶ ĂĚƵ ƚŚŽŽĚ ϮͲϮϮ ZŽĂĚ EŽ ϯ͕ s ĐƚŽƌǇ WĂ Ŭ͕ :ŽŚĂŶ ĞƐďƵ Ő͕ Ϯϭϵϱ WƌŝŵĂƌǇ ^ĐŚŽŽů Tel: 011 782 5217

,ŝŐŚ ^ ŚŽ ů el: 011 888 1692/4

www.delasalleholycrosscollege.co. a BE F IIR R S T,

V TH T HA AT E OF SER TY BE YOU OU M AY B MAY

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ut just as things were settling down, a full-blown inspection was called. Teachers were hauled out of classes to show that they had the right number of exercises duly marked according to the energetic CAPS schedule. Only one of the advisers actually looked at any teaching. The method was flawed, the conclusion was false and the effects on teaching and learning were damaging. Only one adviser noticed that the obvious reason for the bad result was a particular matriculation class of 40, rather than 20-odd, which had been created for that final year and which contained many students who had been consistently failing over the years. The adviser was ignored. Presumably the school had acceded to the inflated class size under departmental pressure to remove an awkward bulge in the educational statistics. There was too much going on for my experiment to have any serious traction. Pretty much everything in the system was working against the model of slow, personal transformation that the experiment required. One of the volunteers—a head of department—quit the experiment before I left, though the others promised to keep trying. I was away in the UK when the great foreign-teacher cull took place in term two. When I returned to Taung in August, two other volunteers had gone and a third resigned later. This is a tragically tantalising result. Enough went well to show what could be done, given time and space. The Catholic system potentially has something to offer, but schools cannot be expected to transform the teaching and learning within them, unless they are given far greater control over their own destiny.

‘Catholic education aims not only to communicate facts but also to transmit a coherent, comprehensive vision of life, in the conviction that the truths contained in that vision liberate students in the most profound meaning of human freedom.’

St John Paul II

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Sports at root of 80-year-old Christian Brothers’ College

Ntoyami Bopela, a learner at Dominican Convent in Johannesburg, playing for the South African U16 basketball team.

Catholic school produces future basketball star

ROWING up in a humble home, and a Jeppestown neighbourhood filled with many social challenges, Ntoyami Bopela’s chances for success may have seemed small at birth. That changed after Ntoyami received a strong foundation of free pre-school education at the Kgosi Neighbourhood Foundation, which in turn led to an opportunity to attend Dominican Convent School. Like many Dominican students, Ntoyami was introduced to basketball at a young age. His innate ability, passion, and practice ensured his success on the court. Further counsel and instruction from coach Elvis

Ukpong led Ntoyami to be selected for the U16 South African national team this year. On May 20, the U16 national team took part in a practice game against the Soweto Panthers professional side. Mr Ukpong, who was cheering Ntoyami on, said: “It was an overwhelming experience to watch him play in the national colours, knowing his origin from such humble beginnings.” The match was the fourth game that Ntoyami has played for South Africa in preparation for the Afrobasket U16 qualification tournament in Botswana.

LORETO CONVENT SCHOOL About our School

We have been providing the very best Catholic education for Grade R to 12 learners for the past 137 years, with a 100% Matric Pass Rate for

over 20 years.

We believe that by setting high educational and moral standards, we aim to produce well educated, mature, self-disciplined citizens, who will be well equipped to serve their own community and their country.

Admissions

Admissions for 2016 are open, please refer to our website for the admissions process www.loreto.co.za or contact the school on 012 326 6342 for more information. Grade R to Grade 3 – Boys and Girls Grade 4 to Grade 12 – Girls only

LA SALLE COLLEGE When Tradition and Religion suits your child’s needs

CBC Boksburg is celebrating its 80th birthday this year. While academic and personal development is a cornerstone of the college’s education, it takes great pride in its sporting successes, as THERESA O’DONOGHUE writes.

ITH its solid value base and sense of tradition, Christian Brothers’ College Boksburg is a Catholic school for boys with a strong Christian ethos. The college celebrates its 80th anniversary this year, having been established in 1935 by the South African Christian Brothers in the spirit and tradition of Bl Edmund Ignatius Rice, founder of the Christian Brothers’ Schools in Ireland in 1803. Since 1935, the school has expanded over 4000m2 of land that include the sports fields, and tennis courts. Boys of all ages are motivated to give of their best and to enjoy their school days. Sport is at the root of a legendary bonding culture. Friendship and sportsmanship is promoted in team and individual sports, leading to a happy, vibrant tradition of participation. Justin Stoop, the college’s director of sport, says that cricket and rugby are the main focus and the modern indoor cricket centre ensures that bowling and batting practice happens all year-round. The boys are encouraged to find a sport that suits them. The range of activities includes hockey, swimming, football, tennis, squash and golf. The centre also houses a fully equipped gym. Mr Stoop is proud of a 94% participation rate in sport—and the few who don’t take part don’t do so because of injury or illness. A sports shop has been established where the boys can purchase their sport kits. The first rugby team has a private change room that showcases pictures and jerseys of CBC Boksburg Old Boys, such as Springbok Conrad Jantjies, as well as commemorative plaques from the teams they have played in tours abroad or hosted at the college. Being a relatively small school

Pupils from various grades in front of the old facade of the Christian Brothers’ College in Boksburg. of 950 boys with around 360 in the high school, the college competes and holds its own against larger schools, thus ensuring that the spirit of participation and sportsmanship is upheld. CBC Boksburg is part of a worldwide network of Christian Brothers’ Schools, dedicated to developing well-educated, wellrounded, selfless young men of character and honour. The school’s first U-shaped twostorey building, with its columns and preserved front façade topped by a stone Celtic cross, now houses the prep school and a small part of the high school. The Brothers’ residence, a matching U-shaped design, was completed in April 1938. On the first floor above a treed courtyard is a small chapel that still has the original stained glass windows. This building is now the home of the pre-primary and primary sections of the college. A state of the art boarding house, which opened in January 2013, accommodates 54 senior boys from year eight to matric on a weekly basis. CBC Boksburg has a well-balanced academic and extra-mural programme which aims to equip boys with the skills and values necessary for their future careers. Matriculants write the IEB examination and the college proudly maintains its annual record of a 100% pass rate, with 90% achieving a university entrance pass and the remaining 10% a higher diploma pass. The

top achievers are regularly placed in the IEB top one percent nationally across a range of subjects. The innovative high school house tutor system has created a strong culture of leadership, mentorship and a sense of belonging. There are four houses, each with four tutor groups of 20 boys each. Boys in years eight to matric are mixed in each group, which offers a unique, close brotherhood among the boys, with the senior boys mentoring the younger boys, ensuring that boys settle into high school successfully. Ideals of altruism and community service are encouraged, with boys involved in outreach initiatives on a number of levels within the local community and via the Edmund Rice Society. Headmaster Jim Connell says the CBC boys have continued the great tradition of active participation in all aspects of college life. “I am often asked what makes CBC Boksburg different from other schools and my stock reply is that each school is the result of what people put into it,” he says. “I believe that the cornerstone of our college is the quality and commitment of our staff and their focus on achieving what is best for each boy. “Excellence for one may not be the same for another but the pursuit of excellence is the same for all. Each day presents myriad opportunities to grow and experience the wonders of life within a nurturing and caring environment.”

Our motto CONCORDIA challenges us to work towards peace and harmony with God, self and others.

La Salle College Discovery was founded by the De La Salle Brothers in 1966 and caters for boys and girls from Grade R to Grade 12. It is a Lasallian Catholic school founded on the three hundred year tradition of the De La Salle Brothers. The College has always welcomed learners from all levels of society. Against a backdrop of Catholic values, La Salle College aims to bring out the best in each learner. La Salle College has a tradition of pursuing excellence, innovation and social justice within a context of care for the individual learner.

La Salle offers: Smaller classes which ensure personalised attention and individual monitoring of academic progress.  A pastoral care system which encourages self-discipline and personal growth which helps each child achieve their God-given potential.  Professional staff committed to all round excellence in education and concern for the total development of the individual learner.  First class academic facilities  Sport and cultural activities in which the learners are expected to participate. Entrance exams take place in July. Contact details: secretary@lasalle.co.za Slabbert Street Discovery 1709 P O Box 6183 Ansfrere 1711 www.lasalle.co.za 011 472 3524

WE OFFER Affordable education for boys and girls, grade 1-7 English medium, Academic excellence, Scripture lessons weekly, School Masses, Catholic children are prepared for the sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.

96 Landdrost Street Private Bag X 9309 Vryheid 3100, TEL: 034 981 6157 FAX: 034 983 2012 www.nardiniconventschoolvryheid.co.za

PERSPECTIVES

A pilgrim in the land of Jesus M

ANY years ago as a student in London I travelled to Rome by train. In the year 2000 my wife and I went on a pilgrimage to the headquarters of three churches as we were working with members of the Catholic, Anglican and Methodist Churches. We therefore visited Rome, Canterbury cathedral and the Wesley chapel in London. These visits were inspiring, but they did not have the impact that The Southern Cross’ pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Italy in May had on me. There were 43 of us on this pilgrimage, with Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria as our spiritual director. There are many sites in the Holy Land and Italy that left a lasting impression on me. In this article I will restrict myself to the following: the River Jordan where Jesus was baptised; Cana where Jesus performed his first miracle; the Sea of Galilee; the basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem; the Cenacle or Upper Room, the site of the Last Supper; the church of St Peter in Gallicantu, which marks the house of Caiaphas the High Priest; and the church of the Holy Sepulchre. As a pilgrim, my primary interest in these churches and other places is not in the architectural beauty of these sites but in their spiritual significance for the followers of Christ. I will touch on a few of these in this first part of two articles. The mere mention of the River Jordan has an emotional appeal to Christians of many denominations. You should then imagine what it felt like for me and my fellow pilgrims to wade in the waters of this famous river, and to be at the site where Jesus was baptised and a voice was heard saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17). It was indeed appropriate that the Jordan was the first important site that we visited, for here Jesus was prepared for his

public ministry, and here we were prepared for our pilgrim journey by renewing our baptismal vows. Some of us renewed our wedding vows at Cana, near Nazareth, where Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding. My wife Teboho and I were one of the seven couples who renewed our marriage vows. In Cana I realised how important the sacrament of matrimony was in Jesus’ teaching. Just as God instituted the sacrament at the very beginning of creation, the wedding at Cana took place at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry and there the Messiah performed his first miracle.

n my reading of the Bible story of the resurrection I have often wondered why the angel would tell Mary that Jesus was going ahead of his disciples to Galilee where they would see him. Why Galilee? My visit to the Holy Land has helped me understand that Galilee was Jesus’ “headquarters”. It was here where he performed many of his miracles and articulated many of the key tenets of our faith. Take the Sea of Galilee. This is where Peter was a fisherman, and this is where Jesus called his first disciples.

The Southern Cross pilgrims, led by Archbishop William Slattery, renew their baptismal vows at Qasr el Yahud site on the Jordan River.

Live your life – today I

OFTEN think that teenagers must get frustrated with us older folk when we begin conversations with them like this: Have you thought about what you’re going to do when you finish school? What would you like to become when you’re older? Have you taken the right subjects to help in your future career? Whenever I spend time with young people—as I did recently on a youth leadership weekend—they always remind me to enjoy the moment I’m in right now, rather than worry about something that hasn’t happened yet. I’m a typical worrier and when making a decision—about my career, my next overseas holiday, my relationships with others—I’m always thinking about what could go wrong and the steps I need to take to ensure the best outcome possible. As a result I’m often trapped in controlling a future that hasn’t happened yet, and it robs me of the joy of the present. Don’t get me wrong; it is good to plan for the future. Goals help us to work towards something greater and if we don’t have a backup when things don’t go according to plan, then we risk falling into places we didn’t want to be. The future is important, yes, but far more important is this moment right now and to live it fully. This month, as we observed Youth Day and once again remembered the important role that young people played in helping us all to be free from the shackles of a system that forced us to live incomplete lives, it’s perhaps worth considering some of the characteristics of June 16 1976. When the students of Soweto left their classrooms to march to Orlando Stadium that day, there was only one thing that drove them: they didn’t want to be educated in a language they didn’t understand. It was an issue that fell into a larger rhetoric in the battle between preserving apartheid and dismantling it. But on that day they weren’t thinking about the release of Nelson Mandela from Robben Island, or the conditions of workers in the mines, or the liberation movement that was operating underground. They were driven by the issue that affected them directly: their access to education that was worthy of their abilities. They knew there was an element of danger in what they were about to do, but I’m sure that very few of them thought

Youths at a Bosco camp in Johannesburg. Pope Francis has called on young people to “have the courage to be happy”. through the consequences of that march and how it could go so horribly wrong, as it did. Some lost their lives that day and South Africa lost the treasure of who they would grow up to become. But there were many others who, as a result of their participation that day and in the countrywide protests that followed, became aware of what was at stake and worked to bring a new country into being. It was their enthusiasm, their fearlessness in the face of the full might of the authorities that fast-tracked the impasse between the state and the people. The adults, angered by what had happened, were infected by that raw energy that only young people know and it spurred them into action.

Emmanuel Ngara

Christian Leadership

This, too, is the site where “the Jesus Boat” was discovered in 1985, a first-century fishing boat which could possibly be one of the boats that Jesus used. As we pilgrims went on a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, or Lake Gennesaret, with fishermen demonstrating the castnet fishing method of Peter’s time, I felt that just as Jesus had said to Simon and Andrew, “Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” Jesus was calling us, the modern-day disciples, to follow him and be his witnesses in our own homes, workplaces, countries and indeed to the ends of the earth. One of the other sites in Galilee that made a lasting impression on me was the church of the Beatitudes, which marks the place where Jesus delivered his famous Sermon on the Mount. As we left this fascinating “mount” to return to our hotel, the entire Sermon from Matthew, chapter 5 to the end of chapter 7, was read to us on the bus. With this comprehensive rendition I then understood more clearly what Jesus did on the Mount of Beatitudes: He was calling for a revolution in our beliefs, our attitudes, our consciousness and our relationship with God and our fellow human beings. He was announcing new values and a completely new way of life. His listeners understood this as they realised that “he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law” (Mt 7:28). n More on Prof Ngara’s reflection on the pilgrimage next month. To go with The Southern Cross and Archbishop Stephen Brislin to the Holy Land in 2016, please see the back page.

Sarah-Leah Pimentel

The Mustard Seeds

something to be attained now. Young people want to see change now and will work to overcome the things that stand in their way. Ideals are not the same as dreams. Dreams are about something that has not yet come to fruition and their reality is dependent on so many factors, some of which are outside our control. An ideal is the idea, the thought, the inspiration that drives youth and plays out in their words and everyday actions. It has a place in the present as they slowly build the future. Enthusiasm is the ability to be passionate about something, it is the ability to enjoy life and live it creatively. And life is enjoyed now and not in some illusory “I’ll be happy someday” realm. Young people who live full, enthusiastic, and happy lives now will become fulfilled adults who will appreciate the joy of living and know that all sorrows will also pass. If I delay opportunities to be happy now, I’ll never be happy, because as I grow older I will become bitter with the regret of not having lived each day to the full when I was younger. Happiness can be found in the search for justice, the purpose of an ideal and the joy of enthusiasm, because these are God’s gifts to us when we choose life in him. This is what St John Paul II told the youth gathered in Rome for World Youth Day in 2000 (which I attended when I was still a teenager), and which Pope Francis echoed again in his message to the world’s Continued on page 27

hese characteristics can be summarised by three words: justice, ideals, enthusiasm. All three of these qualities reside in the present. I know that without maturity and the wisdom of those who have lived a full life, these qualities can become destructive because they are not built on deep foundations. But it is good for us to remember some of what we were in our own youth and foster it in our children and grandchildren. 1 Plein Street, Perhaps it’s also a reminder to Sidwell, Port Elizabeth find something long forgotten in ourselves. Justice is not some wispy future goal to be achieved; it is

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

Michael Shackleton

Open Door

Why couldn’t priest hear confession? After Mass in a diocese in Britain I requested the celebrant to hear my confession. He replied he couldn’t, because he hadn’t received permission from the bishop to do so. He asked another priest to hear my confession. How come? I thought every priest could hear confessions. S G Santos

HRIST gave the power to forgive sin to his apostles (Jn 20:23), the first bishops of the Church. They, in turn, passed this singular power to their legitimate successors in office. It is the college of bishops who, to this day in union with their head, the bishop of Rome, possess this wonderful gift of forgiving sin and showing Christ’s mercy for sinners. As sharers in the bishops’ ministry, priests acquire their authority to forgive sin only from the bishops. They do this in two ways, either by means of the prescriptions of canon law or by the authority delegated to them by particular bishops. Canon law, which is promulgated in the name of the college of bishops, provides the first way. Canon 968.1 declares, among other things, that the parish priest may hear confessions by virtue of his office. This means that once he formally takes possession of the parish, he has the right in law to absolve penitents from sin. Presumably, in the case you have mentioned, the priest was not a parish priest but a visitor to the diocese. He would not have the right to hear your confession because he would not hold an office such as that of parish priest. If this visiting priest, or even a priest in the diocese who is not a parish priest or acting in the place of one, asks the bishop for the “faculties” to hear confessions, his request is normally granted. This is the second way a priest acquires authority to forgive sin. When the bishop grants a priest the permission to hear confessions in his diocese he generally includes the right to celebrate the other sacraments as well, and he may lay down certain conditions, always reserving to himself the right to revoke the “faculties” if deemed necessary. Vatican II reminds us that bishops enjoy the fulness of the sacrament of orders, and both priests and deacons are dependent on them in the exercise of their authority. It stresses that bishops are the principal dispensers of the mysteries of God, as well as being the governors, promoters and guardians of the Church committed to them (Decree on Bishops, 15). You see, then, that ordination to priesthood does not of itself confer the right to hear confessions. That right depends on episcopal delegation whether granted by law or by a bishop.

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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The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

COMMUNITY

De La Salle Holy Cross College in Victory Park, Johannesburg, held its matric dance with an “Empire State of Mind” theme. In the school tradition, the Grade 11 fundraisers choose a theme and decorate the hall themselves. Heads of the Grade 11 matric dance committee, Sophia Gouveia and Keeanu Jardin, are pictured with principal Debbie Harris and deputy principal Christien de Villiers.

Holy Rosary High School in Edenvale, Johannesburg, won best production for their play The Bald Prima Donna at the Edenvale Amateur Drama Society. From left Maggie Hand, Lauren Buchanan, Taylor Sheffield, Rebone Mosaka, and Odirile Motsepe. The play was directed by Grade 12 pupils Olivia Hinckley and Daniella da Silva.

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Brescia House High School in Bryanston, Johannesburg, showed its support for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Trust “For Kids, By Kids” campaign by running inter-grade cake sales. Teaghan Lucas (left) and Lisa Bone.

De La Salle Holy Cross College in Johannesburg held a “Come Back, Give Back” charity dance at which blankets were collected and given to the Sisters of Mercy for distribution to the needy. Mercy Sister Kieran McGettrick is pictured with the donated blankets.

Our Lady of Fatima Dominican Convent School in Durban gathered the whole school to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. After the celebration, students took flowers to a local retirement home.

The girls’ 1st football team of Dominican Convent School in Belgravia, Johannesburg, are unbeaten so far this season and have scored 22 goals without reply in their last two league fixtures. They are pictured with their coach Nomfusi Tshangisa.

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Students from St Benedict’s School in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, supported the soup and can drive during the Catholics Schools week celebrations. These much-needed donations were given to the St Vincent de Paul society, who support and assist the needy.

Grade 5 learners from Springfield Convent in Cape Town are pictured hard at work in art class.

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Grade 6 learner Rebecca Abrahams of St Dominic’s Priory in Port Elizabeth, collected over 40 blankets for the Port Elizabeth Animal Rescue. She is pictured with Baloo.

Emmaus Youth Alive group in the diocese of Umzimkulu, KwaZulu-Natal, are pictured with Sr Sizakele Mbeje CPS, coordinator of youth in the diocese.

The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

YOUTH

Is the Church serving its youth? The youth in the Church make up an extremely important part of parish life. DYLAN APPOLIS spoke to priests about their views on youth ministry.

HE youth chaplain of the archdiocese of Durban has seen the brighter side of the youth and uses his own methods to help young Catholics embrace their faith. “The spirit of people moving from our Church to others is a challenging phenomenon and it pushes us to think about it,” Fr Jean Kalala said. “One of the ways we should be thinking is to see if our teaching responds to the needs of the youth, and also if our approach is relevant” to their needs. “As a youth chaplain, you have to read the signs of the times and engage the teaching of the Church with confidence and faith. Youth is a stage where life is a question mark,” Fr Kalala said. He said that he learns a lot from communicating with the youth. “I believe that some teachings are not reaching them in a way that they can understand,” he said. “They need what I call a ‘new catechism with new challenges’—not inventing new catechisms but redefining the same teaching with the youth.” SACBC information officer Fr S’milo Mngadi believes the first thing is to make a shift in our catechism. “It is still mainly centred on the sacraments of initiation rather than the joys of Christian living,” he said. “We also need to give young people meaningful roles and responsibilities in the Church. They should do the readings, usher people, be in parish committees, including parish pastoral councils, and so on,” Fr Mngadi said. Preachers should also be aware of the diverse age groups in their congregations. “Most homilies are directed to adults. Only rarely are teenagers addressed and this bores them. Church should be fun without compromising the Gospel values.” Fr Jonathan Vermaak CO of St Bernadette’s parish in Walmer, Port Elizabeth, said that in his experience young people are actively participating, and in some cases leading the way, in rediscovering the faith of the Church which previous generations, for whatever reasons, had not fully received. “People, perhaps especially young people, are searching for the truth. Of course, it is important to

‘meet people where they are at’ by offering this truth in an accessible form, but it nevertheless remains necessary to lead young people to the deeper and more challenging demands and gifts of the Gospel.” Fr Don Bohé OMI of St Michael’s parish in Potchefstroom noted that some young Catholics transcend denominational lines. “From my own experience in Potchefstroom, some of our young people do attend weekend Mass but also attend youth meetings at Pentecostal Churches where there are youth pastors,” Fr Bohé said. “They have told me that they enjoy the freedom of expression, group-sharing and socialising, and that they enjoy the more modern music during praise and worship. However, there are still the regular post-confirmation youth who attend weekend Mass, either on their own or with their parents,” he said. “To try to keep the youth in the Church, we should perhaps hold youth ‘Life in the Spirit’ seminars, retreats, rallies, workshops, youthtraining leadership, which is already happening in many parishes.”

r Emmanuel Mbeh, who served as the youth chaplain of Kroonstad diocese for five years and is currently studying human development, leadership and formation in England, said he has a list of things which he thinks is the problem when it comes to the youth. “The theology and spirituality of suffering, and the cost of discipleship, is not taught, lived or witnessed enough. The adults know and do persevere, but for the youth, there is a way out of suffering and something more attractive over the fence of the Catholic Church”, and they then leave for other Churches or none. “The prayer life and the faith of the Christian community don’t appeal to the youth. The balance of authentic meditation/contemplation on one hand and joyful/spiritual elation and celebration on the other can be lacking,” Fr Mbeh said. He listed some of the problem areas: “Family life; basic family bonds and prayer; eroding moral standards; no family rosary or Bible-sharing; no peaceful family atmosphere but painful feelings or addictions by family members who go to the same church and receive the Holy Eucharist.” Fr Mbeh said that technology, materialism, secularism and media sensationalism have turned “the heads of many youth, adults and even some of us priests, [shaping] what we watch at night and wear during the day, what we text and talk about at night and where we socialise during the day.” He said priests might be the

Keeping the youth in the Church is a challenge that involves all parts of the Church family. (Photo: Love Matters) problem as well. “Some of us priests are seen as lukewarm or boring in our preaching; we lack passion and vigour, we lack enthusiasm and the thrill of rhetoric, politicians, TV presenters, film makers, Pentecostal brainwashers or soccer animators.” He continued: “Some of us priests are seen as too strict and less compassionate. Or we scandalise the youth. They often told me that we preach water and drink wine— they see through the weaknesses and hypocrisy of the elders, leaders, models, parents in the Catholic community.” Sr Juliana Mary Abioye EHJ, who heads the youth department in the archdiocese of Johannesburg, said that youths leave the Catholic Church “due to lack of proper initial orientation in the Catholic faith and conviction— first from the family.” Leniency and lack of attention by those responsible for their training is also a cause, she said. “From my discussions and interaction with the youth, I see they have less interest and lack of commitment to the things of God and too much sense of freedom,” she said. She said the youth must be involved in parish ministries. “Youth can be guided to form a music ministry and guided on the liturgical music and be allowed to sing those songs in a modern way,

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without going out of the teaching of sacred music. Parents need to cooperate with the priest and those involved in their children’s spiritual formation and also cultivate the habit of praying together as a family with the scripture,” Sr Abioye said.

r Russell Pollitt SJ, director of the Jesuit Institute South Africa, thinks we need to reflect on the way we prepare young people for confirmation to begin with. They have already had years and years of catechism and often complain that it is boring and repetitive, he noted. “There are so many confirmation programmes available these days—we don’t need another one. We need to critically examine why what we are doing doesn’t seem to be effective, universally,” said the Jesuit who until last year served at Braamfontein parish, which also provides pastoral care for students from Wits and Johannesburg University campuses. “For too long we have treated confirmation like a ‘graduation’ from catechism. Often our teachers are not well prepared and, although generous, do not understand young people,” Fr Pollitt said. “In some situations or places young people teach and learn from other young people; this does not always work either and we make

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the mistake of thinking that it does. Very often we think we know what young people need to know—maybe we need to start from the context of their lives, where they are, what they want to know and are searching for.” Fr Pollitt said that Pope Francis has urged us over and over to enter into a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and to teach others how to do so. He said that we are not teaching young people to love and be in a personal relationship with Jesus, we are teaching them content— doctrines, the do’s and don’ts. “This should all follow from a personal relationship,” Fr Pollitt said. “Many young people desperately want models of good Christian life. If they don’t see that their parents are in a personal relationship with Jesus, are lax about being actively involved in their parishes and don’t attend Mass often, how can we expect young people to stay?” Fr Pollitt asked. “Parents also have to take a greater responsibility for the faith formation of their children by taking their own Christian lives more seriously.” Speaking from a parent’s point of view, Mahadi Buthelezi, marketing consultant at Radio Veritas, said: “We invite our children to come to church with us but at times lose the battle as we would be told that they are preparing for tests or exams.” Parents must also have an understanding of the pressures that their children go through, she noted. “It did cross our minds to force them but we felt it would be unfair to them—they need to go to church willingly.” She said her family prays together every night at 8pm, “without fail so as to encourage them to want to go to church”. Mrs Buthelezi said it is important to have youth engaged in the parish. “I think that the youth needs to be more involved in the Mass, have a full understanding of why it is important to go to church,” she said. At the same time, young people should advise “how they would prefer certain aspects explained or rolled out to them”. Mrs Buthelezi believes that among the reasons young people are leaving the Church are because of boredom and because the Church is too strict. “The youth of today are inquisitive and opinionated. The Church needs to somehow involve the youth more in ways that they prefer.” As for youths, “they must be closer to the parish priest and plan outings, activities, plays, musicals, and so on”.

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The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

VOCATIONS

The costs of training our priesthood Recently a Southern Cross story discussed the financial cost of training priests. A group of seminarians from St Francis Xavier Orientation Seminary in Cape Town joined forces to discuss the various ‘costs’ of producing our future clergy.

HE priesthood requires a certain way of life which might be easier for some than others. There is a “cost”. As a seminarian, one is expected to be well-behaved, celibate, prayerful, humble and respectful, and a student who has these qualities is regarded as a promising candidate and will hopefully one day become a priest. Studies also “cost” and have to be taken seriously because they also count towards and influence his priesthood. A seminarian who is not performing well in his studies might take much longer in the seminary than expected, and that will mean greater monetary costs for the diocese. A seminarian represents a large investment and he should show that he is grateful for that by living according to the expectations of the diocese, the seminary and the faithful. The average annual cost of a seminarian is budgeted at around R56 000. Most of this is paid for by the diocese and covers tuition, food

and lodging. The seminaries may apply for two subsidies. One is from the Pontifical Mission Society’s St Peter the Apostle Trust in Rome which would contribute about 10% of what the dioceses pay. The second is from the Bishop’s Lenten Appeal. About 29% of the total amount that people give during Lent each year goes towards the formation of priests across the country. So what does this money cover? As in any household budget, there are essentials—food and accommodation. The seminary has to cater for each student and staff member, producing three meals a day, seven days a week. The running costs of the seminary also include the usual family household expenses such as property taxes, insurance, electricity, water, communication, repairs and transport. Obviously some costs, such as food, will vary according to the number of students, but overheads remain largely constant regardless of the number of men living in the seminary. Then, as with any student, there are educational costs such as teaching materials, books and educators’ salaries. However, unlike state-run education institutions, which receive up to 50% subsidies on the real costs of tertiary education, seminaries are classed as “Private Higher Education Institutes” and therefore are not eligible for state grants. Over and above the basics mentioned, a student naturally needs clothing, personal hygiene items and transport to and from the seminary between semesters. If a seminarian comes back from

Seminarians from St Francis Xavier Orientation Seminary in Cape Town. (From left) Bongani Mativandlela (Tzaneen), David e Freitas (Cape Town), Sihle Manci (Durban), Siyabonga Khumalo (Mariannhill) and Chandré Stevens (De Aar). the pastoral internship and decides that this is not his calling, this is normally the result of good formation and it is for the good of the Church. Why is it good for the Church if a seminarian decides to leave? Well the answer would simply be: unhappy priests will not fulfil the ministry or perform their duties well. As Fr Masilo Selemela rightly said in Stuart Graham’s April 1-7 report on St John Vianney Seminary: “Some of the young men discover it is not their way.” This may seem like a loss but there are many ways to serve God in the Church (Eucharistic minister, choir member, member of a sodality, catechist etc), not only in the priesthood. Therefore, if a seminarian drops out of seminary it is not a complete loss for the Church because he will have gained a lot of knowledge which he can then use in other ministries. In that way the Church reaps

the fruits it had planted when it sent him to the seminary.

hat is the “cost” to the vocations director? Every priest is a vocations director and he has to realise it. He has to be ever aware of the tugs on his fishing rod as he sits in prayer on the banks of the life-giving river, the Church. He is an advert for the priesthood. He is the fisherman. By extension, the diocesan vocations director to whom these men are sent for deeper discernment, has to be even more passionate about his very identity and his work. He is in a sense the chef, the one who takes on the responsibility of nurturing and of seasoning the prospective vocation through diligent guidance and supportive encouragement, who will hopefully enter into seminary formation and end up with the chrism in his hands. The vocations director needs to love those under his wing and give them constant reassurance that he is there for them throughout their discernment period. The young rely on the vocations director and the other priests. In them they see the Church, and when they see the Church, they see Christ. As St Paul spoke to the faithful in Corinth: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). The call to priesthood is not natural but supernatural. Laying down your life so that others may have life

is supernatural. It is clear that many young men in our Church understand that and are willing to do it, to be fishers of men, builders of the Reign of God. Many people think this kind of vocation is eccentric because of the life of celibacy it requires, but even that doesn’t stop seminarians from wanting to be labourers in the vineyard. In spite of how the wider society suggests life should be lived, vocations are still found and they are being answered. Looking at the bigger picture in life and not being scared of going the opposite way is what helps these young men escape from the immoral, debilitating world our society has become. This is not an easy thing to do—though one needs to be a real man and not be afraid to take the risk of giving up one’s life for the salvation of all. Young men want to change what they see and make a better Church and a better world. The people of God should be grateful and support their seminarians who throughout their years of formation had the courage to count the cost and to answer this counter-cultural call. n This article was written by David e Freitas (Cape Town), Siyabonga Khumalo (Mariannhill), Sihle Manci (Durban), Bongani Mativandlela (Tzaneen) and Chandré Stevens (De Aar), who are currently studying at St Francis Xavier Orientation Seminary in Cape Town.

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CLASSIFIEDS

Henry Burggraaff O NE of Cape Town’s most influential teachers, Henry Burggraaff, died on March 27 at the age of 86. Among Mr Burggraaff’s former pupils was the late Archbishop Stephen Naidoo of Cape Town, whose successor, the late Archbishop Lawrence Henry, “narrowly escaped his clutches”, as eulogist Henry Jacobs noted at the funeral Mass. Mr Burggraaff taught from 1948-92, affecting the lives of thousands of pupils in the Cape peninsula, at St Anthony’s in Heathfield, St Columba’s in Athlone, Holy Cross in District Six (all Catholic schools) as well as at Walmer Junior Secondary in District Six and Hyacinth Primary in Mitchell’s Plain. Referring to the latter, Mr Jacobs recalled, he once said: “My move to Hyacinth was a bit strange, but I started feeling at home after I found out that I had taught many of the present pupils’ parents and family members in District Six.” Mr Burggraaff was described by fellow teachers and pupils as a

very sincere and kind man who said his first love was always his pupils. On his retirement he said: “Teaching was everything to me, and I will miss the children when I am at home.” Referring to Mr Burggraaff’s interactions with the two late archbishops, Mr Jacobs observed: “We can visualise the scenes of joy and jubilation when Henry is reunited with his parents while being welcomed at the Pearly Gates by two archbishops: Stephen Naidoo, in his impeccable English, “Mr

Live your life today Continued from page 23 youth earlier this year, urging them to “have the courage to be happy”. “It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle,” Pope Francis said. “It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.” n To read St John Paul II’s 2000, see www.bit.ly/ 1Moi4uK n To read Pope Francis’ 2015 message to the youth, see www.bit.ly/1CM3ExI

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Burggraaff, welcome, Sir”, while Lawrence Henry, in his own inimitable style, would greet him with, “Henry, ons wag al so lank vir jou!” A man of faith, his dream was to make a pilgrimage to see the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico; sadly, this remained an unfulfilled dream. Prof Peter Thuynsma, who teaches African literature at Wits University, described Mr Burggraaff as “the Cary Grant of Walmer Estate” and “the most impeccable teacher I was ever privileged to have”. “Suave and meticulous, Henry Burggraaff was a dapper dresser and was exacting in what he taught. In later years, and in his humility, he reminded me that it was what you do with what you learned that mattered most,” Prof Thuynsma said. “But Mr Burggraaff’s most profound influence on me was when he very quietly and most unassumingly handed me a rosary and a missal. A year later, and without another word from him, I became Catholic! Such was the example he presented.”

Our bishops’ anniversaries

This week we congratulate: June 25: Bishop Peter Holiday of Kroonstad on the fourth anniversary of his episcopal ordination.

Liturgical Calendar Year B Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday June 21 Job 38:1, 8-11, Psalms 107:23-26, 28-31, 2 Corinthians 5:14-17, Mark 4:35-41 Monday June 22, Ss John Fisher B and Thomas More Genesis 12:1-9, Psalms 33:12-13, 18-20, 22, Matthew 7:1-5 Tuesday June 23 Genesis 13:2, 5-18, Psalms 15:2-5, Matthew 7:6, 12-14 Wednesday June 24, Nativity of St John the Baptist Isaiah 49:1-6, Psalms 139:1-3, 13-15, Acts 13:2226, Luke 1:57-66, 80 Thursday June 25 Genesis 16:1-12, 15-16, Psalms 106:1-5, Matthew 7:21-29 Friday June 26, St Josemaria Escriva Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22, Psalms 128:1-5, Matthew 8:1-4 Saturday June 27, Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary Genesis 18:1-15, Luke 1:46-50, 53-55, Matthew 8:5-17 Sunday June 28 Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24, Psalms 30:2, 4-6, 1113, 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15, Mark 5:21-43

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The Southern Cross, June 17 to June 23, 2015

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Births • First Communion • Confirmation • Engagement/Marriage • Wedding anniversary • Ordination jubilee • Congratulations • Deaths • In memoriam • Thanks • Prayers • Accommodation • Holiday Accommodation • Personal • Services • Employment • Property • Others Please include payment (R1,37 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

CONGRATULATIONS

MATAOOM—Cosmas, Very Rev Father, Director General SCP, Servants of Christ the Priest. On your election as director general; may the good Lord guide and inspire you to lead the community in the spirit and the charism of our Father and founder; may you be a true shepherd to those entrusted in your care, so when the Chief Shepherd appears, you receive your unfailing glory. We will remember you in our daily prayers and Holy Mass; we will support you in whatever way we can. God Bless. Yours in Christ the Priest. From your Brother Servants Daniel David Ambrose Manuel and Victor Pather SCP.

The pill can abort (chemical abortion) Catholics must be told, for their eternal welfare and the survival of their unborn infants. See www.epm.org/ static/uploads/downloads/bcpill.pdf LOVING an unborn baby who we cannot see, is like loving God whom we also cannot see 1 Peter 1:8. SINGLES MINGLE JHB: Meet like-minded people and socialise with other singles over dinner. For bookings call Jenny on 072 292 5511. www.abortioninstru ments.com is the graphic truth that will set you free.

PRAYERS

IN MEMORIAM

CARLISLE—Frederick William. In loving memory of our beloved father, grandfather and greatgrandfather who passed away on June 19, 1998 at the age of 91. You taught us so much about quality of life based on living to please God. Your example, kindness and holiness will always be our inspiration. Much loved, never forgotten, forever in our prayers and thoughts. From your loving children Francis, Philipps, John and Athalie and all grandchildren. MANUEL—Charles Edward. Died June 9, 1985. In loving memory of our father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Gone but not forgotten. You will always be remembered in our daily prayers and Mass. We continue to live the legacies you have taught us. Rest in peace, Papa. From your loving children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

THANKS

IN THANKS to St Jude, the Sacred Heart and Our Lady for prayers answered. Ang and Ted.

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. In thanksgiving for prayers answered. Veronica.

of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen. 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.

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13th Sunday: June 28 Readings: Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24, Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13, 2 Corinthians 8: 7, 9, 1315, Mark 5:21-43

S outher n C ross

Our God is a God of life

OR some reason there is a myth around that Christianity is deadly. How that notion can survive the message of life that radiates from our present pope is mysterious, but it is always a good thing to ask: “What gives me life?” For the answer can sometimes be unexpected. In the first reading, the answer, delivered to puzzled Greek-speaking Jews in Alexandria, probably some time in the century before the birth of Jesus, is that God is a God of life: “God did not create death, nor does God rejoice in the destruction of the living—for God created everything in order to exist…God created humanity for immortality, and made us as an image of God’s own eternity”. So where does death come from? “From the Devil’s envy”, according to our author, but it is not what God wants for any of us. That is a point of which the author of the psalm for next Sunday is well aware. He is expressing his gratitude for God’s healing, and roundly declares: “I shall praise you, Lord, for you raised me up, and did not cause my enemy to rejoice.”

Everything good is attributed to the God of life: “You brought my soul up from Sheol”, and (because not everything is yet put to rights), he begs God: “Listen to me, Lord, and have mercy on me; Lord, be my helper.” Then, exuberant as ever, the poet concludes: “Lord my God—I shall praise you forever.” In the second reading, Paul is trying to persuade his Corinthians, who had plenty of money but “deep pockets” to give generously to their impoverished fellow-Christians in Jerusalem. They need to learn that the way to life is not a matter of hanging on to what money they have, but being rich in rather unexpected ways: “in faith, and rhetoric and knowledge and all eagerness, and in the love that comes from us among you”. Then he reminds them of the generosity of Christ, whose destitution has made them rich, and that they will receive life “if your surplus makes up for their lack”. Paradoxically, that is where you and I will find life. The gospel reading offers us not one but

two stories, wrapped one round the other, in a manner characteristic of Mark, what they sometimes call a “Marcan sandwich”. The first story, which starts as Jesus disembarks after his adventures with the Gerasene demoniac into the middle of a crowd, is that of the daughter of “one of the synagogue rulers”. We assume that this is going to mean trouble, until we realise that he has a name (Jairus, which might mean “God gave light”), and a problem of death: “My little daughter is at her last extremity.” Jesus graciously sets off, but then Mark starts a second story of death, the woman who has had a flow of blood for 12 years. She is dead, partly because of her gynaecological ailment, but also because she is ritually impure, and, indeed, because the medical profession has taken all her money, and not given her life. Mark allows us to eavesdrop on her thoughts as she decides to touch Jesus, “in order that I may be saved”. Jesus immediately knows that “power has gone out”, and that it

Later you will understand C

Conrad

HRISTIAN de Cherge, the Trappist abbott who was martyred in Algeria in 1996, tells this story of his first Communion. He grew up in a Catholic family in France and on the day of his first Communion he said to his mother: “I don’t understand what I’m doing.” She answered simply: “It’s okay, you don’t have to understand it now, later you will understand.” Jesus, no doubt, must have given his disciples the exact same advice at the Last Supper, at their first Communion. When he offered them bread and said, “This is my body”, and then offered them wine and said, “This is my blood”, they would not have understood. There would have been considerable confusion and bewilderment: How are we supposed to understand this? I suspect that in the face of their nonunderstanding, like Christian de Cherge’s mother, Jesus would have also said: “You don’t have to understand it now, later you will understand.” Indeed, in instituting the Eucharist at the Last Supper, Jesus didn’t ask his disciples to understand what they were doing, he asked them only to faithfully celebrate it until he returned. Their understanding of what they were doing in celebrating the Eucharist only developed as they grew in their faith. But initially, Jesus didn’t ask for much of an understanding, nor did he give them much of an explanation for what he was celebrat-

ing with them. He simply asked them to eat his body and drink his blood. Jesus didn’t give a theological discourse on the Eucharist at the Last Supper. He simply gave us a ritual and asked us to celebrate it regularly, irrespective of our intellectual understanding of it. One of his more-explicit explanations of the meaning of the Eucharist was his symbolic action of washing his disciples’ feet.

ittle has changed. We too aren’t asked to fully or even adequately understand the Eucharist. Our faith asks only that we are faithful in participating in it. In fact, as is the case for all deep mysteries, there is no satisfactory, rational explanation of the Eucharist. Nobody, not a single theologian in the world, can to anyone’s intellectual satisfaction, adequately lay out the phenomenology, psychology, or even spirituality of eating someone else’s body and drinking his blood. How is this to be understood? The mind comes up short. We need instead to rely upon metaphors and icons and an inchoate, intuitive understanding. We can truly know this mystery, even as we can’t fully understand it. During my seminary and academic training, I took three major courses on the Eucharist. After all those lectures and books, I concluded that I didn’t understand the Eucharist and that I was happy enough with that because what those courses did teach me was how important it is that I celebrate

Nicholas King SJ

Sunday Reflections

was a woman who had touched him. His disciples jeer emptily, but the woman comes forward and finds life by confessing what she has done, and, in beautiful words, is told: “Daughter—your faith has saved you; go in peace, and be clean of your scourge.” So life is restored; but then in the next breath is apparently taken away, for news arrives that Jairus’ daughter is dead, and that the master is not to be troubled. For Jesus, however, the restoration of life is not a “trouble”, so when he reaches the house, he expels the professional mourners, takes his inner cabinet and the child’s parents, and goes in to “where the child was”; then he does what he should not do, “took her by the hand”, and tells her, in Aramaic: “Little child, I tell you, arise.” She obediently does that; and then, in a lovely and life-giving touch, gives orders that she is to be given something to eat. Our God, you see, is a God of life.

Southern Crossword #659

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

and participate in the Eucharist. For all the intellectuality in those courses, their true value was that they ultimately said to me what Christian de Cherge’s mother said to him on the day of his first Communion: “You don’t have to understand now, later you will understand.” Contained in that, of course, is the fact that there is something profound here that is worth understanding, but that it’s too deep to be fully grasped right now. Perhaps this can be helpful in our search for what to say to some of our own children and young people who no longer go to church and who tell us that the reason they don’t go is that they don’t find the Eucharist meaningful. We hear that lament all the time today: “Why should I go to church, it doesn’t mean anything to me?” That objection is simply another way of saying what young Christian de Cherge said to his mother at his first Communion: I don’t understand this. Perhaps our answer then could be along the lines of the response of his mother: “You don’t have to understand now, later you will understand.” The British theologian Ronald Knox, speaking about the Eucharist, submits this: We have never, he claims, as Christians been truly faithful to Jesus, no matter our denomination. In the end, none of us have truly followed those teachings which most characterise Jesus: We haven’t turned the other cheek. We haven’t forgiven our enemies. We haven’t purified our thoughts. We haven’t seen God in the poor. We haven’t kept our hearts pure and free from the things of this world. But we have, he submits, been faithful in one very important way; we have kept the Eucharist going. The last thing Jesus asked us to do before he died was to keep celebrating the Eucharist. And that we’ve done, despite the fact that we have never really grasped what in fact we are doing. But we’ve been faithful in doing it because we grasped the wisdom in what Christian de Cherge’s mother said to her son: You don’t have to understand this; you just have to do it.

ACROSS

1. Command to come back to you (6) 4. He stands about idly (6) 9. Alters coin cousin set with diligence (13) 10. What the weather did in Mark 4 (7) 11. The old scribe did it with his quill (5) 12. Short statistics (5) 14. Feel depressed underneath (5) 18. French love affair (5) 19. Men around in Asia have lack of 1 ac (7) 21. State of one who lacks religious belief (13) 22. I start for the painter (6) 23. Becomes adjusted (6)

DOWN

1. Being secure, excuse yourself (6) 2. It irons cotton around the performing twister (13) 3. He may act for your doctor (5) 5. Scheme from oil tune (7) 6. Does your pastor count them at bedtime? (6,2,5) 7. Desire about to dwell (6) 8. Drive around to famous composer (5) 13. They illuminated Jesus’ arrest (Jn 18) (7) 15. Different affair for what is woven (6) 16. Kind of money for silent collection (5) 17. Uplifts (6) 20. Pried and sniffed (5) Solutions on page 27

CHURCH CHUCKLE Teacher: “Can you see God?” Class: “No.” Teacher: “Can you touch God?” Class: “No.” Teacher: “So there isn’t a God.” Student raises her hand: “Sir, can you see your brain?” Teacher: “No.” Student: “Can you touch your brain?” Teacher: “No.” Student: “Oh, OK, so you haven’t a brain.”

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