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August 26 to September 1, 2015

Singer refused to drop Jesus from his song

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Feast day for Daswa set; body to be relocated BY STUART GRAHAM

HE body of South Africa’s first Catholic martyr, Benedict Daswa, will be exhumed and reburied in a church that he built in his birth village near Thohoyandou, while his feast day has been set for February 1, and the bishop who started his sainthood cause has written a book in anticipation of the September beatification. Bishop Hugh Slattery, the retired head of Tzaneen diocese, who initiated the cause to have Daswa beatified, said the body would be exhumed and reburied in the church in Nweli in time for the beatification. “There has to be a place where people can venerate and pray at his grave site,” Bishop Slattery said. The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, meanwhile, has approved Daswa’s feast day for February 1. Usually feast days are timed to coincide with the anniversary of a saint’s death, which in Daswa’s case is February 2. Bishop Slattery said it was decided to set the feast day for February 1 so that it would not clash with the feast of Our Lady’s Presentation of the Lord at the Temple, which falls on February 2. Benedict Daswa, a headmaster and father of eight, was killed by a mob in his home village of Mbahe, near Thohoyandou, on February 2, 1990, after he refused to pay R5 to sponsor a witch hunt. His beatification will be held in an open field at Tshitanini village about 17km from Thohoyandou on September 13. The ceremony is open to anyone who would like to attend. Around 20 000 people are expected to attend. In an opening ceremony at 7:30am, youth from Tzaneen and Witbank dioceses will present Daswa’s story in a format of traditional dance and praise songs. Prayers are due to start at 8:30, led by Bishop Slattery. The beatification Mass, to be led by Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congrega-

A participant in a hikers’ retreat on the Quagga’s Pad Trail in Mpumalanga. The church at Nweli which Benedict Daswa helped to build and which will house his body, making the church a site of pilgrimage.

Hike set scene for retreat

tion for Saints’ Causes, is due to run from 10:00 to lunchtime. Pope Francis approved Daswa’s beatification earlier this year. A letter from The Holy Father will be included in the beatification booklet. Bishop Slattery said the book he has written on Daswa’s life will be available at his beatification and will also be sold at all Pauline bookshops. “I tried to portray his character through the eyes of other people,” Bishop Slattery said. “I consulted widely with his family and friends. He had a great deal of humanity… That is evident from the people who knew him.” Daswa, he said, was active in the Church and with the youth and was “a holy man”. “I wanted to get across that he was a holy man. He led by example. We can look up to him. He was a man who was free within himself,” Bishop Slattery said. “He was a man who points us to the inner kind of liberation to get away from enslavement. He accepted the Gospel fully.”

BY DYLAN APPOLIS

HE Jesuit Institute embarked on its first ever weekend hiking retreat, held on the Quagga’s Pad Trail in Mpumalanga, and led by its director, Fr Russell Pollitt SJ. “Each day the nine participants were given material to pray with during the day. They would then set off walking in silence and stopped to pray or reflect as they desired,” said Fr Pollitt. The retreat was designed using, as its broad format, the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola. Fr Russell linked Scripture texts with quotations from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’. “Many of the participants found it very helpful to pray in nature using excerpts from Laudato Si’. The accommodation was rustic but this enabled participants to change gear and take time out from the pressure and fast pace by which so many city dwellers live,” said Fr Pollitt. There were a number of places for people to stop and pray with wonderful panoramic views, Fr Pollitt told The Southern Cross. “For example, on day two, most of the hik-

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ing was done through grasslands where retreatants were surrounded by herds of eland, duikers and zebra. Some of the retreatants saw a jackal on the plains,” he said. In the evaluations most participants found the hike a very helpful way to make a weekend retreat. “Finding God in nature is a great way to deepen my spiritual life,” one retreatant remarked. Another said that the balance between silence, prayer, Mass and chatting to other members of the group was helpful to them. “We had the opportunity to reflect and talk about Laudato Si’ and think about its implications for us and our lifestyles,” another remarked. Most of the retreatants said that this should become part of the Jesuit Institute’s annual calendar. “We are seriously thinking of making this an annual event. We probably will go back to the same venue but will certainly consider others that may facilitate the kind of atmosphere we need for this type of retreat,” said Fr Pollitt.

The Southern Cross, August 26 to September 1, 2015

LOCAL

Conference to assess pope’s challenge to Southern Africa STAFF RePORTeR

CONFERENCE to be held in Johannesburg from September 22-23 will reflect on the challenges issued by Pope Francis in the light of our life and struggles in Southern Africa. The conference will be addressed by Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, who will deliver the keynote

speech, as well as by Prof Klippies Kritzinger, Sr Letta Mosue, Fr Joseph Rebelo, Fr Anthony Egan SJ, Itumeleng Mothoagoe and Fr Anselm Prior OFM. It is organised by the Catholic Theological Society of Southern Africa, an associate body of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Its task is to meet each year to

discuss critical topics. This year’s focus is “The challenges of Pope Francis to Southern Africa”. “There are many issues for these speakers to address,” the society said. “Pope Francis’ new encyclical, Laudato Si’, on the care of the earth, our home, and his proclamation of the Year of Mercy need grounding in the Southern African reality. “The pope’s insights into eco-

nomics and the real struggle of those who are poor are also of great import,” it said. “Francis’ contribution to change within the Church and his call to faith and conversion, his Ignatian spirituality, and his love of St Francis of Assisi will also need to be discussed. Some may even risk interpreting the ‘Francis Factor’,” the statement said.

The conference will be held at Koinonia Centre, Johannesburg. It will begin at 9:00 on September 22 and ends with lunch on the 23rd. All are welcome. n For further information, including costs, please contact Fr Anselm Prior OFM at prior.laurence@gmail.com or David Tutty at missiodei.dt@ gmail.com, or visit the society’s website www.caththeo.co.za

‘Terrorist’ priest hailed on golden anniversary BY MATHIBeLA SeBOTHOMA

A For the fourth year running, the social outreach programme of Our Lady of the Assumption parish in Brooklyn/Milnerton, Cape Town, took part in the annual One to One event, a fun day for intellectually impaired individuals as well as others with physical impairments. Service organisations from across the Cape, including the parish’s Catholicare, gathered for the event, organised by B’nai Brith along with the Western Cape Forum for Intellectual Disability. Catholicare’s Hawaii-themed display won the floating trophy for the Stall with the Best Spirit.

Grammy-winner for parish gig BY DYLAN APPOLIS

GRAMMY award-winner performed at a gospel concert staged by a Pietermaritzburg parish. Lucas Bok, who won a Grammy for musical direction of the Soweto Gospel Choir, was part of the bill on the “Laudato Si’—Praise to You My Lord” concert of St Francis of Assisi parish in Eastwood. The concert was named after the poem written by St Francis of Assisi, which Pope Francis adopted for his latest encyclical on the environment. The event was hosted by parish priest Fr Sanil Michael SCJ, parish

catechism coordinator Sweeny Boucher, and the parish catechists. While the performance of Mr Bok and his choir was the highlight, the audience also enjoyed the sets of the St Francis parish choir and the Cedara parish choir, as well as performances by catechumen from Grades 1-12, LifeTeen, and the confirmation class. It included a poem act, two dance acts and a small skit. “The parish has a history of hosting Passion plays in Lent and Nativity plays at Christmas, but a concert of this sort was something new,” said parish secretary Carmen Sharlly Harper. “Next year we plan to have an even bigger gospel show.”

“TERRORIST priest”, as Fr Smangaliso Mkhatshwa referred to himself, was honoured by clergy, comrades, lawyers, judges, human rights activists, friends and family gathered in his village Malelane, Mpumalanga, to celebrate his golden priestly anniversary and his 75th birthday. “We thank Fr Smangaliso Mkhatshwa and the father of our nation Tata Nelson Madiba Mandela, among many others, for bringing us freedom in our country, South Africa,” said Bishop Joe Sandri of Witbank, the diocese to which Fr Mkhatshwa belongs. Bishop Abel Gabuza of Kimberley, in his homily, compared Fr Mkhatshwa to the prophet Jeremiah. “When one speaks on behalf of God, like Jeremiah, their lives are rejected, mocked, threatened, harassed and intimidated by those in power and those who want to keep the status quo,” the bishop said. “As a prophet you were called to criticise those in power, to unmask injustices, to protect the poor, and to create an alternative consciousness amongst God’s people,” he said of Fr Mkhatshwa, a former mayor of Tshwane and deputy education minister who currently heads the Moral Regeneration Movement.

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Fr Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, whose golden anniversary of ordination and 75th birthday was celebrated in a function attended by bishops, clergy, religious and friends. “You have been a faithful servant of the Gospel and were a good shepherd in the footsteps of Jesus Christ,” Bishop Gabuza told Fr Mkhatshwa, who is also a former secretary-general of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC). “When I first saw you in the ’70s, I was impressed by your Afro hairstyle and elegant bell-bottom trousers. You were an inspiration

to us young aspirants to the priesthood,” Bishop Gabuza said. “In your black consciousness philosophy you reminded us that black people are made in the image and likeness of God and that we must walk with pride.” Bishop Gabuza had visited Fr Mkhatshwa in detention at Pretoria Central Prison after he was ordained a priest in 1984 and became the caretaker parish priest while Fr Mkhatshwa was detained without trial. Precious Blood Sister Hermenegild Makoro, SACBC secretary-general, said that while Fr Mkhatshwa was a political activist and former politician, “you remained a faithful priest”. Fr Mkhatshwa had received the necessary dispensations from the former bishops of Witbank to serve in politics. Fr Protas Linda Zwane, vicargeneral of Witbank, said Fr Mkhatshwa had a “stubborn faith”, adding that “unlike other politicians, you were never accused of corruption”. He noted that Fr Mkhatshwa was responsible for the integration of black and white seminaries. “You are a good model for us young priests.” n Fr Mathibela Sebothoma is currently working on an authorised biography of Fr Mkhatshwa. He invites those who wish to contribute to the endeavour to contact him at mathibela.sebothoma @gmail.com

Singer: I won’t drop Jesus A BY STUART GRAHAM

CAPE Town folk singer and songwriter has refused to remove a request from a commercial radio station to remove a reference to Jesus from one of his songs. Chris Werge, 23, told The Southern Cross that a manager at the station wanted to play the song “On My Mind”, which would have been his first to be broadcast on the station, but the reference to Jesus had to be taken out. “The song is about anxiety over a relationship, about liking a girl and not getting feedback from her,” Mr Werge said. “The station said it was my strongest song, but because of the word ‘Jesus’ it wasn’t able to play it,” the singer said. “It didn’t want to ‘offend’ its non-Christian listeners.” “But I decided to keep the song

Singer Chris Werge said no to a radio station that asked him to omit ‘Jesus’ from a song. (Photo: chriswerge.com) as it is. I believe God puts our creativity into us. He writes lyrics through us,” Mr Werge said. Mr Werge, who worships at the evangelical Southpoint church in Cape Town, said some of his friends in his congregation had told him that they would denounce him if he took the word

out. Others had been “more open” and hadn’t seen it “as an issue”, he said. The song is his first single and is currently playing on Christian radio station CCFM in Cape Town. Mr Werge, who learned to play the piano at the age of eight, started his musical journey by singing in school choirs and playing the drums in a local band. At 13 his focus shifted to the acoustic guitar which became his instrument of choice. He is inspired by the likes of John Mayer, Mumford & Sons and Death Cab for Cutie. His first album, Exposure, was released in January and is available for download on iTunes. Earlier his year Mr Werge opened for English singer-songwriter James Blunt on the second night of his Cape Town show.

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The Southern Cross, August 26 to September 1, 2015

LOCAL

SACC condemns ‘heretical’ Churches BY STUART GRAHAM

HE South African Council of Churches (SACC) has condemned as “harmful and “heretical” practices of certain evangelical Churches and has echoed the Catholic Church’s call for pastors and prophets to be part of a regulatory body. “We observe with painful realisation that there are people who consciously and deliberately, maybe for their personal gain and self-interest, engage in gimmicks that have no relation with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” SACC general-secretary

Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana told a meeting of 150 Christian leaders in Gauteng. “There should be no freelancing pastors who are not accountable to somebody,” he said. “We don’t believe that the government should regulate but rather that Christian organisations should set the standards for regulation and the mechanism for taking people to task if they go beyond certain measures that we’ve agreed upon.” The meeting was held in the wake of the arrest in July of “Pretoria snake pastor” Penuel Mnguni. He was arrested after the Society for

the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals laid charges against him when he posted images of himself on the Internet feeding snakes to his congregants in Soshanguve. Mr Mnguni, of the End Times Disciples Ministries Church, also posted photos of some of his congregants eating clothes and hair at his prompting, rode some of them like horses and made them strip naked. Charges against Mr Mnguni were later provisionally withdrawn by the GaRankuwa magistrate’s court. Earlier in August the Church’s tent was burnt down after a march

led by the Economic Freedom Fighters. EFF Gauteng spokesman Ntobeng Ntobeng told News 24 that the party was called in to help frustrated Soshanguve residents decide what to do about the pastor, whom they considered “demonic and unethical”. In a separate incident, “Prophet” Lesego Daniel of Rabboni Ministries in GaRankuwa allegedly convinced his congregants to drink petrol and eat grass. In the August 5 edition of The Southern Cross, Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria called on the

SACC to play “more of a controlling role” over unscrupulous pastors, a suggestion supported in an editorial in the same issue. The government-appointed Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities has said it will investigate the practices at the End Times Ministries. The study aims “to unpack this phenomenon and also address all the concerns and complaints about this matter and other related practices”, commission chair Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva said in a statement.

Family/youth workshop for Jhb Home now more child-friendly STAFF RePORTeR

HE Departments of the Family Life Apostolate and Youth in the archdiocese of Johannesburg have combined efforts to host a family and youth workshop on September 5. The families of the northern deanery are invited to the workshop which begins at 11am in the parish of the Resurrection in Bryanston. “Young people should be a source of unity in the family”, said Sr Juliana Abioye, head of the Youth Department.

The Youth Department’s coordinator, Dillon Naicker, said that “if there is no ‘Domestic Church’, there is no Church, adding that “family evangelisation and formation needs to increase significantly in South Africa”. Fr Mohohlo Maselwane, vicar of Family Life Apostolate, said that it was “about time that a workshop of this nature is hosted; our families and youth need this”. n For more information contact Mahadi Buthelezi at mahadi@radioveritas.co.za Br Christopher Sharpe made his perpetual profession as a Salesian of Don Bosco at his home parish of St Joseph the Worker in Bloemendal, Port elizabeth. Fr Francois Dufour, provincial of the Salesians in Southern Africa, received the vows of Br Sharpe on behalf of the rector major. Bishop Vincent Zungu of Port elizabeth presided over the Mass. Br Sharpe will return to Kenya to further his studies in theology at Don Bosco Utume Theologate. (From left) Br Clarence Watts, Bishop Zungu and Br Sharpe.

J&P to mines: Protect workers STAFF RePORTeR

HE Justice & Peace Commission of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) has spoken out against plans by mining companies to retrench thousands of workers as the mining sector in South Africa grapples with a deepening slide in commodity prices and rising costs. The commission applauded the minister of Mineral Resources, Ngoako Ramatlhodi, for the initiative he has taken and the leadership he has demonstrated to get the stakeholders in the mining sector in South Africa to explore alternatives to retrenchments, and re-skilling of mine workers. The commission, however, called on the government‚ mining houses and labour to consider broadening the terms of their engagement to include establishment of a comprehensive social compact in the mining sector. “We agree with those who argue that the current global economic environment necessitates establishment of a social compact so as to ensure competitiveness and sustainability of our mining sector that is required to create and retain jobs,” commission chairman Bishop Abel Gabuza said. “We believe such a social compact should be built on the principle of wealth sharing‚ and not only on loss sharing.” However, he added, “a strong impression has been created that the mining houses in South Africa are opportunistically using the global resource crisis as an excuse to implement their long-held strategy of disposing of their assets‚ cutting jobs and blocking demands for a living wage”. Bishop Gabuza said a comprehensive social compact should include the establishment of a Worker Sustainability Wage Fund during the years of superprofits to ensure adequate provision for workers when commodity prices fall.

BY DYLAN APPOLIS

AINT Joseph’s Home for chronically ill children in Montana, Cape Town, unveiled phase one of its R37 million upgrade of the home as Archbishop Stephen Brislin came to bless the new wards. “A dream to create an excellent child-friendly intermediate facility for vulnerable children with lifethreatening or -limiting conditions has finally become a reality for St Joseph’s Home,” said Alrika Hefers, St Joseph’s resource development manager. St Joseph’s Home, which celebrates its 80th birthday this year, treats more than 300 children from disadvantaged and underprivileged communities who have life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses. The renovations on two of their wards, named Sweet Basil and Daisy, have been completed. With a total of 55 beds, some of the unique features include more emphasis on play spaces and stronger connections to planed outdoor courts; windows at child eyelevel with wide windowsills and built-in benches; high-roof windows that will treat the children to a spectacle of clouds and a blue sky during the day and stars at night; an eco-friendly design using natural light; a natural flow of air to control temperature; and low soundproof ceilings to create a homely atmosphere.

Archbishop Stephen Brislin blesses the new wards at St Joseph’s Home in Cape Town. St Joseph’s director, Thea Patterson, said the renovation of the home took one year of intense planning, working with a wide range of experts, defining the scope of the project, refining the design of the upgrade, and keeping within the budget.

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The brief was to renovate the home and to ensure that the wards were more child-friendly, less intimidating and more energy-saving. The creation of a central therapeutic hub, the upgrade of staff facilities, and the provision of recreational and domiciliary areas for parents and families were regarded as essential for a child’s wellbeing, Ms Patterson said. According to the project leaders and architects, Nicola Irving and Charlotte Chamberlain, the aim was to change the character of St Joseph’s from an institutional space to a safe and intimate one where “a child could be a child”. “We wanted to create playful spaces where children would feel at ease. The building should embrace the child and encourage healing and wellness,” they said. Ms Hefers told The Southern Cross that the challenges of running a 24/7 hospital in a safe environment also required innovative thinking. “When the actual construction started, contingency plans saw the conversion of the main hall into a ‘Florence Nightingale’ type of ward with rows and rows of beds,” she explained. Plans had to be made to isolate children from potentially hazardous demolition work. The next phase consists of three more wards, which are expected to be finished by the end of next year.

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The Southern Cross, August 26 to September 1, 2015

INTERNATIONAL

African cardinal: Synod will Hong Kong cardinal: Stop cross removals respect family dynamics C O BY MICHAeL SWAN

NE of the leading voices among Africa’s bishops predicts a new flexibility in Catholic teaching at this October’s Synod of Bishops on the family, which he predicts will allow bishops in different parts of the world to adapt Church teaching on the family to the region’s culture, political landscape and economic situation. “The Catholic Church is a universal institution, both human and divine,” said Cardinal Berhaneyesus Souraphiel of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. “It is not a European Church, it is not a Canadian Church or a US Church. It’s different. The issues families are facing in some parts of the world would be different than in other parts of the world.” While Europe and North America face problems such as how to respond pastorally to state-sanctioned same-sex unions or divorced and remarried Catholics, families in other parts of the world face issues that arise from economic globalisation or rapid urbanisation. “For us in Ethiopia, the big issue will be poverty,” said Cardinal Souraphiel. “If you are not sure if you can continue providing sustenance for the family, food and so on—not only rent, but food—if you don’t have this [basic economic stability] you might find the husband working somewhere

else, the wife working somewhere else. The family separates. And then the children suffer.” With more and more Ethiopian women finding work abroad in Arab states as domestic workers and Ethiopian men landing jobs in mines or on large-scale industrial farms, Ethiopia’s rapidly expanding economy is making it hard to keep a family together, the cardinal said. “We feel here the issue is, how can the Church contribute to the alleviation of poverty?” he said. Bishops’ conferences should play a role in helping individual bishops adapt the teaching of the synod to their country or region, the cardinal said. “The episcopal conferences have been sent, not to replace or to change the teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ or the teaching of the Church, but to see that the teaching of the Gospel is inculturated, is put into the life situation of the particular country or particular society,” Cardinal Souraphiel said. “For the moral issues that are coming up around the family, probably the next synod will say, ‘Let us see them in context. Let us allow the conferences to come with suggestions.’ It could be done that way.” The cardinal emphasised the Second Vatican Council’s teaching on subsidiarity—the idea that responsibility for solving a problem

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lies not with the highest possible authority but with the people who have the problem and must live with the solutions. “What the family can decide, let not the society or the municipality or the local government interfere. What you can do as a family—how many children should I have and so on—if you can decide on your level, let’s respect that,” he said. “They give that also to the bishop, the local bishop.” There’s sometimes a tension between individual bishops and their conferences of bishops, which have their own staffers, programmes and priorities, said the cardinal. “Is that a healthy tension or a negative tension? History will tell,” he said. The cardinal predicted Africans will make their voices heard at the synod. “The African message for the synod is family is life. So let us give importance to life. Let us stand for life,” he said. “You know life and values are tied. Things will change. Many things are changing. But there must also be values which remain. Love between husband and wife, respect between children and parents, respect for elders should remain, should endure. What should be changed or should endure? This is, of course, the big question in our lives.”—CNS

ARDINAL John Tong Hon of Hong Kong has issued an “urgent appeal” to Communist Party chiefs in Beijing, calling on them to order a halt to an ongoing cross-removal campaign from Christian churches in Zhejiang province. “I sincerely and urgently appealed to the central government to contact the Zhejiang provincial government and investigate the real situation and stop all illegal cross removals,” the cardinal said. The Chinese authorities should “return to the right path, placing supreme importance on the constitution, ruling the country according to the law, and governing by the law,” he said. The cardinal also called on Catholics in Hong Kong to pray and fast for religious dignity and freedom in order to share the sufferings of their persecuted brothers and sisters on the mainland. Chinese authorities discounted rumours circulating among Christian leaders and on social media that the 20-month campaign, which has seen the removal of more than 1 200 crosses, would be halted. Earlier in August, Anglican Archbishop Paul Kwong of Hong Kong called on Chinese authorities to halt the cross removals in Zhejiang province, which is home to an estimated 2 million Christians, including 210 000 Catholics. Observers on social media have criticised Hong Kong’s Christian leaders, accusing them of dragging

A Chinese Catholic carries a crucifix during a pilgrimage in the Shaanxi province of China. (Photo: Wu Hong, ePA/CNS) their feet in issuing responses to the cross removals.—CNS

Scottish bishops apologise to abuse victims, Catholics T HE president of the Scottish bishops’ conference offered a “profound apology” to victims of child abuse following a national review of Church safeguarding procedures. Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow, conference president, said the Catholic bishops were “shamed and pained” by abuse suffered at the hands of anyone in the Church. “Child abuse is a horrific crime”, he said during Mass in St Andrew cathedral in Glasgow. “That this abuse should have been carried out within the Church, and by priests and religious, takes that abuse to another level,” he said. “Such actions are inexcusable

and intolerable,” Archbishop Tartaglia continued. “I would like to assure the survivors of abuse that the Catholic bishops of Scotland are shamed and pained by what you have suffered. We say sorry. We ask forgiveness.” Archbishop Tartaglia said the bishops also wished to apologise “to those who have found the Church’s response slow, unsympathetic or uncaring”. The apology came on the day of the publication of the “Review of Safeguarding Protocols and Procedures” in the Scottish Catholic Church. The review was undertaken by a commission set up in 2013 and chaired by the Rev Andrew McLellan, a former moderator of the General

Assembly of the [Presbyterian] Church of Scotland, at the invitation of the Scottish bishops. A public apology was the first of eight recommendations made by the commission. It also said the bishops and Church personnel should undertake “regular high-quality training and continuous professional development in safeguarding” and that the Church sets out “a theology of safeguarding which is coherent and compelling”. About 100 000 copies of a leaflet describing the recommendations of the McLellan Commission and the text of Archbishop Tartaglia’s apology were to be distributed to all of Scotland’s 500 Catholic parishes.—CNS

Art fans hail Vatican Museums’ mobile app BY CINDY WOODeN

Y downloading an app for a smartphone or tablet, members of the public can chat with others about famous works of art in the Vatican Museums, share strategies for dealing with the crowds and choose a work to help restore. “Patrum”, the new app from the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, is part social network and part crowdsourcing. The app lets museum fans communicate with each other and make donations online. The app includes short feature stories about people who work in the museums or who are members of the Patrons; it provides tips for tourists; and it explains some of the art and ar-

chitecture at the Vatican, both well-known and often overlooked. With a little tap on a bright red button, users also can choose to donate to a specific project. As the app launched, these were some of the things on the Vatican Museums’ wish list: • Creating a new display for the vestments of Pope Clement VIII, who was pope from 1592

to 1605. The goal is to raise over R2 million for new display cases, climate control to protect the fabrics and the construction of a Mass “scene” with an altar and mannequins to given an idea of what the vestments would look like in their proper environment. • Purchasing an EOS Synthesis laser for cleaning ancient artifacts. Price tag: R637 000. • Cleaning, re-sewing and structurally reinforcing five painted scrolls by Zhao Yong, a 14th-century Chinese artist. “These scrolls have suffering from insect damage as well as discoloration and stiffening of the glue from which they were constructed,” the app says. The museums estimate the project cost at R14 million.—CNS

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, August 26 to September 1, 2015

Vatican: Apply to become Cardinal Paskai, Hungarian Church leader, dies at 88 a ‘missionary of mercy’ T P BY CINDY WOODeN

OPE Francis is looking for a few good “missionaries of mercy”, priests who are known for their preaching and their dedication to hearing confessions and granting absolution. If they have their bishop’s or superior’s support, priests interested in being one of the special communicators of God’s mercy are invited to apply online. The Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation, the office Pope Francis charged with coordinating the Holy Year of Mercy, which begins on December 8, posted a list of desired qualities and the application form on the Year of Mercy website: www.im.va/content/gdm/en/parte cipa/missionari.html

The missionaries will be commissioned formally by the pope and sent out on February 10, Ash Wednesday. The council said the missionaries are to be “a living sign of the Father’s welcome to all those in search of his forgiveness”. They should be “inspiring preachers of mercy; heralds of the joy of forgiveness; welcoming, loving and compassionate confessors, who are most especially attentive to the difficult situations of each person”. With an invitation from a local bishop, the missionaries will preach and administer the sacrament of reconciliation during special Year of Mercy events, the council said. When Pope Francis announced

Italian Jesuit suceeds slain bishop in Anatolia, Turkey BY CINDY WOODeN

ORE than five years after the murder of Bishop Luigi Padovese, Pope Francis has named an Italian Jesuit to succeed him as apostolic vicar of Anatolia, Turkey. The pope’s nomination of Fr Paolo Bizzeti, 67, to be a bishop and apostolic vicar of the Church jurisdiction on Turkey’s eastern Mediterranean coast was announced by the Vatican this month. Bishop Padovese was stabbed and practically decapitated on June 3, 2010, in Iskenderun, the city where the apostolic vicariate is based. His driver, a young man who reportedly had mental problems, was convicted of his murder in 2013. Bishop-designate Bizzeti, a native of Florence who was ordained to the priesthood in 1975, has been directing a centre for the formation of lay Catholics in Padua since 2007. He is founder of an Italian association called “Friends of the Middle East”. In a statement released by the Italian Jesuits, Bishop-designate Bizzeti said he had asked his superiors to send him to Turkey in 1984, “but the time was not right”. In the 30 years since, he said, he has

Italian Jesuit Paolo Bizzeti has been appointed bishop of Anatolia, Turkey, where the previous bishop was killed in 2010. (Photo: Courtesy Italian province of the Jesuits) continued to study Ephesus, Tarsus and other Turkish cities associated with the New Testament, to visit the Christian communities there and to accompany pilgrims. “I’ve written a guidebook. I’ve been there on vacation. It’s a country I love,” he said. “I love its people, its nature, its history.” In an interview with Vatican Radio, he said: “I am going with much humility because I am not young, I must learn the language. I’m going at the beginning of the jubilee Year of Mercy, and I ask everyone to be merciful towards me and I hope to bring them the mercy

of God.” The bishop-designate said he is grateful for the trust Pope Francis has placed in him and he hopes to serve well “these little Christian communities”, which have been waiting for five years for a new bishop. According to Vatican statistics, the vicariate includes about 2 800 Catholics served by six priests. Archbishop Ruggero Franceschini of Izmir has been serving as administrator since Bishop Padovese’s death. The Christian community in Turkey is “small but vivacious, proud of the faith they live in a context that certainly isn’t easy”, Bishop-designate Bizzeti said. “Nevertheless, Turkey is a great nation that has a beautiful tradition of tolerance and multi-religiousness; you can say it is a country where religions always have crossed paths and where there always has been a fruitful exchange between the traditions of the West and East.” Part of his mission, he said, will be to continue building bridges between the Catholic community and the Muslim majority, giving voice “to what the overwhelming majority of people feel and want,” which is peace and unity, not “violence and fundamentalism”.— CNS

SA bishops ‘saddened’ by Israeli separation barrier BY STAFF RePORTeR

HE Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference is “saddened and dismayed” to learn of a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court to allow the separation barrier to be built in the Cremisan Valley, near Beit Jalla in the West Bank. Overturning an April ruling against the construction of the wall in the Cremisan Valley, which is home to two Salesian monasteries and a convent school, the latest court ruling states that those religious buildings will remain on the Palestinian side of the wall, while land belonging to 58 Christian Palestinian families will be cut off on the Israeli side of the wall. SACBC president Archbishop Stephen Brislin said in a state-

ment that the extension of the separation barrier will severely affect the livelihoods and the quality of life of the 58 Christian families whose land and olive orchards have been in their families for generations, but who will now not have access to their land. “The extension of the barrier will be a further encroachment on Palestinian lands close to Bethlehem, squeezing the population once again into a smaller area,” said the archbishop, who is also the South African prior of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, which works for Christians in the Holy Land. Archbishop Brislin said the building of the separation wall on Palestinian territory is “illegal in international law”. He said that the wall places

HE retired primate of Hungary, Cardinal Laszlo Paskai, died on August 17, at 88. He led the Catholic Church in Hungary as the country moved from communism to democracy at the end of the 1980s. Born in Szeged, Hungary, in 1927, he entered the Franciscan order in 1945 and studied theology in Gyongyos. The future cardinal was ordained to the priesthood for the Franciscans in 1951. After earning a doctorate in theology in Budapest, he taught philosophy, served as spiritual director at Budapest’s central seminary and was appointed rector in 1973. Pope Paul VI made him a bishop in 1978, and in 1982 Pope John Paul II named him coadjutor of the archdiocese of Kalocsa. In 1987 the pope named him archbishop of the primatial see of Esztergom-Budapest and made him a cardinal the following year.—CNS

the Holy Year of Mercy, he said he would give the “missionaries of mercy” special authority or faculties “to pardon even those sins reserved to the Holy See”. Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, said the reference to “reserved” sins refers to actions that can bring with them automatic excommunication, for example, abortion when the person is aware of the penalty and commits the sin anyway. If the person is repentant, he said, the missionaries will be able to remove the excommunication and grant absolution in those cases, which normally require the intervention or permission of the local bishop or the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican court.—CNS

more obstacles in the way of finding peace in the Middle East and contributes to further destabilisation of the whole region. “We believe that peace can only be achieved by seeking justice for all,” Archbishop Brislin said. “The separation of peoples through walls and barriers can only further divide and anger people, and will not contribute to peace.” The bishops of Southern Africa are calling “on all leaders in the Holy Land to work for peace by seeking justice, and to show mercy and compassion to one another”. They expressed their “solidarity and support for the patriarch of Jerusalem, Faoud Twal, his auxiliary bishops, and all the suffering peoples of the Holy Land”.

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The Southern Cross, August 26 to September 1, 2015

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Salvation through love and in love

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Understanding the Bible

N old platitude has it that Catholics are ignorant of the Bible because they don’t read it. Whether or not that is true today merits some inspection, but it cannot be said that modern Catholics are discouraged from engaging with Scripture. Indeed, as the local Church’s annual celebration of Bible Sunday on the last Sunday of August shows, the bishops are encouraging us strongly to read and understand Scripture. Fr Bonaventure Hinwood OFM explains in this issue that the Church has done so at least since 1943 when Pope Pius XII promoted the study of the Bible in his encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu. The Second Vatican Council emphatically echoed the need for all Catholics, including the laity, to open their Bibles. Vatican II’s constitution Dei Verbum (1965) advises that it is not enough to just read the Bible as though one is a spectator: “In order to see clearly what God wants to communicate to us, [we] should carefully investigate what meaning the sacred writers really intended, and what God wanted to manifest by their words.” We must understand Scripture through prayerful reflection and study of available knowledge; we cannot do so by only rote reading. It is of no good use to know chapter and verse by heart if one does not know what it is that the writer of that passage was aiming to communicate, or in which context it was written. To understand and know the Bible, we must know not only what is written, but why it was written. To illustrate: the Old Testament passages that we know by the “an eye for an eye” principle (Ex 21:24; Deut 19:21; Lev 24:20) are commonly believed to offer a justification for acts of retaliation and revenge. Most Scripture scholars would agree that these passages in fact replaced older laws, which had made provision for private retaliation, and instead invested the right to extract justice exclusively in the hands of the state. Some scholars suggest that the passages might even indicate a system of restorative justice, whereby transgressors would have to make good the damage they caused their victims, for ex-

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.

ample by a period of indentured labour, rather than by being maimed. For Christian ethics, these passages are in any case superseded by Christ in Matthew 5:38. In our bid to try to understand the context in which the various books of the Bible were written, we are aided by the work of Scripture scholars and annotated Bibles. Readers of The Southern Cross are fortunate to have weekly recourse to the writings, exclusively for this newspaper, of world-renowned Scripture scholar Fr Nicholas King SJ. Disciplines such as anthropology and archaeology are invaluable in decoding Scripture. Sometimes new insights overturn old wisdoms. For example, Bible scholars for centuries held that St John’s description of the “five covered colonnades” at the Pools of Bethesda, where Jesus cured the lame man (5:5-14), was a metaphor—until archaeologists excavating the site in the 19th century found it just as St John had described it. Other things require our individual, personal reflections. An important question, for example, confronts us right at the beginning of whichever gospel we choose to read: Why did God send his Son in a time of occupation by a pagan world power? In our reflections, it is good to know about the background of the people in the Scripture, knowledge which the biblical texts often do not provide. We know, for example, that Simon Peter was a fisherman, but was he a struggling working man or a successful entrepreneur? What did he, and the other apostles, leave behind to follow Jesus’ call? Those who have been fortunate to have made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land return with a whole new understanding of Scripture. Having been on the waters of the Sea of Galilee and surveyed the area of Jesus’ public ministry animates a fuller appreciation of the words in the gospels. Reading the Bible in isolation and without knowledge of context can be dry, confusing and discouraging. Happily, there are many ways to enrich that experience— through literature, Bible study groups in parishes, reflection techniques, and the invaluable work of our Bible institutes.

HAVE been reading a very interesting book entitled Man’s Search for Meaning by Dr Viktor Frankl who spent three years in various Nazi concentration camps with the everpresent threat of being sent to the gas chambers. What is remarkable about Dr Frankl’s book is the way he came to realise the greatest truth of all. I find it such a tragedy that so few of us have discovered the truth as he did. Dr Frankl writes: “A thought

transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth—that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. “Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart. The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing

Same sex: combat Assumption: when secular culture did it take place?

AUL Collins’ letter “No clear rule on same-sex attraction” (July 22) refers. In Colossians 3:16, St Paul exhorts us to allow the word of Christ to dwell richly within us as we teach and admonish one another in all wisdom. Admonishing is not judging but warning someone. Once we have interiorised Christ’s teaching, exactly what the New Evangelisation is all about, we begin to see the spiritual war that we are taking part in, Christ represented by his Church versus Satan through his manipulation of cultures. One of the battles of this war is same-sex “marriage” and the incessant push by secular culture to change Church teaching on this and related matters. Holy Scripture as seen through the lens of Catholicism and the 2 000 years of Church teaching is sound and immutable. Pope John Paul II in his Theology of the Body has given Christianity and the world a new presentation of these age-old teachings that can be applied to all areas of human life, to combat the onslaught of secular culture. The Church is meant to be the light to the world, the moral compass, not vice versa. The secular culture tells us to leave same-sex attraction alone—do not try to heal or cure it, in fact encourage it. In Jesus’ day he was unable to heal people due to their lack of faith. The same-sex attraction cross is heavy but not impossible to pick up every day. Over 90% of same-sex attractions can be addressed and healed through Catholic psychology and the sacramental life. We are all called to holiness—this can only happen through repeated conversion and the sacramental life. As Jesus said, the gate to heaven is narrow and the way hard. The Church does possess the medicine of immortality in its first aid box—the tabernacle. As we approach the jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis encourages us to read Dante’s The Divine Comedy…hmm, I wonder why? Jan Kalinowski, Hillcrest, KZN

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ÜNTHER Simmermacher in the article adapted from his book The Holy Land Trek (August 5) discussed the important issue of Mary’s Assumption into heaven. He asks and suggests answers to the questions of where and when it happened, and after considering some four proposals, submits what he considers to be the most likely ending of “her earthly sojourn”. The Ephesus propositions referred to and briefly described in Mr Simmermacher’s submission—the visions of the German mystic Sr Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) notwithstanding—as well as other possibilities are abandoned in the article, and rightly so. Well, then, what is the factual situation concerning Mary’s dormition? Where and when did the sacred dormition and the Assumption of our Heavenly Queen take place? What age was Mary? A precise, well-considered and accepted response by certain popes and persons of not negligible erudition to these two important questions is provided by Mother Mary of Agreda, obtained from manifestations to this discalced Spanish nun in ecstasy by the Queen of Heaven. In summary, at the age of 67, Mary was advised by the heavenly messenger Gabriel when she was in the Cenacle in Jerusalem that she would enter heaven exactly three years from that day. Accordingly, Mary was about 70 years of age at the time of her heavenly Assumption. The manifestations to and twice written by Venerable Mary are contained in the original Ciudad de Dios (1652). Fortunately for us, there is 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

left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment.” I found Dr Frankl’s comments fascinating because of the way he discovered the greatest gift our Lord gave us: the gift of love. If only we could all realise what an incredible gift this is and use it to its full, what a wonderful world this would be. We live in what could be very near to paradise, if we did but realise the truth in what Dr Frankl discovered and put it into practice in our daily lives. Roy Glover, Tzaneen the English translation titled City of God, a Popular Abridgement of The Divine History and Life of the Virgin Mother of God, translated by Fiscar Marison. Happily, Mary, being free from original sin, was free from concupiscence and did not age with time. It was at her request to the Blessed Trinity that she went through a process of transition, as in her extreme humility and infinite subservience to Almighty God she wanted nothing more than her divine Son. Surely it is not out of place to suggest that they will not be forgotten who, when meditating the fourth glorious mystery of the rosary, add the request: “Mary, conceived without sin and assumed into heaven, pray for us who have recourse to thee” and when praying the words of the Hail Mary pause at the words “now, and at the hour of our death”. Kevin Andersson, Pietermaritzburg

Atheists’ morals

HERE has been some correspondence in the press recently about atheism. One of the most prominent attackers of religion, particularly Christianity, was Bertrand Russell. In 1948 the BBC broadcast a debate on the existence of God between the Jesuit Father Frederick Coppleston and Mr Russell. Whether you are an atheist or not, Mr Russell did not fare well in that debate, particularly in the moral argument. He said he could distinguish between good and evil by his feelings. As Fr Coppleston remarked: “There’s no objective criterion outside feeling, then, for condemning the commandant of Belsen, in your view?” Mr Russell replied: “No more than there is for the colour-blind person...why do we condemn the colour-blind man?” This shows, in my view, how morally bankrupt Mr Russell was, and it was evidenced in his attitude to women. Even our pathetic politicians could learn from our lusty Earl Russell! Peter A Onesta, Johannesburg

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PERSPECTIVES

Let’s raise the roof above Jesus O

NE of the challenges any pastor (in the Catholic sense) faces is enabling and encouraging a community to be a welcome space for all who need to be there. This effort covers not only the familiar and regular parishioners, but also those who need to be part of the Church in a bigger sense. How do we, as community, create the welcome for persons with disability? I admit that in my current parish assignment, I haven’t succeeded in this effort, for a number of reasons. One is the difficulty in working out who these persons are. Disability covers a huge range of categories—as evidenced by the categories used in Sports for Persons with disability. My mother and uncle are both deaf in varying degrees. I have parishioners in wheelchairs, some with amputations, some with profound cognitive disabilities and some with debilitating depressions and addictions. So the first question is how we characterise a person with a disability. The bottom line is that in some way the whole Church is a bunch of persons with disabilities of some sort. It’s from this beginning, then, that we can begin to break down any form of “us and them” language and practice. Let’s limit our present discussion to dealing as a Church with physical barriers to persons with disability. With Sr Theresa Marie Heany OP, director of SPRED, we suggested putting architects and pastors in wheelchairs so that they could get a perspective on just how difficult it is for a person with a physical disability to move in many church and parish spaces. You see, it’s not just about throwing a ramp down the stairs. In fact, most retrofitted ramps I have seen in worship and parish spaces would be more likely to cause grievous bodily harm if used—more like racetracks than carefully considered commitments to inclusion. Then, where do you place a person in a wheelchair or with a buggy or a zimmerframe? Generally we place them with everyone else. Or we ask them to fit in

wherever we can squeeze them. They block up aisles, have to move for Communion processions, are so “disruptive”. That belies a deep-seated attitude to persons with disability that needs examination and challenge.

n the story of the paralytic let down from the roof in front of Jesus in Capernaum (Mk 2.3; Lk 5:19) I see a number of lessons that the whole Church has to face in dealing with inclusive ministry and space. The first thing that strikes me is the desire of the friends for this man to experience what they have experienced. They know about Jesus and desire both healing and inclusion for their friend. So often, persons with disabilities need to be sought out and brought out, invited into God’s space. The next idea is that the crowds often get in the way… oh yes, parishes are often crowd-thought in behaviour. The serious inclusive thinker must think around the physical and attitude barriers that “nor-

A newly-wed couple processes down the aisle in a New Orleans church in June. In his column, Fr Chris Townsend argues that parishes often unwittingly exclude people with disability. (Photo: Peter Finney Jr, Catholic Herald)

Fr Chris Townsend

Pastor’s Notebook

mal-functioning” persons (“persons with normality”?) place. Barriers such as costs and space and planning. In Capernaum, the friends simply broke down the roof of Jesus’ house. They made a radical hole in the roof and forced attention from the Lord and the crowd. In his house! In his epic tale of living with disability, My Left Foot, Christy Brown tells of how his mother demanded that his father, a builder, make space for their disabled son. One day his mother just started building. She just did something. I picture the scene of Jesus speaking to the crowds and dust and light raining down on him as the physical structure is made to conform with the desire of the friends. With this in mind, put yourself in a wheelchair and try to use the toilets (toilets for persons with normality or toilets for persons with disability). First try to manoeuvre into them. Then try to clear the accumulation of parish-important junk that often gets stored in the toilets, as “We don’t have anyone disabled here, Father...”. Then try returning to the worship and participation spaces. We often unconsciously exclude persons with disability by the spaces the ablebodied allocate to persons with disability: aisles, corners and so on. Imagine if you are always at the edge in a church that preaches inclusion? My mother is an expert lip-reader. She needs to see the reader and the priest to hear. Where is your microphone? Where are the servers? Often right in front of the lector or priest… Inclusive ministry is not a choice or an option—it is the very core of the Church. n Fr Chris Townsend is the priest in charge at Queenswood parish, Pretoria.

The joy of a pilgrimage within SA Judith Turner ‘W

E are pilgrims on a journey, we are travellers on the road; we are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.” These are the words of the second verse of the modern hymn “The Servant Song”. I love this hymn very much and I love the composer, Richard Gillard, a down-toearth, no-fuss kind of guy who wanted to write a simple folk song but composed a most beautiful, deeply sacred hymn. Richard explains that after writing one verse of the song in 1976 he completely forgot about it. After nearly one full year he took out his guitar case the piece of scrap paper on which he had jotted the single verse and then wrote the rest of the song about our pilgrim journey (see a video of Richard Gillard perform “The Servant Song” at bit.ly/1TLC6Bf). A pilgrimage is a sacred experience which we make with everyday down-toearth people. Of course, there are times of joy and laughter as well, I can imagine, some frustration among pilgrims on a journey, but the pivotal experience is a sacred one. There are many types of pilgrimages one can make. One can make a daily pilgrimage to a shrine, for example. There are local pilgrimages, such as those to Ngome, and there are pilgrimages to international holy sites like the Holy Land or Lourdes in France. The women’s group of our Cape Town parish recently made a weekend pilgrimage to our neighbouring diocese of Keimoes-Upington and met up with

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The Southern Cross, August 26 to September 1, 2015

Chris Chatteris SJ

Pray with the Pope

Let the youth work General Intention: That opportunities for education and employment may increase for all young people. HERE are 73,4 million jobless young people in the world today according to the United Nations. The usual arguments about how you count them are just statistical hair-splitting: the brute fact is that enormous numbers of young people are unemployed or face unemployment, even as they study. The problem is particularly acute here in South Africa (52%), but it’s a tragedy shared even by some developed economies such as Spain where the rate is just below 50%. But South Africa’s share of global youth unemployment is 1,9% while South African youth comprise only 0,77% of the global youth population. It is true that we are in the unfortunate position of having a large young population bulge just at the time when the world economy is slowing down. But even by comparison to Sub-Saharan Africa we are doing dismally at creating employment for young people. The traditional way of absorbing unemployment was through economic growth. Unfortunately we have low growth at the moment, thanks to falling demand for our raw materials, like platinum and coal. Tourism has been struck with a bureaucratic own goal. With our economy sluggish, the government is hoping that its draft “national youth policy” for 2015-19 will make a difference to youth employment. The minister wants to expand public works projects and offer internships in government departments and in state-owned industries. The private sector is to be persuaded to reserve a portion of its posts for those between 18 and 35. Further policies need to be established which encourage investment in job-creating industries. In schools and at tertiary institutions teachers need to form young people into a mindset of entrepreneurship so that they can create their own jobs. The catch 22 of getting work experience requires some creative solutions. Finally, young people must be encouraged to get out there and vote. Politicians tend to respond to large, vociferous groups that exercise that right consistently. The saying that “God helps those that help themselves” is particularly pertinent to this intention.

Faith and Life

The group of pilgrims who travelled from Cape Town to Keimoes-Upington. women from different parishes, to “help each other walk the mile and bear the load”. In all the places of our pilgrimage the women were, just as Richard Gillard is, no-fuss kind of earthly women. The first stop of our pilgrimage was in the parish of Vredendal where we met with about 30 women. Their beautiful voices, singing hymns before Mass, welcomed us as we approached the church. It was the first time we visited the parish and we did not know the women. But we were home. And in celebrating Holy Mass together we knew and deeply experienced that we were “travellers on the road” together.

he next morning we continued our pilgrimage travelling on to Matjieskloof near Springbok where the

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Sisters prepared a place for us to rest and enjoy our lunch. When one experiences the care of others, where no effort is too big, then one can experience the words of Gillard’s hymn, “we are here to help each other”. After lunch we started the last lap of our journey, heading off to Pella, the main and final destination of our pilgrimage. Pella is a mission station built in 1882 and today it is a tourist destination known for its beautiful cathedral and palm trees. Nothing could prepare us for the warm, spontaneous and lively reception of young colourful traditional dancers meeting us at the entrance of the mission and dancing us in to the venue for our gathering. Inside the hall women from six surrounding towns were waiting for us. We were about 100 women, the eldest of whom was 91 years old—still on her journey and now meeting us as fellow pilgrims. We spent two days in Pella listening to and learning so much from other women. And as we were listening we realised that our journey is the same, our joys are the same, our struggles are the same. They Continued on page 11

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Live by example Missionary Intention: That catechists may give witness by living in a way consistent with the faith they proclaim. AN one praise and encourage catechists enough, I wonder? Catechists are the often unnoticed and unacknowledged cutting edge of Catholic evangelisation. Catechists educate our children in the faith, teaching them about the Word of God and preparing them to receive the sacraments. A good catechist may well bring more people to belief in Jesus Christ than a good priest in the pulpit (which is not a reason for the priest to stop preaching!). They give of their time, energy and devotion with little or no financial reward. The vast majority of catechists are women who have to both work to earn a living and care for their families. Blessed are they among women (and men)! A catechist often has a thankless task. She often has to negotiate with awkward parents for enough class time to do the catechetical formation properly, competing with a whole range of extra-curricular activities that can engage the modern child every day of the week. Preparing rebellious adolescents for the sacrament of confirmation is a particularly demanding job. Perhaps one could venture to say that the very fact that they commit themselves to this apostolic task is in itself a vivid witness to catechists’ desire to live in a way consistent with the faith they proclaim. Like us all—clergy, religious and laypeople—they strive and sometimes struggle to practise what they preach and preach what they practise. They deserve all the prayers that we can offer up for them and all the support we can give them.

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FAITH

How Vatican II opened up the Bible August 30 is Bible Sunday. To mark the day and the upcoming 50th anniversary of the closing of Vatican II, Fr BONAVeNTURe HINWOOD OFM looks at how the Council opened up the Bible, and how this was set in motion by Pope Pius XII.

blessing to translation work from original languages undertaken together with other Christian biblical scholars. In connection with the second issue—making the Bible available to lay people—the Council in Dei Verbum says simply: “Easy access to Sacred Scripture should be provided for all the Christian faithful.” This will help develop “a warm and living love for Scripture”, as the Council Fathers put it in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. Among the means for making this possible the Council mentions translations, about which it says: “Since the word of God should be available at all times, the Church with maternal concern sees to it that suitable and correct translations are made into different languages, especially from the original texts”.

HEN people speak about the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and the changes in the Church’s approach to the Bible, they often pick on two issues. The first is the opening of the study of the Bible to new ways of investigating the real meaning of the text, among these particularly what is known as the critical historn Sacrosanctum Concilium, Vatican ical method. II called for “more reading from The second issue is making the holy Scripture in the Church’s pubBible available to lay people, en- lic worship”. To achieve this, the couraging them to read, study, and Council decreed that the liturgy pray with it. should open up “the treasures of About the first issue, as the Bible” by having part of its encouraging more and a greater vabiblical scholars’ work, the To understand riety of Scripture read Council’s words in the to the people over a set the Bible, dogmatic constitution on cycle of years and havrevelation, Dei Verbum account must ing homilies that (DV) were: should be Bible-based. be taken of It also encourages Bible “Since God speaks in Sacred Scripture through services. men in human fashion, what we know The clergy, Vatican the interpreter of Sacred of the human II noted, need to have a Scripture, in order to see good biblical educaclearly what God wants to writers and tion, so that they are communicate to us, should to stimulate their culture. equipped carefully investigate what and guide their people meaning the sacred writers in reading and living really intended, and what God out the Scriptures. wanted to manifest by their words.” Bishops in particular have the reThe first thing to which attention sponsibility of seeing that the peomust be given is what scripture ple entrusted to them are properly scholars call “literary forms”. Does taught how to use the Bible, espethe text represent history, prophecy, cially the New Testament, and parpoetry, a religious novel, wise norms ticularly the gospels. This they can for practical living, or some other do by promoting editions in which way of thinking and speaking? What the biblical text is supplemented by was the writer saying to people of his comments which help towards a own time and culture? correct understanding. The interpreter must remember Vatican II gave one paragraph to that God reveals God in the Bible as the legitimate use of modern metha whole, so each part must be read ods of research into the texts of the in terms of this one revelation and Bible. Two decades earlier, in 1943, not taken in isolation. The Bible is Pope Pius XII devoted nine paraalso the book of the Church, and graphs to the subject in his masterly the interpreter must also keep in encyclical on biblical studies, Divino mind the complete official teaching afflante Spiritu. His enthusiastic words of enof the whole Church, as Dei Verbum couragement were: reminds us. “All these are benefits granted by It is in the light of this that the Council in Dei Verbum gave its divine Providence to our age, and

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A pilgrim reads Scripture while she waits in line to enter the tomb where Jesus was buried and resurrected in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The Second Vatican Council strongly promoted Catholic reading and scholarship of the Bible, with an emphasis on understanding it. In doing so, it followed the guidance of earlier popes, especially Pius XII, who died in 1958, four years before the Council began. (Photo: Debbie Hill/CNS) they serve also as a stimulus and an encouragement to interpreters of Holy Scripture to make eager use of the great light afforded for a closer examination, a clearer explanation, and a more lucid exposition of Sacred Scripture.” This concluding sentence of his treatment of all the historical and cultural information and documents from recent excavations tells of one of the tools available to the interpreter. Another is the techniques developed in the editing of ancient secular writings, which Pius XII said must be applied likewise to the original texts of the books of the Bible in their ancient languages to secure an accurate texts on which to work. For a correct understanding of the books of the Bible ,full account must be taken of what we know of their human writer and his culture. Pope Pius wrote: “It is absolutely necessary for the interpreter to go back in spirit to those remote centuries of the East...in order to discover what literary forms the writers of that early age...did in fact employ”, which differ from the way we think and speak today, and have been extensively researched in recent times. For just as the divine Word of God became like humans in all things except sin, so God’s revealed word was expressed in human lan-

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e understood that especially bishops have a responsibility for stimulating and encouraging Catholics to know and love the books of the Bible. Pius suggested that they do this by supporting the efforts of people already trying to do it, by helping Catholic organisations which distribute Bibles, (particularly the gospels), by encouraging families to read them every day, and by themselves or through experts arranging for public talks on biblical topics.

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guage of the time, though free from error. The Catholic scripture scholar must make use of these modern means of understanding the Bible if he is to give an accurate interpretation free from error, Pius XII said. In encouraging Catholics— clergy and laity—to make greater use of the Bible, to read and meditate on it, Pope Pius saw himself in line with the encouragement given by Pope Leo XIII at the end of the 19th century, and followed up by successive popes after him. To this end he spoke highly of the work of translating the Bible into the different languages of people. Pope Pius also made special mention of periodicals which popularise the scientific study of the Bible treated above, for the sake of ordinary Catholics.

Bishops, he added, also have the responsibility of seeing that a full course of Scripture is taught to students for the priesthood in seminaries, by competent lecturers who will inspire enthusiasm and love for the Bible in their students, so that they can serve the people well in the future. His call to priests was that they carefully study the Bible and absorb it into themselves by prayer and meditation. The fruit of this must then be passed on to the people in sermons, homilies, and other forms of communication, so that they illustrate Catholic doctrine by quotations and the lives of the people, events and stories from the Bible, especially from the gospels. “For all the children of the Church, therefore, and particularly for teachers of Sacred Scripture, for the young clergy, and for preachers of the Gospel, we make fervent prayer that with persevering meditation on the word of God they may taste how good and sweet is the Spirit of the Lord,” Pope Pius wrote. By comparing what was outlined earlier about the teaching of Vatican II with the thought of Pope Pius XII, it is easy to see how the Council carried further the issues which he had treated at greater length. Pius XII prepared the way for Vatican II not only in connection with the Bible, but also in many other areas, such as the Church, her liturgy, the spiritual life of religious, the pastoral involvement and holiness of lay people, and the variety of issues in modern society, including the authority of the state and the inequality between rich and poor, economics, science and technology, treated in his writings, talks and radio broadcasts. All this formed the basis of Vatican II’s Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes. He prepared the way not only in his teaching. He also realised that some general meeting of the bishops was necessary to bring the Church up to date. For this reason he had nominated a commission to study the matter. His age, ill health, and the realisation that his days as pope were numbered prevented him from taking this further. So when Pope John XXIII became pope, all this was waiting for him. He had merely to develop what Pope Pius XII had begun. If John XXIII fathered the Council, then Pius XII could rightly be given the title of “Grandfather of Vatican II”.

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LIFE ISSUES

Porn: Killing our brains and our children At a recent symposium in Washington looking at porn as a public health crisis, some alarming statistics were brought to light. ABBeY JAROMA examines the discussions of the symposium experts.

HE Catholic Church’s strong stance against pornography is based on Church teaching that the human body should be respected and every person has a God-given dignity. But the fight against pornography is not unique to religious organisations. “This is not a moral issue. We now have science to back this up,” said Dawn Hawkins, vice-president and executive director of the US Centre on Sexual Exploitation. The centre held a symposium in Washington exposing pornography as a public health crisis, and how porn fuels sex trafficking, child exploitation and sexual violence. The speakers—Ernie Allen, Dr Sharon Cooper, Melissa Farley, Gail Dines, Dr Donald Hilton, Mary Anne Layden, Ed Smart and Cordelia Anderson—all discussed research conducted on the negative impacts porn has upon society and how “pornography is one of the root causes of sexual exploitation”, said Ms Hawkins. Ms Dines, a lecturer in sociology and women’s studies at Wheelock College in Boston, discussed the presence of Internet porn. Thirty-six percent of content on

the Internet is pornographic, she said, and online porn brings in total revenue of $3 000 per second. On average, one out of every four Internet searches is about porn. Dr Donald Hilton, a neurosurgeon from the University of Texas, presented evidence of the impact pornography can have on the human brain. “Pornography is associated with shrinkage in the brain’s key reward areas,” he said. The more pronounced pornography usage, the more shrinkage occurs in that area of the brain that occurs, he said, explaining that the brain is the source of behaviour, but it is modified by the behaviour it produces. In 2014 a study conducted by the University of Cambridge found that compulsive porn users react to porn cues in the same way that drug addicts react to drug cues. This study confirmed the findings of an earlier study done by experts at Germany’s Max Planck Institute which measured the brain activity of porn consumers. Pornography, the study found, isn’t merely harmful to women and the brains of the users, but also to children. Pornography is sexualising the innocence of young children, causing a race to adulthood before the end of childhood. Young girls are being bombarded with photoshopped images and are buying into unrealistic expectations set before them at an age meant for skinned knees and the Disney channel. According to Dr Sharon Cooper, the CEO of Development and Forensic Paediatrics, children learn from

Porn is changing our children and trapping people in a cycle of addiction. Children as young as ten are regularly accessing porn on the Internet. (Photo: morguefile) what they see, and Cordelia Anderson, founder of Sensibilities Prevention Services, believes that “pornography is teaching young girls to be products”. “Our entire culture is getting our girls porn ready,” said Ms Dines. “It hypersexualises them at a young age.”

he also discussed pornography’s effects on males. “We are bringing up a generation of boys,” she said, and Internet porn “reels boys in by saying, ‘You want to be a man? Well this is your initiation’”. She claimed that it is virtually impossible to find boys in the US who

do not view porn and she said she refuses to believe males are born with a natural attraction to porn. Instead, this is a product of the culture, she said. “We have developed a culture that is perpetrating [this] against our children,” she said. A study conducted by the Internet Watch Foundation called “Emerging Patterns and Trends Report No. 1: Youth-Produced Sexual Content,” found an increasing trend of younger children distributing sexually explicit content by using laptop webcams. It found that 17,5% of the content depicted children ages 15 years or younger; 93,1% of the content de-

picting children ages 15 or younger featured girls. Internet porn is teaching our children that this is normal, that it does not hurt anybody and that everyone is doing it, according to Mary Anne Laden, from the University of Pennsylvania. “Porn changes the way that children view others of the opposite sex,” said Ernie Allen, former president and CEO of the National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. He said that one-third of all tenyear-olds in the US are accessing pornographic content on the Internet; 53% of all 12- to 15-year-old boys are accessing online porn, as are 28% of girls in that age group. The American Psychological Association produced a study in 2007 that had three key findings: l The more often young people view online porn, the greater the likelihood they will have a recreational attitude towards sex and view it as a purely physical function. l There is a link between the explicitness of sexual media seen by younger viewers and their view of women as sexual “play things”. l There is a relationship between porn use and feelings; in other words it isn’t necessary to have affection for people to have sex with them. “The main job of parents is to teach their children how to be adults. We know children do what they see, and what they see others getting rewarded for. First they watch their parents. Then they watch their friends. Then they watch the world, and the media delivers this world to them,” said Ms Laden. “It is about time we took this culture back from the pornographers,” added Ms Dine. —CNS

‘Victory’: A phone app for porn addicts BY ABBeY JAROMA

M Pilgrimage Highlights

• Explore Krakow, the city of St John Paul’s student and priestly life, just two months before World Youth Day. • Wadowice, St John Paul’s birthplace, on his birthday! • Czechostowa with Black Madonna • Divine Mercy Sanctuary with the tomb of St Faustina and the original painting of the Divine Mercy image • Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, with the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Calvary • Niepokalanow, the Franciscan monastery of St Maximilian Kolbe • Mass in a chapel carved out of rock in the Wieliczka Salt Mine • Zakopane, with wooden chapel of Our Lady of Fatima

ATT Fradd, a popular Catholic speaker who said he has dedicated his life to fighting pornography, teamed up with longtime youth minister Mark Hart, known as the “Bible Geek”, and LifeTeen to develop an app designed to assist young people find victory in their battle against porn. “I worked as an apologist at Catholic Answers for three years and gave many talks—and I couldn’t help but feel that while I was up there proclaiming the basic Gospel message to thousands of teenagers, a good number of these young men and women were looking at hardcore pornography,” Mr Fradd said. The app, Victory, is based on a calendar system where the user can mark the days they were victorious over porn, or had a setback, using colours. White represents the days they were victorious, and grey represents the days with a setback. A date with a green square around it signifies a day the user went to confession. “One of the reasons this app is so helpful is that it enables people to view freedom from porn not as a destination but as a daily choice. This app enables us to daily track our progress and reflect upon our victories. ‘Look at that, I had five days in

a row that I was victorious,’” Mr Fradd said. After the setback is logged on the calendar, the app assists users in pinpointing what the trigger was so they are more prepared to log a white day the next time that trigger occurs. Users can choose from various “trigger” options—boredom, loneliness, anger, stress or tiredness. According to Mr Fradd, this helps a person to gain self-knowledge. The app includes a section for journaling, and there’s a prayer request button that will notify up to three “accountability partners”, as the programme calls them, to pray for users. The app is private and requires a four-digit passcode to log in. Rachel Penate, the assistant to the executive vice-president of LifeTeen in the US, said: “Not everyone struggles with pornography, or even the sin of lust, but everyone struggles with sin. It may require a bit of adaptation, but Victory can suffice as a tracking tool for any struggling with a particular sin.” "The hope of this app," said Ms Penate, “is that it will spark real and honest conversations about porn— why it needs to happen to heal from addiction; why it’s destructive; and to encourage teens that they are not alone in this fight: That it is OK to struggle.”—CNS

CLASSIFIEDS

Fr Romeo Galeazzo OSFS

BLATE of St Francis de Sales Father Romeo Galeazzo, formerly of Keimoes-Upington diocese, died on July 11 in Padua, Italy, shortly after celebrating the golden jubilee of his priesthood. He was 77. Born on April 10,1938, in Padua, he joined the Oblates of St Francis de Sales, making his first profession on October 2, 1957 and his perpetual profession on October 4, 1960. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 27, 1965. Not long after his ordination, he decided to join his order’s missions in South Africa, and went on to minister at different mission stations in the diocese of Keimoes. In his earlier years in the missions he worked for some time at Kamieskroon. Later he was transferred to Augrabies where he lived and worked with another Italian, the late Fr Enrico Balducelli. Later he moved to Kakamas where he worked for a number of years before he was transferred to

Prieska, where he spent 27 years until his retirement due to ill health. In Prieska he built a beautiful church as well as a kindergarten, called Holy Angels. He built another beautiful church at Marydale, an outstations of Prieska. At Prieska he regularly reached out to other churches, and once a week he would celebrate Mass in Latin. He also served the diocese as judicial vicar on the marriage tribunal.

Fr Galeazzo made a deep impact on the lives of many people during his life in the missions and people loved him, especially the youth. He established a gospel band that would play during Sunday celebrations as well as on special feast days. He also engaged the youth by forming a football club that would compete against other teams in Prieska and surrounds. He went back to Italy in 2009 as a result of his poor health. In a tribute read at Fr Galeazzo’s funeral in Padua on July 14, Bishop Edward Risi of KeimoesUpington thanked God for the tireless service the late priest gave the diocese of Keimoes-Upington for almost 50 years. “He was a devoted pastor,” Bishop Risi said, and “a good friend to the clergy and the religious. And he was always loyal to the bishop, ready to help in whatever way he could”. Fr Jan Mostert OSFS

The joy of a pilgrimage within SA Continued from page 7 gave us so much inspiration, and at the same time we heard them saying that they were drawing inspiration from us. A highlight of the weekend was the Holy Mass in the cathedral where the warm spontaneous singing of the people was very emotional for some of us.

The priest took his time making every part of the Holy Mass dignified and sacred. The women served us very well. The Sisters spent a lot of time telling us the story of the cathedral, allowing us to see the cathedral museum and take as many pictures as we wanted to, showing us the newly built con-

Liturgical Calendar Year B Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday August 30 Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8, Psalms 15:2-5, James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27, Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Monday August 31 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Psalms 96:1, 3-5, 1113, Luke 4:16-30 Tuesday September 1 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11, Psalms 27:1, 4, 1314, Luke 4:31-37 Wednesday September 2 Colossians 1:1-8, Psalms 52:10-11, Luke 4:38-44 Thursday September 3, St Gregory the Great Colossians 1:9-14, Psalms 98:2-6, Luke 5:1-11 Friday September 4, Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart Colossians 1:15-20, Psalms 100:2-5, Luke 5:3339 Saturday September 5, Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary Colossians 1:21-23, Psalms 54:3-4, 6, 8, Luke 6:1-5 Sunday September 6 Isaiah 35:4-7, Psalms 146:7-10, James 2:1-5, Mark 7:31-37

vent and just spending time talking to us. We will never forget the women we met on this journey. We will always remember them and we will always remember that “we are pilgrims on a journey, we are travellers on the road; we are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load”.

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 669. ACROSS: 4 Aureole, 8 Attila, 9 Statute, 10 Renata, 11 Romans, 12 Christen, 18 Pedagogy, 20 Fiance, 21 Achaia, 22 Straits, 23 Ardent, 24 Prepays. DOWN: 1 Patrick, 2 Stoners, 3 Cletus, 5 Upturned, 6 Entomb, 7 Litany, 13 Tapestry, 14 Dowager, 15 Dynasty, 16 Victor, 17 Encamp, 19 Accord.

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east Street every Wednesday at 6.30 pm. Contact Keith at 083 372 NELSPRUIT: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at St Peter’s parish every Tuesday from 8:00 to 16:45, followed by Rosary, Divine Mercy prayers, then a Mass/Communion service at 17:30pm.

IN MEMORIAM

HOUGHTON—Bill. Husband of the late Agnes, he passed away on August 29 1990. Lovingly remembered by his four daughters, Mary, Margaret, Bridget, Barbara, sons-inlaw, Walter, Derick, Ben, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. HOUGHTON—Bill. Gone but not forgotten—The Southern Cross. MANUEL—Doreen Magdalene. In loving memory of our beloved mother, grandmother and greatgrandmother. Gone but not forgotten. We remember with fondest memories the legacies you left us; you are always in our daily prayers and Holy Mass. Rest in peace Mamma. From your beloved sons and daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

PRAYERS

HOLY SPIRIT you make me see everything and show me the way to reach my ideals. You give me the divine gift to forgive and forget. In all instances of my life you are with me, protecting me and opening for me a way where there is no way. I thank you for everything, and confirm once more that I never want to be separated from you, no matter how great the material desires. I want to be with you and my loved ones in your perpetual glory. Amen. In thanksgiving for favours granted.

O MOST beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of Heaven, blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me where you are, Mother of God. Queen of heaven and earth I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity. There is none who can withstand your power, O Mary conceived without

sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands. “Say this prayer for 3 consecutive days and then publish. Special thanks to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Ss Jude and Daniel for prayers answered.

ALMIGHTY eternal God, source of all compassion, the promise of your mercy and saving help fills our hearts with hope. Hear the cries of the people of Syria; bring healing to those suffering from the violence, and comfort to those mourning the dead. empower and encourage Syria’s neighbours in their care and welcome for refugees. Convert the hearts of those who have taken up arms, and strengthen the resolve of those committed to peace. O God of hope and Father of mercy, your Holy Spirit inspires us to look beyond ourselves and our own needs. Inspire leaders to choose peace over violence and to seek reconciliation with enemies. Inspire the Church around the world with compassion for the people of Syria, and fill us with hope for a future of peace built on justice for all. We ask this through Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace and Light of the World, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen. Prayer courtesy of the USCCB. ST MICHAEL the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and

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the

23rd Sunday: September 6 Readings: Isaiah 35:4-7, Psalm 146:7-10, James 2:1-5, Mark 7:31-37

AN you rely on God? That is a question we often find ourselves asking, rather nervously; and the readings for next Sunday offer a confident “Yes”. The first reading pictures the Israelites returning (improbably enough) from their exile in Babylon, and it plays a very cheerful tune: “Let them say to those of fearful heart, ‘Behold—your God…he will come to save you.’ ” Then comes a series of improbable pictures, of people who are excluded by their disabilities from the community of Israel: the blind, the deaf, the lame, the dumb—and all of them will be healed by God, indeed “the lame shall leap” like a springbok, which is a very consoling image. For those contemplating their alarming crossing of the desert back to Jerusalem, there is a lovely picture of “streams in the wilderness, and rivers in the dry land, the hot sands will turn into pools, the thirsty ground into streams of water”. In the psalm, one of the exuberant songs

S outher n C ross

of praise with which Israel’s hymn-book comes to an end, the focus is on this great God, “the one who keeps faith for ever, who does justice for the oppressed, who gives bread to the hungry, the Lord who sets prisoners free, gives sight to the blind, raises up the ones who are bowed down”. Best of all it is “the Lord who looks after the immigrants, holds up the orphan and the widow…the Lord shall be King forever, your God, O Zion—Halleluiah!” This is a God whom we can trust. The second reading comes from the splendid Letter of James, which warns us to get our God right: “Don’t make faith in our Lord Jesus Christ a matter of snobbery”, it warns. Then it draws a picture which in many of our churches may cause some embarrassment, of two people coming in (think of this, next Sunday when you’re at Mass), one “a man with gold rings and a smart suit”, and the other “a destitute person, with

again for their support, prefacing his request by telling them that, should they vote against it again, he would do it on his own, invoking executive privilege. One of the priests, a close personal friend of his, said: “You’re only asking us to do this because it’s politically correct.” The bishop answered him: “No, we’re not doing this because it’s politically correct. We’re doing it because it is correct!” He explained: “We can’t preach the Gospel with integrity if we don’t live it out ourselves. We need to pay a living wage because that’s what the Gospel and Catholic social doctrine demands—not because it’s politically correct.” In saying this, the bishop was swallowing hard, swallowing his own temperament, swallowing his friend’s irritation, and swallowing his own irritation at having to bow to something that was presented as politically correct. But principle trumped feeling.

Conrad

nd principle needs to trump feeling because, so often, when something comes at us with the label that this must be accepted because it is politically correct, our spontaneous reaction is negative and we are tempted, out of emotional spite, to reject it simply because of the cloak it’s wearing and the voices who are advocating for it. I’ve had my own share of experiences with this, in dealing with my emotions in the face of political correctness. Teaching in some pretty sensitive classrooms through the years, where sometimes

For further info or to book contact Michael or Gail at 076 352 3809 or 021 551 3923 info@fowlertours.co.za www.fowlertours.co.za/ poland-2016/

then he spat and touched his tongue.” (This is not recommended in the current health and safety manuals—but this is Jesus). Then he clearly needs his Father’s help, for we hear that “he looked up to heaven, groaned, and says to him, ‘Ephphatha’, which is ‘be opened.’ ” We watch with interest to see what will happen: “Immediately, his ears were opened, and the chain on his tongue was untied, and he spoke correctly.” Jesus tells them to be quiet about it; but, predictably enough, that does not work: “The more he ordered them, the more extravagantly they proclaimed it.” The result is inevitable: “They were utterly amazed, and said, ‘He has done everything well—he even makes the deaf hear, and the speechless to speak.’ ” That is our God.

Southern Crossword #669

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

every word is a potential landmine that might blow up in your face, it’s easy to fall into an unhealthy sensitivity-fatigue. I remember once, frustrated with the hypersensitivity of some students (and the pompousness evident inside that sensitivity), I told a student to “lighten up”. He immediately accused me of being a racist on the basis of that remark. It’s easy then to react with spite rather than empathy. But, like the bishop, we need to be principled and mature enough to not let emotion and temperament sway our perspective and our decisions. Political correctness is normally irritating, exaggerated, unbalanced, pompous and lacking in nuance, but it serves an important purpose. We need this mirror. How we spontaneously speak about others flushes out a lot of our blind spots. Among other things, political correctness, as a check on our language, helps keep civil discourse civil, something in short supply today. Talk-radio, TV, blogs, tweets and editorials are today more and more being characterised by a language that’s rude, insensitive and flat-out disrespectful. And this very disdain for political correctness is, ironically, the strongest argument for political correctness. Politics, Church and community at every level today need to be much more careful about language, careful about being politically correct, because the violence in our culture very much mirrors the violence in our language. Moreover, attentiveness to language helps, long-term, to shape our interior attitudes and widen our empathy. Words work strongly to shape attitudes, and if we allow our words to chip away at elementary courtesy and allow them to offend others, then we help spawn a culture of disrespect. Political correctness comes to us from both the left and the right. Both liberals and conservatives help dictate it and both can be equally self-righteous and bullying. But we must always be conscious that just because something is politically correct, it doesn’t mean that it also might not be correct. Sometimes we just need to swallow hard and accept the truth.

St John Paul II Pilgrimage to Poland Southern Cross

Sunday Reflections

filthy clothing”. What are you going to do about them? James suggests that we are all too likely to offer the best seat to the one with material wealth, and the worst seat to the poor man. So he reminds us what our God is really like: “God chose those who are poor in this world, but rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.” We may need to examine our attitudes between now and Sunday. Then, if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. Next Sunday, we see him travelling about various parts of the Holy Land, and arriving (by a peculiar route) at the Sea of Galilee. There he is greeted with a challenge: “They bring him someone who is deaf and hard of speaking and beg him to lay a hand upon him.” Unusually, Jesus takes him to one side, “privately”, and performs a very physical action: “He threw his fingers into his ears;

PC: swallow hard at times IMPLY because something is “politically correct” doesn’t mean that it might not also be correct. Sometimes we have to swallow hard to accept truth. Several years ago, I served on a priests’ council, an advisory board to the bishop in a Catholic diocese. The bishop, while strongly conservative by temperament, was a deeply principled man who did not let his natural temperament or his spontaneous feelings dictate his decisions. His decisions he made on principle, and sometimes that meant he had to swallow hard. At one point, for example, he found himself under strong pressure to raise the salaries of lay employees in the diocese. The pressure was coming from a very vocal group of social justice advocates who were quoting the Church’s social doctrines in the face of protests that the diocese could not afford to pay the kind of wages they were demanding. Their cause also leaned on political correctness. This didn’t make things easy for the bishop, given his conservative temperament and conservative friends. But he was, as I said, a man of principle. He came one morning to the priests’ council and asked the priests to furnish him with a mandate to give the diocesan employees the wage increase they were demanding. The priests’ council told him that they would not bow to political correctness and voted against it. A month later, the bishop came back to the priests’ council and asked the clergy

Nicholas King SJ

Yes, we can rely on God

ACRoSS

4. Holy circle for Euro ale product (7) 8. King of the Huns (6) 9. Written law (7) 10. Near at the Italian girl (6) 11. St Paul’s correspondents (6) 12. Wet the baby’s head with holy water? (8) 18. Science of teaching (8) 20. He’s engaged partly in finance (6) 21. Gallio was proconsul here (Ac 18) (6) 22. Artists in dire position (7) 23. Enthusiastically warm (6) 24. Settles in advance (7)

DoWn

1. Saintly snake driver (7) 2. They martyred St Stephen (7) 3. The third bishop of Rome (6) 5. Upside down (8) 6. Bury Ben and Tom together (6) 7. Prayer set with responses (6) 13. Try different paste inside on the wall (8) 14. Do bet on finding the old lady (7) 15. Line of hereditary rulers (7) 16. Saint who could not lose? (6) 17. Settle in the tents (6) Solutions on page 11 19. Treaty (6)

CHURCH CHUCKLE

GOLFER was struggling with his game during a competition. “I’d give anything to sink the next put,” he thought. Suddenly a shadowy figure appeared, hooves, horns and everything. “You’ll sink the putt if you give up half of your sex-life forever”. The golfer agrees. A few holes later, the golfer desperately needs a birdy. The devil appears again: “You’ll hit a birdy if you give up half of your sex-life forever.” The golfer agreed. And that’s how Fr Kelly’s name came to be on the trophy.

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