The
S outher n C ross
May 18 to May 24, 2016
NGO had a ball while fundraising
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reg No. 1920/002058/06
No 4977
www.scross.co.za
r8,00 (incl VAt rSA)
Why Mary is our mother
A visit to Cairo’s miracle mountain
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Become organ donors, ailing priest asks By MANdlA zIBI
A “I watch the sunrise, lighting the sky...” Fr Johan Strydom of George, oudtshoorn diocese, took this photo of a cross in the sunrise overlooking Herold’s Bay, with the Atlantic ocean washing up on the bay’s beach. the priest says the scene brought to his mind the lord’s resurrection.
Tired of modern society? Become a missionary By CArol GlAtz
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OUNG women and men who are tired of today’s self-centred, materialistic society should consider becoming missionaries, the heroes of evangelisation, Pope Francis has said. “Life is worth living” to the full, “but in order to live it well, ‘consume’ it in service, in proclamation and keep going forward. This is the joy of proclaiming the Gospel,” the pope said during morning Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae in the Vatican, where he lives. So many men and women have left their families, homeland and culture to bring the Gospel to other continents, Pope Francis said. So many of them never returned home, dying in mission lands from disease or martyrdom—”offering their life for the Gospel. These missionaries are our joy, the joy of our Church.” Many missionaries are “anonymous”, having served and died in foreign lands, he said. “They ‘consumed’ life” far from home and their loved ones, but lived knowing they could say, “what I have done was worth it”. Open to the work of the Holy Spirit, they felt an irresistible urge—they were “compelled”—to “consume their lives” for God in
Pope Francis says young people who are tired of today’s self-centred, materialistic society should consider becoming missionaries—the heroes of evangelisation. (Photo: CNS) the farthest corners of the earth. “I want to tell today’s young men and women, who do not feel at ease” or happy with “this culture of consumerism and narcissism: ‘Look at the horizon. Look over there. Look at these missionaries of ours,’” he said. Pope Francis asked those dissatisfied with worldly pursuits to pray to the Holy Spirit “to compel them to go far, to ‘consume’ their life” by being fully dedicated to serving others and the Gospel.—CNS
PORT ELIZABETH priest with a rare and deadly lung disease has called on the Church to do more in the campaign for organ donation in South Africa. Fr Xolisile Augustine Kondlo is campaigning in the Eastern Cape where he visits schools, churches and other gatherings as part of the national effort to raise awareness around the dire condition of donor donation in the country. Three years ago the 37-year-old priest was diagnosed with acute interstitial pneumonitis, a rare and severe lung disease. It has no known specific cause and usually attacks healthy lungs and renders them ineffective. Talking to The Southern Cross during one of his “countless” stays in hospital, Fr Kondlo urged the Church to join the fight against widespread ignorance and indifference around issues of organ donation in society. “The Church is silent on this huge matter. Therefore I am calling on the leadership of the Church to do more. Here I am, one of their sons, struggling with my health, but I’m still willing to do awareness. It is frustrating to sit around my flat all day long.” Fr Kondlo described how the disease had taken over his life and how his health had deteriorated tremendously. “Daily I am fighting for every breath I take, and the only cure is for me to get a new set of lungs via a transplant,” he said. Fr Kondlo now breathes through a portable oxygen machine, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “This has been nothing short of a miracle in my life as it has given a glimpse of normalcy. It enables me to step outside the confines of my apartment for a short period of time, carrying it like a handbag everywhere I go,” he said. “One of the worst episodes I had with this condition was at a church in East London after baptising 15 babies. I was doing Mass and I just had to stop and sit down. I could not go on as I was coughing and running out of breath every other minute. Baptism is supposed to be a joyous occasion, but for me that day, it was not.” Fr Kondlo has established an organisation
Fr Xolisile Augustine Kondlo, who is campaigning for organ donation awareness. called #1DonorSaves7Lives and created a Facebook page by the same name. “I have been to churches already, where I talk about the need for South Africans to overcome their fears, prejudices and indifference about organ donation.”
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ne donor can potentially save seven lives—hence the name of Fr Kondlo’s campaign—providing a heart, two kidneys, liver, pancreas and two lungs, provided all seven organs are healthy and harvested correctly. The Organ Donor Foundation (ODF), a non-profit organisation which Fr Kondlo works closely with, painted a bleak picture of the state of organ-donation in South Africa. “There is a critical shortage of organ donors in South Africa. There are currently over 4 300 adults and children on the waiting list for solid organ and corena transplants,” said Gillian Walker, national liaison officer of the ODF. Where South Africa has a decreased donation rate of less than two per one million, Britain has almost 20. Spain has the highest rate in the world with well over 30 donors per one million. Donation rates are low in South Africa partly because of a lack of awareness, but also because of a lack of time, resources and initiative on the part of the medical fraternity. There are 16 transplant centres nationwide, with 11 of them in Gauteng and the Western Continued on page 3