160803 by The Southern Cross

The

S outher n C ross

August 3 to August 9, 2016

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 4992

www.scross.co.za

R8,00 (incl VAT RSA)

Let’s talk about the merciful side of sex

Pope Francis: This is World War III

Young SA Catholic inspires

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Don’t miss our special WORLD YOUTH DAY 2016 round-up next week

Bishop calls for end to political assassinations STAFF REPORTER

OLLOWING several incidents of assassinations in the run-up to the municipal elections on August 3, a bishop pleaded for an end to political killings. The rise in political assassinations is “one of the biggest threats to South Africa’s hardwon democracy”, said Bishop Abel Gabuza, chairman of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference. “We are saddened to see that, after 22 years into democracy, political killings— which are sad reminders of our painful past—are still happening,” the bishop of Kimberley said. At least 12 people died in political killings during the elections period. KwaZulu-Natal has borne the brunt of violence, with police statistics showing that some 90% of presumed political killings took place there. The growing violence in the province recalls the long, low-level civil war there from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s between supporters of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). “We should make sure that we do not develop into a country where assassinations of candidates before elections are considered normal,” Bishop Gabuza said. “Given the sacredness of human life, even the death of one candidate during an election should be considered as one too many,” he said. The government has also condemned the

spate of political murders. Des van Rooyen, minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, called “on all parties, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, to ensure that the killings come to a stop and to cooperate with the political and law enforcement structures in place in the province who are already hard at work to root out this evil”. Themba Mavundla, chairman of the uMkhonto We Sizwe Military Veterans in KwaZulu-Natal, acknowledged that some of the assassinations in the province were between rival ANC members, prompted by the ward councillor nomination processes which he said “were manipulated badly”. The flawed nomination process, however, cannot serve to excuse the assassinations, he said. “We can’t have a few stupid and barbaric people murdering other people.” Other victims have been members of the IFP. The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has announced a commission of enquiry to investigate all political-related murders in the province. Bishop Gabuza called on the criminal justice system to deal effectively with the killings, regardless of the “party political affiliation” of those involved. “High conviction rates could serve as a strong deterrent against political killings,” Bishop Gabuza said. The majority of political killings in postapartheid South Africa were committed either in KwaZulu-Natal or Mpumalanga.

The South African flag flies during the official opening ceremony of World Youth Day at Blonia Park in Krakow, Poland. South African pilgrims can be seen in their yellow rain coats. (Photo: Lebogang Lentsoane)

SA imam condemns terror murder of French priest

HE president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has welcomed a statement by a Cape Town imam condemning the murder of French priest Fr Jacques Hamel by terrorists claiming to act in the name of Islam. In a statement from the Claremont Main Road Mosque in Cape Town, Imam Dr Rashied Omar and mosque secretary Jaamia Galant strongly condemned the “brutal killing” of the 85-year-old priest during a Mass in the northern French town of SaintEtienne-du-Rouvray. “The inhumane and gruesome killing of the elderly Fr Hamel and the sacrilegious violation of a sacred prayer space bears testimony to the merciless ideology of Da’ish,” the statement said, referring to the terror group ISIS by the name preferred by Arabspeakers. “It is apparent that Da’ish is hell-bent on fuelling a religious war between Muslims and Christians,” the statement said. “However, their war is a war on humanity and our response should reflect a deep respect for the sanctity of all human life.”

Offering the mosque’s prayers for the congregation in France and the Catholic Church at large, the statement urged greater cooperation between faith bodies. “This tragic incident should spur us to redouble our efforts at reaching out to other across religious divides,” it said. SACBC president Archbishop Stephen Brislin, speaking on behalf of the Catholic Church in the Southern African region, expressed his appreciation for the mosque’s statement. “The murder of Fr Hamel is a reminder to all people of faith that we must work together for peace and an end to violence in the world,” Archbishop Brislin said. He counselled Catholics not to engage in anti-Muslim prejudice on the grounds of the murder of Fr Hamel or other atrocities committed by terrorists who distort the teachings of Islam. Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen, of whose diocese Fr Hamel was a priest, said: “The Catholic Church can take up no weapons other than those of prayer and brotherhood among people of good will.”

A new way of helping your Catholic newspaper

ometimes a good idea is so obvious! “Why,” we were asked, “don’t you invite people to make a monthly contribution to the Associates Campaign by debit order?” “I can’t afford to give R1 000 in one go, but I can afford to give R100 a month. Some might be able to contribute R50 a month, and others maybe R250 or more.” Many people would love to support The Southern Cross’ Associates Campaign, but don’t have lump sums available.

So we have created a debit order option whereby supporters can join the Associates Campaign through a monthly contribution. We have added a new patron to the Associates Campaign in the form of Dorothy Day, the American Catholic social activist and newspaper publisher. After almost 100 years of surviving exclusively on self-generated revenue—The Southern Cross is fully independent and not subsidised—we are going through tough times.

The economic crisis, spiralling costs, a changing newspaper landscape and, above all, the strikes and incompetence of the SA Post Office have left The Southern Cross vulnerable. This is where our Associates Campaign can help ensure the survival of South Africa’s only Catholic weekly. By contributing to the Associates Campaign, you will help us replenish our reserves and at the same time support our outreach programmes to people who are in need of good Catholic reading, includ-

ing those in jail. If you want to see The Southern Cross survive and thrive, please support our Associates Campaign with an annual or monthly contribution. To do so is easy: choose one of the categories of Associates you would like to join—Cardinal McCann Associate (R1 500 and above), St Maximilian Kolbe Associate (R500-1 499), St Francis de Sales Associate (R100-499), or Dorothy Day Associate (any monthly contribution). You can instruct your bank to set up a

stop order to the account below or send us your contact details and we will do it for you (there is a useful form on the website below that you can use). Make your contribution into the account: The Southern Cross, Standard Bank, Thibault Square Branch (Code 020909), Acc No: 276876016. Please e-mail or fax payment details and your name and contact details to admin@scross.co.za or 021 465-3850. Or visit www.scross.co.za/associatescampaign for details.

The Southern Cross, August 3 to August 9, 2016

LOCAL

Bishop extols vitality of Church in Africa BY FR REGINALD TARIMO AJ

ISHOP Abel Gabuza of Kimberley has visited Tanzania, stopping off at Dar-es-Salaam, Moshi, Arusha and Zanzibar. He declared himself delighted with the vibrance of the Church in Tanzania, and said he was humbled by the generosity of the Catholics he met, despite their poverty. The presence of young people at all the celebrations suggests that the Church in Tanzania has a bright future, the bishop reflected. While in Tanzania, Bishop Gabuza participated in various Church activities, including the ordination of 16 priests. He described the ordination—at

the cathedral of Christ the King in Moshi—as an eye-opening experience. The cathedral was packed with more than 5 000 people, apart from the more than 300 priests, both religious and diocesan, and a large number of religious. The bishop noted a good number of major seminarians, which for him represents hope for the future of the African Church. Following the ordination, he attended two thanksgiving Masses in the parishes of Tarakea and Olele, both of which were celebrated in the presence of about 40 priests, religious and seminarians. The bishop recalled that his own first Mass after ordination was concelebrated with only two priests.

Bishop Gabuza was surprised at the presentation of the so-called “cake”—a whole roasted goat, made to stand on the table as if alive, decorated with grass, with a leaf in its mouth. This is presented to the main celebrant of the day. The bishop reflected that Africans have rich traditions of their own. He also discovered that in Tanzania, even 6:00 Sunday Masses are packed, unlike those in his diocese. It was a special privilege for the bishop to celebrate Mass at the Uru Minor Seminary to open the second semester for the 450 students. Bishop Gabuza said the Church in Tanzania is strong and vibrant, noting there is still a living faith in the country.

Priests at a Mass in Tanzania, attended by Bishop Abel Gabuza of Kimberley, who said he was impressed by the vibrance of the Church on his visit to the east African country.

Opening the doors in Year of Mercy Women’s conference

VERY second Thursday of every month, a special Year of Mercy celebration is held at Our Lady of Lebanon in Mulbarton, southern Johannesburg. Each month a different parish from the southern deanery of the archdiocese is selected to celebrate this Year of Mercy there. The celebration consists of Adoration/Benediction, reciting of the rosary in full, interspersed with selected hymns and prayers of mercy. This is followed by the opening of the Holy Doors and Mass. Several priests from various parishes in the archdiocese are also in attendance to assist with the sacrament of reconciliation (available throughout the celebration) and also to assist the attending parish’s priest with Mass proceedings. This time Father Paul Beukes OMI and his parish of St Catherine of Siena from Eldorado Park were selected to perform the celebrations.

aims to ‘nourish’ the soul STAFF REPORTER

Fr Paul Beukes opens the Holy Doors during a Year of Mercy celebration at Our Lady of Lebanon church in Johannesburg.

‘Requiem’ with Japanese influences and drums

OR what may be the first time, Sir Karl Jenkins’ “Requiem” will be performed in the Durban area on August 14. Dr Jenkins’ “Requiem”, and other musical pieces by the composer, will be performed by the Durban Symphonic Choir and the KwaZulu-Natal Youth Choir with the KZN Symphonic Orchestra under the baton of Naum Rousine. The concert will be staged at St Joseph’s cathedral in Mariannhill at

14:30. Tickets at R120 each will be available at the door; children under 12 are free. Dr Jenkins, 72, is a Welsh composer who has in the past worked in the genres of jazz and progressive rock. His best-known works are the “Requiem”, “Adiemus”, and “The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace”, which listeners of Classic FM in Britain voted Number 1 classical composition by a living composer. He was the first international

composer to conduct the University of Johannesburg’s Kingsway Choir during his visit to South Africa in 2007 when the choir performed “The Armed Man”. Dr Jenkins, who has distanced himself from the atonal tendencies of modern classical music, first performed his “Requiem” in 2005. It intersperses the traditional format of the Requiem Mass with Japanese influences, and uses ethnic drums and even a hip-hop beat.

CONSOLATA MISSIONARIES SOUTh AFRICA “Console, console my people” Is 40:1 We are a Religious International Congregation of Priests, Brothers, Sisters and Lay missionaries who are consecrated for the Mission, to see to it that all have a chance to hear the word of God and encounter Jesus Christ, God’s True Consolation.

God may be calling you to witness His Consolation with the Consolata Missionaries. Don’t say no, or it is not yet time! Make it happen! Come and see! Our Contacts: Vocation Director Consolata Missionaries P. O BOX 31072 0135 Pretoria South Africa Email: vocatio@consolata.net Website: www.consolata.org

HE Foundation for the Person and the Family and Theology of the Body SA will host the “Totus Tuus” women’s conference in Johannesburg on August 27. The name, meaning “totally thine”, refers to the apostolic motto of St John Paul II. The conference, which will be held at Our Lady of the Cedars in Woodmead, is billed as being inspired by St John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. The theme for the event—“Act Justly, Walk Humbly, Love Mercy”—is in honour of Bl Mother Theresa who will be canonised on September 4. “We as women are juggling many roles and expectations from family and society as a whole,” said Andrina Moodley, one of the organisers of the conference. “Perhaps this conference is a time for us women—all women, whether varsity students, those starting their first jobs, stay-athome moms, career women, caregivers, grandmothers, spiritual mothers, widows or divorcees—to put ourselves first for a change, even if just for a day.” Ms Moodley said the conference would be an opportunity “to be filled with the word of God, to network with other women and to nourish your soul so that you can be replenished”. She said she had attended Christian conferences and breakfasts over the years, but “much as they were

Andrina Moodley, an organiser of a women’s conference to be held in Johannesburg, said the event is inspired by the Theology of the Body. useful and I took what I needed from it, there was something missing for me. Perhaps being a cradle Catholic, I needed the content to resonate more with me and speak the language that I was familiar with”. Ms Moodley believes other Catholic women have a similar need “to be fed and nourished”. “This is our inaugural Catholic Women’s Conference for the archdioceses of Johannesburg and Pretoria, and we hope that this will become an annual event,” she said. The conference will run from 8:30 to 16:30. Registration is R150, which includes a meal, refreshments and a conference handbook. Religious women are exempt from the fee. n Register at www.theologyofthe body.org.za For more information, contact Marie-Ann te Brake at mate brake@gmail.com, 078 534 0386, or Ms Moodley at andrina@telkomsa. net

From Abortion to Healing

HURT BY ABORTION

If regret over an abortion is part of your life, you are not alone. We care, we can help. Rachel’s Vineyard weekend retreats are a beautiful opportunity for any person who has struggled with the emotional or spiritual pain of an abortion. The retreat is a very specific process designed to help you experience the mercy of God. The retreat is an opportunity to get away from the daily pressure of work and family, to focus on a painful time in life, and to begin healing though a supportive and non-judgemental process. For more information and a complete listing of Rachel’s Vineyard retreats, please visit our website at: www.rachelsvineyard.co.za

Rachels Vineyard is a safe place to renew, rebuild and redeem hearts broken by abortion. The weekend offers a supportive and non-judgemental environment to transform the pain of the past into love and hope. We encourage women, men and couples to attend. Following are some comments from men and women who have participated in a Rachel’s Vineyard weekend; “ It was the best weekend of my life. For the first time in 20 years I was able to share my grief, my guilt, my anger, I was able to mourn the loss of my baby ….”

“I had given up on myself, and thought that I had nothing else to offer anyone in life. I had tried all kinds of counselling and therapy and nothing worked for me…..”

“ For 20 years I have been haunted with the terrible guilt that no-one could take away, tormented by thoughts of what my child would have looked like, what my child would have done with his life. I aborted the only child that I would ever conceive. I was dead inside, and tried to kill myself several times. At a Rachel’s Vineyard weekend I was able to share my grief, my guilt, my shame. I was allowed to mourn the loss of my child, and experienced God’s mercy and forgiveness. Rachel’s Vineyard has been a blessing to me …”

“ I was hurting and there were women who did not know me, but I felt genuine God’s love for me. They allowed me to talk as long as I needed to. The retreat saved my life. Now I am ‘feeling again’. I feel God’s presence and love. It is amazing. Thank you.”

Call Angie (Cape Town) on 082 852 1284 or email farrenkothen@mweb.co.za

OMI STAMPS

YOUR USED STAMPS can help in the education of South Africans for the PRIESThOOD at St Joseph’s Scholasticate, Cedara, KwaZulu-Natal. Please send them to: OMI Stamps, Box 101352, Scottsville, 3209

The Southern Cross, August 3 to August 9, 2016

LOCAL

Medal from the Queen for young SA Catholic A YOUNG Catholic is receiving wide recognition for her advocacy work in justice and development—even from the queen of England. Jessica Dewhurst, 24, is the justice desk coordinator of the Edmund Rice Network, whose work has been reported on in The Southern Cross. The Edmund Rice justice desk of south-central Africa was launched in 2013 with Ms Dewhurst at the helm. “Our purpose is to advocate, educate and equip in the area of human rights, justice and advocacy,” said Ms Dewhurst, a parishioner of St Michael’s parish in Cape Town. “We operate in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe but also offer our support, expertise and educational materials to various other groups across the globe,” she said. “We form a part of the wider Edmund Rice Network, inspired by the charism and ethos of Bl Edmund Rice,” founder of the Christian Brothers, she said. The justice desk runs various programmes, some in partnerships with like-minded organisations. • Raising awareness through presentations, talks, and so on. • Justice and advocacy campaigns in schools across south-central Africa. • The Umoya project, a volunteer project in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, focusing on caring for 70+ mentally and physically differently-

Young South African Jessica Dewhurst receives a medal from Queen Elizabeth II for her justice advocacy work. abled elderly and abandoned men and women. • The In-Reach programme, with personal mentorship and coaching of vulnerable youth so that they may gain fulltime employment. •Human rights training to vulnerable groups, civil society, government, NGOs, and schools. • The Youth Ambassadors programme, with personal mentorship of high-school youth. This programme encourages, trains and supports students as they run justice campaigns in their schools. “I volunteered in multiple NGOs while in high school, working with

children infected or affected by HIV/Aids, refugee children, and children who have been victims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse,” Ms Dewhurst said. While serving the Edmund Rice Network as their youth coordinator, she completed and received The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, and The President’s Gold Award for Youth Empowerment, which she received from President Jacob Zuma. A graduate in social sciences from the University of Cape Town, Ms Dewhurst earned an honours degree in social development, focusing on children’s rights, and a master’s in the same field, focusing on human trafficking. She went on to study human rights and justice at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and is currently completing another degree in international leadership with the University of Cambridge. In June she travelled to London to receive the Queen’s Young Leaders Award for 2016, which celebrates exceptional people aged 18-29 from across the Commonwealth who are taking the lead in their communities and using their skills to transform lives. In London she spoke at the residence of the security-general of the Commonwealth, and at the Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street. She also received her medal from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

After Bishop Barry Wood blessed the church and consecrated the altar at St Paul’s parish in Ntuzuma, Durban, the children of the parish wished him Happy Birthday. At 14 years old, Zameer Dada, a Grade 8 learner at Sacred Heart College in Johannesburg, has been crowned the first-ever African champion speller. Zameer beat 27 other finalists, the best spellers in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia. Five million learners across Africa participated in the various elimination stages of the continent-wide spelling bee.

NEW FOR 2016 5 TO 16 OCT

SACRED HEART SODALITY PILGRIMAGE Visiting Paris, Nevers, Paray Le Moniel, Lourdes.

Organised by the Sacred Heart Sodality, Johannesburg Archdiocese. Spiritual director Fr Mbulelo Sikotoyi OFM Cost from R27 200 Tel: (031) 266 7702 Fax: (031) 266 8982 Email: judyeichhorst@telkomsa.net

Candle

Lord, May this candle be a light for you to enlighten me in my difficulties and decisions.

Alan Peters, a lifelong member of St Anthony’s parish in Pietermaritzburg, is a familiar sight before and after every Saturday evening Mass, selling The Southern Cross. Mr Peters, a businessman, previously served as chairman of the Ushers society and still serves as an usher and money counter. He is a member of the parish finance committee and has prepared the financial statements of the parish for many years. The Southern Cross is grateful to Mr Peters and all who help in getting the only national Catholic weekly into the hands of the faithful. Does your parish have somebody selling The Southern Cross? Send us a photo to pics@scross.co.za with a short description.

1 Plein Street, Sidwell, Port Elizabeth

May it be a fire for you to burn out of me all pride, selfishness and impurity.

May it be a flame for you to bring warmth into my heart towards my family, my neighbours and all those who meet me.

Through the prayers of Mary Virgin and Mother I place in your care those I come to pray for (especially…………..)

I cannot stay long with you in this church; In leaving this candle I wish to give to you something of myself

Help me to continue my prayer into everything I do this day. enlarge- print- frame it - distribute

Retirement Home, Rivonia, Johannesburg Tel:011 803 1451 www.lourdeshouse.org

Frail/assisted care in shared or single rooms. Independent care in single/double rooms with en-suite bathrooms. Rates include meals, laundry and 24-hour nursing. Day Care and short stay facilities also available.

SPRINGFIELD CONVENT SENIOR SCHOOL

Springﬁeld Convent Senior School, founded in 1871, is a Catholic school for girls in the Dominican tradition, situated in beautiful gardens on Wynberg Hill, Cape Town. The school has a caring atmosphere, a proud academic record, vibrant Music, Drama and Art Departments and excellent facilities for Sport.

SENIOR SCHOOL SECRETARY 2017

The successful applicant will need

to commence 1 January

• Excellent people/communication skills with a good command of the English language • Sound Secretarial/Office skills with relevant experience and Computer Literacy. • School Office experience would be an advantage. • The ability to compose letters, take dictation, minute meetings, keep records, write newsletters and compile termly calendars. • Experience in keeping & updating CEMIS records • Ability to work under pressure • A degree of flexibility

Please submit your CV via post to: The Principal, Springﬁeld Convent Senior School, St John’s Road, Wynberg, 7800 or via email to headmistress@springﬁeldconvent.co.za

Closing date: 31 August 2016.

Amen

The School reserves the right not to proceed with the ﬁlling of the post. An application will not in itself entitle the applicant to an interview or appointment, and failure to meet the requirements of the advertised post will result in applicants automatically disqualifying themselves from consideration.

Please note no faxed applications will be considered and only those applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. Springﬁeld is a member of the Independent Schools’ Association of Southern Africa.

The Southern Cross, August 3 to August 9, 2016

INTERNATIONAL

Catholic VP candidate ‘takes his faith seriously’ A

Catholic Indian journalist Anto Akkara (far left) with guests of honour at the launch of his book Who Killed Swami Laxmanan and which details how seven Christians were framed for the 2008 murder of a radical Hindu leader that led to a pogrom against Christians in Odisha state. One chair is empty: former Indian prime minister Deve Gowda was set to appear at the launch but failed to arrive at the launch of the politically sensitive book. Mr Akkara, whose articles have appeared in The Southern Cross over many years, wrote the book after years of research on why the seven Christians were convicted for the murder despite courts having no adequate proofs. See www.release7innocents.com for more.

Pope prays for kids with cancer

EFORE taking off for World Youth Day in Krakow, Pope Francis prayed at the tomb of St John Paul II alongside children who have cancer, and brought their prayers to Poland in order to ask the nation's saint for healing. Pope Francis met with members of the Italian non-profit organisation Peter Pan, which works with children who have cancer and their families, at the St Sebastian chapel in St Peter’s basilica which holds the tomb of St John Paul II. The pope stayed for prayers with the group which formed part of a prayer celebration including Mass and the rosary at the saint’s tomb, led by Fr Jarek Cielecki. The group asked “the Holy Father to bring with him to WYD the prayers of the families of children and adolescents who are ill, and to unite them to those of the youth, who come from all over the world, and to his own, so that with the intercession of St John Paul II, these children can be restored to health”. Founded in Rome in 2000, Peter

St John Paul II’s tomb in St Peter’s basilica. Pan is a volunteer association and was born from the desire of a group of parents with children suffering from cancer who wanted to offer other families concrete support in facing the difficult experience of illness. The association provides houses and welcome for families who don’t live in Rome, but who come for treatment of their children in the city's hospitals, particularly the Bambino Gesu and the Policlinico Umberto I—CNA

S it was in 2008, both vicepresidential candidates in this year’s US elections were baptised Catholics, and again the Republican candidate converted to evangelical Christianity. In 2008, the VP candidates were Democrat Joe Biden, a life-long practising Catholic, and Sarah Palin, whose family left the Catholic Church for an evangelical church. This year Republican Donald Trump chose as his running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence, who was raised a Catholic and today is evangelical, while Democrat Hillary Clinton picked Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, a practising Catholic who has never lost an election. Mr Kaine attended the Jesuitrun Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Missouri. As a student he worked in Honduras with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. He has been a member of St Elizabeth parish in Richmond, Virginia, for 30 years and is an on and off choir member. Still, the vice-presidential candidate has faced criticism from Catholics for his stances on issues such as abortion and the death penalty. Bishop Francis DiLorenzo of Richmond, Mr Kaine’s home diocese, issued a statement “regarding Catholics in public office” that reiterated the Church’s pro-life stance, though it did not mention Mr Kaine by name. “We always pray for our Catholic leaders that they make

US Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine. (Photo: Brian Snyder, Reuters/CNS) the right choice, act in the best judgment and in good conscience knowing the values and teachings of the Catholic Church,” the statement read. Mr Kaine’s platform has become more accepting of abortion since his time as governor of Virginia from 2006-10, when he approved funding for crisis pregnancy centres and upheld abortion restrictions such as a 24-hour waiting period and parental notification. Since his 2012 election to the Senate, he has had a perfect rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America, though he has supported the Hyde Amendment, which forbids federal funding for most abortions. “I have a traditional Catholic personal position, but I am very strongly supportive that women should make these decisions and

government shouldn’t intrude,” Mr Kaine has said. Mr Kaine takes the same approach to the death penalty, though this issue seems to be notably more fraught for him personally. During Kaine’s 2005 run for governor, his personal opposition to capital punishment came under fire, and his campaign produced an ad featuring Mr Kaine telling the camera directly: “My faith teaches life is sacred. That’s why I personally oppose the death penalty, but I take my oath of office seriously, and I’ll enforce the death penalty...because that’s the law.” Under Mr Kaine, Virginia carried out 11 executions, delaying some of them and granting clemency once when the prisoner to be executed was deemed mentally unfit. He vetoed every attempt to expand the penalty’s use. Larry Roberts, Mr Kaine’s former chief counsel, told The New York Times in June that he was sure Mr Kaine was praying through each execution. Christopher Hale, executive director of non partisan coalition Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, told Catholic News Service that he personally knows Mr Kaine and sees the strength of his faith. “The big thing to know with Kaine is he is someone who does take his faith seriously,” Mr Hale said. “The Catholic worldview has really inspired his politics. That being said, he’s not always perfect on the issues.”—CNS

Nuns ‘hid cash’ for crooks in convent

OUR nuns in Argentina are being investigated by Church officials after allegedly helping a former government official hide up to R130 million in cash and jewels in their convent. Jose Lopez, who was in the cabinet of former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, was arrested in June outside the monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima. A neighbour had allegedly seen Mr Lopez throwing plastic bags of money over a monastery wall at Applicants are invited for the following post three in the morning, and called the police. Security footage allegedly shows Mr Lopez From 1 January 2017 carrying a rifle and bags Springﬁeld is a day school for girls from Pre-School to Matriculation, set in of money into the conbeautiful gardens on Wynberg Hill in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. Founded

SPRINGFIELD CONVENT JUNIOR SCHOOL

GRADE FOUR CLASS TEACHER

by Irish Dominican Sisters in 1871, Springfield has a caring, Catholic atmosphere, a proud academic record, vibrant Music and Art Departments and excellent facilities for Sport. The successful applicant will be: • Be a fully qualified teacher with experience in teaching in the Intermediate Phase in the GET; • Understand, identify with and contribute to the Catholic ethos and values of the school; • Be willing and able to teach the Catholic Religious Education syllabus; • Be well versed in the Intermediate Phase CAPS curriculum, and able to teach all subjects in Grade Four; • Have effective organisational and administrative skills; • Have sound computer skills and knowledge of interactive whiteboards is recommended; • Be available in afternoons, evenings and at other times to attend workshops, courses, school functions and educational outings and tours; • Be willing to become fully involved in the school's curricular and co-curricular programme; • Be registered with SACE. Apply in writing, giving details of qualifications, experience and the names of three contactable referees, including your Parish priest or Minister, to: The Principal, Springfield Convent Junior School, St John's Road, Wynberg, 7800, or email: principal@springfieldconvent.co.za Closing date for applications:Tuesday 23 August 2016. The school reserves the right not to proceed with the filling of this post. An application will not in itself entitle the applicant to an interview or appointment, and failure to meet the requirements of the advertised post will result in applicants automatically disqualifying themselves from consideration.No faxed applications accepted.Candidates not contacted shall consider their applications unsuccessful.

vent, located on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, with the assistance of two of the sisters. Police reportedly found wads of cash in three different currencies stashed in the convent kitchen and in the boot of a car. Archbishop Augustine Radrizzani of Mercedes Lujan announced the launch of a complete canonical investigation of the events at the monastery. Fr Tom O’Donnell, who will lead the investigation, told a local radio station that the investigation would “determine if there was a canonical crime and help the actions of civil justice”. Archbishop Radrizzani said he made the decision to launch the investigation after seeking the approval of several other Argentinian bishops.

Archbishop Santiago Olivera of Cruz del Eje and president of the Episcopal Commission for Social Communications, told an Argentinian Catholic news agency that the local Church received the news of the sisters “with pain, with surprise and concern”. He said he hoped the sisters would eventually apologise either for their inadvertent assistance in a crime, or for knowingly assisting in a crime. One of the nuns accused of assisting Mr Lopez is set to appear before a judge this month. Since Ms Fernandez’s presidential term ended in December, President Mauricio Macri’s administration has launched several investigations of former government officials accused of money laundering.—CNA

MONASTERY RETREAT HOUSE PO Box 11095, Mariannhill 3624

Individual directed or private retreats can be arranged for periods of 2-8 days throughout the year. Diocesan, Parish and Church meetings and workshops should be booked well in advance Reception: 031 700 2155 Fr Urs Fischer 031 700 2890 Fax 031 700 2738 Email: monretreat@saol.com

For Bookings:

Cellphones: 083 963 3848 083 544 1504 082 730 7180

Fr Urs Fischer Bro Crispin Mrs N Qupa

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, July 27 to August 2, 2016

Pope: World is at war

BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

T The Trinita dei Monti church is pictured at the top of the Spanish Steps in Rome. An agreement signed between the Holy See and France handed responsibility for the church and the adjoining convent to the Emmanuel Community. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS)

HE world, not religion, is waging a war in pieces, Pope Francis said. While it “is not as organic” as past world wars, “it is organised and it is war,” the pope said in comments about the murder of a priest during Mass in a Catholic church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, France. Two men, armed with knives, entered the church during Mass. The attackers murdered 84year-old Fr Jacques Hamel, slitting his throat. “Someone may think that I am speaking about a war of religions.

No, all religions want peace. Others want war,” the pope said. Pope Francis has repeatedly

talked about the world being afflicted by a “piecemeal world war”, going back to September 2014. After last November’s terror attacks in Paris, the pope said: “Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction,” he said. “When all the world is at war as it is today—piecemeal, a little here, a little there, and everywhere— there is no justification and God weeps; Jesus weeps,” he said. “The world has not understood the way of peace.”—CNS

Emmanuel Community to Vatican: Get Aids drugs to children run Spanish Steps church BY CAROL GLATZ

N agreement between the Holy See and France handed responsibility for the church that towers above Rome’s Spanish Steps to the French-founded Emmanuel Community. In a series of amendments signed between the Holy See and France, the Catholic community will run the Trinita dei Monti church and convent starting on September 1. The gardens, a school, a pilgrim welcoming centre and all works of art on the property will also come under the community’s care. The new amendments are part of an 1828 accord between the two states. The early 16th-century church had first been run by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But when the sisters were no longer able to continue their mission because of a lack of new vocations, a Paris-

BY PAUL JEFFREY

based monastic fraternity took over running the property and the church’s pastoral programmes in 2006. However, the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem—a small co-ed monastic community whose monks and nuns live and work in the heart of major cities—could no longer take responsibility for running the property for “internal organisational reasons”, said Philippe Zeller, the French ambassador to the Vatican. The Emmanuel Community, the ambassador said in a written address, is an international Catholic community recognised by the Holy See as a public association of the faithful. Founded in France in 1972, the community has almost 10 000 members, made up of lay and consecrated men and women as well as priests from about 60 countries.— CNS

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HE face of the Aids epidemic has changed dramatically in recent years as scientists have created antiretroviral drugs that lower levels of the virus in the bloodstream, allowing those infected with HIV to live relatively normal lives. Yet getting those drugs into the hands of everyone who needs them remains difficult. Worldwide, only 17 million of the 36,7 million people who carry the virus are receiving treatment, UN officials told delegates to last month’s International Aids Conference in Durban. As long as those numbers do not improve, untreated carriers will continue to pass on the virus to others. Vatican officials have already begun pushing a unique project to rapidly expand the availability of antiretroviral drugs for children. The first step was getting drug manufacturers on board. With only poor children needing the drugs, there’s less of an incentive to manufacture pediatric medicines or the specific diagnostic tools that are also needed. “We have a commitment to make those medicines for children at the right dosage levels, but it’s not a very profitable business. But

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HIV/Aids activists in Durban perform street theatre demanding better funding for HIV and Aids treatment around the world. (Photo: Paul Jeffrey/CNS) then none of this HIV work is,” said Anil Soni, vice-president for infectious diseases at Mylan, the largest producer of generic antiretroviral medicines. Mr Soni was one of a handful of pharmaceutical executives invited to Rome for meetings in April and May with high-level Vatican officials and Aids experts from the UN and the US. The meetings came after years of lobbying by Church officials to get governments and drug makers to take action on their own. Frustrated by the lack of progress that produced, the Vatican decided to more directly intervene. It did so

by appealing to their sense of morality. “We recognised up front that this wasn’t something companies could make a lot of money on, but we also think there’s a moral imperative for them to act,” said Mgr Robert Vitillo, the Vatican’s special adviser on HIV/Aids. “I didn’t hear anyone say, ‘we can’t do this’, said Mgr Vitillo. They did share the challenges they face and a belief that if we could share some kind of united approach” that guaranteed enough of a market, their companies could participate, even if it wouldn’t be highly profitable.—CNS

SPRINGFIELD CONVENT JUNIOR SCHOOL

Applicants are invited for the following post

PRE-PRIMARY CLASS TEACHER

From 1 January 2017

Springﬁeld is a day school for girls from Pre-School to Matriculation, set in beautiful gardens on Wynberg Hill in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. Founded by Irish Dominican Sisters in 1871, Springﬁeld has a caring, Catholic atmosphere, a proud academic record, vibrant Music and Art Departments and excellent facilities for Sport.

The successful applicant will be: • a fully qualiﬁed, enthusiastic teacher with experience in teaching in Pre-Primary; • able to teach girls in our Pre-Reception class (4 and 5 years old); • registered with SACE; • willing and able to promote the school's Catholic ethos; • willing to teach Religious Education in line with the school’s ethos; • have eﬀective organisational and administrative skills; • have sound computer skills and knowledge of interactive whiteboards is recommended; • be available in afternoons, evenings and at other times to attend workshops, courses, school functions and educational outings and tours; • willing to become fully involved in the school's curricular and co-curricular programme.

Apply in writing, giving details of qualifications, experience and the names of three contactable referees, including your Parish priest or Minister, to: The Principal, Springfield Convent Junior School, St John's Road, Wynberg, 7800, or email: principal@springfieldconvent.co.za Closing date for applications:Tuesday 23 August 2016.

The school reserves the right not to proceed with the ﬁlling of this post. An application will not in itself entitle the applicant to an interview or appointment, and failure to meet the requirements of the advertised post will result in applicants automatically disqualifying themselves from consideration.No faxed applications accepted.Candidates not contacted shall consider their applications unsuccessful.

The Southern Cross, August 3 to August 9, 2016

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Beating the terrorists

HE terrorists are winning in the West—and the West shares in the responsibility for that. The aim of jihadist terrorism is to strike fear, prejudice and hatred into the hearts of Westerners. The more the West hates Muslims, the simple calculation goes, the more Muslims will be open to their particular conception of an Islamic holy war against so-called “infidels” and Muslims who seek peaceful coexistence with the West or subscribe to Western values. Every act of anti-Muslim prejudice contributes to that jihadist programme of radicalising people, including those of Muslim background in the West who are already feeling marginalised and discriminated against by the society in which they have grown up. When people are pushed to the margins and treated with suspicion and contempt, some will resort to radical reactions. It is no accident that three of the most prominent recent acts of jihadist terrorism in Western Europe—the Charlie Hebdo massacre and the attacks in Paris and Brussels—were committed by young men who had been raised in France and Belgium. The malevolent programme of ISIS, al-Qaeda and their various offshoots is fed not only by an absurd distortion of Islam, but also by the hysterical prejudice that is being fostered against Muslims. The West’s military and diplomatic misadventures in the Middle East, not least the criminal invasion of Iraq in 2003, have given focus to a rejection of the United States and Europe among many Muslims worldwide. The invasion of Iraq also helped give rise to ISIS, so the West is not an innocent party to the terrorism attributed to that evil movement—one that in fact targets Muslims even more devastatingly, especially in places like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, than it does the West. Western politicians and media tend to present the terror attacks in Europe in a vacuum. Yet their policies, propaganda and social structures are feeding the terrorism by separating Muslims from the mainstream of society. This finds expression in the dangerous anti-Muslim rhetoric of US presidential nominee Donald Trump, which advocates discrimination against Muslims, or insanely fallacious statements like this from Fox News’ right-wing

presenter Brian Kilmeade: “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.” It is also expressed by politicians and by the media when these react irresponsibly to mass killings. France’s President Francois Hollande was not in possession of the facts when, within hours of the act, he ascribed the horrifying Bastille Day killings in Nice to Islamic terrorism. Some media conflate lone-wolf acts with jihadist terror attacks, using themes like “Europe under attack”, as the US news network CNN did (ignoring that mass shootings in the US committed by people of Christian background are far more numerous than their equivalent in Europe). And the reaction to irresponsible rhetoric and media reporting adds further fuel to anti-Muslim sentiments among people. But there are exceptions. In a bid to defuse the idea that the country was besieged by terrorists following the triple attacks in Bavaria in late July, Germany’s press and many politicians emphatically pointed out that these acts were committed by deeply disturbed individuals. This was proper and responsible. Christians have an important role to play in meeting Our Lord’s call for us to be agents of peace. Christians need to stand in solidarity with Muslims when they are persecuted, even when we feel the solidarity is not reciprocated. Instead of posting dubious interpretations of the Quran on Facebook, Christians ought to seek exchange with Muslims to understand their faith and to find ways of cooperating against evil. In this respect the efforts by the Catholic Church and the Muslim community in Durban serve as a commendable example. Such contact, on every level and throughout the world, might also serve to alleviate prejudice against Christians among Muslims. And a show of unity would irritate ISIS more profoundly than any number of missiles. People of faith must stand together, against both terrorism and prejudice. We must affirm our common humanity; we must be people of hope and peace, not of anger and conflict. Muslims and Christians of goodwill, and all people of faith, must work together to reclaim from the terrorists the words that are used also by Arabic-speaking Christians: “Allahu Akhbar”— God is great.

Love is what finally matters most

E are heading for dangerous times and as I get near the end of what has been a wonderful life that has enabled me to travel extensively and meet a great variety of people, I have been giving serious thought to what I have learned over the past 85 years. I have learnt that one cannot claim to be a Christian and true believer and follower of Christ if one

Mass is best-kept secret of Church

HY is it that the Catholic Church keeps so silent about the greatness of Holy Mass? I have seldom, if ever, heard it spoken about or explained in homilies. St John Paul II called Holy Mass the source and summit of the Catholic Church and yet some people find the Mass boring. I believe we are losing the youth and adults to other Christian churches because they find more enthusiasm in evangelical preaching and because they are seeking meaning. If they only knew the value of the Catholic Holy Mass they would not leave. To begin with, we should know that no matter which priest celebrates the Mass, its values are still the same, as the Mass is Jesus’ action working through the priest. Every Holy Mass is the great drama of our salvation. Jesus’ words spoken from the Cross are good to remember during Mass as they can assist our prayers. For example, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Jesus, I ask for forgiveness for all my sins and those of the whole world. Also, “Woman, behold your son; Son, behold your mother” (John 19:26-27). Thank you Jesus for giving Mary to us as our mother. Mary, lead me and guide me. And, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Father, I trust you completely. When we receive Holy Communion at Mass without serious sin, believing in the true presence of Jesus therein, we are gaining a great spiritual wealth and union with God. “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them” ( John 6:56). We must remember that Jesus introduced the Mass at the Last Supper and commanded us to do it in memory of him. A word about homilies: even though the homily is not essential to the graces flowing in the Mass, it does and can enhance one’s experience of these powerful graces, as the homily is after all about the Word of God. Moira Gillmore, Durban

ROMAN UNION OF THE ORDER OF ST URSULA

St Angela Merici founded the Ursulines in the 16th century, naming them after St Ursula, leader of a company of 4th century virgin martyrs.

“Let Jesus Christ be your one and only treasure – For there also will be love!” (St Angela – 5th Counsel)

For more information: The Vocations Promoter P O Box 138 KRUGERSDORP 1740

website: ursulines.org. za Tel: 011 953 1924 Fax: 011 953 3406 e-mail: ursulinekdp@vodamail.co.za

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.

practises gender, race, religious or colour prejudices. In the past I have been guilty of all of them, but now realise the error of my ways and will do my best during the years that I remain on this wonderful planet to make up for my past sins and omissions. Many of our priests do wonderful work under very difficult conditions.

Murals delight

WAS delighted to read the illustrated article about the late Fr Jeff Goodwin and his murals in St Rita’s church in Bethelsdorp, Port Elizabeth (July 27). Thank you, Fr Sean Collins CSsR, for doing the memory of Fr Goodwin proud with your lovely words and brilliant photographs. I was privileged to be in the same class as Jeff Goodwin at St John Vianney Seminary in the 1960s. We were ordained priests within days of one another in 1968. I vividly remember him as a saintly, gentle person. By coincidence, he and the other late vocation in our group, Eddie Mansfield from Cape Town, were granted not many years in the priesthood before being called home by the Lord. RIP. Fr Kevin Reynolds, Pretoria

Gay debauchery: Church says no

REFER to the letter of Pancho Mulongeni, “Proudly gay and Catholic” (July 13). On the fourth day Jesus and Mary stumbled on a gay parade in Jerusalem. “They have no clothes,” the mother of Jesus noted. “Woman, what do you want me to do?” Jesus answered. Then pointing to a young man who was wearing a T-shirt with the inscription “Proudly Catholic”, Mary said: “This one is witnessing to you.” The young man came nearer to Jesus and wanted to embrace him but Jesus held him off, saying: “Do not cling to me.” Then the man said: “Rabbi, what good must I do to possess eternal life?” Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in Letters to the Editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy. The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate. Letters must not be understood to necessarily reflect the teachings, disciplines or policies of the Church accurately. Letters can be sent to PO Box 2372, Cape Town 8000 or editor@scross.co.za or faxed to 021 465-3850

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I do, however, think our priests generally could do far more to guide us all along the right path rather than spend so much time on the historical aspects of religion and what some ancient prophet said. They could make far more of the fact that the greatest gift our Lord gave us is the gift of true love, and tell us that if we want to be true Christians, we should practise that gift. Roy Glover, Tzaneen Jesus replied: “You know the scriptures: Homosexuals will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But who I am to judge? Your conscience will set you free.” When the young man heard these words he left in good cheer, because he had many gay friends. He continued dancing and frolicking in the street, praising the merciful Lord and exhibiting his Catholic faithfulness. Mary, however, stored up all these things in her heart amid the surrounding debauchery. JH Goossens, Pretoria

Scripture passage encouragement

NE of the most encouraging scripture quotes for sinners such as we are, is from Paul’s Col 1:24: “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the Church.” (New International Version). This scripture passage, by the way, though clear for us Catholics, is problematic for non-Catholics. Christ, it is true, has achieved all that is required for the redemption of the world; his saving power was and is totally effective. He is the only Saviour. However, our great God, in his overwhelming love, mercy and power, willingly and eagerly gives us the opportunity to participate, or “share” in this saving victory, “filling up what is lacking”, as it were, in his “afflictions”, for as many as possible to come to salvation. What a mighty God we have!—”O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam which gained for us so great a Redeemer!” (from the Easter Exsultet). I have found great joy in joining every ache, pain, discomfort, disappointment, illness and frustration of mine to Our Lord’s Passion for his intentions, mine and those of others. I would recommend this scriptural prayer to all readers who are not familiar with it “for the sake of his body which is the Church”. In this I have received the most astounding and unexpected answers. “Love covers a multitude of sins.” John Lee, Johannesburg

PERSPECTIVES

Let’s talk about sex W

HEN the editor sent the list of deadlines for this year he marked the present issue as coinciding with “Women’s Day”. Of course, that is the national holiday; but anyone who knows me and my stance knows that I am not a great one for women’s issues in isolation. I prefer to take a more holistic view. The family theme for the month therefore is “Men and Women for Mercy”. Mercy in male-female relationships is a necessary and valuable attribute. What may come to mind is gender-based violence when it is most often the women who beg for mercy and men who are perpetrators, to be challenged to stop abuse and any form of violence. But neither of them is necessarily totally innocent. Figures presented during the International Aids Conference in Durban in July indicate that infection rates are not going down and the infection age for women/girls is younger than it is for their male counterparts. Different interpretations can be put on this. Girls are having relationships with boys/men who are older than them, either just a few years or “sugar daddies”. Are girls coerced? Do the girls sell their bodies for material gain, out of poverty and desperation, or to gratify wants such as clothes, shoes and cellphones? All these scenarios exist; either way, girls are the most vulnerable. Anti-retrovirals are now available, but is that the best answer for the rest of one’s

“Is being men and women of mercy a factor for us in reflecting and discerning God’s plan for each of us in regard to sexuality?” Toni Rowland asks in her column. life? One message has been to promote behaviour-change more strongly. While on the subject of sexuality, there are other issues. Marfam’s current Family Matters magazine carries an article titled “Is there a paedophile in the house?”

aedophilia is an obsessive attraction towards and abnormal sexual behaviour by adults, nearly always male, with preadolescent children, both boys and girls. Ephebophilia, the primary or exclusive adult sexual interest in mid-to-late adolescents, is also abnormal. The Church has protocols, and calls for reporting of cases so that they can be

Toni Rowland

Family Friendly

dealt with. Each diocese has a designated contact person or office. Likewise, sexual abuse in schools has to be reported to the headmaster or education authorities. But rape and sexual assault happen in all life situations and with all ages—and most cases go unreported. This is even more so with sexually assaulted men who fear being ridiculed if they report it. On another note, Pope Francis in his recent apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia writes of the beauty of sex and sexuality in marriage. In the Church’s teachings on sex, the focus is on sex in marriage. But we know that sex is common at all levels of society, among those who are married, those who are not yet married, or will not or can never marry. Some have taken vows of celibacy. Some choose or are forced to be sexually active in ways that are considered inappropriate for their state in life. Any number of factors influence this or can be blamed for it. Pope Francis has recently commented that many couples do not understand the real beauty and meaning of marriage, saying this is something which could even invalidate their marriage. It is likely that people are struggling also to understand the real and deeper meaning of their sexuality. Is being men and women of mercy a factor for us in reflecting and discerning God’s plan for each of us in this regard?

The great power of reconciliation I Raymond Perrier LOVE all forms of culture—drama, film, music, painting, dance, sculpture. They can be entertaining and inspiring and uplifting. But they can also challenge the spectator with ideas that we would rather shy away from. Even soap operas have been successful at that by sympathetically presenting characters—like the lesbian nurse or the reformed drug user or the generous foreigner—that force us to reconsider our stereotypes. In his parables—the Good Samaritan is a classic example—Jesus is doing just the same. I had just such an experience recently at the “Ama-zing” National Arts Festival. Little Grahamstown is filled for 11 days with world-class performers from across the country—and many who are rising in that direction—showing how extraordinarily vibrant and varied are the arts in South Africa. We also get the chance to see worldclass performers from across the globe. One overseas play really stood out for me because it caused me to look at issues of my own Catholic identity. Titled Those You Pass On The Street, it was by a group from Northern Ireland called Kabosh which specialises in using theatre to help explore “reconciliation in a post-conflict situation”. Intriguingly, the two post-conflict places they had chosen to perform in were South Africa and Rwanda! We are very used to the arts as a means to address/question/challenge/highlight the racial conflict of apartheid and how reconciliation has or has not come about. This started with the movement known as “Struggle Theatre”—think of Athol Fugard, John Kani and Jo’burg’s Market Theatre—and has continued enthusiastically to this day. Just recently in Durban a community theatre group presented a play they had devised and financed, telling the story of their own local struggle hero from Chatsworth, Lenny Naidoo. What intrigued me about the piece presented by Kabosh is that they were dealing with reconciliation not between communities—blacks vs whites, Catholic vs Protestants—but within a community.

he story centred around modern-day Northern Irish politicians from the Republican party, Sinn Fein, who were proudly former members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) who had fought and killed for their cause. The IRA’s willingness to declare a ceasefire and enter into democratic politics was key to the “Good Friday Agreement” brokered by Tony Blair that brought an end to open hostility in Ireland. Within the Catholic community, Sinn Fein are the “hardliners” at loggerhead with the “moderates” who, while sharing

Faith and Society

was also a Catholic. And every time on the news when I heard the IRA described as “Catholic terrorists” I shuddered at the description. Just as I know many of my Muslim friends do when the term “Islamic terrorist” is used. Playwright Laurence McKeown and director Paula McFetridge of the Northern Irish Kabosh theatre group which performed at the Grahamstown Arts Festival. their goal of a united Ireland, did not approve of the violent methods used to pursue this. A key character, who is now seeking help from her Sinn Fein councillor, is a Catholic “moderate” whose husband had been a policeman (and so working for “the other side”) and who was killed probably by hardline Catholics. She points out: “Every day I see people who might have shot my husband—it’s those I pass on the streets.” In the same way in South Africa, we need reconciliation not just between communities but within communities. Not everyone agrees on the goals or the methods that got us to where we are today and yet we still have to pass each other on the streets. The local elections have been increasingly fought on different political positions within a community. While debate and disagreement are good, after the campaign every elected councillor has to show that they are there for all their residents, however they voted. The late Rev Ian Paisley was the most fiery of all anti-Catholic Northern Irish politicians—and yet he was also renowned for the way in which he served with equal zeal his Catholic and his Protestant constituents. Growing up in Britain in the 1970s, when bomb scares on the mainland and killings in Ireland itself were commonplace in the news, it seemed to me that resolving “the Irish question” seemed no more likely than an end to apartheid on the other side of the world. But—by a miracle or by political expediency or a bit of both—those who were once termed terrorists in both countries are now in democratically elected positions in ruling parties.There are strong parallels between IRA/Sinn Fein and MK/ANC. But I was not just a mainland Brit—I

s the play unfolded I realised how much I had just tried to ignore the violence, and the systems that spawned the violence, that was happening only an hour’s flight from where I lived. In my own country, and affecting people who prayed in the same kind of way that I did, there was a profound experience of injustice and a highly conflicted view on how to respond to that. And I just wanted it to go away and not disrupt my life. (And it once came very close when my brother was caught right in the middle of the bombing of the Harrods department store in London.) I get frustrated by older white South Africans who claim that during apartheid they just were not aware of what was happening and that if they had been, they would have said something. But the play helped me to see that this was where I had been on the Irish question. Pretending that it had nothing to do with me and wishing it would just go away. The play even has a sideswipe at us “English Catholics” for our failure to notice what was happening since our own comfortable lives were unaffected. The play was written by Dr Laurence McKeown. Some 35 years ago he was in prison after a terrorist conviction and, alongside other men in the H-blocks, went on hunger strike to fight for recognition as a political prisoner. He explained that he was almost the 11th man to die. I remember keenly hearing about the deaths of those hunger strikers, and about why they were in prison in the first place. Mahatma Gandhi’s words came to mind. He was asked, though he was a pacifist, if there was not a cause that he would be prepared to kill for. He replied that there was not: “But there are causes I would be prepared to die for.” At the end of the play it was an honour, and for me a small act of reconciliation, to shake Lawrence by the hand. I thanked him for confronting us with these stories, I thanked him for the courageous sacrifices he was prepared to make. I still don’t know that I would agree with him but I cannot ignore that within my own Catholic community we both have a place and a voice.

The Southern Cross, August 3 to August 9, 2016

Michael Shackleton

Open Door

What is the ‘common good’? What is meant by the common good? Does it mean the good of a particular political party or pressure group and not the good of all citizens? I can see little evidence of our politicians wanting the good of all their fellow citizens. How can their selfishness square with Church teaching and with their consciences? P Evans

HE common good is understood to be the good life of all in society in accordance with the essential dignity of the human person. This will include material benefits and, because it involves human persons, it possesses a moral value. We must bear in mind that, from the Church’s point of view, this good life on earth is not the absolute and ultimate good for humanity. The human person is created for a purpose far superior to a life amid the changeable nature of temporal affairs. This implies that for us the common good of society has to embrace the ultimate good of humanity, which is eternal life. Politicians have aims and objectives which, of course, have nothing to do with repercussions in the afterlife. Their ideological values generally diverge from the Church’s when it comes to statecraft. The pages of history show glaring examples of ambitious politicians and potentates being in bad faith, cruel and criminal, just to satisfy their greed for power over the state. There is, therefore, an uncomfortable split between politics and morality. Lots of those who chase the worldly goods and pleasures available to the powerful are pretty cynical about the moral fundamentals adhered to by the Church and its social teachings. For them politics is the kingdom of this world for which they may sell their soul. But here is the nub: good conscience belongs to a person and not to a political party. The soul of each one of us is immortal. It lives on in God. The soul of a political party is not immortal but belongs to the temporal order of things. The political order is a moral order which ought to be at the same time a just order. It must aim to achieve the common good of all, a source of material and human prosperity that is constantly and fairly redistributed to each member of society. When society is structured justly, its members’ welfare is on safe ground. When political leaders corruptly pervert justice for the sake of their own party or personal ambition, the common good degenerates into lawlessness. That is why the Church keeps reminding those in politics that absolute corruption must be opposed with every moral force that is possible. It confronts us all with the reality of the judgment of conscience which has a moral value with effects that outlive the life of politics.

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

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

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The Southern Cross, August 3 to July 9, 2016

Fr Joe Money OMI (centre) celebrated his golden jubilee of ordination at the parish of the Blessed Sacrament in Virginia, Durban North. (From left) Bishop Barry Wood, Fr Joe Money OMI and Fr Vusi Mazibuko with Alice Money, Fr Money’s mother, who travelled from Australia to celebrate with her son.

COMMUNITY

Former Miss South Africa and Miss World Penny Coelen-Rey(left) is seen with Germaine Landsberg at the St Vincent de Paul Festival meeting at All Saints parish in Ballito, Durban.

34 young people were confirmed by Archbishop Buti Tlhagale at Our Lady of Loreto parish in Kempton Park, Johannesburg. The youth are pictured with Archbishop Tlhagale (centre) and Fr Peter Rebello (back).

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The children of Immaculate Conception parish in Mtunzini in KwaZulu-Natal, received their first Holy Communion from Fr Charles Gervas (centre).

St Maria Goretti parish in Worcester, diocese of Oudtshoorn, observed its partron saint’s feast day with a Mass celebrated by parish priest Fr Francis Malaka.The congregation brought toiletry giftpacks which were donated to Awendrus old-aged home as part of the Year of Mercy care for the elderly.

St Benedict’s College celebrated the feast of St Benedict. Oblate provincial Fr Ronnie Cairns, Fr Tony Daniels and school chaplain Fr Thabo Mothiba concelebrated Mass, attended by the whole school of 1 200 boys. Special guests included the board chairperson Robyn Lydall and members of the board, first lay headmaster Tony Dobson, past RE teachers Sr Lorna and Mrs Leong and Rosa Calaҫa of the Catholic Schools’ Office.

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Sr Melanie O’Connor facilitated an anti-human trafficking workshop at Red Acres Retreat Centre in Howick, archdiocese of Durban.

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The Southern Cross, August 3 to August 9, 2016

CHURCH

Festival changes the Palestinian narrative A Holy Land festival celebrated the lives and culture of those who live there, but it also hoped to raise awareness of the plight of those who have long called this place home writes RHINA GUIDOS

HE event was designed to show the daily life and culture of those who live in the Holy Land, an area as beautiful and historic as it is conflict-ridden. And it did just that when one of the Palestinian Christians who was supposed to be present for a live video chat showed up late because he was detained at an Israeli checkpoint. “If they’re suspicious, they will make you wait,” explained Nicola Kawas, who works with Christian senior citizens in Birzeit, north of Jerusalem. He was one of three Palestinian Christians who spoke from the Holy Land with a Washington audience via Skype. The panel was part of Washington’s Holy Land festival, which seeks to celebrate the culture of those who live in the Holy Land by showcasing the food, music and dances of the area. Palestinians who live there live in a “special situation”, said panelist Margaret Tarek Al-Sous. Palestinians are often searched and/or questioned at Israeli checkpoints before they’re allowed to move

through Bethlehem and other cities that they and generations of their families have long inhabited. Depending on where they live, they may not be allowed to have a passport but can travel with great difficulty using a travel document. “We want people to know that we’re trying to live a normal life in an abnormal situation. We’re not terrorists,” said Nicola Handal, a 20-year-old Palestinian who is Catholic and is visiting Washington with Bethlehem University, the first Catholic university in the Holy Land, where he studies. Living in a place like Gaza or where other Palestinians live in the Holy Land is like “living in a big prison”, Mr Handal said. “We’re restricted.” To visit relatives, to visit holy places or even to move around within a city, Palestinians need to pass checkpoints and sometimes have to apply for permission. None of that guarantees that they’ll be able to move through the land where generations of their family have lived for centuries. Even a social media post by a Palestinian can prove troublesome and land you in jail, said Dina Awwad, another Bethlehem University student travelling with Mr Handal. It’s difficult to fight popular depictions of Palestinians portrayed by others, labelling them terrorists or violent, Mr Handal said. Events like the Holy Land festival in Washington are trying to change those views, not just by getting people talking, which they see as essential to that mission, but also by getting others to witness the beauty of the culture.

Children from the Kufiyah Dabke Troupe dance at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington. The monastery was the setting of the Holy Land festival, which sought to highlight the plight, but also the beauty, of the culture of Palestinians in the Holy Land. (Photo: Rhina Guidos/CNS)

art of the festival at Washington’s Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land included a Washington-area children’s dance troupe that performed an Arab folk line dance. The festival also featured Arabic script, written from left to right, as well as culinary treats that can be found in the streets of Jordan and Bethlehem, and showcased the contributions of the Catholic Church—such as spiritual

care in parishes, education in grammar schools and universities and health care in hospitals and clinics in the Holy Land. For Fr Jim Gardiner, a Franciscan Friar of the Atonement, and member of the Holy Land committee of the archdiocese of Washington, which organised the festival, the gathering offered “an alternative narrative to popular perceptions of violence”, while

MIMOSA CHAPEL

celebrating the Palestinian culture and spirituality, he said. “Muslim participation is integral to the festival’s Catholic Christian identity.” But moving beyond differences in the Holy Land will take more than just understanding the ins and outs of culture. Archbishop Bernardito Auza, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, spoke to the UN Security Council, clamouring for a solution to the problem in the region. “For the Holy See,” he said, “the two-state solution holds the best promise”, he said. “Durable peace will remain a distant dream and security will remain an illusion if Israel and Palestine do not agree to exist side-by-side reconciled and sovereign within mutually agreed and internationally recognised borders,” the archbishop said. “Let the two states be created now, for the sake of the Israelis and Palestinians who, in the depths of their hearts, desire nothing greater than peace and security.” Irish Father Michael McDonagh, international adviser to the Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem, who also spoke on the panel at the Franciscan Monastery, said he finds it difficult to be a witness to the daily humiliations faced by Palestinians. “My hope,” said Fr McDonagh “is in God opening eyes of understanding. For me, that’s where my hope lies...It’s not about the land, it’s about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of God is for all people.”—CNS

INVITATION TO A PILGRIMAGE IN HONOUR OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA SUNDAY 21ST AUGUST 2016, 13h30

It is an honour for the Mimosa Shrine to welcome the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, brought to us by Ms Alexandra Silva. This special statue is being taken on a Pilgrimage throughout South Africa in preparation for the 100th anniversary, in 2017, of the apparition of Our Lady at Fatima. The statue was blessed on 14th May 2015 in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal by the Rector of the Sanctuary, Father Carlos Cabecinhas and the Archbishop of Johannesburg, His Excellency Buti Thlagele.

2 SAASVELD ROAD, BELLVILLE, 7530 Tel : 021 919 1511/021 762 3197 Email : mariankeysers @gmail.com

The program is as follows : 1. Welcome to the Our Lady of Fatima statue 2. Introduction by Ms Alexandra Silva 3. Holy Mass 4. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 5. Adoration 6. Blessing of the sick, elderly and congregation 7. Procession by candlelight, with the Statue, to the Cross 8. Benediction and quiet time 9. Farewell to Our Lady of Fatima statue 10. Tea

You are cordially invited to join us for a day of prayer and worship. Those afflicted with illnesses and the elderly , who require a special blessing on this day are particularly invited.

The Southern Cross, August 3 to August 9, 2016

PERSONALITY

The Dominican thread through Hurley’s life As the Dominican Order is celebrating its 800th birthday in Durban this week, PADDY KEARNEY recalls the role the order played in the life of the city’s late Archbishop Denis Hurley.

N his 45 years as a bishop, Archbishop Denis Hurley naturally related to very many orders and congregations of priests, sisters and brothers. But for this Oblate of Mary Immaculate there was undoubtedly something very special about his relationship with the Dominicans, who celebrate 800 years of their foundation this year. This very special relationship began in 1924 when Denis Hurley’s father was appointed lighthouse keeper at the Clansthal lighthouse on the Natal south coast, near Umkomaas—one of the most remote and isolated lighthouses along the whole length of the South African coast. The family had earlier been at the lighthouses of Cape Point, Robben Island and Hood Point in East London. Denis’s primary schooling had begun in the little primary school on Robben Island. But schooling for children at Clansthal was a real problem, and a big concern for the Hurleys. The nearest government school was 8km away, with no available transport. The only solution was boarding school but Theresa Hurley insisted that it must be a Catholic school. She went up and down the coast looking for a Catholic boarding school. Eventually she saw an advert in The Southern Cross for a primary

LEFT: Fr Denis Hurley’s first Mass was said at Villa Rosa Newcastle Dominican convent in Rome on July 10, 1939. At right is the late Fr Patrick Holland OMI. ABOVE: The archbishop’s last Mass, with Cardinal Wilfrid Napier as chief celebrant, was on February 13, 2004 to mark the golden jubilee of the Dominican Fatima Convent School. Archbishop Hurley died on the way home. school at St Elmo’s convent in Umzumbe, run by the Newcastle Dominicans, 50 km from Clansthal. The sisters at that time had no boarders, nor plans to take boarders, but Theresa managed to persuade them to take her children, Eileen (10) and Denis (9) as of July 1924, living in the convent at Umzumbe for two-and-a-half years. “We were the only two boarders, and we slept upstairs in the convent,” Archbishop Hurley later recalled. Eileen had a cubicle in the nuns’ dormitory, just like any of the sisters. Much later in life, Archbishop Hurley thought that the idea of becoming a priest might have been inspired by his mother, much encouraged by the sisters. “It was accepted within the family and, of course, among the sisters that I was going to be a priest”.

Once Eileen and Denis completed their primary schooling at St Elmo’s, there was another schooling dilemma for the Hurleys. This time there was a need to look much further afield. Fortunately they discovered that the Newcastle Dominicans had two schools in Newcastle, 300km away, which would be suitable. So Eileen and Denis began their high schooling there in 1928, with Denis learning Latin at the St Thomas’ School for Boys, helped by Sr Enda who gave the boy extra lessons. What an important foundation she was laying for someone who would attend lectures in Latin in Rome as an Oblate scholastic, would conduct countless liturgical Masses and other ceremonies in Latin, and would have to follow all the proceedings and give speeches in Latin at the Second Vatican Council! Next to the school was an area known as Lennoxton, with the Incandu river flowing through it. The boys swam there as often as possible. On the far bank there were many picnic spots in the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains, and it was to those spots that the school made regular visits.

Denis Hurley with other pupils from St Elmo’s Convent School, run by the Newcastle Dominicans, at Umzumbe. The future archbishop is second from left in the back row; his two younger brothers, Jerry and Chris, are in front of him. His sister Eileen is peeping out at the right in the back row. Denis and Eileen were the only boarders at this school, and lived in the convent with the nuns.

ne such day was May 24, 1928, a holiday known as Empire Day. For lunch the boys assembled at one spot to be given their meal, but three boys weren’t present: Hurley, Marshman and Rossiter. Not much attention was paid to their absence until the end of the day when everyone got ready to go back across the river to the school. Sr Josephine Ryan OP, a disciplinarian, began to panic but the other sisters tried to calm her and she comforted herself by saying that “Hurley is such an excellent boy”, one who wouldn’t get up to mischief. Later that evening, the prioress,

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Mother Albert, insisted that a search party go back across the river to try to find them. She and the other sisters were accompanied by school chaplain Fr Charles Hugo OMI and several policemen. In full habit the nuns waded through the river, with Mother Albert falling many times. Fortunately a boy named Delease had told Sr Josephine that he had seen the three boys going into a cave and also that he had lent his hat to Denis Hurley for the day, so everyone was looking out for that hat— and they found it outside a cave. They weren’t able to do anything more that night because it was so dark, so they agreed to resume the search at 6am the next day. Eventually the boys were then hauled out of the cave and found it very difficult to look at bright sunlight after being in total darkness for 24 hours. While they had been in the cave, just in their short-sleeved shirts and shorts, the boys huddled together for warmth, and prayed and sang. They had nothing to eat or drink for those 24 hours. Later on, they remembered that Denis said: “If we get out of here alive, I will become a priest.” What an amazing experience for a boy who had grown up watching his father working with the powerful beams of lighthouses to be plunged into total darkness for 24 hours. Within the next year, his father had a mental breakdown, was medically boarded and had to undergo treatment in Pretoria for 18 months. It was the time of the “Great Depression” and suddenly Theresa Hurley found herself having to provide for her family of four children, without a house or a job, having to pay boarding school fees for four children. The future must have seemed bleak indeed for the Hurleys. First to the rescue were the Newcastle Dominicans, who provided temporary accommodation for the family in a converted classroom at St Elmo’s, and then continued to assist with remission of school fees for Eileen and the two younger siblings, Jerry and Chris. Bishop Henri Delalle, an Oblate, paid for Denis to be a boarder at St Charles’ Marist College in Pietermaritzburg, on the understanding that he would be joining the Oblate congregation. This was a powerful example of the Church providing a compassionate safety net for a family in need. It made a deep impression on Denis, leading to his lifelong concern and compassion for the poor.

ast forward to Denis’s priestly studies overseas. First to Ireland for his novitiate with the Oblates, then in Rome at the Oblate International Scholasticate. There he met the Dominican brethren for the first time because he did his philosophical studies at the Angelicum (now St Thomas’s University) which is run by the Dominicans. The Dominican priest who made the greatest impression on him was a philosophy professor, Fr Vincentius Kuiper. On one occasion Fr Kuiper asked Br Hurley why he was not taking any notes. “Father,” he

replied, “I don’t need to. Your presentation is so logical that I can remember all of it without a note.” A friendly “home away from home” was at Villa Rosa, the convent of the Newcastle Dominicans. Br Denis greatly appreciated the tea they provided on every visit, because this was not part of the culture of the Oblate Scholasticate where only coffee and wine were available. Villa Rosa seemed to be a great place for South Africans studying in Rome, to meet and talk their heads off while drinking tea. No wonder then that this was the place Br Denis chose to say his first Mass after his ordination on July 9, 1939. As a member of the Central Preparatory Commission for the Second Vatican Council and during the council, Archbishop Hurley would stay at Villa Rosa. At the Council he met two great French Dominicans, Yves Congar and Marie-Dominique Chenu, who were probably the most influential of all the theological experts (periti) whom the archbishop regarded as having made the Council. They, in turn, were very impressed by Archbishop Hurley and considered him one of the 16 bishops who could be regarded as key allies in the fight for an open, forward-looking Council. In Rome at the time of the Council was a Dominican priest from South Africa doing postgraduate studies at the Angelicum. He was living with some of the Council periti and with journalists covering the Council. This was Fr Albert Nolan, who recalled many years later: “Each day [the theologians] would come home with the latest news of what had happened at the Council that day. I cannot tell you how often the name of a certain Archbishop Denis Hurley cropped up.”

n January 1976, at the height of apartheid, the bishops of Southern Africa officially decided to open their schools to all races. But the bishops were beaten to it by the Association of Women Religious who in 1975 called for the previously white schools to begin accepting black pupils and asked the bishops’ conference to give the resolution “explicit support and approval”. Mother Genevieve Hickey, regional vicar of the Cabra Dominicans, had the bit firmly between her teeth and was not willing to wait for discussions in the bishops’ conference. She wanted the Association of Women Religious resolution implemented as soon as possible, at least in the schools under her jurisdiction. She was described as a “woman of great integrity and determination” who was aware that the younger sisters in her congregation no longer felt in conscience able to teach in whites-only schools. They hadn’t come to Africa for that purpose. And so, at the beginning of 1976 the Cabra Dominicans started admitting a few black girls to their schools, even though the bishops hadn’t given final approval for this step to be taken. Continued on page 11

The Southern Cross, August 3 to August 9, 2016

CLASSIFIEDS

Hurley and the Dominicans Continued from page 10 A famous phone call took place between Archbishop Hurley and Mother Genevieve. We don’t know exactly what was said, but the archbishop wanted the opening of the schools to be done in a collegial way. But Sr Genevieve Hickey felt that quite enough talking had been done already. Now it was time for action. A clash of two highly intelligent and determined Church leaders. It was an occasion when the bishops had to catch up with the sisters! One of those directly involved in the opening of Catholic schools was Cabra Dominican Sister Margaret Kelly, who was principal of their school in Port Elizabeth. Sr Kelly featured again in the life of Archbishop Hurley when she was appointed coordinator of the bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission, and did wonderful work, especially at the time of the first democratic elections in 1994. The Dominican sisters featured prominently in the life of Denis Hurley. But one also needs to say something about a Dominican brother, Philippe Denis, who in 1997 produced the first collection of Hurley papers, published under the title Facing the Crisis, which included an excellent article on Hurley’s role in the Vatican II council. Br Denis recently gave a paper in France on the archbishop’s views on reconciliation in South Africa and is currently playing a leading role in bringing out a book of selected Hurley letters.

arly in 2004, Archbishop Hurley took part in one of the annual assemblies of the Sant’Egidio Community in Rome. Before he left he first addressed a provincial chapter of the Dominicans in Pietermaritzburg. Fr Mark James recalled that he had the impression that the archbishop was speaking off the cuff, reminiscing about his days at the Angelicum and the significance of his study of Thomas Aquinas, the great Do-

CLASSIFIEDS

Births • First Communion • Confirmation • Engagement/Marriage • Wedding anniversary • Ordination jubilee • Congratulations • Deaths • In memoriam • Thanks • Prayers • Accommodation • Holiday Accommodation • Personal • Services • Employment • Property • Others Please include payment (R1,60 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

IN MEMORIAM

Archbishop Denis Hurley on a visit to the cave in the Drakensberg foothills where he and two other boys were lost for nearly 24 hours on a school picnic in 1928. minican theologian. This was Archbishop Hurley’s last public address in South Africa. After returning from the Sant’Egidio assembly, he was far too active for a man of 88 who had just taken a long flight. On Friday, February 13, at breakfast in the Oblate residence Sabon House, Fr George Purves told Archbishop Hurley: “You are amazing; you are here, there and everywhere”. The previous afternoon he had received Dominican visitors: Sr Marie-Henry, Sr Catherina and Sr Maria Tuohy. The sisters found him both happy and also a little sad because of what the Vatican had done to his beloved International Commission on English in the Liturgy and also the Church’s failure to fully implement the vision of Vatican II. There was a pessimism and defeatism which Sr Marie-Henry had never before seen in him. She cheered him up by saying that the many people with whom he had shared the vision of Vatican II would not allow it to die. That Friday was the day of the golden jubilee of Fatima Convent School which had been

Liturgical Calendar Year C – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday August 7 Wisdom 18:6-9, Psalms 33:1, 12, 18-22, Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19, Luke 12:32-48 Monday August 8, St Dominic Ezekiel 1, 2-5.24-28, Psalms 148, 1-2.11-12, Matthew 17: 22-27 Tuesday August 9, St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross Ezekiel 2:8-3:4, Psalms 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131, Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 Wednesday August 10, St Lawrence 2 Corinthians 9:6-10, Psalms 112:1-2, 5-9, John 12:24-26 Thursday August 11, St Clare Ezekiel 12, 1-12, Psalms 78, 56-59.61-62, Matthew 18, 21-19, 1 Friday August 12, Bl Isidore Bakanja, St Jane Frances de Chantal Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63, Isaiah 12:2-6, Matthew 19:3-12 Saturday August 13, Ss Pontian and Hippolytus Ezekiel 18:1-10, 13, 30-32, Psalms 51:12-15, 1819, Matthew 19:13-15 Sunday August 14 Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10, Psalms 40:2-4, 18, Hebrews 12:1-4, Luke 12:49-53

started by the Newcastle Dominicans, and opened by Archbishop Hurley in 1954. He concelebrated the Golden Jubilee Mass with Cardinal Wilfrid Napier in Fatima parish church and then attended the celebratory tea, meeting many old friends. While he was travelling home, he had a lively conversation with Fr Derrick Butt OMI, who was driving him. He then seemed to lose consciousness, and died shortly after arriving at Sabon House. An extraordinary end to an extraordinary life which intersected from childhood to his last hours with the Dominicans. The Newcastle Dominicans had schooled him and given much help to his family in his youth. His first Mass had been said in their Villa Rosa convent in Rome. His last public address in South Africa had been to the Dominican brethren. Now his last Mass was celebrated at the Newcastle Dominican school in Durban North. n Paddy Kearney is Archbishop Hurley’s biographer. The Dominicans of KwaZulu-Natal are celebrating their order’s 800th birthday on August 9 in Durban.

Southern CrossWord solutions

CIOLLI—Mary-Anne (Dickie) née Dixon. Who passed away on January 18, 2015, after a long illness, borne with dignity and great courage, deeply mourned and will be forever remembered, with great love, Remo, Catherine, Michael, David, Stephan and grandchildren. RIP MARUSIC—Martin (Tinko). Gone to his eternal rest 5/08/2014. Those we love don’t go away; they walk beside us day by day. Lovingly remembered by wife Poppie, children Susan, Steven, Sonja and families. Sister Ruzica, Makso and nieces.

PRAYERS

ST JUDE, Holy Apostle, faithful servant, friend of Jesus, you are honoured and petitioned by the universal Church, as patron of desperate, hopeless and impossible cases. I thank you for listening to my prayers and granting your intercession. In this broken world we have many trials, difficulties, and temptations, thank you for prayers asked and answered for me in God’s presence. St. Jude, implore God that my prayers continued to be answered in His way that is best for me and my family. May God give me the grace to see His purpose in all things. Amen. (Petesan)

FATHER in heaven, everliving source of all that is good, keep me faithful in serving you. Help me to drink of Christ's truth, and

To place your event, call Mary Leveson at 021 465 5007 or e-mail m.leveson@scross.co.za (publication subject to space)

JOHANNESBURG/ CAPE TOWN Run Alpha ’16 workshop on running the Alpha course. August 19 and 20 in Johannesburg, at Gracepoint church, Glenferness. August 26 and 27 in Cape Town, at Common Ground church in Rondebosch. Among the speakers will be Fr Peter-John Pearson. R150 per ticket, includes refreshments and lunch. To register, go to runalpha. co.za DURBAN: Holy Mass and Novena to St Anthony at St Anthony’s parish every

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fill my heart with his love so that I may serve you in faith and love and reach eternal life. In the sacrament of the Eucharist you give me the joy of sharing your life. Keep me in your presence. Let me never be separated from you and help me to do your will. ALMIGHTY GOD, from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed, kindle in the hearts of all men the true love of peace, and guide with Your pure and peaceable wisdom those who make decisions for the nations of the earth; that in tranquility Your kingdom may go forward, till the earth be filled with the knowledge of Your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THANKS

O HOLY SPIRIT, in thanksgiving for favours granted. Chris H ST JUDE, in thanksgiving for favours granted. Chris H.

EVENT

THE ST BONIFACE COMMUNITY is presenting its annual church bazaar on Sunday, August 28. Starts with an open-air Mass at 9:00 at the St Boniface Community Centre, cnr Puttick Avenue and Kowie Road, Sundowner Ext 8, Randburg. Tel. 011 7953651

PERSONAL

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Traditional Latin Mass Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel 36 Central Avenue, Pinelands, Cape Town Call 0712914501 for details. Email:sspx.capetown@gmail.com The

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the

20th Sunday: August 14 Readings: Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10, Psalm 40:2-4, 18, Hebrews 12:1-4, Luke 12:49-53

S outher n C ross

Belief is not for wimps

RE you comfortable in the discipleship to which the Lord has called you? If so, prepare to be a little less so, after hearing the readings for next Sunday. We start with Jeremiah in the first reading, and the political classes trying to persuade King Zedekiah to kill him (the powerful often do that to prophets) on the grounds that he is bad for “the morale of the men of war in this city and the morale of all the people”. Zedekiah makes no attempt to resist them, and Jeremiah would have been drowned in the mud at the bottom of a well, had not an African drawn his plight to the attention of the king, and rescued him, and restored him to a measure of comfort. The psalm is a shout of thanks on the part of someone in a similar plight to Jeremiah, whom the Lord has likewise rescued: “I waited and waited for the Lord…and he made me come up from the pit of destruction”, and he is aware of what God has done: “He put a new song on my mouth, a prayer to our God.”

Notice the final verse, however, for he concludes, perhaps not all that confident that God is listening: “I am poor and afflicted and the Lord thought of me: my help and my deliverer; my God, do not delay.” This is not a wholly comfortable situation in which he finds himself. In the second reading we continue our skate through the Letter to the Hebrews, and are asked to cope with our discomfort by way of paying attention to the “cloud of witnesses”, and “laying aside everything, including the sin that clings so easily”; and we are to “run the contest [the Greek word for this is the origin of the word “agony”] that lies ahead of us”. And how are we to cope with this discomfort? By keeping our eyes on “the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, that is Jesus”. The point is that he has been there before us in the discomfort stakes: “because of the joy that lay before him endured the Cross, despised the shame, and sat down on the right hand of

God’s throne”. Then, just in case we might still be thinking that some kind of comfort could be admissible, we are told: “You have not yet shed blood in your resistance in the wrestlingmatch against sin.” Comfort is not, it would seem, on the menu for us. It is part of a long discourse that is addressed to both the crowds and the disciples, including various threats of corporal punishment, and Jesus makes it quite clear in the Gospel that he is not in the “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild” stakes, as he proclaims, firmly: “I came to throw fire on the earth.” Not only that, but he continues, “and I wish that it were already kindled”. Our tendency, as always, is to assume that these uncomfortable statements are addressed to “Those Other People”, but it is to us, and to Jesus himself, that they are spoken. So we cannot accuse him of not being prepared to accept the discomfort himself, for he goes on “I have a baptism to be baptised with” (and

Mental health and suicide A

Conrad

S a young boy I longed to be a professional athlete, but I had to soon accept the unwelcome fact that I simply wasn’t gifted with an athlete’s body. Speed, strength, coordination, instinct, vision; I got by in ordinary life with what I had been given of these, but I wasn’t physically robust enough to be an athlete. It took some years to make peace with that, but it took me even longer, well into mid-life, before I came to both acknowledge and give thanks for the fact that, while I wasn’t blessed with an athlete’s body, I had been given robust mental health, and that this was a mammoth undeserved blessing, more important for life than an athlete’s body. I had often wondered what it would be like to have an athlete’s body, to possess that kind of speed, strength and grace, but I had never wondered what it must be like not to have a strong, steady, resilient mind, one that knows how to return a lob, split a defence, not be afraid of contact, absorb a hit, and not let the rigours of the game break you. And that recognition was bought and paid for by some of the most painful moments of my life. As I aged, year after year, I began to see a number of my former classmates, colleagues, trusted mentors, acquaintances of all kinds, and dear friends lose their battle with mental health and sink, slowly or rapidly, into various forms of clinical depression, mental paralysis, mental anguish, dementia of various kinds, dark personality changes, suicide and, worst of all, even

into murder. Slowly, painfully, haltingly, I came to know that not everyone has the internal circuits to allow them the sustained capacity for steadiness and buoyancy. I also came to learn that one’s mental health is really parallel to one’s physical health— fragile, and not fully within one’s own control. Moreover, just as diabetes, arthritis, cancer, stroke, heart attacks, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis can cause debilitation and death, so too can mental diseases wreak deadly havoc inside the mind, also causing every kind of debilitation and, not infrequently, death—suicide.

ow might one define robust mental health? Robust mental health is not to be confused with intelligence or brilliance. It’s neither. Rather it is steadiness, a capacity to somehow always be anchored, balanced, buoyant and resilient in the face of all that life throws at you, good and bad. Indeed, sometimes it can be a positive blockage to creativity and brilliance. Some people, it seems, are just too grounded and sane to be brilliant! And brilliant people—gifted artists, poets, musicians—not infrequently struggle to stay solidly grounded. Brilliance and steadiness are frequently very different gifts. Through the years that I have been writing on suicide, I have received many letters, e-mails and phone calls, with anguished concerns about understanding mental health.

Nicholas King SJ

Sunday Reflections

we reflect that this certainly refers to discomfort of some acute kind); then, to make sure that we have got the point, he continues: “How great is my distress until it is accomplished.” After that we are asked: “Do you think that I came to give peace on the earth? No, I’m telling you, [not peace] but division.” Then he predicts the division that will come upon the household, including “mother-in-law against her son’s bride, and the bride against her mother-in-law”. That last division, of course, it is widely supposed, does not require discipleship to foster; but the point is clear enough, that following Jesus is not for wimps nor for the comfortably complacent. It is a challenging vocation; and indeed when we are in our right minds we should not want it any other way. But discipleship is not for wimps.

Southern Crossword #718

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

One letter came from a woman, a brilliant psychoanalyst, somewhat anxious about her own steadiness and that of her family, who wrote: “Everyone in my family is brilliant, but none of us is very steady!” Of course, we all know families where the reverse is true. In short, we need a better understanding of mental health; perhaps not so much among doctors, psychiatrists and mental health professionals, where there is already a considerable understanding of mental health and where valuable research goes on, but within the culture at large, particularly as this pertains to suicide. When we see someone suffering from a physical disability or a bodily disease, it’s easy to understand this limitation and be moved to empathy. But this is predicated largely on the fact that we can see, physically see, the disability or the sickness. We may feel frustrated, helpless, and even angry in the face of what we see, but we generally understand. We get it! Nature has dealt this person a particular hand of cards, no one’s to blame! But that’s not the situation with mental health. Here the disability or sickness is not so overt or easily understood. This is particularly true where the breakdown of a person’s mental health results in suicide. For centuries, this has been badly misdiagnosed, not least morally and religiously. Today, more and more, we claim to understand, even as we don’t really understand. A deeper, more intuitive eye is still required. We still don’t really understand mental fragility. Our physical health can be robust or fragile, the same for our mental health. In both cases, how strong we are depends a lot upon the hand of cards we were dealt, our genetic endowment and the environment that shaped us. We don’t get to order our bodies and minds from a catalogue, and nature and life don’t always deal the cards evenly. We need to better understand mental health and mental breakdown. Psychologically and emotionally, we are not immune to all kinds of cancers, strokes, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. And they too can be terminal, as is the case with suicide.

ACROSS

3. Totem Anne destroyed in reparation (9) 8. They’re sensitive to the sound of cereal seeds (4) 9. Go with the sound of a group of actors (9) 10. Comment about the evangelist (6) 11. I see Latin recording moving (5) 14. Decree made in Islamic law (5) 15. A wee tot (4) 16. Places of interest to see, we hear (5) 18. Direct the gaze (4) 20. Tribe to which Phanuel belonged (Lk 2) (5) 21. Plane diverted to the Himalayas (5) 24. Gave the page a dog’s ear (6) 25. One who will go with 9 ac (9) 26. Some fox endangers beasts (4) 27. Be living for heaven and not for earth (9)

DOWN

1. Left earth, being sincere (9) 2. Reduction to ashes (9) 4. Friar who provides the snacks at school? (4) 5. Mother-in-law of Ruth (5) 6. Wiped the floor clean (6) 7. Not anyone (4) 9. Regions (5) 11. Indispensable and for life (5) 12. Correct theology of the Eastern Church? (9) 13. Ill-advised to let Trump dine out (9) 17. Ten held by a son from old Germanic man (5) 19. Drive within the left lane (4,2) 22. Declare not valid (5) 23. Academic dress grown right away (4) 24. Hamper the aluminium wrapping (4)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

TTENDING a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to her mother: “Why is the bride dressed in white?'” The mother replied: “Because white is the colour of happiness, and today is the happiest day of her life.” The child thought about this for a moment then asked: “So why is the groom wearing black?”

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