161005

The

S outher n C ross

October 5 to October 11, 2016

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 5001

www.scross.co.za

Two more new priests ordained

Page 2

Porn crisis: What Church can do

Page 10

R8,00 (incl VAT RSA)

Calling passenger Holy Spirit

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Campaign to get Catholic TV on DStv

By MANDLA ZiBi

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ROADCASTER Multichoice has confirmed that it has received a “number of requests” from South Africans for the US Catholic TV station Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) to be added to the DStv bouquet of channels next year.

These petitions follow reports that Multichoice is accepting public comment as it is reviewing its line-up of channels.

Replying to questions from The Southern Cross about a campaign by South African Catholics for EWTN to be broadcast on South African television for the first time, Multichoice head of communication Marietjie Groenewald, said: “Yes, we have received a number of requests for the EWTN channel and other channels.”

“We have taken note of these requests. If there are any developments, we will make the necessary announcements,” Ms Groenewald said.

The criteria used by the satellite television provider to determine whether to include a channel as part of its offering include whether they could “logistically receive the channel to play out, whether the channel is available in our territories in Africa, [and] whether we can reach a mutually beneficial financial agreement with the channel provider”, Ms Groenewald said.

In the past EWTN confirmed that it offers its content to DStv free of charge. The Catholic channel is already part of DStv’s offering in other African countries. It has been specifically excluded for South Africa.

“Potential viewership is also taken into account,” she said.

The Southern Cross has learned that around 3 000 petitions had been received by the end of September from subscribers requesting the EWTN channel.

In 2012, when Catholic DStv subscribers in South Africa petitioned Multichoice to offer Catholic programming found in the rest of Africa, the broadcaster responded by cancelling the service continent-wide.

Petitioners at the time said that they had been motivated to request Catholic programming by the fact that DStv in South Africa was offering television channels for evangelical Christians such as Rhema TV and TBN, and for Muslims, the Islamic channel ITV. When DStv cancelled EWTN from its rest of Africa bouquet, Catholics in affected countries protested, with the bishops of Nigeria even threatening legal action and to institute a consumer boycott.

Fr Michael Umoh, director of the Centre for Media Development in Lagos, Nigeria, said the move by the broadcast company led to the mobilisation of Catholics protesting through social media and the postal service in Nigeria.

EWTN was quickly returned to the standard Nigerian bouquet. Fr Umoh said the great response and outcry from some of the 19 million Catholics in Nigeria was the reason for the retraction.

But for South Africa, DStv said in 2012 their decision to keep excluding Catholic content on their platform was “final”.

In an editorial at the time, The Southern Cross wrote: “One may question to what purpose Multichoice is so casual about offending and marginalising the Catholic community?

Is there an anti-Catholic agenda?”

A current Facebook page, “We want Catholic TV—EWTN on DStv”, continues to urge South African Catholics to make as many submissions as possible to Multichoice on this matter.

“With over 3.1 million Catholics in South Africa alone, why don't we have Catholic TV on DStv?” a post on the site asked.

An e-mail petition is also doing the rounds with people being told “if we have enough Catholics e-mailing them requesting EWTN, they will see there is an interest and we will be watching EWTN in 2017!!! Take a stand—let DStv know that we count as Catholics and we want EWTN!!”

Submissions for the inclusion of EWTN on DStv in South Africa can be e-mailed to deirdre.alexander@multichoice.co.za, CCed to aletta.alberts@multichoice.co.za

Each year, the children aged 3-9 who attend the weekly children’s liturgy classes at St Dominic’s church in Boksburg make ten-beaded rosaries. Here some of the children proudly display their hand-made rosaries. The month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary, with the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary falling on October 7.

SA priest: We must do better on rights in Church for the disabled STAFF REPORTER

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OUTH African Redemptorist Father Cyril Axelrod addressed the Year of Mercy celebration for catechists in Rome in the basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, and concelebrated Mass with Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

The world’s only deaf-and-blind priest said he has also been asked by the Vatican to contribute to the Compendium of the Catechism in of Catholic Church by drafting explanations “of how to teach the disabled person to understand” four sections in the Catechism, including the Profession of Faith and the Ten Commandments.

At the Mass in St Peter’s Square, Fr Axelrod was the first person to be presented to Pope Francis. The two had met before—at their first encounter, Fr Axelrod administered a blessing to the pope.

“I was the first to meet the pope after Mass. He gave me a warm gesture of love and recognised me immediately,” Fr Axelrod said in an e-mail.

Fr Axelrod currently lives in London and travels around the world to foster the ministry to the disabled, especially the deaf.

Addressing the celebrations at St Paul Out-

Fr Cyril Axelrod (left) with his confrere and close friend Fr Larry Kaufmann CSsR side the Walls, the priest said he is inspired by St Paul—like him, a convert from Judaism— who “travelled the length and breadth of the Mediterranean world of his time, visiting different cities and countries to proclaim the Gospel”.

Fr Axelrod also joins his Redemptorist confreres in giving parish missions.

“I am always amused that the people seem to prefer to go to me to confession, knowing Continued on page 3

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The Southern Cross, October 5 to October 11, 2016

LOCAL

Charismatics look to Rome

By MANDLA ZiBi

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OR local Catholic charismatics, all roads lead to Rome next year following a recent gathering in Johannesburg where current activities were assessed and the national leadership re-energised.

“The meeting sought to revive the national service team of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) in South Africa,” said Joe Sengooba, one of the attendees, in a statement.

For some years now, the team in South Africa had been dormant. But this all changed when the CCR leaders of dioceses with active prayer groups met at Christ the King cathedral in Johannesburg, he said.

And according to Jackie Mokwena, one of the national coordinators at the meeting, an immediate goal of the CCR is to be part of a bigger family of charismatic Catholics by “attending meetings nationally, regionally and internationally”.

She said the movement is looking forward to its golden jubilee celebration with the pope in Rome next May. Other plans, Ms Mokwena said, included the empowerment of the movement “through leadership

training courses and also reaching an academic level of our formation to fulfil the prophetic desire to establish a Catholic Charismatic Renewal University of the Holy Spirit in Rome”.

Five dioceses were represented at the meeting: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Klerksdorp and Rustenburg. There is a need to find out how many dioceses actually host CCR activities, Ms Mokwena noted.

“I would say all dioceses do have a CCR element in one way or the other. We intend to find out by visiting all the provinces. We have grown spiritually and are eager to do God’s work,” she said.

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he Holy Spirit had given the CCR a “special role” in the Church, Ms Mokwena believes, and that was supported by Pope John II’s statement to the International Council of the CCR in March 1992, when he said that “the emergence of the Renewal following the Second Vatican Council was a particular gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church”.

She emphasised that each member of the CCR shares in the task of enriching the Church by helping to

incorporate the special gifts of the Spirit into the life of the Church.

“We are called to help people grow in faith, by emphasising the immediacy of a loving God in their lives. We also recognise that we too need to be helped to grow in faith and ability to serve. We need to protect the Renewal by correcting errors and perceptions by being spiritually mature. It needs to start with us before we proclaim to others.”

Responding to perceived negative attitudes harboured by fellow Catholics towards charismatics, she pointed out that the movement is supported by the Church hierarchy, “but there will be those who still don’t adapt to change. Some take time while others adapt easily.

“I understand their concerns and fears because they are still in their comfort zone, and now the CCR comes and tells them to accept salvation, Jesus as Lord and Saviour and to be baptised in the Holy Spirit.

Most don’t like accepting that having Jesus in their lives means to sacrifice some of the earthly things.”

Ms Mokwena said the best antidote to negative stereotypes is discussion, accompanied by humility and love.

Heritage Day at college

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EACHERS and pupils of De La Salle Holy Cross College junior school in Johannesburg wore traditional clothing to celebrate Heritage Day. The learners all donated R20 to wear their outfits, and the money raised will go towards the “Christmas Gift Boxes” initiative that the college donates to various charities at the end of the year.

The children had a special assembly, where the staff and teachers told them about the various traditional garments they were wearing, the customs and the different languages.

The college also hosted a “Heritage in Song Concert”, featuring the Welsh Male Voice Choir (From left) De La Sale College staff members Lydia Ramof SA, the school’s senior choir and the Chick- puane, Lydia Mthembu, Sophy Ngcobo and Dumisile Ndlovu adees. in traditional outfits.

US nun with links to SA reaches 60

U

Sr Jean Tobin

S DOMINICAN Sister Jean Tobin, who served in South Africa in the 1990s and 2000s, has celebrated the 60th anniversary of entering her order in Adrian, Michigan.

She professed her first vows on December 28, 1957 and her final vows five years later.

She served from 1993-98 as administrator at St Anne School in Boshoek, North West, and returned to South Africa as executive assistant to the management team at the Catholic Institute of Education in Johannesburg from 2002-07.

Sr Jean returned to the United States in 2007 and since then has served as assistant in her congregation’s history department.

She said she had entered the congregation at a young age because she had witnessed the “joy, excellent teaching skills, and the way Adrian Dominican Sisters searched for truth, justice, and peace in service to others”.

Serving in South Africa gave her the opportunity to “come to know, love, and work with all levels, from the poorest of the poor to bishops and cardinals”, Sr Jean said.

The South African Church celebrated the ordination of two new priests.

Above left: Oratorian Father Stephen Okwuchukwu ilechukwu was ordained to the priesthood at Sacred Heart cathedral in Bloemfontein by Archbishop Jabulani Nxumalo of Bloemfontein. Above right: Jesuit Father Matthew Charlesworth was ordained by Bishop Duncan Tsoke, auxiliary of Johannesburg, at Holy Trinity church in Braamfontein, where he will serve.

(Johannesburg photo: Sheldon Reddiar Photography)

Parishioners give preschool a bright new lick of paint STAFF REPORTER

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HE charitable organisation of a Cape Town parish put brush to wall to live up to the motto of an educare centre in the community’s township.

CatholiCare, a registered NPO of Milnerton-Brooklyn parish in Cape Town, refurbished the premises of the Masibambane Educare preschool in Joe Slovo, a township that falls within the parish’s boundaries.

Brights Hardware donated paint and parishioners collected toys and books before youngsters from the church brightened up the preschool’s walls with lively paintings.

Masibambane is isiXhosa for “Let’s work together”.

“This is exactly what we did that Saturday: we worked together and hopefully lived the message that faith without works is dead,” said CatholiCare’s Telana Halley, citing James 2:14-26.

Southern Cross staff reporter Mandla Zibi juggles a cellphone while being interviewed on Radio Veritas. The radio station devoted a full day to interviews and tributes to The Southern Cross on September 28 to celebrate the national Catholic weekly’s 5 000th issue, starting with interviews

by Fr Emil Blaser on his morning show of Southern Cross editor Günther Simmermacher and Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria.

Brescia House pupils (from left) Jessica Jooste, Nikita Lledo and yeshanti Narismulu won gold at the Model United Nations conference.

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RESCIA House School in Johannesburg entered two delegations in the annual Model United Nations conference hosted by the South African Institute of International Affairs.

Some 120 delegations competed from 83 schools in five different committees. The event exposes young people to real-world issues and gives the youth a say in what kind of world they would like to live.

Nikita Lledo, Yeshanti Narismulu and Jessica Jooste represented Uganda in the CITES conference, which focused on trade in endangered species, and were awarded the prize for the best delegation.

In the committee which looked at how the United Nations could help prevent and respond to epidemics like the Ebola and Zika viruses, Kate Watson, Vedanta Ramasary and Mokethwa Mkalipe represented Mali and were awarded the prize for the third-best delegation.

LOCAL

The Southern Cross, October 5 to October 11, 2016

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Bishops: Business can help on #FeesMustFall

By MANDLA ZiBi

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HE Southern African Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) has urged the private sector to inject more funds into South African universities “to make education affordable for the poor and workingclass families” as countrywide protests intensified at campuses.

SACBC spokesman Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria said more corporate investment into education would benefit not only South Africa’s future as a country but also the overall health of the business sector.

“It is in the long-term interest of the private sector to increase financial support for the beleaguered education system in this country. We know that government cannot afford to pay the full package of student needs. Business can help by way of supplementing the efforts of government,” the archbishop said.

Archbishop Slattery was responding to announcements by higher education minister Dr Blade Nzimande regarding university fees for 2017, a statement believed by many to have sparked the latest round of protests by the #FeesMust-

The University of Cape Town campus, one of the South African universities that is experiencing student protests. (Photo: Jeremiah Pietersen) Fall movement.

Dr Nzimande announced that universities and colleges should increase their fees by no more than 8% in 2017. He also announced that the government would subsidise those with a household incomes of up to R600 000 per annum, so that there would be no fee increased in the year 2017.

“We hope that the Presidential Commission of Enquiry into Higher Education will come with a realistic plan for the poor and working-class families to have access to higher education after 2017. While the interim measures by government

provide no lasting solution to the funding model for our education system, we call for special attention to be given to poor students who are unable or struggling to even pay their fees presently,” Archbishop Slattery said.

A possible funding model for the private sector could be what the Rural Education Access Programme (REAP) does, but on a larger scale, the archbishop said. An associate body of the SACBC, REAP enables youth from poor rural communities to access tertiary education by carefully selecting matriculants who qualify for university and linking

them up with funding from various stakeholders.

In addition, a proven package of support is provided to give them the best possible chance of success.

The archbishop said the Church agreed with Dr Nzimande that government must prioritise the poor, as the child of a cleaner or unemployed person cannot be subsidised equally as that of an advocate, doctor or investment banker.

“The reality is that there are those who will need total subsidy from government. We acknowledge that the interim measures by government will not be welcomed by everyone and call for open and honest dialogue amongst all stakeholders to find a way forward,” Archbishop Slattery said.

“We condemn the escalation of campus violence and vandalism which is destroying the assets invested to educate future leaders for the whole nation.

“We call for greater ethical leadership from all stakeholders, including those dealing with law and order,” he said.

Meanwhile, a member of a Catholic students’ organisation at Wits University condemned acts of

“police brutality” during the recent round of protests and also accused the SACBC of being “silent” in the struggles of poor students in the #FeesMustFall campaign.

Sitholithemba Makhanya, branch chair of the Association of Catholic Tertiary Students (ACTS) at Wits, who suffered a knee injury after falling into a hole while fleeing the police, called on the SACBC to “sit down with us and talk honestly about our views and what we are actually going through”.

“The bishops are just quiet and some in the Church are telling us to stop being political or secular because we are supposed to be Christians. This is very disappointing because the Church was very active during the struggle against apartheid, but now they are just quiet,” Ms Makhanya said.

She also slammed some of her colleagues in ACTS for the same apolitical approach, accusing them of suppressing dissenting voices within the organisation.

“ACTS must change its constitution in order to allow us to engage in the social, the economic, as well as the political dimensions of our struggle,” she said.

Rosary rallies kick off next week

By MANDLA ZiBi

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HE Rosary Crusade of South Africa is again calling on Catholics to gather family and friends in public spaces across the country to pray the rosary on October 15.

The crusade is an initiative of South Africa Needs Our Lady, which in turn is a campaign of Family Action South Africa.

October 13 marks the 99th anniversary of the “Miracle of the Sun” at Fatima.

“We are urging people to gather anywhere they like, as long as it is in a public place where others can see you praying the rosary. These could be a pavement outside your home, an intersection, or a nearby park,” said Bernadette Tuffin, who spoke for the campaign.

“Our goal is for 500 groups pray-

ing across South Africa on the day.

Together, united in public prayer, we can move the Heart of Our Lady and implore her motherly intercession for our troubled nation,” she said.

“Many of us feel frustrated and helpless about the moral decline of our country in both the political and religious spheres. By joining the Rosary Crusade, you can do something concrete to combat these feelings and offer a gift to Our Blessed Mother at the same time.”

The campaign, nicknamed the “Rosary rallies”, also includes the recruitment of “rally captains”, whose role is to lead groups of friends in the public recitation of the rosary.

“All you have to do is invite some friends and pray the rosary in public.

It’s very easy,” explained Ms Tuffin.

On contacting the campaign, each prospective captain is sent a banner—in English or Afrikaans—

and a basic “how to” manual. People are left to themselves to select the best location.

“What constitutes a good rally?

Numbers help, but more important is the persevering love that those who join, whether many or few, have for Our Blessed Mother. And many small groups have a much greater impact than one large gathering,” said Ms Tuffin.

“When you become a Rosary Rally captain, we will deliver a red rose in your name to Our Lady on the very spot where she appeared in Fatima, Portugal. There were 260 red roses delivered to Fatima last year from South Africa Needs Our Lady,” she added. n For more information or to sign up as a rally captain, contact Bernadette Tuffin on 087 230 9884 or 028 551 2076 or e-mail rosarycrusade@SA needsourlady.co.za

Candle

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

Three ushers from St Mary’s cathedral in Cape Town are among the regular sellers of The Southern Cross. (From left) Rachel Beukes, Cyril Okoye and Edmond Obi Edoh. (Photo: Michelle Perry)

Rights for disabled Continued from page 1 that I cannot see or hear them. They are taught to write their sins on my hand,” Fr Axelrod told the jubilee celebrations.

“My disability gives me both the challenge and the opportunity to spread a message of hope and the love of God to people who experience suffering or disability. Even though disability is perceived to be a suffering or a deprivation, I never cease to assert that disability is truly a gift from God. It brings sighted and hearing persons to sense the power of God’s mercy and love for disabled persons,” he said.

However, he noted that he has also experienced prejudice, even from priests.

“Because of my disability I have, at times and with deep hurt, experienced discrimination by priests. They have refused to allow me to concelebrate. Or they have refused to have an interpreter in the sanctuary.

“Perhaps this is more of a reflection of their own fears and insecurities, which could easily be overcome with a little kindness and effort,” Fr Axelrod told the jubilee.

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

Amen

Fr Eddie O’Neill celebrated 50 years as a Salesian with a jubilee Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic church in Lansdowne, Cape Town.

Sharing the occasion with Fr O’Neill were (from left) Anna-Marie Perez, Daphne Ann Titus and Pat Boucher. (Photo: Clive Titus)

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The Southern Cross, October 5 to October 11, 2016

INTERNATIONAL

Vatican revises Mariannhill mission priest, rules for miracles Nazi victim, is beatified A I

By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

N an effort to ensure transparency as well as historical and scientific accuracy, Pope Francis has approved revised norms for the Congregation for Saints’ Causes regarding medical consultations on healings alleged to be miracles.

Among the regulations published by the Vatican was the requirement that the medical panel have a quorum of six experts and that a two-thirds majority is needed to approve a statement declaring a healing has no natural or scientific explanation.

Previously, the declaration—a key step in a pope’s recognition of a miracle attributed to the intercession of a candidate for sainthood— required the approval of a simple majority of the consultation team members present.

“The purpose of the regulation is for the good of the saints’ causes, which can never be separated from the historical and scientific truth of the alleged miracles,” Archbishop Marcello Bartolucci, secretary of the congregation, said.

Archbishop Bartolucci presided over a seven-member commission that began revising the regulations in September 2015 to update the norms established by St John Paul II in 1983. Except in the case of martyrs, in general two miracles are needed for a person to be declared a saint—one for beatification and the second for canonisation.

The new regulations, which

were approved with the pope’s mandate by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, also state that an alleged miracle “cannot be re-examined more than three times”.

For each alleged miracle, the medical consultation team comprises a maximum of seven experts; when the promoter of a cause appeals a negative judgment, a new team of physicians and medical experts must be appointed, the new norms say. The members of each consultation will remain unknown to the postulator, as the promotor of the specific cause is called.

A presumed miracle is first reviewed by two medical experts within the congregation, and with their recommendation is then sent to the medical consultation team.

While the medical experts receive compensation for their work, the new regulations state that they will only be paid through wire transfer. Prior to the approval of the new norms, experts were given the option to receive cash payments for their work.

Archbishop Bartolucci said the regulations will further ensure that the consultations will be carried out with “serenity, objectivity and complete security” by the medical experts.

“This regulation obviously concerns only the proper functioning of the medical consultation, whose task is always more delicate, demanding and, thank God, appreciated inside and outside the Church,” he said. —CNS

PRIEST of a South Africanfounded order who was known as “the Angel of Dachau” has been beatified in Germany.

Fr Engelmar Unzeitig, a priest of the Congregation of Mariannhill Missionaries—an order founded by Abbot Franz Pfanner near Durban— was raised to the status of Blessed at a Mass in the Bavarian city of Würzburg.

Bl Unzeitig was interred in the Nazis’ Dachau concentration camp, near Munich, and has been recognised as a martyr.

Bishop Friedhelm Hofmann of Würzburg said during his homily at the city’s cathedral that Bl Unzeitig brought the light of God’s goodness to the place where his presence “is least expected”.

Fr Unzeitig lived under a “dehumanising dictatorship”, Bishop Hofmann noted, saying, “we can learn from him not to subject ourselves to a dictatorship, even a dictatorship of opinions”.

The following day, before leading pilgrims to Rome in the Angelus, Pope Francis made note of the beatification, saying that “killed in hatred of the faith [Fr Unzeitig] opposed hatred with love, and answered ferocity with meekness. May his example help us to be witnesses of charity and hope even in the midst of tribulations”.

Bl Unzeitig was born in what is now the Czech Republic in 1911, and joined the seminary at the age of 18 before becoming a Mariannhill Missionary priest in 1939.

Fr Engelmar Unzeitig, a Mariannhill missionary who died in Dachau concentration camp.

He was arrested by the Nazis in 1941, when he was only 30 years old and had been a priest for two years, serving in Germany and Austria.

His crime was having preached against the Third Reich from his pulpit, particularly against their treatment of Jews. He encouraged his congregation to be faithful to God and to resist the lies of the Nazi regime.

As punishment, Fr Unzeitig was sent to Dachau concentration camp, which became renowned for the number of priests and ministers within its walls.

The camp housed some 2 700 clergy, roughly 95% of whom were Catholic priests from Poland, making it one of the largest residences for priests in the history of the

Church.

While imprisoned at the camp, Fr Unzeitig studied Russian in order to be able to help the influx of prisoners from Eastern Europe, and had a reputation at the camp as a holy man.

For several years, he remained in relatively stable health despite the poor treatment he received. However, when a wave of the often-fatal typhoid fever swept through the camp in 1945, he and 19 other priests volunteered to do what no one else wanted to: care for the sick and dying in the typhoid barracks, an almost-certain death sentence in and of itself. He and his companions spent their days bathing and caring for the sick, praying with them, and offering last rites.

On March 2, 1945, Fr Unzeitig succumbed to typhoid fever himself.

Dachau was liberated by American soldiers just a few weeks later, on April 29.

Despite his bleak circumstances, Fr Unzeitig found his hope and joy in his faith, as evidenced in letters to his sister from the camp: “Whatever we do, whatever we want, is surely simply the grace that carries us and guides us. God’s almighty grace helps us overcome obstacles…love doubles our strength, makes us inventive, makes us feel content and inwardly free. If people would only realise what God has in store for those who love him!” he wrote.

Some 1 800 people participated in the beatification. His feast is to be celebrated March 2, the anniversary of his death.—CNA

Pope’s fears at new North Korean nuclear tests

By CiNDy WOODEN

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OPE Francis and the Vatican are concerned about continuing tensions on the Korean peninsula “on account of the nuclear tests carried out by North Korea”, Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke, confirmed.

Addressing the International Atomic Energy Agency’s general conference in Vienna, Mgr Antoine Camilleri, Vatican undersecretary for relations with states, said: “We observe with great concern the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”, the formal name for North Korea.

“The Holy See supports the constant efforts of the international community to restart the negotiations on denuclearisation and to

allow the IAEA to take up again its important role of verification in that country,” Mgr Camilleri said.

“The peace and stability of the region” and the integrity of the international nuclear non-proliferation protocols are at stake, the monsignor said.

In early September, North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test, the most powerful so far, and hinted at a sixth possible test.

The Associated Press reported that South Korea’s Defence Ministry said that South Korean and US intelligence authorities believe North Korea has the ability to detonate another atomic device at any time at one of its tunnels at its main Punggye-ri nuclear test site, where the five previous atomic explosions took place.—CNS

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INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, October 5 to October 11, 2016

Beware slippery ‘Pretending to be a saint sickens the soul’ euthanasia slope

By CAROL GLATZ

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A

DUTCH cardinal has warned about the “slippery slope” of euthanasia, which has been legal in the Netherlands since 2002.

At first, only those at the end of life with unbearable physical illness had access to euthanasia at their request, said Cardinal Willem Eijk of Utrecht. Then people with mental illness had access. Then people with dementia who had made an advanced request could be euthanised; then people who had not made requests were euthanised. The Dutch also have allowed euthanasia of children, though most of the time handicapped children are killed in utero through abortion, he said.

“When you leave the door ajar, it will always open more,” he told members of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In the Netherlands, the debate over euthanasia and assisted suicide began 50 years ago, Cardinal Eijk said. People argued that physicians needed a new set of ethics because medical advances gave doctors too much power to force treatments on people to prolong life at any cost.

The ethics of refusing medical treatment that resulted in a patient’s natural death became conflated with a physician killing a patient in order to remove his suffering.

“No new ethics are needed,” Cardinal Eijk said, noting that euthanasia and assisted suicide are both intrinsically wrong, and they are not the same as the removal of med-

Cardinal Willem Eijk of Utrecht, Netherlands. (Photo: Francois Gloutnay, Presence/CNS) ical treatment in most cases.

Palliative care in the Netherlands was only considered in the late 1990s, he said, but the politician who introduced it said palliative care should include requests for euthanasia.

Cardinal Eijk also urged Catholics to fight for conscience rights. He noted the Council of Europe tried to pass a law forcing physicians to perform abortions, but repeated interventions by European bishops prevented it. In the Netherlands, only about 15% of physicians refuse to perform euthanasia, he said. He has not heard of anyone who has lost a job for refusing to take part in euthanasia, but finding a job may be difficult for such a person.—CNS

HE root of all evil lies in greed, pride and vanity, Pope Francis said in a morning homily.

Vanity, in fact, compels people to hide their mistakes and cover up what’s real with a facade, he said.

All that masquerading “sickens the soul”, he said. “Vanity is like osteoporosis of the soul, the bones on the outside look good, but inside they are all ruined.”

Reflecting on the day’s readings, the pope talked about the fruitless path of vanity (Eccl 1:2-11) and Herod’s growing anxiety and worry about being usurped (Lk 9:7-9).

There is a healthy kind of unease the Holy Spirit causes to prompt people to do what is right and good, he said. But then there is a bad kind of unease, like Herod the Great and his son, Herod Antipas, experienced, which “stems from a dirty conscience”.

The two king Herods tried to relieve their apprehensions by killing people, the pope said, going forward “over people’s dead bodies”.

People who do evil and have a bad conscience “cannot live in peace because they live with a constant itch, with hives that don’t leave them in peace”, he said.

All evil is rooted in “greed, vanity and pride”, which continually irritate the conscience, cause fear and never leave any room for that healthy unease from the Holy Spirit, the pope said.

The charred scroll from En-Gedi (right) that experts digitally unfurled (left). (Photo: livescience.com)

Ancient biblical scroll can now be read F

OR the first time in centuries, an ancient biblical scroll can be read, thanks to a computer scanning technology that can reconstruct a clear text from damaged, unreadable material.

“This work opens a new window through which we can look back through time by reading materials that were thought lost through damage and decay,” said Brent Seales, a University of Kentucky professor of computer science.

“There are so many other unique and exciting materials that may yet give up their secrets—we are only beginning to discover what they may hold,” Prof Seales added.

Prof Seales and his team developed a high-resolution computer scan that will “virtually unwrap” a severely damaged ancient scroll of animal skin with an ink-based text. The scan can create clear, legible text from a wrapped scroll despite the damage.

Analysis of one scroll re-

vealed 35 lines of text from the first two chapters of a version of the Book of Leviticus.

The scroll is at least 1 500 years old. It comes from a 1970 archaeological excavation in the synagogue at En Gedi, near the Dead Sea in Israel. The scroll was badly burned at some point in its life and it was previously indecipherable.

“The discovery of text in the En Gedi scroll absolutely astonished us; we were certain it was a shot in the dark, but the most advanced technologies have brought this cultural treasure back to life,” said Pnina Shor, who is curator and director of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Dead Sea Scrolls Project.

Scholars at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem were able to conduct a critical analysis of the recovered text.

The scroll’s text is identical to the Masoretic text, which is often used as the basis for Bible translations of the Old

Testament, the New York Times reported.

The older Dead Sea Scrolls found in the 1940s and ’50s have many small differences compared to the Masoretic text.

Carbon dating of the Ein Gedi scroll indicates it is a copy dating back at least to 300 AD. Analysis of the script’s style suggests it could date back to as early as 50100AD, according to Ada Yardeni, an expert on Hebrew palaeography who analysed the text in the journal Textus.

The new computer technique could reveal the contents of other damaged, unreadable scrolls, such as some of the Dead Sea Scrolls found near the Dead Sea. Classical texts from places like Herculaneum, the Greek city destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, could also be recovered from carbonised scrolls.—CNA

Vatican joins UN in war on corruption

By CiNDy WOODEN

T

Pope Francis delivers his homily during Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae at the Vatican. (Photo: L’Osservatore Romano/CNS) Everybody knows someone like that, the pope said: people who seem perfect on the outside, going to church every Sunday and making big charitable donations.

While there are real saints out there, he said, there are people putting on a show, who have the face of a saint, but inside suffer from an “osteoporosis” of corruption.

The pope said to remember that Jesus is the only truth, “not the masquerade of vanity. May the Lord free us from these three roots of all evil”.—CNS

5

HE Holy See has adhered to the UN Convention Against Corruption, an international treaty focused on preventing, outlawing and prosecuting corruption within nations and internationally.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, deposited the ratification papers at the United Nations in New York.

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s “foreign minister”, wrote in the Vatican newspaper that adopting the international agreement is a recognition that Pope Francis’ constant condemnations of corruption and the damage it causes applies “also to the Church and Roman curia”.

However, he wrote, “the principal dispositions” of the UN agreement already are part of Vatican law thanks to legislation enacted since 2010 by both retired Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, particularly regarding financial transparency and the adoption of measures to prevent money laundering.

The international agreement’s definition of corruption goes beyond bribery and the embezzlement of public funds to include trading in influence and the concealment and laundering of the proceeds of corruption. It includes provisions for international cooperation in fighting corruption and prosecuting the corrupt as well as the recovery of assets.—CNS

6

The Southern Cross, October 5 to October 11, 2016

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

A time to stand up

W

HEN in 2012 the satellite TV service DStv ruled out the inclusion of Catholic broadcaster EWTN on its South African bouquet, it exhibited an unequivocal disregard for the local Catholic community.

The declaration by Multichoice, owners of DStv, that EWTN would not be included in the bouquet of channels offered to South African viewers was preceded by an attempt to remove the Catholic broadcaster from the programming offered to the rest of Africa.

That decision, borne either from ignorance or contempt for the Catholic Church, was swiftly reversed in the face of a threatened consumer boycott by the Church in Nigeria.

Now DStv has invited public comment as it reviews the channels in its bouquet. Catholics have already made their views known: by the end of September, reportedly some 3 000 had told Multichoice that they want a Catholic presence on DStv. Such a channel is available to the broadcaster, apparently free of charge, in the form of EWTN, a USbased 24-hour TV station which Catholics at present can receive only by installing a special decoder.

In the past, Multichoice has claimed that the presence of Christian channels cover the needs of Catholics adequately.

These channels are Evangelical and Pentecostal. While some of their content no doubt is edifying to all followers of Christ, their theology is in many important ways sharply incompatible with Catholic thought.

None of them are representative of mainline Christianity. To claim that they are, even after being advised to the contrary, is dismissive and arrogant. It is akin to telling football fans that their sport needn’t be covered because Supersport broadcasts rugby games.

The local Catholic Church has a tendency to underestimate its position in South Africa’s society. It is true that at 7% of the population, Catholics are a minority—but so is every church in this country.

In fact, the Catholic Church is the third-largest single church in South Africa. In some regions, the Catholic Church’s schooling network sustains education. The Catholic Church has provided 25% of all HIV/Aids-care in the country, second only to the government. Many of our social and political leaders were shaped by the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church has sus-

tained a national Catholic weekly newspaper for 96 years, something no other Christian denomination has accomplished.

We Catholics may be only 7% of the population, but we are not inconsequential. It is time that the Catholic Church asserts itself in public life. And one way of doing so is by telling Multichoice that its assorted televangelists, the Rhema Church and prosperity cult merchants like Creflo Dollar are not representative for the Catholic Church.

We must insist on a Catholic presence on DStv. That requires a united effort, involving also Catholics who have legitimate reservations about some of EWTN’s content. One way of doing so is to flood DStv with letters and e-mails, communicating the demand for Catholic programming.

It also requires leadership from our bishops. They must firstly encourage the faithful to petition Multichoice, and secondly engage with Multichoice directly to communicate to its management the reasons why the Catholic community wants a Catholic channel on DStv, and why the continued exclusion of a Catholic presence on its bouquet is unacceptable to the Church.

There can be no question that the demand for Catholic programming on DStv exists. It is now up to the Catholic community to put that question beyond any doubt.

Should Multichoice then again snub South Africa’s Catholic Church without a satisfactory explanation, as it did four years ago, our community would be entitled to conclude that this might have at its roots an ingrained antiCatholicism.

And so, the campaign to persuade Multichoice to include Catholic programming has two objectives.

Firstly, obviously it aims to give Catholics—and other mainline churches—greater access to Catholic media, to complement the work done by The Southern Cross, Radio Veritas and other Catholic voices in print, on air and on-line.

Secondly, this is a time for the local Catholics to assert that their Church is an important constituent of South Africa’s society that must not be marginalised or condescended to.

This is a time for Catholics to stand up to the creeping alienation of our Church and faith in a rapidly secularising society.

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.

Intercommunion not truly honest

T

HE intercommunion debate never seems to reach closure.

In my own family, with a staunch Presbyterian sister-in-law, a nothing-in-particular brother-inlaw and a lapsed sister and her spouse, I experience the pain of the whole issue first-hand every time I go home to a family reunion during which I celebrate the Eucharist for my folks.

At the moment of Communion, we can really sense the reality of the separation. But that is also paradoxically where we grow most aware of the significance of COM-m-union.

And the reason for not leniently inviting all and sundry to receive is precisely that it would then dimin-

Compassion is a gift to develop

T

HERE were five of them, a family group of parents and three siblings, all neatly dressed. Halfway through Mass the father got up and in a solicitous manner accompanied one of the boys, around eight years of age, out of the church.

I came to see that this youngster was severely handicapped—his neck jerked, his arms flailed, he walked in an uncoordinated manner. They soon returned, presumably from a visit to the toilets.

The noteworthy aspect to me was the complete acceptance by the family of this young boy—he was part of their unit. He was treated as a human being, a sibling, a son, and not any differently as far as I could tell from the other two children.

My respect, my admiration, and perhaps my desire to be as compassionate as they were—these were my emotions.

If a family unit can be accepting of the inequality amongst its members, why could larger social units not be as tolerant, as caring, as sharing, as well? Why not towns, cities, nations?

We all know that this is not the case, even remotely, in society at large. The feeling that we have earned whatever we manage to accumulate, that our talents deserve the recognition that we get, that those who do not do as well deserve to have less—by and large this is the attitude by which we live, this is the attitude we cultivate in our children.

And we forget that the talents we might have are God-given, not manmade. We may develop them to their potential, but we did not create them. And who are we to deny to others who are not as fortunate the right to sharing in the riches of this earth, which are all God-given?

I cannot say it is so, but I strongly suspect that anything the Good Lord has deprived us of, he has compensated for in a way or

ish that significance. Like sex in marriage, eucharistic Communion is the ultimate act of bonding among believers. And it is not just a special moment of intimacy with Jesus, one on one, but a public act of faith that proclaims my commitment to and union with all others who are communicating.

So if I accept the invitation to receive Communion in another church where I am attending a service, then I am by this gesture stating that I am completely at one with all those also receiving in that church.

But between our many Christian denominations, even though there are many convergences of faith, there are unfortunately still many

ways not immediately apparent to our human eyes. Perhaps the playing field is indeed level to the person with some insight.

Compassion is a gift from God, a talent which each and every one of us has been given, but it needs to be developed, to be used.

The New Testament has stories about the fate of those who fail to use what God has given them.

Trite, but, “Sharing is caring!”

Tom Drake, Johannesburg

Analysing the cross and crucifix

I

WISH to add to the excellent article

by Fr Ralph de Hahn, “The Cross and the Crucifix” (September 7).

The problem of pain has a symbol and the symbol is the cross. But why is the cross typical of the problem of suffering?

The cross is made up of two bars, one horizontal, the other vertical.

The horizontal bar is the bar of death, because death is prone, prostrate, and flat. The vertical bar is the bar of life, for all life is upright.

The crossing of one bar with the other signifies the contradiction of life and death, joy and sorrow, our will and God’s will.

As soon as we place our desires against God’s desires and God’s will, we form a cross.

If the cross is the symbol of the problem of pain and suffering, the crucifix is its solution. The difference between the cross and the crucifix is Christ. Once Our Lord mounts the cross, he reveals how 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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areas of major disagreement. And so to receive Communion together if we are not in-communion, is simply not being honest. Can we sweep all those differences under the carpet and pretend to be all one?

I believe we need to be careful not to reduce the Eucharist to a feelgood act meaning little more than a spiritual hug.

In eucharistic Communion, just as in becoming one flesh in marriage, there is one basic rule of thumb which can help us: The level of our intimacy should parallel the level of our commitment, and until our commitment is absolute, then neither should our intimacy be complete!

Fr Francis Dufour SDB, Johannesburg pain can be transformed through love into a joyful sacrifice, how those who suffer with him may reign with him.

Our Lord does not deny pain. He faces it and shows that pain has a definite part to play in life.

The lesson of the crucifix is that pain is never to be isolated or separated from love. The crucifix does not mean pain; it means sacrifice.

When pain is divorced from love it makes a man worse, it makes him bitter.

Thus there is no love greater than the love of him who laid down his life for his friends.

Dominic Sam, Port Elizabeth

Where’s music?

F

UTURE projects at St Augustine College, as you reported (September 14), make for encouraging reading.

There appears, however, to be an omission: music. Given the Church’s rich musical heritage, one would hope that a Catholic university would have a vibrant music school.

Adrian Kettle, Cape Town

Vegetative states

T

HANKS for the editorial reflecting on the good article by Mary Rezac “In a vegetative state, you can be awake” (September 14).

As was pointed out, Martin Pistorius was considered to be in such a state for 12 years, but has now recovered, married and has an active life.

It is a big moral issue which cannot be brushed aside, that is, whether to terminate life support for a comatose patient.

Also, one must thank God for the life of Fr Bonaventure Hinwood.

I used to listen to his radio debates, where he evinced his thorough knowledge of the Bible and made his points clearly and forcefully.

PA Onesta, Johannesburg n See Page 11 for obituary of Fr Bonaventue Hinwood.

PERSPECTIVES

Calling passenger Holy Spirit!

T HE Jesuit storyteller Fr Anthony de Mello once told the tale of an old Chinese farmer who experiences a series of events that has his neighbours either commiserating with his adversity or celebrating his good fortune.

Each time the farmer responds to his neighbours’ reaction by shrugging his shoulders and saying: “Good luck, bad luck—who knows?”

His neighbours deem it bad luck when his father dies, but good luck that he inherits a fine horse, but it is bad luck when the horse runs off. The farmer isn’t as jubilant as his well-meaning neighbours when the horse returns with a herd of wild horses, and doesn’t necessarily share their sadness when his son is injured trying to break in the wild horses.

When his son cannot be conscripted into the army as a result of his injuries, the farmer merely smiles and says: “Good luck, bad luck—who knows?”

The moral of the story is that life is not made up of a series of individual, seemingly unrelated events. Rather, these events are part of a rich tapestry that carries the trace of God’s loving hand.

Yet, we often miss God acting in our lives as we are caught up in the turmoil of everyday. It is only when we stand back and follow this golden thread that we can see how God’s spirit has touched our lives.

I was reminded of Fr de Mello’s story as I waited to fly home after six weeks away— bringing to a close a most eventful sequence of airport dramas.

This time, all the passengers had boarded and we were almost ready to begin the 11-hour flight home when the captain announced that the engineers had discovered a small crack on one of the external panels, and we would be delayed by about four hours to wait for a replacement plane.

Four hours became 22 hours as the flight was cancelled altogether and we were placed in a hotel for the night.

My initial reaction was to berate my run

of bad luck, because this was yet one more incident in a trip peppered with missed connecting flights, a broken suitcase, lost luggage, and a complete unwillingness by the two airlines to admit their responsibility in allocating our seats to standby passengers or to trace our lost luggage.

The news that my return home would be delayed by a day felt like the last straw.

How can one person have so much bad luck in six weeks?

After some sleep and a hearty breakfast, I was able to face the prospect of a day spent waiting in the airport with a little more humour. After all, what would it really matter in the grand scheme of things to miss a day’s work if my flight landed safely? Especially when the alternative might have been becoming confetti somewhere over the African continent. Surely, the Holy Spirit was at work to ensure that the engineers detected the small crack, no matter how inconvenient the consequences of that crucial discovery.

W

hen I think about it, all of my airport mishaps had a happy ending. Despite the missed flight and an additional flight through the night, I still made it in time for my meetings (albeit on no sleep

Model planes in Miniature Wonderland in Hamburg, Germany. in her column, SarahLeah Pimentel finds graces in airport mishaps. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher)

What’s God’s purpose for you?

A

S we work through the Bible to discover leadership lessons, we should be aware that God calls each one of us for a purpose.

What the Lord said to Jeremiah, he is saying to each one of us, and the same is true of all those he called before us: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jer 1:5).

The issue is whether we faithfully fulfil God’s purpose for us. Two of the key principles in fulfilling God’s purpose are obedience and faith.

Let’s go back to the beginning of the history of humanity and briefly examine how these principles were followed by our first parents, Adam and Eve, and by our father in faith, Abraham.

Adam and Eve were called to be the parents of the human race. In calling them, God gave them a test: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Gen 2: 16-17).

Adam and Eve failed the test for they disobeyed God and ate of the fruit, and in disobeying God they failed to have complete faith in God, and chose, rather, to have faith in the devil who appeared to them in the form of the serpent and deceived Eve: “You will not certainly die. For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3: 4-5).

Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they and their offspring were banished

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Adam and Eve reach for the forbidden fruit in a bronze statue. The earliest books in the Old Testament hold lessons for us in Christian leadership, as Emmanuel Ngara explains. (Photo: Hanne Hasu) from Paradise for ever, and deprived of their normal relationship with God. But because God loved the creatures he had created in his own image, he set in place the process of recalling and saving the human race, thereby starting the history of salvation.

A key figure in this process and history

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and with the help of several buckets of coffee).

In bad fortune I experienced acts of kindness. A friend drove me to an airport an hour away to search physically for my luggage, which had been dumped in the baggage claim area. Another friend gave me his old suitcase so that I wouldn’t need to send my own suitcase on another adventure wrapped in duct tape. So much else could have gone wrong, but somehow it all worked out.

Too often we react to the small inconveniences in everyday living as if the world is personally out to get us. We complain, we speak about our bad luck, our tempers rise and with it the negativity spreads around us—as it did at about 1am when the airline informed us that we would not be flying out until 6pm the following evening. But when we focus on our bad luck, we lose the opportunity for grace to work itself.

As part of our daily prayer, we’re called to step back from the events of the day and reflect on them in the light of divine grace.

Where was the Holy Spirit at work in my day? Despite all the things that went wrong today, what went right? Do I recognise where I was invisibly protected from harm as I made my way through unseen dangers? Am I able to see God’s hand in conversations that could have escalated into confrontations but instead ended on an amicable note? Do I see the seeds of God’s love in the beauty of the sunrise, the colours of the sunset, or the power of the ocean on a stormy day?

Good luck? Bad luck? Or just simply, God working in my life according to his perfect plan of love for me?

Emmanuel Ngara

Christian Leadership

is Abraham, whose name was originally Abram. When God called Abram to leave his country (Harran) and go to the “Promised Land” (present day Israel, Palestine and Jordan), he immediately obeyed: “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you” (Gen 12).

In Hebrews 11:8 we are told: “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”

The greatest test was yet to come for Abraham: “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you”(Gen 22:2).

This test was surely infinitely harder than the test God had given to Adam and Eve, and yet, painful though it must have been, Abraham set out very early the following day to do as the Lord had commanded. God rewarded him by saving the life of the boy (Gen 22:11-14).

As we progress in our effort of becoming Christian leaders, we should be aware that the Christian life is not a bed of roses.

Much is expected from those of us who have been called to lead others to the heavenly Kingdom.

But if we keep our faith in the Lord and obey whatever he commands us to do, we will see ourselves joyfully passing the test, however demanding it may be.

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The Southern Cross, October 5 to October 11, 2016

7

Clifford Yeary

year of Mercy

Take courage!

T

HE gospel of Mark tells us of a blind man named Bartimaeus, who would sit at the roadside, begging for his livelihood outside the ancient city of Jericho (Mk 10:46-52).

He hears voices from a sizeable crowd that tell him the man known as Jesus of Nazareth is approaching on his way out of Jericho. Something of Jesus’ reputation is already known to Bartimaeus because he not only calls out to Jesus, but also gives him a very special title: “Jesus, son of David”.

Bartimaeus has faith that Jesus is the Messiah, and his faith fills him with hope. “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.”

The crowd urges Bartimaeus to shut up. Here, for once in Mark, it is not Jesus’ disciples who discourage the needy figure from bothering their master (10:13). The crowd cannot intimidate Bartimaeus, however. He calls out to Jesus all the more stridently: “Son of David, have pity on me.”

Jesus hears his plea, but what happens next is a subtle message to us, whether we think of ourselves as true disciples of the master or simply among the throng that follow him. Jesus does not go to Bartimaeus, he gives an order to the people following him out of Jericho: “Call him” (10:49).

The message for us is about our role in mediating Jesus’ mercy. There are voices all over our world, not just far away, but near us, whether homeless or living in our neighbourhoods, who in one way or another are hoping for a sign of God’s mercy.

While we ourselves might wonder why God hasn’t answered their cries, we might instead remember Jesus telling the crowd that they are to be the mediators, the ones who ensure that the meeting takes place between the one in need and the ultimate source of mercy.

A

nd so “they” (the crowd, his disciples, or all of them together?) call out to Bartimaeus: “Take courage; get up, he is calling you.” Filled with their encouragement and his own firm hope in what the son of David can do for him, Bartimaeus springs to his feet, throws aside his cloak and goes directly to Jesus (10:49-50).

He is blind, so how does he know where Jesus is among the crowd? He could only know because he heard that one authoritative voice say, “Call him” and he knew whose voice that had to be and fixed his location with his ears.

Isn’t it curious that when Bartimaeus approaches Jesus that Jesus asks: “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus can see that the man is blind, but it is necessary that Bartimaeus express both his faith and his hope.

While there is no surprise when Bartimaeus says he wants to see, do we see all that Bartimaeus is asking, all that he hopes for? Retired Anglican Bishop N T Wright of Durham, England, tells us that in the act of throwing aside his cloak as he springs up to go to Jesus, Bartimaeus was surrendering the only way of life, the only way of survival, that he knew: begging.

According to Bishop Wright, Bartimaeus wasn’t wearing his cloak as he sat by the roadside. He would have had it spread out in front of him to collect the coins wayfarers to and from Jericho would toss to him. Today, we are used to seeing people begging with upturned hats, empty coffee cans and open guitar cases.

In Jesus’ day beggars spread out their cloaks before them. Bartimaeus tosses his cloak aside because he has no further use for it. In seeking his sight he was also seeking a new way of life, and his faith gave him the courage to pursue it even while he was still blind.

Bartimaeus tells Jesus that he wants to see, and Jesus sees Bartimaeus’s faith and tells him: “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Bartimaeus immediately receives his sight, but he does not go his way, he instead follows Jesus “on the way” (10:51-52).

Before Jesus’ followers were called Christians, before they understood themselves to be “church”, they called themselves “The Way,” for they knew Jesus to be the way of salvation (see John 14:16).

To seek the Lord out for his mercy is to commit ourselves to following him on the way, calling out to all in need, “Take courage…he is calling you.” n This is the seventh column in a 13-part series of reflections on the Year of Mercy. This article was originally published in Arkansas Catholic.

8

The Southern Cross, October 5 to October 11, 2016

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SOUTH AFRICA

The Southern Cross, October 5 to October 11, 2016

9

Does the ANC really know our struggle?

The ruling African National Congress is dominated by the culture of exiles who do not seem to know the suffering and sacrifices made by people who fought apartheid within South Africa, argues BiSHOP ViCTOR PHALANA.

S

OUTH Africans know when to say enough is enough. This is the cry of the poor—those on the peripheries; those who are marginalised and do not count. They are remembered only during elections, but now, after the local elections in August, they know: their vote counts.

This year, the voters expressed themselves: No more blind loyalty.

They told the political leaders: “You must earn and deserve our votes. If you don’t, we wiĺl vote for someone else, or not vote at all.” It happened in Nkandla, in Mandela Bay, in Tshwane, in Johannesburg. Now they know it is possible. The people have exercised their right to vote.

All this has made me think of what it is that we struggled for.

In the mid-1980s a group of 41 Catholic seminarians, including myself, marched to the Union Buildings, the seat of the apartheid government administration, to deliver a letter to President PW Botha.

In that letter we called for the suspension of the State of Emergency and for democratic rule in the land.

We made a prophetic announcement. Quoting the prophets, we said that unless the apartheid regime re-

Seminarians from St John Vianney march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria in September 1985 to deliver a memorandum to President P W Botha. it was only the second-ever successful march on the government’s headquarters. Among the marchers were future bishops Victor Phalana and Sithembele Sipuka. Among others are Frs Michael van Heerden, Siyabonga Mfayela, Peter-John Pearson, Mkheseni Xulu, John Atkinson, Brian Gelant, Augustine Khanyile OFM and Lucas Bambezela OFM, as well as Andrew Johnson. pented, it was going to collapse—and within four years, it did.

It was a risk for us to march to the Union Buildings—only one previous march had successfully led there; the women’s march of August 9, 1956— but we were ready to lay down our lives for justice and freedom.

Sometimes I am tempted to think that some of the leaders who returned from exile do not know what we, who remained in South Africa, went through.

We respect the veterans of the struggle and all the exiles. Some of

them came back, others are still missing. Some were not here during the 1976 Soweto uprisings. They were not part of school boycotts, bus boycotts, union strikes in mines, industry, farms, government and so on.

D

o they know our pain of the time when the United Democratic Front was established in August 1983? Do they know how we felt during the Vaal Seven or Delmas trials; the execution of Solomon Mahlangu; the banishment of Winnie Mandela; the abduction and

murder of the Pepco Three; the Khayelitsha burnings; the massacres in Uitenhage, Mamelodi or Alexandra (where we went as seminarians with our rector Fr William Slattery for a vigil and funerals); the deaths of people in Winterveldt, Garankuwa, Soshanguve and Oukasie; the petrol bombings of homes by police; young people who tried to join Apla and Umkhonto we Sizwe being caught and executed; people who were trapped and sent to jail; suspected informers who were necklaced?

Do they know how we felt when Khotso House, headquarters of the South African Council of Churches, was burnt down? Or when our own Catholic Bishops’ Conference general secretariat, Khanya House, was bombed? Other Church properties which were used for protest meetings and union workshops were also bombed by the security forces.

Do they know how we felt when SACBC secretary-general Fr Smangaliso Mkhatshwa was harassed, detained, tortured and banned?

Theologians and activist priests were harassed and persecuted: Beyers Naudé, Desmond Tutu, Denis Hurley, Frank Chikane, Allan Boesak, Manas Buthelezi.

My own predecessor as bishop of Klerksdorp, Bishop Zithulele Mvemve, was detained without trial by the security police when he was a priest in Johannesburg.

Do the exiles have a clue of what “Black Christmas” was like—people forced to drink fish oil or Staysoft?

Did they experience the teargas we inhaled? As seminarians we attended memorial services at Regina Mundi church in Soweto—and we were always teargassed and shot at.

Did they know the brutality of the homeland system and the savagery

of the vigilantes?

Do they appreciate the struggles of our radical unions of that time?

And I don’t mean our present ones which are protecting corruption, eTolls and state capture, but those that spoke on behalf of workers’ rights, justice and freedom for all? I witnessed their struggle because in the early 1980s their preferred place for workshops was our St Peter’s Seminary in Hammanskraal, Pretoria.

I am saying all this because some of our friends in the ruling party do not appreciate this history. I know that people like Oliver Tambo and Chris Hani appreciated the local contribution to the struggle. But now we are faced with Amasela: those who use their struggle credentials in exile to downplay the contribution of those who struggled within the borders. Now they are busy enriching themselves and their friends!

We all played a part. We want to go back to the values of Tambo, Biko, Hani, Mandela, Mama Sisulu, Ruth First, Mosebudi Mangena and Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe.

Those who fought from within must be acknowledged: religious leaders and activists, journalists, artists, teachers, unionists, academics, lecturers, chiefs like Molotlegi of Bafokeng, nurses, missionaries (some were expelled from the country), intellectuals, youth, grassroots organisations, civic leaders and so on.

I am not a historian. I am a citizen scandalised by the powerful who by their actions are dishonouring our struggle. They will continue to lose the support of the people until they understand our discontent.

We must place values and people first. n Bishop Victor Phalana heads the diocese of Klerksdorp.

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The Southern Cross, October 5 to October 11, 2016

LIFE

Porn crisis: What the Church can do With the advent of smartphones, access to pornography has increased dramatically. MARy REZAC finds out how the Church can respond to a crisis that isn’t only moral, but also social.

C

LAY OLSEN speaks to thousands of youth about a subject most people would rather not touch: pornography.

As the founder and CEO of Fight the New Drug, an organisation that educates people about pornography addiction (fightthenewdrug.org), Mr Olsen gives presentations to young people about how pornography is affecting their brains, their relationships and ultimately the world.

After one particular presentation, a young man asked a question that perfectly illustrates how drastically pornography has changed.

“He asked me very sincerely whether Playboy was pornography or not,” Mr Olsen recalled. “His definition of pornography had shifted so dramatically...that Playboy doesn’t even make the cut.”

Importantly, this young man is the rule of his generation, not the exception, Mr Olsen said.

The effects of constant access to the Internet, made possible by the availability of laptops, tablets and smartphones, has drastically changed how young people consume pornography in a way that many adults underestimate.

In the earlier days of the Internet, before the boom of smartphones, a 2004 study from an internet traffic management company saw porn sites grow by 1 800% between 1998 and 2004. At the time, an estimated 34 million people visited adult websites every month.

Today, those numbers seem almost laughable. PornHub, one of the world’s largest adult sites with explicit video streaming, reports that it averages 2,4 million visitors per hour. In 2015 alone, the number of hours streamed from the site was double the amount of time human beings have populated the earth, according to Time magazine.

The amount of content is not the only thing that has changed. Because of the constant availability of pornography, many users find themselves seeking increasingly extreme forms of content—and the Internet has kept up with the demand.

As reported in the Washington Post, a recent content analysis of

some of the most popular porn sites found that 88% of analysed scenes contained physical aggression, and verbal aggression occurred in 49% of the scenes. Women were the targets 94% of the time.

Several studies have also shown a correlation between the viewing of pornography and the likelihood of committing, or wanting to commit, rape or sexual assault. Other studies show a correlation between men who consume pornography and experience erectile dysfunction, once thought to mostly be a condition of older men.

Fortunately, Mr Olsen said, it seems that society may finally be catching up to the truth about the harmful nature of porn.

Recently, journalist Belinda Lascombe for Time chronicled the stories of young men who are anti-porn advocates after their experiences of porn addiction and consequential impotence. A follow-up op-ed from the Washington Post declared that regardless of pornography’s morality, it’s a public health issue.

Is the Church doing enough?

But what about the Catholic Church? Is enough being done to make the faithful aware of the danger of pornography—to provide resources both protecting those who have not fallen victim and reaching out to those who have?

Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on the family, Amoris Laetitia, mentions pornography directly just two times—once to mention that the bishops have expressed concern about it, and once to mention it within the context of age-appropriate sex education.

But that the word made it into the document at all is a significant step, said Fr Sean Kilcawley, an American priest who has spent a significant amount of his priesthood in pornography addiction and educational ministry.

He currently serves as the programme director and theological advisor for Integrity Restored, a Catholic apostolate that addresses pornography issues and addiction in families, individuals and clergy.

“Pope Francis has talked about pornography more than any other pope in history, I guarantee it,” Fr Kilcawley said.

In June 2015 aboard the papal plane, Pope Francis—who does not use the Internet or watch TV, and reads just one newspaper—told journalists that parents need to be aware of the “dirty” content, including pornography, that can be found online, and urged them to take preventative steps such as keeping

Do you feel called to the Franciscan way of life?

Porn has changed in the past few years—and our problems have become much worse and complex. (image from Fight the New Drug) computers in common rooms. He has also mentioned the issue in various homilies and talks, particularly to youth, throughout his pontificate.

The problem in the Church, on a practical and local level, is that pornography addiction treatment programmes need to be part of a parish’s mainstream ministry and not seen as an obscure ministry needed by the few, Fr Kilcawley said.

“Anti-pornography ministry is not a peripheral ministry,” he stressed. “We don’t just need tools to help a few people—we have to take those tools and incorporate them into an evangelisation plan that’s trying to evangelise within an entire culture that’s being affected by pornography,” he said.

“Pornography is the biggest obstacle to evangelisation that we’re facing as a Church,” Fr Kilcawley added. “Because the core beliefs of an addict are: ‘I’m unlovable, if people really knew me they would reject me; no one can meet my needs, not even God’.”

Fr Kilcawley said some priests may feel shame addressing the issue due to their own sexual stories.

“We might be afraid that if we talk about it, people will think that we have a problem with it, and so whether we have a problem or not, we can be afraid of that.”

Reluctance to address the issue

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publicly could also be because of a priest’s own struggle with pornography.

At the time of last year’s Synod on the Family in Rome, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia noted that pornography was a major issue among clergy.

“The number of our Catholic clergy who struggle with this problem is very unsettling, and it has nothing to do with celibacy,” the archbishop said, noting that Protestant ministers and Jewish rabbis contend with the same issue.

Porn: A historical pandemic A 2000 survey by Christianity Today found that clergy and laity reported visiting sexually explicit websites at nearly the same rates.

“Pornography’s always been a problem. Ancient Rome was famous for it. Sex is powerful and fascinating, and people have always abused its appeal,” Archbishop Chaput said.

“It’s an epidemic, or more accurately, a pandemic. Anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world can find all the [pornography] he or she wants,” he noted.

But given the prevalence of pornography and its damaging effects, Mr Olsen said, adults can no longer afford to avoid addressing this issue with the children in their lives.

“For many adults, the inclination is to not discuss it. In their opinion, it’s hard, it’s gross, it’s ‘I don’t even want to go there, let’s not focus on it’,” he said.

“And although I totally and completely respect their intent and their desires, I have to respectfully come back and say we no longer have the luxury as a society, to sit idly by and watch things continue to progress in a very harmful and societally damaging way.”

Pornography is also important for priests to address with their parishioners in order for them to feel comfortable enough to seek healing, Fr Kilcawley said.

“It’s just giving people permission to be wounded, which I think is what Pope Francis has been trying to do,” Fr Kilcawley said.

“You have permission to be wounded, and so it’s okay to come and tell your priest that you have this problem in your life. He’s not going to run away from you, he’s not going to scold you, he’s not going to condemn you, he just wants to help you heal,” he said.

“The most shameful sins in our life, we need permission to talk about them.”

Part of what Fr Kilcawley does for his anti-pornography ministry is to talk to the parents of his first communicants at a retreat about motherhood and fatherhood within the context of the Church’s teaching on the Theology of the Body. He also

spends an hour on Internet safety and sex education.

“Pastorally speaking, the best approach is to focus on prevention and focus on relationships within the family, evangelisation within the family, and protecting kids from pornography, and the more we talk about it in that way, it’s both bold and less threatening, and then it gives people the freedom to come to the Church to look for healing.”

Once he started talking about the issue of pornography with families, Fr Kilcawley had so many adults approach him about pornography addiction that he decided to form support groups as well. He now is in charge of a group for men addicted to pornography, as well as a group for women whose husbands are addicted to pornography.

Fr Kilcawley said he also encourages people who are addicted to abstain from receiving the Eucharist unless they have gone to confession.

Even though they may not be in a state of mortal sin due to the compulsive nature of the behaviour, not being able to receive the Eucharist unless having gone to confession is an added incentive in the recovery process.

Reach out to young people Matt Fradd, director of content at Integrity Restored, said that talking to kids about pornography in an ageappropriate way is one of the best means to prevent future pornography-use and addiction. And the younger parents start, the better, since some researchers estimate the average age of pornography exposure today is eight years old.

“I feel like we’re guinea pigs, because parenting in the 8th century and the 13th and the 19th—it was relatively similar compared to parenting in the 21st century,” Mr Fradd said. “The Internet really has changed everything.”

Integrity Restored provides parents with free resources about the best ways to talk to their children about pornography.

Integrity Restored also provides free resources to priests looking for the best ways to broach the subject with their congregations.

Mr Fradd also founded The Porn Effect, which is the youth outreach branch of Integrity Restored that educates youth and provides resources for them about pornography use and addiction. Another important aspect of prevention is Internet filters and accountability systems, for which Mr Fradd said he recommends the Covenant Eyes software.

Fight the New Drug’s Mr Olsen said he thinks the best approach to combat a culture of pornography is three-tiered: prevention in children, research on the subject, and recovery therapy programmes.

His organisation has spent several years working with neuroscientists and psychologists to develop the Fortified Program (fortifyprogram. org), a free and anonymous online recovery programme for youth. It currently has over 35 000 users in more than 155 countries, and Mr Olsen said he didn’t even put “a penny into marketing or advertising”.

“So the demand is enormous, there are many that are struggling,” he said. “We get emails from 8-yearolds, 9-year-olds, 10-year-olds.”

That the programme is free and anonymous is key, Mr Olsen said, because many of these children seeking help will stop once they see either a credit card or parental consent is required, “both of which are a Mount Everest that they are unwilling or unable to climb”, he said.

“We have created a solution that they can jump into that will help them overcome that, so recovery is a big part of how we will heal society.”

Mr Fradd said that in many ways, the resources that the Church needs in order to better address this issue already exist—they just need to be utilised.

“We’re all kind of playing catchup,” he said. “There are beautiful things happening, we just need to know about them.”—CNA

CLASSIFIEDS

Fr Bonaventure Hinwood OFM

F

OR many today in South Africa, the passing of Fr Bonaventure Hinwood on September 8 at Lady Selbourne retirement home in West Pretoria is “the end of an era”.

Fr Hinwood was the first South African-born member of the Franciscan order.

Edward Victor Hinwood was born on February 12, 1930 in Johannesburg. He was reared in the Anglican faith along with his only brother Lionel.

Once he finished his secondary education, he went to the University of the Witwatersrand to study librarianship. While at Wits he was also involved in cultural groups and came into contact with the Catholic chaplain, Irish Franciscan Father Didacus Connery. A strong friendship developed between them and the young Edward decided to become a Catholic.

After his university studies ended, he opted to join the Franciscan order. He studied at St John Vianney seminary in Pretoria, and then moved to Ireland to begin his novitiate with the Irish friars in Killarney. It was then that he took the name Bonaventure, after the 13th century Franciscan saint.

He took his first vows in 1955 and then went on to complete his philosophical studies at Galway University.

Next, he went to Rome, to the International University of Anthony, to undergo his theological

training. He obtained his degree in theology in 1960, and the same year was ordained a priest in Rome.

As a scholar, he was asked to further his theological studies and he chose “race” as the topic of his doctorate. This was published in 1964 as Race: The Reflections of a Theologian.

Meanwhile, he had returned to South Africa to begin his lecturing career at St John Vianney.

He was also the Catholic chaplain at Pretoria University for many years. His ministry on the campus brought him into contact with members of the theology faculty, most of whom were from the Dutch Reformed Church. He became a very powerful spokesman for the Catholic Church in its efforts at dialogue on the ecumenical front.

Because of his fluency in both English and Afrikaans, he very soon became a respected commentator on radio and television.

Liturgical Calendar Year C – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday October 9 2 Kings 5:14-17, Psalms 98:1-4, 2 Timothy 2:813, Luke 17:11-19 Monday October 10, St Daniel Comboni Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31--5:1, Psalms 113, Luke 11:29-32 Tuesday October 11, St John XXIII Galatians 5:1-6, Psalms 119:41, 43, 45, 47-48, Luke 11:37-41 Wednesday October 12 Galatians 5:18-25, Psalms 1:1-4, 6, Luke 11:4246 Thursday October 13 Ephesians 1:1-10, Psalms 98:1-6, Luke 11:47-54 Friday October 14, St Callistus Ephesians 1:11-14, Psalms 33:1-2, 4-5, 12-13, Luke 12:1-7 Saturday October 15, St Teresa of Avila Ephesians 1:15-23, Psalms 8:2-7, Luke 12:8-12 Sunday October 16 Exodus 17:8-13, Psalms 121:1-8, 2 Timothy 3:14--4:2, Luke 18:1-8

GOD BLESS AFRICA Guard our people, guide our leaders and give us peace.

Luke 11:1-13

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In the seminary he kept the library up to date with philosophical and theological publications.

He published an MA thesis in 1974 on The Divisions of Human Knowledge in the Writings of St Bonaventure.

Over the years he tackled many of the problems in Catholic theology in his Southern Cross “Questions and Answers” columns which were published in a series of booklets between 1983 and 1991.

He was also an excellent poet in Afrikaans and published several books of Afrikaans poems.

At St John Vianney seminary Fr Hinwood fulfilled many tasks, such as dean of studies, in which he was forever active in directing students and getting qualified lecturers.

He even established a radio and TV studio in which he introduced seminarians to the art of communication. Mention should also be made of his translation into Afrikaans of the Book of Psalms as well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

He was a very compassionate confessor and a prudent spiritual director.

Having completed 35 years lecturing at the seminary, he was appointed parish priest of the Waterkloof, Pretoria, parish of St Pius X from 1999-2005, and it was only fitting that it was from the same church that his requiem was held on September 14.

Fr Hyacinth Ennis OFM

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

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DURBAN: Holy Mass and Novena to St Anthony at St Anthony’s parish every Tuesday at 9am. Holy Mass and Divine Mercy Devotion at 17:30pm on first Friday of every month. Sunday Mass at 9am. 031 309 3496.

9018 or 031 209 2536.

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

OUR GIFT TO YOU!

The Southern Cross, October 5 to October 11, 2016

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

DEATHS

DAVIDS—Neville Richard passed away peacefully on Tuesday September 27. you have left us but will stay forever in our hearts with fondest memories.

Missed by your mother Martha, sisters Pamela, Avril & Jeffrey Hanslo, brothers Owen & Michelle, Paul & Karen (New Zealand) and their families.

Rest in peace, dear son and brother.

DAVIDS—Neville Richard, our dearest dad and grandpa passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 27. you are now at peace with our mother Aletta. your memory will live in our hearts forever.

Son Ashley & Alouette, daughter Lisa & Reggie, grandsons Justin, Jodi, Liam and Alex.

DAVIDS—Neville Richard. in loving memory of our much-loved and dearest uncle and “pa” who passed away on Tuesday September 27. you will be sorely missed. RiP. Lesley Anne and Luke Alexander

IN MEMORIAM

ANTONIE—Maroonie. September 29, 1997. in loving memory of my beloved husband and our dearest father; you are always remembered and sorely missed, Olive and all our children. RiP. 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 MATTHEE—Merlyn. Our beloved Mother who has passed on October 10, 2010. Still sadly missed by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

PRAYERS

MIRACULOUS Prayer to the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, you who makes me see everything and shows me the way to reach my ideal, you who gives me the divine gift to forgive and forget all the wrong that is done to me and you who are in all instances of my life with me. i, in this short dialogue, want to thank you for everything, and affirm once more that i never want to be separated from you no matter how great the material desires may be. i want to be with you and my loved ones in your perpetual glory. To that end and submitting to God's holy will, i ask from you...(mention your favour).

Amen This prayer should be said for 3 consecutive days. After the 3rd day, your sincere wish will be granted no matter how difficult it may be. Promise to publish it on granting of your favour. The idea is to spread the wonder of the Holy Spirit.

PERSONAL

ABORTION WARNING: The truth will convict a

Our bishops’ anniversaries This week we congratulate: October 13: Bishop Pius Mlungisi Dlungwane of Mariannhill on his 69th birthday October 14: Bishop Edward Risi of Keimoes-Upington on the 16th anniversary of his episcopal ordination

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View amazing pictures of Pious Kintu’s work in Congo and various African countries since 2007. Also read about African Stigmatist Reverend Sister Josephine Sul and Padre Pio among others.

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Editor: Günther Simmermacher (editor@scross.co.za), Business Manager: Pamela Davids (admin@scross.co.za), Advisory Editor: Michael Shackleton, News Editor: Mandla Zibi (m.zibi@scross.co.za), Editorial: Claire Allen (c.allen@scross.co.za), Mary Leveson (m.leveson@scross.co.za), Advertising: yolanda Timm (advertising@scross.co.za), Subscriptions: Michelle Perry (subscriptions@scross.co.za), Accounts: Desirée Chanquin (accounts@scross.co.za) Directors: R Shields (Chair), J O’Leary (Vice-chair), Archbishop S Brislin, S Duval, E Jackson, B Jordan, Sr H Makoro CPS, J Mathurine, R Riedlinger, G Stubbs, Z Tom Editorial Advisory Board: Fr Chris Chatteris SJ, Kelsay Correa, Dr Nontando Hadebe, Prof Derrick Kourie, Claire Mathieson, Fr Lawrence Mduduzi Ndlovu, Palesa Ngwenya, Sr Dr Connie O’Brien i.Sch, Kevin Roussel, Fr Paul Tatu CSS

Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect those of the editor, staff, directors or advisory board of The Southern Cross.

the

29th Sunday: October 16 Readings: Exodus 17:8-13, Psalm 121:1-8, 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2, Luke 18:1-8

I

S outher n C ross

T is absolutely essential that we pray; but we must understand prayer correctly, and not turn it into a magic conjuring trick; prayer does not change God, but it certainly changes us.

That seems to be what next Sunday’s readings are telling us. The first reading is the well-known story of Joshua’s battle against the Amalekites. We notice Moses’ instructions to his second-in-command, that he is to “choose some men for us, and go out to fight Amalek”. So he is being asked to field rather less than the entire team, which is already an implicit act of faith in God. Meanwhile Moses will commend the whole battle to God in prayer; he and Aaron and Hur will go up the mountain “with the staff of God in my hand”. So already there is a note of magic here, which perhaps makes us feel a little uncomfortable, the more so when we observe that a good deal hangs on Moses’ precise physical posture: “When Moses raised up his hand Israel was strong; but when he rested his hand, Amalek was strong.” Then of course Moses’ hands “grew

heavy”, so he sits on a stone and: “Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on each side, and his hands were reliable until the sun went.” What matters is prayer, not as a magic solution to all our problems, but an affirmation that God is always present, working out the answer.

The psalm for next Sunday is one of the lovely “psalms of ascent”, often sung on pilgrimage; and we may imagine the pilgrims raising their eyes to the distant Judean hills.

And they ask the all-important question: “From where does my help come?” The answer is the only possible one: “My help is from the Lord who made heaven and earth.”

What makes prayer “work” is not magic but the unfailing presence of the Maker of the Universe: “He will not give your feet to death.

Look—he will not slumber or sleep, the One who keeps Israel.” The result is that: “By day the sun shall not strike you, or the moon at night-time: the Lord will keep you from all evil.” There is no magic here, only a serene acceptance that God is in charge.

That is what the author of 2 Timothy is commending in our second reading: “Stick with the things that you have learnt, and become convinced of.” Then Timothy is reminded of the “holy writings, which can make you wise towards salvation through faith in Jesus Christ”; and Paul follows this with the statement that: “All writing is Godbreathed.”

This is sometimes translated as “all Scripture is inspired”, which may not be what the writer is saying, but certainly carries the notion that God is permanently interested in our concerns and is there to protect us.

The point is that: “The man of God should be ready for every good deed.” Then Timothy is told: “Proclaim the word, be ready for good times and bad times, reprove, rebuke, console, in all patience and teaching.” There is no magic here, just an alertness for God’s unfailing presence.

And that is what the Gospel is aiming at.

Luke gives it the helpful heading “a parable aimed at them praying all the time, and not

The software of morality W

cepts unintelligible and offensive?

To the credit of classical Catholic moral teaching, these concepts have an intelligibility and a palatability inside a certain moral framework within which their proper meaning and nuance is predicated on the overall system.

In a simpler language, they make sense within that system.

In today’s language, classical Catholic moral theology might be compared to highly specialised software; indeed one which was honed, nuanced, and upgraded through centuries so that, as a system, it has smooth internal coherence.

The problem, though, is that today so much of our culture and so many of our churches no longer use, nor understand how to use, that software. As a consequence, its formatting and language are misunderstood and can appear offensive.

Not everyone, like the archbishop just described, has a sense of humour about this.

So what’s to be done? How do we move forward? Do we simply abandon a lot of classical moral teachings because so many people today are taking offence at its concepts and language?

A

dmittedly, it’s a huge problem, with a lot of sincere people weighing in very differently on the issue, as was seen at last year’s synod in Rome on marriage and family life.

How do we hold authentic Christian moral ground and, at the same time, properly account for the actual, existential real-

Conrad

HEN I was doing graduate studies in Belgium, I lived at the American College in Leuven. On staff there at the time, in the housekeeping and maintenance department, was a wonderfully colourful woman.

Her energy brought oxygen into a room but her history of marriage somewhat paralleled that of the Samaritan woman at the well in John’s gospel. None of us knew for sure how often she’d been married and whether the man she was living with at the time was her husband.

One day an archbishop was visiting the college and there was a formal reception line of which she was part. The archbishop would shake each person’s hand and engage him or her in a brief exchange.

When he came to her, she gave him her name and told him what she did at the college. He shook her hand and, by way of greeting and conversation, asked her: “Are you married?”

She wasn’t quite prepared for that question. She stammered a bit and replied: “Yes, no, well, kind of.” Then, breaking into a grin, said: “Actually, Your Grace, I’m living in sin!”

To his credit, the archbishop grinned as well. He got what she was saying, not just her words, but too the nuance that her grin conveyed.

“Living in sin.” “Acts that are inherently disordered.” What is Catholic moral theology trying to say with these kinds of concepts when so many people today, including many Catholics, find such con-

Nicholas King SJ

Understanding prayer

576AM

Sunday Reflections

giving up”. That sounds a bit like the handraising of our first reading, but the story is not quite so predictable. The person who prays is like the classic figure of the widow (unsupported in a society like that) dealing with an unjust judge (whose existence would not be admitted in most societies).

The judge is portrayed as not “having reverence for God or respect for human beings”, but is simply overcome by the woman “giving me hassle; I don’t want her to come and give me a black eye”.

There is a touch of comedy here, of course (and many translations avoid the “black eye” bit!), in the idea that God might be like an unjust judge, or afraid of a black eye. What is absolutely clear is the reliability of God, who will: “Do vindication for his chosen ones who cry to him day and night, and has patience with them.”

So keep praying, this week!

Southern Crossword #727

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

ity of millions and millions of people, including many of our own families and children?

How do we name the moral reality of people who are living in situations that, while clearly life-giving, are not in line with Christian principles?

How do we name the moral reality of so many of our own children and loved ones who are living with partners to whom they are not married, but are drawing life from that relationship?

How do we name the moral situation of a gay couple whose relationship is clearly life-giving?

And how do we name the moral situation of the Samaritan woman and the woman I mentioned earlier who, while irregular in terms of the Church’s teaching on marriage, bring life, joy, and oxygen into a room? Are they living in sin? Does their situation include some intrinsic evil?

We need a new software within moral theology to answer those questions, or at least to format them in a language that our culture understands and can be challenged by. And it won’t be a simple or easy task, as the tensions and polarisations within our churches and at our dinner tables highlight.

The task is to hold our moral ground, challenge a culture which no longer understands or accepts our former way of understanding these things, and yet, at the same time, not bend the truth to the times, nor the Gospel to the world, even as we better name the moral situation within which so much of our world and so many of our loved ones find themselves.

The truth sets us free, but God often works through crooked lines. I’m a student of classical moral theology and truly believe in its principles, even as I am daily humbled and challenged by the love, grace, faith, and wonderful oxygen I see flowing out of people whose situations are “irregular”. How can the good be bad?

At this stage in time, along with many of the rest of you, I suspect, I am forced to stay with the ambiguity, to live the question.

We need a new software, a new way of morally formatting things, a new way of holding truth in empathy, a new way of holding the essential within the existential.

ACROSS

5. Do the laundry (4) 7. Spaniard who asked searching questions (10) 8. Let it down and behave without inhibition (4) 10. Timeless life (8) 11. Handwriting for the cast of Passion Play? (6) 12. Went south-east for the latest (6) 14. No, said the handsome Greek (6) 16. Tan oil for the Spanishspeaking prelate (6) 17 Mary told the angel what she humbly was (8) 19. Did some gardening (4) 21. Does he belong to secret rock society? (10) 22. Measurement found in church building (4)

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DOwN

1. They’re your relations (4) 2. This angel has a ward of his own (8) 3. Particular appearance of a spectator (6) 4. Scattered (6) 5. Cathedral architect who can sing (4) 6. Intuition of one more perception (5,5) 9. Senior cleric (10) 13. He has his eye on the time at the vigil (8) 15. A dark area (6) 16. Jacob’s means of getting up and down (6) 18. Chef needs it for TV reception (4) 20. Well cooked (4)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

CATHOLIC priest and a rabbi were discussing job descriptions and promotion.

“What do you look forward to in the way of a promotion?” asked the rabbi. “Well, I’m next in line for the monsignor’s job,” replied the priest.

“Yes, and then what?” asked the rabbi. “Well, next I can become a bishop,” said the priest.

“Yes, and then?” asked the rabbi. “If I work hard, it’s possible to become an archbishop,” said the priest.

“OK, then what?” asked the rabbi. The priest, now exasperated, replied: “With some luck, maybe I can become a cardinal.”

“And then?” asked the rabbi. The priest is really mad now and replies: “With lots of luck, maybe, just maybe, I can get elected pope.”

“Yes, and then what?” asked the rabbi. “Good grief!” shouted the priest. “What do you expect me to become, God?” “Well,” said the rabbi, “One of our boys made it!”

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