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Hurley shrine to open, new prayer issued STAFF REPORTER

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HIS weekend crowds are gathering at Durban’s Emmanuel cathedral to pray at the newly opened shrine to Archbishop Denis Hurley, who was ordained bishop of Durban 70 years ago this week.

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, Archbishop Hurley’s successor as archbishop of Durban, has given permission for a shrine and has encouraged acts of public devotion.

The cardinal recently said that such devotions are the evidence that the archdiocese needs to open a cause for the canonisation of Archbishop Hurley.

Following the Catholic custom, after he died on February 13, 2004, the archbishop was buried in his own cathedral, in a grave just in front of the Lady Chapel which he loved. The shrine marks this out as a special place of prayer with a prie-dieu (or kneeler), a candle that will remain lit perpetually, and a special prayer invoking Archbishop Hurley’s example.

The date for the launch of the shrine was chosen because it was 70 years ago, on March 19, 1947 that the 31-year old Fr Denis Hurley was consecrated bishop—at the time the youngest bishop in the whole Catholic world.

When the vicariate of Durban was elevated to the status of archdiocese in 1951, he also became the world’s youngest archbishop.

Archbishop Hurley retired in 1992 and then served as the parish priest of Emmanuel cathedral parish.

Masses will be celebrated over this weekend

by Mgr Paul Nadal, who served as Archbishop Hurley’s last vicar-general, and by a number of Hurley’s fellow Oblates, including Bishop Barry Wood, Natal provincial Fr Vusi Mazibuko, and Fr Chris Richmond, superior of Sabon House, the archbishop’s last community.

“Durban City Council has recognised Hurley’s importance with a street and now a museum dedicated to him; the Church is now formally encouraging us to pray for his intercession by the creation of this shrine. It is clear that he is an inspiration to Catholics and to

The

Franciscan friars Freddy Albarez and Jorge Fernandez with their monastery’s dog Carmelo, also called Friar Bigotón. The stray dog was adopted by the Franciscans in Cochabamba, Bolivia. See page 11 for a photo of Friar Bigotón preaching to fish. (Photo: Kasper Mariusz Kaproń OFM)

Meet the barking Franciscan

S The new shrine for Archbishop Denis Hurley at his grave in Durban’s Emmanuel cathedral will be officially opened on March 19, the 70th anniversary of the archbishop’s episcopal ordination. all citizens,” said Hurley biographer Paddy Kearney.

Raymond Perrier, director of the Denis Hurley Centre, noted that “Pope Francis keeps reminding us that we are the ‘Church of the Poor’. Hurley’s example drives the work for the poor that continues in his name. With our prayers, and the work of the Spirit, perhaps in time he will be St Denis of Durban, patron of the poor.” n Also see page 2

AINT Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals—so it is fitting that one of the newest “members” of the Franciscans should be a dog.

The Franciscan monastery of Cochabamba in Bolivia announced on Facebook that their new dog, Carmelo, had joined their order— with photos of the dog in a tiny brown Franciscan habit to prove it.

Carmelo was even given a “religious” name: Friar Bigotón—Spanish for “moustache”.

Before he joined the monastery, Friar Bigotón lived as a stray. But he clearly enjoys life in the community.

“His life is all about playing and running,” Fr Jorge Fernandez told the animal website TheDodo.com. “Here, all of the brothers love him very much. He is a creature of God.” But running and playing aren’t the dog’s only duties.

Photos posted to Facebook by the community’s Fr Kasper Mariusz Kapron OFM shows Carmelo “preaching to the fish”.

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Friar Bigotón’s biggest role, however, is in helping other puppies like him.

Carmelo’s adoption was made possible by a local animal rescue group, Proyecto Narices Frías (Cold Nose Project), which hopes his story will serve as an inspiration for more monasteries—and individuals—to open their doors to needy pets.

“If only all the churches of our country adopt a dog and care for him, like Friar Bigotón, we are sure that the parishioners would follow that example,” the group posted on Facebook.

Much as photographer Fr Kapron was pleased with his photos going viral, he also admonished that there are more important stories in the world.

Posting a gallery of children on his Facebook page, the Polish-born friar wrote on March 8: “The pictures of the dog who lives in our convent created international news.

To the media and the press, photos of these children are not the news. This is the world today.”

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The Southern Cross, March 15 to March 21, 2017

LOCAL

Fake news fuels xenophobic fires

By SALEM SOLOMON

F

AKE news and misinformation are fuelling bloody xenophobic clashes in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent, according to a non-profit organisation that promotes accuracy in African public debate and the media.

Amid growing tension, Africa Check has been debunking false information in South Africa and beyond.

M-Net’s Carte Blanche programme recently claimed that onethird of Malawi’s population had immigrated to South Africa. The actual figure is much lower, and the programme has since corrected the statement.

“Basically, it’s causing unnecessary tension, and people have misplaced ideas about migration,” said Anim van Wyk, editor of Johannesburg-based Africa Check (www.africacheck.org).

“I think people just don’t believe the official estimates. People also

believe news like, ‘foreigners are taking jobs’. We’ve also been busy looking into claims that they make up a large chunk of the prison population, but we’ve seen this time and again, once we start getting the data, that it simply doesn’t back that up,” said Ms van Wyk. Some stories describe attacks that never happened, stoking fear and confusion. Mzansi Live, a South African website, published an untrue gruesome story about four foreign women who were burned alive after their babies were ripped from their wombs.

The post has been shared more than 25 000 times on Facebook, but fact checkers determined it was entirely false.

“You couldn’t believe that somebody would make up such a story just for clicks. It always plays into what is already a quite toxic environment,” Ms van Wyk said.

“They publish stories that they completely make up. They cash in on the newsworthiness of xenopho-

Anim van Wyk editor of Africa Check, says false news adds to tension between groups. bia; with the tension rising, they made up this truly awful story.”

Politicians have also spread false information about foreigners. Some local reports suggest recent violence, including the recent anti-immigrant march in Pretoria, can be

Theological Society opens minds

By FR ANSELM PRiOR OFM

T

HE Catholic Theological Society of Southern Africa, a member of the SACBC, is open to anyone who either has a qualification in theology or an interest in the subject.

The main work of the society is to host an annual conference each year, usually in September. This is open to all.

In 2016 the society took part in a convention in which over 400 participants from 14 theological societies in South Africa gave presentations. Catholic theologians not only gave eight lectures on behalf of the Catholic Theological Society,

but also represented the New Testament Society, the Church History Society and the Women Theologians’ Forum, all of which are ecumenical.

The society is also a member of the International Network of Societies for Catholic Theology, a forum for keeping theological societies around the world in touch. Member societies are encouraged to participate in an ongoing research project on the role of women in decisionmaking in Church and society.

The latest book of the society is Tradition Fixed and Mobile. It was published by the Research Institute for Theology and Religion which is

part of UNISA. It is a collection of essays by prominent theologians in South Africa in honour of Fr Rodney Moss of Durban.

Fr Moss has spent his life lecturing and publishing, and is still engaged in research on theological subjects.

The next conference of the society will be in September this year.

The topic will be the Protestant Reformation which began 500 years ago. The commemoration of this event was initiated by Pope Francis in Sweden at the end of last year. n For enquiries, contact the president of the society, Itumeleng Mothoagae, at mothodi@unisa.ac.za

traced back to comments made by Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba, who has repeatedly blamed undocumented migrants for bringing crime to the country.

A new xenophobic party has claimed that the country has 13 million immigrants, many of whom are criminals or dangerous former child soldiers. But, Ms van Wyk said, the best estimates put the foreign population in South Africa at three million.

Africa Check was set up in 2012 to counter false news and misinformation. The non-profit group has offices in Johannesburg and Dakar, Senegal, where staffers examine statements by politicians, institutions and media organisations.

South Africa’s turmoil is causing effects beyond its borders. In Nigeria, an angry mob attacked offices of mobile phone giant MTN in response to xenophobic attacks in South Africa. The National Association of Nigerian Students announced it would give South

Africans 48 hours to leave Nigeria or the attacks would continue.

The role of false information in ongoing xenophobic violence has caught the attention of law enforcement. South Africa’s internal security branch, the Justice Crime Prevention and Security Cluster, has become so concerned about the spread of false information that it issued a statement denouncing harmful social media posts and called for them to stop.

Meanwhile, Ms van Wyk sees reason for cautious optimism.

“People are now much more aware, and when we fact-check these kind of things, people would tell us, ‘Yeah, I’ve been calling them out for a long time’,” Ms van Wyk said. “So that is very encouraging.”

“But, that said ... like anywhere else, people are on their phones, on Twitter, they just see part of a headline or they are in a hurry, and then unfortunately these things get shared or spread or believed to be the truth.”—CANAA

Hannie Bartlett (left) has been selling The Southern Cross at St Peter’s parish in Strand, Cape Town, for the past ten years at the Saturday evening Mass. She is pictured with Diana and Ed Lensen, who have been supporters of the newspaper for over 40 years. We love receiving your photos of parishioners selling The Southern Cross—and so do our readers!

Please keep them coming. Send photos to pics@scross.co.za

Deacon new prior for Polokwane abbey

By FRANCiS X SAuTi OSB

T Br Ghislain Maluvu OSB

HE night before he was ordained a deacon by Bishop Jeremiah Masela of Polokwane, Benedictine Brother Ghislain Maluvu OSB assumed the responsibility of local superior of his order’s St Benedict’s abbey in Polokwane.

The Benedictine order has various congregations, such as the Subiaco Cassinese congregation, the Ottilien congregation, and so on. Br Maluvu is a monk of the Subiaco Cassinese congregation.

The current abbot president of the Subiaco Cassinese congregation is Columbian Abbot Guillermo Leon Arboleda Tamayo OSB. He is based in Sant’Ambrogio della Massima in Rome. Legend has it that the church was founded in the 4th century by St Marcellina, sister of St Ambrose of Milan, on the site of St Ambrose’s house in Rome before he moved to become bishop of Milan.

A Benedictine congregation has various autonomous monasteries called “priories” and “abbeys”. For instance, the Subiaco Cassinese con-

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gregation has 80 monasteries across the globe. Heads of priories are called “priors” and heads of abbeys are called “abbots” (and/or “priors” in extraordinary cases).

Deacon Maluvu’s appointment is as a “claustral prior”, one of three types of Benedictine priors. A “claustral prior” is appointed by the abbot of an abbey and assists the abbot in the governance of an abbey. He has no “ordinary jurisdiction” but “delegated jurisdiction”.

This means that Fr Arboleda is the “major superior” of the Polok-

wane abbey while Br Maluvu serves as a “local superior” (“claustral prior”). This fulfils canonical and constitutional demands since the major superior must be a validly ordained Catholic priest.

When ordained a priest, Br Maluvu will be appointed “prior administrator” (“major superior”) for three years, after which the abbey will elect an abbot.

The appointment of the new superiors followed the resignation of prior administrator Fr Jeffery Steele after seven years in office.

Special prayer for intercession of Hurley

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HIS is the special prayer for the intercession of Archbishop Denis Hurley which has been approved for the faithful to recite (see front-page story).

It is being released to coincide with the 70th anniversary of his ordination as bishop of Durban.

Archbishop Hurley died on February 13, 2004.

Loving Father, we thank you for the life, vocation and ministry of your servant Denis Hurley, our bishop, brother and friend in Christ.

We pray that his work for justice and peace; his loving care for the poor and marginalised; and his vision for a reformed and renewed Church, may continue to inspire us with increased vigour.

Grant that the gift of the Spirit may enable us to act in harmony to establish your kingdom in our lives, our work and our world as we strive to follow Denis Hurley’s motto: “Where the

The first official portrait of Denis Hurley as a bishop in 1947.

Spirit is, there is freedom!”

Listen kindly to the intercession of your servant Denis on our behalf, and grant us the favour of his patronage in your kingdom.

We pray that in Christ your Son, all may be sanctified, all may be one.

Amen.

The Southern Cross, March 15 to March 21, 2017

LOCAL

3

SA is of importance to our ‘Padre’ Francis S

Fr S’milo Mngadi of Vosloorus parish in the Johannesburg archdiocese is shown with children of the young St Mary Magdalene outstation in Somali Park, an informal settlement just outside Vosloorus, after an Ash Wednesday service. The outstation began in September 2016, and the children sing at the monthly Eucharist celebrated there.

OUTH Africa is important to Pope Francis, Vatican watcher and journalist Robert Mickens told audiences in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

“South Africa is an important place for the Vatican and Pope Francis. The Vatican watches and is interested in Africa; in fact, it is a priority area for the pope,” Mr Mickens said, noting that the nuncio to Southern Africa, Archbishop Peter Wells, worked in the Vatican and was sent by Pope Francis to South Africa.

“That’s important to notice,” said the journalist who visited South Africa at the invitation of Radio Veritas and the Jesuit Institute.

He also revealed by what title Pope Francis likes to be called. Mr Mickens said he calls this pope “Padre” (“Father”), because that is how Francis likes to be addressed.

Mr Mickens told audiences that the pontificate of Francis has been one of great encouragement. “Recently Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington said that Pope Francis has ‘reignited Vatican II’. I cannot agree more. He is making Vatican II a reality.”

Mr Mickens explained that many things Pope Francis has said are not new.

“Some of the images and phrases he uses are not ones he has made up. Francis’ famous phrase—‘building bridges’—is something that Pope John Paul II said in the 1990s,” he noted.

What is new, “and is indeed the key to interpreting” Pope Francis, is that the “bishop and people must walk together”.

Vatican correspondent Robert Mickens, speaking in Johannesburg on the pontificate of Pope Francis.

“The idea of ‘synodality’ is very important to him. Pope Francis has become the pope of dialogue, encounter and accompaniment,” Mr Mickens said.

The Vatican expert noted that Pope Francis had told journalists that his most important document so far was Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”).

“That is Pope Francis’ ‘mission statement’ and vision for the Church,” Mr Mickens said, adding that for the pope, discipleship is about being involved in the world.

“If you want to know what this pope thinks and why he does what he does, I urge you to read [Evangelii Gaudium],” he said.

Addressing opposition to Pope Francis, Mr Mickens said: “Nobody likes change, and Francis is changing things. But I think he has done this in a gentle way. He is trying to

wake us all up and make our faith operative and active”.

The journalist said that the pope does give some bishops “heartburn” and that some Vatican employees “feel their blood pressure go up” when the pope says things like, “If you live a double life you should rather be an atheist.”

“The pope’s point is that we must all be genuine. He challenges everyone and if you do not feel challenged by this pope—no matter where you are on the spectrum— you are not listening to him carefully enough,” Mr Mickens said.

Pope Francis is an “extremely tolerant man” and he does not “scold or criticise” people, he observed. “He is a bit like Jesus: he is hard on the religious authorities who are rule-bound and hold onto a ‘theology of the laboratory’—theology done in the clouds and not in real life,” Mr Mickens said.

“Going to Mass on Sunday is not enough for this pope. He wants the Church to be involved in the messiness of life, to get out of the sanctuary and onto the streets.”

Mr Mickens said that Pope Francis has chosen to address issues that are unifying—things common to the whole of humanity.

Speaking of his own work as a Vatican correspondent, Mr Mickens said: “I am not an apologist for the Vatican; my job is to be truthful and critique what is going on. I am like a food or wine critic: they love their subject. My job is to stand back and try to give an honest opinion.”

He added: “We are living in the time of a pretty good vintage.”

Cape Town launches liturgical commission

By MANDLA ZiBi

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HE archdiocese of Cape Town has established a liturgical commission to assist in the promotion of “authentic” liturgical life.

Archbishop Stephen Brislin appointed Fr Rohan Smuts as chair of the commission to maintain a “cohesive and unified” liturgy of the Church, including new liturgical documents and directives; training and formation for all liturgical ministries; organising large archdiocesan liturgies; developing multi-cultural choirs and high standards of music, art and architecture.

Other members of the commission appointed by the archbishop are Mgr Andrew Borello, Fr Lindela Betya, Deacon Saville Graayenstein, Deacon Rodney Williams, Joan Armstrong, Len Bailey, Prof Nicholas Basson, Joanne Battista, Andrew Bentley, Jonathan Lee Ching, Bradley Davids, Stephen Kleyn, Ilze Sidney, Maud Stellenboom and Ferryl Steyn.

According to a member of the commission, Mr Ching, the liturgy is ultimately about sanctification, right relationship and mission.

“When we gather as a community in our

Pope Francis has said the liturgy is not mere decoration but the glory and presence of God. parishes to pray and worship God and offer the ultimate thanksgiving to the Father in the Eucharist, we are doing the ‘work of the people’. The very word ‘liturgy’ comes from the Greek word leitourgia which means ‘public work’,” he said.

“A parish liturgy committee can play an important role in assisting the parish

priest in assessing and enhancing the liturgical life and experience in the parish,” he added.

Liturgy is the public worship of the Church, Mr Ching emphasised, and when it is celebrated “prayerfully, reverently”, then the work of worship will “draw the faithful into the compelling love of Christ and set them on fire”.

Pope Francis has said: “Liturgy is not only about decoration or ‘the taste of drapes’ alone, but the glory and presence of God’s Life. The oil that anointed Aaron the high priest does not perfume his person alone, but runs down even into his beard. In the same way the joy and mission of the Church must spread to our communities, the suburbs, the country and ultimately to the ends of the earth. If we keep this oil to ourselves it becomes rancid, we develop a bitter heart.”

The liturgy then becomes the means to overcome the reign of sin, and to bring all of creation under God’s power, Mr Ching said, adding that it is “the source of the empowerment of the laity who are to order creation to the praise of God and ensure that society conforms to the norms of justice”.

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HE Marriage and Family Life Office of the SACBC is organising a pilgrimage for Catholic men to the tomb of Blessed Benedict Daswa.

“The pilgrimage is meant to help all men in the Church to understand their role in the family, Church and society,” said Fr Sakhi Mofokeng.

The pilgrimage theme is “Be the man that God has made you to be”.

It will take place from March 25 to 26 at Nweli, near Thohoyandou, in Tzaneen diocese. n For more information contact Fr Sakhi Mofokeng (SACBC Laity Department) at 082 596 1932; Alfred Motiang (Pretoria archdiocese) at 082 490 6346; Rob

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The Southern Cross, March 15 to March 21, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

Egypt’s Christians are under attack from ISIS

By MATT HADRO & JONATHAN LuXMOORE

A

Primošten, which will host of a 17m statue of Our Lady of Loreto.

Huge statue of Mary to be built in Croatia

A

GIANT 17-metre statue of Our Lady of Loreto is in the works in the coastal city of Primošten, Croatia, which will be known as one of the largest Marian sites in the world when it is completed.

“This project is unique in Croatia and beyond,” stated the municipality of Primošten, according to Total Croatia News.

“It has been an object of considerable interest and acclaim, and a blessing has been given by the Holy See and Pope Francis,” the municipality said.

The huge statue is being constructed along the coastline of Primošten, a hill-city about 32km south of Šibenik. Primošten is known for its vineyards and beaches, and will now also be marked as the site of one of the biggest Marian statues in the world.

The citizens of Primošten are known to have a particular devotion

to Our Lady of Loreto, and the townspeople hold a traditional feast in honour of Our Lady every May 910, with a festive procession around the boats and coastline.

On a clear day, the facing coast of Italy will be able to see the Marian monument after its completion.

The construction of the statue has been in collaboration with Cammini Lauretani, which works to connect the dots among Marian shrines across Europe.

Primošten’s mayor, Stipe Petrina, has been meeting with leaders from Cammini Lauretani in an effort to link Marian shrines in Italy and Croatia, with the overarching goal of creating sustainable religious tourism and development.

The Croatian municipality has yet to declare when the Marian site will be complete, although they did note that the statue is in the final stages of construction.—CNA

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SPIKE in attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt, spurred by a video threat from ISIS, has drawn the prayers and concern of advocates, who are urging global leaders to take notice.

“One of the oldest Christian communities in the world is under threat from being completely pushed out of Egypt,” which would be disastrous both for Egypt and for Christianity itself, Philippe Nassif, executive director of the advocacy group In Defence of Christians, told the Catholic News Agency.

Christians make up about 20% of Egypt’s population.

There have been 40 reported murders of Christians in Egypt in the last three months, said Bishop Anba Angaelos, general bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK, in a statement.

Twenty-nine were killed in a bombing at St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox cathedral in Cairo in December.

ISIS took credit for the bombing and released a video threatening to target Christian “crusaders” in Egypt.

“Oh crusaders in Egypt, this attack that struck you in your temple is just the first with many more to come, God willing,” the terrorist group said.

Since the video’s release, more Christians have been killed in Egypt and hundreds have reportedly fled their homes in the Sinai region in the north of the country after several

murders there, according to In Defence of Christians.

Many of these Sinai residents are “very poor”, Mr Nassif said, and have fled to churches, Coptic charities, or to relatives’ homes.

A spokesman for Egypt’s Catholic Church praised local Muslims for helping embattled Christians after the Sinai attacks.

Fr Rafic Greiche, spokesman for the Coptic Catholic Church, said Christians must differentiate between ordinary Muslims and extremists.

“Ordinary Muslims are kind and try to help however they can— they’re often first on the scene, rescuing the injured and taking them to hospitals,” he told Catholic News Service.

T

he Egyptian government has condemned the attacks and in the past has pledged to protect embattled Christian minorities in the country, but Christians still suffer most in rural areas outside the capital of Cairo where the national government has lesser oversight.

“The security situation in Sinai itself has just deteriorated dramatically in the past year,” Mr Nassif said, in the area with a “large Christian presence”.

Many of the Christian victims have been killed “in lone wolf attacks” intended to instil fear in the rest of the Christian population and drive them out.

“Their goal is to create real deep anxiety among all the Christians in Egypt, and to sow this sort of narra-

tive that they were part of this sort of counter-coup against the Muslim Brotherhood,” Mr Nassif said said.

The Muslim Brotherhood governed Egypt before they were ousted in a 2013 military coup. General Abdul Fattah el-Sisi became president months later after elections were held, and Christians have been blamed by insurgents as aiding his rise to power.

Gen el-Sisi condemned the Sinai attacks as “a cowardly plot by evil people intended to undermine national unity and confidence in the state”.

But in a statement, Amnesty International said the government had “consistently failed to protect Coptic residents of North Sinai from a longstanding pattern of violent attacks”.

The international community must take notice of this persecution, which has “gone largely unnoticed”, Bishop Angaelos stressed.

“In our fast-moving world that is filled with so much news of tragedy, war and death, it is all too easy for atrocities to become ‘incidents’, and for individuals suffering them to become mere statistics, very quickly pushed aside by the next item of news,” he said.

“In the eyes of the perpetrators they are a viable target, and in the eyes of the world they become a regrettable phenomenon; yet what is actually left behind are traumatised individuals, families and communities that have lost loved ones, living the reality of themselves being targeted.”

Can one go through Lent on beer alone?

D

By MATT HADRO

URING Lent Catholics abstain from sweets, technology, alcohol or other luxuries. But once upon as time, Catholic monks brewed beer specifically for a liquid-only Lenten fast.

Back in the 1600s, Paulaner monks moved from southern Italy to the Cloister Neudeck ob der Au in Bavaria, Germany.

“Being a strict order, they were not allowed to consume solid food during Lent,” Martin Zuber, brewmaster of Paulaner brewery in Munich, explained in a video on the company’s website.

They needed something other than water to sustain them, so the monks turned to a common staple of the time in their region: beer. They concocted an “unusually strong” brew, full of carbohydrates and nutrients, because “liquid bread wouldn’t break the fast”, Mr Zuber noted.

This was an early doppelbock-style beer, which the monks eventually sold in the community and which was an original product of Paulaner brewery, founded in 1634 and now one of the chief breweries featured at Munich’s Oktoberfest. They gave it the name “Salvator”.

Could a beer-only fast really be accomplished? One US journalist had read of the monks’ story and in 2011 attempted to recreate their fast.

J Wilson, a Christian working as an editor for a county newspaper in Iowa, partnered with a local brewery to brew a special doppelbock which he consumed over 46 days during Lent, eating no solid food.

He had regular check-ups with his doctor and obtained permission from his boss for the fast, drinking four beers over the course of a work day and five beers on Saturdays and Sundays. His experience, he said, was transformative—and not in an intoxicating way.

Mr Wilson learned “that the human body is an amazing machine”, he wrote in a blog for CNN after his Lenten experience.

“It is capable of much more than many of us give it credit for. It can climb mountains, run marathons and, yes, it can function without food for long periods of time,” he wrote.

Mr Wilson noted that he was acutely hungry for the first several days of his fast, but “my body then switched gears, replaced hunger with focus, and I found myself operating in a tunnel of clarity unlike anything I’d ever ex-

Paulaner monks in the 17th century were not allowed solid food during Lent so they opted for staying alive on beer, which they named “Salvator” (Saviour). perienced”. He ended up losing around 12kg over the course of the Lenten season, and learned to practise “self-discipline”.

And, he found, one of his greatest challenges was actually fasting from media.

As he blogged about his fast, Mr Wilson received numerous interview requests from media outlets, and he chose to forego some of these requests and step away from using media to focus on the spiritual purpose of his fast.

“The experience proved that the original story of monks fasting on doppelbock was not only possible, but probable,” he concluded.

“It left me with the realisation that the monks must have been keenly aware of their own humanity and imperfections. In order to refocus on God, they engaged in this annual practice not only to endure sacrifice, but to stress and rediscover their own shortcomings in an effort to continually refine themselves,” the journalist said.

Catholics are not obliged to give up solid food for Lent, of course, but they must do penance during the season of Lent in the example of Christ’s 40-day fast in the wilderness, in commemoration of his death, and in preparation for Easter.

Fasting is interpreted to mean eating one full meal and two smaller meals that, taken together, do not equal that one full meal. There may be no eating in between meals.—CNA

Pope’s busy Holy Week schedule

By CAROL GLATZ

T

HIS is Pope Francis’ schedule for the remainder of Lent, Holy Week and Easter: March 17: Penitential liturgy in St Peter’s basilica.

March 25: Pastoral visit to Milan where he was scheduled to visit the Duomo and a prison, celebrate an outdoor Mass and meet with young people recently confirmed and preparing for confirmation.

April 2: Pastoral visit to northern Italian town of Carpi.

April 9: Palm Sunday Mass in St Peter’s Square.

April 13: Holy Thursday, morning chrism Mass in St Peter’s basilica. Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper with foot washing at a stillunannounced location.

April 14: Good Friday afternoon liturgy of the Lord’s Passion in St Peter’s basilica. Nighttime Way of the Cross in Rome’s Colosseum.

April 15: Easter vigil at 20:30 in St Peter’s basilica.

April 16: Easter morning Mass in St Peter’s Square, followed by the papal blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world).—CNS

The Southern Cross, March 15 to March 21, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

5

Bishop ‘horrified’ by treatment of babies

By MiCHAEL KELLy

A

rchbishop Michael Neary, Of Tuam, Ireland said during Mass he was “horrified and saddened to hear” of the revelations of the commission set up to investigate the treatment of unmarried mothers and their babies in Irish care homes during the 20th century.

The commission says it has found “significant” human remains at the site of a former home in western Ireland, formerly managed by the Bon Secours religious order.

The Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation is currently probing how unmarried mothers and their babies were treated between 1922 and 1998 at 18 state-regulated institutions, many of them run by religious orders.

“This points to a time of great suffering and pain for the little ones and their mothers,” Archbishop Neary said.

“I can only begin to imagine

the huge emotional wrench which the mothers suffered in giving up their babies for adoption or by witnessing their death. Some of these young vulnerable women may already have experienced rejection by their families.

“The pain and brokenness which they endured is beyond our capacity to understand. It is, then, simply too difficult to comprehend their helplessness and suffering as they watched their beloved child die,” Archbishop Neary said.

The commission said the “remains involved a number of individuals with age-at-death ranges from approximately 35 foetal weeks to 2-3 years”.

“Radiocarbon dating of the samples recovered suggest that the remains date from the time frame relevant to the operation of the Mother and Baby Home,” it said.

The causes of death are, as yet, unknown. However, previous reports have highlighted the high levels of infant mortality in the homes due to disease and other natural causes.

The investigation will now centre on why the remains were not buried in traditional graves and whether the deaths were reported to the civil authorities at the time.

“The commission is shocked by this discovery and is continuing its investigation into who was responsible for the disposal of human remains in this way,” it added in a statement.

Katherine Zappone, Ireland's minister for children and youth affairs, said it was “very sad and disturbing news”.

“It was not unexpected as there were claims about human remains on the site over the last number of years,” she said. She added that everybody involved must respond sensitively and respectfully to the situation.

“Today is about remembering and respecting the dignity of the children who lived their short lives in this home,” Ms Zappone said.

“We will honour their memory and make sure that we take the right actions now to treat their remains appropriately.”—CNS

Pope Francis attends his Lenten retreat at the Pauline Fathers’ centre in Ariccia, 32km south east of Rome. The retreat was led by Franciscan Father Giulio Michelini. (Photo: L'Osservatore Romano/CNS)

Pope’s Lenten retreat: Be humble to hear God

By JuNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

Cardinal: Talk of resistance H to child safety a ‘cliché’

By JuNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

T

HE Vatican’s doctrinal chief dismissed accusations that some Vatican officials are resisting recommendations on best practices for protecting children and vulnerable adults from clergy sex abuse.

“I think this cliché must be put to an end: the idea that the pope, who wants the reform, is on one side and, on the other, a group of resisters who want to block it,” said Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The congregation is charged with carrying out canonical trials and seeking justice for victims of clerical abuse, while local bishops and heads of religious orders must care for their pastoral needs, he said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Cardinal Müller responded to complaints made by Marie Collins, who resigned her post on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors citing what she described as resistance coming from Vatican

Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS) offices against implementing recommendations.

Ms Collins said that an unnamed dicastery not only refused to cooperate on the commission’s safeguarding guidelines, but also refused to respond to letters from victims.

While acknowledging that personal care of victims is important, Cardinal Müller said Ms Collins’ ac-

cusations “are based on a misunderstanding” and that bishops and religious superiors “who are closer” to victims of clergy sex abuse are charged with their pastoral care.

“When a letter arrives, we always ask the bishop that he take pastoral care of the victim, clarifying that the congregation will do everything possible to do justice. It is a misunderstanding that this dicastery, in Rome,” can be aware of everything happening in all the dioceses and religious orders in the world, the cardinal said.

Through the work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, the cardinal said, Pope Francis “wished to offer an exemplary service” as a help for the Church and the world in dealing with the scourge of child sex abuse.

“Paedophilia is monstrous crime as well as a grave sin. We must remember Jesus’ words to the children and his condemnation against those who harm them,” Cardinal Müller said.—CNS

Nuncio returns to Ghana to mark 60th independence anniversary

By DAMiAN AVEVOR

Former nuncio to Ghana Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello shakes hands with Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo during an ecumenical and interfaith prayer service at Holy Spirit cathedral in Accra, Ghana. (Photo: Damian Avevor/CNS)

A

HIGH-level Vatican official who once served as papal nuncio to Ghana returned to mark its 60th anniversary of independence, and once again he represented the pope.

Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the commission governing Vatican City State, served as papal envoy for the celebrations that also marked 40 years of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Ghana.

“I say always that Ghana is my first love,” Cardinal Bertello told Ghanaians. “I have spent 25 years as an apostolic nuncio, but Ghana is my first, hence, my first love.”

The cardinal, who served as apostolic nuncio to Ghana from 1987-91, presided over the reconsecration of Ghana to the Sacred Heart of Jesus at an ecumenical and interfaith prayer

service at Holy Spirit cathedral.

More than a thousand people— including the president of Ghana, the speaker of parliament, the chief justice, national chief imam, traditional leaders and leaders of other Christian denominations—attended.

During an event at the apostolic nunciature, Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, minister for chieftaincy and religious affairs, pledged that Ghana would con-

UMILITY is needed in order to recognise the voice of God in others, especially those who are perceived to be weak or subject to prejudice, a Franciscan friar told Pope Francis and members of the Roman curia during their Lenten retreat.

God not only speaks through Jesus, but also speaks to him through Peter, who recognises Christ as the Messiah “by revelation”, Franciscan Father Giulio Michelini said.

“Do I have the humility to listen to Peter? Do we have the humility to listen to one another, paying attention to prejudices that we certainly have, but attentive to receive that which God wants to say despite, perhaps, my closures?

Do I listen to the voice of others, perhaps weakly, or do I only listen to my voice?” he asked.

The pope and top members of the Roman curia attended their annual Lenten retreat at the Pauline Fathers’ retreat centre in Ariccia, 32km south east of Rome.

Fr Michelini was chosen by Pope Francis to lead meditations on the Gospel of Matthew’s description of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus.

The Franciscan delivered two meditations, with the first reflecting on “Peter’s confession and Jesus’ path towards Jerusalem”.

According to Vatican Radio, Fr

tinue to work with the Vatican to benefit all citizens.

Mr Dzamesi said the strength of these relations was again demonstrated in the elevation of Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson as a cardinal in 2003 and his appointment to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace as the first prefect of the newly created dicastery for Integral Human Development.—CNS

Michelini called on the 74 people present for the retreat to reflect on the criteria on which they base their discernment and whether “I place myself and my personal benefit before the kingdom of God”.

To listen and act upon God’s will, he said, Christians must have “courage to go into the deep to follow Jesus Christ, taking into account that this involves carrying the cross”.

Jesus, he added, not only proclaimed the joy of the resurrection “but also trial” when he said: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Fr Michelini’s second meditation, “Jesus’ last words and the beginning of the Passion”, explained that the reading of Christ’s Passion reveals two distinct types of logic: Jesus, an observant Jewish layman preparing to celebrate the Passover, and the high priests, who are concerned with the outward appearance of the feast but, at the same time, “prepare to murder an innocent man”.

The question Christians must ask themselves, he said, is if they are “sacred professionals resorting to compromise in order to save the facade, the institution, at the expense of individual rights”.

“This is about an attitude that loses the right perspective, believing they are serving God,” Fr Michelini said.—CNS

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Archbishop turns sod for Jo’burg’s Marian shrine

BY MANDLA ZIBI

M Fr Stefan Hippler explains to children what is happening during Holy Mass at an annual openair service for the German-speaking Catholic Community in Cape Town at The Glen in Camps Bay. Children Matthias, Sophia, Viviana and Lucy listen attentively to the priest at the Mass, which was followed by the traditional picnic. They will receive their First Commnion in June.

Papal message for nun, 110 O NE of the oldest religious sisters in the world received a message from the pope when she turned 110.

Despite her advanced age, Sr Candida Bellotti (pictured right) retains the enthusiasm of a young woman.

At age 80, Pope Francis is 30 years her junior. In his message he wrote: “To the Reverend Sister Candida Bellotti, Sister Minister of the Sick, who with gratitude to God is celebrating her 110th birthday, the Holy Father Francis spiritually participates in the joy we all share for this happy occasion and sends warm congratulations and heartfelt wishes.”

Sr Bellotti celebrated her birthday with Bishop Benvenuto Italo Castellani of the Italian diocese of Lucca. She resides in the diocese along with the convent’s sisters and the provincial superior, Sr Giuliana Fracasso.

In an interview, she said that her vocation was “sown” in a Christian family.

“Love, love and love still more, with joy,” is the advice she gives everyone, especially the new generations. She has a special invitation for young people: “Have confidence in the future, and strive to the utmost to accomplish your desires.”

Sr Bellotti belongs to the Congregation of San Camillus de Lellis, which this year ob-

Th e

serves the 150th anniversary of the death of its founder, Bl Maria Domenica Brun Barbantini.

The 110-year-old sister was born in Quinzano, in the Italian province of Verona in 1907. Since the 1930s, she has dedicated herself to serving those in need as a professional nurse in various Italian cities.

Since 2000 she has been living in Lucca, at her congregation’s mother house.

Sr Bellotti ‘s 110th birthday came soon after French Dominican Sister Marie Bernardette died at the same age.—CNA

ORE than 6 000 people witnessed Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg officially launch the building of the archdiocesan Marian shrine and pastoral centre in Magaliesburg.

Among the guests was Water and Sanitation minister Nomvula Mokonyane.

The archdiocese of Johannesburg has officially declared 2017 to be the year of devotion to Mary, and its Marian Year will run until December 28.

R9 million worth of land has been allocated to the project. The money came from donors, including support from laity through their sodalities.

However ,more money is needed—about R8 million—to renovate current structures at the site, such as ablution blocks and dormitories.

At the sod-turning ceremony, Archbishop Tlhagale said Marian shrines are “an expression of Mary’s presence among us” and pointed out that there are many people “who are not able to partake in [pilgrimages to holy shrines] due to financial constraints, leaving them at a disadvantage and spiritually dry”.

Having a shrine in Johannesburg would mean everybody in the archdiocese will “easily experience a tranquil time with Mother Mary in a solemn encounter—only a taxi away”.

The archbishop pointed out that Pope Francis has said that shrines should cultivate a sense of God’s beauty through Our Lady and that they must provide an atmosphere for discerning and responding to vocations as a gift to God. Responding to concerns about building a shrine without any apparitions at the place, Archbishop Tlhagale said he “saw it fit” that a permanent monument be erected as a remembrance of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

“We do not necessarily need to erect a shrine only if there have been apparitions.

The actions of a pilgrimage are meant to be instructive and transforming in our Christian lives, with a sole purpose of one having an encounter with Christ,” he said.

The shrine is a response to the apparent

S outhern C ross &

100 Years Fatima A spiritual journey to Fatima • Lisbon

1 - 10 October 2017

Archbishop Buti Tlhagale incenses the ground at the end of a sod-turning ceremony for the new archdiocesan Marian shrine at Magaliesburg. (Photo: Alexis Callea) loss of Catholics to the aggressive wave of the Pentecostal, Evangelical and Charismatic movements, he said. It seeks to reinvigorate our lukewarm Catholic faith; to rekindle the faith of lapsed Catholics and to invite back those who have abandoned the Catholic Church.

“Social media is abuzz, with people confident that this project will flourish. In certain parishes, more collections have been taken up, showing the utmost support that priests have towards this project. There is also a sense of urgency from enthusiastic people that we should get everybody on board so that we are able to realise this dream, which will be a spiritual home to all of us,” said Lebo wa Majahe, a journalist connected with the archdiocese.

The shrine centre will include conference and seminar rooms, as well as accommodation and dining facilities.

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6

The Southern Cross, March 15 to March 21, 2017

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher Guest editorial: Michael Shackleton

We’re in it together

F

ROM medieval times to as lately as 1963, it was customary for the newly elected pope to be given a stark and graphic warning of the futility of earthly ambition and wealth.

At the solemn liturgical celebration of his becoming the latest incumbent of the Chair of Peter the Apostle, the papal procession in St Peter’s basilica would be halted three times.

The master of ceremonies would kneel before the new pope each time holding burning fibres of flax that were rapidly becoming ashes. No one could fail to see the smouldering bundle or hear the ominous words: “Sic transit Gloria mundi” (“Thus passes the glory of the world”).

Because of his vast spiritual and temporal power which could be abused, and the temptations accompanying it, the novice pope was given an admonishing wave of the finger.

“The glory of this world passes away”—this phrase needs looking at again as we journey through our Lenten observance. It tells us sharply that Lent means we are baptised into the Church whose members acknowledge in faith that “for here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come” (Heb 13:14).

The Church has stuck to this belief. It calls on its members to perform acts of mortification of the body, such as fasting, abstinence and denying oneself certain pleasures. St Paul tells us why: “I chastise my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor 9:27).

Around us, particularly in the bewildering collapse of traditional moral values today, the Church exhorts us to mortify ourselves. The word “mortify” derives from the Latin meaning “to put to death”, and St Paul again declares: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal 5:24).

It must be emphasised at this time that Lenten mortification is not purely for personal holiness before God. We must remember that we are not individual Christians standing alone, responsible for our own salvation and nobody else’s.

We are baptised into Christ

and we stand with him and the entire Church when we pray to the Father and do works of spiritual and corporal mercy.

We cannot separate ourselves from the Church. When acts of piety, penance and mortification are performed, the individual shares these with the acts of countless others. We share one another’s burdens and virtues in the Communion of Saints.

The goods, glory and attractions of the modern world have advantages and disadvantages for those who struggle to mortify their earthly desires. Lent makes us concentrate on the reality that we are born without possessing them and we shall leave this life without possessing them.

When God the Son became man he assumed the same human nature as ourselves. Our bodies are good and have been blessed with God’s freely given promise of eternal life with him. But they are destined for something greater and more sublime than their own pleasures.

Mortifying our corporal desires means two main things in the time of the Lenten preparation for the great celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord.

Firstly, our attention is drawn to our own spiritual health and the need to treat temporal goods and delights as passing and not permanent.

Secondly, we share with the Church, from the pope to the lowliest, the eagerness to make amends for our sins, even to suffer humbly the consequences of our sins.

We need to live through Lent in an active and optimistic awareness that we are all one in Christ, bearing one another’s burdens and determined to contradict the worldliness that engulfs us by our faith, hope and love for one another.

We’re in it together.

St Paul has the last word: “I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:1-2).

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.

We must finetune the sound

R

EFERRING to the letter “Turn up the sound” (March 1), I ask: Why do we speak? So that people can hear what we are saying.

I can cry when the Eucharistic Prayers are rattled off as fast as possible, as though we have to make up time for the long sermon, as an example.

The sound system in the church

Planned giving: Pledge freely

L

OTS of the points raised in all the correspondence concerning parish fundraising and sustainability (February 15) are very valid points. It is important for parishes to sustain themselves, and that is why fundraising is important.

However, parishes should avoid dictating to parishioners how much they should pledge for the monthly planned giving. Parishioners should be able to pledge what they can afford.

Moreover, parish priests should not be in control of the fundraising committee. Fundraising committees and parish finance councils should work together.

I also don’t agree with parish finance councils being appointed by the parish priest, because the people who are appointed may not have the necessary financial expertise.

We could also find some priests appointing their “buddies” to this council. This could lead to corruption.

Like the parish pastoral councils, the laity should be given the opportunity to elect the parish finance councils.

With regard to the use of the parish vehicle by parish priests: as long as there is transparency and accountability I don’t see anything wrong with him using the car on his days off, providing it’s not abused.

Brian Pretorius, Cape Town

Communicate need for funds

T

HE problem of parish finances is partly one of communication.

From my own experience, it seems that parish council members or the parish priests do not like to get into the pulpit and preach money. Maybe that would be unpopular and church attendance might fall further.

Because of this, parishioners are probably not aware of financial needs.

From my experience, placing an annual financial summary on the notice board is not sufficient. It may be that the reason for spend-

has to be a very important priority for the parish priest and his parish council. This is critical. It is an embarrassment when the congregation cannot hear the priest, especially at weddings, school Masses and funerals. The majority of people present at such Masses are almost always not Catholics.

My wife and I are new parish-

ing, which is much larger than most household costs, is not understood and the use of collection money is questioned. There is also parishioner apathy.

The various ways of determining the monthly payment will not always be fair. For example, they could discriminate against people with children.

Lastly, parishioners need to be motivated to pay. Explain why the church is so important to society and parishioners, and explain how that it is often possible to become more of a saver and less of a consumer of non-essentials.

Michael Phillips, Sedgefield

Green envelopes help raise funds

I

T’S almost seems as if Sheldon Vandrey and I discussed his proposal in the article “Getting our parishes in the black” (January 18) over tea because I shared the same sentiments or proposals to our previous parish priest.

Issues of concern or sustainability of the following: 1. Fundraising events that only concentrate on the normal churchgoers.

2. People who are involved in the active organisations in the parish.

I made a proposal of a “Green Collection” for everyone attending Sunday Mass. This proposal makes it possible for the poor, the needy and pensioners to value their contributions as being equal to the other congregants. The proposal does also not imply that those who can afford to give more shouldn’t do so.

The result of this proposal was that our Sunday collection, normally at the average of between R1 000-R 2000, rose to R18 000.

Mr Vandrey’s proposal is workOpinions 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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ioners at the church of the Immaculate Conception in Pinetown, Durban archdiocese, and we thank God for our priest. You can hear every word he says and he is so dignified.

Fr Michael Nadaraju and the parishioners have made us feel at home from the first day here. That is how it should be in all our Catholic churches.

I thank God for my parish.

Leo van der Sandt, Pinetown, KZN able and sustainable, but it needs a committed group of people who are the sole custodians of it.

It should basically be the parish’s own assessment of the economic challenges in the parish.

John Patrick Berend, Upington

Good finance advice to follow

I

AM faithfully reading The Southern Cross weekly and enjoy all the articles and photos I find in it.

Thank you for an excellent newspaper—which on top of all is a Catholic one. I feel very proud that we can show this paper and say it is from our Church.

So I found Sheldon Vandrey’s article incredibly interesting and clever. He employs an incredible logic and if we would follow his suggestions I believe our parishes would grow in beauty, because the money will be there to help the needy.

All the extra collections, which irritate many parishioners, would not be necessary.

Ani Schneider, Cape Town

Pray for those ruled by evil

I

ASK you to pray with me. My daily prayer to St Paul is to intercede for all those whose thoughts and behaviour are ruled by evil.

They go about killing Christians in the world. I ask Jesus to do for them what he did for Saul. Jesus suffered and died for them too.

I feel very sad, because they are our brothers and sisters, too, and are also entitled to get to the Kingdom one day.

They are brainwashed and Jesus said from the cross with a dying voice: “Father forgive them for they do not know what they do.”

Pray for them, we are asking for a miracle.

We can say the chaplet of Divine Mercy when we say the rosary, and especially add the Fatima Prayer: “Oh, my Jesus, forgive us for our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those who have most need of your mercy.”

Mary Bowers, Cape Town

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PERSPECTIVES

The rise of dual Catholics E VERY era presents certain challenges to members of the Christian faith. I would, however, argue that our era is one of the most difficult ones for the followers of Jesus to lead authentic Christian lives.

On the face of it, the majority of Christians live in countries where there is freedom of worship. In certain Islamic countries, Christians are persecuted in much the same way as the early Christians were. This could be a topic for discussion in future columns, but in most parts of the world Christians are free to worship openly without any fear of persecution, and the constitutions of many countries make specific provision for freedom of religion and worship.

But it can be argued that it is specifically this freedom of worship and expression that poses a great threat to authentic Christian practice.

Apart from persecution in some Islamic countries, there are several challenges to the Christian faith in our time. These include atheism, nationalistic religious beliefs, some indigenous forms of Christianity, and the commercialisation of the Christian faith.

By nationalistic religious beliefs I refer to the idea that Christianity came to modern-day Africa at the time of the colonisation of Africa by Europe and is therefore seen as part of the imperialist scheme of European nations.

This is related but not necessarily identical to indigenous forms of Christianity whose founders and leaders believe in the Bible, but interpret it so loosely that they

combine their Christian practice with certain traditional practices that mainline churches would not consider to be compatible with authentic Christianity.

By the commercialisation of Christianity I refer to the rise of new Pentecostal type churches that might be called the “gospel of wealth and health” as they draw crowds by promising wealth and healing.

We will discuss some of these challenges later. This article deals with the last mentioned challenge.

I

see these new churches sprouting and attracting vast numbers of followers overseas and here on the African continent where “prophets” have come to prominence in such countries as Nigeria, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Mass in Johannesburg’s Christ the King cathedral. Emmanuel Ngara notes that many Catholics today go both to Mass and then the services of their chosen “prophet”. (Photo: Mark Kisogloo)

Pray for Asia’s Church A FEW weeks ago, I received a phone call from a Southern Cross reader, Athaly Jenkinson, who had read the first article in this short series about praying for the world in preparation for the 100th anniversary of Fatima.

Athaly, whose letters encouraging prayer for Africa have perioducally appeared in The Southern Cross, first became aware of the power of a worldwide solidarity of prayer in 1994. She and her husband travelled to Hong Kong and encountered a Catholic Women’s League group praying for a peaceful transition in South Africa and an end to the genocide in Rwanda.

At a meeting of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations in Australia, Athaly heard the stories of African women who had experienced war and poverty. She felt that these experiences were a calling to launch “Appeal for Prayer for Africa” and encourage Catholics to pray for peace in Africa.

Athaly told me that current world events and the upcoming Fatima centenary have prompted her to call for prayers for the whole world.

As we unite in a solidarity of prayer for people living in difficult conditions in faroff places, we turn to Asia where millions of people are deprived of the freedoms of association and movement, and the rights to speak freely and to worship God. We start our spiritual journey in the Republic of Myanmar (née Burma), where the largest religion is Theravada Buddhism.

There the government has launched a campaign of discrimination against the minority Rohingya ethnic group. Most of the Rohingya, who are Muslim, have been denied nationality, even though they have lived in Myanmar for generations. Some 250 000 people have been displaced by authority crackdowns on Rohingya villages.

We may remember the story which

Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees in a boat before their rescue by fisherman in Julok, indonesia, in this May 2015 file photo. (Photo: EPA/CNS) made international headlines, when boats containing over 1 000 Rohingya were moored off the coast of Malaysia while seeking permission to enter as refugees. Following international pressure, Malaysia finally accepted the asylum seekers, but they were detained for months before finally being resettled. Hundreds of thousands more Rohingya find themselves living as refugees in Bangladesh and Thailand.

A

cross the Bay of Bengal is India, home to 1,3 billion people. The majority lives in abject poverty in a society that is still largely governed by a caste system.

The most vulnerable of India’s citizens are its women and children. Amnesty International reported that 327 000 crimes against women were reported in 2015.

Human trafficking remains rife as women and children are abducted or sold for the sex industry.

Children don’t fare much better and crimes against minors are on the rise. In 2016, the government increased the official working age of children to 14, but this law does not include children working in family enterprises. This exploitation of children robs them of the right to educa-

Emmanuel Ngara

Christian Leadership

Some followers seem to be full-time members of these churches; however others belong to mainline churches but seem to come under the magnetic influence of the leaders of these new churches. Consequently, they may attend services in their own churches on Sunday and then go to the services of their chosen “prophet” as well—maybe on Fridays or Saturdays.

What is it that attracts people to these new churches? A key factor in this is that the leaders of these churches appeal to people’s material needs. Theirs is the gospel of health and wealth; they promise money to people in financial need and healing for people who suffer from illnesses that doctors have not been able to cure.

Some of these “prophets” have powerful television or radio ministries. People listen to them giving powerful sermons; people watch television programmes in which they see and hear other people giving testimonies of how they were miraculously healed.

Naturally, those of us who believe in Jesus are tempted to say, “Are these prophets not merely doing what Jesus was doing when he was on earth? Are they not fulfilling what Jesus says in Mark’s gospel that one of the signs of his followers is that ‘In my name they will drive out demons… they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well’”? (Mk 16: 17-18).

The next column will say more about the new prophets and their churches.

Sarah-Leah Pimentel

The Mustard Seeds

tion and a possibility of a better future.

China is another densely populated country, with almost 1,4 billion people. Its Internet environment is heavily controlled. The government has blocked Facebook, Twitter and thousands of websites.

Cybersecurity laws force Internet providers to monitor users’ online activity and remove all content deemed to “upset the social order”.

The international media has also repeatedly reported on the plight of the Tibetan people, who continue to be denied their right to self-determination. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and one of the world’s best-known spiritual leaders, has been in exile in India since 1959. In July 2016, the authorities began demolishing the Larung Gar Tibetan Institute, dispersing the population living in the vicinity as part of a “correction and rectification exercise”, displacing 5 000 people.

Far less reported is the persecution of Christians, most of whom have worshipped in secret for decades. In 2016, the government destroyed 1 700 crosses and crucifixes in public spaces.

China does not (yet) recognise the authority of Vatican-appointed Catholic bishops and their obedience to the Church in Rome. This has forced the Church in China to create a local hierarchy that is recognised by the Beijing government.

Pope Francis has placed a special emphasis on improving relations with China.

Let us pray for the Holy Father’s efforts so that China’s Catholics draw ever closer to the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

Let us make a final stop to North Korea, Continued on page 11

The Southern Cross, March 15 to March 21, 2017

7

Michael Shackleton

Open Door

Does God select only a few?

According to Romans 8:28-30 God knew beforehand who would be his chosen ones predestined for salvation. He chose them and he justified and glorified them. For me, this means that our free will is useless and if you are not chosen for heaven you can only be marked for hell, which makes no sense because it ignores the value of our moral lives.

Does the Catholic Church accept the doctrine of predestination?

Wikus

Y

ES, the Church accepts the doctrine of predestination because our redemption is wholly dependent on God’s generous will and not on us. Even our free will is dependent on him. God is also just. He does not predestine anyone to hell, and he wills that all humanity will be saved (1 Tim 2:4).

As long ago as the year 855, the Council of Valence made this statement: “In regard to evil men, we believe that God foreknew their malice, because it is from them, but that he did not predestine it, because it is not from him. We believe that God, who sees all things, foreknew and predestined that their evil deserved the punishment which followed, because he is just.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it like this: “God predestines no one to hell; for this, a wilful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary and persistence in it until the end” (1027).

So, some kind of persistence in moral evil is the reason why some people are not saved but rejected by God. God does value our moral lives yet he knows ahead of time (and he lives in eternity, not time) how we shall respond morally to the graces he gives us. Divine foreknowledge does not predetermine our free moral acts.

Historically, the problem of the doctrine of predestination is how our infinite God can create a finite human freedom that is wholly dependent on him and yet still be free.

Big debates about it arose during the Middle Ages and even became a quandary for the Reformers.

Some taught that only a small number are predestined for heaven; others taught that God must, if he is just, consider the moral state of each individual before he passes judgment.

The theological difficulties in saying that we need God’s grace and support in everything we do, even when we do evil, may trouble deep thinkers.

But if we approach the matter in a way I think Pope Francis is teaching us, we shall see the power of God’s love in this debate. We must simply love God and one another without being too intellectual about it.

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

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

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8

The Southern Cross, March 15 to March 21, 2017

COMMUNITY

Catholic Women’s League members at Our Lady of Fatima parish in Durban North celebrated Shrove Tuesday by serving about 800 pancakes to parishioners. (From left) Pauline Lotter, Anna Accolla, Jane du Trevou, Christine Schoombe, Liz Newbury and Pauline LeClezio.

Send your photos to

pics@scross.co.za

Teacher Linda Philander said farewell after 40 years of service to St Mary’s Primary School in Retreat, Cape Town. Mrs Philander, the deputy school principal, is flanked by school principal Teresa Muller and her husband Deacon Piet Philander.

Fr Peter Ackpurdy, parish priest at St Peter’s in Tlhabane in the Rustenburg diocese, with the outreach team from Gaborone diocese after a prayer vigil to mark the 50th anniversary of Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR).

With Fr Ackpurdy are (from left) Edith Ramathudi (intercession ministry), Catherine Boatile (healing and deliverance ministry) and Enid Simbule (CCR’s Gaborone diocesan coordinator).

The commissioning of catechists at Mahobe parish in umzimkulu diocese, KwaZulu-Natal, was led by Bishop Stanislaw Dziuba, with catechists’ chaplain Fr Siyabonga Magcaba and Fr Patrick Duma CMM concelebrating the Mass.

A children’s liturgy group at St Charles’ parish in Victory Park, Johannesburg, is run by parents and ensures that children are not left out of the action at weekend Masses. This ministry was started in the parish about 20 years ago. After receiving a special blessing at the start of Mass, the children proceed to their liturgy group for the first part of the liturgy. They then rejoin the congregation at the offertory.

Redemptorist Fathers Larry Kaufmann (left) and Cyril Axelrod, who is blind and deaf, visited St Anthony’s parish in Sedgefield’s oldest parishioner, irka Jablonski. They also stopped at St Boniface’s parish in Knysna, where Fr Axelrod gave a talk on his disabilities and his life’s work.

Holy Cross Sisters Rosemarie Watson and Cecilia Forbes celebrated their golden jubilee of profession at immaculate Conception parish in Parow, Cape Town.

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The school rowing club at Assumption Convent in Germiston, Johannesburg, hosted its first-ever regatta at Roodeplaat Dam in Pretoria.

The Southern Cross, March 15 to March 21, 2017

CHURCH

9

What are chastity and celibacy?

What does the Church mean by chastity and celibacy? Do priests make a vow of celibacy? Does priestly celibacy lead to sexual abuse? A doctrinal expert offers answers to these and other questions

L

AST month, three weeks of testimony from Australia’s Royal Commission of Inquiry into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse have included many discussions about whether celibacy might be a factor in clergy sexual abuse.

Catholic News Service asked Fr Michael Fuller, executive director of the Secretariat of Doctrine and Canonical Affairs at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, to explain the difference between celibacy and chastity, a promise and a vow.

What is celibacy? Do priests take a vow of celibacy?

Simply put, celibacy is a promise not to marry and is based on the passage from St Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus says, some “have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven”.

In the Latin rite, candidates for the priesthood, when they become deacons, make a promise of celibacy along with other promises, such as the promise to hold true to the mystery of faith, to maintain and deepen the spirit of prayer, and to conform their lives to the example of Christ.

All of these promises are for the sake of the kingdom and for the service of the people of God. The promise of celibacy, of not to marry, is seen by the Church as not only a gift of the person to God, but even more so, a special grace given to the priest that will allow him to faithfully serve the people.

Is there such a thing as mandatory celibacy as opposed to voluntary celibacy?

The promise of celibacy is one that a person freely resolves to follow.

Some people argue that it is mandatory, but that word is not used by the Church and conveys a certain negative attitude towards the gift of celibacy.

It is true that celibacy, along with all the other promises a priest makes, is obligatory—meaning that they are part of what it means to be a priest in the Latin rite.

What always must be remembered, however, is that no one is forced into becoming a priest; it is a decision that is—and must—be made freely and without any coercion.

It is also a decision that can only be made after years of discernment and study, and part of that study and discernment includes understanding what a life of celibacy entails. After such discernment, the promises of celibacy, prayer, imitation of Christ, and obedience are freely made at ordination.

Why do some people suggest

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Priests at their ordination. When diocesan priests enter the clerical state they make a “promise” of celibacy, whereas their religious counterparts— priests who belong to religious orders—take a “vow” of chastity. in this interview, Fr Michael Fuller explains the difference and other areas of frequent confusion. that not being married might be a cause for child sexual abuse?

This is a difficult one, and must first be answered by the fact that studies conclude that there is no link between celibacy and child sexual abuse.

For thousands of years, and in many different religious traditions, celibacy has been practised and has not been a cause for child sexual abuse. In our times, people have a great difficulty in thinking anyone could live a life of celibacy—even with the countless number of people who do—and so they think that there must be a link between the two.

Our culture today is oversexualised, which has led us to think that sexual relationships are something unreasonable or unnatural to forgo, and so when there is a crisis such as child sexual abuse, people believe there is a link, when of course, there is not one.

Sadly, child sexual abuse is all too common, and involves abusers from all walks of life and it is something that should never happen.

One good that has come out of this crisis is the growing awareness of this terrible abuse, which is leading to better means of prevention.

What is chastity and how does it differ from celibacy?

Chastity is a virtue that everyone is called to live by; it is the state of being chaste. Chaste comes from an old Latin word which means being pure from any unlawful sexual relationships.

In other words, chastity is the virtue of living out your sexual life in the proper way, which is, if you are married, to be sexually intimate only with your spouse and, if you are unmarried, to refrain from sexual intimacy with anyone, for the proper place for sexual relationships is within a marriage.

Therefore, chastity is a virtue that should be lived out by everyone, according to their state of life.

The person who chooses celibacy promises to remain unmarried for the rest of his life. In this case, to practise the virtue of chastity means he will refrain from all sexual relationships.

Are only priests called to be chaste, or is that expected of everyone? Do people make vows of chastity?

Everyone is called to chastity, as defined by their state of life. Men and women who enter the religious life do make a vow of chastity.

The vow of chastity is one of the three evangelical counsels that a person entering the religious life

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vows to follow. The three counsels are obedience, chastity and poverty.

Each religious community— such as Franciscans, or Dominicans, or Benedictines—will have different ways of expressing these, but they are the common denominator of religious life.

The vow of chastity that a religious professes is to live in a state of integrity regarding sexuality, which, in this case, means to forgo sexual relationships. In practice, it looks just the same as celibacy, but is not called celibacy because of the difference between a vow and a promise.

What is the difference between a vow and a promise?

These two often get confused, and people often think that a vow is more serious than a promise. That is not true; they are both equally strong and serious.

A vow is a personal act of devotion in which you promise to live a certain way in order to grow in charity as a disciple. A vow, then, is directed towards your personal salvation.

A promise is directed differently, in that the focus is on others. A promise, then, is also an act of devotion, but one that is directed to growing in charity by serving God in a specific way that involves a focus on his Church, his people.

In the sacraments we make promises, because they always involve the community of faith, whereas a vow is more personally

focused.

A vow is a promise a person makes to God. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “A vow is an act of devotion in which the Christian dedicates himself to God or promises him some good work” (2102).

So, a man or a woman entering the religious life, out of devotion to God, promises to live a life of chastity, obedience and poverty. It is something where he or she says, I am doing this out of love for God and for the salvation of my soul.

Priests and deacons, however, do not take vows, but they do make promises, which are equally binding.

A promise is made for the sake of the kingdom and for the Church. In the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, holy orders and marriage, promises are made— and therefore, it is not technically correct to say marriage vows.

In a promise, you are saying, “I will do this out of love for God and for the sake of others.” In marriage, you promise to be true to your spouse, out of love for your spouse and being the “domestic Church”.

In baptism, you promise to live as a disciple of Christ, rejecting Satan and all his works, and to serve God faithfully in his holy, catholic Church. In the promise of celibacy, you promise to remain unmarried for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and at the service of God’s people.—CNS

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The Southern Cross, March 15 to March 21, 2017

TRAVEL

The faith of Palestine’s Christians Last month GüNTHER SiMMERMACHER made a private visit to the Holy Land. In the first of a series of articles, he looks at the Christians of Palestine.

A

FTER a long wait in the queue, we finally reached the checkpoint, manned by Israeli soldiers. Addressing us in Hebrew, they demanded to know where we are from. Our driver, my friend Rimon Makhlouf, replied: “South Africa”.

“South Africa?” The soldier repeated in what sounded like an aggressively mocking tone. South Africans coming from Ramallah, capital of Palestine... I could see a problem.

More Hebrew. Rimon said, “Cape Town”, and the soldier became even more agitated. Had a baboon once stolen his sandwich at Cape Point?

He called somebody from the back. A captain, perhaps, to interrogate what exactly these South Africans had been up to in Ramallah? No. A widely grinning youngster in uniform appeared, not a scary man from Mossad. He asked if we knew Constantia. We did. Encouraged, he asked whether we knew the Hershovitz family. Alas, we don’t, though that is doubtless our loss.

And with that we were waved through, to continue our journey on Palestinian roads.

Earlier we had visited the excellent but poorly publicised Yassir Arafat Museum, in which rooms of the Palestinian leader’s compound

(From left) A banner advertising Arab Idol contestant yacoub Shaheen, a Christian from Bethlehem; a car in Jerusalem with a sticker showing the rosary and an image of St Charbel Makhlouf; Günther Simmermacher with the statue of Nelson Mandela in Ramallah, a gift to the Palestinian capital from the City of Johannesburg. are perfectly preserved.

There Rimon, a Roman Catholic and the leading Christian tour guide in the Holy Land, returned to the boardroom where a decade and a half ago he had served as a translator for President Arafat and a delegation of four US Congressmen, at a time when Israeli forces were besieging the compound. It was a moving experience for my friend.

Mandela in Palestine In Ramallah we also visited the six-metre-high statue of Nelson Mandela which was donated to the Palestine capital by the City of Johannesburg in April 2016.

Unlike our leader of the opposition—who claims to have met with unnamed Palestinian officials while in Israel to gladhand with the Israeli prime minister—we took many

A hymn book and parish newsletter in Arabic at Mass in the Tantour Ecumenical Centre in southern Jerusalem. in Palestinian parishes in all of the Holy Land, the liturgy is typically in Arabic.

photos of Madiba, who was a passionate supporter of Palestinian rights and an advocate for peace in this troubled region.

Before the statue could be installed last April, it was held by Israeli customs for 30 days, with Israel demanding a duty ten-times that of its actual cost (in the end, it was not paid).

“Nelson Mandela, who had already spent 28 years in the jails of the apartheid regime in South Africa, was again detained for 30 days by the Israeli authorities,” Ramallah mayor Mussa Hadid quipped at the time.

Ramallah (“Heights of God”) once was a mainly Christian city, and the followers of Christ still have a prominent presence in the population of 27 000.

In Palestine the presence of Christians is inescapable, despite the community’s dwindling number.

Near Ramallah is the village of Taybeh, the last in the region to be populated entirely by Christians. In Taybeh there is a brewery, named after the village, which produces outstanding beers.

Another fine beer, Shepherds, is brewed in nearby Birzeit (a name just one E away from spelling out the German word for “beer time”, but its name actually means “Well of Oil”), another traditionally Christian town and home to a famous university.

Palestinian Christians are often identified by the crosses they wear.

Most of their cars have a rosary or other Christian article hanging from their rear-view mirrors.

In Christian bars or restaurants, crosses hang on the walls or other devotional items are on display. Our accommodation in Bethlehem, the elegant Diamond Hotel, features a reproduction of the Last Supper above its entrance. The image of the Maronite saint Charbel Makhlouf is ubiquitous.

In short, Palestinian Christians are not shy to identify themselves

as such.

This is a community that sticks together, across the denominations.

If you want to see Christian unity in action, go to Palestine.

Arab Idol star While we were in Bethlehem, banners everywhere urged people to vote for a local contestant in Arab Idol, the enormously popular singing talent show broadcast from Beirut which covers the whole Arab-speaking region.

The contestant, a strikingly handsome young man named Yacoub Shaheen, is an Assyrian Orthodox Christian and a deacon in his church, which conducts its liturgy in a dialect of Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke.

Yacoub, a product of Catholic schooling, had actually asked the people of Palestine not to spend their money on voting for him by SMS. He told his father: “I have lots of supporters around the world, please tell people not to spend their money for me.” The people voted for him anyway, because to them he was more than just a local boy in a talent show.

Just over a week after we left, the grand finale was broadcast on a big screen in a packed Manger Square, scenes from which were transmitted on the programme. When the winner was announced, the square erupted: Yacoub Shaheen!

Yacoub’s success was as important to the people of Bethlehem, a city suffering from the effects of Israel’s suffocating ghetto wall, as that of the 2013 winner, Mohammed Assaf, was to Gaza (google Assaf’s story; it is quite remarkable).

After winning Arab Idol, Yacoub donated a chunk of his prize money to a Christian charity, as he had done earlier after winning a singing contest.

It is hugely important to Palestinian Christians, a community which feels its marginalisation, that one of their own won the contest.

When the general discourse presents the Israel-Palestine conflict as one of religion—of Jews versus Muslims—it excludes the Palestinian Christians from the equation, as if they don’t exist.

But they do exist, and one need not look hard to see that. To illustrate, in Ramallah we sought out a café for a bite to eat. It looked clean and well-frequented, so we entered.

They served alcohol: a Christian bistro.

Later, in the Israeli port city of Haifa, we entered a random bar in the city’s main artery, which leads from the Baha’i Temple to the harbour. After a while my eyes fell on a small banner hanging on a wall, depicting a key.

The key is a symbol of the Palestinian demand for the Right to Return (to the homes taken from them when Israel took over their land in 1948). This was a Palestinian-owned establishment, and since it served alcohol, obviously owned

by Christians.

The Catholic Church provides

great care for the Palestinian Christians, and Palestinians generally. In Bethlehem, the university and many schools are Catholic. Social housing is provided by Caritas.

When a pregnant mother and her unborn child died at an Israeli checkpoint after being denied passage to a Jerusalem hospital, the Church responded by building a maternity and paediatric hospital in Bethlehem.

As it is in many places in the Middle East, in the Holy Land the Catholic Church’s presence is visible and important through its schools, hospitals and charities.

When we are asked to give at the collection during Good Friday services, the proceeds help to support these schools and other projects run by the Church, as well as helping to maintain the many sacred sites in the Holy Land. St Paul said: “It is a blessing to assist the faithful of Jerusalem,” meaning the Holy Land (2 Cor 8:3-4).

Stroll down Paul VI Street In Palestinian cities many streets bear Christian names. In Nazareth, the main street is named after Pope Paul VI. Bethlehem also has a main artery named after the late pope. Its main road is Manger Street; the main piazza, dominated by a mosque, is called Manger Square (alternatively Nativity Square); our hotel in Bethlehem was on St Antonio Street, formerly Caritas Street.

And Bethlehem’s mayor, Vera Baboun, is a Catholic, as were four of her predecessors.

Like all Christians in the Middle East, Palestinian Christians speak Arabic. Many also speak English and/or French, but the vernacular is Arabic. This means that a phrase like “Allahu Akhbar”, which Westerners too readily associate with suicide-vested jihadists, is intoned in the Catholic Mass. Christians also bear names which Westerners would associate with Islam, such as Abdullah, Ibrahim or Samira.

Of course, others have explicitly Christian names. My friend Rimon (from Raymond) has three adult children, named George, Christine and Gabriel.

The number of Christian Palestinians is declining due to emigration, mostly owing to the lack of freedom and opportunity in a land controlled by Israel. Some never come back, but many others do.

In Taybeh, the Khoury family ran successful businesses in the US but returned to found the local brewery, winery and a smart hotel.

The co-owner and general manager of our hotel in Bethlehem returned after more than 30 years from Australia to be home again.

And one day, when there will be peace, human rights and opportunity, others will follow. This we must pray for.

Oh, and if you know the Hershovitz family of Constantia, tell them that a cheerful Israeli soldier wishes to send them his regards.

Next week: At the Sea of Galilee

CLASSIFIEDS

Getting it all off Pat Julia Beacroft

N

AMES are really important. Like many other people, I’m always pleased when a little-known acquaintance remembers mine.

On the other hand, I really hate it when people get my name wrong—and my husband Patrick is of like mind.

I’m called Julia but intensely dislike being addressed as Julie and my husband can't abide his name being shortened to Pat or Paddy.

And the way that we say things—our tone of voice—is also important. My four adult children think it a great joke when my husband nods off in front of the TV and starts to snore. This is because if they instruct him: “Wake up, Dad!”, he simply ignores them. However, if they shout “Patrick!”, and use the same intonation of voice as mine, he opens his eyes and immediately stops snoring.

It could be said that we’re hard-wired to respond to the voice of a loved one in much the same way as we respond to the sound of our own names.

On March 17 we celebrate my husband’s saint’s name—St Patrick—the principal patron saint of Ireland. Although the de-

Point of Reflection

St Patrick on a stained glass window in St Benin’s church, Kilbennan, County Galway, ireland tails of this former missionary and bishop of Ireland are somewhat sketchy, we can rest assured that his fervent desire to bring Christianity to the Celtic pagans of Ireland was successful. He famously used the three-leaf shamrock to explain the Trinity.

And in fact, although massive celebrations of everything remotely Irish usually take place on March 17, the intended meaning

of St Patrick's Day is for spiritual renewal and missionary prayer. A beautiful objective.

God calls each and every one of us by name and we only have to tune in with our heads, minds and souls to hear his voice. We yearn to become ever closer to the Lord and we remain restless until we do so.

St Patrick, like each of us, was called by name and responded to the voice of the Lord. In so doing, he carried out the special task for which the Lord had chosen him.

And so, like St Patrick, let us respond to being called by name and to the voices of those whom we love. May we then, follow St Patrick’s example and always listen, respond to and love the voice of God—for this is one voice that should never be ignored. n Julia Beacroft’s book Sanctifying The Spirit is published by Sancio Books. It is available on Amazon.

The Southern Cross, March 15 to March 21, 2017

CLASSIFIEDS

Births • First Communion • Confirmation • Engagement/Marriage • Wedding anniversary • Ordination jubilee • Congratulations • Deaths • in memoriam • Thanks • Prayers • Accommodation • Holiday Accommodation • Personal • Services • Employment • Property • Others Please include payment (R1,70 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

PRAYERS

FATHER, you have given all peoples one common origin. it is your will that they be gathered together as one family in yourself.

Fill the hearts of mankind with the fire of your love and with the desire to ensure justice for all. By sharing the good things you give us, may we secure an equality for all our brothers and sisters throughout the world. May there be an end to division, strife and war.

May there be a dawning of a truly human society built on love and peace. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen..

O Star of the Sea, help me and show me where you are, Mother of God. Queen of heaven and earth i humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity. There is none who can withstand your power, O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Holy Mary, i place this cause in your hands. “Say this prayer for 3 consecutive days and then publish. RG.

low thee more nearly, For ever and ever.

THANkS

THANk YOU St Jude for answering my prayer. i am grateful for your help and humbly thank you.

PERSONAL

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Pray for Asia’s Church Continued from page 7 better known for its nuclear missile tests which sow fear in the hearts of people the world over.

We may be less aware that the government uses its citizens to bring in foreign currency. Labourers are exported to places like Angola, China, Kuwait, Qatar and Russia to work in abysmal conditions. They work long hours and do not receive a salary because employers pay the Pyongyang government, who in turn pay a small stipend to their expatriate workforce.

In order to keep citizens from defecting, they are forced to hand over their passports as soon as they arrive in their new country, limiting their freedom of movement. Many of the workers sent overseas are married men whose families remain at home. This further discourages unhappy workers from seeking political asylum.

We can only wonder what impact this will have on family life in North Korea in decades to come.

This snapshot of life in four Asian countries tells a story—that prevails throughout the Asian continent—of discrimination and a restriction of many of

Community Calendar

the rights we take for granted.

Next time we freely express our thoughts about the government or drive to Mass, let us think that millions of people in Asia and other parts of the world are denied these very ordinary rights.

Next time we complain about our salaries and having to work on a weekend, let us spare a prayer for those who don’t get to see the fruits of their labour, miss watching their children grow up, or are working against their will.

Father in heaven, you have chosen us to be your children but you give us the freedom to accept you as our Father.

We pray for all our brothers and sisters throughout the world who have been denied their basic freedoms, including the freedom to worship you under your many names. Even though their minds and bodies cannot be free from the shackles of oppressive governments, we pray that their souls may rise up to you and grant them the hope to live in eternal freedom with you. Amen. n All statistics taken from the Amnesty International 2016/ 2017 Human Rights Report.

Liturgical Calendar Year A – Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday March 19, 3rd Sunday of Lent Exodus 17:3-7, Psalms 95:1-2, 6-9, Romans 5:1-2, 5-8, John 4:5-42 Monday March 20, St Joseph 2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16, Psalms 89:25, 27, 29, Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22, Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24 or Luke 2:4151 Tuesday March 21 Daniel 3:25, 34-43, Psalms 25:4-9, Matthew 18:21-35 Wednesday March 22 Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9, Psalms 147:1213, 15-16, 19-20, Matthew 5:17-19 Thursday March 23, St Turibius of Mogrovejo Jeremiah 7:23-28, Psalms 95:1-2, 6-9, Luke 11:14-23 Friday March 24 Hosea 14:2-10, Psalms 81:6-11, 14, 17, Mark 12:28-34 Saturday March 25, Annunciation of the Lord Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10, Psalms 40:7-11, Hebrews 10:4-10, Luke 1:26-38 Sunday March 26, 4th Sunday of Lent 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13, Psalms 23:16, Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41

O MOST beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of Heaven, blessed Mother of the Son of God, immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity.

THANkS be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, For all the benefits thou hast won for me, For all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother, May i know thee more clearly, Love thee more dearly, And fol-

Our bishops’ anniversaries This week we congratulate: March 19: Bishop Abel Gabuza of Kimberley on the 6th anniversary of his episcopal ordination.

March 23: Bishop Abel Gabuza on his 62nd birthday.

Traditional Latin Mass Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel 36 Central Avenue, Pinelands, Cape Town Call 0712914501 for details.

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Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 750. ACROSS: 1 Moth, 3 Aberrate, 9 Dervish, 10 Cross, 11 Ash Wednesday, 13 Obeyed, 15 Kimono, 17 Death penalty, 20 Ocean, 21 Malaria, 22 Pretends, 23 Body. DOWN: 1 Mediator, 2 Terah, 4 Behind, 5 Recessionals, 6 Avocado, 7 Erst, 8 Life sentence, 12 Polygamy, 14 Exegete, 16 Spumed, 18 Largo, 19 Pomp.

Word of the Week

Relic: A part of the body of a saint including clothing, jewellery, etc. The relic is considered holy due to its association with the saint.

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JOHANNESBURG Lenten Divine Mercy seminar. Our Lady of Lebanon parish in Mulbarton. Friday March 17 at 8pm. Divine Mercy image. Speaker: Sr Rose Walatka.

Friday March 24 at 8pm. Divine Mercy and Life. Speaker: Fr Malcolm McLaren. Friday March 31 at 8pm. Trust & the Hour of Mercy. Speaker: Sr Rose Walatka. Contact Joe on 082 411 9352.

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“Friar Bigotón” preaches to the fish (see page 1)

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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), 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, John O’Leary, Kevin Roussel, Fr Paul Tatu CSS

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4th Sunday in Lent: March 26 Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13, Psalm 23:1-6, Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41

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EXT Sunday is mid-Lent Sunday, when you may be relaxing your Lenten austerities. (Or, if you have not yet decided what to do for Lent this year, you might be thinking about that.)

The readings for the day invite us to reflect on “seeing” and “light”. In the first reading, the prophet Samuel is invited by God to perform the dangerous task of taking his attention from King Saul, and anointing his new Messiah. Samuel goes through all the sons of Jesse, and learns to see them in the light of God, and learn who it is whom God has chosen.

It turns out, when Samuel learns to see things properly, that the one to be anointed is “the youngest, who is looking after the sheep”. Then we discover the consequences of seeing things properly: “Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed [David] in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed down on David from that day.”

The psalm for next Sunday is the loveliest of all the psalms, expressing a quiet ability to see God in a new light, as “my shepherd—I do not lack”. The singer is well aware of the encroaching darkness, “even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of Death”, but is

S outher n C ross

confident that it will not win: “I shall not fear evil”, and he concludes, as one who sees the light dawning at last: “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for the length of days.”

The idea of darkness appears twice in our second reading, with an implicit mention of it in the use of the word “hidden”, and the encouragement to “rise from the dead”.

Meanwhile, the word “light” comes no less than five times, with an additional verb meaning something like to “illuminate”, at the very end. What is this light? Its “fruit”, says Paul, is “in all goodness and righteousness and truth”. That is something for us to go for this week.

The Gospel is a sustained drama depicting the battle between light and darkness; one man sees more and more, while others see less and less; and Jesus remains “the light of the world”.

At the beginning of the Gospel we meet “a man blind from birth”, and immediately notice the blindness of Jesus’ disciples who ask whose fault it was that he could not see.

Then, with almost no effort, apart from making clay out of dust and spittle, Jesus anoints

the man’s eyes and sends him off to the pool Siloam: “So he went off and washed and came back seeing”, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Then we see other kinds of blindness, as people disagree about whether the person who is now seeing is the same as the one who used to be blind.

Eventually they do the obvious thing and ask the man if it is so; then he simply reports how it happened; at that point, the “Pharisees” are brought into the situation (and we know that means trouble). They have no trouble in “seeing” the situation and announce their verdict: “[Jesus] is not from God—because he does not keep Sabbath.”

Or some of them; because others make the point that if he is a sinner, then he should not be able to perform these “signs”.

Then the parents are asked to shed light on the situation; but they have a blindness all of their own and all they will do is confirm that it is indeed their son, but they refuse to comment on how he has recovered his sight.

So the enquiry reverts to him, and they (once more) announce the verdict: “Give

The taste of God’s energy A

be solemn and reverent.

Then, already a generation ago, there was a strong reaction in many churches and in the culture at large to this concept of God. Popular theology and spirituality set out to correct this, sometimes with undue vigour.

What they presented instead was a laughing Jesus and a dancing God, and while this was not without its value, it still left us begging for a deeper literature about the nature of God and what that might mean for us in terms of health and relationships.

That literature won’t be easy to write, not just because God is ineffable, but because God’s energy is also ineffable.

W

hat, indeed, is energy? We rarely ask this question because we take energy as something so primal that it cannot be defined but only taken as a given, as self-evident.

We see energy as the primal force that lies at the heart of everything that exists, animate and inanimate. Moreover, we feel energy, powerfully, within ourselves.

We know energy, we feel energy, but what we rarely recognise is its origins, its prodigiousness, its joy, its goodness, its effervescence, and its exuberance. We rarely recognise what it tells us about God. What does it tell us?

The first quality of energy is its prodigiousness. It is prodigal beyond our imagi-

Conrad

LL things considered, I believe that I grew up with a relatively healthy concept of God. The God of my youth, the God that I was catechised into, was not unduly punishing, arbitrary, or judgmental.

He was omnipresent, so that all of our sins were noticed and noted, but, at the end of the day, he was fair, loving, personally concerned for each of us, and wonderfully protective—to the point of providing each of us with a personal guardian angel.

That God gave me permission to live without too much fear and without any particularly crippling religious neuroses.

But that gets you only so far in life. Not having an unhealthy notion of God doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a particularly healthy one. The God whom I was raised on was not overly stern and judgmental, but neither was he very joyous, playful, witty or humorous. Especially, he wasn’t sexual, and had a particularly vigilant and uncompromising eye in that area.

Essentially he was grey, a bit dour, and not very joyous to be around: you had to be solemn and reverent. I remember the assistant director at our Oblate novitiate telling us that there is no recorded incident, ever, of Jesus having laughed.

Under such a God you had permission to be essentially healthy, but, to the extent that you took him seriously, you still walked through life less than fully robust and your relationship with him could only

Nicholas King SJ

Seeing amid blindness

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS

Sunday Reflections

glory to God—we know that this man is a sinner.” He, however, is unable to “see” as clearly as they seem to be able to do: “One thing I know, that I was blind, and now I am seeing.”

When they want to investigate further, he asks (possibly somewhat mischievously): “Do you want to become disciples of his too?”

They cling to their certainty that they can see what is going on, and expel him.

Jesus, however, does the opposite and (as always) goes looking for the rejected one, and invites him to believe in “the Son of Man”.

At that point, the man is seeing everything clearly: “He said, ‘I believe, Lord.’ And he worshipped him.”

It is an extraordinary story; but it has still not reached its end, for there are those other blind ones, “some of the Pharisees”, who ask “We’re not blind, are we?” Jesus’ response is very sharp indeed: “Now that you say, ‘We see’, your sin remains.”

Let us pray this week to walk away from darkness, and into the light of the Lord.

Southern Crossword #750

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

nation and this speaks something about God. What kind of creator makes billions of throwaway universes? What kind of creator makes trillions upon trillions of species of life, millions of them never to be seen by the human eye? What kind of father or mother has billions of children?

And what does the exuberance in the energy of young children say about our creator? What does their playfulness suggest about what must also lie inside sacred energy? What does the energy of a young puppy tell us about what’s sacred? What do laughter, wit and irony tell us about God? No doubt the energy we see around us and feel irrepressibly within us tells us that, underneath, before and below everything else, there flows a sacred force, both physical and spiritual, which is at its root, joyous, happy, playful, exuberant, effervescent, and deeply personal and loving.

That energy is God. That energy speaks of God and that energy tells us why God made us and what kind of permission God is giving us for living out our lives.

When we try to imagine the heart of reality, we might picture things this way: at the very centre of everything are two thrones; on one sits a king and on the other sits a queen, and from these two thrones issue forth all energy, all creativity, all power, all love, all nourishment, all joy, all playfulness, all humour, and all beauty.

All images of God are inadequate, but this image hopefully can help us understand that God is perfect masculinity and perfect femininity making perfect love all the time, and that from this union issues forth all energy and all creation.

Moreover that energy, at its sacred root, is not just creative, intelligent, personal and loving; it’s also joyous, colourful, witty, playful, humorous, erotic, and exuberant at its very core. To feel it is an invitation to gratitude.

The challenge of our lives is to live inside that energy in a way that honours it and its origins.

That means keeping our shoes off before the burning bush as we respect its sacredness, even as we take from it permission to be more robust, free, joyous, humorous, and playful—and especially more grateful.

ACROSS

1. It can destroy your treasures (Mt 6) (4) 3. Area Bert may stray from (8) 9. He prays in a whirl (7) 10. Be annoyed with sacred symbol (5) 11. A fast start as it dawns (3,9) 13. Observed the Commandments (6) 15. It may be worn in Japan (6) 17. The ultimate punishment (5,7) 20. Expanse of water, possibly Indian (5) 21. Disease from the marsh (7) 22. Simulates (8) 23. Full flavour of wine (4)

Solutions on page 11

DOWN

1. There is one God and one ... (2 Tim 5) (8) 2. Earth provides Abram’s father (Gn 11) 4. Further back in the pews (6) 5. Hymns for outgoing clergy (12) 6. Fruit that went pearshaped (7) 7. From rest a while ago (4) 8. A long stretch the judge may pass (4,8) 12. The custom of many spouses (8) 14. He interprets texts of scripture (7) 16. How the waves made a froth (6) 18. Handel’s slow tempo (5) 19. Splendid display going with ceremony (4)

CHURCH CHUCKLE

A

CATHOLIC priest spied a parishioner enjoying a sausage on Friday during Lent. The priest, being of a practical mind, told the man that for his penance he was to bring a load of timber to the church to help repair the roof.

The man grumbled, but went off to do his penance.

He arrived at the church on the next Friday and proceeded to dump a huge load of sawdust into the parking lot.

“What's this?” the priest demanded to know. “I told you your penance was to bring a load of lumber, not sawdust.”

The man replied: “Well, if that sausage I ate was meat, then this sawdust is timber.”

Hurley Memorial Pilgrimage Presented by the Denis Hurley Centre

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11 to 21 September 2017

led by Bishop Barry Wood with Raymond Perrier

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