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Introducing the Stations of Light to South Africa

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What humility is all about

‘Silence’, ‘The Shack’ films reviewed

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We let Zuma get away; now we play catch-up

BY MANDLA ZIBI

T Bishop José Luís Ponce de León of Manzini, Swaziland, on the back of a donkey on the way to Palm Sunday Mass in Malkerns. When he first heard of the idea that he should ride on a donkey, he thought somebody was playing an April Fool’s joke on him.

Bishop rode to Mass on the back of a donkey STAFF REPORTER

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BISHOP took a ride on a donkey on Palm Sunday, in remembrance of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.

For Bishop José Luís Ponce de León of Manzini, Swaziland, it was the first time he had sat on the back of a donkey.

“It all started one week before Palm Sunday,” he noted on his blog (bhubesi.blogspot. co.za). He had received a WhatsApp message saying: “Donkey is on its way. Arriving Saturday for practice for Palm Sunday service.”

Looking at the date, the Argentinian-born prelate was advised: “Bishop, today is April 1 and this is probably a joke.” The bishop himself quipped that he did not have a “riding licence”.

But the messages continued: “The donkey will be led by its owner.”

Fr Tim Wrenn SDB would ride the donkey to Don Bosco church in Malkerns before the 9:00 Mass in English “and I would do it for the

The

10:30 Mass in siSwati”, the bishop was told by the organisers.

“Both of you should be available for practice on Saturday at 3pm. Is it possible to house the donkey at your grass space?”, the next message read.

“No joke any more. It was true,” Bishop Ponce de León recalled.

On Saturday morning the donkey arrived at the bishop’s house. At the appointed time, “we all gathered for the first practice. Quite a challenge! We risked losing Fr Tim through the gates and into town on the donkey,” the bishop noted. The gates were closed before the bishop had his go.

On Sunday, the donkey was expertly led as first Fr Wrenn and then Bishop Ponce de León rode to Mass on its back.

“It was very smooth and helped us imagine the joy with which Jesus was welcomed in Jerusalem by many people,” the bishop said, looking back at the episode with gratitude to those who made it possible.

HE religious community failed to “speak out strongly against President Jacob Zuma’s abuses” and now events have overtaken them, a Catholic political analyst has said.

“The religious community has been naïve. It failed to speak out strongly against Zuma’s abuses early on, and now it is trying to play catch-up,” Mike Pothier, research coordinator of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office, told The Southern Cross.

According to Mr Pothier, even though the centre of the state has shifted from institutions of good government into the hands of the corrupt, essentially the country still continues to function, albeit less effectively.

The notion of a centre means “the combination of structures, processes, rules, institutions and values that must operate together in order for a state to function properly”, he explained. “And functioning properly means serving the interests of the people as a whole, not just a section of wellconnected, wealthy individuals.”

A healthy centre should be based on the will of the people, should abide by the rule of law, respect institutions such as parliament and the courts, and follow values such as integrity, honesty, service and the common good.

The centre had shifted in the sense that President Zuma’s focus, and increasingly that of the government he leads, is on the “narrow interests of the crooked elite”, Mr Pothier said.

“Mr Zuma does not spend his time thinking about how best to uplift the poor, or create jobs, or fix the education system, or solve the land problem,” he noted.

“Instead, he concentrates on securing his own wealth, on keeping the Guptas happy, and on selecting mostly incompetent and morally weak ministers who will not feel bound to act according to law and principle—who will indeed bend or break the law, bypass the regulations, and evade the correct procedures in order to favour Zuma’s friends.”

S outher n C ross

Cape Town’s St Mary’s cathedral provides the backdrop to a huge anti-Zuma protest opposite parliament in Cape Town.

But, Mr Pothier cautioned, Mr Zuma should not shoulder the blame alone.

“The rot set in during President Thabo Mbeki’s time, when notions of accountability went out of the window. Mbeki was famously aloof, the intellectual giant, with all sorts of weird ideas about HIV/Aids. He listened to no one, talked all sorts of nonsense on various matters, and until right at the end of his term, got away with it,” Mr Pothier said.

Both Presidents Mbeki and Zuma were allowed to do and say as they pleased without many in the ANC objecting because it is in the nature of liberation movements to continue to fight their struggle long after they had come to power.

“The old enemy is always just around the corner. At present it’s called the “white minority capital”, a year or two ago it was “counter-revolutionaries”. This, Mr Pothier said, “provides a permanent excuse for failures and shortcomings”.

He said in the short term, all we can hope for is that enough sensible people in the ANC and its allies realise that the centre has Continued on page 3

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The Southern Cross, April 19 to Apriil 25, 2017

LOCAL

Introducing Stations of Light to SA

BY MANDLA ZIBI

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S Catholics prayed the Stations of the Cross this Lent, the Salesians are urging them to follow that with a lesserknown devotion called the Stations of the Resurrection, also known as the Via Lucis (Way of Light)—and the order is offering material to promote the devotion.

“Each season of Lent we remind ourselves of the suffering and death of Jesus by walking the Stations of the Cross. Then Easter comes and we are left without a complementary devotion to continue our walk with Jesus after his Resurrection,” said Fr Francois Dufour, Salesian provincial in Southern Africa.

But in recent times this gap has been filled with the Way of Light, which consists of 14 Stations of the Resurrection, “It is the ideal devotion to pray in the Easter season,” Fr Dufour said. The 14 stations capture the moments of Christ’s life beyond his crucifixion: from the Resurrection to Pentecost.

The Easter season ends with Pentecost Sunday, this year on June 4.

“This devotion appeals particularly to young people and is very relevant for confirmation candidates making their journey from the Easter of their baptism to the Pentecost of their confirmation. It also helps to promote the fact that we are to be an Easter people, not just Good Friday people,” Fr Dufour said.

The devotion was inspired by an ancient inscription found on a wall in the San Callisto catacombs on the Appian Way in Rome from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, in response to a report that some members were denying the Resurrection (1 Cor 15:3-8).

In the 1990s, Roman Salesian Father Sabino Palumbieri helped develop the idea of combining the events mentioned in the St Callistus inscription with other post-Resurrection events to create the Stations of the Resurrection.

“These new stations emphasise the hopeful aspect of the Christian story, which is not ab-

Cover of the Way of Light booklet in English.

It is also available in seSotho and siSwati.

Italian sculptor Giovanni Dragoni’s Station One (Jesus Rises from the Dead) of the Stations of the Resurrection. sent from the Way of the Cross, but is not as evident. The Way of Light thus serves as an optimistic complement to the Way of the Cross, and was fashioned from 14 stations paralleling the 14 Stations of the Cross,” said Fr Dufour.

The devotion is celebrated in several places around the world and has received formal recognition from the Vatican’s Congregation

for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

“While the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) is displayed in practically every Catholic church, there are still very few Stations of the Resurrection to contemplate in our churches.

But hopefully every new church being built from now on will plan space to include all 28

stations,”Fr Dufour said.

The Salesians have just reprinted 2 000 copies, “due to popular demand”, of a locally produced booklet on the devotion. It is available in seSotho and siSwati, and English.

Also available are A3-sized prints of each of the 14 stations in the Via Lucis, painted by Fr Pierre de la Croix 20 years ago at the Bosco Youth Centre in Walkerville and the Maria Ratschitz Retreat Centre in Gauteng.

The material is free except for the cost of distribution and postage. n To order, contact the Salesians at sdbprov@iafrica.com

Calvary

Assisi

St Peter’s Basilica

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Assisi: The places associated with the lives of St Francis and St Clare, including their tombs, and much more...

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25 Aug - 8 Sept 2017 St Peter’s

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Jesus is crucified in a scene of the annual Way of the Cross performed by the Durban Catholic Players’ Guild at Mariannhill monastery. About 500 people, including Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, converged on the cloister for the performance of Christ’s Passion. The performance included 30 cast members, two narrators, five backstage technicians, musicians and the choir of Immaculate Conception parish in Pinetown. (Photo: Mauricio Langa)

Soccer and potjies coming up

BY MANDLA ZIBI

A

CAPE Town parish will be hosting a Freedom Day event comprising a potjiekos competition, a raffle, food fair and 5-aside soccer tournament St John the Evangelist parish in Fish Hoek will host its annual fundraising event on the April 27 public holiday on the grounds of Fish Hoek Primary School.

The now three-year-old event originally started when Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town requested parishes to collect funds towards the Year of Faith Archdiocesan Church Fund to build churches in places such as St Elizabeth’s in Wallacedene and St Josephine Bakhita in Old Crossroads.

For the potjiekos competition, entrance is free and whatever is cooked will be sold as part of the food fair. The first prize is half a lamb. The other half of the lamb

will be one of the main raffle prizes.

A vintage ladies’ bicycle worth R7 000 is another prize donated towards the raffle, said Magda Kus, one of the organisers.

For the football tournament, players of all ages and genders are welcome. No boots will be allowed; players must wear tackies or play barefoot.

Ms Kus also insisted that at least one of the five players on the field be female at all times.

The entry fee for the competition is R50 per team.

Teams and potjiekos entrants are both asked to register by April 19.

Soccer matches start at 10:00. Potjiekos competitors may set up from 7:30; judging will take place at 12:30. n For inquiries contact Angie in the parish office at 021 782 2671 (open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings) or fhcatholic@telkomsa.net

LOCAL Juliette Theresa Joseph celebrated her 100th birthday with her son Paul (right) and her CWL friends, including Cynthia Jones (left). She is shown with the rosary and rose from the CWL at Holy Trinity parish in Durban. (Photo: Andre Burger)

Roses, rosary mark 100 years

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PARISIONER of Holy Trinity parish in Musgrave Road, Durban, celebrated her 100th birthday with her Catholic Women’s League colleagues and her son, out from abroad for the occasion.

Juliette Theresa Joseph has worked for the Church her whole life.

She started playing the organ at Masses, weddings and funerals from the 1950s.

First she was at Beaconsfield

parish in Kimberley (Fr J Stumpp), then at Assumption parish in Umbilo, Durban (Fr Albert Danker), and finally at Holy Trinity parish (Fr Austin Collingwood, Fr Rodney Moss, and then Fr Massimo Bianchalani).

She also led the weekly rosary before Mass, assisted with altar setting-up before Masses, and was an active member of the CWL for many years at Holy Trinity.

Zuma ‘elected to serve all in SA’ Continued from page 1 shifted away from service and upliftment of the masses, and towards the enrichment of the few—and act accordingly, Mr Pothier noted.

However, “present indications in this regard are not encouraging. In the longer term, we must continue to speak out, to organise, to refuse to accept the ‘Zumafication’ of our country,” he said.

“Eventually, if the institutions remain strong—parliament, the courts, the electoral commission— the tide will turn against the corruption and crookery that has characterised Zuma’s term of office,” he said.

“Our job, as civil society, is to help to keep those institutions strong, and to educate people about the realities of our political situation, and about the power they all have, as voters, to bring about change.”

In a statement, the bishops of Southern Africa stressed that the calls for Mr Zuma’s resignation or removal “would not in itself be a

complete solution, as corruption at every level must be rooted out”.

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference’s statement, signed by president Archbishop Stephen Brislin, called on the ANC leadership to “make serious and strenuous efforts to end corruption and patronage at all levels of governance”.

The bishops reminded President Zuma “that he has been elected to serve all South Africans”.

“It appears that he has lost the confidence of many of his own closest colleagues, as well as that of numerous civil society organisations. He should earnestly reconsider his position, and not be afraid to act with courage and humility in the nation’s best interests,” the statement said.

“We have confidence in the leaders of the two noble institutions, parliament and the ANC, and we trust that they will rise to the occasion and give decisive, fearless and honest leadership.”

The Southern Cross, April 19 to April 25, 2017

Bishop Tsoke: Migrant children are precious

BY MANDLA ZIBI

A

BISHOP has called for “a coordinated and effective response” by the political community, civil society and the Church to meet the challenges and reality of migrant and refugee children in South Africa.

Bishop Duncan Tsoke, auxiliary bishop in Johannesburg, was speaking at a child protection workshop whose theme was “Focusing on the Vulnerable, Unaccompanied, and Separated: Migrant Children and Youth”.

“We need to work towards protection, integration and longterm solutions. We all [including the Church], need to understand that each person is precious; persons are more important than things, and the worth of an institution is measured by the way it treats the life and dignity of human beings, particularly when they are vulnerable, as in the case of child migrants,” stated the prelate.

Bishop Tsoke prefaced his remarks with an excerpt from Pope Francis in his message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees held earlier this year with its theme “Child Migrants, the Vulnerable and the Voiceless”, in which the Holy Father quoted scripture: “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives not me but him who sent me” (Mk 9:37).

The bishop observed that scripture traces a sure path which leads to God. “It begins with the smallest and, through the grace of our Saviour, it grows into the practice of welcoming others. To be welcoming is a necessary condition for making this journey a concrete reality. God made himself one of us. In Jesus, God became a child, and the openness of faith to God, which nourishes hope, is expressed in loving proximity to the smallest and the weakest,” he said.

He pointed out that migration today is a phenomenon that affects all continents and is growing into a tragic issue of global proportions.

Bishop Duncan Tsoke, auxiliary bishop of Johannesburg, said at a child protection workshop, that people, especially the vulnerable, need to be treated with dignity.

“Children are the first to pay the heavy toll of migration, almost always caused by violence, poverty, environmental conditions, as well as the negative aspects of globalisation,” Bishop Tsoke said.

He painted a bleak picture of young girls and boys being exploited by unscrupulous people.

The children were led into prostitution and “the mire of pornography”, he said. Others were enslaved as child labourers or soldiers, or get caught up in drug trafficking and other forms of criminality.

“Children constitute the most vulnerable group...they are invisible and voiceless,” Bishop Tsoke said.

“Their precarious situation deprives them of documentation, hiding them from the world’s eyes. In this way, migrant children easily end up at the lowest levels of human degradation, where illegality and violence destroy the future of too many innocents.”

He said the condition of migrant children worsen when their status is not regularised and when they do not have the proper documentation “to be in school, to study like other children”, he noted.

“In these instances, the right of states to control migratory movement and to protect the common

good of the nation must be seen in conjunction with the duty to resolve and regularise the situation of child migrants, fully respecting their dignity, and seeking to meet their needs when they are alone, but also the needs of their parents, for the good of the entire family,” he said.

“We need to work for the integration of children and youngsters who are migrants. They depend totally on the adult community.”

Bishop Tsoke also called on migrants and refugees to cooperate “ever more closely with the communities that welcome them, for the good of their own children”.

He expressed his gratitude to organisations and institutions, both ecclesiastical and civil, which commit time and resources to protect minors from various forms of abuse.

“Effective and incisive cooperation must be implemented, based not only on the exchange of information, but also on the reinforcement of networks capable of assuring timely and specific intervention,” Bishop Tsoke said, adding that this can done “without underestimating the strength that ecclesial communities reveal, especially when they are united in prayer and fraternal communion”.

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The Southern Cross, April 19 to April 25, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

Pope: Development includes body and soul A

CATHOLIC approach to development aims at helping people achieve both physical and spiritual wellbeing and promotes both individual responsibility and community ties, Pope Francis said.

A development that is “fully human” recognises that being a person means being in relationship; it affirms “inclusion and not exclusion”, upholds the dignity of the person against any form of exploitation, and struggles for freedom, the pope said at a Vatican conference marking the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical on integral human development, Populorum Progressio.

Holistic or integral development, Pope Francis said, involves “integrating” all people into one human family, integrating individuals into communities, integrating the individual and communal dimensions of life and integrating body and soul.

“The duty of solidarity obliges us to seek proper ways of sharing so that there is no longer that dramatic inequality between those who have

Pope Francis talks with Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla during a private audience at the Vatican. (Photo: Vincenzo Pinto, Reuters/CNS)

Prince gives pope veggies

BY JuNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

B

RITAIN’S Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the duchess of Cornwall, met with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Following their private meeting, Prince Charles introduced the 15 members of a delegation accompanying him. Among them was Arthur Edwards, a Catholic who has served as the official photographer of the royal household.

“He is an important man. He has followed us for 40 years,” the prince told Pope Francis.

After the presentation, Prince Charles confessed to the pope that it was “difficult to know what to give Your Holiness”.

He presented the pope with a gift basket full of produce from the Royal Gardens at Highgrove, their private residence.

“It may come in handy. Somebody else might like it. It’s all homemade things I produce,” Prince Charles told the pope.

For his part, Pope Francis presented Prince Charles with a bronze sculpture of an olive branch in a white box and told him that it was “a symbol of peace”.

“Wherever you go, may you be a man of peace,” he told the prince.

“I’ll do my best,” Prince Charles replied.

Pope Francis also gave the royal couple hardbound copies of two apostolic exhortations, Amoris Laetitia (“The Joy of Love”) and Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”), and he also gave them a copy of Laudato Si’, (Care for Our Common Home”), his 2015 encyclical on the environment.

According to the British embassy to the Holy See, “The environment was a theme of the visit, and His Royal Highness joined a round-table discussion with senior Holy See officials on the subject.”

Before meeting the pope, the prince and duchess were given a private tour of the Vatican Secret Archives, where they were welcomed

by Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues, archivist and librarian of the Vatican Library.

The royal couple were shown original rare documents relating to the once-complicated history between the Catholic Church and Britain.

Among the documents they were shown was the last letter written by Mary, Queen of Scots, before her execution in 1587 for treason.

They were also shown a letter written in 1555 by Queen Mary I and King Philip II regarding the restoration of the Catholic Church in England.—CNS

Pope Francis speaks to participants at a Vatican conference marking the 50th anniversary of Blessed Paul VI’s encyclical on development, Populorum Progressio.

(Photo: L’Osservatore Romano/CNS) too much and those who have nothing, between those who discard and those who are discarded,” he said.

Social integration recognises that each individual has “a right and an obligation” to participate in the life of the community, bringing his or her gifts and talents to share for the

good of all, the pope said.

“None of these can be absolutised and none can be excluded from the concept of integral human development,” he said, because “human life is like an orchestra that plays well if all the different instruments are in tune with each other and follow a score shared by all”.

In the West, he said, culture “has exulted the individual to the point of making him an island, as if one could be happy alone”.

“On the other hand,” the pope said, “there is no lack of ideological visions and political powers who have squashed the person”, or treat people as a mass without individual dignity. The modern global economic system tends to do the same, he said.

The Catholic Church’s approach to development is modelled on Jesus’ approach to human flourishing, an approach that included spiritual and physical healing, liberating and reconciling people, the pope said.— CNS

Church recognises marriages by SSPX

C

ONTINUING initiatives aimed at a reconciliation with the Society of St Pius X, Pope Francis has made it possible for bishops to ensure the validity of marriages celebrated in the traditionalist communities.

A letter published by the Vatican said the pope will allow Catholic bishops to appoint priests to assist at SSPX marriages and formally receive the consent of the couples. The nuptial Mass then would be celebrated by the SSPX priest.

In addition, Pope Francis gave bishops the option of granting an SSPX priest the necessary faculties to officiate validly over the marriage rite “if there are no priests in the diocese” available to do so.

The provisions are meant to ensure the validity of the sacrament and “allay any concerns on the part of the faithful”, said the letter published by the pontifical commission Ecclesia Dei, which is responsible for the Vatican’s ongoing talks with the SSPX, which broke with Rome in 1980, under the leasership of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

The commission is led by German Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

For decades, the Vatican and leaders of the traditionalist society have been seeking a way to fully reintegrate the members of the society back into the life of the Catholic Church. The talks have focused par-

ticularly on the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and especially its documents on religious liberty, ecumenism, liturgy and relations with other religions.

“Despite the objective persistence of the canonical irregularity in which the Society of St Pius X finds itself,” the commission said in its new letter, the provisions approved by the pope on marriages should alleviate “any uneasiness of conscience on the part of the faithful regarding the validity of the sacrament of marriage”.

The commission also said it relied on the cooperation of the Church’s bishops to ensure that “the process toward sfull institutional regularisation may be facilitated” between the Church and the SSPX.—CNS

Priest pleads for North Pope plotter pleads guilty Korean Christians

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Three lessons from the Resurrection

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Bishop to Zuma: Launch probe into state capture STAFF REPORTER

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The risen Christ emerges from his tomb in this image from the Resurrection altar in Rosary basilica in Lourdes. The feast of Easter, which marks the Resurrection of Christ, this year falls on April 16. Unusually, this year Easter is celebrated by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches on the same date. (Günther Simmermacher)

No 5067

HE head of the bishops’ Justice & Peace Commission has urged President Jacob Zuma “to show leadership and institute a commission of inquiry on corporate state capture, especially corporate involvement in cabinet appointments”.

Such inquiry, said Bishop Abel Gabuza of Kimberley, “would restore public confidence in the office of the president and its ability to appoint ministers in the interest of the common good”.

It should “cover all corporates, and not only the alleged capture by the Gupta family”.

The bishop noted, however, that recent cabinet reshuffles seem to serve the president’s political survival, not the nation.

“Since the dismissal of [Nhlanhla] Nene as the finance minister [in December 2015], a strong impression has been created that the cabinet reshuffles by the president are done in the interest of the president’s political survival and his patronage networks, and not in the best interests of the nation,” said Bishop Gabuza.

The recent cabinet reshuffle, which saw among others finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas fired, “has failed to remove such an impression”, he said.

“Despite the government’s rhetoric around radical economic transformation, it is evident that uncertainties around the treasury, as well as continued political uncertainties, are not in the interest of the economy and the poor,” Bishop Gabuza said.

Bishop Gabuza lauded Mr Gordhan and Mr Jonas “for being men of integrity and for defending the principles of clean governance and fiscal discipline”.

He indicated that new finance minister Malusi Gigaba would be evaluated especially on “his ability to protect the treasury from corporate capture and undue influence”, an apparent reference to interference by the Gupta family.

“We therefore expect the new minister of finance to consider the common good and the poor, and not the vested interests of corporate sectors that are linked to political

elites and their patronage networks,” Bishop Gabuza said.

“This is particularly critical in the way the new minister will handle the immense pressure around the procurement of nuclear energy, the establishment of Gupta-linked bank and financial bail-outs of underperforming state-owned enterprises,” the bishop said.

In a statement, Mr Gigaba pledged that “I will not betray our people by allowing individual or special interests to prevail over the public good. Every decision I make will be for the public good, and I will be responsive and accountable to the public on those decisions.”

The Jesuit Institute of South Africa echoed the hope that Mr Gigaba “will continue to display the kind of honesty, integrity and fiscal prudence that marked Mr Gordhan’s time as head of the treasury”.

In a statement, the institute emphasised that “the treasury belongs to the people of the country and is not a feeding trough for a select few”.

The Jesuit Institute suggested that Mr Zuma did not undertake parts of his reshuffle rationally, as he is required to.

“While we recognise that the Constitution grants the president tremendous power, we are compelled to emphasise that the Rule of Law dictates that such power must be exercised rationally and for legitimate purposes,” the statement noted, adding that “the reasons put forward by the presidency do not point convincingly to this being the case”.

Mr Zuma cited apparently discredited intelligence reports that accused Mr Gordhan of colluding against the president as a reason for the finance minister’s dismissal.

The Jesuit Institute encouraged “forthright engagement by all sectors of society”, calling on South Africans to “make your voices and concerns heard in legitimate ways”.

“We appeal to all South Africans to join together in charting a path towards a peaceful and decisive resolution to this crisis for the common good of South Africa,” the statement said.

“The interests of our nation must be put before any other consideration at this time.”

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FRENCH Catholic priest working with North Korean refugees in China said conditions have worsened for surviving Christians under the dictatorship of Kim Jong Un and urged the Chinese government to give shelter to fugitives from the communist-ruled country.

Fr Philippe Blot, who works with the Paris foreign mission society, described the situation facing North Korean refugees as “becoming ever more dramatic” as they flee to China to avoid dying of hunger.

“The 200 000 North Koreans now in China shouldn’t be forcibly repatriated,” he said in an interview with France’s Le Monde daily. “They all know they’ll be tortured, sent to camps and killed if this happens.”

The priest said he had been asked for help from refugees while ministering in South Korea’s Andong and Suwon dioceses, and had gone to China in 2010 to help establish a reception network.

Each refugee was charged up to R69 000 by traffickers, and their key concern was for family members still in the country, he said.

“When a North Korean flees, his family are considered traitors and sent to re-education camps. So we first have to verify whether they’ve been seized before trying to help via our North Korean contacts,” Fr Blot said.

“But those in China are still in an illegal, dangerous situation. As a priest, I face a moral problem, since I’m also placing myself outside the law and Christians should obey the law. But moral criteria are surpassed since China is trampling on human rights. So instead, I follow Gospel criteria,” he said.

North Korea remains home to the Catholic dioceses of Hamhung and Pyongyang, although active clergy were killed or deported during and after the 1950-53 Korean War. Services are permitted at one officially approved Catholic church in Pyongyang, the capital.

The country was home to about 100 000 Catholics and up to 200 000 Protestants before the communist takeover.

Human rights organisations estimate that at least 30 000 Christians are incarcerated in prisons and labour camps.— CNS

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N American teenager has pleaded guilty to charges related to a plot to kill Pope Francis in 2015.

Santos Colon of New Jersey, now 17, was 15 when he plotted to assassinate the pope.

The teen had reportedly devised a plot to have a sniper shoot the pope while explosives went off in the surrounding area during the Holy Father’s Mass in Philadelphia on September 27, 2015, the US Attorney’s Office for New Jersey said.

In the months leading up to the pope’s visit, Colon thought he had made contact with a would-be sniper, when in fact he was engaging with an undercover FBI source, the US Justice Department said in a statement.

FBI agents were able to quietly arrest Colon about two weeks before the pope’s visit.

Colon, sometimes used the name Ahmad Shakoor, has pleaded guilty as an adult to one count of attempting to provide material support to terrorists. The charges filed against him as a juvenile have thus been dropped.

In the plea agreement, Colon noted he had been a patient at a mental hospital but did consider himself currently to be “mentally ill or mentally incompetent in any respect”.

Nothing has been stated in court or noted in court documents that explains Colon’s motive for the attempted plot, It is likely that Colon will be treated in a secure psychiatric facility before serving his sentence, if convicted.—CNA

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, April 19 to April 25, 2017

5

1,28 billion Catholics; Pope offers words of sorrow for Eygpt attacks half are in ten countries

BY CINDY WOODEN

A

FTER bomb blasts killed more than 45 people and wounded several others during Palm Sunday celebrations in Egypt, Pope Francis voiced his closeness to the Coptic nation, and prayed for those who perpetrate violence through the arms trade.

Pope Francis, who is scheduled to visit Egypt from April 28-29, prayed that the Lord would “convert the hearts of those who sow fear, violence and death, and those who make and traffic arms”.

Two bomb blasts at packed churches in the northern cities of Tanta and Alexandra killed 29 and 18 people respectively and injured around a hundred people.

Terror movement ISIS took responsibility for both attacks.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has pledged to step up protection for potential terror targets.

Pope Francis' visit to the Egyptian captial of Cairo is largely a bid to foster greater Catholic-Muslim dialogue, particularly on the point of ending extremist violence.

Despite being victims of harassment and violence, Egypt’s Coptic Christians have set a standard of forgiveness that everyone should imitate, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK has said.

Life in Egypt is not easy for its Coptic Christians, who trace their roots as a community to St Mark, who first evangelised the area. Christians make up 15% of Egypt’s population said Bishop Anba Angaelos.

Yet in many ways, especially in the country’s rural areas, they are treated as second-class citizens as they are victims of discrimination or even violence, and their churches have been attacked.

Christians have seen “many positive things” in the national government, Bishop Angaelos noted, but “what we’re not seeing done is a robust system of law and order at the

T

Coptic Christians pray in Cairo’s St Mary’s church, which is also known as the al-Muallaqah or Hanging Church, which is considered by many to be the most important church for Copts. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher) local level” where security forces can curtail criminal acts and then the local judiciary can hold the perpetrators accountable.

“Because otherwise what happens is an overwhelming sense of impunity, and a criminal confidence that continues escalating the violence and the attacks,” he said.

Yet the international community must also be aware of the importance of promoting peace in the country so Christians can remain in their homes, he insisted.

“The tragedy is that the number of Christians in the Middle East has dwindled,” Bishop Angaelos said, “because every other country where there was a significant Christian presence has been devastated by war or conflict and they have moved.”

What can be done to help the embattled Coptic Christians?

“First and foremost prayer,” the bishop explained. However, advocacy is also vital in a time when ongoing conflicts can be supplanted in

the news cycle by even more terrible and explosive tragedies.

“Just because it’s not the top item in your newsfeed doesn’t mean it’s [not] still happening,” he maintained.

It is important “to keep the issue alive and to keep it in peoples’ minds and in peoples’ hearts, and to keep people aware that it continues to be a struggle,” he said, “because they do feel very voiceless, and they sometimes feel very unsupported. And it’s up to us, I think, to make sure that they don’t feel that.”

International partners could accomplish a great deal of good through foreign investment and supporting tourism in the country, he explained.

What is most needed is “not handouts”, he insisted, “but an investment in the country and in the people of the country”.— CNA

Pope’s letter to US president went down with the Titanic

W

HEN the Titanic went down 105 years ago, so did a letter from Pope Pius X to the US president.

On the fateful voyage that embarked from Southampton and never made it to New York City, a passenger on the RMS Titanic named Major Archibald Willingham Butt was tasked with a special mission: he was to carry a letter from Pope Pius X and personally deliver it to President William Taft.

But the 45-year-old major perished along with more than 1 500 other passengers on the night of April 15, with the contents of the letter never to be known.

Born in 1865, Major Butt was later appointed in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt as his military aide. When Mr Taft was elected, Major Butt was kept on staff and promoted to the rank of major in 1911.

On a leave of absence, Major Butt embarked on a six-week tour of Europe in March of 1912.

President Taft gave the major a letter to deliver to Pius X while in Rome, which he did on March 21. In return, Pius X gave him a letter to deliver to the president, according to the UK National Archives.

The major boarded the Titanic in Southampton on April 12. When the ship struck an iceberg in the waters of the Atlantic on the evening of April 15, he was seen in the smoking room, playing cards with his companion, artist Francis Millett, the

Major Archibald Butt (right) with uS President William Taft. The major was carrying a letter from Pope Pius X to the president when he went down with the Titanic. two ostensibly making no attempt to save themselves.

Other sources, however, report his heroism. A few days after the tragedy, The New York Times reported survivor Renee Harris as saying that Major Butt helped the sailors place women and children safely into lifeboats—even threatening bodily harm to any man who tried to circumvent the process.

“Women will be attended to first or I’ll break every damned bone in your body,” he told one such unfortunate gentleman, according to Ms Harris, who died in 1969 at the age of 93.

“Major Butt helped those poor frightened steerage people so wonderfully, tenderly and yet with such cool and mannerly firmness; he was a soldier to the last. He was one of God’s greatest

noblemen, and I think I can say he was an example of bravery even to the officers of the ship.

He gave up his life to save others,” Ms Harris said.

His last goodbye was smilingly said to Marie Young, formerly a music teacher to some of the Roosevelt children who had met the major frequently at the White House. Like Ms Harris, she was on the last boat to leave.

“Major Butt escorted me to a seat in the bow,” she said after returning to New York. “He helped me find a space, arranged my clothing about me, stood erect, doffed his hat and smiled and said ‘Good-bye’. And then he stepped back to the deck, already awash. As we rowed away we looked back, and the last I saw of him he was smiling and waving his hand to me.”—CNA

AKEN together, the ten countries with the most Catholics account for almost 56% of the world’s Catholic population, the Vatican reported.

The 2017 Annuario Pontificio, or Vatican yearbook, and a new edition of the Vatican Statistical Yearbook, report that the countries with the most Catholics are, in order: Brazil, Mexico, Philippines, United States, Italy, France, Colombia, Spain, DR Congo and Argentina.

The number of baptised Catholics grew 1% in a year to reach 1,285 billion as of December 31, 2015, the date to which the statistics in both books refer.

Looking at the period 2010-15, the global Catholic population increased by 7,4%, the Vatican said.

Africa continued to be the continent with the largest percentage growth, increasing by 19,4% over the same five-year period. The increase in Africa outpaced the growth of the general population.

In Europe, the Americas and Asia, generally speaking, the statistical growth or decline of the Catholic population coincided with the growth or decline of the population as a whole over the five-year period, according to the Central Office for Church Statistics.

Of the world’s 1,285 billion Catholics, it said, almost 49% live in North or South America, including the Caribbean. Europe is home to

22,2% of the global Catholic population; 17,3% are in Africa; 11 % are in Asia; and just under 1% are in Oceania and the South Pacific.

At the end of 2015, it said, there were 670 320 professed women religious in the world, 415 656 priests, 54 229 religious brothers, 45 255 permanent deacons and 5 304 bishops.

The number of bishops and of permanent deacons were the only two of those categories to experience growth from 2014-15.

Potentially stalling a trend of annual growth that began in 2000, the number of priests in the world dropped by 136 during 2015. The increased number of diocesan and religious-order priests in Africa could not make up for the strong drop in Europe, which lost 2 502 priests in one year.

Looking at a statistically more relevant period, 2010-15, the number of diocesan priests globally rose, while the number of priests belonging to religious orders fell.

The impact on Catholics in the pew is obvious, the Vatican said. In 2010 there were an average of 2 900 Catholics for every Catholic priest in the world; in 2015, the ratio had climbed to 3 091 Catholics per priest.

The number of seminarians has experienced “a gradual contraction.

The only exception remains Africa, which for the moment does not seem to be touched by the vocations crisis and can be confirmed as the geographical area with the greatest potential”.—CNS

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The Southern Cross, April 19 to April 25, 2017

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

A disunited front

A

S we approach Freedom Day, South Africans may well survey the calibre of our political leadership—and descend into despair.

The African National Congress has long shed its character as a liberation movement of integrity.

Even leaving aside the aggressive corruption that has infected the party since the arms deal under the Mbeki government, the ANC has relied more on sloganeering around the enemies of transformation—real and imaginary— than on actually delivering substance to the country’s poor.

The ANC has enabled the rise of a kleptocracy which has abandoned the poor. For this, the party must be held, and hold itself, to account.

A fish, the saying goes, rots from the head. A foul scent has emanated from this fish’s head for two decades now, and the ANC at large has failed to stop the decay from spreading throughout its body. We will know in December, when the ANC elects its new leadership, whether the party can make a fresh start, or whether it will keep rotting.

Meanwhile, the opposition Democratic Alliance has failed to give effective leadership in standing against the Zuma presidency.

With exasperating predictability, on every occasion when President Zuma has been vulnerable, the DA has sabotaged the opposition to him within the ANC by launching doomed-to-fail motions of no confidence and court actions, forcing the ANC to circle its wagons.

South Africans are left with only two conclusions: either the DA has chronically poor judgment, or it is acting with an obtuse cynicism that aims not to liberate the nation from Mr Zuma’s corrupt presidency but to maintain it, the better to attack the ANC at the polls in 2019.

The least imprudent leadership among the major opposition to the Zuma presidency seems to have been provided by the Economic Freedom Front’s arch-populist Julius Malema, who has come a long way from pledging to “kill for Zuma”.

Our paucity of good political leadership is offset by a lively and committed civil society. Leaving aside concerns about the demographic composition of protest marches against President Zuma, it is a remarkable show of resolve when tens of thousands of South Africans can be mobilised to take

part in peaceful protests throughout the country.

However, the protests this month revealed two critical problems.

Firstly, our civil society has failed to find a common language in opposition to the Zuma presidency. These big marches would have drawn bigger and more representative crowds had the cause for mobilisation been not only the president’s purge of opponents in cabinet with its toxic effect on our economy, but also the government’s rampant corruption and incompetence in areas such as social services, employment generation, service delivery, education, land reform and so on.

The protests of the middleclasses are meaningless in effecting political change if they do not extend to solidarity with the poor.

Indeed, it should be the poor leading the protests, with the middle-class turning out in their support.

The key to mobilising broadbased protest is to find unity among those who oppose iniquity, and then to sustain the pressure through ongoing protest.

Importantly, this also requires that such mass action is non-partisan.

That leads to the second problem: the protests were personalised, focusing on Mr Zuma (sometimes in unhelpfully immature terms), not on the systemic corruption which pervades almost all levels of government.

The targeting of Mr Zuma as an individual missed the point that a mass protest against all corruption would still demand that the head of the snake be cut off.

The Catholic bishops were among those who recognised this when they noted that Mr Zuma’s removal “would not in itself be a complete solution, as corruption at every level must be rooted out”.

Civil society must become smarter. It should draw from the wisdom of our religious leaders, many of whom were also involved in the struggle against apartheid, and make use of the network of the churches that cut across the lines of race and class.

Of course, as Christians we are also called to place our trust in God. In doing so, we must supplement our social activism with prayer—especially for the conversion of Mr Zuma and those who walk with him on his path of iniquity.

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.

Celibacy nowhere required by God

I

READ the interview with Fr Michael Fuller on clerical celibacy with interest (March 15). Chastity is one thing, lifelong celibacy is another.

However, nowhere in the gospels is the state of celibacy required to serve God wholeheartedly and with dignity. It is a Catholic imposition, creating a false mantle of purity which actually belongs to the domain of virgins and women.

Southern Cross a ‘spiritual jewel’

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NEVER stop thanking God for the “spiritual jewel” that is The Southern Cross and its editor Günther Simmermacher. Yet, among friends and family, regular Mass-goers, there are many who never buy it. It saddens me no end.

I can honestly say I am “addicted” to it.

Thank you to Mr Simmermacher, and to Cecil Cullen of Alberton for his letter “How do we get people to read The SC?” (March 29).

I am convinced that if more of us were truly evangelical—knowing Jesus personally and not just about him—sales would increase proportionately.

Through my little “charismatic” gift of writing, I am able to witness for Jesus through The Southern Cross.

I have made several friends (also enemies!) through these letters as a result, over the 30 years the Lord has used me.

Thank you, Lord, and The Southern Cross.

John Lee, Johannesburg

Writer wrong on women in Church

J

EANETTE van Heerden in her letter (February 8) misconstrues Church teaching with reference to the equality and dignity of women and human life, and tries to smuggle in secular and feminist notions of equality into theology.

The Church our Lord established is a divine institution whose mission it is to bring souls to Christ Jesus. Her mission is not to ensure equal opportunities that serve our materialistic, secular, liberal endeavours.

In the story of the servants that were hired to work in the vineyard, the ungrateful servant who grumbled about the owner’s unequal remuneration system received this admonition: “Friend, I am doing you no wrong…Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” (Mt 20:13-15).

This text provides a hint that our

Men, in the Catholic priesthood, are revered by the laity, called “Father”, and are generally treated as sacrosanct and given the place of God in people’s lives.

It is ultimately corrupting, inevitably dangerous and soul-destroying for men whom God gave woman to complete themselves as a gift and source of inspiration.

It gives rise to terrible suffering that is in no way pure, and robs Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in Letters to the Editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy. The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate.

Letters must not be understood to necessarily reflect the teachings, disciplines or policies of the Church accurately.

Letters can be sent to PO Box 2372, Cape Town 8000 or editor@scross.co.za or faxed to 021 465-3850

secular notion of equality is far removed from Divine Revelation.

While it is true that in ancient times women have culturally been excluded from many areas of life, it does not follow that we can describe the practice as maliciously “unequal” treatment of women when viewed through our “modern” lenses which are framed by our politics.

The Catholic Church has been at the forefront of women saints who pioneered and headed up schools, colleges, nursing homes, orphanages, and monasteries.

Many women have produced great theological works and are revered, and even cities were named after many heroic women of faith.

St Mother Teresa, when she entered the convent, did not seek popularity or a position of authority and status—rather she sought to do the will of the Father. Through her gift of motherhood in serving the destitute, she established missions across the world that made her and her sisters the envy and inspiration of millions.

This saint never referred to herself as the CEO of the order of the Missionaries of Charity, but as the servant of the lonely and downtrodden.

Dr Francis Beckwith, a revert to Catholicism in his defence of Church teachings, puts it rather succinctly: “The Church and her teachings will not fit the political and cultural categories that guide popular entertainment and media, but fail to capture the sophistication nuances and anthropological beliefs of Catholic thought.”

Henry R Sylvester, president of Catholic Witness Apostolate, Cape Town

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men of their manhood.

Service of God should not be restricted in such a way.

There are so many awful transgressions in religious houses and fraternities and I just wish the Catholic Church would open its mouth and speak for what is right.

Sacrifice and suffering is part of our journey but this is against the DNA of man and that is why so many strange men join the priesthood, because whatever they are involved in is covered by those robes.

Romany Rubin, Pretoria

SACBC oddly silent on women

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REFER to my letter (January 25) commenting on Archbishop William Slattery’s front-page statement in the SC (January 4) on behalf of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) relating to the SACBC’s firm stand against abusive practices against women.

Considering the subsequent supportive letter published in The Southern Cross and your brief editorial comment, I had hoped that the SACBC might respond.

However, thus far I have seen no response to my request for clarification regarding the patriarchal nature of the Church—which relegates Catholic women to second-class status.

This unfortunately leaves one with the impression that the SACBC is guilty of simply ignoring uncomfortable comments and hometruths—the same charge recently levelled against our Church regarding survivors of Church abuse.

I nurture a hope that the new Council for the Laity may (a) protect the rights of the laity, and (b) insist on a clarification on women in our Church.

In case that is not going to happen, perhaps the laity has to directly challenge the SACBC and insist on a public answer?

I hereby issue that challenge and ask that you specifically bring this to the attention of the SACBC. Geoff Harris, Rooi Els, Western Cape

Articles on Holy Land bring joy

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VISITED the Holy Land in 1998.

What wonderful memories Günther Simmermacher’s articles have brought back to me.

What prompted this letter was the cover picture of the moon over the Sea of Galilee (March 22). Our bus stopped on that hill and we saw that same scene. That was one of the most awesome sights to me.

Thank you for my “return trip” down memory lane.

Betty Williams, Durban

The Southern Cross, April 19 to April 25, 2017

PERSPECTIVES Raymond Perrier

Image and imagination T HIS weekend is the feast of the Divine Mercy, a devotion started by St Faustina in Poland and widely promoted by St John Paul II. All around the world, not least in South Africa, there is great devotion shown to the famous image of Christ as the source of Divine Mercy—an especially gentle figure with luscious, straight dark hair in a plain beige robe, contrasted with the bright colours of rays of light coming from his breast, symbolising the outflowing of God’s mercy.

Now, I am hoping that after almost five years of writing this regular column, a bond of trust has developed between you, the reader, and me. I am able to be honest with you; and I know from the letters and e-mails I have received and my personal encounters with readers around the country that you are honest with me.

So I am going to make a confession to you and I hope that you do not misunderstand me: I do not like the image of the Divine Mercy. It does not move me; it does not inspire me; I would rather look away when I see it; I find it is not a help to my prayer.

Now, please note: I don’t like the image, but this is not in any way a comment on the idea of Divine Mercy.

The theology is one which is immensely attractive. We are all sinners.

Even the pope, when asked to define himself, said as his first comment: “I am a sinner.”

This is an important act of self-recognition: it is why we need the initial cleansing of baptism and the repeated cleansing of Reconciliation; it is why we need the sustenance of the Eucharist; it is why we needed the period of self-reflection which is Lent. But we are “sinners whom the Lord has looked upon with mercy”, as Pope Francis went on to add.

Catholics often find it very easy to

identify as sinners; perhaps that is why we turn out in droves for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (neither of which, ironically, is a holy day of obligation). It is expressed in what is comically called “Catholic guilt”.

But we sometimes find it much harder to accept that we are sinners-who-aresaved. We believe fervently that Jesus died because of our sins; we believe rather more timidly that by rising from the dead he has given all of us the gift of eternal life.

That is why a focus on Divine Mercy is so valuable. Because it reminds us that the God who knows we are sinners, is also the God who offers us his mercy—not once, not twice, but seventy times seven. So we can always return to God as individuals in need of his mercy, and also as a parish, or as a Church, or as a nation.

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aint Faustina’s specific image of Christ as the source of Divine Mercy helps many people to reflect on that. It doesn’t “do it” for me. But there are other images that I can use. And I should make sure that in my prayer life I do use words or pictures that help me reflect on, and so learn to ac-

Images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a shop in Cana, Galilee. “The underlying theological truth of the devotion is always bigger than any one representation of it.”

Faith and Society

cept, the gift of God’s infinite mercy.

Let me draw a comparison with another popular devotion. It dates from earliest times but became especially popular since the 17th century: the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This was also the result of a vision by a woman, St Margaret Mary Alacoque, and was promoted by a Jesuit priest, St Claude de la Colombière.

It has also gained widespread acceptance and is characterised by a very particular image of Christ, this time with luscious, wavy dark hair and with an oversized throbbing red heart surrounded by thorns, sitting on top of his chest.

We, of course, had that picture framed in my home when I was a child and I never questioned it.

Then one day a non-Catholic friend came home from school and saw it and was shocked: “That’s hideous!” he said. I leapt to the defence of the image but when I reflected later I did begin to see his point.

It is certainly a very odd image and if you are not used to it, it can be off-putting.

Once again, the underlying devotion, which focuses on Jesus having such love for us that he is willing to undergo any sacrifice, is very valuable theologically.

But, once again, an image which helps some people to appreciate that understanding of Christ, might actually prevent others from appreciating it because they cannot get past the specific picture.

I found myself often apologising for that image to non-Catholic friends.

And then, when I was first in Johannesburg, I saw the famous statue of the Sacred Heart in the courtyard of the Marist college of the same name. It proudly displays the bullet holes from when the apartheid soldiers used to take pot shots at the statue to Continued on page 11

What is humility really all about?

Toni Rowland W HAT is humility really all about?

I ask the question on the occasion of Divine Mercy Sunday and also in the context of the 2017 family theme, and particularly the theme for the month of April “Walk humbly with your God”.

The theme for the year is taken from the prophet Micah’s inspirational motto: “Act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God.” Different scripture translations use the words “love”, “mercy”, “kindness” or loyalty.

The recent political events in South Africa make reflection on humility an even more complex issue. Is its opposite arrogance, pride, aggressiveness? Can assertiveness be linked with humility?

The words in Micah’s prophecy come straight from the mouth of God. Micah is a contemporary of the prophets Isaiah and Amos who also speak of social justice. They all condemn the corruption of the wealthy and their exploitation of the poor.

Micah sets out the debate. Would God protect and save his people from attack by their enemies, as some continued to believe, or wouldn’t he? God responds to the debate with the words: “This is what the Lord requires of you, only this, do what is right, love goodness and loyalty and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

The word “humble” is very frequently found in the Bible, although not necessarily linked with specific people. Moses was described as the meekest (humblest) man.

The Songs of the Servant in Isaiah show him as the ultimate in humility. Good people of integrity, having right relationships with others are to be seen as humble.

“My people must humble themselves,” is God’s repeated message. Jesus emptied

Family Friendly

himself. He “became humbler yet, even to death on the cross”, as we found in the Holy Week liturgy.

Interestingly, Jesus himself links it to children: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said: “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus promises the reward: “He/she who humbles him/herself will be exalted” (Mt 18:1-4).

In the Magnificat Mary admits her lowliness. Paul adds to the picture: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil 2:3-4)

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o how do we see humility? Is it a lowering of oneself in relationship to others?

Does it show freedom from pride or arrogance? Is it just having a modest opinion of oneself, not being a show-off or a door-

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mat, a sign of weakness.

We also use it in a material sense, “He comes from humble origins”, perhaps adding: “and look what he has achieved.”

There may be some fear of loss of selfworth and not having that true freedom from pride could even put one on the defensive.

In family life then, who should be humble? Husband, wife, father, mother, youth or child or a grandparent? I would say each one in their own respective role and without expecting equality.

No one should be a doormat allowing themselves to be bullied or abused. Anyone who is in any way different from the norm could develop an inferiority complex. That is not true humility either.

Someone who has had to stand up for their rights can still have an attitude of humility.

Humility is seen in the image of walking with God, with the deference due to him.

We should see ourselves as people of righteousness and integrity who are nevertheless sinners.

I see humility, like mercy, as an enigma.

Maybe my reflection overcomplicate matters. Pope Francis, surely a great example of humility, has a nice way of making it simple: “‘Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot.

Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.”

So what I therefore should say is: “Thank you, Pope Francis.”

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Emmanuel Ngara

Christian Leadership

What to do about modern ‘prophets’

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AST month we noted how the new Pentecostal-type churches are attracting large numbers of followers by preaching the gospel of health and wealth. By focusing on their power to heal diseases and to enrich, these modern-day prophets have identified what human beings desire most—good health and lots of money.

The question is: How genuine are these prophets? What is their primary motive—to preach the Gospel or to make money?

In addressing these questions we must begin by cautioning ourselves against the temptation to judge others. Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Mt 7: 1-5). There is a possibility that some of these “prophets”, however mistaken they may be, are genuinely convinced that they were called by God like the prophets of the Old Testament.

However, in an age like ours, when the Christian faith seems to be subject to so many interpretations, those of us in the mainline Churches that were established out of a genuine desire to spread the Gospel message of Christ have a duty to defend the faith of our fathers and mothers and to make the world know the real message that Jesus came to preach.

It is therefore appropriate to point out some of the teachings, practices or activities of some modern prophets that are not consistent with genuine Christianity. Let us begin with the “gospel of health and wealth” which seems to be common to most of these new churches.

We know that Jesus himself had nothing by way of wealth; so poor was he materially that he said of himself: “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Lk 9:58).

While we know that being rich is not necessarily a bad thing in itself, we are also aware of what Jesus said to the young man who asked him what he should do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus said, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor…Then come, follow me”, the man went away sad because he had great wealth, and Jesus then went on to talk about how difficult it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God (Mk 10:17-31).

Added to this is the fact that many of the modern-day prophets appear to want to draw attention to themselves as great healers and preachers, but we know that Jesus refused to do the spectacular as a way of drawing attention to himself. He resisted Satan’s temptation to present himself as a heroic Messiah (Mt 4: 5-7); and when he healed people it was for the purpose of helping, not in order to draw attention to himself.

S

ome modern-day “prophets” contradict the Gospel message of Jesus by their conduct and behaviour.

In Zimbabwe some of the pastors publicly denounce African traditional religion, but secretly go to consult some sangomas who they believe will give them powers to perform miracles.

Furthermore, there are leaders of some apostolic sects who do not allow their congregants to read the Bible, claiming that God reveals his message directly to the “prophet” who then has the responsibility of conveying the message of God to his congregants.

With the apparent motive of being known for doing the spectacular, some prophets have made fantastic claims: One Zimbabwean prophet claims he has physically met God three times; had his birthday party in heaven and had supper with God. There is the South African pastor who claims to have healed a female patient by putting his holy shoe on the woman’s private parts.

Another South African pastor is reported to have slept with married women in order to cast out demons from them. Then there is the pastor who is reported to have advised congregants to eat snakes; and another who made his congregants drink engine cleaning fluid in order to cure HIV and cast out devils.

Some members of mainline Churches may think only naïve people can be deceived by these antics; however, the point is that many believers are being led astray and away from authentic Christianity.

A number of questions arise for us members of mainline Churches. First, are these “prophets” genuine followers of Jesus, or are they using the Christian faith for the purpose of gaining power and popularity, enriching themselves and, in some cases, getting other favours such as sexual favours?

What should we, the members of mainline Churches, do in response to this phenomenon?

Should we just watch or are we obligated to do something so that the world may know where we stand in the matter?

There are no simple answers. We will continue the discussion in the next column.

8

The Southern Cross, April 19 to April 25, 2017

COMMUNITY

Confirmands of St Anthony’s parish in Pietermaritzburg are pictured with Bishop Barry Wood, auxiliary in Durban.

Participants in a Lenten pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Cairo in Cana, the site of Our Lord’s first public miracle, where married couples renewed their wedding vows. The group came from all over South Africa and Swaziland, and was led by Fr Brian Mhlanga OP of Radio Veritas (back, fourth from right).

A Women’s World Day of Prayer celebration was held at St Joseph’s parish in Durban for women of various races, cultures and churches.

(From left) Pauline Lotter (Our Lady of Fatima, Durban North), Christine Brink (St Joseph’s Morningside, Durban) Anna Accolla (Our Lady of Fatima), Susan Kidgell (Salvation Army, Montpelier) and June Nabbi (Holy Trinity, Durban).

Long-term donors and new supporters of Little Eden gathered at founders Domitilla and Danny Hyams house in Edenvale, Johannesburg to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the home.

In tribute to Fr Xolile Kondlo (1978-2016) register today to be an Organ Donor

Holy Rosary Primary School in Johanesburg ran an Easter egg collection. In total, 24 351 eggs were collected to be given out to various charities. Grade 3V (above) collected 3 584 eggs.

De La Salle Holy Cross College in Victory Park, Johannesburg, celebrated Human Rights Day by inviting Mark Heywood (right), executive director of SECTION27, a public-interest law centre promoting human rights, to give a presentation. His speech was titled “Human Rights and our Constitution— What do they mean for teaching and learning?”, followed by an interactive question and answer debate.

Sacred Heart College in Observatory, Johannesburg, held a rollerblade disco charity drive.

Claire and Cyril Okoye convalidated their marriage vows at St Mary’s cathedral in Cape Town. Mr Okoye sells The Southern Cross at the cathedral on Sunday mornings.

Nyolohelo parish in Sebokeng visited Sebokeng Old Age Home and donated items of need, led by parish priest Fr Simphiwe Kheswa OFM.

Sandwich-making Sunday is held on the third week of every month at St Charles’ parish in Victory Park, Johannesburg. Parishioners prepare sandwiches in the hall for distribution by the Society of St Vincent de Paul during the week to those in need within the local community.

It’s easy at www.odf.org.za

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The Southern Cross, April 19 to April 25, 2017

FAITH

9

In a fortress with the Crusaders In February GüNTHER SIMMERMACHER made a private visit to the Holy Land. In the last in a series of six articles, he visits the Crusader city of Acre.

F

OR salacious gossip of the kind that would make even our modern tabloid-readers blush, the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem was a good place to be.

To be sure, most of the Europeans who colonised the place were decent, God-fearing people whose purpose was to serve the Lord and the Church. So when some of them behaved badly, they would be held to account.

There was much piety, but also a lot of sleaze, powerplay and brutality. At the centre of much of it was the Fulk family of the House of Anjou. They provided a king, husband of the beautiful and allegedly not scrupulously chaste Queen Melisende.

King Fulk was a fairly decent man, but not all Fulks were of his character. Names like Black Fulk and Fulk the Deplorable don’t hint at sunny dispositions.

Melisende herself, daughter of King Baldwin II, was at the centre of much diplomatic intrigue, even involving the courts of Europe.

She was also a great supporter of the Catholic Church. In Bethany she founded a big convent and installed her sister as the abbess. Her father was so pious, he was said to have calluses on his knees from all the praying.

It was during Melisende’s reign, from 1131-53, that many Christian structures were built, including the church of the Holy Sepulchre.

So the scandals of adultery, betrayal, greed and murder must not overshadow the genuine piety of many of the knights and soldiers who came from afar to the Holy Land. Graffiti on walls in the church of the Holy Sepulchre, in

From left: “The Tower of Flies”, the remains of a Templar watchtower in the harbour of Acre. • The “Beautiful Room” in Acre’s citadel, where pilgrims would be welcomed. • A statue of Crusader vs Saladin, outside David's Citadel in Jerusalem’s Old City. Saladin inflicted a decisive defeat on the Crusaders in 1187; just over a hundred years later the last Crusader stronghold fell: Acre. (All photos: Günther Simmermacher) Acre and elsewhere, some bearing family heralds, testify to that.

The vows of chastity and obedience taken by the knights who joined the great orders showed devotion to Christ.

Not much is recorded about how the local Christians, most of them descendents of the first Christians more than a thousand years earlier, felt about the small but powerful group of Latin rulers. While the Crusader elites maintained European culture and spoke French, the indigenous Christians followed local traditions and spoke local languages. It seems the relationship was ambiguous.

Still, there was also some assimilation and inter-marriage—sometimes even between Latins and Muslims.

Crusaders and Islam Outside Jerusalem, Muslims enjoyed relative freedom of religion, though they had been expelled from the Holy City, where the Dome of the Rock had been turned into a church and the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest shrine in Islam, for a time was used as a horse stable (Muslims had done likewise, and would do so again, with Christian churches, so the Crusaders were applying standard procedure).

The Crusader domain until the conquest by Saladin 1187 covered what we would now identify as Israel, the occupied West Bank, parts

of western Jordan, and principalities in modern-day Lebanon, parts of north-western Syria and southern Turkey.

There were Muslim states around them, but these were fractured. Indeed, at times Christian knights would be fighting in alliances of convenience, or as mercenaries, with a Muslim army against another Muslim army, which in turn might also have Christian knights in their ranks. It was only when Nur ad-Din and his successor Saladin united these Muslims—by force or diplomacy—that the armies of Islam were ready to embark on their jihad of reconquest.

But Muslim rulers, including Saladin, also saw an upside to the Crusader presence in the region as it provided a gateway to lucrative trade with Europe, for which sophisticated systems were set up.

Before Saladin’s conquest, the two centres of Crusader rule were Jerusalem and the port city of Acre, both with populations of around 25 000. Acre, named after the founder of the Knights Hospitallers, gets one mention in the Bible, as the town of Ptolemais which Paul and Luke visit in Acts 21:7.

The town’s history goes back to at least the Phoenicians, who called it Akko, the name locals use for the city even today. The Crusaders even reworked some remaining Phoenician structures, such as what probably was a lighthouse into a harbour watchtower, calling it the “Tower of Flies”.

For the Crusaders, Acre was the commercial hub. After the fall of Jerusalem in 1187, it also became the temporal capital and patriarchal seat. As a centre of import and export, it was a money-spinner. This single harbour, run by the Knights Templar, generated more revenue annually than the entire English crown together.

And the Templars knew how to handle money. They effectively invented modern banking by running 870 branches throughout Europe and the Levant where clients could pay funds into an account in one

office and withdraw them from another. In an age of highway robbery, this ensured safer travels.

Before too long, the Templars offered loans—the interest of which were exempted from Church condemnation since it ostensibly went to godly purposes in the Holy Land.

Life with Crusaders The remains of the Crusader compound in the citadel in Acre, now a splendid museum, provide a good idea of what life was like in the glory days of the Crusader era.

The compound was run by the Knights Hospitallers, the chivalric order that would morph into today’s Knights of Malta. At the centre of the Knights Hospitaller’s mission was to give health care to the people—regardless of religion—and to provide hospitality services for pilgrims, whose journey to the Holy Land was long and hazardous.

The crowning glory of the citadel is the refectory, or dining hall. With its mighty pillars, it was bombastic—quite in contrast to the humility with which the knights performed their service.

Everybody ate the same food and sat together in what was called, with no understatement, the “Magnificent Hall”—from the head of the order to the lowest-ranking soldier, as well as visitors such as pilgrims. In this egalitarian set-up, nobody was allowed, on pain of punishment, to leave until the last person had finished their meal.

In the distribution of food, priority was given to pilgrims and even hospital patients. Only once they were fed well could the brethren of the order receive whatever was left.

St Francis of Assisi, who passed through Acre during his journey to the Holy Land in 1219, must have been impressed by this show of humility and service.

These rules also applied to the Knights Hospitallers’ institutions in Jerusalem. Indeed, so good and so effective was their service that when the Crusaders were expelled from Jerusalem, the Knights Hospitallers

were asked to stay on for a while.

But not all of Acre was as selfless as the Knights Hospitallers. In fact, the city had a poor reputation for the population’s dissolute lifestyle, loose morals, mercantile venality, and a reluctance to commit resources and personnel for the defence of the holy shrines.

Partly this may be explained by Acre as a melting-pot port city.

Apart from the knights who had remained—most of the Crusaders went back to Europe after doing their part for the conquest—and monks who had come from the West, there were the local Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Samaritan communities.

On top of that, merchants from Genoa, Venice, Pisa and Marseilles had arrived, on the promise of various perks and tax-breaks. Each setting up their businesses in the quarters allocated to them. Add to that the transient populations— such as sailors or visiting traders— and you’d have a range of moral attitudes.

This diversity created rivalries that in 1256 broke out into a protracted war over control of land between the Genovese on the one side, and the Venetians and Pisans on the other. Since the war was ultimately about control of Acre, the chivalric orders were drawn into it: the Templars sided with merchants of Venice and Pisa (who won), and the Hospitallers with the Genovese.

A final peace wasn’t concluded until 1270, the year before the Venetian merchant-explorer Marco Polo set off from Acre for the Far East.

The Genovese got their quarter back only in 1288. They didn’t have long to enjoy it. On May 18, 1291 Acre fell to the Mamluks after a bloody seven-week siege. Acre’s pleas for help to Europe were ignored.

And with the fall of Acre, the final Crusader presence in the Holy Land was gone, never to return. n Catch up with previous articles in the series at www.scross.co.za/category/ features/the-holy-land

THE HOLY LAND TREK An itinerary of the great holy sites of the Holy Land and Jordan by Günther Simmermacher.

CASA SERENA

The steps to Calvary in the church of the Holy Sepulchre. The church, which marks the places of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, was rebuilt during the Crusader reign of King Fulk and Queen Melisende in the mid1100s. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher)

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‘Simmermacher has captured the essence of the pilgrim’s Holy Land.’

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– Paddy Kearney, The Southern Cross

‘Turning the pages of the book is a journey in itself.’

– Sydney Duval, Archdiocesan News, Cape Town

Also available as an eBook R150 (plus R25 p&p in SA) from books@scross.co.za or www.holylandtrek.com or call 021 465-5007

10

The Southern Cross, April 19 to April 25, 2017

FILM

‘Silence’ actor prepped for role with Jesuit For actor Andrew Garfield, preparing to play a priest in the Martin Scorsese film Silence brought many graces, as he told MARK PATTISON.

A

CTOR Andrew Garfield underwent the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, as part of his preparation for playing a Jesuit priest in Martin Scorsese’s film Silence, which is going on circuit in South Africa on April 21.

Garfield’s spiritual adviser for this Jesuit journey was Jesuit Father James Martin, editor at large of the Jesuit journal America and author of several books.

“I studied with Fr Martin all things Jesuit and attempted to crack what it means to be a soldier for Christ. The basis of that was the exercises for me,” Garfield told Catholic News Service in an interview.

Garfield, whose ancestry is Jewish but who was raised in a nonreligious household, did the

Andrew Garfield stars as Fr Sebastian Rodrigues in the film Silence.

Garfield underwent the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, as part of his preparation for playing a Jesuit priest in Martin Scorsese’s new film. (Photo: Paramount) 30-day retreat, although not in the customary way. He spent the third week of the retreat at a retreat house in Wales.

“It was a silent week, and intense,” he recalled. The actor, who has dual British-American citizenship, said he returned to the US for

the conclusion of the retreat near his Los Angeles home.

“Yeah, it was remarkable, really.

I was so grateful for the sacred time,” he said.

Garfield was also given a small mountain of books and films by Scorsese, a Catholic who once wanted to become a priest, to prepare him for the role of Fr Sebastian Rodrigues, a 17th-century Portuguese Jesuit who goes to Japan in hopes of refuting a report that a favourite priest who once taught him in the seminary had renounced the faith during his missionary work there.

Despite Garfield’s box-office success in two Amazing Spider-Man films, he had to audition for the role.

“I was sent the script by my agent. He said Marty’s [Scorsese] been trying to make this film for 28 years, and it’s looking good this time.” Upon reading the script, “I really connected to the material. I was really interested in the themes and the journey the character goes on.”

Another key aspect of his preparation for the role was fasting so Garfield’s frame would look believable on screen.

“The physical rigour of losing weight was very, very, very painful and tricky, and created a tremendous kind of psychosis, but it was also very useful and was the only appropriate thing,” he said.

“It was a spiritual process as well. It was a very immersive thing that I’m grateful for.”

Filming in Taiwan with his newly gaunt body, though, was another thing: “My goodness, it was hot.”

Garfield said his takeaway from Silence is “endless”.

“What I’ve been given by playing this role and being with Marty, being with Fr Martin, doing the [Ignatian] exercises, it’s impossible to sum up. I’ve been given so many different graces for the whole experience. By the end of the it, of filming, I [didn’t] even need the film to come out or for people to like it. The year of preparation, those months making the film, were worth it.”

He added he doesn’t like to watch himself on screen, but “I do have to say when I was watching Silence, I forgot that I was in the film because the film is so overwhelming and transportive...It’s a great film.”—CNS

‘Silence’ reviewed: Violence and graces

BY JOHN MuLDERIG

D

JACOBS WELL RETREATS 2017

26 June to 5 July 2017

Preached Retreat Fr. Julius Anayo OSA

Directed Retreat Fr. Thomas Chuma OP

Theme: Life in Christ: Purpose, Principles and Implication

29 September to 8 October 2017 Preached Retreat Fr. Mokone Rathokoa OMI

Theme: Living in Love of God, Neighbour and Yourself

10 to 19 December 2017

Directed Retreat Preached Retreat Fr. Thomas Chuma OP Fr. Lamec Ciza M Afr. Theme: Life in Common – A Prophetic calling

Directed Retreat R2 200 Preached Retreat R2 200

BOOkINGS Jacob’s Well Retreat P O Box 41, Botha’s Hill, 3660 Phone: 031 765-1959 Fax: 031 765-8199 jacobswell@ibound.co.za

IRECTED and co-written by veteran director Martin Scorsese, Silence is a dramatically powerful but theologically complex work best suited to viewers who come to the cinema prepared to engage with serious issues.

Those willing to make such an intellectual investment, however, will find themselves richly rewarded.

In adapting Catholic author Shusaku Endo’s 1966 fact-based historical novel, a project in the works since the late 1980s, Scorsese finds himself in what might be called Graham Greene territory.

As fans of that British novelist know, he had a fondness for stretching and twisting fundamental issues of faith and morality, and Endo’s plot shows the same tendency. So this is also not a film for the poorly catechised.

The movie’s primary setting is 17thcentury Japan, where persecution is raging against the previously tolerated Christian community.

Shocked by rumours that Christavao Ferreira (Liam Neeson), their mentor in the priesthood, has renounced the faith under torture, two of his fellow Jesuits, Sebastian Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garrpe (Adam Driver), volunteer to leave the safety of Europe for the perils of the Land of the Rising Sun. Their twin goals are to find their role model and

Irish actor Liam Neeson as an apostate priest in Silence. to minister to the underground Japanese Church.

W

hat follows is a long, sometimes harrowing battle between doubt and human frailty on the one hand and fidelity on the other. Earthly compassion is set against faithfulness and an eternal perspective, with both divine and human silence contributing to the appropriateness

of the title.

Scorsese has crafted an often visually striking drama that’s also deeply thoughtprovoking and emotionally gripping. And the performances are remarkable all around.

But the paradoxes of the narrative demand careful sifting by mature moviegoers well-grounded in their beliefs.

Those lacking such a foundation could be led astray, drawing the conclusion that mercy towards the suffering of others can sometimes justify sin.

While Catholics who are blessed with the freedom to practise their faith in peace are hardly in a position to judge those facing martyrdom, the principle that circumstances can mitigate guilt but not transform wrong into right remains universally valid.

In the end, Silence movingly vindicates a certain form of constancy. That may, in a roundabout way, match the historical record: there is edifying, though inconclusive, evidence that the real person behind one of the three main characters in the picture not only rejected his previous apostasy, but ultimately surrendered his life for the faith.

The film contains religious themes requiring mature discernment, much violence, including scenes of gruesome torture and a brutal, gory execution, as well as rear and partial nudity.—CNS

‘The Shack’ film, where God’s a woman

C

OMING to South African cinemas on April 26, The Shack is director Stuart Hazeldine’s screen version of William Paul Young’s best-selling novel. It represents a serious effort to tackle the problem of evil from a Christian perspective. As such, it will be welcomed by believers.

While objectionable elements are virtually absent from the film, however, patches of dialogue discounting the value of religion—here implicitly set in opposition to faith broadly speaking—and hinting that God is indifferent to how we worship him mean that impressionable viewers should keep their distance.

So, too, does the morally problematic treatment of a dark and long-kept secret.

After his young daughter Missy is abducted and murdered, previously devout churchgoer Mackenzie “Mack” Phillips (Sam Worthington) has a crisis of faith.

But a note from “Papa”—his wife’s nickname for God—leads to an encounter with the Trinity near the titular hideout where evidence of Missy’s death was uncovered that alters his perspective.

Octavia Spencer plays an unflappable, warmhearted God the Father, Aviv Alush a fun-loving Jesus, and Sumire Matsubara a serene Holy Spirit. As Spencer bakes,

Octavia Spencer and Sam Worthington in a scene from the movie The Shack.

Oscar-winning actress Spencer plays God the Father in a film that looks at evil from a Christian perspective. (Photo: Lionsgate) Sumire gardens and Alush tinkers in his carpentry shed, Worthington learns to see his own tragedy as a spiritual death that offers the prospect of resurrection.

While some may be uncomfortable

with the fact that both the Father and the Holy Spirit manifest themselves to the protagonist as women, given that they would be free to do so in whatever guise they chose, this is no real objection—all the more so since Spencer eventually morphs, when it seems advisable, into a paternal Graham Greene.

The narrative’s brief descent from nondenominationalism into outright indifferentism—the belief that no one religion is superior to another—and its suggestion that religion is “too much work” are more substantial defects. While Mack has much to forgive, moreover, he has a shocking crime in his own background that the movie seems to excuse too easily.

Beautiful settings and a sense of humour help to keep the somewhat overlong proceedings from bogging down in sentimentality. But the script takes on too many weighty subjects—from the suffering of innocents to the need for forgiveness—to treat any one of them in a fully satisfying way.

Still, on the whole, this is an intriguing endeavour to accomplish the same goal British poet John Milton set himself in writing his masterpiece “Paradise Lost”, namely, “to justify the ways of God to men”.—CNS

CLASSIFIEDS

Image and imagination Continued from page 7 try and intimidate the teachers and the students at this non-segregated school.

In this version of the Sacred Heart, I could see clearly the reality of the sacrifices made by Christ for us, and the reality of the sacrifices made by others working for justice in his name.

I have over the years looked out for different representations of the idea of the Sacred Heart— perhaps less garish than the traditional one—to remind myself that the underlying theological truth of the devotion is always bigger than any one representation of it, no matter how famous.

As Catholics, we are a tribal group and so we sometimes feel that everyone in the tribe should share love for the same images.

But that is unrealistic and also un-Catholic: catholikos, after all, means universal.

Our faith is never limited to just a specific set of artistic representations from particular places or particular times.

Instead, our faith embraces all of human experience, across time and across cultural boundaries.

The more open we are to that, the more we are connecting with the universality of our faith.

Your prayer to cut out and collect

A Mercy Prayer

Merciful Lord, it does not surprise me that you forget completely the sins of those who repent. I am not surprised that you remain faithful to those who hate and revile you. The mercy which pours forth from you fills the whole world.

It was by your mercy that we were created, and by your mercy that you redeemed us by sending your Son. Your mercy is the light in which sinners find you and good people come back to you.

Your mercy is everywhere, even in the depths of hell where you offer to forgive the tortured souls.

Your justice is constantly tempered with mercy, so you refuse to punish us as we deserve.

O mad Lover! It was not enough for you to take on our humanity; you had to die for us as well.

St Catherine of Siena (1347-80)

Word of the Week

Latin rite: The traditional religious practices and liturgy of the Western Church that is distinct from the Church in the East.

Liturgical Calendar Sunday April 23, 2nd Sunday of Easter Acts 2:42-47, Psalms 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31 Monday April 24, St Fidelis of Sigmaringen Acts 4:23-31, Psalms 2:1-9, John 3:1-8 Tuesday April 25, St Mark 1 Peter 5:5-14, Psalms 89:2-3, 6-7, 16-17, Mark 16:15-20 Wednesday April 26 Acts 5:17-26, Psalms 34:2-9, John 3:16-21 Thursday April 27 Acts 5:27-33, Psalms 34:2, 9, 17-20, John 3:31-36 Friday April 28, Ss Pius V, Peter Chanel, Louis Grignion de Montfort Acts 5:34-42, Psalms 27:1, 4, 13-14, John 6:1-15 Saturday April 29, St Catherine of Siena Acts 6:1-7, Psalms 33:1-2, 4-5, 18-19, John 6:16-21 Sunday April 30, 3rd Sunday of Easter Acts 2:14, 22-33, Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 711, 1 Peter 1:17-21, St Catherine of Siena Luke 24:13-35

So while we can be pleased that some fellow Catholics share our personal devotions, we should also celebrate and perhaps even try devotions which others find especially moving.

St Ignatius is attributed with a lovely phrase: “Pray as you can, not as you can’t.”

So we should not be afraid to admit that there are forms of prayer (or devotions or images) that do not work for us.

So long as we keep looking for and using the forms of prayer and devotions and images that do work for us.

Now, where did I leave my grandmother’s lovely statue of the Infant Christ of Prague?

Community Calendar

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

CAPE TOWN: St Agnes parish in Woodstock is holding its annual festival on April 23. Mass is at 10.00, with the festival starting at 11.00. Venue is St Agnes church, Dublin St, Woodstock. Contact Fr Roman on 071 863 0023.

Retreat day/quiet prayer last Saturday of each month except December, at Springfield Convent in Cape Town. Hosted by CLC, 10.00-3.30. Contact Jill on 083 282 6763 or Jane on 082 783 0331.

Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Good Shepherd parish, Bothasig, welcomes all. Open 24 hours a day. 1 Goede Hoop St, Bothasig. Phone 021 558 1412.

DURBAN: Holy Mass and Novena

to St Anthony at St Anthony’s parish every Tuesday at 9:00. Holy Mass and Divine Mercy Devotion at 17:30 on first Friday of every month. Sunday Mass at 9:00. Phone 031 309 3496 or 031 209 2536.

Overport rosary group. St Antony’s church opposite Greyville racecourse.

Every Wednesday at 18.30. Keith Chetty on 083 372 9018.

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

Our bishops’ anniversaries We congratulate: April 18: Bishop José Ponce de León IMC of Manzini, Swaziland, on the 8th anniversary of his episcopal ordination April 18: Bishop João Rodrigues of Tzaneen on the 7th anniversary of his episcopal ordination April 25: Bishop Valentine Seane of Gaborone, Botswana, on the 8th anniversary of his episcopal ordination

OMI STAMPS YOUR USED STAMPS

can help in the education of South Africans for the PRIESTHOOD at St Joseph’s Scholasticate, Cedara, KwaZulu-Natal.

Please send them to: OMI Stamps, Box 101352, Scottsville, 3209 Neighbourhood Old Age Homes

We can use your old clothing, bric-a-brac, furniture and books for our second-hand shop in Woodstock, Cape Town.

Help us to create an avenue to generate much needed funds for our work with the elderly.

Contact Ian Veary on 021 447 6334 www.noah.org.za

The Southern Cross, April 19 to April 25, 2017

CLASSIFIEDS

11

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.

IN MEMORIAM

HOUGHTON—Agnes. Wife of the late Bill and mom of the late Mary, passed away on April 23, 2014. Lovingly remembered by her daughters Margaret, Bridget and Barbara, sons-in-law Ben, Walter and Derick, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. May her dear soul Rest In Peace.

MATSEBA—Jack and Setumo. Passed away January 27, 2013 and April 24, 2014 respectively. You have left us but will stay in our hearts with fondest memories. Missing you and prayerfully remembered by Mama She, Kay, Zani, Malo and baby Oagile. Rest in God’s eternal peace, our beloved!

PRAYER

PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT—Holy Spirit, you who make me see everything and show me the way to reach my ideal, you who give me the divine gift to forgive and forget all the wrong that is done to me and you who are in all instances of my life with me.

I, in this short dialogue, want to thank you for everything, and affirm once more that I never want to be separated from you, no matter how great material desires may be. I want to be with you and my loved ones in your perpetual glory. To that end and submitting to

God’s holy will, I ask from you... (mention your favour). Amen. This prayer should be said for three consecutive days. After the third day, your sincere wish will be granted, no matter how difficult it may be.

Promise to publish it on granting of your favour. The idea is to spread the wonder of the Holy Spirit.

going?” Let them be brave enough to question: “How have we failed?” Let each be foolhardy enough to say: “For me, we come first.”

Help them, together, to reexamine their commitment in the light of Your love, willingly, openly, compassionately.

O VIRGIN Mother, In the depths of your heart you pondered the life of the Son you brought into the world.

Give us your vision of Jesus and ask the Father to open our hearts, that we may always see His presence in our lives, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, bring us into the joy and peace of the kingdom, where Jesus is Lord forever and ever. Amen

PERSONAL

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.

LORD, inspire those men and women who bear the titles “husband” and “wife”.

Help them to look to You, to themselves, to one another to rediscover the fullness and mystery they once felt in their union. Let them be honest enough to ask: “Where have we been together and where are we

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3rd Sunday of Easter: April 30 Readings: Acts 2:14, 22-33, Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11, 1 Peter 1:17-21, Luke 24:13-35

T

HE thing about Easter is that we discover that the same God who was operating in what we call the “Old Testament” was also at work in the remarkable life and the appalling death of Jesus; so that in a sense the Resurrection was foreseeable if only we had trusted God’s word in the scriptures. That is the message of the readings chosen for next Sunday.

The first reading is Peter’s speech on that first Pentecost Sunday, to the baffled (and, in some cases, mocking) Jerusalem crowd. We notice at the beginning that Peter is with the “Eleven” (one of Jesus’ apostles is missing, of course), and also how confident he is, this one who not long ago was denying that he had ever heard of Jesus.

Now he simply points to what his hearers well know: “Jesus the Nazarene was a man marked out to you from God with miracles and portents and signs, which God did through him in the midst of you.”

So God was at work, “raised him up, undoing the pangs of Death”. Then he gives a rather ingenious scriptural argument:

S outher n C ross

Trust the God of scripture “David” (who for Peter’s purposes is deemed to have written all the psalms) says: “You will not leave my soul in Hades and you will not permit your Holy One to see destruction.”

Peter then argues that this must clearly refer to Jesus, since “David died and was buried—and his tomb is among us down to the present day”.

So, the argument runs, it must refer to Jesus his descendant, “the fruit of his loins to sit on his throne”. And the conclusion is: “He saw it in advance and spoke of the Resurrection of the Christ, because he was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see destruction. This is the Jesus whom God raised up, of which we are all witnesses.” So it is as the scriptures foretold.

The psalm for next Sunday is (inevitably) the song from which Peter was quoting in the first reading, and shows the poet’s usual certainty about God—“I shall say to the Lord: you are my Lord…my portion and my cup…

I shall bless the Lord who gives me counsel, even at night”, and the hymn concludes:

“You make me know the path of life, fullness of joy before your face.” This is the God who raised Jesus from the dead.

That is the God whom our second reading praises: “the one who judges without snobbery, according to what each one has done”.

And the author says something new about Jesus’ death: not only was it vindicated by God, but “you were redeemed…by the precious blood of a spotless and unblemished lamb, Christ, who was known before the foundation of the world”, while Peter’s hearers “trust in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope is in God”. This is the God of the Old Testament.

And that is the God who is revealed in the extraordinary story that is our Gospel for next Sunday, the lovely account of the walk to Emmaus. We watch with astonishment as the two (a man and a woman?) who are miserably trudging away from Jerusalem, discover that after all they have been talking to Jesus in their sadness; and when he “took bread

Doing violence in God’s name ‘M

cause, outright evil is rationalised.

Happily, it’s impossible for most of us to justify this kind of violence and murder in our minds and hearts. But most of us still justify this kind of sacral violence in more subtle modes.

Many of us, for instance, still justify capital punishment in the name of divine justice, believing that God’s purposes demand that we kill someone. Many also justify abortion by an appeal to our God-given freedoms.

Not least, virtually all of us justify certain violence in our language and discourse because we feel that our cause is so special and sacred that it gives us the right to bracket some of the fundamentals of Christian charity in our dealings with those who disagree with us, namely, respect and graciousness.

Our language, in both the circles of the right and left, is rife with a violence we justify in God’s name.

On the right, issues like abortion and the defence of dogma are deemed so important as to give us permission to demonise others.

On the left, issues of economic and ecological injustice, because they so directly affect the poor, similarly give us permission to bracket respect and graciousness.

Both sides like to justify themselves with an appeal to God’s righteous anger.

T

here’s a story in John’s gospel, delicious in its irony, which helps expose how we are so often blind to the violence we do in God’s name. It’s the famous incident of the

Conrad

EN never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction,” Blaise Pascal wrote in the 17th century.

How true! This has been going on since the beginning of time and is showing few signs of disappearing any time soon. We still do violence and evil and justify them in God’s name.

We see countless examples of this in history. From the time that we first gained self-consciousness, we’ve done violence in God’s name.

It began by sacrificing human persons to try to attain God’s favour, and it led to everything from actively persecuting others for religious reasons, to waging war in God’s name, to burning people for heresy at the Inquisition, to practising capital punishment for religious reasons, and, not least, at one point in history, to handing Jesus over to be crucified out of our misguided religious fervour.

These are some salient historical examples; sadly not much has changed.

Today, in its most gross form, we see violence done in God’s name by groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS who, whatever else might be their motivation, believe that they are serving God and cleansing the world in God’s name by brute terrorism and murder.

The death of thousands of innocent people can be justified, they believe, by the fact that this is God’s cause, so sacred and urgent that it allows for the bracketing of all basic standards of humanity, decency and normal religion. When it’s for God’s

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Sunday Reflections

and blessed and broke and gave it to them, their eyes were opened and they knew him”.

In that moment, they reflect: “Our heart was burning within us as he spoke to us on the way, as he opened the scriptures for us.”

But turn the page back a bit, and remember what he had said to them; and it was unmistakably a rebuke: “You stupid people, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets said. Wasn’t it inevitable for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

Then came the sermon: “Starting with Moses and all the prophets [so it must have taken a while] he interpreted for them the things about himself in all the scriptures.” So it was what God intended, and there was nothing to worry about, for God has things all in hand.

Do you need, this week, to learn to trust the God whom the scriptures reveal to us?

Southern Crossword #755

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

woman who is caught in adultery.

They bring her to Jesus and tell him that they caught her in the very act of committing adultery and that Moses commanded, in God’s name, that women like this be stoned to death.

Jesus, for his part, says nothing. He bends down and writes with his finger, twice, on the ground and then tells them the one among them who’s without sin might cast the first stone.

They understand the gesture: why he is writing on the ground, why he is writing twice, and what that means. What does it mean?

Moses went up a mountain and God, with his finger, wrote the Ten Commandments into two tablets of stone. As Moses approached the Israelite camp on his return, carrying the two tablets of stone, he caught the people in the very act of committing idolatry. What did he do?

In a fit of religious fervour, he broke the Commandments—literally, physically— over the golden calf and then picked up the fragments and threw those stones at the people.

So here’s the irony from which to draw a lesson: Moses was the first person to break the Ten Commandments. He broke them in God’s name and then took the fragments and stoned the people. He did this violence in all sincerity, caught up in religious fervour.

Of course, afterwards he had to go back up the mountain and have the Commandments written a second time.

However, before giving Moses the Commandments a second time, God also gave him a lecture: Don’t stone people with the Commandments! Don’t do violence in my name!

We’ve been very slow to grasp this mandate and take it seriously. We still find every sort of moral and religious justification for doing violence in God’s name. We are still, like Moses, smashing the Commandments for what we consider idolatrous and then stoning others with the fragments.

This is evident everywhere in our religious and moral discourse, particularly in how we, as Blaise Pascal might put it, in God’s name, “completely and cheerfully” bracket charity as it pertains to graciousness and respect.

ACROSS

1. If anyone will not ..., let him not eat (2 Th 3) (4) 3. Sample from mice pens (8) 9. Conference, not quite a school for priests (7) 10. Regulations for the religious house (5) 11. One who is a distinct speech maker (12) 13. Ebbs as the religious superior turns up (6) 15. The prophet’s successor (1 Kg 19) (6) 17. Reckoning it’s at Christ’s return (4,8) 20. Instrument in the Appian overpass (5) 21. Apply lots of holy oil (7) 22. Trial indeed despised (8) 23. Unsteady escort holds the colours (4)

DOWN

1. Follower of Methodist founder (8) 2. The lover has more confusion about nothing (5) 4. Three more kings shall arise in ... (Dn 11) (6) 5. He keeps the records in order in time (12) 6. Pesters Les most (7) 7. Monster’s headland? (4) 8. Hard questions asked in the Spanish Church (12) 12. Unfriendly because of unhappy periods at school?

(3,5) 14. Show natal TB to be shameless (7) 16. His Majesty turns blue, showing modesty (6) 18. There are weeds there because of an ... (Mt 13) 19. Ingredient of Irish stew (4)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE A TRUE STORY: ARISHIONERS milled around a deacon whose little daughter had just received her first Communion.

As they congratulated him, the little girl wandered off and spoke to the parish priest.

She asked: “Father, when will your children receive their first Communion?”

The priest smiled gently and replied: “I’m afraid I don’t have any children.”

The girl paused and then said: “I see. But haven’t you got any grandchildren?”

P

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