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What does ‘laicising’ a priest mean?

The tradition of Jerusalem’s holy tattoo

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Church licence law ‘could limit freedoms’

BY ERIN CARELSE

A Brescia House School’s Mrs Pininski, Emily Bishop (Grade 2) and Mr Smart got yarn-bombed, along with the rest of the school atrium. Yarn bombing—also known as urban knitting—is a global form of street art. Nothing is made in one piece; all is glued or sewn together in individual bits. They can easily be disassembled and turned into blankets, toys, beanies and so on. The school then donates the items to various charities. Blankets go to the Salvation Army, Nazareth House or others in need, while the beanies, scarves and toys go to children’s homes. This yarnbombing marked Mandela Day on July 18, the 99th birthday of the late ex-president.

Turin Shroud: Evidence grows

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EW research indicates that the Shroud of Turin shows signs of blood from a torture victim, and undermines arguments that the reputed burial shroud of Jesus Christ was painted.

Very small particles attached to the linen fibres of the shroud “have recorded a scenario of great suffering, whose victim was wrapped up in the funeral cloth,” said Elvio Carlino, a researcher at the Institute of Crystallography.

These nanoparticles have a “peculiar structure, size and distribution”, said Prof Giulio Fanti of the University of Padua.

The nanoparticles are not typical of the blood of a healthy person. Rather, they show high levels of substances called creatinine and ferritin, found in patients who suffer forceful multiple traumas like torture.

“Hence, the presence of these biological nanoparticles found during our experiments point to a violent death for the man wrapped in the Turin Shroud,” Prof Fanti said.

The shroud’s latest researchers published their findings and measurements in the US open-access peer-reviewed journal PlosOne, in an article titled “New Biological Evidence from Atomic Resolution Studies on the Turin

Turin Shroud souvenirs on sale in 2015. New research confirms that the blood on the shroud shows signs of a tortured person.

(Photo: Paul Haring/CNS) Shroud”, the Turin-based newspaper La Stampa’s “Vatican Insider” reported.

The findings contradict claims that the shroud is a medieval forgery. The characteristics of these particles “cannot be artifacts made over the centuries on the fabric of the shroud”, Prof Fanti said.

“These findings could only be revealed by the methods recently developed in the field of electron microscopy,” said crystallographist Continued on page 4

PROPOSED law that would require the licensing of “worship centres”, such as churches, and of “general religious practitioners” would amount to limitations of freedom of religion and association, the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office has warned.

The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL) has issued a recommendation to Parliament that all religious practitioners be registered under umbrella organisations that would be recognised by the state and subject to “peer-review committees”.

The CRL cited reports of self-appointed pastors committing acts such as feeding congregants snakes, spraying congregants with insecticide to heal them, and drinking paraffin in demonstrations of faith.

CPLO director Fr Peter-John Pearson warned that many of the CRL’s recommendations, and most of the proposed legislative enactments listed, would amount to limitations of freedom of religion and association.

“The commission doesn’t take into account that almost all religious bodies have umbrella bodies to deal with deviations. If these deviations do take place, there are legislations—ordinary law—to deal with that,” he told The Southern Cross.

“In our view, the commission is trying to crack a small nut with a large sledgehammer.

If these proposals should find their way into law, they would do immense damage to the many thousands of legitimate religious communities, pastors and congregants who work selflessly for the spiritual health of the nation,” Fr Pearson said.

However, he added, “we are confident that the commission itself will reconsider its proposals, and failing that, that Parliament will not enact legislation that is so manifestly unconstitutional”.

Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria, spokesman of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said that there is a need to acknowledge a serious problem with some

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A proposed law that would require churches and clerics to register with the state is unnecessary and would limit freedom of religion, the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office has warned. (Photo: Etienne Marais) religious practitioners.

“We can see the deliberate exploitation of the poor and the vulnerable, and we can see lack of financial responsibility where finances end up in the personal bank accounts of certain leaders,” he said.

Because of the bizarre or unethical conduct of some, all the churches can become a laughing stock, he noted, adding that he doesn’t want the young educated people to regard religion as a joke.

“The commission must see that this is going to be extremely difficult to implement its findings,” Archbishop Slattery said. “I sympathise with them; they’re doing an impossible task. The chairperson has received death threats, there was a refusal to submit documents and so on.”

Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA), a non-profit Christian organisation, said that the proposed law would effectively amount to “state capture of religion”.

In a statement the group called the proposal “to establish an extensive national structure to license (and thereby control) every ‘religious practitioner’ and ‘place of worship’ …unnecessary, unworkable and unconstitutional”.

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The Southern Cross, July 26 to August 1, 2017

LOCAL

Parishes gather for Carmel feast

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HE feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was celebrated by several parishes at Our Lady of Mount Carmel church and retreat house in Benoni, Gauteng.

Three parishes—Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Benoni, Our Lady of Loreto in Kempton Park and St Joseph’s Catholic church in Actonville—came together to honour Mary.

Several hundred people gathered every day during the three-day novena celebrated by Carmelite Fathers Boniface D’Souza, John D’Souza and Arvin Tauro.

The liturgy for each day was drawn up by the three parishes themselves.

On the feast day, Passionist Father Patrick Mphepo of Pretoria, presided over the Eucharist and preached the homily.

During the Mass, scapulars were blessed and then distributed to people..

Several religious, including the local Carmelite nuns, participated.

BY ERIN CARELSE

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Three Benoni, Gauteng, parishes joined to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Catholic business gives home free security

BY ERIN CARELSE

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CATHOLIC-OWNED family business has given better security to a home for pregnant women in crisis.

Dryden Doors installed a security gate free of charge at Mater Domini Home in Claremont, Cape Town.

Mater Domini supports pregnant women in crisis who wish to give birth to their babies, and offers assistance in instances where mothers decide on adoption.

Chris Dryden, owner of Dryden

The

Our Lady key at SA youth day

Doors, received a call from David Nash, a team member at Mater Domini, after seeing their advertisement in The Southern Cross.

“Mr Nash called me to inquire about a quote for a security gate needed at the home,” Mr Dryden said. “They had a vulnerable point of entry on the premises that was proving to be a security risk.”

Mr Dryden learnt about “the wonderful work they do at Mater Domini”, a registered non-profit organisation.

“With women and children on

the premises, I could see that this was a matter of importance,” he said.

Mr Dryden then sat down with his children, and as a family they discussed how they could help the home. Together they decided that they would donate the 9m gate and motor, at no cost to Mater Domini.

This donation by Dryden Doors is to the value of R40 000.

“We hope that this will give everyone at Mater Domini peace of mind, to enable them to continue the great work they do,” Mr Dryden said.

HE Blessed Virgin Mary will be central to Mini World Youth Day, a five-day gathering in Durban from December 6-10.

To be held at the Durban Exhibition Centre and surrounds, it will bring together young people from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, to unite and celebrate their Catholic faith.

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, archbishop of Durban, who heads the local organising committee, said the Marian theme for Mini World Youth Day was taken from Pope Francis’ vision for the World Youth Day years of 2017 to 2019.

Each year, World Youth Day is celebrated on Palm Sunday at the diocesan level across the world, with an international celebration taking place every three years—this will be in Panama City in 2019.

“The Blessed Virgin Mary is at the heart of the themes chosen for the next WYDs,” Cardinal Napier said.

“As might be expected, it is the gospel of St Luke that provides light and inspiration for these WYDs.” For Palm Sunday 2017, the theme is “The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his Name” (Lk 1-49).

“That is why we have chosen this verse from Mary’s Magnificat as the theme for our Mini World Youth Day at the end of the year,” the cardinal said.

The motto “Young people, faith and vocational discernment” will

be key in the extensive programme that is being planned and compiled by the local organising committee.

The importance of this occasion for evangelising youth and young adults is underlined by the fact that Pope Francis has also focused the attention of the next Synod of Bishops, in October 2018, on young people.

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he Durban Mini World Youth Day—which is the second Youth Day in Southern Africa—will include Holy Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, catechetical sessions, Stations of the Cross, morning prayers and the sacrament of reconciliation.

Preceding the celebrations at the Durban Exhibition Centre will be “Days in Parish” running from December 3-5. Pilgrims will be hosted in the dioceses of Durban, Mariannhill and Eshowe.

This is a new element following the first Mini World Youth Day in the archdiocese of Johannesburg in December 2015.

“The suggestion to include this aspect in the Mini World Youth Day came from diocesan evaluators, who felt the need to learn something about the culture, faith and people of the hosting diocese and province,” said the Youth Office of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference. n Registrations for the Mini World Youth Day close on August 30. All information and booking details can be found on the conference website: www.miniworldyouthday.co.za

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Fr Herman Giraldo, Apostleship of the Sea port chaplain for Durban, went shopping for clothes with the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire about 400 miles off Durban. The crew of 30 were saved by the air sea rescue service.

How seafarers’ ministry helped shipwrecked crew

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FISHING vessel’s crew of 30 were rescued from their burning ship by air sea rescue from South Africa, and then received pastoral care from Apostleship of the Sea in Durban.

The crew of the Hsiang Fuh fishing vessel had to abandon ship some 400 nautical miles from land following a fire onboard, getting into life rafts. They were spotted by crew from a passing container ship who alerted the air sea rescue.

The crew from Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam were transferred to Durban, with two hospitalised with serious burns. The other crew lodged in a hotel, under supervision of the home affairs department.

The Apostleship of the Sea, a Catholic organisation dedicated to the welfare of seafarers, has provided support for the crew at this traumatic time.

Durban port chaplain Fr Herman Giraldo visited the crew in hospital and in the hotel to provide practical

and emotional support, and also took them out to buy new clothes.

“The crew were landed with just the clothes on their backs; they had nothing,” said Fr Giraldo.

The Apostleship of the Sea—with the help of a grant from the Guild of Benevolence, the welfare charity of international body the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology—has provided the crew with clothing, cellphones, toiletries and help with costs for the men to travel to and from the hospital to visit their crewmates.

“This tragedy breaks one’s heart.

These men were working to support their families,” said Fr Giraldo.

“I suppose one consolation is that we are here to help them in this traumatic time with whatever they need.

“It is not only practical help that we’re providing, and particular thanks to the Guild of Benevolence for their contribution, but equally important is our role of listening and helping them find a way through this ordeal,” the priest said.

The Southern Cross, July 26 to August 1, 2017

LOCAL

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Diversity must be Church’s strength

BY ERIN CARELSE

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Bishops and religious, including papal nuncio Archbishop Peter Wells, at the Joint Witness Meeting at St John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria.

PART of a prevailing “crisis of faith” is a weakening of a sense of communion and solidarity with others, the president of the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops’ Conference told a meeting of Church leaders.

Archbishop Stephen Brislin was preaching the homily at the opening Mass of the Joint Witness Meeting, which brought together the Leadership Conference of Consecrated Life (LCCL) and bishops.

The LCCL comprises the religious orders and congregations active in the Southern African region.

The SACBC president emphasised the importance of unity in diversity in proclaiming the Gospel. He said that diversity and richness of many charisms are the source of success in spreading the Good News.

The Joint Witness Meeting takes place every three years to discuss the issues affecting the local Church and society at large.

This year the problems of human trafficking and of migrants and refugees were on the agenda in the deliberations at St John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria.

Archbishop Brislin ascribed the “crisis of faith” in part to a weakening of this sense of communion with others and of being in solidarity, noting that the warmth of a loving community has grown chilly.

“As many people search for meaning and a sense of purpose, we rely on the tenets of our faith. The words ‘It is in giving that we receive, in loving that we are loved’, remain as true as ever,” Archbishop Brislin said.

“It is the understanding that in order to gain life we must lose it; it

is through sacrifice and humble service that we find purpose and meaning to life, always remembering that this journey can never be separated from our inner spiritual journey,” he said Throughout the ages, the archbishop noted, Christians have done well to return to those values: “To shake off the weariness that clings so easily, to abandon the insidious idols that creep in so silently and that distract us and drain us of energy. It is Christ and his Gospel that we serve and no other.”

The leaders of the Church in Southern Africa must continually recommit themselves “to harness our diversity and the multitude of charisms and, in unity, to strive to achieve the common task of spreading the Gospel, through proclamation and witness, sacraments and service”, Archbishop Brislin said.

School celebrates the arts Educator tells story of hope H IGH school students at Sacred Heart College in Observatory, Johannesburg, immersed themselves in the arts for two days, with the curriculum suspended.

The college’s biennial arts festival celebrates the arts and acknowledges the crucial role that creativity and personal expression play in the development and all-round education of students.

Each year there is a collaborative art project which symbolises the school’s sense of family spirit through acknowledging students’ diverse backgrounds.

This year the project was the Sacred Heart Compass. Learners were invited to print their names and places of origin onto wooden tags.

These tags will be attached to a large compass and put on display outside the social sciences classroom.

Over the two days, outings were planned to theatres and art galleries in the city.

There was also an improvised theatre performance at the school, entitled “Causing a Scene”, with top South African improv actors.

Workshops were designed around the festival’s theme: “Boundaries: Exploring, Expanding and Limitlessness”.

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The biennial arts festival at Sacred Heart College in Observatory, Johannesburg, included music-making options.

Among the activities on offer were DJ-ing, stand-up comedy, puppetry, theatre games, drumming, beading, African games, Latin dancing, pavement art, self-defence, yoga, painting, hip hop dancing and photography.

100th Anniversary of The Apparitions

HE Catholic Institute of Education (CIE) supports 800 learners in low-fee Catholic independent schools in South Africa by contributing towards the cost of uniforms, fees, meals, transport to and from school, and other educational activities.

Educators from each of the 40 participating schools attended a review meeting in Randburg, Johannesburg, at which one of the teachers told the story of siblings who had lost their mother.

The CIE had paid their school fees, for uniforms and for a meal each day. Although they lived in a shack, at school they looked like everyone else.

A few years later the sister returned to thank the teacher: “I’m now working in a bank because of the help I got during my school years.” Her brother is at university.

“When you see the results, it is so fulfilling to see that the CIE really helps,” their teacher said.

“I’ve asked our educators to stand in the yard and watch the children as they come and go because that is when you see who is in need.”

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Two Radio Veritas staffers, production manager Khanya Lithabe (right) and producer/news writer Simbarashe Honde earned honours degrees from the University of Witswatersrand in journalism and media studies.

They are both enrolled for their masters at Wits. Radio Veritas associate station manager Fr Brian Mhlanga OP stands behind them.

We try to deepen our relationship with Jesus and share our Joy of the Gospel with other people by serving them in various ministries, in the spirit of St Francis.

Is God perhaps calling you to do this?

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The Southern Cross, July 26 to August 1, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

Korean bishops back peace goal with North

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HE president of the Korean bishops’ conference has welcomed President Moon Jae-in’s peace initiative, saying it matches the Church’s views on how peace can be achieved on the peninsula.

“I deeply agree with President Moon’s direction for the future relations of the two Koreas,” said Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong of Gwangju, conference president.

Since taking office, Mr Moon has said South Korea will take the lead in peaceful coexistence with the North and presented principles aimed towards such a goal.

Mr Moon said his administration is planning for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula through guaranteeing North Korea’s safety and the construction of a permanent peace system. There also will be economic and expanded civil exchanges, he said.

“First, we need a peace accord with support from surrounding countries, and we should resume inter-Korean exchanges such as civil exchanges, the operation of Kaesong industrial complex and tourism to Mt Keumkang,” both of which are in North Korea, said Archbishop Kim. The North and the South have been divided since Korea’s liberation from the Japanese at the end of World War II. The 1950-53 Korean

People sit at an outdoor chapel on the property of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ in Columbia, Pensylvania. The chapel was built by Lancaster Against Pipelines in cooperation with the congregation as a symbol to block a natural gas pipeline, which opponents say would desecrate God’s creation. (Photo: Mark Clatterbuck/Lancaster Against Pipeline/CNS)

Supporters wait for the arrival of South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Berlin. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea welcomed Mr Moon’s peace initiative with North Korea. (Photo: Felipe Tureba, EPA/CNS) War made the governments bitter enemies.

In recent months, tensions have been high over North Korea’s nuclear weapon and missile development.

“The local Church has actively participated in the exchanges between the two nations, such as sending medicines and supporting farming development in North Korea, and it will keep doing it,” said Archbishop Kim. Fr Timothy Lee Eun-hyeong, secretary of the bishops’ committee,

said: “President Moon’s direction is the same as ours.”

However, Fr Lee said it would not be easy.

“The way to a peaceful Korea will not be smooth, with the North’s missile development and ever-changing international affairs,” Fr Lee said.

“Just as the Church in Germany took an important role in the reunification of East and West Germany, the Korean Church will raise its voice for the peaceful co-existence of two Koreas,” F Lee added.—CNS

St John Bosco’s mom for sainthood?

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HILE St John Bosco, founder of the Salesian order, is a beloved saint among Catholics, many do not know that his mother, Margaret Bosco, was declared Venerable in 2006 and has an advancing cause towards beatification.

Margaret Occhiena was born in a small town in Italy in 1788 to a large family of faithful Christians.

At the age of 24, Margaret married a young widower and father, Francis Bosco, who was a farmer and had a son named Anthony.

The couple would go on to have two more sons before Francis died of pneumonia in 1817. Left with three children, Margaret devoted her life to her family and fostered the teachings of Catholicism within her children over the coming years. She also cared for her mother-in-law.

Although Margaret was illiterate, she was known for her wisdom in the Catholic faith and did her best to instil virtue and knowledge within her children. When her son John told her that he wanted to be

a Catholic priest and work with youth, she encouraged him in his vocational desire.

John was ordained a priest on June 5, 1841 and would become known as Don Bosco. Over the coming years, Margaret would cofound the Salesian Apostolate with her son John in Turin.

The Salesians primarily serve the poor and youth through ministry and education. After their founding, the Salesians built an oratory in Turin, which they used as a school and orphanage for boys.

Margaret spent her remaining days caretaking the orphaned boys at the oratory, which is whence her nickname “Mama Bosco” or “Mama Margaret” comes.

Margaret died in 1856 at the age of 68 from pneumonia after she received the last rites. But she reminded her children that “Our Blessed Lady will always be in charge”.

Margaret’s cause for beatification was opened in 1995. On October 23, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI named her Venerable, recognising

Nuns build a chapel to stop gas pipeline

BY DENNIS SADOWSKI

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S chapels go, the simple structure on property owned by the Adorers of the Blood of Christ congregation in Columbia, Pennsylvania, is not much.

It’s more of a garden arbour, really: four posts and several cross boards built near a maize field on farmland the sisters lease. Several pewlike benches are arranged around it.

Still, said the sisters, it stands as a symbol of resistance by people of faith to a planned natural gas pipeline called Atlantic Sunrise that developers want to build through miles of farmland and small towns of the picturesque region.

The pipeline’s path takes it through a strip of land the congregation owns that includes farmland.

The sisters contend that construction poses a danger to God’s creation.

“This is something that we felt as a matter of conscience,” said Sr Sara Dwyer, coordinator of the congregation’s justice, peace and integrity of creation ministry. “We had to look at

it more deeply and take a stronger stand.”

Allowing the pipeline through the property would run contrary to the congregation’s land ethic which upholds the sacredness of creation, reverences the earth as a “sanctuary where all life is protected” and treasures the earth’s beauty and sustenance that must be protected for future generations.

Further backing its claim, the congregation filed a civil rights lawsuit that argues that the pipeline would violate the sisters’ right to practise their faith under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Adorers’ stance has inspired others who have opposed the entire 300km pipeline since it was proposed three years ago by Transco.

Mark Clatterbuck of Lancaster Against Pipelines said the Adorers have inspired the effort to stop the pipeline.

“Having the sisters publicly involved reinforced the moral and religious anchor that has guided this movement,” Mr Clatterbuck said.— CNS

Bishop’s death: Church lays charges

T Margaret Bosco, mother of St John Bosco. Her cause for beatification is being advanced. her “heroic virtue”.

In order for her cause to advance, a verified miracle needs to be attributed to her intercession, in which there is no scientific or natural explanation for the proposed miracle. After this, the pope may then declare the beatification.

After the declaration of blessed, the final step to sainthood includes one more verified miracle.—CNA

HE bishops’ conference of Cameroon launched a private lawsuit over the alleged murder of Bishop Jean-Marie Benoit Bala of Bafia, whose body was found floating in a river in June.

Archbishop Samuel Kleda of Douala, conference president, said the bishops were “not satisfied” with investigators’ findings that Bishop Bala drowned after he disappeared overnight on May 31, three days before his body was found miles downstream from his abandoned vehicle.

The lawsuit was filed to “ensure truth is established”, Archbishop Kleda said.

“If he’d died from drowning, there would have been water in his body, but there was nothing. In-

stead, it was clear there were many marks of violence,” the archbishop said of the 58-year-old bishop’s death.

He said the bishops’ conference also would file a complaint against unspecified officials for mishandling the case and would hand its file of evidence to lawyers acting on its behalf.

Bishop Bala’s body was discovered by fishermen in the Sanaga River, 8km from a bridge where an apparent suicide note was found in his abandoned SUV. The bishops’ conference said in a statement that it was certain that Bishop Bala had been “brutally murdered”, and it demanded his killers be “identified by name and brought to justice”.—CNS

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The Southern Cross, July 26 to August 1, 2017

Civiltà Cattolica: The Choir abuse report shocks the Church Vatican’s Jesuit voice

BY CAROL GLATz

BY CAROL GLATz

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HEN an influential Jesuitrun journal criticised US politics in mid-July, it was not the first time it had caused controversy.

Stirring up controversy is nothing new for La Civiltà Cattolica, which sees defending the faith as part of its mission.

Over the years, it has written articles calling professional boxing “attempted murder”; labelled distracted or impaired driving a sin that should be confessed; praised the powers of Harry Potter in getting kids to read; recommended anger management training for priests and religious; advocated Western governments regulate mosque construction; and condemned states for profiting from cigarette sales.

It also made some fur fly when it criticised animal rights movements that ignore the unique dignity and superiority of human beings over animals. It noted the hypocrisy of insisting on basic rights to life for animals but not for the disabled, sick or young children. The editorial asked if all animals have an equal right to exist, then wouldn’t humans have to be responsible for protecting some species from others and “spend our entire lives keeping the cats away from the mice?’’

The journal often reflects Vatican opinion and is reviewed by the Vati-

An issue of the Italian journal La Civiltà Cattolica at the Vatican.

(Photo: Paul Haring/CNS) can Secretariat of State, so its contents are closely watched. Its authority also stems from the authority, expertise and influence of its authors, who have been top experts or leaders in the fields of canon law, theology and education or as official advisers to important Vatican offices and courts.

However, sometimes that scholarly expertise in canon law and the Church’s social doctrine does not mesh well with local contexts and national initiatives.

In 2002, Jesuit Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda wrote an article expressing reservations over the direction US bishops were taking in their national policy on clerical sex abuse.

Speaking from a perspective of Church law, he had said bishops—

unless clearly negligent in investigating and correcting abuse situations— generally are not morally or legally responsible for the actions of their priests.

The priest also cautioned it was not good pastoral practice to notify civil authorities of all priestly sex abuse accusations; that psychological testing should not be required of suspected clerical abusers; and that, if reassigning a past abuser to active ministry, a bishop should not tell parishioners of the past abuse.

The journal was founded in 1850 by a group of Italian Jesuits to provide a Catholic point of view for the political, religious and cultural upheaval of the day because of increasing hostility toward religious figures, the Church’s temporal authority and its teachings. The journal wanted to defend—against threats from Masonic groups and other perceived enemies—the values of a “Catholic civilisation,” which gave rise to its Italian title, Civiltà Cattolica.

La Civiltà Cattolica’s unique relationship with the Vatican and the pope was established by Pope Pius IX in 1866 with a papal brief that spelled out the statutes for this Jesuit “community of writers” that would continue to produce a journal that would fight for and defend “with all its strength and incessantly, the Catholic religion and its doctrine and its rights”.—CNS

Serbs, Croats agree to disagree on blessed cardinal’s history

BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

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COMMISSION of Croatian and Serbian experts studying Bl Alojzije Stepinac’s life said they were unable to reach a conclusion on questions regarding the controversial martyr’s history.

Although the work allowed for “a better understanding”, the commission said that aspects of the cardinal’s life “are still subject to various interpretations”.

“In the case of Cardinal Stepinac, the prevalent interpretations given by Catholic Croats and Orthodox Serbs remain divergent,” said a message written by the commission.

While Cardinal Stepinac remains a national hero for Croats, he is still considered a highly controversial figure for Serbian Orthodox and some Jewish groups, who have accused him of being a Nazi sympathiser.

The commission is made up of representatives of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church in Croatia and the Vatican.

It was created at the request of Pope Francis.

Yugoslavian Cardinal Stepinac (left) in 1946. (Photo: CNS) Before World War II, Bl Stepinac was noted for helping Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.

Though he welcomed the independent, pro-Nazi Croatian state declared in 1941, he later protested against the puppet regime’s genocidal policies and atrocities committed against Serbs, Jews and Roma.

But when communist partisans came to power in 1945, they accused the cardinal of attacking communism, and he was convicted

of collaborating with the Nazis. He died under house arrest in 1960 from an illness he contracted in prison.

Bl Stepinac was beatified as a martyr by Pope John Paul II in 1998.

Croats see him as a symbol of the Church’s resistance to communist oppression, but others sharply criticise his early support of Croatia’s pro-Nazi government.

Despite differences of opinion on Cardinal Stepinac’s life, the commission members said they were aware that the final decision on his canonisation is of “the exclusive competence of the pope” and that “each Church has its own criteria to proceed with canonisation”.

However, they agreed that the study helped to “illustrate the life and ministry of an important Catholic pastor during a particularly troubling period of history”.—CNS

Murders over sacred cows slammed

BY ANTO AKKARA

T

HE Catholic Church in India has criticised growing intolerance and mob violence targeting religious minorities over cow protection.

“The vast majority of the people of India of all communities have been shocked at the lynching in various states on the pretext of protecting cows,” said a statement issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.

About 40 religious leaders— Christians along with Baha’i, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh—attended the meeting.

The statement asked the gov-

ernment “to end the impunity ...at the root of the atmosphere of fear that stalks the land today”.

Some Hindus worship the cow as a goddess and oppose slaughter of cows, with some states even running care centres for cows.

The bishops’ statement said lynchings over cows threatened “the constitution and the democratic fabric of the country”.

In a June report, The Times of India said that since 2014, when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power, vigilantes had killed at least 32 Muslims. It said that in most of these attacks, the premise had been al-

legations of cow slaughter, smuggling, eating or even possessing beef.

Mobs have killed meat and cattle traders in the name of protecting the sacred cow.

“We are going through difficult times. What we see on the TV [lynching] is frightening,” said Auxiliary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas of Ranchi, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.

“Hatred is being spread, and attempts are being made to divide the people. We want to create harmony by bringing people of all faiths together,” he said. — CNS

M

ORE than 500 boys suffered abuse at the hands of dozens of teachers and priests at the school that trains the world-famous boys choir of the Regensburg cathedral in Germany, said an independent investigator.

Former students of the “Domspatzen” choir reported that the physical, emotional and even sexual abuse at the school made life there like “a prison, hell and a concentration camp”, said Ulrich Weber, the lawyer leading the investigation of claims of abuse at the choir and two associated boarding schools.

A “culture of silence” among Church leaders and members allowed such abuse to continue for decades, Mr Weber said at a news conference in Regensburg.

The investigation, commissioned by the diocese of Regensburg, found that at least 547 former members of the Regensburg Domspatzen boys choir in Germany were subjected to some form of abuse, according to Vatican Radio. Of those victims, 67 students were victims of sexual violence.

But Mr Weber said that many former victims had declined to

5

come forward during his two-year inquiries into the Domspatzen, adding that he believed the real number could be closer to 700.

Regensburg Church sources said around 300 financial compensation claims had been received from abuse victims, adding that 450 000 euros (R67 million) had been paid out by the diocese so far.

The 440-page report, which spanned the years between 1945 and the early 1990s, found highly plausible accusations against 49 members of the Church of inflicting the abuse, with nine of them accused of being sexual abusive.

In the report, Mr Weber sharply criticised Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who was bishop of Regensburg from 2002-12.

Then-Bishop Müller had “a clear responsibility” in the “strategic, organisational and communication weaknesses” that marked the process he launched of reviewing allegations.

Widespread news of the suspected abuse first emerged in 2010 as religious orders and bishops’ conferences in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands were faced with a flood new allegations of the sexual abuse of children, mainly at Catholic schools.—CNS

Blood on Turin Shroud is that of a torture victim Continued from page 1 Mr Carlino. The research marked the first study of “the nanoscale properties of a pristine fibre taken from the Turin Shroud”.

The study of particles took place on the nanoscale, ranging from one to 100 nanometres. A nanometre is one billionth the length of a metre.

Researchers drew on experimental evidence of atomic resolution studies and recent medical studies on patients who suffered multiple acts of trauma and torture.

The research was carried out by the Instituo Officia dei Materiali in Trieste and the Institute of Crystal-

lography in Bari, both under Italy’s National Research Council, as well as the University of Padua’s Department of Industrial Engineering. ”Vatican Insider” said the research confirms the hypotheses of previous investigations, like that of biochemist Alan Adler in the 1990s.

The Catholic Church has not taken an official position on the relic’s authenticity. The shroud is presently housed at Turin’s St John the Baptist cathedral. During his June 21, 2015 visit to the cathedral, Pope Francis prayed before it.—CNA

6

The Southern Cross, July 26 to August 1, 2017

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Cardinal Pell case needs facts first

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

I

When an ex-pope speaks

W

HEN retired Pope Benedict XVI sent a personal message to be read at the funeral of Cardinal Joachim Meisner in Cologne, it was received with loud applause by the congregation.

However, one sentence in what otherwise was a touching tribute to his friend has given rise to a perception that the pope emeritus was criticising his successor, Pope Francis.

In his message—read at the funeral of a critic of Pope Francis— Benedict wrote: “We know that this passionate shepherd and pastor [Cardinal Meisner] found it difficult to leave his post, especially at a time in which the Church stands in particularly pressing need of convincing shepherds who can resist the dictatorship of the spirit of the age and who live and think the faith with determination.”

Given that Cardinal Meisner was one of the four cardinals who compiled their dubia on a point of doctrine—a rallying point for the opposition to Pope Francis— Benedict’s words can be reasonably interpreted as a barely disguised critique of the present papacy and those Church leaders who are following the Holy Father’s lead in responding to the signs of the times.

It may not have been the intent of the pope emeritus to issue a public critique, but even then, surely it must have been obvious to him and to his aide, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who read out the message in Cologne, that this passage could well be understood as such.

The archbishop’s protests that those who are using that statement to pit one pope against another are “stupid” and living a “fantasy” is unconvincing. At the very least, the sentence was ambiguous.

The notion of the “dictatorship of relativism” in modern society shaped the programme of Pope Benedict’s papacy of almost eight years. It required the Church to become defensive and more inward looking.

Pope Francis has taken a different course. He has thrown open the doors of the Church, and told its pastors to go out where they are needed, to “smell like the sheep”, and engage with modern society. The Holy Father places a special emphasis on social justice, and urges a priority to pastoral mercy.

Crucially, Pope Francis engages with and confronts the signs of the times by acknowledging the conditions in which these occur.

So when the retired pope speaks of “a time in which the Church stands in particularly pressing need of convincing shepherds who can resist the dictatorship of the spirit of the age”, he gives rise to an impression that he was rebuking the present pope’s approach.

We have no way of knowing whether Pope Benedict’s words were coldly calculated or poorly considered. There is a precedent of Benedict misjudging the impact of his words, as we witnessed when his 2006 lecture in Regensburg derailed Catholic-Muslim relations for a decade.

Reportedly he was puzzled by the reaction to his speech in Regensburg because he had not intended to cause offence or controversy. The same may well be true of his message at the funeral in Cologne.

But he said what he said, in terminology that defines the opposition to Pope Francis. In a climate of polarisation within the Church between those who stand with the Holy Father and those who do not—a polarisation which Benedict himself must be alarmed by—this is unhelpful.

When Pope Benedict abdicated the papacy in 2013, he created a new status: that of the emeritus pope. He doubtless was acutely aware of the hazards that might give rise to a virtual dual papacy, knowing that any statement he makes would be closely examined.

Had Benedict upon his renunciation of his papacy reverted to the rank of cardinal, he might have enjoyed greater latitude for speaking his mind freely. But he retained his title and papal name, and with that came an ethical obligation to prevent saying or doing anything that might give rise to perceptions of two men in white pulling in different directions.

Benedict has honoured his promise to exercise the necessary discretion to avoid any possibility of a dual papacy, and his fidelity to Pope Francis is evident—as is the Holy Father’s love for his predecessor.

Benedict’s comment at the Meisner funeral should therefore best be understood an inadvisable aberration.

ST ANTHONYS CHILD and YOUTH CARE CENTRE Keeping Children safe within families

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.

T is a pity that in what appears to be undue haste to cast doubt on the Holy See’s handling of the Cardinal George Pell case, neither the facts of the case nor the procedures of the Church protocols in operation have been carefully checked.

One of the first principles of most Church protocols, in particular those which incorporate Vatican guidelines, is that once civil processes have been instituted, the Church authorities must hold back and let the civil case be concluded before any action is taken by them.

Awaiting apology to gay Catholics

P

OPE Francis recently said he believes the Church should apologise to the person who is gay whom it has offended. I wonder when this apology will be forthcoming, and what form it might take.

Sadly, I am reminded of the cartoon where a prelate is standing imperiously on the cathedral steps under a huge banner reading, “Welcome, inherently disordered persons!” A couple are passing by, walking their dog, and the man remarks, “Oh, how nice. They’re reaching out to the gays!”

Surely it would be better to keep silent than to issue a conditional apology. Any apology that takes the form, “We’re ever so sorry, but...” will ring utterly hollow. Especially when the “but” expresses gay loverelationships as intrinsically evil, and gay “inclinations” as themselves an objective disorder.

There has been profound consideration of these matters by remarkable gay theologians (for example, American religious studies professor Eugene F Rogers Jr and British Catholic priest Fr James Alison).

The peer-reviewed scientific research is also well documented (for example, the Sage Journals article “Sexual Orientation, Controversy, and Science” by JM Bailey et al).

Our bishops would do well to acquaint themselves with these insights as they plan for the pastoral accompaniment of LGBT Catholics.

The time for talking with us rather than about us is long overdue.

As the pope has instructed his bishops, the path ahead is of tireless dialogue and pastoral accompaniment.

When gay persons born into Catholic families grow up, discover their inherent sexual orientation, and that the Church imposes upon them lives of mandatory celibacy, they hit profound existential crises.

Is it surprising that suicide attempts are much more prevalent for gay youth (www.medicalnewstoday. com/articles/315933.php)?

Clerics supposedly discover their

calling to celibacy as a divine gift.

Most gay people seem to experience a calling to enter into covenantal love-relationships.

When these gay Catholic sons and daughters ask for bread, why do their spiritual fathers give them cold, hard stones? Why do they impose mandatory celibacy as the only option?

When clerics rail against secular same-sex marriage, perhaps they could also remind people of their basic Christian duty, for, in the words of the Catechism of the Church, gays “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided” (2358).

Failure to do so is surely to intentionally commit anti-gay violence.

Dr Vincent Couling, Pietermaritzburg

Church numbers: SA and Australia

I

REFER to Martin Keenan’s interesting letter (July 12) titled “Errors in history of Church in SA” concerning the reasons for Mauritius being the place of residency of Bishop Slater, “where the majority of his flock lived”.

What may be of more than academic interest is the absence of the appointment of a bishop to cover Australia and New Zealand (in the early days they fell under the jurisdiction of the Cape incumbent).

Is it possible this was due to there being insufficient Catholics among the “convicts” sentenced in Britain to live in Australia at that time?

Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in Letters to the Editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy. The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate.

Letters must not be understood to necessarily reflect the teachings, disciplines or policies of the Church accurately. letters can be sent to PO Box 2372, Cape town 8000 or editor@scross.co.za or faxed to 021 465-3850

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As far as can be established, no formal complaints or allegations were submitted to the Holy See. Instead, Cardinal Pell was served with a summons to appear in court in the state of Victoria in Australia to answer charges relating to what was alleged to have happened 40 years ago and maybe more.

It was he who approached the Holy Father with the news of the summons, and it was he who proposed the leave of absence until the case has been concluded.

This to my way of thinking is

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substantially different from the description of the case and the conclusions reached in the editorial in The Southern Cross of July 12.

In that editorial, the impression given is that formal complaints or allegations had been submitted to the Holy See and that the latter had adjudged there to be substance to the charges, and therefore should have suspended Cardinal Pell from all priestly functions.

As far as I know, nothing of the sort took place.

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier OFM, Durban Be that as it may, the number of Catholics in Australia has inevitably increased, and for the past 27 years they have constituted the largest religious denomination in Australia, being 5 439 268, or 25,3%, of the total population in the last census (sadly down from 25.8% in 2006).

Of concern is that the secondlargest group consists of those with no religion or those who refused to answer the optional religious question on the national census (22,3% of the population, or 4,7 million Australians, a growth of 3,6% since the last census five years ago).

Of the 5,4 million Catholics in Australia, 624 000 worship every Sunday and there are 1 321 Catholic parishes, according to Fr Richard Leonard SJ in Why Bother Praying?

At this juncture we are reminded of the words of Billy Graham, that attendance at church does not make us Christians any more than living in a garage makes us a car.

Kevin Andersson, Pietermaritzburg

Laity must elect finance councils

I

T is important for parishes to sustain themselves, and that is why planned giving and fundraising are important.

First, parishes should avoid dictating to parishioners how much they should pledge for the monthly planned giving.

Second, parish fundraising committees and parish finance councils should work together.

Third, I am against parish finance councils being appointed by parish priests, because often those appointed do not have financial expertise. We could also find some priests appointing their “buddies” and this could lead to corruption.

Like the finance councils, the laity should be given the opportunity to elect the fundraising committees.

Brian Pretorius, Cape Town

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The Southern Cross, July 26 to August 1, 2017

PERSPECTIVES

7

We must share dangerous memories Fr Chris A Townsend s a young teenager, my maternal grandmother lived through the horrors of both a German and Russian occupation of her hometown of Gdansk (or Danzig) in Poland.

From being bound and dressed as a boy to escape soldiers and the horrors of rape, this experience profoundly changed her.

My grandfather, part of the Free Polish, was captured during military action. Interned in North Africa, he was put to work laying roads through the desert using asbestos—exposure to which killed him in the end.

My paternal grandfather fought in the jungles of Thailand and Burma for the British army, and my grandmother was a military nurse in old Calcutta. These experiences profoundly influenced their lives— including my grandmother’s bitter dislike of Americans.

My maternal grandparents arrived in Durban as political refugees from communism in about 1947. They arrived with just £10 and were welcomed into Doornfontein, Johannesburg, by neither the German nor Polish communities, but by the Polish and Lithuanian Jewish refugee community who understood the pain and trauma of my half-Jewish grandmother’s loss.

The South African experience for my maternal grandparents was far from easy.

Speaking no English and having no qualifications, they relied on the goodwill of others in the tight-knit refugee communities that developed in South Africa in the 1940s and ‘50s.

My grandfather was regularly hounded and arrested as a possible communist spy, and both were scheduled for deportation back to communist Poland in the early 1950s. My mother was born just before that, and therefore was a South African, so that was a stumbling block for the deportation process. Still, future apartheid prime minister B J Vo r s t e r at one stage suggested that my mother be adopted by his extended family.

My English family settled in South Africa at the same time. As military veterans they were better off (at least until 1948), having survived the loss of everything in the Blitz and having various harrowing experiences, like being torpedoed off Australia’s coast.

Why is all of this relevant? Apart from the fact that this is my story, its retelling keeps alive a “dangerous memory”—the memory of the horrors of war and the extraordinary violence that engulfed the world only 70 years ago.

World War 2 ended with approximately 70 million people dead and the entire world traumatised The memory of this violence is not limited to that war. The proxy wars and civil war fought in South Africa and the Frontline States as the struggle against apartheid and in its defence of Volk en Vaderland were not new violence but just a manifestation in that time of the same human violence that continuously threatens to wash us all away in a tidal wave of horror.

It is this Dangerous Memory of Violence that must be told again and again if we are to prevent the new-old horror from resurfacing in our own time.

O

ur country presently stands in a time of peril where the real urgency of violence in thought, word and deed is often too close to the surface. I know this statement will be met with furious denial and perhaps even outright ridicule—after all we have a functioning court system that is propping up our failing and morally bankrupt democracy. But if we sit down and ask ourselves where the current situation gets us, we might just find that answer too scary to face straight-on.

I am bewildered by the battle for the

“To keep a dangerous memory alive, we need to tell and hear our South African story.

We need to find a unifying narrative that allows us all to claim a better life for all before we all slip into the conditions of blame and hopelessness,” writes Fr Chris Townsend.

Point of Reflection

A girl and a boy are dressed to receive their First Communion.

But even on such a spirit-filled and moving occasion, there have often been moments of humour.

O

n the great day itself, wardrobe malfunctions can and do occur. I’ve seen the frantic hunt for last minute safety pins for drooping hems, lost buttons and broken zips. To say nothing of needing to carry a veritable hairdresser’s supply of hair grips and clips to secure veils and tiaras which simply won’t stay put.

And the incidental extras can be troublesome too. I’ve noticed the most glorious dresses accessorised with little bags, gloves and on one occasion, even a parasol!

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“soul” of the ruling African National Congress—a soul that seems to have been sold to a new colonisation—and the unbelievable situation of not actually facing the loss of moral capital or goodwill with anything other than ignoring it. This is not the South Africa we need.

So in the effort of keeping a dangerous memory alive, we need to once again both tell and hear our South African story. We need to find a unifying narrative—not just a unifying person—that allows us all to claim a better life for all before we all slip into the conditions of blame and hopelessness of the kind that allowed for a Kristallnacht or a Reichstag fire; a narrative that counters all that cements the looting and collapse we see around us.

The parish remains one of the last spaces in our civic discourse where this can happen in a safe space.

Without this discourse and an all-out, all-in commitment to a new civil society dialogue that is beyond political affiliation, corrupt officialdom and tenderprenitis, and beyond the whining animal noises of the opposition parties, we stand in danger of losing the dangerous memory.

Our Catholic community—bishops, clergy and laity—have for the most part been too reticent to speak out. We need to regain our collective prophetic voice.

Apart from some excellent pointed statements from the Justice & Peace Commission and their liaison bishop—which remind me of Pope Pius XI’s anti-Nazi encyclical Mit brennender Sorge in 1937—it is to each person to tell their story of a dangerous memory.

We are a community which has experienced discrimination first-hand for years, not only in our individual families but in our ecclesial communities.

We need to tell our stories as individuals and communities. We cannot let our “dangerous memory” fade into oblivion, otherwise by our silence that memory becomes a perilous reality.

Julia Beacroft

Faith and our fineries I ’VE lost count of the number of fancydress costumes that I’ve made for my four adult children over the years.

The collection covers the Victorian and Roman eras, characters from books, a cat and even a tree, and the kids entered into the spirit of each character with gusto.

Yet interestingly I’ve noticed that although children seem to derive great delight in donning a character costume, they are generally less than enthusiastic about wearing smart or formal attire for special occasions.

I can vividly remember an incident of this nature, when my four youngsters were smartly dressed for a studio photo session.

My younger son, who had complained and sulked in turns, disappeared at the last moment, only to reappear having divested himself of his formal trousers and crisp shirt in favour of well-worn jeans and sloppy sweatshirt. Needless to say, he did not get away with it!

On First Communion Day the little girls traditionally wear white dresses, often with veils, and the boys wear smart trousers, shirts, ties and sometimes jackets. And of course, they look fantastic. But remarkably, I don’t think I have yet heard one of these children complain about the initiative of having to “dress up” for the occasion.

And it seems to me that God’s hand is at work in this.

Pastor’s Notebook

Unfortunately, I’ve also become aware of the children becoming confused as to where they should put said “extras” during the Mass, especially when the great moment of receiving their first ever Holy Communion arrives. One lovely little girl nearly strangled herself with the long handle of her little bag in her confused haste to do what was required of her.

It is right and proper that we celebrate the wonderful gift of receiving the Lord’s Body and Blood for the first time. And on such a spiritual and meaningful celebration we should include all the traditional elements of this.

We are rightly proud of our young people and we joyfully celebrate with them— the first time, and indeed every single time —both they and we, receive the Lord. Yet we are invited to the table of the Lord just as we are.

And part of the wonder of this great gift from God is that it is freely given to each one of us. And we are free to receive it, whether we are dressed in our best finery or in our oldest garments. All we need is faith. n Julia Beacroft’s book Sanctifying The Spirit is published by Sancio Books. It is available on Amazon.

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Pray with the Pope

Let artists unblock our wonder General Intention: That artists of our time, through their ingenuity, may help everyone discover the beauty of creation.

NFORMATION is not enough. If one thing has become clear about the environmental crisis that faces humanity, it is that the scientific data has left many of us unconvinced or inactive.

One extreme is a blank denial that the problem even exists, and this is even bolstered by fantastic conspiracy theories which claim that all those scientific warnings are put out by evil boffins plotting together to falsify the data in the interests of milking their state funders.

Why do otherwise intelligent people fall for this? Why are some of us dangerously unmoved by the plight of creation? Why can Pope Francis see that the “earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth” (Laudato Si’ 21) while others shut their eyes and close their ears, denying the evidence of their physical senses and their common sense?

And why do we, who agree with the Holy Father, do nothing about it? We know what we should do. We know we should shrink our carbon footprints but we continue to live like what the environmental economist Kate Raworth calls the “global carbonistas”?

We have not, for all the warnings, changed our habits that much. We may not be climate-change denialists, but we often act as if we are.

Secular commentator George Monbiot thinks the problem is partly due to our loss of wonder at the natural world. I’m convinced he’s right. We just don’t get out enough and look contemplatively at the earth which is “crammed with heaven”, as the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning put it.

As for our sedentary and increasingly obese children, glued to their electronic devices and cut off from the wonderworld around them, well, that’s for another column.

I

U

nless we have a fundamental sense of the beauty of the cosmos, we seriously risk being artistically illiterate. We won’t be able to fathom what artists are getting at when they try to tap into our sense of wonder in their depictions of the natural world in painting, poetry, dance and song.

They will even struggle to do so using those media which modern people are more conversant with, such as film and photography. It’s a sad prospect.

Given this “wonder-blockage”, we should not be surprised if artists attempt to break through it by artistic shock tactics. Perhaps we need to be confronted, artistically but abrasively, with the unpleasant truth of the “immense pile of filth” to remind us of and make us yearn once again for the beauty which we are defacing and destroying.

This is not a new notion. Back in the English Industrial Revolution, the Jesuit poet Gerald Manley Hopkins lamented that although “[t]he world is charged with the grandeur of God”, because of our treatment of the creation and our failure to “reck his rod [obey God’s law], all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell”.

It’s not just the towns and cities; the countryside too has suffered this human assault. Manley’s lament about the cutting down of trees, in the poem “Binsey Poplars”, expresses this poignantly.

The poplars are “all felled, felled, are all felled…

Not spared, not one”.

“O if we knew what we do, When we delve or hew – Hack and rack the growing green.” Hopkins would know precisely what Francis means in Laudato Si’.

The poem ends on a bleak note but another, “God’s Grandeur”, has a hopeful ending, reminding us that the Holy Spirit is constantly at work, renewing the face of the earth: “Because the Holy Ghost over the bent/World broods with warm breast and ah! bright wings.”

May artistic warnings and artistic wonder prompt us to cooperate with that renewing Spirit.

8

The Southern Cross, July 26 to August 1, 2017

Our beautiful CATHOLIC faith The Five First Saturdays - Mary's Great Promise at Fatima!

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On 10 December, 1925 Lucia received a visit from Mary with the Child Jesus, who said, "Have compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce Her at every moment, without there being anyone to make an act of reparation in order to take them away." Our Lady then promised Sr. Lucia that she would assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who on the first Saturdays of five consecutive months:1. go to Confession (within eight days before or after ) 2. receive Holy Communion (obviously in a state of grace) 3. say 5 decades of the Rosary (ie one mystery)

4. keep Her company for 15 minutes whilst meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary 5. all this with the intention of consoling and offering reparation to Her Immaculate Heart

The Reasons for this Devotion:

On May 29, 1930, Our Lord explained to Sr. Lucia why five First Saturdays: “My daughter the reason is simple.

Against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, five kinds of offenses and blasphemies are committed: ♦ against the Immaculate Conception. ♦ against the Virginity of Our Lady. ♦ against Her Divine Maternity - the refusal to accept her as Mother of all mankind. ♦ those who publicly seek to sow in children’s hearts indifference, contempt and even hatred for our Immaculate Mother. ♦ those who insult Her directly in Her holy images/statues.”

The Origin of the Five First Saturdays:

On July 13, 1917, Our Lady appeared at Fatima to the three seers Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco and revealed a three part secret to them. The first part was a vision of hell, which was so terrible that Lucia later declared that if it were not for Our Lady’s presence, they would have died of fright. After the vision was over, Our Lady spoke thus: “You saw Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. to save them God wishes to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. If they do what I shall tell you, many souls will be saved, and there will be peace.”

“I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart (MMP 351e; 356e; 437k) and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays (MMP180). If they listen to my requests, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, it will spread its errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and many nations will be annihilated……”

"...in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph!"

“My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the sure way that will lead you to God” (MMP 572)

Act of Consecration to The Immaculate Heart of Mary

“O Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of Heaven and earth, and tender Mother of all, in accordance with your ardent wish made known at Fatima, I consecrate to you myself/my family/my parish/my diocese/my country, and all those I love and pray for.

Reign over us and teach us how to make the Heart of Jesus reign and triumph in us, and around us, as it triumphed in You. Reign over us dearest Mother, that we may be yours in prosperity and in adversity, in joy and in sorrow, in health and in sickness, in life and in death.

O Most compassionate Heart of Mary, Queen of Virgins, watch over our minds and hearts. Preserve and heal them from the deluge of impurity which You lamented so sorrowfully at Fatima. We want to atone for the many crimes committed against Jesus and Yourself.

We want to call upon our country, and the whole world, the peace of God, in justice and charity. We want to be pure like You.” Amen.

The Nine First Fridays of Reparation to The Sacred Heart of Jesus Reparation for the outrages and offenses against the Sacred Heart of Jesus and against Him in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar!

The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was officially recognized and approved by Pope Clement XIII in 1765, seventy-five years after the death of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque to whom Christ appeared and revealed His Sacred Heart as a symbol of His love for mankind. In 1794, Pope Pius VI issued a decree approving the devotion and granting indulgences to those who practice it.

On June 11, 1899, in what he referred to as "the great act" of his pontificate, Pope Leo XIII solemnly consecrated all mankind to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Nine First Friday Devotion: The First Friday of each month was

designated by Our Blessed Lord Himself as a day to be consecrated to honouring His Most Sacred Heart. The object of this devotion is to make the Sacred Heart more ardently and more perfectly loved, and to make proper reparation for the outrages, indifference, and neglect against Him in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

The Great Promise: Is simply one blessing beyond compare, a death in a state of grace, in God’s friendship.(*see the 12th promise below)

“Behold this Heart which has loved mankind so much… and in return, I receive nothing but ingratitude from the greater number through the contempt, the irreverence, the sacrileges and the coldness shown towards Me in the Sacrament of love…”

Just TWO conditions are necessary to fulfill Our Lord’s request: 1. Confession – to ensure one is in a State of Grace.

2. Holy Communion – to receive worthily on nine consecutive First Fridays with the intention of making Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The following First Friday devotions are efficacious in honouring the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: 1. Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

2. Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

3. Litany to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Twelve Promises of The Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: 1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.

2. I will give peace in their families.

3. I will console them in all their troubles.

4. I will be their refuge in life, and especially in death.

5. I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.

6. Sinners will find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

7. Tepid souls will become fervent.

8. Fervent souls will rise speedily to great perfection.

9. I will bless those places where the Image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.

10. I will give Priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.

11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names eternally written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.

12.  In the abundant mercy of My Heart, I promise that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance; they will not die in My displeasure nor without receiving the Sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their secure refuge in that last hour.

NB*** The Promise is not a substitute for living the Commandments, for carrying out one’s duties in life, from prayer or from the Sacraments.

CHURCH

The Southern Cross, July 26 to August 1, 2017

9

What Church does about abuser priests What does the Church do with priests found guilty of abuse, and what does ‘laicisation’ mean. ELISE HARRIS asked a canon law expert.

W

HEN reports came out earlier this year about Pope Francis’ decision to modify the penalties for several priests found guilty of abusing minors, the question arose as to whether the pope was being too merciful in his decision.

Another concern was whether priests found guilty of abuse of minors would continue to be dismissed from the clerical state, or “laicised”.

Here Jesuit Father Damián Astigueta, a professor at the faculty of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University with a speciality in criminal proceedings, offers insights on what dismissal from the clerical state is, why the Church doesn’t always choose to dismiss from the clerical state priests who are guilty of abuse, what those condemned to a life of prayer and penance actually do, the role of bishops in abuse cases, the lessening of sentences, and more.

What is ‘dismissal from the clerical state’?

While frequently used in the media (when they don’t use the archaic term “defrocking”), the term “laicisation” doesn’t really exist anymore among canonists, Fr Astigueta said, and has been widely replaced by the term “loss of the clerical state”.

When a priest loses his clerical state, either because he requested it or because it was taken from him, he is “dismissed from the clerical state”, because this is a juridical status, Fr Astigueta explained.

“He remains in a situation judicially as if he was a layperson. This is where the term ‘laicisation’ comes from.”

He clarified that when this happens, it doesn’t mean that a priest is no longer a priest. “The sacrament of Holy Orders isn’t lost; it imprints an ontological sign on the being of the priest that can never be lost.”

What happens instead is that exercising the rights proper to the clerical state are prohibited, such as saying Mass, hearing confessions, and administering the sacraments reserved for clergy; as are the obligations, such as that of reciting the Liturgy of the Hours and obedience to their bishop.

However, since a man dismissed from the clerical state remains a priest, there are times at which the Church continues to oblige him to act as a priest.

For example, if he finds someone in danger of death who asks for the sacraments, even though he is no longer in a clerical state, he “must hear [the person’s] confession because the most important thing is the salvation of that person”.

Why don’t all guilty priests lose the clerical state?

For Fr Astigueta, the answer to the question of why not all priests found guilty of abuse are dismissed from the clerical state has two primary components: not all acts of abuse are the same in terms of severity, and the situation of the priest himself varies.

“Not all abuses are the same entity,” he said. Even civil law recognises a difference in severity between paedophilia (which involves prepubescent children) and ephebophilia (which involves midto-late adolescents).

In other cases, there may be the appearance of consent with an older teen, he said, which can further complicate the matter. The penalty assessed to the priest takes these factors into account.

When it comes to priests who are found guilty of abuse, there are dif-

ferent types of punishments, including dismissal from the clerical state, or a life of “prayer and penance”, depending on the situation.

“There are certain cases in which dismissal would be the just punishment,” Fr Astigueta said. But there are also cases—even with several instances of serious abuse that have caused a lot of damage—when the Church decides against this dismissal, he said, pointing to Legion of Christ founder Fr Marcial Maciel as an example.

Fr Maciel was a person “who was proven to have committed a series of very serious crimes, a person who when one knows what he did truly realises they are in front of a very disturbed person,” the priest said. “Can a disturbed person be punished with the maximum penalty?”

At times the Church prefers to use a different system, prohibiting the person from ministry, particularly in public. Instead, the person is isolated at home, dedicated to prayer “and nothing more”. This means no visits from people, at times not even friends or their congregation.

In the case of Fr Maciel, even his funeral, which in other circumstances should have been large and public, was closed to the public.

Fr Astigueta said the Church at times chooses this less severe punishment because at a certain point, “when I give a person a sanction that destroys them, it’s not a sanction, but revenge”.

The importance of mercy Fr Astigueta also spoke of the importance of mercy in the process, particularly when it comes to elderly priests and the Church’s own responsibility towards her members.

Even in a tragic case when a child has been abused, “the Church is still a mother, and mercy is used for the victims and the priest”, he said, noting that abusers often have serious psychological problems that require treatment.

Canon law (1350 §2) establishes “that there exists a duty of charity towards them”.

If an 80-year-old priest is dismissed from the clerical state, “where do we send him? Can he find work? He’ll end up living on the street as a homeless man. How long will he last? He won’t last anything,” Fr Astigueta observed. To put a man on the street in this circumstance, unless he has relatives ready to take him on, “is practically to kill him”.

Often, despite the harm done, something good in the person remains, he said. Because of this, sometimes a more just penance is to let him “live with his conscience”.

While a life of prayer and reflection might sound comfortable, Fr Astigueta asked: “Reflecting with whom? With your memories before God, with your regrets.”

Offering help to victims and bringing about justice is always the Church’s top priority when it comes to clerical abuse, but concern must also be shown to the sinner, he said, explaining that if the Church were to immediately dismiss from the clerical state every abusive priest, it could cause more harm.

“If these people are thrown out on the street, I am leaving a possible serial killer,” Fr Astigueta said. The Church, he said, must also take this into account.

When it comes to mercy in abuse cases, it “never goes against justice”, and that the first act of mercy is “to tell the truth”.

Once the truth is known, the measure in which the offender can be sanctioned must be taken into account “in order to avoid that the penalty is a revenge”, because this helps no one.

“The pain of the victim is never cured with revenge; the only way to heal the victim’s pain is forgiveness offered freely,” he said, noting that “this can never be forced on anyone; but certainly neither can the spirit of revenge be forced”.

New priests at their ordination. While they will always be priests, if they are laicised or subject to other sanction by the Church, they will cease to be members of the clergy and lose the rights and obligations that are exclusive to the clergy—but they would still be considered priests.

What a life of prayer and penance actually means The sentence of a life of prayer and penance is fairly common, among elderly priests in particular.

While it can seem like the priest is getting off easy despite committing heinous crimes, Fr Astigueta said, on a practical level, “the person is isolated...possibly without having direct access to the telephone or the TV, and must dedicate himself to reading, praying and walking around inside the house”.

At times the person might even be barred from leaving the house without permission, under pain of incurring further punishments.

Fr Astigueta pointed to the recent case of Luis Fernando Figari, a layman and founder of the South American Sodalitium Christianae Vitae movement, who was found guilty of an extreme, authoritarian style of leadership as well as several accounts of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse.

As a punishment, the Vatican did not expel Figari from the community, but ordered that he live alone, and barred him from any contact with the community’s members and from receiving people.

If a priest who receives this sentence doesn’t want to follow the rules, the Church in this case “can impose the full dismissal” from the clerical status, Fr Astigueta said, noting that many priests who choose this life “want to be helped and recognise that this penalty is a table of salvation for them”.

In general it is elderly priests who end up in this situation, whereas younger ones with some sort of major mental health disorder are typically sent to therapeutic communities.

The role of the bishop in cases of abuse When it comes to the responsibility of bishops in abuse cases, Fr

Astigueta said that expectations might have been murky in the past, but they are clear now, and require the bishop to act immediately.

“When the bishop is informed, when he receives the news that an abuse has been committed, he has the obligation, a serious obligation, to intervene.”

A bishop must first intervene on a judicial level, alerting civil authorities, but also on the pastoral level, he said, noting that the process looks different for every nation.

On a pastoral level, bishops must from the start turn their immediate attention to the victims “in order to welcome them and to help them understand that we are not against them and we are looking for the truth”, he said.

After the initial investigation has begun, the bishop may, but is not obliged to, apply a “precautionary measure”, which is a type of disciplinary measure enforced in order to avoid “the process from being polluted”.

Giving a theoretical example, Fr Astigueta said a priest might try to pressure a victim into retracting their statement, so the bishop could decide to “distance” the priest from the process. This choice might also be made in situations where there is risk of a serious scandal, he said.

Once a priest is found guilty, the bishop will have to carry out the sentence, and it may even be the bishop himself to enforce the decree of dismissal from the clerical state with the authority of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Fr Astigueta explained.

Victims must be helped to live a “process of reconciliation, of accompaniment” and one in which they are made to feel that “they are part of the Church,” he said, but stressed that this is at a pastoral level, which must always remain separate from the judicial level.

Fr. Astigueta also spoke on cases

of negligence on the part of a bishop, which Pope Francis in his 2016 motu proprio Come una madre amorevole established as grounds for removal from office.

Removal in this sense can either be for disciplinary or penal reasons, Fr Astigueta said, explaining that in the case of penal removal for negligence, the bishop is dismissed because “he didn’t act as he should have”.

While in the past bishops moved abusive priests around in part because they didn’t understand the severity of the problem, “today no one can say that they don’t know what abuse is and the magnitude of the problem”.

In cases of abuse, then, “it’s already so severe that there is no need for another cause, negligence is enough”. Part of this negligence, Fr Astigueta explained, could be moving priests, not acting immediately, or letting time pass until more accusations arise: “Here we would have a case of negligence.”

Another instance, he said, would be failing to take precautionary measures against a priest accused of abuse, and it is later discovered that the priest had committed other abuses during that time. Other reasons for removal of office due to negligence could be that the bishop didn’t follow the protocol requested by the state.

He noted that there are a variety of situations, but “the pope wanted to say that this negligence in itself is so important because the damage to the other produced due to negligence, which is almost—even if it can’t be said in a clear way—an act of complicity due to negligence”.

Stronger punishment isn’t always the best way to prevent abuse No matter the situation of the priest or the bishop, Fr Astigueta stressed the importance of pursuing the just punishment given the particular situation, and warned against the temptation to immediately impose the maximum punishment— dismissal from the clerical state—in all cases.

To do so “would be an injustice, it would be a type of witch hunt, and this produces fugitives. If everyone is punished with the maximum, with this you resolve nothing.”

It’s a fact, he said, that all states which have attempted to toughen the penalties in order to prevent further crimes “have failed to do so”.

The only thing that actually makes the crimes diminish, he said, is preventative measures and “the consciousness of the people, the intervention of the people”, specifically through education.

“If the people within the Church were all to work so that there were a healthy environment, not one of suspicion, but healthy and prudent”, then these delinquent act would diminish, Fr Astigueta said , adding: “Not because the maximum penalty is applied.”—CNA

Mater Domini Launches the Circle of Friends “100 Club” Planned Giving initiative.

Mater Domini is well known for its good work across the Cape Peninsula, providing vital services to Women in Crisis Pregnancy.

Join the ‘The Mater Domini Circle of Friends 100 Club’. – donate at least R100 per month Please join hands with us and help us to make a strong start to this initiative!

For more details on how you can be a part of The Circle of Friends “100 Club” visit our website: www.materdomini.net and fill in the form under the 100 Club tab in the menu.

Or contact us at: E-mail: communications@materdomini.net Tel: 021 6716008 - Cell: 079 8916749

10

The Southern Cross, July 26 to August 1, 2017

CHURCH

Holy tattoo! An ancient Christian tradition thrives in Jerusalem There has been an old practice for pilgrims to the Holy Land to get a tattoo in Jerusalem to let their pilgrimage leave a permanent mark. ADELAIDE MENA spoke to the tattoo artist who is continuing his family’s 500-year-old tradition.

I

N the Old City of Jerusalem it’s hard to escape the ancient history that’s still alive within its walls.

A simple smartphone search can send you on a walk to a centuriesold shop, bring you to the steps of a millennium-old church or two, or lead you past the 3 000 year-old Temple Mount—all bursting with people and energy.

But it’s only within the stone walls of Razzouk Ink that modern pilgrims can have that history etched onto their bodies for the rest of their lives.

And Christian pilgrims have come to the tattoo artists of the Razzouk family since the Crusades to receive ancient signs of Christian identity and pilgrimage.

Even today, as the family uses up-to-date procedures and incorporates contemporary trends into some of their artwork, the Razzouks still draw upon the history and skills passed down through the generations for nearly three-quarters of a millennium.

They also incorporate instruments and designs dating back several hundred years, carrying on one of the world’s oldest tattoo traditions.

Family legacy written in ink Wassim Razzouk, 43, is a tattoo artist descending from a centurieslong line in the trade: 700 years to be exact.

“We are Copts, we come from Egypt, and in Egypt there is a tradition of tattooing Christians—and my great, great ancestors were some of those tattooing the Christian Copts,” he explained.

The first evidence of a Christian tattoo tradition traces back to the Holy Land and Egypt as early as the 6-7th century. From there, the tradition spread throughout Eastern Christian communities such as the Ethiopian, Armenian, Syriac and Maronite Churches.

To this day, many Coptic churches require a tattoo of a cross or other proof of Christian faith to

enter a church.

Tattoo traditions among groups such as Celtic and Croatian Catholics emerged separately and at a later date.

With the advent of the Crusades beginning in 1095, the existing practice of tattooing pilgrims to the Holy Land expanded to pilgrims coming from the west. Numerous accounts dating back to the 1600s describe Christian pilgrims taking part in already long-existing customs of receiving a tattoo upon completing a visit to the Holy City—a custom that survives to this day.

While in the tattoo parlour, I witnessed the Razzouk family help a Roman Catholic bishop from Europe plan a tattoo he hopes to receive once he completes a personal pilgrimage later this year.

Only weeks before that, Theophilos, the Coptic bishop of the Red Sea, came to the Razzouk family to receive a pilgrimage tattoo. Other patrons of the Razzouks have included Christian leaders of Ethiopia, persecuted Christians, and Christian pilgrims of all denominations from around the globe.

In Jerusalem since 1750 The Razzouk family themselves placed their roots in Jerusalem as pilgrims. After many pilgrimages and several generations of tattooing pilgrims and Christians of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, the Razzouk family relocated permanently to the Holy City around 1750.

“A lot of them decided to come to the Holy Land as pilgrims themselves and decided to stay,” Wassim said. “For the past 500 years, we’ve been tattooing pilgrims in the Holy Land, and it’s been passed down from father to son.”

The walls of the shop bear witness to this family legacy. Alongside framed newspaper clippings highlighting the work of Wassim and his father, Anton, are shadow boxes with pictures of the Razzouk tattoo artists that preceded them: Wassim’s grandfather Yacoub, and great-grandfather Jirius. And artifacts like an early tattoo machine and a traditional hand tool for manually applying tattoo ink are preserved behind glass.

Historically, Christian tattoo artists created their own inks and used stamps to apply images to the skin, before tracing over them with the tattoo implements. While Wassim does not use the old family ink recipe of soot and wine—he uses instead sterile inks produced specif-

A tattoo of the Jerusalem cross and the phrase “Coram Deo”, which means “In the presence of God”, at Razzouk Tattoo parlour in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Razzouk family has been tattooing pilgrims with Christian designs for 500 years, and in Jerusalem since 1750. (Photo: Razzouk Tattoos) ically for tattoo application—many of the family’s 168 historic wooden stamps are still in use today.

In ages past, the tattooist would use the carved wooden stamp directly upon the pilgrim’s skin, and then use it as a guide for the traditional tattoo instruments. Today, Wassim stamps the design onto transfer paper, which is then applied to the skin for tracing—similar to the process for more contemporary design transfers.

Over the course of my interview with Wassim, nearly every customer used one of these ancient artifacts as part of their tattoo design.

Two women from western Armenia—a region now controlled by Turkey—came in and explained that they had just completed their pilgrimage to the Holy Land and wanted to get a traditional pilgrim’s tattoo, with no alterations.

They both picked a stamp of the traditional Armenian Cross, a small crucifix that incorporates delicate floral design elements. Razzouk’s work was finished by adding the year “2017” underneath the image of the cross to commemorate the year of their pilgrimage.

If they ever return, Wassim explained, the year of each additional pilgrimage can be added underneath.

After the women left, I was shown a drawer filled with dozens of the carved wooden stamps, each holding a unique design.

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Several stamps were based upon the Jerusalem cross: a cross with arms of equal lengths, with smaller crosses in each of its quarters. Others offered representations of the Virgin Mary, St Michael the Archangel, the Resurrection, lambs, roses, or the star of Bethlehem.

Each of them holds deep Christian symbolism and a story behind its meaning.

Most of these wooden blocks, carved from olive and cedar wood, are believed to date back to the 17th century, before the Razzouk family relocated permanently to Jerusalem.

However, since only two of the stamps have confirmed dates of carving; one from 1749 and the other from 1912—it’s difficult to say for sure.

Saving an ancient tradition Despite the deep roots of this ancient art form and rite of passage for Christians coming to the Holy Land, traditions of Christian tattooing in Jerusalem have come close to extinction on several occasions.

In the 1947 war for Israeli statehood, many of the Palestinians who practised tattooing fled from Jerusalem for their safety, including the Razzouk family.

After the war, the Razzouk family returned, but they were nearly alone in doing so: few other Christian tattoo artists decided to return, leaving Razzouk Ink as the last ancient Christian tattoo parlour.

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The Razzouk family tradition came under threat again a little more than ten years ago, when Wassim and his siblings decided to pursue other professions.

“I didn’t really want to do this,” Wassim said. “I wasn’t into tattooing, and since this was sort of a responsibility, I didn’t want to do it.”

Instead, Wassim studied hospitality and pursued other interests.

“One day I was reading something online an old article where my father was being interviewed,” Wassim recalled.

“He was saying he was really sad: he thought this tradition and this heritage of our family was going to end because I didn’t want to do it.”

Until a decade ago, Wassim’s father, Anton, was the primary tattooist of the Razzouk family, but none of his children had followed him into the ancient profession.

The article and the realisation of what it would mean to lose his family’s heritage weighed heavy on Wassim.

“I didn’t want to be that guy whose name was written somewhere in history as the guy who discontinued this—the guy who killed it.”

Wassim began to apprentice under his father as well as contemporary tattoo artists, and made some changes to the business. He modernised its health, safety and sterility procedures as well as the business model.

He also moved the shop from its location deep in the alleys of the city’s Christian Quarter to its current place in Greek Patriarchate Street, near the busy Jaffa gate.

Today, Wassim and his wife Gabrielle work together at the parlour and have begun to train their children in the craft—though they are careful not to place too much pressure on them to take over the family business.

Visitors to the shop are happy that the Razzouk family legacy has endured.

“I don’t think there’s any way that you could better commemorate a pilgrimage than at this shop,” Matt Gates, a pilgrim from Alabama, said after he received a tattoo of a Jerusalem Cross.

After a spiritually engaging experience in the Holy Land, Mr Gates said that his new tattoo will hold a particularly special meaning.

“That’s just such a cool heritage to come into for me, getting tattooed with a 500-year-old stencil,” he said. “I’ve got a ton of tattoos, but this one will mean so much more.”—CNA

The Southern Cross, July 26 to August 1, 2017

CLASSIFIEDS

Let our elders inspire us T

HIS year’s centenary of the Dominican Order’s presence in South Africa challenges young friars to forge ahead the Gospel of liberation.

We applaud and thank God for the strength and determination of our senior Dominican brothers, such as: l Fr Joe Falkiner, who contributed to the establishment of liberation movements such as the Young Christian Workers (YCW) on the East Rand and KwaThema. l The late Fr Peter Hortop, another YCW leader, who suffered in solitary confinement for three of the eight months he was held in detention without trial, until Bishop Reginald Orsmond of Johannesburg met directly with law and order minister Adriaan Vlok to secure his release. l Fr Albert Nolan and his non-stop fight for social justice through his public lectures and publications. l Fr Mike Deeb, then a young aspirant to the Dominican Order, who promoted the outstanding Kairos Document in Cape Town, and also spent time in detention in harsh conditions. l Fr Martin Badenhorst who, dressed in the Dominican habit,

Ernest Mwabe OP

Point of Reflection

marched with seminarians in the 1986 State of Emergency protests to demand the release from detention of two of St Joseph’s Scholasticate lecturers, Fr Larry Kaufmann CSsR and Professor Theo Kneifel—and being himself detained for 14 days as a result.

As young friars we honour and admire our senior friars—those mentioned above and many others—for walking the path of integrity during the apartheid era.

Their commitment on issues of social and economic justice compels us as young Dominicans to do more personal and collective discernment of what is required of us to make our preaching, study, prayer and community life a living testimony for the rest of humanity.

Following in the footsteps of St Paul (2 Timothy 4:6-8) and St Dominic, we are convinced that our senior friars have run their race to the finish. They have kept their faith in God, inspired courage in us, and perseverance

Liturgical Calendar Year A – Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday July 30, 17th Sunday of the Year 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12, Psalms 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127130, Romans 8:28-30, Matthew 13:44-52 Monday July 31, St Ignatius Loyola Exodus 32:15-24, 3034, Psalms 106:19-23, Matthew 13:31-35 Tuesday August 1, St Alphonsus Liguori Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5-9, 28, Psalms 103:6-13, Matthew 13:36-43 Wednesday August 2, St Ignatius Loyola St Eusebius of Vercelli, St Peter Julian Eymard Exodus 34:29-35, Psalms 99:5-7, 9, Matthew 13:44-46 Thursday August 3 Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38, Psalms 84:3-6, 8, 11, Matthew 13:47-53 Friday August 4, St John Vianney Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37, St John Vianney Psalms 81:3-6, 10-11, Matthew 13:54-58 Saturday August 5, Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major Leviticus 25:1, 8-17, Psalms 67:2-3, 5, 7-8, Matthew 14:1-12 Sunday August 6, Transfiguration of the Lord Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, Psalms 97:1-2, 5-6, 9, Matthew 17:1-9

Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome

to rekindle the Dominican charism.

Their challenges may not be similar to ours, but as we engage, for instance, with the Association of Catholic Students (ACTS) of the University of Kwa Zulu-Natal and Durban University of Technolgy Indumiso Campus, we are discerning in the light of the Gospel the social and cultural dynamics that challenge our Christian faith.

Endless digital friendships streaming from social networks have driven some young people into loneliness and sadness. But in sharing our personal challenges, our spiritual tool is God’s word, a sword that cuts through emotional passivity and the lack of self-esteem that cripples the young generation.

Working together, we find each other to maintain a confident and self-giving community. In this way, we look forward to a generation of young people utilising social networks as the basis for facilitating dialogue in the quest for discerning the mission of God for each one of us.

Our prayer is that our personal, community, intellectual and spiritual energy will make us useful to bringing souls to the Kingdom of God.

ClASSIFIeDS

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

eVeNtS

tHe St BONIFACe COMMUNItY is presenting its annual church bazaar on Sunday, August 27. Starting with an open-air Mass at 9.00 at the St Boniface Community Centre, cnr Puttick Avenue and Kowie Road, Sundowner Ext 8, Randburg. Telephone 011 795 3651.

PeRSONAl

ABORtION WARNING: The truth will convict a silent Church. See www.valuelife abortionisevil.co.za ABORtION ON DeMAND: This is legalised daily murder in our nation. Our silence on this issue is the reason why it continues.

Avoid pro-abortion politicians.

JOHANNeSBURG: Public talk: “Finding the Physical Jesus in the Holy Land”, by Günther Simmermacher. July 28 at 18:30. Emmaus Hall, Bryanston parish (cnr William Nicol & Sloane St). Entrance free.

St Anthony’s church in Coronationville is calling for donations of tinned fish, peanut butter, jam, butter and juice for their soup kitchen. Contact Faried and Nadine Benn on 073 906 6037 or 083 658 2573.

CAPe tOWN: Retreat day/quiet prayer last Saturday of each month except December, at Springfield Convent in Wynberg, Cape Town. Hosted

by CLC, 10.00-15.30. Contact Jill on 083 282 6763 or Jane on 082 783 0331.

Perpetual

Reg. number 012-905 NPO

Adoration

Chapel at Good Shepherd parish, 1 Goede Hoop St, Bothasig, welcomes all visitors. Open 24 hours a day.

Phone 021 558 1412.

Helpers of God’s Precious Infants. Mass on last Saturday of every month at 9:30 at Sacred Heart church in Somerset Road, Cape Town. Followed by vigil at abortion clinic. Contact Colette Thomas on 083 412 4836 or 021 593 9875 or Br Daniel SCP on 078 739 2988.

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.

SCReeN PRINtING

Commemorate your special occasion, PRINt your logo and event on t-SHIRtS! Contact Alledene Cupido for a quotation at PRISON CARe AND SUPPORt NetWORK Monday to Friday between 09:00-13:00.

021 697-4174 (Tel/Fax) or 086 628 4499 e-mail: prisoncare@mweb.co.za We OFFeR ReASONABle RAteS!

Catherine, brother Monty, sisters Martha and Claire, brother-in-law Devan, sisterin-law Phyllis, and nieces and nephew.

DICKeSON—John. Jan 29, 1934-Jul 30, 2010. Gone but not forgotten by your wife Maureen, Patricia, Deirdre, Camilla, Ciara and Mickayla.

DICKeSON—Ciaran. Apr 12, 1965-Aug 1, 1992. 25 years still missed. Mom, Patricia, Deirdre, Camilla, Ciara and Mickayla.

CINAPeN—Mark. In loving memory of the late Mark Cinapen. April 28, 1968-July 29, 2014. John 11:23-26. 1 Corinthians 15:22-“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Your memory will always be in our hearts. Sadly missed by his daughters Aneesa and Nazeera, mum

eight years ago on July 19, 2009, aged 96. Will always be remembered by his family Helen, Stephen, Matthew, Thérèse and Kieran, Janet, Dean, Michael and Kyle, Anne, Basil, Sarah, Warren and Jessica and Joan Swanson.

May his soul rest in peace.

O’DONOGHUe—Brendan.

Passed away July 30, 2013.

Forever in our thoughts and prayers. MHDSRIP. Norma, children, grandchildren and family.

WIllIAMS—Owen. In loving memory of our former colleague of The Southern Cross, who died July 20, 2007.

HOlIDAY ACCOMMODAtION

IN MeMORIAM

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)

11

GOUVeIA—Edwardo Homem (above).

30.07.2010. In loving memory of our dearest love, Dad and Pa. In God's care you rest, in our hearts you will always remain. We so miss you and wish to have you back again. May Our Lord and Mother Mary hold you always close. Forever loved

by Maria, Joanne, Angelo and Eddie, your grandsons Jordan, Sheldon, Joshua and Jethro, your daughtersin-laws Justene and Emily, and all the family. letORD—In loving memory of Deacon Roger of Durbanville, who passed away

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 769. ACROSS: 2 Tall mitres, 8 Pillar of salt, 10 Child, 11 Everest, 12 Latent, 13 Solemn, 16 Treason, 18 Depth, 19 Fatima vision, 20 Break a rule. DOWN: 1 Topicality, 3 Abaddon, 4 Looted, 5 Issue, 6 Relieves pain, 7 Fly in the face, 9 Stonehenge, 14 Old girl, 15 Unfair, 17 Stick.

CAPe tOWN—Looking for reasonable priced accommodation over the December/January holiday period?

Come to Kolbe House, set in beautiful, spacious gardens in Rondebosch, nestled just under Devil’s Peak.

Self-catering, clean and peaceful. Safe parking.

Close to all shops and public transport. Contact Pat on 021 685 7370 or 073 263 2105 or e-mail kolbe.house @telkomsa.net MARIANellA Guest House, Simon’s Town: “Come experience the peace and beauty of God with us.” Fully equipped with amazing sea views. Secure parking, ideal for rest and relaxation. Special rates for pensioners and clergy. Malcolm Salida 082 784 5675 or mjsalida@gmail.com

Traditional Latin Mass

Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel 36 Central Avenue, Pinelands, Cape Town Call 071 291 4501 for details.

Email: sspx.capetown@gmail.com The

Southern Cross

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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

NeW FOR 2018 29 MAY TO 10 JUNE

PIlGRIMAGe OF GRACe

Visiting Old Constantinople, Dubrovnik and Medugorje.

Organised by Mrs Annie Dierx Cost from R16875

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

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the

Feast of the Transfiguration: August 6 Readings: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, Psalm 97:12, 5-6, 9, 2 Peter 1:16-19, Matthew 17:1-9

N

S outher n C ross

EXT Sunday, we celebrate the great feast of the Transfiguration, which every year brings with it the immense sadness that the day is also the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.

That, however, is a reminder that God’s light shines out in our darkened world, and is never eclipsed by it; so we can be sure that the darkness will never win, no matter how dark your own life may seem, just at present.

The first reading is set against the background of the attempt by Antiochus Epiphanes to destroy the worship of the Jewish God; it was an immensely dark moment in Israel’s history, and there seemed to be every reason why it might succeed.

Into that darkness, the visionary offers a very bright light, and we watch with him as he contemplates the coming of the “Ancient of Days: he sat down and his clothing was white as snow, the hair of his head white as wool”.

We are meant to be encouraged by this, and by the vision of “God’s throne—flames of fire”.

But there is more, for there comes “with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man”, who “approached the Ancient of Days”.

Now remember that we are supposed to be cheered by this; it is thought to represent Israel, plunged in the darkness of those who seek to destroy its faith, although Christian readers cannot help but think of Jesus, who often called himself “Son of Man”.

And this “Son of Man” receives “dominion and glory and rule and all the peoples of every race and language serve him…his dominion is an everlasting dominion; his kingdom shall not be destroyed”. So although we are clear about the darkness that oppresses us, we are to recognise that it does not have the final word.

The psalm sings, cheerfully, of God’s rule: “The Lord is king—let the earth rejoice… cloud and darkness surround him; justice and right are the foundations of his throne.”

There is no doubt at all of the victory of God, no matter how bad things may be: “The mountains melt like wax in the presence of the Lord, in the presence of the Lord of all the earth.” Nothing and no one can obstruct God’s purpose: “For you Lord, are Most High above all the earth, you are exalted above all

gods.” We hardly understand the picture; but the message is clear, and that is that the darkness will not win.

That is what the author of our second reading knows full well, when he reminds his readers of how he “made known to them the power and presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ”, and reminisces: “We were eyewitnesses of his Majesty; he received honour and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory: ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased’.”

Quite clearly we are meant to understand this as a reference to the story of the Transfiguration which we celebrate today: “We heard this voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.”

But also it speaks today, in a lovely poetic touch which evokes the interplay of light and darkness: “The prophetic message to which you do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the Day dawns, and the Morning Star rises in your hearts.”

We are waiting for the light, whatever our own particular “dark place”.

Jesus: Enjoy your lives J

on his feet, and then dries them with her hair. All that lavishness, extravagance, intimation of sexuality, and raw human affection is understandably unsettling for almost everyone in the room, except for Jesus.

He’s drinking it in, unapologetically, without dis-ease, without any guilt or neurosis: Leave her alone, he says, she has just anointed me for my impending death.

In essence, Jesus is saying: When I come to die, I will be more ready because tonight, in receiving this lavish affection, I’m truly alive and hence more ready to die.

This is the lesson for us: Don’t feel guilty about enjoying life’s pleasures. The best way to thank a gift-giver is to thoroughly enjoy the gift.

W

e are not put on this earth primarily as a test, to renounce the good things of creation so as to win joy in the life hereafter.

Like any loving parent, God wants his children to flourish in their lives, to make the sacrifices necessary to be responsible and altruistic, but not to see those sacrifices themselves as the real reason for being given life.

Jesus highlights this further when he is asked why his disciples don’t fast, whereas the disciples of John the Baptist do fast. His answer: “Why should they fast? The bridegroom is still with them. Someday the bridegroom will be taken away and they will have lots of time to fast.”

His counsel here speaks in a double way:

Conrad

OY is an infallible indication of God’s presence, just as the cross is an infallible indication of Christian discipleship.

What a paradox! And Jesus is to blame.

When we look at the gospels we see that Jesus shocked his contemporaries in seemingly opposite ways.

On the one hand, they saw in him a capacity to renounce the things of this world and give up his life in love and self-sacrifice in a way that seemed to them almost inhuman and not something that a normal, full-blooded person should be expected to do.

Moreover, he challenged them to do the same: “Take up your cross daily! If you seek your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life, you will find it.”

On the other hand—perhaps more surprisingly since we tend to identify serious religion with self-sacrifice—Jesus challenged his contemporaries to more fully enjoy their lives, their health, their youth, their relationships, their meals, their winedrinking, and all the ordinary and deep pleasures of life.

In fact he scandalised them with his own capacity to enjoy pleasure.

We see, for example, a famous incident in the Gospels of a woman anointing Jesus’ feet at a banquet.

All four Gospel accounts of this emphasise a certain raw character to the event that disturbs any easy religious propriety.

The woman breaks an expensive jar of very costly perfume on his feet, lets the aroma permeate the whole room, lets her tears fall

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God’s light shines out

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

Sunday Reflections

The Gospel this year is of course Matthew’s account of the same episode. It comes six days after the events at Caesarea Philippi (“You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God”), and takes place on a “high mountain”, which is always significant in Matthew’s gospel.

We are dazzled by the brightness that emanates from Jesus (“his face shone like the sun, and his garments white as light”). Then comes the paradox of a “radiant cloud”, which is where God speaks: “This is my Son, the Beloved. Pay attention to him.”

So the darkness is fleeing from the light.

And the disciples, like us, have to be “touched” and told: “Up you get—and don’t be afraid.” At which point the light has gone, and they go down the mountain, with instructions that they are to “say nothing of the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead”.

That of course, will be the moment when the light finally overcomes the darkness.

Southern Crossword #769

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

More obviously, the bridegroom refers to his own physical presence here on earth which, at a point, will end.

But this also has a second meaning: The bridegroom refers to the season of health, youth, joy, friendship and love in our lives.

We need to enjoy those things because, all too soon, accidents, ill health, cold lonely seasons and death will deprive us of them. We may not let the inevitable prospect of diminishment deprive us of fully enjoying the legitimate joys that life offers.

This challenge, I believe, has not been sufficiently preached from our pulpits, taught in our churches, or had a proper place in our spirituality.

When have you last heard a homily or sermon challenging you, on the basis of the Gospels, to enjoy your life more?

When have you last heard a preacher asking, in Jesus’ name: “Are you enjoying your health, your youth, your life, your meals, your wine drinking, sufficiently?”

Granted that this challenge—which seems to go against the conventional spiritual grain—can sound like an invitation to hedonism, mindless pleasure, excessive personal comfort, and a spiritual flabbiness that can be the antithesis of the Christian message at whose centre lies the cross and self-renunciation.

Admittedly there’s that risk, but the opposite danger also looms: a bitter, unhealthily stoic life. If the challenge to enjoy life is done wrongly, without the necessary accompanying asceticism and self-renunciation, it carries those dangers.

But, as we see from the life of Jesus, selfrenunciation and the capacity to thoroughly enjoy the gift of life, love, and creation are integrally connected. They depend on each other.

Excess and hedonism are, in the end, a bad functional substitute for genuine enjoyment. Genuine enjoyment, as Jesus taught and embodied, is integrally tied to renunciation and self-sacrifice.

And so, it’s only when we can give our lives away in self-renunciation that we can thoroughly enjoy the pleasures of this life, just as it is only when we can genuinely enjoy the legitimate pleasures of this life that we can give our lives away in self-sacrifice.

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ACROSS

2. Headgear for short bishops (4,6) 8. Lot’s wife turned into it (6,2,4) 10. Whoever receives this one receives Jesus (Lk 9) (5) 11. Mountain where the first woman can take it easy? (7) 12. Not manifest at Lent (6) 13. Formal kind of liturgy (6) 16. Is it at the top of the high crime rate? (7) 18. Kind of charge for underwater battle (5) 19. Vitamin Sofia took incorrectly at Marian apparition (6,6) 20. Transgress the monks regular order (5,1,4)

DOWN

1. A city pilot referring to current affairs (10) 3. His name in Greek is Apollyon (Rev 9) (7) 4. Dole to explain how goods were stolen (6) 5. A regular publication for children? (5) 6. A peer lives in and eases your discomfort (8,4) 7. Insult with an insect in your eye (3,2,3,4) 9. Prehistoric monument of the Druids (10) 14. She used to go to a good school (3,4) 15. Not just dark (6) 17. Old fogy in the mud (5)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

A

BISHOP, a priest and Van der Merwe were lined up and about to be executed for preaching the Gospel in a foreign country.

The executioners brought the bishop out first, and when the guard shouted: “Ready … aim …” the bishop suddenly yelled: “Earthquake!”, and when everyone looked around, he made a run for it.

They brought the priest out next. The guard shouted: “Ready … aim …” and suddenly the priest yelled: “Tornado!” and when everyone ducked, he too ran off.

Van der Merwe, of course, had it all figured out by then. When they brought him out and the guard shouted: “Ready … aim …” Van suddenly yelled: “Fire!”

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