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Bishop hails tavern owners’ anti-rape action

BY ERIN CARELSE Justin Nanak and Thandeka Dube-Ndhlovu, composers and lead singers of “The Mighty One”, the official theme for Mini-World Youth Day 2017 in Durban from December 6-10.

Theme song, video released for youth day in Durban STAFF REPORTER

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ARDINAL Wilfrid Napier of Durban is one of the stars of a video for the official Mini-World Youth Day (MWYD) theme song.

The MWYD will be held in Durban from December 6-10 for youth from the Southern African pastoral region and Lesotho.

Titled “The Mighty One”, the theme song was written by Justin Nanak and Thandeka Dube-Ndhlovu, who are also the lead singers, backed by the Durban Gospel Choir.

The recording was produced by Karen Van Pletsen at Sonic Studios Durban, and is published by Raise Your Voice and Sheer Records.

Justin Nanak is a full-time youth and music minister at Blessed Sacrament and Star of the Sea parishes in the Umhlanga area. He released his debut album, Your Will Be Done, in 2016. It is available on all online stores.

A graduate in analytical chemistry, he followed God’s call to work in the youth and music ministry after attending a Life Teen conference.

“My prayer is that this song of praise will help our young people reach a higher level of

Special Pilgrimage to Portugal and Spain

worship as we unite and deepen our spiritual connection with the amazing God we serve,” he said.

Thandeka Duma-Ndhlovu, whose mother is a musician, says she loves to sing in her spare time, whether it’s in her local church choir, the St Anne’s Sodality Diocesan Choir or at other functions.

The video for “The Mighty One” features solo dancing by Andrea Govender and Katherine Anderson, backed by dancers from the parishes of St Joseph’s in Morningside and St Francis Xavier in Bluff, and hip hop dancers from Blessed Sacrament and Star of The Sea parishes in Umhlanga.

It also includes the Kwa Thintwa Signing Choir from the school for the deaf founded by the late Archbishop Denis Hurley.

The video was directed by Ms Van Pletsen.

The song title draws from the theme for the youth day: “The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his Name” (Lk 1:49).

See the video at http://bit.ly/2u1ferv and a MP3 of the song can be downloaded at www.miniworldyouthday.co.za/mwyd-themesong. n Booking for MWYD closes on August 31. Details can be found at www.miniworldyouth day.co.za.

The

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BISHOP met with tavern owners who committed themselves to the fight against a culture of rape and femicide.

Bishop Victor Phalana of Klerksdorp described the encounter as “humbling”.

Some 45 tavern owners from four communities in Klerksdorp diocese gathered for a three-day training workshop to gain skills and explore responses to gender-based violence. They met as part of the HeForShe campaign, a global initiative run by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women—often called simply UN Women.

“I was humbled to see tavern owners, who are normally marginalised and stigmatised, responding to an invitation by a Church body, knowing that they would be challenged and empowered—but not condemned,” Bishop Phalana said.

“Initially there was a little apprehension, but once they realised that we were there to invite solutions, they relaxed—and that made me very happy, as I could see the positive change in attitude,” the bishop said.

“It was a joy visiting them and reaching out to see how we can empower them to become changemakers and peacemakers.”

A total of 68 taverns across the diocese are now involved in this project.

The workshop, which was facilitated by the Justice & Peace Commission of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the local J&P, helped participants see the beliefs and attitudes that lead to violence against women and children.

The tavern owners, who admitted to being complicit in things that were happening in their taverns, realised that they have to take a firm stand. They pledged their support to fight alcohol-related violence in their taverns and communities and to lead from the front to fight any form of women harassment in their vicinity and community.

They agreed to not sell alcohol to minors

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Bishop Victor Phalana of Klerksdorp (second from left) with tavern owners at a three-day workshop designed to give them the skills to implement measures to fight against genderbased violence in their communities. A total of 68 taverns in Klerksdorp diocese are now involved in the project which is spearheaded

by Justice & Peace. and pregnant women, and will organise and encourage their clients to attend weekly dialogues focusing on issues around rape culture and femicide.

The tavern owners also pledged to organise community protests whenever there is a rape or femicide incident.

Together they will work with their Community Policing Forums and police to promote law and order in the communities as well as promote and organise health-testing for their clients in partnership with their local clinics.

“We need them to create safe places for everyone, and make sure that they work for peace, good conduct, harmony, mutual respect and responsible drinking as well as be aware of the community’s fight against drug trafficking and human trafficking,” Bishop Phalana said.

“We asked them to ensure that they discourage domestic abuse, violence, and harassment of women in their premises,” he added.

Radio Veritas

100 YEARS FATIMA Led by Fr Brian Mhlanga OP 1 - 10 Oct. 2017 Fatima • Lisbon • Coimbra • Avila • Madrid and more Contact Gail at info@fowlertours.co.za or 076 352-3809 or 021 551-3923

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2

The Southern Cross, August 2 to August 8, 2017

NEWS FEATURE

Dominican men mark 100 years in SA

This year marks the centenary of the Dominican friars first coming to South Africa.

FR EMIL BLASER OP looks at some of the contributions made by Dominicans in this region.

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AST year the Dominicans celebrated the 800th jubilee of their foundation; this year the male Dominicans are celebrating the centenary of their presence in South Africa.

To mark the 100 years, a gala celebration will take place in Springs, Gauteng, on August 5.

The Dominican life is based on four pillars: community life, study, contemplation and preaching. The latter activity gives the Dominicans their real name, the Order of Preachers, which is what the letters OP stand for behind our names.

But there is another thread woven into the Dominican DNA: to be pioneers, or, so to speak, “voortrekkers”. And this is evident in the many Dominicans over the last 100 years in South Africa. There are a good number of “firsts”.

The first bishop to reside in South Africa was a Dominican, Bishop Raymund Griffith, appointed vicarapostolic of the Cape of Good Hope in 1837, who worked as a bishop for 24 years, until he retired in 1861.

Over 100 years ago, Dominican sisters were invited to the country and have now blossomed into five congregations. The Dominican friars came out in 1917 to help in the formation of Dominican sisters.

Many priests today were formed on the theology of St Thomas Aquinas, another Dominican. But few realise that the English text of Aquinas’ famous Summa Theologiae was actually translated by Dominican Fr Lawrence Shapcote in the sacristy of Boksburg Catholic church.

The Dutch Dominicans were great pioneers.

The original Afrikaans apostolate was started in Stellenbosch before spreading to

other places. In the days when the Catholic Church was known as the “Roomse gevaar” (“Roman danger”), Dominicans in Stellenbosch were in dialogue with the university there and leading theologians of the Dutch Reformed Church.

The Afrikaans Catholic magazine Die Brug was an initiative of the Dutch Dominicans, as was The Open Door, a Catholic advice bureau in the city centre of Johannesburg.

The Dutch Dominican Fr Norbert Jansen worked with other Dominicans on a correspondence course in theology, known as TEE, Theological Education by Extension.

The first bishop of Kroonstad diocese in the Free State was a Dominican, Bishop Gerard van Velsen (previous to Kroonstad being a diocese, the vicar-general was a Spiritan, Bishop Leo Klerlein).

Bishop Van Velsen, who headed the diocese from 1951-75, was much ahead of his time and spearheaded the permanent diaconate after the Second Vatican Council.

He was also a great proponent for appointing viri probati (proven married men). The training of deacons is a ministry which continues today in Kroonstad diocese.

Bishop Van Velsen was succeeded by another Dutch Dominican, Bishop Johannes Brenninkmeijer, who led the diocese from 1977 till his death in 2003.

Training future priests Several well-known and muchloved Dominicans such as Fr Oswin Magrath and his brother Damian, and Fr Finbarr Synnott, were very much involved in the formation of diocesan priests at Pevensey in KwaZulu-Natal, and later at St Peter’s Seminary in Hammanskraal.

Many South African bishops were formed here and Fr Oswin took great pride in them. Later Fr Dominic Scholten succeeded Fr Oswin as rector. Practically the entire staff of St Peter’s was Dominican.

Fr Scholten also served the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference as secretary-general in the 1970s; later, in the ’90s, I had the

A new generation of Dominicans, seen here with novice master Fr Albert Nolan, in 2014. They will build on a history of Dominican friars who came before them over the past 100 years. The male Dominicans are celebrating their centenary of arriving in South Africa with a Mass in Springs, Gauteng, on August 5. privilege of serving the bishops’ conference as associate secretary-general.

One cannot underestimate the magnificent work done at the SACBC in the area of justice and peace by Fr Synnott, who spurned privilege and embraced a simple lifestyle in solidarity with the suffering masses. He too made a great impact teaching at the seminary.

Later he was succeeded by Dominican Fr Mike Deeb, who did magnificent work at the SACBC and was plucked from the country by the Dominican master-general to be the order’s permanent representative at the United Nations—another first from South Africa.

In addition to this onerous task, Fr Deeb was given that of being the international promoter of justice and peace for the Dominican Order.

The Dominicans have been pioneers in Catholic broadcasting in South Africa, and it is here where I

have played a part.

In 1985 I pioneered a weekly television programme and also provided the English commentary on TV for Pope John Paul II’s Mass at Gosforth Park, Johannesburg, in 1995.

In 1999, with Olinda Orlando, we spearheaded the birth of Radio Veritas as Veritas Productions.

Radio Veritas began broadcasting on medium wave (576 AM) in 2012 after years of struggling for a licence.

The radio station functions under the auspices of the Dominican Order and has now been joined by another Dominican, Fr Brian Mhlanga OP, as associate director.

Justice and peace work Dominicans have always been enmeshed in justice and peace, and have made significant strides. Think of the great work done by Fr Joseph Falkiner in Young Christian Workers.

Many of the young people formed

through him are now in leading positions in the trade unions.

And how could one forget the significant contribution made by Fr Albert Nolan? He pioneered the Young Christian Student movement, many of whose members have over the years been involved in leadership in politics and business.

As a world-renowned theologian and author, he promoted contextual theology and wrote much about it.

His interest in the historical Jesus gave rise to his bestseller, Jesus before Christianity, written in 1976 and translated into 15 languages. It has become a textbook in many seminaries worldwide. His other important book is Jesus Today.

There are many other “voortrekkers” among the Dominicans in South Africa, and brothers of the order played their part.

Br Dominic Chihota spearheaded a project for orphans on the East Rand which today provides for over 300 needy children. The project is government-aided but funds need to be raised continuously.

Br Philippe Denis has for years raised abandoned children who today are married. He has done much pioneering work in the area of the “memory box”, facilitating and recording the memories of those touched by HIV/Aids.

Br Denis is also a leading professor in Church history at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Another major apostolate, which needs funds too, is the deaf. Fr Mark James studied the deaf language, ministers to the deaf at university, and cares for them in South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.

The pioneering work continues.

Fr Chaka Motanyane saw the need for a chaplain in the SA Police Service. Today he has seven police stations under his care, and has become a professional counsellor.

Healing is another ministry in which two of our brothers, Frs Seboka Mokete and Sikhosiphi Mgoza, play a leading part.

Where there is a need Dominicans have always been ready to step in and become involved.

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The Southern Cross, August 2 to August 8, 2017

LOCAL

3

Bishops to meet with youth

BY ERIN CARELSE

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ISHOPS will meet youths and young adults gathered in KwaZulu-Natal this week.

The bishops will be assembled at the time in Mariannhill, near Durban, and will meet with the youth there on August 5. The meeting will conclude with a Mass at 16:00 at St Joseph’s cathedral.

Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha, first vice-president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, will preside at the Mass, and Bishop Victor Phalana of Klerksdorp will preach the homily.

The Mass is open to all.

A night vigil is planned for the youth on August 6, starting with a penitential service led by SACBC associate secretary-general Fr Patrick Rakeketsi CSS. Bishops and priests have been requested to avail themselves for confessions.

Presentations will be made in the evening. Among subjects will be the Church‘s response to abuse of minors, to be addressed by SACBC secretary-general Sr Hermenegild Makoro CPS. Updates on the Mini World

Youth Day in Durban in December will also be discussed, and the floor will be open for questions.

At midnight, the focus will be on spiritual nourishment for young people, with Mass at 4:30 celebrated by Bishop Stanley Dziuba of Umzimkulu, the SACBC liaison bishop for youth and young adults.

All young people are invited to attend this night of prayer, especially those from Mariannhill and Durban, said SACBC youth chaplain Fr Mthembeni Dlamini CMM.

The activities in Mariannhill form part of a youth conference which will start on August 2 at the Capuchin Convent retreat and conference centre in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal.

The Association of Catholic Tertiary Students’ national body will be a part of the conference, and each diocese in the SACBC region is expected to send two delegates. The eight chairs who form the SACBC Youth Ministry forum will run the conference with Fr Dlamini.

The conference will reflect on the needs of young people, Pope Francis’ document Evangelii Gaudium, plans for pilgrimages to World Youth Day in Panama in 2019, the SACBC youth policy, and other matters concerning young people.

Bishop Dziuba will join the conference on Friday to get updates.

“We will also discuss the Mini World Youth Day and try to find ways to promote it as we have only a few months left until this important pilgrimage of our conference,” said Fr Dlamini. n Information and registration details for Mini World Youth Day are at www.miniworldyouthday.co.za

Fr Chris Sharpe was ordained a Salesian by Bishop Vincent Mduduzi Zungu of Port Elizabeth (centre) at St Joseph the Worker parish in Chatty.

This parish has produced two Salesians so far; Br Clarence Watts and now Fr Sharpe. The new priest celebrated his first Mass at St Rita’s in Bethelsdorp where he was baptised many years ago.

The standing committee and presidents of the episcopal conferences of the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) met in Boksburg, Gauteng, to reflect on the identity of IMBISA and plan for the coming years.

Win two tickets for Fatima pilgrimage STAFF REPORTER

The basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima is among the churches the two winners of Radio Veritas’ competition will visit on a pilgrimage to Portugal and Spain this October. Only 2000 tickets will; be sold for the competition

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Christopher and Claudia Chetty received a papal blessing on the occasion of their golden wedding anniversary at St Anne’s church in Sydenham, Durban. They are seen with parish priest Fr Ndodana Tshuma OMI. Inset: Mr and Mrs Chetty on their wedding day on July 22, 1966.

Bible Society launches Sepedi literacy books

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HE Bible Society of South Africa (BSSA) has launched two literacy booklets in Sepedi in Mankweng, Polokwane. Sepedi is the sixth South African language in which this material has been published.

The launch was held at Mmaphotla Primary School, and 300 learners of local primary schools received a set of the Sepedi literacy booklets.

Thanks to the society’s donors, several thousand booklets are available free.

This basic literacy project comprises two booklets, My First Bible Do and Learn Book (Bibele ya ka ya Mošomo le go Ithutha Puku ya 1) and My 2nd Bible Do and Learn Book (Bibele ya ka ya go Dira le go Ithutha Puku ya 2), specifically aimed at preschool children and foundation phase learners.

“Many poor children have not attended Grade R [reception phase] and are often behind when they start Grade 1,” said the BSSA’s Mims Turley.

“When one compares these children to those from affluent homes, who are exposed to some 400 hours of literacy before they start school, it is evident that many poor children begin their schooling with a backlog that is difficult to overcome,” she said.

The BSSA’s Bible-based literacy material is based on the “Do and Learn Method”, developed by the late Dr Rose Botha. Teaching is through the use of colourful illustrations, icons, flashcards and activities such as reading, writing, numeracy, drawing and singing.

The material is available in English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa, Sesotho, isiZulu and now Sepedi. It will eventually be available in all 11 official languages.

“Any person who can read can, with the help of a manual and flashcards supplied with the booklet, teach others to master these basic skills,” Ms Turley said. n For more information contact the Bible Society at 021 910 8705 or biblia@biblesociety.co.za

ADIO Veritas has launched its annual pilgrimage competition—and tickets cost less now than before.

The prize is two seats on a pilgrimage to Portugal and Spain in October, which Radio Veritas is coheadlining with The Southern Cross.

Running from October 1-10, it will be led by Fr Brian Mhlanga OP, associate station director of Radio Veritas, and also a regular presenter.

The pilgrimage will mark the centenary of Our Lady’s apparitions in Fatima, and also includes visits to Lisbon, Santarém (site of a Eucharistic miracle) and Coimbra (where Fatima visionary Lucia lived as a Carmelite nun) in Portugal, and in Spain to Avila (place of St Teresa’s birth), Alba de Tormes (St Teresa’s tomb), and the capital Madrid.

This year the tickets cost R250 and the winning ticket will entitle

Pilgrimage to The Holy land

led by Fr. Bogdan wilkaniec Bethlehem, Cana, Nazareth, Tiberias, Jerusalem, Salem, Gethsemane, Qumran, Jericho 14 – 23 April 2018 R24 995.00 incl. Airport taxes

Pilgrimage to Europe led by Fr Henry gonsan

Lisbon, Fatima, Salamanca, Garabandal Burgos, Lourdes, Rome 10 – 22 June 2018 R36 995.00 incl. Airport taxes

Pilgrimage to Knock, ireland

Knock Shrine Museum, Knock Feast of Assumption, Masses, Confessions, Chapel of Reconciliation, Private devotion, Concelebrated Mass, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, Rosary Procession to the Shrine 13 – 23 August 2018 R 33 995.00 incl. Airport taxes Tel: 012 342 0179/Fax: 086 676 9715 info@micasatours.co.za

two people to travel free of charge on the pilgrimage. The value of the prize is approximately R60 000.

To enter, send an SMS to 41809 beginning with the word FATIMA followed by your name.

Your phone number will appear on Radio Veritas’ screen and a representative of Sodapop, who are handling entries, will contact you and obtain the necessary information.

Once your entry fee is received, you will receive an e-ticket.

The draw will take place live on

air on August 31 at 7:15.

One may buy any number of tickets, but no more than 2 000 will be sold, offering good odds of winning.

The prize includes all flights ex-Johannesburg (including airport taxes), accommodation in 4/5-star hotels (sharing) with breakfast and dinner, hotel taxes, transfers, travel insurance, travelling on air-conditioned luxury buses, English-speaking guides, entrance fees as per itinerary. n For the itinerary see www.fowler tours.co.za/fatima

SA’s National Catholic Weekly Newspaper

JOurNAliSM iNTErNSHiP The Southern Cross in association with Missio Germany are offering an

The internship position will suit a young journalism graduate with talent and strong writing skills in English who wishes to gather hands-on experience in journalism in The Southern Cross’ Cape Town newsroom.

The successful candidate will: • Have a degree or recognised diploma in journalism • Have excellent written and verbal communication skills in English • Display attention to detail and problem-solving skills • Be a self-starter who is keen to learn • Be able to work on print and digital platforms • Contribute to the implementation of our social media strategy • Proofread both hard and electronic files • Be able to source news for both print and digital • Ideally have knowledge of Wordpress

we offer: • Hands-on training in print and digital journalism with a great scope for development in a small, dedicated team • A monthly stipend of R3,500

This is a minimum six-months internship, which may be extended. While a Catholic background is not a requirement for the position, knowledge of the Church and affinity for its mission will be a distinct advantage.

e-mail applications with a motivating covering letter and CV to: editor@scross.co.za Deadline: 18 August 2017 The Southern Cross reserves the right not to fill this position.

4

The Southern Cross, August 2 to August 8, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

Christians ‘need trust’ before return to Mosul

BY DALE GAVLAK

A

S some Iraqi Christians make a slow return to the region around Mosul following the defeat of ISIS, many say it will take time to rebuild their lives and even longer to rebuild their trust of those who betrayed them.

“The war isn’t finished yet, and neither is ISIS. There is no stability and there is still fighting in Mosul,” said Patriarch Louis Sako, head of Iraq’s Chaldean Catholic Church, who visited Mosul, touring churches left badly damaged during the city’s three-year occupation by the extremists.

“How can Christians return when there are homes destroyed and there are no services? But most important is safety. The return of Christians needs time,” Patriarch Sako warned, in remarks carried by Radio Free Europe.

Although Iraqi forces declared victory over ISIS fighters in Mosul early in July, the patriarch said the region remains unstable, leaving

Christians uncertain about their future in their historic homeland.

“Trust must be rebuilt because the Christians of this region have endured such abuse and violence, leaving deep wounds,” Patriarch Sako said.

Fr Emanuel Youkhana, an Iraqi priest of the Assyrian Church of the East, also warned that although ISIS may be defeated militarily, “it doesn’t mean that its mentality, ideology or culture will be ended”.

Fr Youkhana runs the Christian Aid Programme Northern Iraq, a programme for displaced Iraqis around the city of Dahuk.

“The mentality of ISIS in terms of accepting or recognising others who are different is still there among people. Although we are happy for the liberation of Mosul, in reality, no Christian or Yezidi will go back to Mosul. I say this with pain,” he emphasised.

“Now is the time to think about alternative places to set up public services, health care, businesses

and economies in the region,” perhaps to establish these in “one of the Ninevah Plains towns, such as Telaskov, to serve Christians, Yezidis and Muslims,” he said.

Many see Telaskov as a prime location for the reconstruction and rebuilding of lives to start in earnest, because ISIS militants spent less than two weeks occupying it, so damage is minimal.

Telaskov translates as “Bishop’s Hill” and, before the ISIS takeover, was a thriving town of 11 000.

“Now, more than 600 families have returned to Telaskov; those formally from the town and nearby Batnaya because it is not possible to return to Batnaya due to huge damage,” Fr Youkhana said.

“Life is regained, markets are open, the church is functioning and hopefully the schools will be open there as well by the beginning of the school year,” he said.

“We fled in one night from ISIS; we may take one or two years to return home,” he added.—CNS

Bomb outside Mexican bishops’ offices

BY DAVID AGREN

A

N explosive device was detonated outside the offices of the Mexican bishops’ conference, directly across the street from the country’s most visited religious site, the basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

A statement by Armando Cavazos, bishops’ conference media director, said an explosion occurred outside the main entrance to its offices in northern Mexico City.

The type of device used remained unknown, and detectives were investigating the explosion, the statement said. Motives for the detonation were unclear, although bishops have said they don’t believe it was an attack on the Catholic Church.

“It appears this is not the first case that has occurred in this area of Mexico City,” the statement said.

The basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. A bomb exploded outside the offices of the Mexican bishops’ conference, opposite the basilica. (Photo: Sashenka Gutierrez, EPA/CNS) The bishops’ offices occupy a busy strip across the street from the sanctuary of the basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The area is swarmed by pilgrims and tourists during the daytime and is transited

by commuters in rush hour.

Bishop Ramon Castro Castro of Cuernavaca released the first images of the detonation via Twitter.

“I believe this reflects the situation in Mexico,” said Bishop Castro, who has spoken against violence affecting his diocese, just south of Mexico City.

Mexico recently suffered its most murderous month in 20 years with 2 234 homicides recorded in June.

Mexico City also has experienced an upswing in crime, according to federal statistics.

The violence engulfing Mexico has not left the Catholic Church untouched, even though census data shows 83% of the population professing the faith. At least 18 Mexican priests have been murdered over the past five years, according to the Centro Catolico Multimedial.—CNS

Franciscan Father Mario hadchity sits with Sara Wajne in the computer lab at the new youth centre in Jericho, West Bank. (Photo: Debbie hill/CNS)

Franciscan youth centre in Jericho a ‘point of peace’

BY JuDITh SuDILOVSKY

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NEW Franciscan youth centre in Jericho, West Bank, opened its doors in March to youth, 14-29, offering free courses such as English lessons, art, theatre and computers, as well as sports.

An outgrowth of the Good Shepherd Sports Club, the centre was built on Franciscan-owned property adjacent to the Terra Santa School.

While there are other options for summer classes in Jericho, centre manager Atallah Kassis and Franciscan Father Mario Hadchity, the local parish priest, are in the process of getting the courses at the youth centre recognised by the Palestinian Ministry of Education, which would allow participants to receive academic credit and certificates at the completion of each course.

Fr Hadchity said he envisions the centre as also being a place of social encounter and education towards peace by exposing the youth to different cultural and social ideas and norms.

“We are so pleased to be able to give the people here new opportu-

nities. We can give people the opportunity to discover new horizons,” he said. “They can also meet up together and join together.”

Some 500 Christians, both Catholic and Greek Orthodox, live in Jericho, which has a Muslimmajority population of about 53 000.

Most notably, the centre not only hopes to introduce the concept of new possibilities to the young people whose parents are largely merchants or farmers, but also hopes to provide them with an opportunity to socialise with different youths.

The more people are exposed to “the other”—whether it be people of the opposite sex, of different religions or nationalities—the more they are able to respect one another, and that sense of respect extends to other social or political situations, Fr Hadchity said.

“Because the Franciscans are a point of peace, it is our job here in Jericho to also educate people to be open-minded and accept others. They must love the other,” said Fr Hadchity.—CNS

Vatican fountains shut down as big drought hits Rome wiNT SPECiAEl!r

STD SING LE ALU-ZINC DOOR AUTOMATI C/W ON @ R6950.0 0

BY JuNNO AROChO ESTEVES

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HILE Rome reels from one of its worst droughts in decades, the Vatican has been doing its part to conserve water by shutting down the city-state’s 100 fountains.

The office governing Vatican City State said that the drought has “led the Holy See to take measures aimed at saving water” by shutting down fountains in St Peter’s Square, throughout the Vatican Gardens and in the territory of the state.

“The decision is in line with the teachings of Pope Francis, who reminds us in his encyclical Laudato Si’ how ‘the habit of wasting and discarding’ has reached ‘unprecedented levels’ while ‘fresh drinking water is an issue of primary importance, since it is indispensable for human life and for supporting terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems’,” the office said.

The prolonged drought has forced officials from the Lazio region of Italy to halt pumping water from Lake Bracciano, located roughly 30km north of Rome. Less than usual rainfalls in the past two years have steadily depleted the lake,

A dry fountain is seen in St Peter’s Square. Rome is considering water-rationing plans in the midst of a drought. (Photo: Junno Arocho Esteves/CNS) which provides 8% of the city’s water supply.

In an interview with Italian news outlet Tgcom24, Nicola Zingaretti, the region’s president, said the lake’s water level has “fallen too much and we risk an environmental disaster”.

While the drought has already forced Rome city officials to shut down some of Rome’s public drinking fountains in June, it may lead to strict water rationing for the city’s estimated 1,5 million residents.

City officials may also take the Vatican’s lead and shut

down water pouring down from Rome’s many ancient fountains.

Pilgrims and visitors alike have marvelled at the majestic fountains of St Peter’s Square that have cascaded water for centuries since their construction in the 17th century.

While the source of water was once provided from an ancient Roman aqueduct, the two fountains, as well as 10% of Vatican City State’s 100 fountains “recirculate water currently”, Greg Burke, Vatican spokesman, said.

Others, he added, “will eventually be transformed in order to recirculate” the same water rather than let it be wasted by running into the drainage or sewer system.

Mr Burke told CNS that the Vatican’s move to switch off the fountains located within its territory is “a way to show a good example” in conserving water as the city deals with the crisis.

“We’re not going to be able to solve Rome’s water problem this summer, but we can do our part,” Mr Burke said. “This is the Vatican putting Laudato Si’ into action. Let’s not waste water.”—CNS

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, August 2 to August 8, 2017

Churches shelters refugees from terror

BY FREDRICK NZWILI

A

BOUT 2 000 Kenyans along the coast near Somalia have taken refuge in two churches and a school, fleeing increased attacks from suspected al-Shabab militants.

Fr Peter Kariuki, a priest at the Catholic parish in Hindi, in Kenya’s Lamu County, said many of those seeking shelter are Christians.

“The militants have been asking the people to say their faith. Those found to be Christians are being killed,” Fr Kariuki siad.

Church sources said the villagers are camped at the Catholic church in Witu, an evangelical African Inland church and a local school compound.

The moving populations had been living near the dense Boni Forest, which the militants have allegedly been using as a cover to terrorise villages and attack security forces and travellers. Reports indicate that the militants have quietly crossed into Kenya and established bases in the forest, where they now launch attacks.

Within the space of a month, suspected militants killed two people in Marerani town, near the border with Somalia, and abducted a senior government official as she travelled to meet the displaced people. Four people who were travelling with her died during

Elderly men sit on a bench in front of souvenir shops in Lamu, Kenya.

Suspected al-Shabab militants have increased attacks in the area, forcing locals to flee into churches.

(Photo: Dai Kurokawa, EPA/CNS) the ordeal.

Militants also beheaded nine men in Lima village in Lamu and killed three police officers in Pandanguo village.

Fr Kariuki said despite tensions being high in the area, Church officials and other authorities were urging people to not move from their homes. He said police and military had increased security patrols.

“Mass movement would mean a

victory for the militants. We are urging the people to stay put,” said Fr Kariuki. “Many also want to stay to protect their crops and farms from herders.”

Kenya’s Catholic bishops said they were convinced “that these attacks, though masquerading as terrorists or banditry, may actually be orchestrated criminally, aimed at displacing populations so that they don’t participate in the 2017 general elections,” which is scheduled for August 8.

Mgr Wilybard Lagho, vicar general of the Mombasa archdiocese, said although the Church is neutral, the attackers and some of those providing the people with camping material might have ulterior motives.

“I think they want them to vote in a particular way so that votes are not lost,” said Fr Lagho. He said he would not be surprised if “these people are forgotten after the elections, just like those displaced in the past”.

Based in southern Somalia, alShabab is an Islamist terrorist group that has been trying to overthrow the government and replace it with one led guided by a strict form of Shariah, Islamic law. AlShabab has been carrying out public executions, flogging women in public and amputating limbs for petty crimes.—CNS

‘Reverence of the past not fidelity’

BY CAROL GLATZ

A

N education that doesn’t promote a love of learning or in-depth biblical studies, and an antiquated notion of the priest as a “solitary” ruler over his community are among the problems preventing the kind of conversion of hearts that Pope Francis has been calling for, said an Italian biblicist.

“A good part of the clergy, at the top and the bottom,” are sometimes guilty of an attitude of “closure, if not hostility” that is hindering “the conversion that Pope Francis wants to bring to the church,” wrote Fr Giulio Cirignano in the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.

His article, subtitled, “Habit is not fidelity”, examines the possible reasons behind what he sees as a “disconcerting fact”—that a large part of the Catholic lay faithful have recognised the kairos or favorable occasion God is offering the Church today while other Catholics, who are “closer to poorly enlightened pastors, are

kept within an old horizon.”

That old horizon is marked by: practices driven by habit; outdated language; and repetitive thinking that lacks vitality, wrote the priest, who is a retired professor of sacred Scripture and former member of Italy’s national association of Catholic teachers.

L

ike the religious authorities of the Sanhedrin criticised by Jesus, such clergy are faithful only to themselves, “rich in devout reverence to the past which is confused with fidelity to tradition, and poor in prophesy”, he wrote.

The possible reasons, he said, may be that, generally speaking, most priests’ knowledge of theology “is mediocre and still below what is preparation in biblical” studies.

This “deplorable state of affairs” happens when university studies, for example, don’t instil in students a love of thinking and lifelong learning, and don’t promote even the minimal use of critical thinking, he said.

Most seminary training, Fr

Cirignano said, doesn’t foster a sense of the ministry of the priesthood as “real and actual work” that requires “a mindset of effort and diligence”.

While it is true priests are often overwhelmed by so many duties, it may be best to ask why that is so: How is it so many activities keep a priest from carrying out his true ministerial duty, Fr Cirignano asked.

“Perhaps an image from the past weighs on the priest and is no longer sustainable?” he asked—an “inherited image” of a priest seen as the head and master of his community.

It’s as if, by virtue of his state as a celibate, the priest is “compensated with a sort of individual, allencompassing role of responsibility, a sort of solitary ‘protagonist,’” he said.

A passive laity and poorly functioning synodality in local church institutions, however, are “no longer acceptable today,” he said.—CNS

Pope’s letter to a child W HEN nine-year-old Andrea wrote Pope Francis about his pilgrimage with 130 children to the Marian shrine of Loreto, Italy, he received a personal response from the Holy Father.

Andrea was so moved by the journey that he wrote a letter about it to the pope, inviting him to join the pilgrimage next year.

And the pope offered a surprising response, leaving the door open to the possibility in a letter of reply.

“Thanks for the invitation you have made me to go on a pilgrimage with you, being with children is for me the greatest joy. A proverb says: ‘Never say never.’ Therefore let us entrust

this dream into the hands of Providence,” Pope Francis wrote.

The pilgrimage was organized by the Rome-Lazio chapter of the National Italian Union of Transportation of the Sick to Lourdes and International Shrines (UNITALSI) with the goal of teaching young children the importance of prayer and closeness to God, while at the same time allowing them to play, have fun and make new friends.

“We are more than 130 children, and many are sick, others in wheelchairs and others are going alone and are accompanied by some nuns,” Andrea said in his letter, adding that they are praying for the pope

every day.

Andrea also included a group photo of all the children, and asked for the Holy Father’s blessing.

“It was so nice to receive your letter and to hear about the enriching adventure you experienced,” the pope responded.

“Thanks also for the group photo you sent me, where I could see that there are a lot of you, and you all look so nice. As I was looking at each face in the photograph, I was praying to Our Lady of Loreto for you, and I blessed you straight from the heart, along with your parents, volunteers, priests and the UNITALSI leaders,” Pope Francis wrote.—CNA

5

Martyrs Fr Pedro Ramirez (left) and Bishop Jesus Jaramillo, who were martyred in Colombia in different decades. Pope Francis will beatufy them during his trip to Colombia next mionth (Photos: CNS/Wikipedia)

Colombian martyrs: Witnesses to the point of death

BY JuNNO AROChO ESTEVES

P

OPE Francis’ decree to beatify two Colombian martyrs from two troubled eras in the South American country’s history underscores his call for courageous witness amid violence and persecution.

The lives of Bishop Jesus Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve of Arauca, who was murdered by Colombian Marxist guerrillas in 1989, and Fr Pedro Maria Ramirez, who was killed at the start of the Colombian civil war in 1948, seemingly fit the pope’s description.

Their beatification, which will take place during the pope’s visit to Colombia on September 6-10, comes at a time when the nation focuses on reconciliation after decades of conflict that saw the deaths of more than 200 000 people.

Bishop Jaramillo was among the hundreds of thousands of innocent lives caught in the crossfire of Colombia’s 52-year civil war between government forces and guerrilla groups.

Born in Santo Domingo, Colombia, in 1916, he was appointed bishop of the diocese of Arauca in 1984 by Pope John Paul II. It was there where he spoke out not only against the atrocities committed by the National Liberation Army—known by the Spanish acronym ELN—but also denounced the climate of fear

among the people he served.

It was his words of encouragement against violence that prompted the ELN to order his kidnapping and murder on October 2, 1989.

Forty years before Bishop Jaramillo’s martyrdom, a local priest in Armero—located roughly 320km south of Medellin— quickly penned his last will and testament.

“I want to die for Christ and the faith,” he wrote, before an angry mob dragged him outside, lynched him and butchered his body with machetes.

The martyrdom of Fr Pedro Maria Ramirez came during another difficult period in Colombia’s history, when escalating tensions between liberals and conservatives boiled over following the death of Liberal presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitan.

Even after his death on April 10, 1948, Fr Ramirez continued to be slandered and accused of calling for violence against Liberal Party members.

However, Bishop Fabio Duque of Garzon, the diocese in which Fr Ramirez served, said that, contrary to the false accusations, Fr Ramirez remained an example of holiness and heroic virtue until his final breath.

“The clearest expression of his holiness is that, at the moment of his death, he forgave those who killed him,” he said.—CNS

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6

The Southern Cross, August 2 to August 8, 2017

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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.

Abortion raises tough questions

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Shout from the rooftops I

T

HE Catholic Church is one of the largest single religious denominations in South Africa, at about 7% of the population. Yet this statistical strength is not reflected in its standing and influence in society.

This may be ascribed to the marginal exposure of the Catholic Church in the media. Too few Catholic voices are heard in the mainstream media—traditional or digital—to articulate the message and concerns of the local Church, never mind to make known the disproportionate contribution by Catholic initiatives to our society.

With isolated exceptions, such as the excellent statements issued by the Justice & Peace Commission and Bishop Abel Gabuza, and some bishops who are active on social media, these voices belong to Catholic individuals and institutes.

While it is true that the secular media tend to underestimate— both by design and through ignorance—the position of the Catholic Church in our society, and sometimes even treat the Church with hostility, much of the blame for that resides with the Church itself.

The public presence of the Catholic Church, in particular its leadership, stands in stark contrast to the numerically much smaller Anglican Church, which employs skilled media professionals who manage to get its perspective into the media.

By contrast, after the demise of apartheid, the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference progressively downgraded the importance of social communications, allocating inadequate resources to what ought to be at the very centre of the local Church’s evangelisation efforts.

There is an overdue need to change that. It is therefore good that the bishops in their mid-year plenary next week have given some time to a session on the media. It must be hoped that this will provide a spark to re-energise the Church’s social communications efforts.

And from that, a plan of action must emerge. It is patently obvious, and has been so for more than a generation, that the bishops need a coherent media strategy which can be implemented.

This will require resources and the active engagement of every bishop and every SACBC department.

Crucially, such a media strategy must include the concerted promotion of Catholic media.

It should be the mission of every bishop, of every priest, of every parish pastoral council, to get as many Catholics as possible to read The Southern Cross and listen to Radio Veritas, because Catholic media is not only a method of formation but also a means of building community.

At a time when the local Church is so deeply divided along racial lines, The Southern Cross and Radio Veritas are among the few inclusive Catholic meeting places.

All that represents the Catholic Church as a community must be rigorously supported.

It should be the instruction of every bishop that every parish with a potential readership provides access to The Southern Cross and promotes it, including parishes run by personal prelatures and other non-diocesan bodies.

The Catholic media—print, broadcast, digital—is where the Church can tell its story to the faithful, who are then better equipped to disseminate that story to others.

The local Church needs to engage with experts in the various fields of media to convert its longstanding apathy to social communications into vibrant engagement.

In this, Church leaders must also enter the sometimes hostile fields of the secular media and be prepared to make mistakes—and have the humility to acknowledge and fix them.

Of course, we cannot expect all our bishops to have developed media skills. Their primary competence resides in the domains of spiritual guidance, pastoral care and diocesan administration.

For that reason, the SACBC and bishops in larger dioceses should engage the expertise of media specialists who know how to communicate the Church’s message.

Jesus commands us to preach the Gospel from the rooftops.

These are, however, becoming ever-more crowded.

The local Church must find ways of making itself heard above the noise, to offer truth amid the din of “alternative facts” and propaganda, to be a voice of hope in an increasingly hopeless world, to advocate for social justice and the sanctity of life, to bring Christ to a society which might otherwise not meet him.

The Catholic Church in South Africa has plenty to say. Let it be heard!

AGREE with the letters by Damian McLeish and Peter Hoar on abortion (May 24). It is a very sad reality that we, as mother Church, have become so silent on abortion.

Perhaps the fault lies with us women. We are in the best position to be able to raise “hell” about the seemingly cold and detached manner in which unwanted babies are disposed of. We are also in the best position to raise the many issues that come to mind when tackling the issue of unwanted pregnancies.

The adage, “There can never be peace in the world while there is violence in the womb”, rings so true.

Why is it that we live with this horrific knowledge on a daily basis and do not do something about it?

Is it because it is easy to ignore those who cannot speak for themselves? Is it because an unwanted pregnancy is a tough subject to broach, even with close family? Is it because a baby can be disposed of and nobody need know? Are the circumstances surrounding the concep-

Must Church give Balkans apology?

I

AM a fourth-generation Catholic who is an avid reader of The Southern Cross, which I buy at my Soweto parish.

I was moved by your article entitled “Two men for all seasons” (June 7) by Sr Joan Roccasalvo CSJ, to the extent that I am looking out for the movie A Man For All Seasons.

Commendations to Pope Pius XI for canonising all the faithful who were martyred, or as your article states, “put to death during King Henry VIII’s bloody’s reign”. It’s a chilling reminder to us, the faithful of today, of just how committed to the scripture, its teachings and faith our forebears were.

Regarding the news article “Canada asks pope for help with reconciliation” (June 7), my attention was drawn to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking Pope Francis to help “by issuing an apology on behalf of the Catholic Church for its role in harming their communities”.

I am left wondering whether to add: Shouldn’t the Church, or those culpable members of its leadership, also not be asked to apologise for its/their role in the orchestrated destruction of Yugoslavia in the 1990s?

This was a country whose eventual creation was inspired by the farsightedness and vision of early, mainly Croation thinkers, like Franko Racki, Janko Draskovic, Lludevit Gaj and Josip Stossmayer, who themselves were inspired by the movement for a unified panSouth Slav nation.

tion embarrassing or threatening?

How is it acceptable for doctors to terminate pregnancies when the expected child has some form of disability?

What does a woman do when forced into a situation which results in a pregnancy she is not prepared for? Why is it that men are allowed to walk away and the woman left to deal with this on her own?

How do you tell a woman living in dire poverty that abortion is not an option? How will she accept that? Is it OK that we are quite prepared to denounce abortion and then walk away from the situation?

What does she do when she is lost, lonely and afraid?

A woman is brutally raped and falls pregnant—how does she live through nine months of pregnancy and then at least 18 years with a child that constantly reminds her of a horrific period of her life?

Fathers or other relatives raping children, women beaten into submission by men using their physical 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

Yugoslavia was formed to unite, not divide, Southern (European) Slavs.

It had a track record of firmly and successfully standing up against the hegemonic superpowers of the time and was instrumental in the establishment of (and a member of) the Non-Aligned Movement.

Yes, Yugoslavia, albeit imperfect in some ways and arguably in some of its leaders, was nevertheless a model of coexistence among multiethnic, multi-religious people.

Southern Slavs now live as somewhat tense neighbours, in geographically smaller, and militarily and economically much weaker countries—the majority of whose economies are dominated/owned by foreign multinationals.

The destruction of Yugoslavia brought untold human suffering and saw the seeds of much deeper division being sown, with mistrust and racial resentment.

Only heaven knows when the wounds will heal.

I am battling to ask this question of a Church apology, especially as a Catholic who reveres the earthly leadership of my Church, the one I’m committed to.

Thapelo Lehasa, Johannesburg

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An end to belief in the Church itself?

W

HAT immediately comes to mind with regard to reports of sexual abuse in the Church is the Creed.

In our profession of faith we say: “I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.” Today this profession is a contradiction and mockery of our faith and what Catholics hold sacred.

What was once holy is now unholy. Over decades the Church has dramatically transformed from a spiritual institution to a self-serving cult. What is so heart-wrenching is that the victims are so young, and scarred for life by learned men protected at the highest levels.

Rape is just another form of genocide. It kills the victims’ minds, destroys trust, and in many cases the abused become suicidal.

It has been said that where there is power, men will try to use it for their own ends, good or bad.

Religious men and woman are not perfect. They are as ordinary and imperfect as any other soul. But they must never use God’s grace as an excuse, thinking that because of their status they are exempt from the consequences of sin.

Catholics can no longer be silent. The Vatican has to get its own house in order before it can even attempt to pull a moral card on its followers. Catholics have been shamed and embarrassed for too long by the Vatican and clergy.

Do I believe in the Holy Catholic Church? Not anymore. I do, however, believe in the Holy Eucharist.

FA Jacobs, Cape Town

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strength to overcome any objection to taking what they want, young girls using their bodies to overcome poverty, yes, promiscuity, and the list goes on.

How do we as Church respond to these challenges that are foisted upon women on a daily basis?

Abortion is a grave sin, I agree with that, but the discussion around abortion must continue, with both feet on the ground, as it were.

Providing homes for the moms and babies, without some effort in dealing with the sometimes brutal social realities that underpin abortion, is just placing a plaster over a life-threatening wound.

This topic belongs under the heading of “Family Life”. How many of our parishes at least have a ministry which focuses on Family Life? I would be very interested to hear of any, how they have been established, and how they deal with the myriad challenges that families face on a daily basis.

When you tackle abortion, you inevitably “open up a can of worms”—but we cannot avoid it.

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PERSPECTIVES

Why does Church debate get nasty?

Sarah-Leah I Pimentel ’VE never found it harder to be Catholic than in the last year. In a Church that preaches mercy and compassion, I have encountered harsh judgment and vitriolic condemnation, simply because I voiced my opinions on religious and non-religious matters.

Freedom of speech is a universal human right. Except, it would appear, within some quarters of the Catholic Church.

In the wake of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on the family, Amoris Laetitia, I found myself chatting with someone I had known for a long time.

I commented on the Holy Father’s assertion that we need to find better ways of being more inclusive of divorced Catholics in new unions. I asked that if remarried Catholics were living good Christian lives and fulfilling their vocation of love, what prevents them from receiving the Eucharist?

Before I knew it, I had been labelled a heretic and was informed that I am not in communion with the Church.

In another instance, I posted on Facebook that we can learn so much from our Muslim brethren who visibly show their faith and take time out of their working day to pray.

One commenter responded that my tolerance enables the growth of Islam, making me indirectly responsible for terrorism. Another accused me of having rejected Jesus and urged me to repent from my mortal sin.

On another occasion, I commented on last year’s American presidential race and expressed my doubts about the legitimacy of a candidate who appeared to engage in half-truths and did not show respect for anyone who contradicted him. Without even making reference to the other candidate, who supports abortion, I was called a baby-killer and a poor excuse for a Christian.

I have come away from these and other similar interactions feeling incredibly hurt and left with a sense that freedom of speech on religious matters exists only to the extent that you are in agreement with the majority.

Fortunately, I also have wonderful Catholic friends who enjoy robust debate and are charitable, even in disagreement.

This is how I know that censorship in the Church occurs only when one or another group fears the loss of their moral highground Where there are intemperate debates, I have noticed that there appear to be two

The Mustard Seeds

Some Catholics can react to the opinions of others with explosions of anger, as Sarah-Leah Pimentel has experienced. camps among Catholics: conservative vs liberal. At times it seems there is no middle ground or a space for healthy debate between these two groups.

If, as a conservative Catholic, you find yourself in a room full of liberals, there is a good chance that you’ll be accused of being inflexible and irrelevant in a modern context. If you are a liberal Catholic, it is likely that you’ll be accused of rejecting the Church’s teachings.

F

or me, the saddest part is that both sides have something beautiful to offer the Church.

Conservatives are not intransigent but take great pride in their reverence for the beautiful traditions of the Church and a thorough knowledge of Catholic teaching. Liberals are not rebel rousers, but are driven by the desire for inclusion and to make participation in the Church’s life more accessible to all.

We can learn from each other. But only if we respect each other and are willing to listen with an open heart to a viewpoint that is different to our own, rather than shutting down the conversation before it even gets started.

It is only with robust debate, deep compassion, and a genuine love for Christ, the Church, and the People of God that we can truly make the Church more relevant and attractive to others.

This made me think of the Christian hymn: "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord, and we pray that our unity will one day be restored. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love."

This hymn speaks of unity, of oneness.

The underlying characteristic of this unity is our love for one another. We are united by our love for Christ. We are united in the mission Jesus gave us: to preach the Good News to all people. We are united through baptism where we became sons and daughters of God. This unity, however, does not mean uniformity. The disciples themselves disagreed on matters of doctrine as they tried to figure out how to live out Jesus’ teachings.

Their differences of opinion and interpretation did not divide them. Instead they called a council and prayerfully discerned how to implement what they had learnt from Christ.

I am sure these councils consisted of lively debates in which everyone had a chance to speak. Then they deliberated, prayed and found a common path. This is how the Church’s leaders have always made decisions.

As its members we must do the same.

Difference of opinion does not mean that someone is any more or any less Catholic than someone else. Freedom of speech is necessary in our Church so that we can grow, so that we can find new answers to the very demanding questions of our times.

Let us stop the name-calling and the silent censorship. Let us engage one another respectfully so that no one feels too threatened to ask a question or voice an opinion. Let us help one another to unpack and understand the treasures of our 2 000-year-old Church, and find ways to make it relevant in a rapidly changing world.

Give me back my voice. I want to hear yours too. God speaks through our many voices and shows us the way.

‘Getting away’ with corruption O NE day I was stopped at a police roadblock in Zimbabwe. The police officer told me something was wrong with my car and I had to pay a spot fine of $10.

I explained that the car was an official car, and so it was not my responsibility to pay, but that of my workplace. The officer responded: “We deal with the driver, not whoever owns the car.” And so I paid the fine.

Recently I was stopped at another police roadblock. The young police officer was so enthusiastic and efficient that in a matter of two or three minutes he had found three things that he said were wrong with the car I was driving: “Your fire extinguisher is in the wrong place; you have only one triangle, and not two; and you replaced your windscreen and have no third number plate.”

There was a fine for each of these offences, at least one of which was not true.

That day I had been to the bank and had been given only $50 because of the present shortage of cash in the country.

As the police officer was enumerating the fines, I realised I was going to pay something like $30 or $40 on the spot. I said to the young man: “Officer, what you are doing is not police work; this is fundraising pure and simple; and I’m going to call the owners of the vehicle before I pay.”

I then called the senior driver at my workplace, who is a retired policeman, and told him what was happening. I asked him to speak to the police officer.

In a matter of minutes the police officer became humble and apologetic: “Sir”, he said, “you did not tell me who you are; you can go.” Our senior driver had apparently told him I was the chief executive

Emmanuel Ngara

Christian Leadership

Corruption impacts disastrously on the economies and adds to the woes of poor people, writes Prof Emmanuel Ngara. officer of my organisation and was driving an official vehicle.

These two incidents reveal something about the effects of corruption and the economy.

F

you can go scot-free, as happened in the second case cited above.

If you are an ordinary citizen with no title, then you have to squeeze the money out of a dry stone in order to be free from the power of law enforcement agents.

You then create two different societies: those who have will have more; and those who do not have even the little they have will be taken away.

The matter is more serious than that.

Inefficient people can be appointed to run parastatals and state enterprises such as Eskom or South African Airways, and then go on to destroy these organisations.

If the people in charge have connections in high places, nothing will happen to them. In the worst case they’ll get a handsome handshake when their contracts are terminated.

Meanwhile, the economy of the country is being negatively affected.

Corruption is serious, and it impacts disastrously on the economies of lowand middle-income countries; and it adds to the woes of poor people.

I strongly believe that the Christian Church has a duty to do something to fight against the evils of corruption.

The police officer was apologetic: ‘Sir, you did not tell me who you are; you can go.’

irst, the impression that civilians, in Zimbabwe and in many parts of South Africa, have is that the police are no longer giving priority to law and order and to the safety of citizens; their primary concern now is how to make money out of roadblocks and traffic stops.

And there is a strong conviction on the part of citizens that much of this money does not go to state coffers, but ends in the pockets of individuals.

Secondly, you have a situation where breaking the law depends on who you are. If you are an important public figure

The Southern Cross, August 2 to August 8, 2017

7

Michael Shackleton

Open Door

Did Mary actually die?

The celebration of Our Lady’s Assumption Into Heaven is coming soon. This celebration goes way back into the earliest times of Christianity, yet there seems to have been uncertainty about whether Mary actually died or not before she was taken body and soul into heaven.

If the tradition of her Assumption is so firm, why is this detail lacking?

Pen Evans

M

ARY’S status in the Church comes from her unique privilege of being the mother of the promised Messiah, Jesus. She gave birth to a divine person in human nature whose life, death and resurrection redeemed humanity from its descent into sin and corruption.

Because she is human, the Church believes that she too needed to be redeemed by Christ, the very person whose mother she is. Jesus redeemed her by the special privilege of her Immaculate Conception. This is the doctrine of the Church defined as such by Pius IX in 1854.

He proclaimed that the Blessed Virgin Mary “in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin”.

This article of faith means that Mary is the first human person to be redeemed by Christ. For us, redemption comes at baptism.

For her, redemption came in the womb. For us, redemption is completed in our risAn effigy of Mary in ing from the dead. For her, it is already complete; she has eternal sleep in risen, that is, she was asDormition abbey, sumed body and soul to be Jerusalem with her son in heaven.

In the creeds we declare our belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and in our own anticipated resurrection. Mary is the fulfilment of that belief.

According to various traditions Mary died in Jerusalem. The lack of precision about this is said to be due to the destruction of Jerusalem in the first century, leaving little cogent evidence in its wake. In the 4th century the site of her reputed death was identified on Mount Zion, today the Benedictine Dormition abbey.

If there were any relics of Mary’s body, they would have been venerated with huge ceremony.

There are none. The constant story is that Mary died in the presence of the apostles who buried her, but when the tomb was opened it was empty.

Another story is that she did not die but bodily entered heaven. Since she was sinless, she should not have undergone death, the penalty for sin.

In the absence of exact historical evidence, in 1950 Pius XII defined the doctrine of the Assumption by declaring that Mary, “after completing her course of life upon earth, was assumed to the glory of heaven in body and soul”.

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

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The Southern Cross, August 2 to August 8, 2017

COMMUNITY

Fr Brian Williams of the Greater Knysna parish celebrated Mass for Irka Jablonski on her 90th birthday. She is the oldest parishioner of St Anthony’s in Sedgefield. Fr Williams also gave her a special blessing.

St Benedict’s College in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, celebrated the feast of St Benedict with a celebratory Mass in its oratory with staff, parents and pupils. Junior prep and preparatory pupils enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate with a doughnut as a gift from the school.

Altar servers at Kreste Modisa parish in Mahikeng, North West, started the winter school holiday with a retreat.

They are seen here with adult support helper Puleng Bopape.

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Altar servers at Our Lady of Fatima parish in Senwabarwana, Limpopo, cut a cake on their investiture day.

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holy Rosary Primary School in Edenvale, Johannesburg, supported the 67 Blankets for Mandela Day initiative, and also collected 115 scarves. The scarves will be donated to the local Khanyisa soup kitchen.

Pupils in Grade 5C at De La Salle holy Cross College Junior School in Victory Park, Johannesburg, knitted and crocheted squares for a blanket as part of the 67 Blankets for Mandela Day drive. Robyn heaney collected the squares and sewed them together.

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Page 10

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

N

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

S o u t h e r n C r o s s Pilgrimage

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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A group of children celebrated their First holy Communion at St Joseph’s parish in Goodwood, Cape Town. They are seen with parish priest Fr Mari Joseph OCD.

FAITH

The Southern Cross, August 2 to August 8, 2017

9

Four greatest Eucharistic miracles The Church recognises more than a hundred Eucharistic miracles that have occurred over the centuries.

Professor MIChAEL OGuNu looks at four of the most famous ones.

E

UCHARISTIC miracles are God’s extraordinary interventions. They are meant to confirm faith in the real presence of the body and blood of our Lord in the Eucharist.

We know the Catholic teaching on the real presence. With the words of consecration: “This is my body…this is my blood”, the substance of bread becomes the Body of Christ, and the substance of wine his Blood.

This marvellous change is called transubstantiation—the passage of substance. Of the bread and wine there remain only the appearances or species, which in philosophical terms, are called accidents. In other words, only the dimensions, colour, taste, and smell remain.

But the substance, that is to say, the true reality does not remain, for it has become the Body and Blood of the Lord.

The Eucharist is the highest expression of our life in Christ, for it unites us sacramentally to Christ in the sacrifice of the Cross, which is made always new in the celebration of the Holy Mass.

The miracle of Lanciano In the town of Lanciano, on Italy’s eastern coast, around the year 700 there was a priest who, though learned in the sciences of the world, was ignorant in the ways of God, and was not strong in his faith.

He was plagued by a doubt about the mystery of transubstantiation.

One morning, he was celebrating Mass in the church of St Longinus. He had already said the words of consecration when his doubts weighed upon him more heavily than ever. Spontaneously, he saw the bread changed into flesh and the wine into blood, coagulating into five globules.

Frightened and confused, he stood quite a while, but eventually his fear gave way to spiritual happiness, and he turned his joyful, tearful face to those around him, exclaiming: “Behold the flesh and the blood of our most beloved Christ.”

At those words, the congregants ran to the altar and began, with tears, to cry for mercy. They spread the news throughout the entire city.

Today, more than 1 200 years later, the host remains intact—a sustained miracle. It is permanently exposed in the Basilian church of Lanciano.

The host of flesh, which is still in one piece and has retained the dimensions of the original “large host”, has a fibrous appearance and a brown colour.

The blood, contained in the chalice, has an earthly colour, and still consists of the five coagulated globules. Each of the parts is uneven in shape and size, and when weighed together, the total weight is equal to that of each piece.

Local Church and Vatican officials have authenticated the Eucharistic miracle on many occasions since the Middle Ages.

A rigorous scientific analysis was performed from 1970-71 by Dr Odorardo Linoli, a professor in anatomy and pathological histology and in chemistry and clinical microscopy, assisted by Dr Ruggero Bertelli, a professor emeritus of anatomy at the University of Siena.

The research done on the fragments of the blood and the flesh revealed that the blood of the Eucharistic miracle is real blood (type

The church of the holy Miracle in Santarém, Portugal. The Eucharistic miracle is kept in the tabernacle above the altar and can be viewed close-up.

The columns on either side of the photo are from the old St Stephen’s church. The Southern Cross/Radio Veritas pilgrimage to Portugal and Spain in October will visit the church. (Photos: Günther Simmermacher) AB, most common in the Middle East) and the flesh is real human flesh (muscular tissue of the heart wall).

The proteins in the blood are in the same proportions as those found in normal fresh blood.

There is no trace whatsoever of any materials or agents used for preservation of flesh or blood.

Science, when called to testify, has confirmed what we have believed in faith and what the Catholic Church has taught for over 2 000 years; echoing the words of Christ: “My flesh is real food; my blood real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells continually in me and I dwell in him” (Jn 6:56-57).

A German miracle The next Eucharistic miracle occurred in the German city of Augsburg in 1194.

A local woman who was rather too enthusiastically devoted to the Eucharist received Holy Communion. But without being noticed, she put the consecrated host in a handkerchief, took it home and placed the Eucharistic species in a container of wax inside a cupboard.

Five years had passed when on May 11, 1199 the woman, tormented by remorse, confessed the sacrilege to the superior of the local Holy Cross convent, Fr Berthold.

The priest told the woman to return with the host. When he opened up the wax covering, he saw that the Eucharist had been transformed into bleeding flesh.

The Host appeared “divided into two parts connected together by the thin threads of the bleeding flesh”.

The local bishop ordered that the Miraculous Host be exhibited in the cathedral, placed in a wax pyx (container) in a crystal monstrance, for public worship from Easter until the feast of St John the Baptist in June.

During this time a second miracle took place: the host was seen to swell in size until it cracked its wax casing and separated from it.

The miraculous host and the pieces of wax were then placed in a crystal container, which was returned to the church of the Holy Cross where it has been kept under glass in perfect condition for over 800 years.

Every year the feast of the Wonderful Miraculous Treasures is celebrated on May 11.

The adulterous husband In the 13th century, in the village of Santarém, Portugal—just half an hour’s drive from Fatima— the Church’s second-most-famous Eucharistic miracle, after Lan-

ciano, occurred.

The day was February 16, 1247, when a woman married to a philandering husband in her desperation turned to a sorceress to seek a solution to her problem.

The sorceress promised her a magical potion which would cure the husband of his adultery. Her payment: a consecrated host.

The desperate woman did as she was told, even at the price of committing a sacrilege. She went to Mass at the parish church of St Stephen, received Communion, and as she was leaving the church she removed the host from her mouth and tied it in a knot in the veil covering her head.

Suddenly the host began to bleed profusely. The blood flowed so heavily that people asked her about her injury. Frightened, she ran home and placed the host, still wrapped in the veil, in a wooden trunk.

That night, she and her husband suddenly saw a brilliant light emanating from the trunk, illuminating the entire house.

The alarmed couple called the parish priest. The pulsating host was then taken back in procession to St Stephen’s church.

To stop the host from bleeding it was sealed in a pyx of bees’ wax.

Nineteen years passed. In 1266 a canonical investigation discovered that a second miracle had occurred: the host had freed itself from the wax pyx and was now in a little crystal ampoule.

Over the many centuries since, saints and royalty have venerated the miraculous host of Santarém, which over time has become the object of national adoration. St Francis Xavier came on pilgrimage to Santarém before embarking on his great missionary journey in the East.

Miracles relating to the host were reported throughout the centuries. New emissions of blood were common. These stopped, however, after pilgrims in the late 1950s, especially North Americans, began to handle it abusively. By the 1970s half the glass of the ampoule had been broken off and the silver stopper removed, taken away as relics.

Today only particles of blood and solidified flesh are clinging to the inside of what remains of the glass ampoule, now kept in a monstrance atop the Eucharistic throne above the main altar of the church of the Holy Miracle, which was built in the 1500s on the site of St Stephen’s church.

The relics were scientif-

The Eucharistic miracle of Lanciano, Italy, from the 8th century. As in the miracle of Santarém, scientists have confirmed that the flesh and blood are indeed human. Like the bloodstains on the Shroud of Turin, the blood type is AB. ically analysed in 1997 for the 750th anniversary celebrations of the miracle and proven to be genuine and of a supernatural origin.

How a pope got involved In 1263 a German priest, Peter of Prague, stopped at Bolsena in central Italy while on a pilgrimage to Rome. He is described as a pious priest, but one who found it difficult to believe that Christ was actually present in the consecrated host.

While celebrating Mass at the tomb of St Christina he had barely spoken the words of consecration when blood started to seep from the consecrated host and trickle over his hands onto the altar and the corporal (the altar cloth).

The puzzled priest first attempted to hide the blood, but then he interrupted the Mass and asked to be taken to the nearby city of Orvieto, where Pope Urban IV was then residing.

The pope listened to the priest’s account and absolved him. He then ordered an investigation.

When all the facts were ascertained, he instructed the local bishop to take the host and the

stained linen cloth to Orvieto.

Amid great pomp, he had the relics placed in the cathedral.

The linen corporal bearing the spots of blood is still exhibited in the cathedral of Orvieto.

I

n this article I have focused on only four of the more than 100 recognised Eucharistic miracles.

The reader may profit from finding out about others, such as the miracle of Siena (18th century), Tumaco in Colombia (1906), or Chirattakonam in India (2001).

The Eucharistic miracles, like all miracles, are gifts from God to witness to some truth or to testify to someone’s sanctity.

It should not surprise us that God has granted so many miracles to deepen our knowledge and love of his greatest gift to us, the gift of the Body and Blood of his only-begotten Son as the heavenly food of our earthly pilgrimage and the medicine of eternal life. n Professor Michael Ogunu is the supreme chancellor of the Knights of St Mulumba in Nigeria, the provincial president of the Secular Carmelites in Nigeria and Ghana, and coordinator of the Fatima Apostolate in Africa.

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10

The Southern Cross, August 2 to August 8, 2017

CHURCH

How we shape our Catholic kids Do our Catholic schools always get the “Catholic” right? FR PADDY NOONAN OFM looks at some elements he believes should be central in our schools

W

HEN your favourite tabloid wants to catch your attention it will splash out: “A convent-educated upmarket stripper (or “call girl”) was today arrested in a police raid…”.

That woman’s situation is not the expected outcome of a convent education, and most probably has nothing to do with it—but how the media loves making that connection! It sells, they say with a knowing leer.

Marketing Catholic education nowadays is certainly a challenge.

Apart from scandal, it gets a covered only when a school does well in the exams.

The theme for 2017 in Catholic education is “Walking Forward Together”. The Southern Cross’ supplement of Catholic education in June gave us an overview of what that theme means.

May I make the following remarks for continued reflection on this important subject? I stand to be corrected if what I say is superfluous due to the excellent work Catholic educators have achieved over the years in South Africa.

What I wish to share are a few ideas and perhaps practical suggestions that have come to me over time as an outsider observing from a distance.

The

Vocations How visible is the idea of vocations in our Catholic schools today, such as on notice boards, availability of pamphlets, DVDs, social media and so on?

Are our Catholic teachers sufficiently aware of the crucial need for vocations promotion for the future of Catholic schools and the Church in South Africa?

Today more than ever before, South African civil society is starving for and open to receiving the vast repository of tested social and spiritual teachings “subsumed” in or natural to the Catholic religious and lay vocation Pope Francis asks rhetorically about Catholic schools: “Why do we have schools and not beauty parlours, veterinary clinics or travel agents? We have schools not for profit but to be living signs of ‘What you see is not all that there is’.”

Catholic schools sometimes have confirmation interviews for students preparing for that sacrament. A vocation to serve the Church as a sister, brother or priest should be discussed with the candidates on these occasions.

Catholic literature and information Are there enough Catholic resources available for students in our schools? Do students and teachers have access to thought-provoking Catholic books, newspapers, pamphlets, blogs, Facebook pages and websites as they are searching for answers to the questions of the day? And if so, are they encouraged to make use of them?

Does our national Catholic weekly, The Southern Cross, have a

Catholic schools face daily challenges in ensuring that they maintain their Catholic ethos. In his article, Fr Paddy Noonan offers a reflection on what he sees as important areas to keep in mind. visible presence in our Catholic schools? And if not, why not?

Pope Francis, still speaking on Catholic education, has said: “Our goal is not to form islands of peace in the midst of a disintegrated society but to educate people with the ability to transform this society.

Therefore, ‘fruits and results’.”

For many years I have felt that “getting Catholic pupils to be critical and discerning thinkers”, as Mark Potterton wrote in his article in this year’s Southern Cross education supplement, is the Catholic education challenge of the day.

To advance this proposition I be-

Souther n Cross & Radio Veritas

100 Years Fatima Pilgrimage 1 - 10 October 2017 Portugal & Spain Fatima Lisbon Avila Madrid Led by Fr Brian Mhlanga OP

lieve Catholic educational programmes should include a critical focus on crime, corruption, racism, sexism, the purpose of good politics, basic ethics and moral values, apologetics, media literacy, diversity sensitivity and inter-cultural skills, the dynamics of reconciliation, and social cohesion.

A fuller understanding of all of this leads to building a better nation for all.

“We think of a school that is open to new things, able to surprise and ready to learn from everything and everyone,” Pope Francis has said. A certain youngster 2 000 years ago dared to be different too: “All the people were astonished by Jesus teaching” (Mk 11:18).

Across the board Catholic youth organisations such as Young Christian Students and other outreach programmes, such as working with the poor in rural areas, should be seriously encouraged.

Youth from overseas have been working with our rural poor for decades and have found it a lifechanging experience.

Where were our young privileged? Again the pope reminds us: “Let us not allow the individualistic and competitive mentality so ingrained in our civic culture to end up colonising also our schools” (of late we South Africans have discovered volunteerism).

Catholic role models If they don’t have it already, each school could have a public listing or roll call of honour of their past pupils who have made an impact on South African society, for

example, priests, religious brothers and sisters, as well as former pupils who served church and nation in a heroic way.

There must also be a more Afrocentric Christianity, with role models such as St Martin de Porres, Bl Benedict Daswa, St Josephine Bakhita, St Benedict the African (the first African to be canonised and a Franciscan), and so on.

Does the life and martyrdom of the school principal Bl Benedict Daswa have anything to offer Catholic principals and teachers today?

What impact, what challenges, do highly motivated, well-educated Catholic students make on their local parish or youth group?

Would they ask and organise a special annual Mass at the beginning of the year for all learners of the parish?

Or would they distribute special student prayer cards, not only on student issues but also on national issues such as healing from racism, the traumatised after crime, international peace, vocations, the environment (note The Global Catholic Climate Movement), against violence, against abortion, mercy killing and the lure of Satanism.

Forming the right Catholic We all know of many people who have received a Catholic school education and emerged from it as well-formed Christians.

But we all also know others who were alienated from the Church by their experience of Catholic schooling, or who have made their ways to other churches in spite of their Catholic background.

I’m thinking of the comments by actress Patricia Boyer, remembering her convent school education in Johannesburg in an interview in 2015: “Every Friday we had to go to church and to confession to tell your sins of the week.

You’re ten years old; what are they?

I just made things up and then said ten Hail Marys. It’s so intrusive, so invasive.”

This Catholic-educated woman —she was probably one of these questioning, creative kids that many Church school structures find it difficult to cope with—added: “I’m not anti-religious, but I’m against anything that is pushed down your throat. I believe there is an order to the universe, but I don’t know who the hell is behind it.”

How can our schools respond to the experiences of alumni such as Patricia Boyer? n Fr Patrick Noonan is a Franciscan priest serving in Boksburg. An author, he has just published a new book, Township God, about Catholic ministry in the townships over 40 years.

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CLASSIFIEDS Satanic statue ends all religious symbols

BY MATThEW DAVIS

A

FTER hundreds of people, many of them Catholic, descended on the US town of Belle Plaine, Minnesota, to protest against the installation of a Satanic memorial in the town’s veterans’ park, the town council voted unanimously to nix all religious symbols there.

It rescinded a designation that made a portion of the park available for monument commissions from any religious group.

The decision blocked the arrival of a monument commissioned by the Satanic Temple, but also sealed the departure of the “Joe” monument, a small ironcast silhouette of a World War I

soldier kneeling on one knee in front of a cross grave-marker.

“It’s an outcome I can live with,” said Fr Brian Lynch, parish priest of Our Lady of the Prairie in Belle Plaine, “but it’s far from a perfect outcome.”

The statue and proposed Satanic memorial became the centre of a controversy that made national headlines.

It began last year, when the Belle Plaine Vets’ Club placed the “Joe” statue in the park. A town resident complained about “Joe” looking too religious for public property. The council had the monument’s cross removed at the request of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Vets’ Club members requested

community calendar

Your prayer to cut out and collect

Prayer for the Feast of the Transfiguration

O Christ, upon the mountaintop you let the light of your face shine over Moses and Elijah. We ask your blessing upon your people who call on your name, who want to belong to the kingdom of light and life.

Amen.

Painting by Lorenzo Lotto (c.1511)

the cross’ return. A 3-2 council vote created a limited area in the park, which allowed “Joe” to have the cross back. The designation provided a place where any religion could erect a memorial.

The foundation then invited the Satanic Temple to commission a memorial for the park, which the town approved.

Concern over the Satanic memorial drew hundreds of people to a rosary rally and an adjacent counter-rally for the Satanists at the veterans’ park.

The Belle Plaine town council stated that it had banned all religious symbols from the park because the controversy had “promoted divisiveness among our own residents”.—CNS

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

Ph Jill on 083 282 6763 or Jane on 082 783 0331.

Perpetual 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.

St Anthony’s rosary group. Every Wednesday at 18:00 at St Anthony’s church opposite Greyville racecourse. All are welcome and lifts are available. Contact Keith Chetty on 083 372 9018.

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

Liturgical Calendar Year A – Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday August 6, Transfiguration of the Lord Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, Psalms 97:1-2, 5-6, 9, Matthew 17:1-9 Monday August 7, St Sixtus and companions, St Cajetan Numbers 11:4-15, Psalms 81:12-17, Matthew 14:22-36 Tuesday August 8, St Dominic Numbers 12:1-13, Psalms 51:3-7, 12-13, Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14 Wednesday August 9, St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross Numbers 13:1-2, 25--14:1, 26-29, 34-35, Psalms 106:6-7, 13-14, 21-23, Matthew 15:21-28 Thursday August 10, St Lawrence 2 Corinthians 9:6-10, Psalms 112:1-2, 5-9, John 12:24-26 Friday August 11, St Clare of Assisi Deuteronomy 4:32-40, Psalms 77:12-16, 21, Matthew 16:24-28 Saturday August 12, Bl Isidore Bakanja, St Jane Frances de Chantal, Saturday Mass of Our Lady Deuteronomy 6:4-13, Psalms 18:2-4, 47, 51, Matthew 17:14-20 St Clare of Assisi Sunday August 13, 19th Sunday of the Year 1 Kings 19:9, 11-13, Psalms 85:9-14, Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14:22-33

The Southern Cross, August 2 to August 8, 2017

clASSIFIeDS

11

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

IN MeMORIAM

PAGe—Noel. In loving memory of my beloved husband Noel. Our father and grandfather who passed away on August 1, 2011.

May his soul rest in peace.

Always fondly remembered by your wife, Lise.

PARIS—In loving memory of Mary Louisa Paris who passed away on August 3, 2004. Your love for the faith is a constant reminder to us.

Lovingly remembered and always in our thoughts.

Fondly missed by your daughter Gloria, son-in-law Ruben, and grandchildren Randall, Grant, Nadine and Robert. tOWSeY (SMItH)—Paula.

Died August 4, 2014. Our beloved beautiful daughter and sister, you left us without warning and we were so unprepared. The sadness is so strong, you are so much in our minds and hearts, love from your mother, Carmen and all the family.

PRAYeRS

DeAR GOD, Jesus Christ, Mary, Sts Jude and Rita, thank you for all the blessings and favours that you bestowed on me in my time of need and suffering. I pray this in your name. Amen.

DRP. lORD GOD, this candle that I light here today reminds me of the light that you enkindled in me at my Baptism. Renew the flame of your Love in me. Let it burn away all my egotism, my jealousy, my pride and my failure to love. Let me have a warm and generous heart. Lord, I am not able to remain here in this church very much longer: I have to go. So, please accept this

candle in my place. Let it be like a part of me that I give to you. here, before the image of Blessed Mary, Mother of God, and imploring her powerful intercession, I ask you, as I offer you this humble candle, to allow my prayer to penetrate every activity and every facet of my life, so that everything will be shaped and formed by the burning flame of your Love. I ask this for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

O MOSt holy Virgin Mary, who chose to appear on the Sierra de Aire, in the Cova de Iria, to three young shepherds to reveal the treasures of grace held in the recitation of the Rosary, impress upon our souls a fervent love for this devotion.

By meditating on the mysteries of our redemption, may we learn how to use the teachings which lie therein and obtain the graces we ask in this prayer.

For the Glory of God and the redeeming of our souls.

Amen. Novena from 5 to 13 each month. For prayers/hymns write to jjvcamara@gmail.com tHANkS be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, For all the benefits thou hast won for me, For all the pains

SOLUTIONS TO 770. ACROSS: 3 I am the way, 8 Ehud, 9 Deceiving, 10 Unborn, 11 Seven, 14 Curse, 15 Sore, 16 Diana, 18 Rant, 20 Bogus, 21 Grace, 24 Adrian, 25 Ritualise, 26 Eton, 27 Perennial. DOWN: 1 Sepulchre, 2 Numbering, 4 Amen, 5 Theme, 6 Envies, 7 Anna, 9 Dried, 11 Slave, 12 Not guilty, 13 Reasoning, 17 Abide, 19 Triune, 22 Colon, 23 Rive, 24 Asia.

This week we congratulate: August 2: Bishop Zolile Peter Mpambani of Kokstad on the 4th anniversary of his episcopal ordination August 6: Bishop Pius Mlungisi Dlungwane of Mariannhill on the 17th anniversary of his episcopal ordination August 6: Bishop Dabula Mpako of Queenstown on the 6th anniversary of his episcopal ordination

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the

19th Sunday: August 13 Readings: 1 Kings 19:9, 11-13, Psalm 85:914, Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14:22-33

H

OW does God speak to us? That is the question that next Sunday’s reading poses to us. In the first reading, Elijah is thoroughly fed up, since he is on the run from Queen Jezebel because of his victory over the prophets of Baal; and then he was unwise enough to murder them.

Things have now got slightly better since an angel fed him; at this point, however, he must come face to face with his God. It starts in a cave, where Elijah pours out his woes to God; but then he must learn that he is not in charge, so he is summoned to “stand outside, on the mountain, before the Lord”.

Then the Lord passes by, and Elijah has to learn that the Lord does not always speak in the most dramatic way, for first there is “a mighty wind”, then “an earthquake”, then a “fire”, and we are told that the Lord was in none of these.

Finally there was “a tiny, whispering sound”. And Elijah knows a thing or two, for “as soon as Elijah heard it, he hid his face in his cloak, and he went out and stood at the opening of the cave”.

We are not told in our reading what hap-

S outher n C ross

pens next, but you can continue to read in chapter 19, and it is rather startling. The point for us, though, is that God speaks powerfully and in entirely unexpected ways.

The psalm for next Sunday is well aware of this: “I shall pay attention to what the Lord God says”, the poet sings, “for he speaks peace.” Better than that: “The Lord is near to his faithful ones.”

Then comes a lovely picture that will enable us to identify God’s speech: “Steadfast love and integrity have embraced, justice and peace have kissed; integrity shall spring from the earth, and justice shall look down from heaven.” That is the God who is still speaking to us today.

In the second reading, Paul has now finished his most difficult bits of argument in Romans, and is considering the plight of his fellow-Jews. Here God speaks in the most remarkable way, in Paul’s certainty that God has a plan for them: “I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying, and my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit.”

Do you see how conscious he is of the

presence of God? And in order to bring his fellow-Jews into God’s plan, he says (with great daring): “I should pray to be anathema from Christ, for the sake of my brothers and sisters, my kinsfolk according to the flesh.”

The point here is that God is speaking in a way that asks immense self-sacrifice of Paul, and an extraordinary openness to other people, even those who are trying to destroy him.

In the last sentence, Paul underlines how very Jewish is our Christian discipleship. Read it, and hear God speaking to you.

In the Gospel (of course) God is speaking to us in Jesus. Watch what he does, after the feeding of the five thousand. First he sends his disciples off on the boat, “while he got rid of the crowds”. Instead of joining them, however, Jesus “prays privately in the mountain”.

Meanwhile the disciples are having a tough time of it, “tormented by the waves, for the wind was against them”. Then Jesus comes (as God always does), but, strikingly enough, “walking on the sea”.

However, the disciples do not say: “That’s nice—here comes Jesus.” Instead: “They were

Angels and the human city S

bitable is: I feel, therefore, I am!

Spirituality, in virtually every major religious tradition, at least in its popular conception, has seemingly said the opposite.

Spirit has classically (and sometimes almost dogmatically) been affirmed as above the senses, as higher, superior, a needed guard against the senses.

Sensual pleasure, except for how it was occasionally honoured in the realm of aesthetics, was perennially denigrated as furtive, superficial, and a hindrance to the spiritual life.

We took St Paul’s admonition that the “flesh lusts against the spirit” in the Greek, dualistic sense where body is bad and spirit is good.

Today, in the secularised world, the opposite seems true. The senses resoundingly trump the spirit. Secularised angels, unlike the religious angels of old, take the same option as Seth. The seeming vagueness of the spirit is no match for the reality of the senses.

So which is more real?

A

t the end of the day, it’s a false dichotomy. Our senses and our spirit both offer life, both are very important, and neither operates without the other.

As Christians, we believe that we’re both body and soul, flesh and spirit, and that neither can be separated from the other. We’re both mammal and angel, and in our search for life, meaning, happiness, and God, we should not forget that we are both.

Conrad

EVERAL years ago Hollywood made a movie, City of Angels, about an angel named Seth whose job it was to accompany the spirits of the recently deceased to the afterlife.

On one such mission, waiting in a hospital, he fell in love with a brilliant young woman surgeon. As an angel, Seth has never experienced touch nor taste, and now, deeply in love, he longs to physically touch and make love to his beloved.

But this is his dilemma: as an angel with free will he has the option to let go of his angelic status and become a human person—but only at the cost of renouncing his present immortality as an angel.

It’s a tough choice: Immortality but no sensual experience; or sensual experience but with all the contingencies that earthily morality brings—diminishment, ageing, sickness, eventual death?

He chooses the latter, renouncing his status as an immortal angel for the pleasure that earthly senses can bring.

The vast majority of people watching this movie, I suspect, will laud his choice.

Almost everything in our hearts moves us to believe that it’s cold and inhuman not to make this choice. The overpowering reality of the senses, especially when in love, can make everything else seem unreal, ethereal, and second best.

What we experience through our senses, what we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell is what’s real for us. We have our own version of Descartes. For us, the indu-

Nicholas King SJ

God speaks to each of us

Sunday Reflections

disturbed, saying, ‘It’s a ghost!!’, and they cried out for fear.” Peter then acts as their spokesman, inept as ever, and when Jesus tries to reassure them with that divine self-naming, “It is I”, he wants to dictate terms: “Lord, if you are, tell me to come to you on the waters.”

He is forgetting that it is God’s prerogative to ride on the waters. However, God does not argue the toss, and Peter is told: “Come.” All obedient, Peter attempts to, forgetting that he is not God, and (inevitably) starts to sink.

Then he finds himself driven to utter a prayer, of a sort that we often hear in Matthew’s gospel: “Lord, save me.” Effortlessly, Jesus “stretched out his hand and took hold of him, and said: ‘You person of tiny faith—what is the point of your doubt?’”

God says that to us, often enough; and then we and Peter and Jesus find ourselves safely back in the boat, and worshipping Jesus: “Truly you are the Son of God.” How is God speaking to you, this week?

Southern Crossword #770

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

Our spirit is open to life only through our senses, and our senses provide depth and meaning only because they are animated by spirit.

We all know the few things that man, as mammal, can do, William Auden once wrote. He’s right, but we’re not just mammal—we’re equally part angel and once we add that to the equation then the very limited joys that mammals can enjoy (animal pleasure) can become unlimited joys for us as human in what we can experience in love, friendship, altruism, aesthetics, sexuality, mysticism, food, drink, humour. Our senses make these real, even as our spirit gives them meaning.

And so a healthy spirituality needs to honour both the senses and the spirit.

The ordinary pleasures of life can be deep or shallow, more mystical or more mammal, depending upon how much we honour what’s spirit and what’s angel within us.

Conversely, our spirituality and our prayer lives can be real or more of a fantasy, depending on how much we incarnate them in what’s sensual and what’s mammal within us.

This holds true in every realm of our lives. For example, sexuality can be deep or shallow, more mystical or more mammal, contingent on how much of it is soul and how much of it is merely sensual; just as it can be disembodied, sterile, and merely fantasy, contingent upon it also being body and not just soul.

The same is true of our experience of beauty, be that in our seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, or smelling. Any sensual experience can be deep or shallow; depending on how much soul is in it, just as any experience of beauty can seem unreal and imaginary if too divorced from the senses.

At a seminar in anthropology I attended some years ago, the lecturer said this: “What psychology and spirituality keep forgetting is that we are mammals.”

As a theologian and spiritual writer (and celibate) the truth of his words hit me hard. He’s right! How easily do we forget this in religious circles. But religious circles are right too in consistently reminding us that we are also an angel.

Poor Seth, the tormented angel of City of Angels, he shouldn’t have had to make that choice.

ACrOSS

3. Jesus is the road to God (Jn 14) (1,2,3,3) 8. The left-handed warrior (Jg 3) (4) 9. Given dice, deliberately lying (9) 10. Not carried, by the sound of it, into this world (6) 11. Number of deadly sins (5) 14. Nothing from the course is maledictory (5) 15. Rose to give you discomfort (4) 16. Goddess of the Ephesians (5) 18. Impassioned sermon from migrant preacher (4) 20. Not genuine (5) 21. Her name comes up at meal times (5) 24. A rand I spent to find a martyr saint (6) 25. Prescribe the order of the liturgical ceremony (9) 26. School of note (4) 27. It’s long-living in the garden (9)

A

DOwN

1. A grave situation (9) 2. Counting verses of a biblical chapter (9) 4. Name about the end of prayer (4) 5. Some of them even have a subject to discuss (5) 6. Commits a Deadly Sin (6) 7. Daughter of Phanuel (Lk 2) (4) 9. The ground did it before Noah disembarked (Gn 8) (5) 11. Bondsman (5) 12. An innocent statement (3,6) 13. Logical thought (9) 17. Live by observing the law (5) 19. Three persons in one God (6) 22. Intestinal punctuation?

(5) 23. Split some river apart (4) 24. Minor biblical land? (4)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

PRIEST, a minister, and a rabbi want to see who’s best at his job. So they each go into the veld, find a lion, and attempt to convert it. Later they get together.

The priest begins: “When I found the lion, I read to him from the Catechism and sprinkled him with holy water. Next week is his First Communion.”

“I found a lion by the river,” says the minister, “and preached God’s holy word. The lion was so mesmerised that he let me baptise him.”

They both look down at the rabbi, who is lying on a hospital trolley in a body cast. “Looking back,” he says, “maybe I shouldn't have started with the circumcision.”

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