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What SA can expect from 2018

BY ERIN CARELSE

T

HE Catholic Church has developed a stronger voice on political and social issues, especially through the statements by the bishops’ Justice & Peace Commission and its chair, Bishop Abel Gabuza, and in 2018 that pressure needs to be maintained, according to a Catholic political analyst.

With the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as president of the African National Congress, it has become even more possible to have a more constructive relationship and find ways of walking with government, said Mike Pothier, senior researcher for the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO).

Mr Ramaphosa now faces a complex task every bit as difficult as the one he faced 25 years ago when he led the ANC’s side in the negotiations for a post-apartheid, democratic dispensation, Mr Pothier noted.

Mr Ramaphosa has spoken out strongly against state capture and has promised to tackle corruption, address land reform, job creation, education and economic growth.

“Let’s hope that he succeeds and that he does not end up being martyred before he can complete his task,” Mr Pothier said.

The analyst doesn’t anticipate a breakaway in the ANC as a result of the elections, but further crumbling, fragmentation and infighting is a possibility.

Mr Pothier noted that there is a combination of political factors that are negatively affecting the economy.

“There is a lack of vision, a lack of direction and a lack of planning,” he said.

He predicted that Mr Ramaphosa will try to resurrect the National Development Plan, and engage with businesses and labour.

“I doubt whether it makes a difference in the short term, because our economy is beset by political and structural problems. Even if Madiba was still the president and our politics was perfect, we would still have massive unemployment because the mines are in shutdown. Our mining industry is just a declining

industry, worldwide commodity prices for things like coal and iron have been depressed, and if the Chinese economy remains relatively slow it will continue to be the case,” Mr Pothier said.

“We have these really deep structural economic problems which not even the world’s best president could solve overnight.”

While there are signs that the economy is beginning to perk up a little bit, especially in agriculture, economic problems are going to be with us for a very long time, Mr Pothier said.

However, Mr Ramaphosa’s success will help prevent the final downgrade of South African bonds to junk status. “[Rating agency] Moody’s still have us one notch above junk status, and they would probably review that in February or March.

They may say the economy is looking kind of pear-shaped, but the Ramaphosa election does have the promise of creating stability, which could prevent us from that final downgrade—which will be huge. It will mean we import much less, food prices stabilise and should continue to do so and may even come down in some respects,” he said.

If the economy begins to strengthen, with inflation remaining low, which it is, the Reserve Bank may have the confidence to reduce interest rates.

Socially, most of the signs are fairly positive, Mr Pothier said. Many of our institutions are holding up very well, with the shining star being the judiciary.

Parliament has also been reasserting itself with good work on the Eskom inquiry, the new SABC board and other interventions.

The Church, he said, should continue to focus on the poor, with massive unemployment a big problem.

“The Church has to be asking questions of government and business about how resources are applied and how they are shared, he said.

“Business sits on huge amounts of cash, Continued on page 3

Willie Lamont, vice-chancellor of the Oudtshoorn diocese, is presented with the papal Bene Merenti medal by Fr Wim Sabo in St Nicholas church. Mr Lamont, who has worked in the chancery since 1977, was only the fourth-ever recipient of the papal medal in Oudtshoorn diocese. More on page 3.

Pope to visit Padre Pio shrine

P

OPE Francis plans to mark this year’s 50th anniversary of the death of St Pio of Pietrelcina and the 100th anniversary of Padre Pio receiving the stigmata by visiting the famed Italian saint’s hometown and the paediatric oncology ward of the hospital he founded.

Pope Francis will travel to Pietrelcina, the birthplace of the saint, and San Giovanni Rotondo on March 17, the Vatican announced.

Both towns are in south-eastern Italy.

The pope will visit the children receiving treatment for cancer at the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza (House for the Relief of Suffering), before celebrating Mass outside the church of St Pio of Pietrelcina.

Padre Pio was born as Francesco Forgione in Pietrelcina in 1887. He received the stigmata—wounds on his feet, hands and side corresponding to those Jesus suffered at the crucifixion—in September 1918, two years after the Capuchin friar moved to San Giovanni Rotondo.

He died 50 years later—on September 23, 1968—at the age of 81.

Pope John Paul II beatified Padre Pio in 1999 and canonised him three years later, on June 16, 2002 Pope Francis has praised St Pio as a devoted confessor, a channel of God’s mercy and a teacher of prayer.

During the 2015-16 Year of Mercy, the

Catholic Ireland

The

A pilgrimage with Bishop Victor Phalana Feast day at shrine of Our Lady of Knock, PAPAL MASS in Dublin*, and much more * subject to confirmation

Pilgrims at San Giovanni Rotondo, the shrine of Padre Pio in south-eastern Italy.

Pope Francis will visit the shrine in March.

(Photo: Günther Simmermacher) relics of St Pio were brought to the Vatican for veneration.

“The great river of mercy” that Padre Pio unleashed, Pope Francis said at the time, should continue through the prayers and, especially, the willingness to listen and to care for others shown by members of the Padre Pio prayer groups that exist around the world.

Padre Pio, he noted, used to tell people prayer is “a key that opens God’s heart”.—CNS

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The Southern Cross, January 3 to January 9, 2018

MINISTRY

Knights brotherhood helps all in need

BY ERIN CARELSE

A

DULT men who are practising Catholics with an interest in helping those in need, serving their parish, growing in their faith and giving something back to the community are invited by the Knights of da Gama to join them in their ministry.

The Knights of da Gama Order (KdG) is a South African brotherhood of Catholic men whose aim is to encourage its members to contribute to the spread of the kingdom of Christ on earth by becoming stronger Christians.

With the support of their families, they are proactively engaged in an ongoing programme of spiritual, social and charitable works.

The order is a national organisation but also part of an international network.

When joining the Knights of da Gama, one also becomes a member of the International Alliance of Catholic Knights which has fraternal orders of knights across Africa, America, the British Isles, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

All these orders have the common aim of assisting the Church and its members to live as better Christians throughout the increasingly connected digital world.

Rob van der Walt, supreme knight of the KdG, said that “becoming a knight can change your life”.

“Before anyone commits, they should know that becoming a knight means more than simply growing friendships with likeminded Catholic men that you can count on in good times and bad,” he said.

“Presently, there are around 1 500 members who are organised into around 40 local groups, known as councils, across South Africa, and in these local councils you may participate actively in a wide variety of activities,” Mr Van der Walt said.

The Knights of da Gama Order is a South African brotherhood of Catholic men who are proactively engaged in spiritual, social and charitable works. There are about 1 500 knights across the country.

These include: • Spiritual activities within the brotherhood, which include rosaries, home Masses, corporate Masses, retreats, prayer campaigns and training to improve knowledge of the faith; • Participating with wives and family in a wide variety of social and sporting activities that range from caravanning and camping to golf, hiking, and braais at members’ homes; • Working closely with parish priests, such as by serving as a minister of the Eucharist, a reader, a collector or usher, or being active as a parish pastoral council member; • Assisting many charities, locally and throughout South Africa, by

raising funds and offering one’s time and talents, or generally providing support for the needy, for example by supporting homes for women in distress or getting involved in the various care-of-theaged projects that have been developed to assist older people to retire gracefully in an environment of proper care; • Receiving support if one is out of work, or helping fellow brothers and their families find employment; • Becoming a member of the family death benefits scheme that provides immediate cash to widows in the event of a member’s death, and gaining access to a range of insurance products at competitive rates through Knights Insurance Brokers,

the main insurers to the Catholic Church; • Attending, or helping to present, public-speaking courses given by knights to members of the order as well as to high school students, equipping them to present themselves well in their future careers and on social occasions; • Taking part in actions and campaigns of a regional and national nature in addition to the local projects a KdG council may initiate; • Assisting bishops at both diocesan and national levels, for example, with papal visits to South Africa, the Right to Live anti-abortion campaign, and other projects where help is needed; • Driving the “Put Christ Back Into

Christmas” campaign which has succeeded in making available reasonably priced Christmas cards with a real Christmas picture and message, erecting Nativity scenes in public places with banners and posters to remind everyone of the true spiritual meaning of Christmas; • Participating in the Toys for Happiness campaign that has brought joy at Christmas and at other times to less fortunate children.

The KdG “is not just a fraternity in name”, Mr van der Walt said.

“It’s a brotherhood of Catholic men who each play a part in improving the world around them, one community at a time.

“They stand together in faith, and are dedicated to upholding the principles they cherish while lending their support and strength to parish, home, and fellow knight.”

The knights’ movement globally has received papal support.

For example, Pope John Paul II, on receiving the International Alliance of Catholic Knights in a private audience, said: “I thought it was necessary to express my gratitude for all the work you are doing for the Church, to thank you for your prayers, for your loyalty to the bishops and for following the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ… especially for your fidelity to the Church.

“I would like you to know of the great confidence which is placed in you and all knights throughout the world. May God bless you and all your families.”

To join the Knights of da Gama, visit www.knightsofdagama.wild apricot.org/join and complete the form. A knight in your area will contact you for a one-on-one chat about what’s involved in being invited to join the KdG in your community. n This is the first in an occasional series on lay organisations in the Southern African Church.

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LOCAL

Sr Francis Götte, 94, (far left) a Missionary Sister of the Precious Blood, celebrated the 75th jubilee of her religious profession in the Sacred Heart Home in Ixopo, KwaZuluNatal.

Therese)

Priest: Honour altar servers T

BY SELBY MAKGOTHO

HE work of altar service is essential and must be honoured accordingly, a priest has said.

“Mass without altar servers is like a car moving without a spare wheel.

It can stop at any time. The important work done by the altar servers cannot go unnoticed,” said Fr Jimmy Mashamaite, diocesan chaplain for altar servers in Polokwane.

Fr Mashamaite was ordained in 2016 and immediately given the responsibility by Bishop Jeremiah Masela of coordinating and improving the altar service ministry in the diocese.

Officiating at the investiture of 18 altar servers in Polokwane’s Sacred Heart cathedral, Fr Mashamaite said the diocese is giving particular

attention to this ministry.

“We have had intensive training which we ran in the form of workshops aimed at ensuring that these young people take this task seriously,” he said.

He expressed hope that the young children who had accepted the call to assist priests in the cathedral were taking steps in the right direction. Parents also have a role to play, he said.

“Please make your children available to help priests,” he told parents. “We need the help of these children.”

Fr Mashamaite is an assistant priest at Matlala parish outside Polokwane. He previously did pastoral work at Sacred Heart cathedral while he was a seminarian.

Oudtshoorn layman receives papal medal

BY ERIN CARELSE

P

OPE Francis has honoured an Oudtshoorn layman for 40 years of service to his diocese with the papal Bene Merenti medal.

Willie Lamont, bookkeeper and vice-chancellor of the Oudtshoorn diocese, was presented with the papal medal in his parish church of St Nicholas by assistant parish priest Fr Wim Sabo.

Mr Lamont joined the chancery under Bishop Manfred Gottschalk in 1977. He was general assistant to the bishop’s secretary, Fr Karl Vogel SAC, who trained him in bookkeeping and office management. In 1994 Bishop Edward Adams appointed him diocesan vice-chancellor.

Mr Lamont witnessed the growth of the Church in the different parishes and towns of the diocese, saw priests and religious come and go, and attended every priestly and diaconate ordination in the diocese since 1977.

He was active in his own parish of St Nicholas where he served on the

parish pastoral council for a number of years. He also worked on a diocesan and national level with the Chiro youth movement.

“In the old days, I knew the telephone numbers and postal addresses of all the churches and convents by heart,” Mr Lamont said.

The Bene Merenti is an honour awarded by the pope to Catholics for their service to the Church. It was originally a military medal first awarded at the end of the 1700s.

Today, soldiers of the Swiss Guard, the pope’s army, receive it after completing a period of service.

“Through all these years Mr Lamont has remained dedicated and loyal, serving the local Church tirelessly,” said Bishop Frank de Gouveia of Oudtshoorn.

Mr Lamont is only the fourth person in Oudtshoorn diocese to receive the award, and the first this century.

Fr Leon Mostert, parish priest of St Nicholas, said it was the first time a pope had honoured the parish in this manner. (See front page photo.)

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Tell the story of your school

BY ERIN CARELSE

T

HE Catholic Schools Office (CSO) in Cape Town archdiocese has extended the deadline for its Bicentennial Heritage Project to January 28.

Organised in collaboration with the archdiocesan catechetical department, the project invites schools to research their history or founding mother/father, or tell the story of someone who has played a special role in the school.

The Bicentennial Heritage Project is part of the 200th anniversary of the Catholic Church in South Africa.

The project may be presented in many ways: an interview with a “wisdom figure” about the history of their community; an essay or report sharing their school’s story or a chapter in the life of their school; a poem or song which captures the spirit of

the history of their school; a picture, collage, photographic album or visual timeline which tells the story of their community; an essay titled “If these walls could speak”.

Individuals or groups can enter.

Entries will be judged under the categories of group, individual, junior

(foundation phase), intermediate phase, senior phase and FET. All entrants and participating schools will receive a certificate signed by Archbishop Stephen Brislin. The best three entries in each category will be photographed and featured in the Archdiocesan News and Catholic Education News. The winners will be invited to an awards ceremony over which Archbishop Brislin will preside, and receive a cash voucher/book prize.

A large number of posters, essays, poems, and projects have already been submitted, the CSO said.

They tell the story of Catholic education in the archdiocese. These will be displayed at the annual teachers’ Mass on January 25. n Submission can be made via e-mail to the Catholic Schools Office at admin.cso@telkomsa.net

What S. Africa can expect in 2018 Continued from page 1 and this is available cash which they could—and perhaps would— invest in building factories and importing equipment if they had political stability and certainty,” Mr Pothier said.

“The Church needs to be saying that on the one hand it understands that attitude but on the other it does not serve the common good of South Africa,” he said.

One of the moral responsibilities

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of business is to invest back into the common good and the community.

“Business needs to be much more orientated towards solving social problems in terms of job creation and training, passing on skills, trying to deal with inequality,” Mr Pothier said.

He referred to Pope Francis’ statement to a group of Latin American politicians in December that politics should be “first of all, a

service. It is not the slave of individual ambitions, of the arrogance of factions or interest groups. It’s a service of sacrifice and dedication, to such a point that at times politicians can be considered as ‘martyrs’ of causes for the common good of their nations.”

“2018 will still be a difficult year for most,” Mr Pothier said, “but I do foresee improvements, and in the long run these will affect the country positively.”

Deputy Principal Primary School

CBC Mount Edmund invites applications for the following position which will be available from 1st April 2018. Applications are invited from suitably qualified and experienced individuals who believe they have the required skills and competencies to take on this position.

The requirements of the position: • A proven track record of leadership and management within a primary school.

• Must have the appropriate academic and professional qualification.

• Excellent interpersonal skills with staff, learners and parents.

• Good communication skills.

• Promote high standards in the management of all aspects of the primary school.

• Have a proven record of innovation, commitment and professionalism.

• Understand, identify with and contribute to the Catholic ethos and values of the school.

• Proof of registration with SACE. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to reside on the college campus.

Interested candidates should submit a detailed CV as well as a covering letter motivating their suitability for this position.

• Details of three(3) contactable referees are to be included.

• All applications are to be emailed to headmaster.pa@cbcpretoria.co.za • Closing date: Tue, 30 January 2018.

CBC Mount Edmund is an equal opportunity employer. Only suitably qualified and experienced applicants will be considered. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. CBC Mount Edmund reserves the right not to appoint should a suitable candidate not be found.

An application will not in itself entitle the applicant to an interview or appointment and failure to meet the minimum requirements of the advertised post will result in applicants automatically disqualifying themselves from consideration.

4

The Southern Cross, January 3 to January 9, 2018

INTERNATIONAL

Vatican’s rules for relics

BY CAROL GLATZ

O

NLY relics that have been certified as authentic can be exposed for veneration by the faithful, according to a new Vatican instruction.

Published in Italian by the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, the instruction clarifies and details the canonical procedures to be followed by local bishops in an effort to verify the authenticity of relics and the mortal remains of saints and blesseds, as well as better guarantee a relic’s preservation, approve and track its movements, and promote its veneration.

The instruction replaces the appendix, “Canonical Recognition of the Mortal Remains of the Servant of God”, included with Sanctorum Mater, the congregation’s “Instruction for Conducting Diocesan or Eparchal Inquiries in the Causes of Saints”, released in 2007.

The new instruction outlined the specific procedures and personnel necessary for the canonical recognition of the authenticity of the relics or remains of a saint or anyone on the path to sainthood.

It also specified that any action taken regarding the relics or remains must also conform with local government laws and have the consent of the saints’ congregation and the person recognised as the deceased’s “heir”.

In the case of an upcoming canonisation or beatification, some small pieces or fragments already separated from the body can be re-

Fouad Twal, then-Patriarch of Jerusalem, inspects damage to the Church of the Multiplication from the June 18, 2015 arson attack. (Photo: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)

A woman venerates a relic of St Jacinta Marto. The Vatican has released new rules on what constitutes an authentic relic worthy of veneration.

(Photo: Gregory Shemitz/CNS) moved and later given to the postulator or vice-postulator for placement in a properly sealed reliquary, the instruction said.

But “the dismemberment of the body is not allowed” unless the bishop has obtained permission from the saints’ congregation, it said.

The sale or trade of relics remains “absolutely prohibited” as well as exposing them in “profane” or unauthorised locations, it said.

Some of the rules also include: • Rigorously avoiding any sign of veneration for the remains of a

servant of God or venerable before beatification.

• Obtaining written consent from the congregation and every bishop or proprietor that would be involved in the moving of, in transferring the ownership of, or in the pilgrimage of any relics and mortal remains of the saints and blesseds.

• Getting the consent of the saints’ congregation, the relevant patriarch and his permanent synod for the alienation or transfer of ownership of relics and precious icons of the Eastern churches.— CNS

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Israeli radical jailed for attack on church

A

N arson attack on the church complex at the site of a miracle

by Jesus on the Sea of Galilee has resulted in prison time for the perpetrator.

Yinon Reuveni, 23, was sentenced to four years in prison and fined 50 000 shekels (R180 000), Agence France Presse reports. He had been convicted in July of aggravated arson and two counts of criminal conspiracy. Charges against an alleged coconspirator were dropped.

He is from Baladim, an illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank. He is reported to be a Jewish extremist.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported

that when he was indicted for the attack, his charge sheet stated that “Reuveni has extremist views. He sees Christians as idol worshippers and their destruction as a mitzvah” (religious duty).

Mr Reuveni’s lawyer contended that the sentence was too harsh and he planned to appeal.

The arsonist started a fire at the Benedictine church of the Multiplication in Tabgha, located 200km north of Jerusalem, on June 18, 2015. The church is built on the site where Christ fed the 5 000 through the multiplication of loaves and fishes.—CNS

German churches buffer refugees

BY DALE GAVLAK

S

ITTING on the bare pavement outside a Catholic church, an Afghan refugee woman, dressed in a bright floral headscarf, calls out plaintively to passersby, begging for coins.

It’s a scene repeatedly played out in the German capital Berlin, overwhelmed by refugees fleeing war, persecution and economic deprivation in the Middle East and Africa.

But at Christmastime and beyond, Catholic and Protestant churches have been doing what they can to help those struggling and in need.

For the past quarter of a century, St Christopher Catholic church has continuously provided sanctuary to refugees fearing deportation while their asylum claims are considered by German authorities. The most recent people it housed escaped conflict in Syria, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka.

Such sanctuary, known as church asylum in Germany, is

St Christopher church in Berlin provides sanctuary to refugees fearing deportation while their asylum claims are considered by German authorities. (Photo: Dale Gavlak/CNS) providing temporary protection for some 600 refugees currently who do not have legal residence, in effect placing the Church between the refugees and the pub-

lic authorities and safeguarding them until their legal cases can be heard and considered.

While most German Church members say they support providing sanctuary to refugees, Michael Haas, coordinator of refugee work in the Catholic archdiocese of Berlin, said that some parishes are fearful of the practice because it falls into a kind of grey area of the law. It also requires financial resources and manpower to provide the care.

Still, he said, the “Church, bishops, congregations and the government in Germany have agreed that there might be a mutual trust and that the Church will not abuse the system of church asylum”.

Churches, he said, have agreed to use sanctuary in “very few and particular cases after a thorough legal check”, while there appears to be a tacit agreement that the government “would not deport such cases without first having a second look at the application”.—CNS

Controversial Cardinal Law dies

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ARDINAl Bernard Law, who had been one of the US’ most powerful and respected bishops until his legacy was blemished by the devastating sexual abuse of minors by priests in his archdiocese of Boston, died on December 20 in Rome at the age of 86.

Before the abuse scandal forced his resignation in 2002, Cardinal Law had been a leading Church spokesman on issues ranging from civil rights to international justice, from abortion to poverty, from CatholicJewish relations and ecumenism to war and peace.

He was born on November 4, 1931, in Torreon, Mexico, and graduated from Harvard University in Massachusetts, before entering the seminary in 1953.

He was ordained a priest of the diocese of Jackson, Missis-

sippi, in 1961.

After serving two years as an assistant priest, he was made editor of the Mississippi Register, the diocesan newspaper. A civil rights activist, he joined the Mississippi Leadership Conference and Mississippi Human Relations Council. He received death threats for his strong editorial positions on civil rights in the Mississippi Register.

In 1973 Bl Pope Paul VI named him bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and Pope John Paul II made him archbishop of Boston in January 1984 and the following year made him a cardinal.

After his resignation from the Boston archdiocese following the investigation by the Boston Globe, Pope John Paul appointed Cardinal Law in 2004 to be the new archpriest of the

Cardinal Bernard Law basilica of St Mary Major, one of the four major basilicas of Rome.—CNS

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, January 3 to January 9, 2018

Pope’s plans for 2018

BY CINDY WOODEN

F

OREIGN trips, a focus on the rights and needs of migrants and refugees, and a Synod of Bishops dedicated to young people are all on the 2018 calendar for Pope Francis.

His activities and the passions that drive them are familiar by now.

In fact, March 13 will mark the fifth anniversary of his election as pope.

Pope Francis, now 81, is beginning 2018 with a focus on Mary and on migrants and refugees.

In both his messages for the January 14 celebration of World Day of Migrants and Refugees and for World Peace Day on January 1, Pope Francis urged Catholic involvement in the drafting of the UN global compacts for migrants and for refugees.

Approving the development of the compacts in September 2016, “world leaders clearly expressed their desire to take decisive action in support of migrants and refugees to save their lives and protect their rights”, the pope said in his message.

He urged Catholics to get in-

volved by lobbying their governments to include in the compacts proposals that would ensure the welcome, protection, promotion and integration of migrants and refugees.

Although work on the compacts suffered a setback when the United States announced in early December it was pulling out of the process and would not be a party to the accords, the United Nations hopes to have a draft of the documents ready by February. Late in 2018, the UN General Assembly will hold a conference to adopt the compacts.

On January 15, Pope Francis will set off for a six-day visit to Chile and Peru.

As is his style, the trip will include meetings with government authorities and large public Masses, but also a visit to a women’s prison and to a home for children at risk.

Vatican officials have said it is almost certain Pope Francis will travel to Dublin in late August for the World Meeting of Families; on the same trip, he is likely to be the first pope to visit Northern Ireland.

Vatican officials have also confirmed that a September trip to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia is under consideration. And they do not rule out an earlier trip, perhaps to Africa.

One month of the pope’s calendar is already booked solid. The Synod of Bishops focusing on young people and their vocations will be held at the Vatican from October 328. In preparation for the bishops’ gathering, the Vatican has asked bishops' conferences around the world to nominate young people to attend a pre-synod gathering from March 19-24 in Rome.

The fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ papacy also means 2018 is the fifth anniversary of his international Council of Cardinals and the effort to reform the Roman curia.

2017 ended without a clear indication of when a document presenting a global vision of the curia and each of its offices would be ready.

Perhaps that is what Pope Francis wants for 2018.—CNS

Pope to journalists: Don’t lie

BY CAROL GLATZ

P

EOPLE need factual and trustworthy news that avoids sensationalism and whipping up heated reactions, Pope Francis said.

It is important the press not be “constantly at the mercy of easy slogans or improvised information campaigns, which show the intention of manipulating reality, opinions and people themselves, often creating worthless ‘media dust storms,’” he told members of the press.

“Your voice—free and responsible—is fundamental for the growth of any society that wishes to call itself a democracy, so that the continuous exchange of ideas and a fruitful debate based on real and correctly reported information may be guaranteed,” he said.

The pope spoke with members of the Italian Periodical Press Union and members of the Italian Federation of Catholic Weeklies, which represents nearly 200 Catholic newspapers.

He praised in particular the value, necessity and effectiveness of Catholic weeklies, which he said require “a renewed commitment” from priests and the whole Church community, and “kind attention from public authorities”.

The Catholic press can be a useful tool of evangelisation, Pope Francis said. It is a place where the life of the Church can be “validly expressed”

and where members of the Church can “dialogue and communicate”.

To work at a Catholic weekly means to listen to the local Church, to live close to the people, and “above all to interpret events in the light of the Gospel and the teaching of the Church. These elements are the ‘compass’ of its particular way of doing journalism, of reporting the news and expressing opinions”.

However, all members of the press—Catholic and secular—have one of the most important tasks in today’s world: “To inform correctly, to offer everyone a reporting of the facts that conform as closely as possible to reality” and to make complex problems and issues accessible to the most people possible.

The problem, he said, is that the current situation is often dominated by overanxious speed, a drive to sensationalise to the detriment of offering a precise and complete story, and purposely whipping up emotions rather than fostering thoughtful reflection.

Given this situation, he said, “there is an urgent need for reliable information, with facts and news that have been verified”, that does not aim for shock value or playing with people’s emotions, “but rather sets its sights on fostering healthy critical thinking in readers, enabling them to ask appropriate questions and reach well-reasoned conclusions”.

Vatican to study Aussie abuse report

T

HE Vatican, noting the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse’s “thorough efforts”, said their 17-volume final report “deserves to be studied seriously”.

The final report was released last month after five years of hearings.

Among its 400 recommendations, 20 were aimed specifically at the Catholic Church, whose leaders spent three weeks in February testifying at a “Catholic wrapup”.

Several of the recommendations related to the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference working with the Holy See to change the Code of Canon Law “to create a new canon or series of canons specifically relating to child sexual abuse”.

One recommendation was for the Australian bishops to work with the Holy See to determine if the absolute secrecy concerning matters discussed during confession also applies to a child confessing he or she has been abused sexually. The re-

port also said the Church should consider if “absolution can and should be withheld” if a person confesses to perpetrating child sexual abuse.

Archbishop Fisher, like most of the Australian bishops who testified to the commission, said in a statement he was “appalled by the sinful and criminal activity of some clergy, religious and lay church workers and I’m ashamed of the failure to respond by some Church leaders, and I stand ready to address any systemic issues behind this”.

Several of the commission’s recommendations aimed at improved screening and formation for religious.

The commission also recommended the Vatican retain for at least 45 years documents “relating to canonical criminal cases to allow for delayed disclosure of abuse by victims and to take account of the limitation periods for civil actions for child sexual abuse”.—CNS

“There is an urgent need for news that is communicated with serenity, precision, completeness,” clarity and thoughtfulness and in a way that favours “fruitful reflection” and rejects amplifying a discussion that is strident, ambiguous and insinuating, he said.

The people’s right to information must be “scrupulously respected”, together with protecting all people’s dignity, he said.

“We must not fall prey to the ‘sins of communication’: disinformation, that is, giving just one side of a story; slander, which is sensationalistic; and defamation,” which is dredging up and shining a spotlight on things from the past that are outdated or have been dealt with or overcome, he said.

“They are very grave sins, which damage the heart of the journalist and harm people,” he said.

Pope Francis said: “For all these reasons it is, therefore, desirable that everyone’s commitment to ensuring the existence and vitality of these periodicals is not lacking,” and that the jobs and dignified pay for people working in this field are protected.— CNS

5

Gianni Crea, the clavigero or key keeper for the Vatican Museums.

Meet the key keeper of Vatican Museums

BY HANNAH BROCKHAuS

‘I

WILL give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven,” Jesus told St Peter, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.

Gianni Crea, as the clavigero—or key keeper—of the Vatican Museums, has a slightly different job. Beginning at 5:30 every morning, he traverses the dark and quiet halls of the Vatican, opening the more than 300 doors in the “Museums of the Pope”.

As the senior key keeper, Mr Crea oversees nine other key keepers and is responsible for managing 2 797 keys. These keys unlock the 300some gates and doors of the public spaces of the museums—passed through by thousands of people per day—as well as other various maintenance rooms, closets and personnel spaces.

The most important key of all— that of the Sistine Chapel—is kept not on the ring with the others, but in a white envelope.

“For me this is a unique and extraordinary privilege,” Mr Crea said.

“I have the opportunity to open these doors to all the tourists who come from all over the world to the museums of the pope, but especially the Sistine Chapel, the seat of the conclave since 1492.”

Possibly the most famous chapel in the world, the Sistine Chapel is where the College of Cardinals convenes to cast their ballots during a papal election. The room’s ceiling frescoes, painted by Michelangelo,

depict the story of creation, the Last Judgment, and other Old and New Testament stories.

In the “the Museum of Museums”, each of the more than 300 doors has its own unique key, which the key keepers learn by heart. Some doors themselves are impressive, such as door “401”, whose key is from the 1700s, the oldest on Mr Crea’s keyring.

Starting every morning at the “Atrium of the Four Gates”, Mr Crea meets his colleague Alessio, selects the right set of keys, and the two proceed with their course.

Five key keepers turn on the lights and unlock the doors of the museums every morning, walking over 3km of the total nearly 7km length of the Vatican Museums.

The route “is unique and extraordinary because each door and each key has its charm and its secret that it reveals to the world”, Mr Crea said. “The Vatican Museums are so fascinating and so beautiful that in each corner you discover something, each corner has its own peculiarity.”

His path takes him past many famous works and galleries, including the Laocoön, which was the first statue acquired by the Museums in 1506, and Caravaggio’s “The Entombment of Christ”.

Passing through the Gallery of Statues, Mr Crea said “Each statue ‘speaks’ about history; each statue has something different and fascinating to tell.”—CNA

“Here I am Lord” Cell: +27 72 769 7396, or +27 83 471 6081 E-mail: vocation.office@dehonafrica.net www.scj.org.za

6

The Southern Cross, January 3 to January 9, 2018

LEADER PAGE 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.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Culture determines our images

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

What we pray for in 2018 T

A

S we are getting used to the figure 2018 on our diaries, we are called to pray for the many social and political crises, existing and potential, that afflict our country and the world.

In South Africa we are facing further economic decline which will turn up the heat on socio-economic problems while the kleptocracy presided over by Jacob Zuma is looking to force through a corrupt order for a nuclear reactor which we really do not need when alternatives to energy generation present better value and even economic growth potential.

The new leadership of the African National Congress offers little succour, tainted as it is by last month’s election into key positions of ethically compromised individuals.

We pray that wisdom and courage will prevail within the judiciary, civil society and politicians of goodwill to counter the plunder of our struggling economy, and that the people will use the available democratic means of expressing their frustrations.

Droughts are hitting many areas of South Africa hard. Water shortages not only affect our agriculture, with a knock-on effect on food prices, but could also lead to social unrest. Scandalously, the effect of the drought could have been alleviated but for political manipulation and incompetence. We pray for good rains and wisdom in managing the crisis.

We pray that Zimbabwe will see light after the long darkness of the past 20 years of Robert Mugabe’s rule.

We pray for peace throughout Africa, especially in troublespots like South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Kenya, Libya, and the Greater Sahel and Lake Chad Basin.

We also pray for peace in the Middle East, where Saudi Arabia is spoiling for war with Iran (as are the United States and Israel) and other countries in the region, aside from its relentless assault on Yemen. The conflicts in Syria and Iraq have simmered down but a new crisis will erupt with the move towards Kurdish independence, which could draw Turkey into a protracted war.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump’s reckless declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, against all international conventions, has ramped up conflict there, with dozens of Palestinians already shot dead by Israeli soldiers. Our prayer must be that the deadlock to a peaceful solution to the conflict will soon be broken.

We also pray that world leaders will treat the threats posed by North

Korea, which is ruled by an immature and dangerous politician, with greater acumen and seriousness than President Trump, whose approach to the crisis draws from the standard of diplomacy found in primary school grounds.

We pray that political leaders will become ever-more proactive in reducing the threats posed by climate change.

While Mr Trump has betrayed future generations by withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement, other countries have made real headway in reducing carbon emissions. May their example serve as a beacon to other nations.

The past year has seen a revolution in counteracting the sexual exploitation of women, at least in the West.

We pray that this marks only the beginning of the fight against gender inequality and sexual violence worldwide.

The scandal of open slave-trading in Libya has moved the scourge of human trafficking into the spotlight. The phenomenon is global, and a big problem in South Africa, too. We pray that greater public awareness and engagement will force governments and law enforcement to take increasingly effective measures against the trafficking in human beings.

As always, we pray for persecuted Christians everywhere, especially in India, where there has been a spike in violence against them by Hindu extremists, and in Nigeria and Egypt, where Christians are being murdered by so-called Islamic terrorists.

As Catholics, we always pray for our pope and the bishops of our Church, that they may lead us with wisdom and love.

We pray for our priests, and in this year of the Synod of Bishops on the youth, we pray in a special way for our young Catholics and for increased vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

We also pray that the Church’s witness on behalf of those on the periphery, especially migrants and the poor, will help change hardening hearts.

As always, we pray that the readers, associates, promoters, pilgrims, contributors, friends and supporters of The Southern Cross may have a peaceful and grace-filled 2018.

And we ask for your prayers for The Southern Cross and other Catholic media, that the social communications apostolate will receive the enthusiastic support from our bishops, our priests and our laity, so that the Good News may be spread in the name of our Lord.

SISTERS OF NAZARETH

HE picture on the front page of the Christmas edition of The Southern Cross (December 13) is nostalgic and beautiful, but can all Christians throughout the world identify with it?

If one is of European descent, it harks back to the era of the Renaissance, the art thereof adding its own particular flavour to Christianity. It also captivates the essence of a newborn child, which includes (or should include) babies of all cultures.

The late Fr Bonaventure Hinwood OFM has given us food for thought in his reasoning of reading scripture: “Does the text represent history, prophecy, poetry, a religious novel, wise norms for practical living, or some other way of thinking and speaking?

What was the writer saying to people of his own time and culture?”

Two very clear things stand out regarding Jesus’ birth: it was

Fertility industry without ethics

W

HEN couples unite in marriage it follows that they are open to having children in participation in God’s creation.

It is thus understandable that they agonise much when one spouse is afflicted with sterility.

It is difficult for the believer to discern what to do when medical terms and reproductive technologies such as IVF, surrogacy, sperm banks, cloning and embryo splitting, which purport to offer hope in the area of fertility, are not found or explained in the Bible.

But Our Lord did not leave us alone to decide on matters of faith, morals and doctrine. He left us a teaching authority, the Church.

The Church teaches that research aimed at reducing sterility is to be encouraged “on condition that it is placed at the service of the human person, of his inalienable rights, and his true and integral good according to the design and will of God”.

It says it is morally unacceptable if the identity and life of the embryo is entrusted and “determined” by the power of the doctor or biologists in a laboratory.

Sperm donation and techniques that involve another person, such as surrogacy, “infringe the child’s right to be born of a mother and father bound to each other in marriage and known to him”.

Since the practices of IVF and cloning require a number of sperm and ova for cultivation and fertilisation, many of the “spare”

miraculous and it took place in a stable.

Is it not possible the writer(s) of the Gospel were, firstly, exemplifying the miracle of procreation itself and secondly, alluding to two of their greatest heros, King David and Moses, both shepherds at some stage during their lifetimes.

If that is the case, the writer(s), being Jewish (we presume), are only concerned about Jewish history which goes back to the patriarch Abraham who lived about 4 000 years ago. Yet, “modern” human history goes back 200 000 years.

In fact, scientific analysis has shown all human beings on our planet originated from an African “Eve”, and furthermore, this venerable woman could well have belonged to the Khoi or San people of southern Africa.

In later times, these unfortunate people were driven from 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

embryos can be exploited as “biological waste material”.

The fertility industry has become a multi-million-dollar enterprise the world over. Those who desire parenthood can now “choose” the children they want by evaluating long checklists of the various traits of the donors.

When the ethics surrounding embryo storage and selection are left in the hands of agencies and individuals who have the power to manipulate and change matter, who knows what they can create with human embryos?

When someone “donates” an egg or sperm, they give away all their rights as a parent and they give the blueprint of their complete “being” to a biologist or agency that can do whatever it wishes with the “gift”.

The Church encourages spouses who suffer from sterility to seek legitimate medical procedures that do not negate their marriage and the conjugal act of husband and wife within marriage as ordained by God. Couples who are open to life as ordained by God should pray

their hunting areas by migrating Bantu cattle herders from the north and then decimated by early European settlers.

It is interesting to note that the Khoi called their god “HeitseEibib” and saw him in the red of the dawn which they held to be the blood of the wounds he had incurred in his everlasting battle in overcoming the darkness of the night.

This theme was resurrected many thousands of years later by early Christians and it spread quickly into eastern and western Europe via Constantinople and Rome respectively.

The San, our (almost) forgotten brothers and sisters, paved the way for all humankind to inhabit the planet. They braved the lions, hyenas and other wild creatures, never mind malaria-carrying mosquitos and other airborne diseases, to enable us to have life.

And history proves we didn’t treat them with Christian love.

Patrick Dacey, Johannesburg

for openness to adoption too. St Joseph, Jesus’ dad, is an example of someone who accepted Mary and her son Jesus to become his son too through adoption.

God wills some good for everything he has made, but he does not will all the same goods and not all possible goods to creatures of the same kind.

A child is not owed to anyone, but is a gift from God. Not having a particular gift does not in any way reduce or negate God’s immense love for everyone.

Henry Sylvester, Cape Town

Using the word ‘temptation’

P

OPE Francis has said that the Catholic Church should get a better translation of “Lead us not into temptation”.

My reply has been taken from The Unvarnished New Testament by Andy Gaus: “...and do not put us to the test but snatch us from the Evil One’s clutches. Let it be so.”

Adrian Kettle, Cape Town

Faith and the maths of cosmos

‘R

ELIGIOUS faith provides man with the arithmetic of the cosmos…a means to harmonise oneself with the mysterious universe in which one finds oneself.

“Without that arithmetic, we are idiots living in bedlam.”

(Quotation from The Navigator

by Morris West) Judith Leonard, Knysna

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Church stands with women

BY ERIN CARELSE

T

HE Justice and Peace Commission (J&P) of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has partnered with UN Women through its HeForShe campaign and is working with J&P activists from various dioceses to take a stand against women abuse.

The HeforShe gender-equality programme, which was launched at the UN in September 2014 by the executive director of UN Women, former South African DeputyPresident Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, aims to engage both men and boys in removing the social and cultural barriers that prevent women and girls from achieving their potential.

J&P is working with six Catholic women—three from Pretoria and three from Mpumalanga—who have decided to take action against the rape problem in their communities.

“The women accompany rape survivors from the moment of reporting the case at the police station to the conclusion of the case in court. They have received the training necessary to do the accompaniment, and they have also assigned a social worker who mentors and coordinates their work,” said Fr Stan Muyebe OP, director of J&P. Currently, the paralegals are accompanying 40 women who are rape survivors and are in various stages of the court process.

They operate in partnership with police stations: Rietgat and Soshanguve police stations in Pretoria, as well as Masoyi and Matsulu police stations in Mpumalanga.

The Matsulu police station, in appreciation of the work by the paralegals, has created a furnished office for them to use. In their work, the paralegals also influence a change in the way the justice system handles rape cases.

The

Fr Muyebe said that before their intervention, there was a lot of police and perpetrator harassment during bail applications, and long turnover periods. As a result of the intervention, these have been addressed in the four police stations and magistrates’ courts.

“Protection orders are now being enforced against perpetrators who are out on bail and are fast-tracked. Most are now concluded within eight months. Rape cases have had very low conviction rates, but this is also changing. Last year, eight cases were concluded in the project’s field of activity, resulting in convictions,” he said.

To ensure conviction, they monitor the collection of forensic evidence and prepare to be quality witnesses in court.

Loss of police cooperation is an ongoing problem, sometimes as a result of corruption. In 2017, the J&P group handled ten cases of missing police dockets (six in Pretoria and four in Mpumalanga). In one case, they received threats when they exposed the corruption and the missing of a police docket.

Social pressures add to the problem.

“In some areas in Mpumalanga, there is pressure on rape survivors not to report their cases to the police. Sometimes, traditional leaders put pressure on the women to have cases dealt with in the family and in the traditional courts where such cases are subjected to mediation as an alternative to litigation. This problem has not yet been resolved,” Fr Muyebe explained.

J&P has started an informal discussion with the chief magistrate of Mpumalanga to explore the possibility of entering into a memorandum of understanding with traditional leaders. The memorandum would place a moral obligation on traditional leaders to refer all rape cases to the police and the courts.

Continued on page 3

Firefighters and La Befana—an imaginary woman who according to Italian folklore bring gifts to children on Epiphany Day—slide down from the terrace above the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. The Epiphany is usually celebrated on January 6, which this year is on a Saturday. In the Southern African region the feast is transferred to the nearest Sunday, which is on January 7. See next week’s issue for an explanation of the feast of the Epiphany, what it means and how it is celebrated in other countries. (Photo: Maurizio Degl’ Innocenti, EPA/CNS)

Don’t look for pope on WhatsApp

BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

W

HILE the thought of receiving a blessing by text from Pope Francis could have millions of mobile users glued to their smartphones, the Vatican spokesman said that isn’t his style.

Commenting on false media reports, spokesman Greg Burke has confirmed that Pope Francis doesn’t use the instant messaging platform WhatsApp. “He does not send messages or blessings through this medium,” he said.

The Pope Francis Foundation, a Catholic organisation in Argentina, this month announced the launch of “Wabot-Papa Francisco”, a chatbot that allows users to contact the pope and keep up-to-date with his schedule, reported the Argentine newspaper La Nacion.

The foundation said the chatbot would respond to users’ queries through texts, images, video, audio and documents.

“You can also have a simulated chat with His Holiness. Wabot technology allows the entire Catholic community or people of any other faith to interact with the pope,” the foundation claimed.

The pope, the organisation added, “is a technological man, he believes that technology can help many people and understands that it is the future of communications”.

S outhern Cross

in association with the Diocese of Klerksdorp

Feast day at shrine of OUR LADY OF KNOCK, 17-28 PAPAL MASS in Dublin*, August 2018 and much more...

Pope Francis uses a tablet in 2016 but has called himself “a disaster with machines”.

(Photo: L’Osservatore Romano) In his 2016 World Communications Day message, Pope Francis acknowledged that emails, text messages, social networks and chats can be “fully human forms of communication”.

Despite his favourable attitude towards new forms of communication, the pope has also admitted that he is “a dinosaur” when it comes to technology. During a Google Hangout conversation with youths in 2015, the pope said: “I’m a disaster with machines. I don’t know how to work a computer.”

It is said, however, that the pope personally authorises tweets sent out on his hugely popular Twitter account.—CNS

CATHOLIC IRELAND A pilgrimage with Bishop Victor Phalana

For information contact Gail at 076 352-3809 or info@fowlertours.co.za * subject to confirmation

www.fowlertours.co.za/ireland

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PERSPECTIVES

Was Jesus black?

W

AS Jesus black? What did Jesus even look like? And does it matter?

These questions, and others, came up repeatedly in conversation and on social media over the Advent and Christmas seasons. How Jesus and the Holy Family is represented in art and in Nativity scenes shouldn’t matter, yet it does—a lot.

The idea that Jesus looked like a central European is self-evidently wrong. He was a Semite from what we now call the Middle East. His skin was more or less swarthy, his hair dark, his eyes brown.

Donald Trump would have denied Jesus entry into the United States.

But the idea that “Jesus was black” is equally false, if by black we mean that he had African features. His skin might have been darker than that of the Roman occupiers, but Semites are classified (that awful terminology) as Caucasian.

Does it matter what digits Jesus would have had in his “Book of Life” under apartheid? Essentially, it doesn’t.

Jesus is the Incarnation; God made Flesh. God has no colour, no race, no ethnicity, no caste, no gender. We all are made in his image, which means God has no image. And if God has no image, then it is immaterial what colour, race or ethnicity one might ascribe to Jesus.

But that is only one side of the story.

When people say “Jesus was black”, they are saying at least two valid things.

Firstly, Jesus was black in as far as he knew oppression. He lived in a time of Rome’s brutal occupation of Palestine. It was a Roman colonialist governor who had him executed, at the behest of the colonialists’ puppet authorities. It was Rome’s stooge, King Herod, who wanted the new-born Jesus dead.

Jesus knew about social oppression as a member of a struggling underclass.

Jesus’ life has more in common with the experiences of the world’s people of colour with their indigenous roots in Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas than it has with contemporary whites who, generally, inherit much greater social, political and economic privileges.

This does not, in itself, invalidate the faith of white Christians, of course. You can be privileged and also be a genuine follower of Christ. But it does serve as a call to those in positions of social, political and economic privilege to consider

Jesus as somebody who did not have these privileges—as a member of the oppressed—and be in solidarity with those stand against inequality.

Prejudice predicated on race, ethnicity or economic class is prejudice against the historical Jesus (and, obviously, it’s sinful and therefore an offence against God).

Those pious white Christians in the US with their red caps who want to keep out people from the Middle East are agitating against Jesus himself, in very real terms.

And they can do so only if they believe that Jesus was white. Saying “Jesus was black” declares that Jesus does not “belong” only to white Christians.

S

econdly, “Jesus is black” is also a reaction to the predominant representation of him as a white, European man.

That image is the result of what we now call inculturation, the process by which we adapt the symbols and certain practices of our faith to make it relevant to various cultural contexts. In Europe, therefore, Jesus would have been presented in art to look like everybody else in Europe.

So it was a big deal when in the 1600s the Dutch painter Rembrandt used a young Sephardic Jew to model for Jesus’ face in a painting.

Generally, however, Jesus was inculturated as a white man because to the localised audiences in Europe—those who were catechised by publicly displayed art-

John baptises Jesus in a detail of a 1970s artwork from the “Jesus Mafa” project in Cameroon.

Günther Simmermacher

Point of Reflection

works—that made sense.

But as the art of the European master painters spread throughout the world, the pale-faced Jesus and rosy-cheeked Mary became the normative image, even in cultures where people are not particularly pale-faced and rosy-cheeked.

It was the same with the image of God as an old Caucasian with a white beard: the European standard image for wisdom and authority. That’s why it was so subversive when the black actor Morgan Freeman was cast to play God in the 2003 comedy film Bruce Almighty.

Of course, there are powerful examples of the inculturation of images outside Europe. For example, the Mexican peasant Juan Diego described his apparition of Our Lady in Guadalupe in 1531 as being Aztec in appearance.

In my office is an artwork of the Ascension from the “Jesus Mafa” art project in Cameroon from 1973, in which Jesus and the disciples are depicted as Africans, and the Gospel stories are presented in an African context.

The intent of the project, which produced an abundance of beautiful artworks, was to help the Mafa people of northern Cameroon teach the Gospel in a way that the community could connect with. Why shouldn’t Jesus be black, or any colour, when the Incarnation transcends all biological and social markers?

“Jesus was black” is not so much a historical observation—it would be an incorrect one—as an attempt to make him more universal than the general narrative claims. It is a legitimate pursuit.

So, what did Jesus look like? The gospels don’t tell us because it isn’t important. I looked at what history can reveal about that question in an article published in The Southern Cross a couple of years ago (www.scross.co.za/2015/04/ jesus-face/).

With some imagination we can cast Jesus, the Holy Family, the disciples and all the other people in the Gospel by looking at the Palestinian people, and especially the Christian Palestinians who are the descendants of the original followers of Christ.

It will matter what Jesus looked like until we get to a point where we can simply see Jesus in one another.

See the jewels on black velvet T AKE a look at the night sky. It is vast and dotted with balls of burning gas as scientists would put it.

I prefer to be more romantic and call them stars or, as the nursery rhyme puts it, diamonds.

Christmas is a magical time. It is always an opportunity for me to reflect on how stars for millennia have been used as a compass, a source of making dreams come true, and even sorcery.

But now and then the sky is full of exhaust fumes and cigarette smoke. Anyone who has entered Johannesburg at sunset will notice a brown haze that sits on the city’s horizon. Despite this, I maintain the hope that behind the clouds and methane gas are stars that point to something greater.

Advent ceded to the stocking-up of mince pies, tinsel and candy canes. All of these form part of every family’s growing list of Christmas “essentials”. It just would not be Christmas without custard, malva pudding and a wish-granting, overweight man called Santa Claus.

Indeed children around the country and perhaps the world have been dragging their parents to toy shops. They beg, plead and in some cases demand and command their loving mothers and fathers to buy them the latest in Marvel Comics action figures and anything with “Star Wars” on it.

But those of us who don’t have to worry about small children haven’t been safe from the Christmas apocalypse either. One must plan very carefully before embarking on any Christmas shopping journey. It is a perilous and pricey expedition. Then there are presents to be wrapped and cooking recipes to be “stolen”.

Among the best of shoppers, there is widespread talk of “The Battle of The Trolleys”.

This usually arises when one has the

Nthabiseng Maphisa

Pop Culture Catholic

A starry sky. In her column, Nthabiseng Maphisa reflects on the hope she gets from looking at the stars. misfortune of choosing to shop at a time when the malls are overcrowded. You cannot find parking. You drive up floor after floor in the parking garage to eventually find a parking spot a marathon’s length away from the entrance.

After said marathon you enter the mall and are greeted by a sea of fully-packed trolleys and screaming children. With precision you plough your way through and, with the exception of bumping into an elderly man and knocking over an icecream cone, you have successfully arrived at the supermarket of your choice.

Y

ou are now ready to begin the search for your stuffed chickens, mayonnaise and the crowd-pleasing box of “choice assorted” biscuits.

But what’s this? Where are all the trolleys? “They’re all gone,” they say. In frustration you grab a basket. But wait!

What’s that standing alone in the distance by the produce? It’s empty and abandoned. You put both hands on the handles and begin to push it away. Just then a stern voice is heard behind you.

“That’s my trolley,” she says. As a defence you feign deafness and pretend not to hear her and continue to walk.

It’s a war out there. Don’t say I didn’t tell you.

Despite the retail chaos, humanity has not completely lost the plot when it comes to Christmas. The trees and light poles were lined with little bulbs that light up in the evening and turn the streets into a model of the night sky. It is dark, black and holds in its arms every twinkling and glittering constellation.

I feel bad for those who have become so consumed with the errands of the day that they have not taken the time to lift their heads and count the white threads in God’s own tapestry. They sit like jewels in a black velvet box.

God chose a star to point to his own son, so they must be worth pondering.

Vincent van Gogh understood this. His famous painting “The Starry Night” was inspired by God’s condescension to our level.

This coming down to humanity, this advent of a king, brings a few wise men to follow a star all the way to the Christ child, an event we celebrate in the feast of the Epiphany. How brightly it must have glowed. How illuminated was the sky back then. “Star of wonder, star of night, star with royal beauty bright”.

As the new dawn of 2018 has broken, our hearts are braced for new beginnings.

A new sky is set before us. Just as the Southern Cross shines brightly across its ebony backdrop, so will there be people who will shine a light on our dark world.

It is my hope that despite the “clouds” and the various forms of “pollution”, humanity will be able to see these stars.

The Southern Cross, January 3 to January 9, 2018

7

Mphuthumi Ntabeni

The Public Square

How 2018 will be SA’s watershed year

D

IVISION and corruption shall be the legacy of Jacob Zuma’s reign over our country.

But the decision to announce free tertiary education for households with joint incomes below R350 000 a year is the right one.

Even if Mr Zuma was motivated by political expediency or to salvage his irredeemable legacy, it does not mean the decision was wrong.

The argument about where the money will come from is, frankly, disingenuous in a country where the top 1% earners take home 17% of all income; the top 10 earn 60%; and the top 1% own 67% of the country’s wealth, giving the country a wealth Gini coefficient of 0.95—the worst in the world.

It is also a betrayal for a country with the highest deposits of mineral wealth in the world to not have a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).

Such a fund would not only serve equitable wealth distribution but also provide a national kitty that could easily fund quality education and health system as well as the country’s infrastructure.

In light of the recent Steinhoff scandal, which exposed corruption within our private financial sectors, perhaps it must be emphasised that an SWF should be run by a composition of personnel from the academic institutions, retired judges, government and fund managers. The Norwegian model is the best to follow.

T

he markets reacted positively to the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as the new president of the African National Congress just before Christmas. But this does not mean South Africa’s woes are gone. Even if the ANC decides to recall Mr Zuma and he is prosecuted for the charges pending against him, we’ll still find that this wouldn’t be enough to bring us back from the precipice.

It might be good for the morale of the country but it wouldn’t solve its economic woes, especially the scourge of inequality that is threatening to be the country’s downfall.

The year 2018 is going to be a watershed moment with our country probably going to enter a full socio-economic crisis. The free education will go far in letting off the steam, especially from the #FeesMustFall movement which in conjunction with a serious socio-economic crisis might turn into what is already been termed as the Mzantsi Spring.

Mr Ramaphosa has promised what he calls a “New Deal”. This sounds good if it indeed will be some form of a Marshall Plan—especially for our youth, the ticking time-bomb.

The widespread practice in Africa is to use the unemployed youth for political purposes, even forming them into political factional militia when things flare up. It is only a matter of time before someone employs a similar strategy in our country. The populist tone of the Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma campaign was slowly leaning towards this. We would be foolish to think that we’ve heard the last of that group.

If the Ramaphosa leadership gets things wrong we shall quickly be back to square one, with a vengeance.

From his January 8 statement—the annual address to mark the founding of the ANC—we shall get a better idea about the details of his New Deal, and how (if) they propose to solve our problems.

Something tells me that winning the party presidential race is going to look like a walk in the park compared to the task of solving our economic fix.

The solutions are not in the sky, but they require a collective effort that is not limited to the ANC alone. Mr Ramaphosa needs to call for an Continued on page 11

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The Southern Cross, January 3 to January 9, 2018

The Catholic Women’s League of Our Lady of Fatima parish in Durban North puts up a Nativity scene at the Durban North library each year.

COMMUNITY

Odile Davids (in the white Tshirt) and her husband Howard of Holy Redeemer parish in Bergvliet, Cape Town, hold a Christmas party for children from the Diep River and Steurhof areas each year.

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Holy Trinity church in Olifantsfontein, Midrand, celebrated the First Communion of (from left) Jane Nkonyane, usiphile Hadebe, Lucricia Mohlala and Kagiso Mashatole. Fr Mathibela Sebothoma said the special Mass.

(Submitted by Jeanette Joalane M Lesisa)

Fr Stan Botha blessed Reggie and Carol Diedericks on their 50th wedding anniversary at Mass in Our Lady of the Annunciation parish in Milnerton, Cape Town. The couple are flanked by their best man and bridesmaid. (Photo: Clarissa Witten)

St Anne’s Sodality members met at Our Lady of Loreto parish in Kempton Park, Gauteng, for a speech by St Anne’s national president Yvonne Skosana, and gathered for a photo after the event.

The St Vincent de Paul Society held a national meeting in Johannesburg.

Seen here are the society’s board members and the central council presidents of all its regions.

Secular Carmelites Joan Ashby and Ligia da Silva made their definitive promises in the Discalced Carmelite Order.

Fr Mari Joseph OCD celebrated the Eucharist. To know more about the Secular Carmelites, contact spiritual director Fr Arvin Tauro OCD on 061 692 4270.

Contact us: Tel 041 373-0039 / Mobile 074 376-5833 / Email retreat@catholic-pe.co.za

Grade 3 Catholic girls at Holy Rosary School in Edenvale, Johannesburg, received their First Communion at St Therese parish.

St Ninian’s parish in Kuils River, Cape Town, celebrated the confirmation of 21 young adults

by Archbishop Stephen Brislin.

The First Communion class of 2017 at Maria Regina parish in Centurion, Pretoria archdiocese, are seen with Fr Patrick and Fr Kevin Reynolds, who celebrated the Mass, and catechists Margaret Naude and Carlos Camara.

The Southern Cross, January 3 to January 9, 2018

LIFE

9

How Church can help save the world The world is running out of resources, capitalism is failing and climate change is creating new crises.

Now is the time for action, and Pope Francis has given us a blueprint, suggests ANTONIO TONIN.

T

HE spirit of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ needs to infuse the thinking, planning and implementation of all present and future activities, to achieve the injunction: Caring for Our Common Home, for the benefit of all mankind.

This spirit does already permeate the existing religious and charitable institutions which provide support and succour to the poor, elderly, sick, refugees, trafficked men, women and children, and the disadvantaged of this world.

On a very practical level Laudato Si’ makes it abundantly clear that humankind, although the most highly developed and intelligent species on earth, is nevertheless a very integral and interdependent part of the environment.

It must therefore have the humility to realise that the uncontrolled exploitation of the earth’s

resources, and resultant destruction of the environment, will eventually lead to the demise of these resources—and mankind as well.

To live peacefully and sustainably in a forever limited environment would mean a complete overhaul of the world’s neo-liberal free market economic system which is controlled by the corporate world. The indisputable reality is that the environment is the real economy, and limited—without it nothing can exist.

The companion reality is that science has not yet managed to overcome the impossibility of squeezing two litres out of a onelitre container. The earth and all its resources are limited, and it is therefore impossible to extricate any more when a particular resource is exhausted.

The traditional economic system of only labour, resources and profit is no longer sustainable.

It took the mother of two young children to stand conventional economics on its head and produce a paradigm shift in economic thinking—one that would result in the most humane, compassionate, sympathetic, understanding philosophy of the equitable, sustainable provision of the necessities of life for both the environment and all living creatures.

A new economy Known as Doughnut Economics, it is shown visually as the typical doughnut with an inner and outer circle with a hole in the middle.

The inner circle encompasses the social foundations that every human is entitled to: water, food, health, education, income and work, peace and justice, political voice, social equity, gender equality, housing, networks and finally energy.

Between the two circles lies the safe and just space for humanity, supported by the regenerative and distributive economy.

These are encompassed by the ecological ceiling, beyond which lies an overshoot of pressure on Earth’s life-giving systems, such as through climate change, ocean acidification and chemical pollution, and so on.

The Doughnut Economics model was developed by Kate Raworth, an associate of Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute and of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership “Put simply, it’s a radically new compass for guiding humanity this century. And it points towards a future that can provide for every person’s needs while safeguarding the living world on which we all depend,” she says.

“Below the Doughnut’s social foundations lie the shortfalls in human wellbeing, faced by those who lack life’s essentials described above.

“Beyond the ecological ceiling lies an overshoot of pressure on Earth’s life giving systems, such as through climate change, ocean acidification and chemical pollution. But in between these two sets of boundaries lies a sweet spot— shaped unmistakably like a doughnut—that is both an ecologically safe and socially just space for humanity,” she says.

“The 21st-century task is an unprecedented one: to bring all of humanity into that safe and just space.”

The implementation and practice of Doughnut Economics worldwide, which encompasses the philosophy of Laudato Si’, would be one of the most powerful sources of good humankind has ever known.

What Catholics can do

St Francis’ “Canticle of Creation” is represented in Lanciano, Italy.

As Catholics we need to set the pace of change by immediately and actively engaging with first of all Catholics on local and diocesan levels, and then nationally both government and the private business community, to assist in the mindset change required to establish an economic system which will be sympathetic to people and the environment, and will ensure

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People in Durban protest for the environment. In his article, Antonio Tonin proposes to use Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’, as the basis for a Catholic response to all that is destroying the world and humanity. (Photo: Siphiwe Sibeko, Reuters/CNS) a dignified, sustainable future for all.

It is important to bear in mind that the situation which we and the environment find ourselves in, has been seriously developing for at least two centuries, and has accelerated at an ever-increasing speed since the end of World War II. In 1972 the Club of Rome—an association of world, civic and business leaders committed to peace—in conjunction with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, published their seminal report “Limits to Growth”. This looked at various scenarios that were likely to happen if uncontrolled economic expansion were to be left unchecked. A lot of these scenarios are now very serious fact, with the resultant irreversible diminution of resources.

This is all further compounded by the effects of accelerating climate change.

All the above indicates the extremely urgent worldwide action that is needed, and I will submit that if we are to meet the goals of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030—which all nations have agreed to and signed for— then we must treat our possible drastic human condition as if we are expecting very soon a cataclysmic disaster the likes of which humans have never experienced in living memory.

There are only 12 years left to implement and progress to a successful result the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and at the same time hold the average global temperature rise to 1.5°C. I suggest that from now on the Catholic Church uses the philosophy of Laudato Si’ as the umbrella under which all our institutions operate, that the laity become equal partners in all activities, and that the clergy and hierarchy pro-

vide the spiritual guidance that will underpin all activities.

Plan of action That process may initially start by establishing diocesan and parish entities of Caritas, as is planned by the Southern African bishops. Let us pray for Bishop Duncan Tsoke, who has been tasked with spreading Caritas to all levels of the local Church, that the Holy Spirit will endow him with all the strength and wisdom he needs in taking on this very important mission.

Thereafter we would need to spread our influence among other denominations.

To be constantly aware of our country’s progress towards meeting its commitment to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, we would need to have copies of all the programmes the government has put in place.

This would serve the twofold purpose of us working in conjunction with the various government departments and assist us in addressing the particular projects that are within our area of operation.

For the next step it will be necessary to spread the message of Laudato Si’ to schools and universities throughout the country.

Finally we would need to approach all other institutions and associations such as the financial and banking sectors, commerce and industry, recreational bodies and NGOs to spread the message inherent in the missions of both Laudato Si’ and Caritas Internationalis.

We need to rediscover our real need for being on this earth, and for this we need to look deeply into our souls, with the constant help of the Holy Spirit. n Antonio Tonin is a member of Holy Spirit parish in East London.

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The Southern Cross, January 3 to January 9, 2018

FAITH

The traditions and mystery of Epiphany On January 7 this year, the Church in Southern Africa celebrates the feast of the Epiphany (transferred from January 6). ADELAIDE MENA explains what the Epiphany is all about.

W

HILE the hustle and bustle of Christmas ends for many people on December 26, throughout Christian history Christmas has lasted for twelve days—all the way until January 6.

This feast marking the end of Christmas is called the Epiphany, which in the Southern African Church and many other countries is transferred to the nearest Sunday—this year on January 7—overlapping with the rest of the Western Church’s celebration of the Baptism of Christ.

In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, Epiphany celebrates the revelation that Jesus was the Son of God. It focuses primarily on this revelation to the Three Wise Men, but also in his baptism in the Jordan and at the wedding at Cana.

The Baptism of Christ by Cima da Coneglianom in 1492, in the church of Giovanni Battista in Bragora in Venice, Italy. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher)

In the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church, Theophany—as Epiphany is known in the East— commemorates the manifestation of Jesus’ divinity at his baptism in the River Jordan.

The meaning of the feast goes deeper than just the bringing of presents, as is the tradition in Eastern Churches, or the end of Christmas, said Fr Hezekias Carnazzo, a Melkite Catholic priest and founding executive director of the US Institute of Catholic Culture.

“You can’t understand the Nativity...without Epiphany.” The revelation of Christ as the Son of God—both as an infant and at his baptism—illuminate the mysteries of the Christmas season, he said.

“Our human nature is blinded because of sin and we’re unable to see as God sees,” he explained.

“God reveals to us the revelation of what’s going on.”

Origins of Epiphany While the Western celebration of Epiphany (which comes from Greek, meaning “revelation from above”), and the Eastern celebration of Theophany (meaning “revelation of God”), have developed their own traditions and liturgical significances, these feasts share more than the same day.

“The feast of Epiphany, or the feast of Theophany, is a very, very early feast” in the history of the Church, said Fr Carnazzo. “It predates the celebration of Christmas on December 25.”

In the early Church, Christians—particularly those in the East—celebrated the advent of Christ on January 6 by commemorating the Nativity, the Visitation of the Magi, the Baptism of Christ and the Wedding at Cana all in one feast of the Epiphany.

By the 4th century, both Christmas and Epiphany had been set as separate feasts in some dioceses. At the Council of Tours in 567, the Church officially set both Christmas Day and Epiphany as feast days on December 25 and January 6, respectively, and named the twelve days between the feasts as the Christmas season.

Over time, the Western Church separated the remaining feasts into their own celebrations, leaving the celebration of the Epiphany to commemorate primarily the Visitation of the Magi to see the newborn Christ on January 6.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Churches’ celebration of Theophany celebrates Christ’s baptism and is one of the holiest feast days of the liturgical calendar.

Scouts march during a celebration of the Eastern-rite Christmas on the feast of the Epiphany in the West Bank town of Bethlehem’s Manger Square, opposite the church of the Nativity, which marks the birthplace of Jesus. (Photo: Abed Al Hashlamoun, EPA/CNS)

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Catholic Epiphany traditions The celebration of the visitation of the Magi—whom the Bible describes as learned wise men from the East—has developed its own distinct traditions throughout the Roman Church.

As part of the liturgy of the Epiphany, it is traditional to proclaim the date of Easter and other moveable feast days to the faithful—formally reminding the Church of the importance of Easter and the Resurrection to both the liturgical year and to the faith.

Other cultural traditions have also arisen around the feast.

Dr Matthew Bunson, a Catholic theologian and historian, noted the “rich cultural traditions” in Spain, France, Ireland and elsewhere form an integral part of the Christmas season for those cultures.

In Italy, La Befana brings sweets and presents to children not on Christmas but on Epiphany. Children in many parts of Latin America, the Philippines, Portugal, and Spain also receive their presents on “Three Kings Day”, as the feast of the Epiphany is called in many countries.

Meanwhile, in Ireland, Catholics celebrate “Women’s Christmas”— where women rest from housework and cleaning and celebrate together with a special meal.

Epiphany in Poland is marked by taking chalk—along with gold, incense and amber —to be blessed at Mass. Back at home, families will inscribe the first part of the year, followed by the letters, “K+M+B+” and then the last numbers of the year on top of every door in the house.

The letters, Dr Bunson explained, stand for the names traditionally given to the wise men— Kasper, Melchior and Balthazar—as well as for Polish initials of the Latin phrase “Christus mansionem benedicat” (meaning “Christ, bless this house”).

In nearly every part of the world, Catholics celebrate Epiphany with a Kings Cake: a sweet cake that sometimes contains an object like a figurine or a lone nut. In some locations the lucky recipient of this prize either gets special treatment for the day, or they must then hold a party at the close of the traditional Epiphany season on February 2.

These celebrations, Dr Bunson said, point to the family-centred nature of the feast day and of its original celebration with the Holy Family.

The traditions also point to what is known—and what is still mysterious—about the Magi, who were the first Gentiles to encounter Christ.

While the Bible remains silent about the wise men’s actual names, as well as how many of them there were, we do know that they were clever, wealthy and, most importantly, brave.

“They were willing to take the risk in order to go searching for the truth, in what they discerned was a

monumental event,” he said, adding that the Magi can still be a powerful example.

Lastly, Dr Bunson pointed to the gifts the wise men brought—frankincense, myrrh and gold—as gifts that point not only to Christ’s divinity and his revelation to the Magi as the King of Kings, but also to his crucifixion.

In giving herbs traditionally used for burial, these gifts, he said, bring a theological “shadow, a sense of anticipation of what is to come”.

Eastern importance Fr Carnazzo explained the significance of the feast of the Theophany—and of Christ’s Baptism more broadly—within the Eastern Catholic churches.

“In our Christian understanding in the East, we are looking at creation through the eyes of God, not so much through the eyes of Man,” Fr Carnazzo said.

In the feast of the Baptism of the Lord there is special divine significance.

With this feast day, the priest explained, “God has come to reclaim us for himself”. Because of original sin, humanity has inherited “a human nature which has been dislocated from its source of life”, he said.

“What Jesus did was to take our human nature and do with it what we could not do—which is, to walk it out of death, and that’s exactly what he did with his baptism.”

As it is so linked to the destruction of death and reclaiming of life, the feast of Theophany is also very closely linked to the Crucifixion— an attribute that is reflected in Eastern iconography of both events as well.

The feast of the Theophany celebrates not only Christ’s conquering of sin through baptism but also God’s revelation of Christ as his Son and the beginning of Christ’s ministry. “The Baptism of the Lord, just like the Nativity, is not just a historical event—it’s a revelation,” Fr Carrazzo said.

To mark the day, Eastern Catholics begin celebrations with Divine Liturgy in church, which includes a blessing of the waters in the baptistry. After the water is blessed, the faithful drink the water, and bring bottles of water to take back to their homes for use—and not only for physical but spiritual healing, he explained. Many parishes hold feasts after liturgy is over.

In many Middle Eastern cultures, people also fry and eat awamat, a dough that is fried until it floats and then is covered in honey.

During the Theophany season, priests also try to visit each home in the parish to bless the house with holy water that was blessed at Theophany.

Fr Carrazzo said he invites all Roman Catholics to come and “be part of a family”, and join in celebrating Eastern Catholic traditions.—CNA

CLASSIFIEDS

Fr Giancarlo Mittempergher CSS

S

TIGMATINE Father Giancarlo “Charles” Mittempergher, previously of Pretoria and Botswana, died in Italy on December 11 at 76.

Fr Mittempergher was born in Trento, Italy, on January 18, 1941. He made his first Stigmatine profession as a 17-year-old on September 25, 1958.

He came to St John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria for his theology studies together with his childhood friend, the late Fr Lino Vinco CSS. Both were ordained in Mmakau, Pretoria, on December 4, 1966. So when Fr Mittempergher died, he had been a priest for a remarkable 51 years and seven days.

In the late 1970s Fr Mittempergher was part of pioneer training of permanent deacons in Pretoria archdiocese. He would again be a pioneer in Botswana in the late 1990s when he trained the first group of permanent deacons in Gaborone diocese.

In the same period, he became the editor of Stigmatine Publications, working on the famous Stigmatine hymnal, A Re Rapeleng, and the parish bulletin.

In 1984, Fr Mittempergher became a formator for the Stigmatine temporary professed Brothers and went to live at St

Peter’s Seminary in Hammanskraal, near Pretoria. There he taught Latin to the seminarians.

In 1986 a Stigmatine Scholasticate was opened in Wildwoods, Pretoria North, and he became the formator and director.

In 1992, Fr Mittempergher took a sabbatical in Rome and dedicated that period to research and study, after which he wrote and published the diary of the Stigmatines’ founder St Gaspar Berton, called Memoriale privato.

In 1993, he became a novice master in Jericho, on the outskirts of Pretoria. In the same year, the Stigmatines were opening a new mission in Gaborone West. The superiors were already

How South Africa needs fixing Continued from page 7 economic indaba that involves all stakeholders (political parties, business, academic institutions, faith and civic organisations, and so on). The terms of reference should be how to: • Broaden access to quality education.

• Effectively tax our 1% wealthowners and 1-10% highest-income earners for equitable redistribution, and find effective ways of fighting illicit money transfers.

• Provide a universal basic income grant and scrap the social grant system.

• Put in place laws and regulations that promote economic growth and decent work creation that do not thwart our labour laws. The German model with workers sitting on company boards is attractive.

• Have a solid industrial plan that will revive our manufacturing sector, especially in traditionally underprivileged areas, by giving zero company tax in those areas.

Community Calendar

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

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

Perpetual adoration Chapel at Good Shepherd parish, 1 Goede Hoop St, Bothasig, wel-

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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.

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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.

talking about moving the novitiate to Botswana.

Fr Mittempergher went to Botswana in 1995 to start a novitiate in Notwane. He would be a novice master there for ten years.

In 2005, he was asked by the congregation’s superior-general to go and open a new Stigmatine mission in Sacramento, California. He spent seven years there as a parish priest.

In 2013, on Fr Mittempergher’s return from the US, he was asked again by the superiorgeneral to start a new programme for young Stigmatines in Verona, Italy, called AIFA. He completed that mandate two years ago. He was then busy helping the superior-general with translations during the canonical visits in the Englishspeaking provinces of the congregation.

Fr Mittempergher was in Tanzania with the superior-general in July 2017 on a canonical visit, and they were meant to come to South Africa; but he fell ill and they had to return to Rome.

He never recovered. On Monday, December 11, he took the last journey towards eternity and passed on to the next life.

By Fr Patrick Rakeketsi CSS

Our bishops’ anniversaries This week we congratulate: January 11: Bishop Peter Holiday of Kroonstad on his 66th birthday

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 792. ACROSS: 1 Saga, 3 Official, 9 Adamant, 10 Tasty, 11 Confessional, 13 Twenty, 15 Appeal, 17 Economically, 20 Aroma, 21 America, 22 Treasure, 23 Byre. DOWN: 1 Staccato, 2 Grain, 4 Fetish, 5 Introspected, 6 Instate, 7 Lays, 8 Palestinians, 12 Playmate, 14 Enclose, 16 Impair, 18 Laity, 19 Tact.

Liturgical Calendar Year B – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday January 7, Epiphany of the Lord Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalms 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13, Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6, Matthew 2:1-12 Monday January 8, Baptism of the Lord Isaiah 55:1-11 or 1 John 5:1-9, Responsorial psalms Isaiah 12:26, Mark 1:7-11 Tuesday January 9, St Aidan of Canterbury 1 Samuel 1:9-20, Responsorial psalms 1 Samuel 2:1, 4-8, Mark 1:21-28 Wednesday January 10 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 1920, Psalms 40:2, 5, 7-10, Mark 1:29-39 Thursday January 11 1 Samuel 4:1-11, Psalms 44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25, Mark 1:40-45 Friday January 12 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22, Psalms 89:16-19, Mark 2:1-12 Saturday January 13, St Hilary 1 Samuel 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1, Psalms 21:2-7, Mark 2:13-17 Sunday January 14,2nd Sunday of the Year 1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19, Psalms 40:2, 4, 7-10, 1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20, John 1:35-42

The Southern Cross, January 3 to January 9, 2018

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FatHER in heaven, everliving source of all that is good, keep me faithful in serving you. Help me to drink of Christ's truth, and fill my heart with his love so that I may serve you in faith and love and reach eternal life. In the sacrament of the

Eucharist you give me the joy of sharing your life. Keep me in your presence. Let me never be separated from you and help me to do your will.

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. tHaNkS be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, For all the benefits thou hast won for me, For all the pains

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and insults thou hast borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother, May I know thee more clearly, Love thee more dearly, And follow thee more nearly, For ever and ever.

PaRENtS FOR CHIlDREN—O Jesus, lover of children, bestow your most precious graces on those whom you have confided to our care. Increase in them faith, hope and charity. May your love lead them to solid piety, inspiring them with dread for sin, love of work and an ardent desire of worthily approaching your holy table. Preserve in them innocence and purity of heart; and if they should offend you, grant them the grace of a prompt and sincere repentance. From your tabernacle watch over them day and night; protect them in all their ways. Grant that they may acquire the knowledge that they need to embrace the state of life to which you have called them.

Grant us a sincere love, constant vigilance and generous devotedness towards them. Grant us all consolation on earth and eternal reward in heaven.

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the

2nd Sunday of the Year: January 14 Readings:1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19, Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-10, 1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20, John 1:35-42

S outher n C ross

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EXT Sunday we start back, after all the excitement of Advent and Christmas, in “ordinary time”. And how are we to handle it? By paying close attention to what the Lord may be saying to us, according to the readings of the day. This is a God who runs very close to us, and is speaking all the time, if only we listen.

This is the message of the first reading; the boy Samuel has gone off to boarding school, and is learning a good deal, as he sleeps in the temple at Shiloh. He hears the voice of God, “Samuel”, and answers, as a well-trained boy should, “Here I am.”

Then he rushes to the prophet Eli, the nearest source of authority. This happens three times, and Eli tells him: “I did not call—go back to sleep.” Eventually the old man realises that it is God who is calling, and tells Samuel (and there is a lesson here for us) what to say: “Speak Lord; for your servant is listening.”

Then his prophetic life can continue, like ours, and the narrator tells us: “And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and he did not let any of his words fall to the ground.”

The psalm for next Sunday knows all about this interaction between God and the servants of God: “I waited, I waited for the Lord”, the psalmist sings, “and he bent down to me and heard my cry, and he put a new song in my mouth, a hymn to our God.” The only thing that matters is not religious activity (“holocausts and sin-offerings you do not want”), but “an open ear”. And our part, like Samuel’s, is to sing: “Here I am…to do your will is my delight, my God.” That is what, in the second reading, Paul is wanting his Corinthians to learn, to recognise what God is asking of them.

They lived in a city where if you had a sexual itch you were expected to scratch it; apparently some of them had actually bought into this unhealthy practice.

Paul has to tell them: “The body is not for whoring but for the Lord—and the Lord is for the body.”

From this it follows that “the one who sticks to the Lord is one spirit” (here he is making a powerful contrast between casual sexual intercourse and belonging to God).

Paul emphasises that “your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in you…so glorify God in your body”.

The point is that in absolutely everything we do God is there, and we shall go horribly wrong if we do not recognise it.

The Gospel finds us still in the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry; and we watch in amazement as two disciples of John the Baptist listen to their master as he points away from himself to Jesus: “Look! The Lamb of God”, and (if we understand it correctly), “they heard him speaking [like the boy Samuel in the first reading] and followed Jesus [in other words, became his disciples]”.

Then comes an important moment, as Jesus turns and speaks (for the first time in this Gospel), and asks: “What do you want?”

They ask a question that could be ours: “Rabbi, where do you stay?” And the answer is an invitation to all who hear and read this gospel: “Come—and you will see.”

They obey “and they stayed with him for the rest of that day—it was about four in the afternoon”.

How we get God wrong W

Fear of divine punishment and fear of hellfire, admittedly, can be effective as a motivator.

So why not preach fear? Because it’s wrong, pure and simple. Brainwashing and physical intimidation are also effective, but fear is not the proper fuel for love. You don’t enter a love relationship because you feel afraid or threatened. You enter a love relationship because you feel drawn there by love.

More importantly, preaching divine threat dishonours the God in whom we believe.

The God whom Jesus incarnates and reveals is not a God who puts sincere, goodhearted people into hell against their will, on the basis of some human or moral lapse which in our moral or religious categories we deem to be a mortal sin.

F

or example, I still hear this threat being preached sometimes in our churches: If you miss going to church on Sunday it’s a mortal sin, and should you do that and die without confessing it, you will go to hell.

What kind of God would underwrite this kind of a belief? What kind of God would not give sincere people a secondchance, a third one, and seventy-seven times seven more chances if they remain sincere? What kind of God would say to a person in hell: “Sorry, but you knew the rules! You’re repentant now, but it’s too late. You had your chance!”

A healthy theology of God demands that we stop teaching that hell can be a

Conrad

HY don’t we preach hellfire anymore? That’s a question asked frequently today by a lot of sincere religious people who worry that too many churches and too many priests and ministers have gone soft on sin and are overgenerous in speaking about God’s mercy.

The belief here is that more people would come to church and more people would obey the commandments, particularly the sixth one, if we preached the raw truth about mortal sin, God’s wrath, and the danger of going to hell when we die.

The truth will set you free, these folks assert, and the truth is that there is real sin and that there are real and eternal consequences for sin.

The gate to heaven is narrow and the road to hell is wide. So why aren’t we preaching more about the dangers of hellfire?

What’s valid in this kind of reasoning is that preaching about mortal sin and hellfire can be effective. Threats work. I grew up subjected to this kind of preaching and readily admit that it had a real effect on my behaviour.

But that effect was ambivalent: On the positive side it left me scared enough before God and life itself to never stray very far morally or religiously. On the negative side, it also left me religiously and emotionally crippled in some deep ways.

Simply stated, it’s hard to be intimate friends with a God who frightens you, and it’s not good, religiously or otherwise, to be overly timid and afraid before life’s great energies.

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Sunday Reflections

Then the focus becomes more precise: “Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of those who heard from John and followed [Jesus].”

This now turns into a job (as listening to the voice can also do for us): “[Andrew] first finds his own brother Simon, and tells him, ‘We’ve found the Messiah (which in translation is “Christ”).’ ” And the story does not end here, for “he brought him to Jesus”—this is something that we can find happening to us, if we start listening to the voice.

The rest is up to Jesus, of course; in this case, very strikingly, we hear that “Jesus looked hard at him and said, ‘You are Simon, the son of John. You are going to be called Kephas (which in translation is “Rock”).’ ” That of course, is only the beginning of a life that changed utterly. All kinds of remarkable things are possible if we shall only listen to the voice that is speaking to us all the time.

Southern Crossword #792

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

nasty surprise waiting for an essentially good person. The God we believe in as Christians is of infinite understanding, infinite compassion, and infinite forgiveness.

God’s love surpasses our own and if we, in our better moments, can see the goodness of a human heart despite its lapses and weaknesses, how much more so will God do this. We’ve nothing to fear from God. Or, have we? Doesn’t scripture tell us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”? How does that square with not being afraid of God? There are different kinds of fear, some healthy and others not. When scripture tells us that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, the kind of fear it is talking about is not contingent upon feeling threatened or feeling anxious about being punished. That’s the kind of fear we feel before tyrants and bullies.

There is, however, a healthy fear that’s innate within the dynamics of love itself.

This kind of fear is essentially proper reverence; that is, when we genuinely love someone we will fear being selfish, boorish, and disrespectful in that relationship.

We will fear violating the sacred space within which intimacy occurs.

Metaphorically, we will sense we’re standing on holy ground and that we’d best have our shoes off before that sacred fire.

Scripture also tells us that when God appears in our lives, generally the first words we will hear are: “Don’t be afraid!” That’s because God is not a judgmental tyrant but a loving, creative, joy-filled energy and person. As the French writer Léon Bloy reminds us: “Joy is the most infallible indication of God’s presence.”

The famous psychiatrist Fritz Perls was once asked by a young fundamentalist: “Have you been saved?” His answer: “Saved? Hell no! I’m still trying to figure out how to be spent!”

We honour God not by living in fear lest we offend him but in spending the wonderful energy that God gives us to help life flourish.

God is not a law to be obeyed, but a joyous energy within which to generatively spend ourselves.

ACrOSS

1. Heroic tale has again appeared here (4) 3. Church executive with authority (8) 9. First man with odd tan is resolute (7) 10. How Eve found the fruit to be (5) 11. Priest is enclosed in it (12) 13. Score, but not yet a majority (6) 15. Make supplication (6) 17. Frugally find a lonely comic (12) 20. Fragrance of a romantic story (5) 21. Camera I get from this country (7) 22. Pirate’s chest (7) 23. Where cows are kept in nearby religious house (4) Solutions on page 11

DOwN

1. Cato’s cat will play the notes separately (8) 2. In general, it’s corn (5) 4. He’s fit to have a fixation (6) 5. Detect pro-sin involvement, having examined your conscience (12) 6. Put the bishop in his office (7) 7. Songs not sung by the clergy? (4) 8. They are at home in the Holy Land (12) 12. Stage production companion (8) 14. Keep in the cloister (7) 16. Weaken little devil atmosphere (6) 18. Group that sings 7 down? (5) 19. Diplomacy (4)

CHURCH CHUCKLE

J

ESUS, Moses, and an old bearded guy were playing golf. On the first tee, Moses angled his ball into a lake. He parted the water and hit his ball onto the green.

Jesus teed off, hitting his ball into another water hazard. But he walked on water and stroked his ball just short of the cup.

Then the old man with the beard stepped up. He hit the ball with tremendous force, but hooked it badly. The ball bounced off the clubhouse roof and rolled down a hill into a pond. A frog picked up the ball, then an eagle swooped down, snatched the frog, and flew over the green. The frog dropped the ball, and it rolled into the cup for a hole in one.

Moses turned to Jesus and said: “I hate playing golf with your dad.”

LENT IN THE

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