180314 by The Southern Cross

The

S outher n C ross www.scross.co.za

March 14 to March 20, 2018

Oscar Romero, Paul VI set for sainthood

Page 5

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

Pope Francis’ special way with words

Page 10

No 5075

LENT

prepare the way of the lord

R8,50 (incl VAT RSA)

St Peter can teach us how to return to God

Page 7

Township anger over water crisis BY BRONWEN DACHS

ITH severe restrictions on water usage in drought-stricken Cape Town, poor communities feel a strong sense of injustice, which needs to be addressed, said a parish priest in one of the city’s oldest black townships. There is a “a lot of anger, with people in informal settlements saying, ‘We grew up using small bowls of water to wash ourselves; this is nothing new,’” said Jesuit Father Rampe Hlobo of St Mary’s church in Nyanga. Water restrictions in Cape Town, which has been battling to keep its taps flowing following a three-year drought, make it compulsory for the city’s 4 million residents to use no more than 50 litres per person per day. City officials estimate that informal settlements use just 5% of the city’s water. “The amount of water that the poor use is a fraction of that used by those in the suburbs who have washing machines, dishwashers and other appliances,” Fr Hlobo noted. In the black townships and informal settlements, “there is a feeling that ‘it is you rich people who have finished the water, and now you want us to share the consequences’”, he said. Cape Town have lived for months under the threat of a “Day Zero”, the supposed date on which the municipal taps would be switched off and residents would start lining up for their daily litre rations. Thousands of residents already line up every day to collect fresh water from a natural spring in the suburb of Newlands, to supplement their quotas. In preparation for Day Zero, which has now been postponed indefinitely, people in affluent areas of the city have been putting in rainwater tanks and stocking up on purchased water, but “poor families cannot afford to do this”, Fr Hlobo said. “I very rarely see anyone in a township drinking bottled water,” he said, noting that “Day Zero will bring with it the threat of street protests and violence” in this situation of inequality.

The

People queue to collect water from a spring in Newlands, Cape Town. With severe restrictions on water usage, poor communities feel a strong sense of injustice, which needs to be addressed, said a township parish priest. (Photo: Mike Hutchings, Reuters/CNS) The threat of running out of water has also led to an increased awareness, mostly among young people, of the need to care for the environment, Fr Hlobo said. He noted that about 200 people attended a February workshop he conducted at St Gabriel’s church in Gugulethu to help people understand Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home. “We are learning lessons the hard way as we live the consequences of not taking care of the environment,” the priest said. While car-washing businesses are still thriving in Cape Town’s informal settlements, where a few communal taps typically provide water for several hundred people, people in the townships who ran similar businesses from their own backyards have had to shut them down, Fr Hlobo said. “Many people’s livelihoods depend on water,” he said. Young people in his parish have told him how upsetting it is to “have their family’s income disappear through the consequences of climate change and to feel the pinch so directly”. “Young people are interested in the message of Laudato Si’ and in understanding Continued on page 3

Tolo Jele is seen reading the back page of The Southern Cross after an Academic Mass held at Sacred Heart cathedral in Pretoria. Fr Amos Masemola, administrator of the cathedral, said the Mass was dedicated to encouraging a culture of reading and learning. He said it is important for the Church to be actively involved in education and training. Guest speaker Prof Steve Mpedi Madue said the “Catholic Church must make education fashionable”. Parishioners who did well in the 2017 academic year were awarded certificates by the Cathedral parish community. (Photo: Mathibela Sebothoma)

How nurse saved pope’s life BY CINDY WOODEN

EETING with thousands of nurses, Pope Francis paid tribute to a nurse who he believes saved his life. “When, at the age of 20, I was on the verge of death, she was the one who told the doctors, even arguing with them, ‘No, this isn’t working. You must give more’,” the pope recalled during a meeting with members of Italy’s national association of nursing professionals. With the removal of part of the infected lung and the antibiotics, “I survived,” Pope Francis said. “I thank her and I want you to know her name: Sister Cornelia Caraglio.” The Dominican nun from Italy was “a great woman, and courageous to the point of arguing with the doctors”, he said. Like Sr Caraglio, the pope told the Italian nurses, “you are there all day and you see what happens to the patient. Thank you for that!” In hospitals and rehabilitation centres, he said, nurses are at “the crossroads” of dozens of relationships, involving patients, their families, doctors and other staff. Nurses tend to spend much more time with

patients and family members than any other staff do, he said, so they usually have more information about a host of factors that must be considered when determining how best to care for the patient as a person. “The sensitivity you acquire by being in contact with patients all day,” the pope said, “makes you promoters of the life and dignity of persons.” Touch is an important factor for demonstrating respect for the dignity of the person, he said. When Jesus healed the leper, he said, he extended his hand and touched the man. “We must recognise the importance of this simple gesture,” Pope Francis said. “Mosaic law forbade touching lepers and banned them from approaching inhabited places. But Jesus went to the heart of the law, which is summarised in love for one’s neighbour.” Jesus drew near to the leper, he said, and showed that God was close to him, too. Never forget the “medicine of caresses”, Pope Francis told the nurses. “A caress, a smile, is full of meaning for one who is sick. It is a simple gesture, but encouraging, he or she feels accompanied, feels closer to being healed, feels like a person, not a number.”—CNA

S outher n C ross FAITH OF AFRICA PILGRIMAGE Martyrs of Uganda & Our Lady of Kibeho, Rwanda 30 May - 7 June 2018 Led by Father S’milo Mngadi Contact Gail at 076 352-3809 or info@fowlertours.co.za

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The Southern Cross, March 14 to March 20, 2018

LOCAL

Engaged Encounter creates platform to fight racism BY ERIN CARELSE

Participants at a workshop on advocacy, lobbying and training tackled many issues, including South Africa’s rape culture, how to be an agent of change, and how to voice concerns without resorting to violence.

J&P teaches community advocacy strategies STAFF REPORTER

HE Justice & Peace Commission of Durban archdiocese hosted a workshop on advocacy, lobbying and training at Albert Falls Conference Centre. The workshop was presented by archdiocese J&P coordinator Kalie Senyane, with chaplain Fr Cyril Xaba, Fr Sipho Mbatha of Eshowe diocese, Robert Mafinyori of the SACBC Justice & Peace Commission, and Dr Kudakwashe Shonhiwa of Peace Oasis International. Over three days, the 55 participants, from the age of 18-85, were trained on how to advocate and how to be agents of change. They also discussed issues such as the culture of rape, abuse in all its forms, and a Catholic way of building peace and trust while people voice their concerns in a Christian manner as an alternative to violence. Fr Mbatha explained the history of J&P, and Fr Xaba went through the Catholic pastoral cycle. Mr Mafinyori was welcomed by many as they remembered him well from his work on gender justice. The sessions on rape culture and abuse saw even a man of 82 speaking out against the abuse of women, children and the elderly. Most participants were concerned that families still don’t report cases of rape that occur in family settings. Mothers still don’t believe their daughters when they

report having been raped by their fathers, uncles, brothers or cousins. The workshop urged that women, especially mothers, be made aware that rape by a family member is still rape, and a crime. Dr Shonhiwa took the participants through a process called AVP, standing for Alternative to Violence. Those attending learnt how to build peace within their homes, churches and the entire communities. While it is right to voice dissatisfaction against organs of the state, protest action shouldn’t be violent and infringe on the rights of others, the workshop agreed. Mediation processes or community dialogues should be arranged to address social issues—not burning clinics, schools and cars. Mr Senyane took the group through processes of democracy to highlight that advocacy goes hand in hand with democracy. Participants were asked to come up with advocacy strategies on locally relevant topics such as health, drugs and alcohol, child abuse, and teenage pregnancy. “The aim of these advocacy in action strategies is to educate peoples on how they can help their own communities to rid themselves of these social ills and not wait for the government, which has failed, or the police, which we know is failing many communities in KwaZuluNatal when facing the issue of drugs,” Mr Senyane said.

HE Catholic Church has embarked on a special mission towards the eradication of racism in all spheres of society in South Africa, and during this Lenten season, all the Catholic faithful have been requested to create platforms where they are able to share the challenges relating to racism and find ways to address them. Catholic Engaged Encounter (CEE) has actively taken up the call to become an agent of anti-racism. Thirteen couples from different races, backgrounds, and cultures in Southern Africa came together in Gaspar Bertoni Centre in Pretoria archdiocese for a CEE workshop to share life experiences and learn from each other. The programme allowed the participating couples to share their different cultural traditions and the challenges facing society, discuss how they see themselves in society, and learn to appreciate each other in the midst of their demographic diversities. Among the many things the couples were taken through was an understanding of the self of the person you want to marry, the need for commitment in prayer, quality communication between partners, how to live a life-giving marriage, as well as forgiveness of each other. During an open session, one of the couples thanked the Church for creating such a platform, in which all the different races of South Africa can come together to share stories about their lives and what they do in their own cultures concerning marriage. Couples expressed their gratitude and said they had learned a lot from different cultural experiences. They also thanked the organisers for dedicating their time, free of charge, to help engaged couples understand the sacrament of matrimony and offer guidance on a better way of living marriage. Participants asked many questions relating to marriage, and shared how they have started to ad-

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Couples at Catholic Engaged Encounter workshops share their communities’ traditions and attitudes regarding marriage. The Church is focusing, this Lent, on identifying the challenges of racism and working out ways to address them. dress possible challenges they’ve met during courtship in preparation for permanent commitment to each other.

uring the closing session of the workshop, team member Fr Paul Tatu CSS emphasised that marriage needs a lot of discipline; and acknowledgment that once one gets married, life will never be the same. “There is a need for conversion and a continuous initiative to adopt a new way of life. Marriage is exclusive. One should sacrifice the rest for the sake of the person one enters into marriage with,” Fr Tatu said. Towards the end of the workshop, couples sat together without facilitators to evaluate how the weekend went and what they had learned. They also discussed how they would like to help the CEE programme spread to all parts of Southern Africa so that the dignity of marriage can be restored, both in the Church and in society at large. CEE is an officially approved international programme in the

St Joseph’s Theological Institute

Church, meant to cater for the final preparations of engaged couples approaching their wedding day. The programme is conducted by a team of young and old couples who share their experiences of their marriages, guided by the programme’s framework. Though CEE is conducted in a Catholic context of understanding marriage, the programme is open to all couples who want to prepare themselves for a better foundation when they get married. The Southern Africa Catholic Bishops’ Conference has officially recognised CEE as one of its programmes to prepare engaged couples for marriage. CEE can be found in Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg, but couples are free to join any one of the regions depending on the date and availability of the couple. n For more information about CEE workshops, contact Mr and Mrs Mamogale (Pretoria CEE regional coordinators) on 081 579 4048.

FIFTH ACADEMIC CONFERENCE

FORMATION FOR MISSION AND MINISTRY IN THE CHURCH

5 April (begin 16:00) to 7 April (end 12:00). St Joseph’s Theological Institute, Cedara KZN

Selected Papers:

- Formation for ordained ministry in different churches - Faith formation training for Catechists at parish level - Training youth in mission and ministry: insights from the YCW - The Impact of Substance Abuse on Candidates in Formation for Religious Life and Priesthood -The impact of the Internet and social media on formation - Hope as fundamental for future possibilities: Making work matter - The Contemporary Anthropic principle: a vocation through creative work for the contemporary Christian - Formation of social conscience in the context of homosexuality International Panel of Formators: Issues of formation today for religious life and ministry Registration R200. Students with student card R50. Registrations 14h00 to 16h00 on Thursday 20 April or online via email conference2018@sjti.ac.za

FOR INFORMATION, REGISTRATION AND ACCOMMODATION See Conference website http://www.sjti.ac.za/conference2018.html Conference Venue St Joseph’s Theological Institute, District Road D 546, Cedara KZN, South Africa. Tel 087 353 8940 (Christine), cell 072 672 3450, fax 086 400 4397, email conference2018@sjti.ac.za, conference website www.sjti.ac.za/conference2018.html Full details and map of venue are available.

GOD BLESS AFRICA Guard our people, guide our leaders and give us peace. Luke 11:1-13

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The Southern Cross, March 14 to March 20, 2018

LOCAL

CEOs challenged to use wheelchairs M Little Eden CEO Lucy Slaviero at her desk in a wheelchair, to publicise the society’s campaign to urge company CEOs to spend just one workday in a wheelchair during National Intellectual Disability Month.

ARCH is National Intellectual Disability Month and Little Eden Society has a campaign challenging all CEOs to spend one day at work in a wheelchair, to spread awareness about disability and raise much-needed funds for the cost of caring for its family of 300 children and adults with intellectual disabilities. On the campaign’s launch day, action began early, at 5:00, as Johannesburg’s Mix FM radio station crew set up for a live broadcast, in anticipation of the arrival of Little Eden CEO Lucy Slaviero, to start her workday in a wheelchair. Asked about her experience, Ms Slaviero said: “I did not expect the

Bishop warns on water for mining ERIN CARELSE

OPE Francis has often emphasised that water is God’s precious treasure to humanity and should, therefore, be protected. Bishop Abel Gabuza of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference’s Justice and Peace Commission (J&P) has called on the new minister of mineral resources to prioritise environmental challenges associated with mining, especially the protection of water against the pursuit of short-term economic gains in the mining industry. Addressing department of mineral resources head Gwede Mantashe, Bishop Gabuza urged the department to take an active and decisive role in addressing the environmental challenges associated with the extractive industry, especially issues of mine water-management.

As Mr Mantashe took office, J&P appealed to him to exercise his discretion under Section 49 of the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act to prohibit the granting of any prospecting and mining rights in designated watercatchment areas and other areas of critical biodiversity importance. Applications for mining and prospecting have, for example, been authorised for the Marico River catchment, which provides water to thousands of people in the country. J&P is deeply concerned about the irreversible environmental consequences of such practices, which are often undertaken in favour of short-term economic returns. Bishop Gabuza said that in a country which is now struggling with severe drought and other climate change problems, it is ethi-

Catholic reaction to Cape water crisis Continued from page 1 what’s important and why we should not damage the environment,” Fr Hlobo said. Southern Cross columnist Fr Chris Chatteris SJ, who teaches at St Francis Xavier Seminary, said there is a certain grace to the threat of Day Zero. “Reality has struck home and we are becoming more conscious of our environment,” he said. “The world is watching Cape Town and how we cope and manage this crisis,” Fr Chatteris said, noting that “the conversations about how we are going to adapt” to changing weather patterns must continue. Water conservation measures at the seminary have inspired others “who visit to see what they can do in their parishes” around the city, he said. “Every day we read our water meter, and with about 40 people living on the property, we are using less than we are allowed.” Seminarians may shower only three times a week, and they do fewer loads of laundry than in the past, Fr Chatteris said. “We do a lot of recycling of water, and four tanks to collect rainwater have been installed on the roofs of the seminary buildings.” The seminary is near an aquifer and a well, from which water is pumped into large containers in the seminary bathrooms, Fr Chatteris said. “It’s not drinkable, but it does enable us to flush the toilets properly, which is a real boon in a big place with a lot of people,” he said. In a letter to priests and religious, Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town advised that, to save water, meetings in parish halls and other Church property be reduced to “the most essential”. “Many of our parishes have taken initiatives” such as installing rainwater storage tanks, said archdiocese chancellor Fr Michael Clement SAC. Nazareth House—which cares for orphans, disabled children and the elderly, among others—has been assured by authorities that it will receive municipal water through daily deliveries if taps run dry, said CEO Werner Laubscher. Schoolchildren in other South African cities have been raising funds to buy and send 5-litre bottles of fresh water to Nazareth House. Spring water from Table Mountain runs through Nazareth House’s property, and plans are being made to use this water for the residents’ vast washing and laundry needs, Mr Laubscher said. The water fills a reservoir on the grounds, and the overflow runs into storm drains that flow into the sea.—CNS

cally irresponsible not to consider mining and other activities which have the potential to negatively affect the country’s water and foodsecurity systems. J&P also asked Mr Mantashe to work with other departments to close policy and enforcement gaps in relation to mine closures, especially in the coal and gold mines, which have significant water issues. Decisive action is required to stop companies that offload and sell off marginal mines to small companies during the end of a mine’s life as an integral part of their closure strategies. “The water crisis in Western Cape should send a warning both to the government and ourselves and our families that we need critical action to save and protect water as a scarce resource and as God’s precious gift to our nation,” Bishop Gabuza said.

amount of strain I felt on my upper legs from being in a wheelchair the whole day, and the effort required to propel and pass through narrow spaces to get about. “Where I could, I asked for help, and got up from the wheelchair to stretch my legs,” she said. “Can you imagine the frustration if you had no verbal ability to ask for help, were not able to propel the wheelchair, and not able to just get up for a moment for some relief?” Some carers at Little Eden had the opportunity to share with Mix FM listeners what it means to look after someone who has a profound intellectual disability. Some residents shared stories about their ex-

periences at Little Eden. Development officer Zai Miller urged large and small companies to contact her on the wheelchair campaign and the benefits of joining. Ms Miller expressed her gratitude to Mix FM for its support in promoting the campaign and to the CEOs of companies who have already registered to take part. These include Discovery SA, Multotec, SA Lube, National Kargo, and Oberon Pharma. n To join this group of friends of Little Eden or for more information on the wheelchair campaign, see the website at www.littleeden.org.za or contact Zai Miller on 011 609 0492, 072 127 8237 or zm@littleeden.org.za

Gloria Linke sells The Southern Cross at Sacred Heart parish in Green Point, Cape Town.

We love receiving your photos of parishioners selling The Southern Cross— please keep them coming! Send photos to pics@scross. co.za

`ayfair Vonvent fchool Pilgrimage to Poland and Medjugorje

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Thanksgiving Pilgrimage Led by Fr Alfred Igwebuike Rome, Assisi, Monte San Angelo, San Giovanni Rotondo, Medjugorje 23 September – 07 October 2018 R35 995.00 incl. Airport taxes

Pilgrimage to Italy

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MAYFAIR CONVENT SCHOOL IS AN INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC SCHOOL SITUATED IN MAYFAIR, JOHANNESBURG. IT HAS A CARING ATMOSPHERE IN THE SISTERS OF MERCY TRADITION, AND A RECORD OF HIGH-QUALITY VALUES-BASED EDUCATION.

PRIMARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

Key Performance Requirements: • Be a practIsing Catholic or have an understanding of the Catholic values and be committed to nurturing and developing the ethos and mission of the school. • Have suitable academic and professional qualiﬁcations • Have an understanding of present developments in education • Have strong leadership, interpersonal and organisational skills • Have at least 5 years education management experience Starting Date; 1 July 2018 Interested applicants to email the information and documents referred to below, to the provincial oﬃce of the Sisters of Mercy province@netactive.co.za , Att: Sister Francis – to reach the said email 20 March 2018.

• Applicant’s Curriculum Vitae not longer than three A4 pages • Three contactable referees with contact numbers • A letter by applicant dealing with the applicant’s vision for the school and making reference to previous leadership achievements • Certified copy of SACE registration together with copy of applicant’s identity document • Affidavit by applicant confirming that s/he has never been convicted of Sexual Offence/s against a child or a mentally disabled person. If you are successful in your application a SAPS Clearance will be required. An applicant who submits an application and does not receive a response by 7 April 2018 must accept that s/he has not been shortlisted for an interview and/or does not meet the minimum requirements and/or a decision has been made to withdraw the position and/or not to fill the post.

The Sisters of Mercy and the Board of Governors reserve the right not to proceed with ﬁlling the post. 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.

The Southern Cross, March 14 to March 20, 2018

INTERNATIONAL

New feast of Mary, Mother of the Church BY CINDY WOODEN

OPE Francis has decreed that Latin-rite Catholics around the world will mark the feast of “the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church” on the Monday after Pentecost each year. The Gospel reading for the feast, which technically is called a “memorial”, is John 19:25-31, which recounts how from the cross, Jesus entrusted Mary to his disciple as his mother and entrusted his disciple to Mary as her child. The decree announcing the addition to the Church calendar was released by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. Pope Francis approved the decree after “having attentively considered how greatly the promotion of this devotion might encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety”, the decree said. Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the congregation, noted in a brief commentary that Pope Paul VI in 1964 had formally bestowed the title of “Mother of the

A mosaic of Mary as Mother of the Church above St Peter’s Square at the Vatican. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS) Church” on Mary, but that recognition of her maternal care for the Church and for believers had already spanned centuries. “The feeling of Christian people through two millennia of history has cultivated the filial bond which inseparably binds the disci-

ples of Christ to his Blessed Mother in various ways,” the cardinal said. The Church calendars of Poland, Argentina, St Peter’s basilica and some religious orders already set aside the Monday after Pentecost as the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church. Honouring Mary as Mother of the Church on the day after Pentecost also highlights for Catholics that Mary was present with the disciples on Pentecost, praying with them as the Holy Spirit descended. Cardinal Sarah said that Mary, “from the awaiting of the Spirit at Pentecost, has never ceased to take motherly care of the pilgrim Church on earth”. Along with the decree and his comments, Cardinal Sarah also published in Latin the specific liturgical texts for use on the memorial at Mass and in the Liturgy of the Hours. Bishops’ conferences “will approve the translation of the texts they need and, after receiving their confirmation, will publish them in the liturgical books for their jurisdiction”, the cardinal said.—CNS

Cardinal Pell trial decision this month

MELBOURNE court will have until March 30 to see if a top Vatican official will stand trial on decades-old charges of sexual abuse, which he consistently has denied. Cardinal George Pell, head of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy has appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court for a committal hearing scheduled to conclude by March 30. The cardinal has taken a leave of absence from his position to face the charges in Melbourne, where he served as archbishop from 19962001. No charges have been announced against the cardinal, but his lawyer told the court he believed Victoria state police investigated the abuse claims presuming he was guilty, instead of presuming he was innocent. The lawyer said some witnesses’ written testimony could help clear the cardinal of some of the charges. Up to 50 witnesses could be called during the committal hearing; much of the hearing will be conducted in private. More than two years ago, Cardinal Pell called for an independent inquiry into the leaking of accusations that he was under police investigation for the alleged abuse of minors. He said media leaks by someone

Australian Cardinal George Pell departs the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court. (Photo: Stefan Postles, Reuters/CNS) within the Victoria police undermined the work of the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, a government inquiry into church, state and other institutions’ response to the sexual abuse of children. In February 2016, Victoria’s The Herald Sun reported that “legal sources” told reporters more than a dozen special task force detectives had been investigating past claims that the cardinal abused between five and ten boys when he was a priest in Ballarat and archbishop of Melbourne. Earlier, a court had cleared the cardinal of one of those charges.—CNS

Syriac patriarch: WCC let Syria’s Christians down T HE patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church denounced a statement issued by the head of the World Council of Churches (WCC) regarding the situation in Syria, in particular the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus. “We are deeply appalled by your statement on Syria,” Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of Antioch wrote to WCC general-secretary Rev Olav Fykse-Tveit. The WCC statement attacked the Syrian regime of Bashir alAssad for the “army military offensive targeting civilians and

preventing access of humanitarian aid to a civilian population, which has been under siege for the last five years”. The patriarch intimated that the WCC statement was misinformed and biased against the Assad government, which most Christians in the Middle East support. Mr Assad has been protective of Christians in the past. “You mention 550 victims killed in Eastern Ghouta, including more than 130 children. However, you neglect to mention hundreds of civilians, including many children, killed by the mortars and missiles

Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II. (Photo: CNS) coming from Eastern Ghouta, especially when most of these mortars have long targeted areas populated by Christians from churches which

are members of the WCC,” wrote the patriarch, a native of Qamishli. “Targeting of civilians on all sides should be indeed condemned,” he stressed. However, the patriarch said, Rev Fykse-Tveit’s statement “clearly shows a biased position concerning what is happening in Syria in general, and in Damascus in particular”. “As a council of churches representing its members, including those of us who live in Syria, your statement should have been apolitical, more pastoral and reflecting the position of the great majority of Christians in Syria,” he said. “It

is obvious that your information on what is happening in Syria lacks accuracy and objectivity.” The Syriac Orthodox patriarch warned that “such an unbalanced statement will be used as a political tool serving a political vision of Syria’s future that does not necessarily express the views of the majority of the Syrian people, including Christians”. He expressed his hope that the WCC “once again becomes the voice of the suffering churches in Syria” and would “convey to the entire world the reality of what they are going through”.

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Vjg"tgvtgcv"yknn"dg"eqpfwevgf"d{"Ft"Gtke"Rquv("Nqwkug"Hqwejﬁ." The retreat will be conducted by Dr Eric Post & Louise rtgugpvkpi"Uv"TcrjcgnÓu"Ucpevwct{Óu"jgcnkpi"tgvtgcv"rtqitco0"" Fouché, presenting St Raphael’s Sanctuary’s healing retreat Qpn{"32"rncegu"ctg"cxckncdng0"Equv"ku"T"4":72022"rgt"rgtuqp"hqtc"hwnn":/ program. fc{"tgvtgcv0"

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FORMER president of the Vatican Bank and his attorney are set to go on trial at the Vatican on embezzling and money-laundering charges. The bank, officially known as the Institute for the Works of Religion, alleges that the former officials’ “illegal conduct” led to damages to the bank in excess of 50 million euros (R730 million), according to a press statement from the institute. The two officials, along with a former general director who has since died, have been under investigation since 2014 for ac-

tivities carried out from 200108, the statement said. According to the Reuters news agency, the former president and his legal counsel are respectively Angelo Caloia, 78, who was president of the IOR from 1989-2009, and lawyer Gabriele Liuzzo, 94. The initial investigations also involved the former general director, Lelio Scaletti, who died several years ago. Reuters reported in December 2014 that the Vatican’s top prosecutor, Gian Piero Milano, had frozen millions of dollars in accounts held by the three men.

They were suspected of embezzling money while managing the sale of 29 buildings held by the Institute for the Works of Religion. The buyers of the properties were mainly Italian, Reuters said, after reviewing a copy of the order freezing the accounts. In the order, Mr Milano alleged that in the institute’s official books, the three men under-represented the proceeds from the real estate sales. The men allegedly received, usually in cash, the difference between the real sale prices and the amount officially recorded, Reuters reported.—CNS

Eucharistic miracle after quake?

LMOST a year and a half after an August 2016 earthquake in the central area of the Italy, a tabernacle with 40 intact and consecrated hosts was found amid the rubble in Our Lady of the Assumption church in the town of Arquata. According to the Italian daily Avvenire, inside the tabernacle “the ciborium was overturned but the lid was still on. And despite all the months that had gone by, the hosts were whole, without any alteration”. Bishop Giovanni D’Ercole of Ascoli Piceno told Avvenire what was discovered: “A fresh baked aroma was still notice-

able, which is very moving. It is a sign of hope for everyone. It tells us that Jesus also suffered the earthquake like everyone else, but he has come out alive from among the rubble.” Fr Angelo Ciancotti of the Ascoli Piceno cathedral said that getting into the tabernacle was not simple: “The problem was opening it up, but my collection of tabernacle keys helped me.” The priest opened the tabernacle with one of the keys in his extensive collection, and said that inside an overturned ciborium “was the Body of Christ, which for more than a year and a half remained in-

tact, without any change in colour, shape or scent”. Fr Ciancotti told Avvenire that “there was no bacteria or mould as happens with hosts after a few weeks. Even though they were more than a year and a half old, they seemed to have been made the day before”. In his opinion, “this prodigious and inexplicable discovery” is “a miracle, but above all a message for everyone: it is a sign that reminds us of the centrality of the Eucharist”. “Jesus is telling us” with these intact hosts that “I am in your midst. Trust in me”, he concluded.—CNA

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, March 14 to March 20, 2018

Way clear for Paul VI and Romero sainthoods

BY CAROL GLATZ

OPE Francis has cleared the way for the canonisations of Pope Paul VI and Oscar Romero. At a meeting with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, Pope Francis signed decrees for the causes of 13 men and women—among them also two young laywomen and a number of priests and nuns. He recognised a miracle attributed to Bl Paul, who, according to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, will be declared a saint in late October at the end of the Synod of Bishops on youth and discernment. Bl Paul, who was born Giovanni Battista Montini, was pope from 1963 to 1978. Pope Francis also formally signed the decree recognising the miracle needed to advance the sainthood cause of Archbishop Romero of San Salvador, martyr. El Salvador’s ambassador to the Holy See, Manuel Roberto Lopez, said that the news of the pope’s approval “took us by surprise”. “They told us before that the process was going well and that all

The Chaldean Catholic Church of St Paul in Mosul, Iraq, is illuminated with red light in protest against the persecution of Christians around the world. (Photo: Khalid Al-Mousily, Reuters/CNS)

Pope Francis has cleared the way for the canonisations of Pope Paul VI (left) and Archbishop Oscar Romero. (Photos: Octavio Duran/CNS) we needed was the approval of the miracle, and it turns out the pope approved it yesterday,” he said. Mr Lopez said that he was happy that Bl Oscar Romero’s canonisation was imminent and that his holiness was recognised alongside one of his earliest supporters. “To see that he will be canonised along with Pope Paul VI, who was a great friend of Archbishop Romero and supported his work, is a won-

derful blessing,” Mr Lopez said. The Vatican did not announce a date for Bl Romero’s canonisation. The pope also recognised the miracles needed for the canonisation of: Fr Francesco Spinelli of Italy, founder of the Sisters Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament; Fr Vincenzo Romano of Italy; and Mother Maria Katharina Kasper, founder of the religious congregation the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ.—CNS

Pakistan churches unite to protest blasphemy laws C ATHOLIC and Protestant Churches in Pakistan have started a movement to demand justice for Christian cousins accused of blasphemy, reported ucanews.com Sajid Masih, 26, jumped from the fourth floor of the Punjab headquarters of the Federal Investigation Agency in a suicide attempt. He fractured both legs. Mr Masih was arrested with his cousin, Patras Masih, 18, for allegedly posting an insulting photo of the burial place of the prophet Muhammad on a Facebook account. More than 200 Christians gathered in front of the Punjab Assembly in Lahore. Teams from Caritas Pakistan, the Catholic Church’s charitable agency, and the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace attended the protest.

Mr Masih claims he was being punished for an act allegedly committed by his cousin and that security authorities had ordered the two men to engage in a homosexual act as they attempted to force confessions from them both. Critics say police duress in such cases is common in Pakistan. Speakers at the protest demanded an independent inquiry into the case, a fair trial and access to justice for the accused. The protest was organised by the Pakistan Christian Action Committee, formed at a meeting at the National Council of Churches in Pakistan. Archbishop Joseph Arshad, chairman of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace; Fr Emmanuel Yousaf, national director, and Cecil Chaudhry, executive director, expressed their concern over the ill

OPE Francis’ exhortation on the family should prompt discussion and even debate, but accusing him and others of heresy is completely out of place, said German Cardinal Walter Kasper. “A heresy is a tenacious disagreement with formal dogma. The doctrine of the indissolubility of marriage has not been called into question on Pope Francis’ part,” the cardinal, a theologian, told Vatican News. Cardinal Kasper was interviewed about his new book, The Message of ‘Amoris Laetitia’: A Fraternal Discussion. In his book, Cardinal Kasper describes Amoris Laetitia as “a creative renewal of traditional teaching”. “Sin is a complex term. It includes the intention, the person’s conscience. And this needs to be examined in the sacrament of reconciliation—if there is truly a grave sin, or perhaps a venial sin, or perhaps nothing,” the cardinal

responded. “The Council of Trent says that in the case in which there is no grave sin, but venial, the Eucharist removes that sin.” “If it is only a venial sin, the person can be absolved and admitted to the sacrament of the Eucharist,” the cardinal said. “This already corresponds with the doctrine of Pope John Paul II and, in this sense, Pope Francis is in complete continuity with the direction opened by preceding popes. I do not see any reason, then, to say that this is a heresy.” Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, Italy, secretary of Pope Francis’ international Council of Cardinals, released a pastoral instruction on “welcoming, discerning, accompanying the faithful who are divorced and civilly remarried”. The discussions made it clear that welcoming and integrating into parish life “those who approach us with the desire to be readmitted to participation in the Eucharist requires time for ac-

BY JuNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

HRISTIANS must let go of resentments and forgive those who have wronged them so that they may experience God’s forgiveness, said Pope Francis. This can be particularly difficult when “we carry with us a list of things that have been done to us”, the pope said in his homily at morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. “God’s forgiveness is felt strongly within us as long as we forgive others. And this isn’t easy because grudges make a nest in our heart and there is always that bitterness,” he said. The pope reflected on the day’s first reading from the prophet Daniel in which Azariah, one of three young men condemned to death in a fiery furnace, courageously prays for deliverance from God.

“Do not let us be put to shame, but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy. Deliver us by your wonders, and bring glory to your name, O Lord,” Azariah prayed. Although Azariah is innocent of the crime he is condemned for, the pope explained, his attitude of recognising his own personal sins is the same attitude Christian men and women should have when approaching the sacrament of penance. “Accusing ourselves is the first step towards forgiveness,” the pope said. “To accuse oneself is part of the Christian wisdom. No, not accusing others; accuse ourselves. ‘I have sinned’.” “These are the two things that help us understand the path of forgiveness: ‘You are great Lord, unfortunately I have sinned’ and ‘Yes, I forgive you 70 times seven as long as you forgive others,” Pope Francis said.—CNS

treatment of religious minorities in a statement. “Serious reforms in the light of human rights standards are required for law enforcement authorities and the judiciary, which have failed in their duty to protect minorities,” they said. They asked the Supreme Court to withdraw an attempted suicide report against Mr Masih because of his claim he was trying to escape from physical and psychological torture while also being forced to sexually abuse his minor cousin. According to the justice and peace commisThe Prison Care and Support Network (PCSN) is a non-proﬁt organisation, funcsion, 18 cases of tioning under the auspices of the Catholic Church and rooted in Jesus ministry of blasphemy were recorded healing and compassion to those on the margins of society. As an organisation in 2017. —CNS

Cardinal: Amoris ‘heresy’ claims are not valid BY CINDY WOODEN

Pope: Don’t hold grudges but forgive

companiment and discernment that will vary from situation to situation”, Bishop Semeraro wrote. “Therefore, expecting a new general, canonical-type norm, the same for everyone, is absolutely inappropriate.” No “right” to the Eucharist exists, the bishop said, but there is a right to be welcomed and to be heard. Couples who have remarried civilly without an annulment of their sacramental marriage and who have started a new family will be asked “to make a journey of faith starting from becoming conscious of their situation before God”. Couples who have recently divorced and remarried, those who “repeatedly fail” to uphold responsibilities towards their children and original spouse, and those who pretend that there is nothing wrong with divorce and remarriage, should be encouraged to spend time studying and praying before trying to begin the process, the guidelines said.— CNS

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The Southern Cross, March 14 to March 20, 2018

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Children at Mass

EW things can exercise Catholic minds as much as decorum, or the perceived lack thereof, at Mass. This is, in itself, a good thing: it shows that the faithful regard Sunday Mass not only as a weekly obligation but also as a mystical encounter with God which demands proper reverence. The latest round of correspondence on the subject in our Letters to the Editor column and comments on Facebook regarding children in church are a manifestation of that. This current discussion was sparked by the recent letter of a mother who had an unhappy run-in with a fellow parishioner about the conduct of her children during Mass. We cannot possibly judge the merits of this particular case without knowing both sides of the story, but it is good that the question of children at Mass has been raised. Should children be in the main part of the church during Mass, even at the risk of distracting other congregants? Many churches have made available “cry rooms” as a refuge for parents of infants and restless toddlers. For some parents these represent a good solution: their children can make a commotion without troubling others; and it saves parents the bother of trying to calm the child or receiving the reprimanding glances of fellow congregants. But for some parents, the physical separation from the congregation and the altar can be a spiritual burden. Is it fair to ask them to bear it? At the same time, is it fair to congregants to be distracted from their meditative engagement with the Mass by restive children? There are no definitive “right” answers to these questions. But, it seems, Pope Francis sides with the children (and thus with their parents). Indeed, the Holy Father believes that the sound of a baby crying in church is edifying.

ddressing parents in a parish in Rome in December 2014, the pope described the tears of children as “the best sermon” (which should not tempt homilists to whine themselves). His advice is to simply let children be children, even at

Mass: “Children cry, they are noisy, they don’t stop moving. But it really irritates me when I see a child crying in church and someone says they must go out. God’s voice is in a child’s tears: they must never be kicked out of church.” In this, Pope Francis—who takes obvious delight in it when children break protocol at papal Masses and take a seat next to him—emulates Jesus. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke recall Jesus’ reaction when the disciples are trying to prevent children being presented to him. “Then people brought little children to him, for him to lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples scolded them, but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children alone, and do not stop them from coming to me; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of Heaven belongs.’ Then he laid his hands on them and went on his way” (Mt 19:13-15).

ractically minded people will delight in it that children and their parents, who usually are still relatively young people, are at Mass in the first place. But there also is a responsibility that rests with the parents. Where possible, they might sit in an area of the church where the fewest numbers of congregants will be at risk of being distracted. Some things, such as feeding children sweets during Mass, for example, should be avoided. And even in that regard, Pope Francis has strong views. While he would certainly agree that there is no necessity to feed older children during Mass, he has explicitly encouraged mothers to breastfeed their children, even during Mass. In doing so, he has responded to a mostly Western stigma that is still attached to this most natural act of motherly love taking place in public (in many of our churches, it’s a normal sight). And in doing so, Pope Francis has indicated a preferential option for children at Mass. Those who feel distracted by children at Mass—and at some point or other, that will include most Mass-goers—may offer their irritation up as a prayer of thanks for the occupied pew, and to ask that in these children the faith will blossom.

Revel in beauty and richness M ANY decades ago a series of Advent talks was arranged by The Grail and someone was disturbed that Isaiah might be considered “poetic”. I find it odd that anyone should not appreciate that Isaiah was a great poet—what he said and prophesied was so memorable just

Children in church: go easy

WOULD like to respond to the mother who wrote the Letter of the Week (February 12) regarding being addressed by a parishioner about her children. When my daughters were young (I am a granny now) I preferred to sit in the church as, quite honestly, I could not concentrate in the cry chapel. I too was spoken of (not to) about my girls, which hurt me a great deal. We were all children once, and children can be noisy, but as Catholics and Christians I believe we must be tolerant of things like this. Please can your correspondent remain in the Catholic Church? Perhaps she could speak to the parish priest to address the problem or perhaps, if convenient, move to another parish. Maybe we should think, “Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” Hard to do, I know. Sharron Reynolds, Cambridge, England

Crying children: use common sense

HE question raised in the letter “Why shouldn’t kids be in church” is possibly very pertinent. There is no doubt that children should be introduced to church participation at an early age and be taught the Catholic religion. I, however, have reservations as to the implementation thereof. I attended a Mass yesterday and had an “unpleasant” experience. I attend Mass in order to concentrate on the service and homily to gain a message. Yesterday, however, I had two families in front of me with “overenergetic”, undisciplined children. The distraction was not very welcome because it continued for the entire duration of the Mass. I did not therefore participate in the service and may just as well have remained at home! “Name withheld” asks an unreasonable question: “Isn’t a slight distraction a small price to pay?” All churches do not have the luxury of a “cry room”, which if

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because he said it so well. There is unfortunately a Puritan streak in some Catholics and clergy that is scared of colour, music, poetry and a rich liturgy. Poor literature probably spells poor theology too—this is why I love the King James Bible as the best translation.

available should be used, but parents with such small children should occupy the back pews. This will allow people who want to join in with the service to be able to concentrate and focus on the celebrant. I do not believe that the parents with these unruly children gain any positives from the service either, because they are busy trying to control the circus! Can the priest even focus correctly with this activity in front of him? What is needed is merely the simple human gift of “common sense”. Parents should employ it so that their children can learn about their religion and about church behaviour, and in doing so afford other church members the right to participate and experience a fulfilling Mass! This request is surely “a small price to pay”! Brian Gouveia, Bloemfontein

Intolerant adults need cry chapels

HAVE always considered “cry chapels” as rooms which promote delinquency among infants. “Name withheld” has my wholehearted empathy. I believe cry chapels are for those “grown-ups” who cannot tolerate children in church, not for the children themselves. Have Jesus’ words—”Let the children come to me”—been deleted in some gospels? Fr Francis Dufour SDB, Johannesburg

Priest ‘decadent’ on gay marriages

ITH reference to the letter “Great edition of highest calibre” by Fr Sean Collins CSsR (February 14), it is all very well to expound the merits of the January 24 edition of The Southern Cross. But for Fr Collins as a priest to condone the proposal of the German bishops to bless and ratify gay marriages (by any other name) suggests a spiritual decadence in contradiction of God’s law. Interestingly, the letter by JH Goossens, “Sex between men”, in the same issue, puts things into fac-

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One of my favourite psalms is David’s sublime 68: “Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered...” There was a superb setting of it to music by Sir George ThalbenBall, sung by the male choir at London’s 12th-century Temple Church, up till Verse 19. The rest of the psalm is rather bloodthirsty! Peter Onesta, Johannesburg 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

tual perspective (truth). All who think and believe otherwise are encouraged to use scripture, the catechism, and Church tradition as reference points. Ironically, the headline of that issue’s editorial is “The pope’s big crisis” (referring to the handling of sexual abuse cases). Well, the big crisis is now rapidly showing its ugly presence throughout the Church. To coin a phrase used by the late Cardinal Caffarra: “Even a blind man can see.” Lest we forget Sodom and Gomorrah—God will not be mocked! AMJ Schlebusch, Camperdown, KZN

Toil and sweat is Adam’s lot

UNE Boyer (February 28), responding to my letter in which I point out that pain in childbirth is a consequence of original sin, asks what punishment Adam got for original sin. Genesis 3:17-19 reads: “Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life, thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground.” So toil and labour is Adam’s punishment! Another thought springs to mind on hearing that the ground was cursed and would bring forth thorns and thistles because of the sin of disobedience. Is that the reason why the soldiers made a crown of thorns for Jesus to wear to his crucifixion? (Mt 27:29; Mk 15:17; Jn 19:2 ) The crown of thorns—a symbol of our sins which Jesus carried to the cross for our redemption! Moira Gillmore, Durban

The Southern Cross, March 14 to March 20, 2018

PERSPECTIVES

Pause. See. Return. Be transformed Sarah-Leah I Pimentel N last month’s column, I touched on the first two elements which Pope Francis would raise in his Ash Wednesday homily. It was his invitation to use this Lent to remedy the “dissonant chords of our Christian life and to receive the ever-new, joyful and hope-filled proclamation of the Lord’s Passover”. Talking about my need to get away from the bustle of everyday life, I described how a holiday offered me the opportunity to PAUSE and see what was really going on around me. Similarly, Pope Francis invited us to pause from the “commotion” of daily life and the “urge to control everything” so as to really be able to see the people around us: our families, children, the elderly, and those who have been forgotten. He invited us to really SEE the face of the crucified Christ who sacrificed himself for all people to bring us hope. But then the Holy Father invites us to Christ—RETURN. I think this is probably the hardest element of his Lenten message to put into action: to return without fear “to those outstretched, eager arms of your Father, who is rich in mercy who awaits you”. Often we want to return to God. We want to return to the heart of love. We want to return to forgiveness and redemption. We want to return to a life of hope. Yet, something holds us back. We may be held back by our reservations that we could fail again. We may be held back by our inability to forgive ourselves. We may be held back because the process of self-transformation seems so overwhelming impossible.

he had also betrayed Jesus by denying his association with him. The encounter was a moment of grace for Peter (cf John 21). Feeling lost after all that had transpired, Peter returned to the life he had known before meeting Jesus three years earlier. The Gospel relates how Peter and some of the other disciples had gone fishing but came back with nothing. Jesus doesn’t wait for Peter to show his remorse but rather extends his love, allowing Peter and the others to find fish where there were none before. In that moment, Peter recognises Jesus. Despite his shame, he jumps out of the boat (just as the old Peter would have done) and treads water till he reaches Jesus.

hat follows is that beautiful conversation between Jesus and Peter. “Do you really love me?” Jesus asks. Not once but three times, undoing the three times that Peter denied him. Not only does Peter return, but Jesus’ love erases everything that happened in the past, filling Peter with hope and a

ll these obstacles can be summed up in one word: Fear. Fear that holds us back. To return takes courage to overcome that fear. Judas realised that he had betrayed the Lord and he repented. He gave back the money he’d been given for handing Jesus over to the Pharisees. A part of him was ready to make amends, but he was so filled with shame that he could not bear to look again into the face of Jesus or the other disciples. In anguish and fear, he took his own life and missed out on the hope of seeing the resurrected Christ. Imagine what a different story could have been written about Judas if he had waited three days… In contrast, Peter had the courage to seek out Jesus even though he knew that

Point of Reflection

The Mustard Seeds

Lifted by the winds of Lent

new way of life. Jesus does not punish Peter. Instead he gives him a new responsibility by asking him to guide and nurture the young Church. Peter’s response requires courage. We see that Peter doesn’t get that courage all at once. After the Ascension, he hides in the Upper Room with the other disciples until the moment when the Holy Spirit descends on them. Then he is filled with courage and nothing is able to stop him. That courage didn’t come from him. It was a courage given to him by the Holy Spirit and grew out of his response of love for the Jesus who wiped his slate clean without judgment or condemnation. Look at the transformation of Peter, from the disciple huddled in fear in front of a fire on Holy Thursday as he denied that he even knew Jesus, to the man who became the Church’s first pope and died a martyr’s death by crucifixion in Rome many years later. Return. That was Peter’s lived experience.

IKE many young children, I had a vivid and expressive imagination when I was young, and that came especially to the fore during play times. A princess who needed to be rescued, a wicked witch and an intrepid explorer were among the fantasy roles I enjoyed enacting. And ordinary household items became my props. The staircase easily fitted the bill as a mountain to climb, nor was it difficult to imagine a large upturned laundry basket as an igloo. Yet my favourite—but probably most bizarre— role-play centred around the notion that I, like Peter Pan, could fly! Time and again I would climb up on a chair, steps, table or any other suitably high object—and jump! Needless to say I landed with my feet firmly on the ground each time I tried to fly. The novelty didn’t wear off and March was a particularly favourite time of the year for me. This was because I would go into the garden, climb as usual, and then jump—convinced that the windy March weather at that time of the year in my region would blow me away and I would become airborne, like Mary Poppins! During this season of Lent and as we steadily approach Easter, we can be sure, as always, of the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus tells us in John’s gospel that, like the winds in March of my childhood, “the Spirit blows where it will”, meaning that just as the wind blows wherever God wills, so God’s Spirit also blows wherever he wills. In the same way that people cannot see the wind but can hear the sound of it blowing, so the Spirit of God cannot physically be seen with human eyes but we can perceive its effect on all it touches. It often seems difficult to envision the Holy Spirit which, like the wind, is always felt but unseen. Yet we can be assured that it is alive and active in our world. The Spirit is no fantasy or make-believe, but by the grace of the Trinity, our own spirits fly with joy in praise of the Lord. So the next time you battle against the wind, let it remind you of the Holy Spirit who blows where it will. As humans we may be physically unable to fly, but with the Lord’s bounteous grace no mountain is ever too difficult to climb and no height too high to scale. n Julia Beacroft’s book Sanctifying The Spirit is published by Sancio Books. It is available on Amazon.

St Peter denies Jesus three times on Holy Thursday but has the courage to return to Christ. Statue at the church of St Peter in Gallicantu on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher)

t is also the message Peter’s successor has for us this Lent. Until we overcome our inadequacies, fears, inhibitions, shame, regrets, we cannot be transformed by Christ’s love. As with Peter, we have to take the first step, and we will find that Jesus is already there, waiting to meet us wherever we’re at. Jesus’ love will give us a renewed hope, which manifests itself into the courage to reconcile with those we have hurt, to overcome our weaknesses, to forgive ourselves. We will grow in courage according to the extent that we are able to relinquish our fears and allow ourselves to grow in love and hope through the mercy and grace of the Resurrected Jesus. Pope Francis encourages us: “Return without fear, to experience the healing and reconciling tenderness of God. Let the Lord heal the wounds of sin and fulfil the prophecy made to our fathers.” He then refers to Scripture:”A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel36: 26).

Does Jesus check your membership? Keenan I Williams GREW up in the Anglican Church and became a Catholic in my teens. There’s much interdenominational diversity within my family, and that diversity has given me great tolerance for the denominations of my family members—and they for mine. So one thing I feel very strongly about is Christian ecumenism. I was alarmed recently by a few comments I read on a priest-friend’s Facebook feed. Some of these comments were from conservative Catholics, apparently from the US, who stated that there is no way to heaven but through the Catholic Church. Distressed by these responses, I decided to respond myself. “According to John 14:6, Jesus said: ‘I am the way the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.’ Are you saying that Jesus was misquoted here?” I asked. Among the backlash I received, one woman said that I had answered my own question by quoting the Bible verse. She went on to say that Jesus was saying that there is no way to the Father except through the Catholic Church. My next response was one with much more emotion: “Jesus simply said it in response to Thomas, saying that he is the way, the truth and the life, and no one can go to the Father except by him. “Are you telling me that my father, who is a priest in another church and who works tirelessly by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and comforting the lonely, will not enjoy a heavenly reward? Should I be telling my maternal grandparents that they too are doomed to hell because they are Seventh Day Adventists and don’t believe what I do?

Julia Beacroft

Talking Faith

‘As Christians, we need to be more merciful, do more acts of charity, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, be more humble and serve one another—and by doing that, see the person of Christ in others and his salvation in our works.’ Should I tell my mother in-law that her church work is void as she, too, is not a Catholic?” I found the responses and arrogance in interpreting Scripture to suit their own agenda very sad. How many people have read those comments? How many of them were from other denominations and now might paint the Catholic Church with that same brush: “These Catholics think they are better than us for some reason.” Our Lord made a very serious statement: “No one can come to the Father except through me.”

t was sad that in 2005, when my dad was ordained a priest within another church, many Catholics said that he had disowned and turned his back on the faith. Many of his friends, including those with whom he studied in a Catholic seminary in the 1970s, no longer kept in contact with him.

Then I look at two friends of mine; one was confirmed with me; the other wasn’t because of his low class-attendance. He is now an atheist while the other, two years after his confirmation, decided to convert to Islam. Both still have friends in the Catholic Church. Another scripture passage comes to mind here: “Deny me before man and I will deny you before my Father in Heaven.” Why is it that we as Catholics bend and twist the scriptures to how we want to hear them? Why is it that we do not promote Christian unity more? Does it really matter which Church I go to? I know one thing for certain, however. No matter where you worship, if you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, then you basically share in that Heavenly reward. But that reward is not easy. It is something we need to work towards. As Christians, we need to be more merciful, do more acts of charity, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, be more humble and serve one another—and by doing that, see the person of Christ in others and his salvation in our works. As Catholics we need to be more welcoming to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus said it simply “no one can come to the Father but by me”. He didn’t specify that we needed to be Catholic, or Anglican, or Baptist. We need to be his followers and minister his Gospel in everything that we do.

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The Southern Cross, March 14 to March 20, 2018

COMMUNITY Send your photos to

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Catholic Women’s League members of Our Lady of Fatima parish in Durban North attended prayers and a tea on Women’s World Day of Prayer. (Submitted by Anna Accolla)

Marist Brothers Linmeyer in Johannesburg observed Ash Wednesday with the traditional signing of ashes on students’ foreheads. St Anthony’s Catholic church in Sedgefield, Oudtshoorn diocese, celebrated Shrove Tuesday with a pancake supper for parishioners and friends. Waiting to be served are Ruth(Winifred) Quirk and Joan O’Donnell. (Submitted by Yvonne Morgan-Smith)

St John Bosco’s feast day was celebrated by the Robertsham, Johannesburg, parish of Don Bosco at Sir John Adamson High School. The day began with an open air Mass, followed by lunch for parishioners and their families, and community fun and games for the youth of the parish and afternoon tea for the seniors.

As is annual tradition, the matrics of Assumption Convent School in Germiston, Johannesburg, St Benedict’s College in Bedfordview, and Holy Rosary School in Edenvale joined for Mass and a breakfast to unite in prayer and friendship during their final year of school. Seen here are the heads of religion from the three schools. (Submitted by Deidre Alcock)

A Grade 7 Lenten retreat was given by Sr Columbia Fernandez OP at Little Flower Junior School in uitenhage in Port Elizabeth diocese on the themes of self-sacrifice, vocations awareness and Christ encounters.

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tudents at Holy Rosary School in Edenvale, Johannesburg, swam the Midmar Mile, raising funds and awareness for the Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa. The 39 swimmers have raised R83 566 to date for this worthy cause. The school’s pupils have been “Midmoos” since 2014.

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SA gives Pope Francis thumbs up at milestone BY NEREESHA PATEL

ARCH 13 marks the five-year anniversary of Pope Francis’ pontificate. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he made history in 2013 when he became the first non-European pope in over 1 000 years, the first Jesuit pope, and the first pope to come from the Southern Hemisphere. Since his election, the pope has enjoyed immense popularity among Catholics and non-Catholics alike, due to his humility, his ability to communicate on a colloquial level, his diplomatic efforts, and his working towards making the Church more welcoming. Pope Francis’ concern for those living in poverty is especially noteworthy: it has become a significant theme of his papacy, and he has urged Catholics to devote more time to the alleviation of poverty. “In the poor, we find the presence of Jesus, who—although rich—became poor,” the pope said on the first World Day for the Poor last year. Because of this, “in their weakness, a saving power is present. And if in the eyes of the world they have little value, they are the ones who open to us the way to heaven.” South African Church leaders have offered their congratulations to the pope for reaching this milestone as well as thoughts on his tenure and achievements thus far. “In many ways, Pope Francis has exceeded my expectations,” said Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, archbishop of Durban. “He not only set about reforming the Church as mandated, but he also made sure that the reform would be carried out by a structure, and so would not depend on the goodwill of even well-disposed and supportive individual heads of dicasteries.” Fr Chris Chatteris SJ of the Jesuit Institute said Pope Francis comes from a tradition of a preferential option for the poor, and the poor are the majority of the Church. “This has had the effect of putting on the backburner some of the issues dear to the Church in the developed world of the United States and Europe. “I think ordinary people really appreciate

The

having a pope who is filled with pastoral concern and compassion. They don’t necessarily read his documents, but they can sense that here is a man who is truly concerned about them,” Fr Chatteris added. Veteran media priest Fr Ralph de Hahn commended the pope for being “fearless in attacking the frigid, static, legalistic Church of Rome, just as Jesus attacked the Pharisees for their legalism”. “He spoke harshly against those in the conservative camp who, adorned with titles and rich garments, stifle the flow of compassion and relief to the poor,” said Fr de Hahn. Although there have been times when Pope Francis has lacked diplomacy, he noted, the pope has never lacked sincerity and love. “He is considered by millions to be bold, outspoken and adventurous, but not stupid,” said Fr de Hahn. Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria described Pope Francis as an “accessible person”. “I think the pope has had a huge and positive impact on the presence of the Catholic Church today,” the archbishop said. “I am impressed by the emphases which have emerged from his papacy: mercy, tenderness, humility, service and closeness to people.” He added: “On his visits, the pope gives special place to the poor and the prisoners. His actions have been dramatic and have drawn attention to where there is poverty, marginalisation and migration.” Archbishop Slattery praised the pope for highlighting the importance of family, a topic Pope Francis explores in his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (On Love in the Family). He also lauded the pope for calling on Catholics to live their baptism and evangelise. “He emphasises the spiritual foundation of the Church found in the Gospel and in the person of Jesus,” the archbishop said. Pope Francis, the above clergy believe, has accomplished a great deal during his five-year papacy, cementing his legacy in the Church, a legacy rich in hope, fidelity and mercy.  See also Pages 6-9.

S outhern Cross

or A woman wears lipstick in the colours of the Irish flag during last year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin. The feast day of St Patrick, the 5th-century apostle of Ireland and the primary patron saint of Ireland, along with St Brigid of Kildare and St Columba, is on March 17. (Photo: Clodagh Kilcoyne, Reuters/CNS)

Church of Holy Sepulchre shut for three days to protest taxes BY JUDITH SUDILOVSKY

HRISTIAN leaders in the Holy Land, who closed the church of the Holy Sepulchre in protest against three days later after the Israeli government set up a committee to resolve the dispute. The closing of the church during Lent, close to Easter, the busiest time for pilgrims, drew international attention. The heads of Christian churches, following the establishment of the committee, expressed their “gratitude to all who have worked tirelessly to uphold the Christian presence in Jerusalem and defend the status quo”. The churches are opposed to the Jerusalem municipality’s plan, announced in early February, to tax church property, such as hotels and convention centres, not used for worship purposes. The municipality said it would begin collecting $186,4 million (about R2,2 billion) in taxes from some 887 church-owned properties. The proposal runs contrary to the unofficial historical tax-exempt status Christian churches have enjoyed for centuries.

In addition, the Church leaders are opposed to a bill in the Israeli parliament that would limit the ability to sell Church-owned land to private owners. Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian church leaders said earlier they believed there was a “systematic campaign ... against the churches and the Christian community in the Holy Land ... in what seems an attempt to weaken the Christian presence in Jerusalem”. Jordan’s minister of state for media affairs had also called on “the Israeli government to immediately reverse the decisions taken against churches and respect its obligations under international law as an occupying power in East Jerusalem”. Under a 1994 peace accord with Israel, Jordan is recognised as the legal custodian of Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem. Church leaders said they looked forward to engaging with the government committee “to ensure that our holy city, where our Christian presence continues to face challenges, remains a place where the three monotheistic faiths may live and thrive together”.—CNS

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The Women’s Group from St Catherine of Siena parish in Kleinvlei, Cape Town, had their annual retreat at St Anthony’s in the Valley chapel on the Nagenoeg farm in Stellenbosch. The theme for the day was “Transfiguration” and the retreat was led by Sr Rosaleen IBVM. (Submitted by Sharon George)

PERSONALITY

The Southern Cross, March 14 to March 20, 2018

John Paul II: The pope of human rights As South Africa prepares to mark Human Rights Day, COLLEEN CONSTABLE & GRAżYNA KOORNHOF reflect on the justice and peace efforts of St John Paul II.

E is acknowledged as a great leader in Christian history—a global leader, a world statesman. The most travelled pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church was hailed for his human rights and political activism. St John Paul II was a peacemaker. This quality was highlighted in December when the embassy of Poland, in collaboration with St John Fisher parish in Lynwood, Pretoria, hosted an exhibition to introduce new memories of the saintly “Pope of Freedom”. John Paul II, the “Pope of Human Rights,” the advocate of freedom. Parishioners reflected thoughtfully on the remarkable life of this “vocal advocate of human rights”—a pope who did not hesitate to condemn economic injustice. The exhibition marked the various stages and phases in the life of John Paul II, in particular around the central theme of freedom. In 36 posters, the exhibition charted John Paul’s efforts “towards creating the new world, free of regimes and injustice”. The exhibition started with the inauguration of the pontificate of John Paul II, capturing a homily he delivered on October 22, 1978. The new pope called to “open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilisation and development. Do not be afraid.” These words, “Do not be afraid”, became a well-known phrase during

his pontificate, underlining his support in messages to those who fought for human rights. It is within the context of John Paul II’s commitment to human rights and freedom that the exhibition captured the significant contribution the saintly pope made during his pontificate. It is especially in his home country of Poland—at the time a politically oppressed country—that the election of John Paul II signalled the winds of change. The Workers’ Defence Committee (first independent democratic organisations established in Poland) and the Movement for Defence of Human and Civil Rights in Czechoslovakia brought together dissidents and intellectuals.

John Paul II in Poland John Paul II celebrated a Mass in Warsaw in honour of the members and supporters of these organisations. They remember his message as a call “to cast away the fear of the mighty of this world, of the power of their empires built on violence and lies”. During his 1979 visit to Poland, St John Paul met with that country’s communist authorities. He told them: “Poland’s quest for freedom is permanently rooted in the experience of the Christian faith.” During a Mass on Victory Square, he said: “Therefore Christ cannot be kept out of the history of man in every part of the globe…The history of the nation is above all the history of people. And the history of each person unfolds in Jesus Christ. In him it becomes the history of salvation.” In August 1980—a year after the papal visit during which the pope prayed for the descent of the Spirit of God and revival in Poland—workers boldly spoke up for the freedom to associate in independent trade unions, improved living conditions and the freedom to practise faith in public life.

Two guests discuss an exhibit on St John Paul II at St John Fisher parish in Lynwood, Pretoria. (Photo: Grażyna Koornhof)

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Above: Polish ambassador Andrzej Kanthak. Right: Pope John Paul II in Poland. In 1982, at the 68th session of International Labour Organisations in Geneva, six months after the (temporary) crushing of Solidarity by the regime, Pope John Paul II said in a speech: “ In order to build a world of justice and peace, solidarity has to demolish the basis of hatred, egoism and injustice, often elevated to the rank of ideological principles or fundamental right of social life… Solidarity creates an instrument of dialogue and cooperation to help solve contradictions without striving to destroy the rival.” In 1983, a mass emigration of thousands of Poles occurred. Murders were committed by the regime’s security officers, including those of the student Grzegorz Przemyk and Fr Jerzy Popiełuszko, a Solidarity Movement priest. John Paul inspired the Poles to turn to prayer and to teach. He shared his teachings, that pointed to “freedom as the principal aspect of human dignity, but also the necessity to remove the desire to retaliate—hatred ages political opponents”. During his third visit to Poland, in 1987, Pope John Paul shared the “theology of solidarity”: “There is no freedom without solidarity. True freedom is based on cooperation, dialogue and mutual understanding; not on conflicts, murders, rivalry and war.” In 1989 John Paul II welcomed the events that restored freedom in central and eastern Europe, and the start of roundtable discussions in Warsaw which led towards transformation. Two years later he addressed World Youth Day in Czestochowa, Poland, telling young people: “In Western Europe, too, lots of young people have lost the motivation which made life worth living. The symptom of this comprises in the phenomenon of resorting to drugs. The lack of interest in politics indicates a feeling of helplessness…You are sent to those brothers and sisters as heralds of the good…By meeting Christ, learning our calling to the dignity of the God’s sons, they will

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be able to discover the meaning of life.” In 1998 the pontiff met with Cuban leader Fidel Castro. In his homily at Mass in Revolution Square in Havana, John Paul II said: “The ideological and economic systems succeeding one another in the last two centuries have often encouraged conflict as a method, since their programme contained the seeds of opposition and disunity. The fact profoundly affected their understanding of man and of his relations with others.” The state, he urged, “should encourage a harmonious social climate and a suitable legislation which enables every person and every religious confession to live their faith freely, to express that faith in the context of public life and to count on adequate resources and opportunities to bring spiritual, moral and civic bend to bear on the life of the nation”.

Ambassador on pope At the exhibition in Pretoria, Poland’s ambassador, Andrzej Kanthak gave the opening address of the exhibition. He quoted John Paul II: “Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having to do what we ought.” Mr Kanthak continued: “The pope was stressing frequently that ‘without freedom, we cannot realise our dignity as persons. Without freedom we cannot love’. John Paul II set us an outstanding example. He thought boldly and he wanted us to think boldly. “Pope John Paul II believed that the communist global dictatorship in Moscow, Warsaw, or wherever did not need to be recognised as legitimate. He took his message of creating a strong, passive resistance in Poland to the entire world,” the ambassador said. He noted that throughout his papacy, John Paul II consistently stressed the dignity of all people, freedom of religion, and respect for human rights. “Every human being has a dig-

nity—and by extension a right to freedom of conscience—that both Church and state are obliged to respect,” Mr Kanthak said. “John Paul II is recognised as helping to end communist rule in his native Poland and eventually all of Europe. Nobody knew how to get rid of communism,” he said. Mr Kanthak described John Paul II as a vocal advocate for human rights, including his opposition to capital punishment. The ambassador described John Paul II as “an outspoken opponent of apartheid in South Africa”. Visiting the Netherlands in 1985, the pope gave an impassioned speech to the International Court of Justice, condemning apartheid in South Africa. No system of apartheid or separate development, he said, would ever be acceptable as a model for the relations between peoples or races When Pope John Paul II visited ten Southern African countries, including those bordering South Africa, he demonstratively avoided South Africa. During his visit to Zimbabwe, John Paul II called for economic sanctions against South Africa’s government. Mr Kanthak noted that after John Paul II’s death on April 2, 2005, former President Nelson Mandela as well as Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu—both Nobel peace laureates—praised the pope for defending human rights and condemning economic injustice. “A charismatic figure, John Paul II used his influence to effect political change. He can be described as history’s first pope of human rights. During his whole pontificate he never ceased to preach the Gospel of freedom around the world, a message which can give true meaning to entire communities,” Mr Kanthak said. “The voice of the Polish pope still remains a call of hope to this day for those who desire true freedom and respect for human rights in every corner of the world.”

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The Southern Cross, March 14 to March 20, 2018

CHURCH

Pope Francis’ special way with words In the five years since becoming pontiff, Pope Francis has connected with people by speaking their language, as CAROL GLATZ explains.

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SPANISH-SPEAKER who grew up with Italian-speaking relatives in Argentina, Pope Francis has a striking way with words. Bringing a background in literary themes and devices with him to the papacy five years ago, the pope has shown himself to be a master of metaphor and allegory. His cross-cultural and eclectic knowledge of literature and cinema has supplied him with numerous visual elements that he mixes and matches with a religious message, creating such compound concoctions as “the babysitter Church” to describe a parish that doesn’t encourage active evangelisers but worries only about keeping parishioners inside, out of trouble. “Armchair Catholics”, meanwhile, don’t let the Holy Spirit lead their lives. They would rather stay put, safely reciting a “cold morality” without letting the Spirit push them out of the house to bring Jesus to others. The Ignatian spirituality that formed Pope Francis as a Jesuit also comes through in many of his turns of phrase. Just as a Jesuit seeks to use all five senses to find and experience God, the pope does not hesitate to use language that involves sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. And so he urges the world’s priests to be “shepherds living with the smell of sheep” by living with and among the people in order to share Christ with them, and he tells his cardinals that all Catholic elders need to share with the young their insight and wisdom, which become like “fine wine that tastes better with age”. No chorus is as wonderful as the squeaks, squeals and banter of children, he once said before baptising 32 babies in the Sistine Chapel, assuring the parents that the commotion and chaos of new life was not only welcome, but wonderful. The pope’s visual vocabulary dips into the everyday with sayings and scenarios from daily routines: like sin being more than a stain; it is a rebellious act against God that requires more than just a trip “to the laundromat to have it cleaned”. Even rural living holds some lessons. He once told parishioners to bother their priests like a calf would pester its mother for milk. Always knock “on their door, on their heart so that they give you the milk of doctrine, the milk of grace and the milk of guidance”.

Pope Francis gestures as he communicates with Argentinian pilgrims holding up a scarf of the pontiff’s favourite football club, San Lorenzo, during a general audience in St Peter’s Square in September 2015. The pope’s popular common touch also finds expression in many of his metaphors. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher) Food and drink hold numerous lessons. For example, to convey the corrosive atmosphere a bitter, angry priest can bring to his community, the pope said such priests make one think: “This man drinks vinegar for breakfast. Then, for lunch, pickled vegetables. And, in the evening, a nice glass of lemon juice.”

hristians must not be boastful and shallow like a special sweet his Italian grandmother would prepare for Fat Tuesday, he has said. Explaining how it is made from a very thin strip of pastry, the crunchy dessert bloats and swells in a pan of hot oil. They are called bugie, or “little lies”, he said, because “they seem big, but they have nothing inside, there’s no truth, no substance”. Pope Francis’ frequent focus on the evils of living a hypocritical or superficial life has meant employing descriptions such as showy as peacocks, frivolous as an over-primped star and fleeting as soap bubbles. “A soap bubble is beautiful! It has so many colours! But it lasts one second— and then what?” To explain the kind of “terrible anxiety” that results from a life of vanity built on lies and fantasy, the pope said: “It’s like those people who put on too much makeup and then they’re afraid of getting rained on and all the makeup running down their face”. Pope Francis does not shy away from the gory or gross, calling money—when it becomes an idol—the “devil’s dung” and saying the lives of the corrupt are “varnished putrefaction” because, like whitewashed tombs, they appear beautiful on the outside, but inside they are full of dead bones. For the pope, who sees Christ as a “true physician of bodies and

souls”, there is no shortage of medical metaphors. Of the most well-known, the pope pines for “the Church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugar! You have to heal his wounds”. Speaking elsewhere about people who have done evil and know it, Pope Francis said, they live “with a constant itch, with hives that don’t leave them in peace”. The consequence of pride or vanity, he warned on another occasion, “is like an osteoporosis of the soul: The bones seem good from the outside, but on the inside they are all ruined”. Another medical problem afflicting souls diagnosed by Pope Francis is “spiritual Alzheimer’s”, a condition that renders some people incapable of remembering God’s love and mercy for them and, therefore, unable to show mercy to others. If people were to get a “spiritual electrocardiogram” (or ECG), he once asked, would it be flatlined because the heart is hardened, unmoved and emotionless, or would it be pulsating with the prompting and prods of the Holy Spirit? And whether people recognise it or not, God is their true father, he has said. “First of all, he gave us his DNA, that is, he made us his children; he created us in his image, in his image and likeness, like him.” Meeting with cardinals and the heads of Vatican offices for an annual Christmas greeting, the pope explained the reform of the Roman curia as more than just a facelift to rejuvenate or beautify an ageing body, but a process of deep, personal conversion. Sometimes, he said the next Christmas, reform “is like cleaning an Egyptian sphinx with a toothbrush”.—CNS

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ON FAITH: “Please do not water down your faith in Jesus Christ. We dilute fruit drinks—orange, apple or banana juice—but please do not drink a diluted form of faith. Faith is whole and entire, not something that you water down. It is faith in Jesus. It is faith in the son of God made man, who loved me and who died for me.”—World Youth Day, July 25, 2013 ON BEING WITH GOD: “To set aside a moment of silence each day to be with God is to ‘keep’ our soul; it is to ‘keep’ our free-

dom from being corroded by the banality of consumerism, the blare of commercials, the stream of empty words and the overpowering waves of empty chatter and loud shouting.”—New Year’s Day Mass, January 1, 2018 ON FAMILY: “In order to have a healthy family, three words need to be used: please, thank you, sorry. Three essential words! We all make mistakes, and on occasion someone gets offended in the marriage, in the family and harsh words are spoken. But please listen to my advice: don’t

ever let the sun set without reconciling. Peace is made each day in the family.”—General audience, September 30, 2015 ON YOUNG CATHOLICS: “I want you to make yourselves heard in your dioceses. I want the noise to go out. I want the Church to go out onto the streets. I want us to resist everything worldly, everything static, everything comfortable, everything to do with clericalism, everything that might make us closed in on ourselves.”—World Youth Day, July 25, 2013

CLASSIFIEDS

Gregorian chant elevates our liturgical experience BY CHAZ MuTH

HEN at Mass the priest sings, “The Lord be with you,” and the congregation responds in song, “and with your spirit,” they are performing Gregorian chant, because those holy texts are an essential part of the Mass. Gregorian chant is named for St Gregory the Great (590-604). When performed by a choir, the chants are typically sung in unison without rhyme, metre or musical accompaniment, with the tones rising and falling in an unstructured fashion. Gregorian chant became the music of the mature Roman rite, said Timothy McDonnell, a composer and conductor who lectures at the Catholic University of America. What distinguishes the chant from other sacred music is that the songs are vital to the liturgy. It’s one of the reasons the chant is traditionally sung a capella in plain, monophonic tones, Mr McDonnell said, making the text the focal point of the music. Singing has been a part of the liturgy since the early Church, and music was seen as enhancing the sacred texts—St Augustine noted that when we pray in song, it’s almost as if we’re praying twice. But it’s Gregorian chant that is the earliest form of liturgical music written and preserved for the historical record, Mr McDonnell said. Your prayer to cut out and collect

St. Gregory the Great (590-604) is the pope after whom Gregorian chant is named. (Photo: Gregory A Shemitz/CNS) While the chant is named for St Gregory the Great, “Most historians think it’s Pope Gregory II (715-731) who formulated the body of chants that we call Gregorian chant,” he added. “Gregorian chant can be incredibly involved, with a high level of artistic value. At the same time, much of its beauty resides in its simplicity and accessibility,” Mr McDonnell said. “Anybody can learn to sing some Gregorian chant.” Gregorian chant has had periods of intense popularity and eras when it receded, he said. “In many cases, it was things like the fall of cities, including

Rome,” Mr McDonnell said. “In the 15th century, Rome was in ruins, so the culture of Rome had to be rebuilt,” he said. “Whenever you invest in the cultivation of sacred things, the art grows again. So, we saw Gregorian chant flourish again.” However, in the 16th century, Renaissance polyphony, with its elaborate texturised harmonies, became the dominant music in the Church, Mr McDonnell said. The chant underwent another revival in the early 20th century with Pope Pius X. In 1947, Pope Pius XII encouraged active participation by the laity, further reinforcing Gregorian chant. Then, the switch from the Latin Mass to the vernacular after Vatican II in the 1960s prompted most parishes to favour musical forms similar to popular culture, Mr McDonnell said. Later, in the 1990s, an enormously popular album recorded by the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain, titled Chant, was released, once again renewing interest in the practice, he said. Though Gregorian chant isn’t the principal force in parish life that it once was, Mr McDonnell said that if history repeats itself, it’s in the recovery stage and could once again become a Church music staple.—CNS n See our three-part series on Gregorian chant at www.scross. co.za/2018/03/gregorian-chantseries/

PRAYER TO ST JOSEPH Gracious St Joseph, protect my family and all other families from danger, as you did protect the baby Jesus and His mother from the wrath of King Herod.

The Holy Family is portrayed in Nazareth. March 20 is the feast day of St Joseph.

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 802. ACROSS: 3 Catechism, 8 Adam, 9 Ambrosian, 10 Carols, 11 Pyres, 14 Miser, 15 Luke, 16 Tunic, 18 Noah, 20 Rufus, 21 Nests, 24 Sprain, 25 Paramount, 26 Cain, 27 Windblown. DOWN: 1 Parchment, 2 Sacristan, 4 Alms, 5 Early, 6 Hostel, 7 Span, 9 Alert, 11 Panes, 12 Suffragan, 13 Reasoning, 17 Crypt, 19 Herald, 22 Troll, 23 Sari, 24 Snow.

Our bishops’ anniversaries We congratulate: March 19: Apostolic Nuncio Peter Wells on the 2nd anniversary of his appointment as papal nuncio March 28: Bishop Jan de Groef of Bethlehem on the 9th anniversary of his episcopal ordination

Pray for us, that we respect, love and care for each other in our family as you were with Mary and Jesus. Help us to be understanding and forgiving towards each other.

Word of the Week Alb: A long, white linen vestment worn by the presider and various other ministers Chrism (oil): Olive oil mixed with a little balsam, blessed by the (arch)bishop, used at baptism, confirmation and ordination, and in blessing baptismal fonts, altars, and churches. Liturgy: (From the Greek for “public duty or work”) the prayers and rituals that make up the Church’s communal worship. Sanctuary lamp: A candle that, when lit, indicates the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in a church. Prostration: The act of lying face down on the floor (most commonly by the priest on Good Friday and by the candidates for ordination at ordination liturgies).

The Southern Cross, March 14 to March 20, 2018

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Births • First Communion • Confirmation • Engagement/Marriage • Wedding anniversary • Ordination jubilee • Congratulations • Deaths • In memoriam • Thanks • Prayers • Accommodation • Holiday Accommodation • Personal • Services • Employment • Property • Others Please include payment (R1,80 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

PERSONAL

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PRAYERS

LORD, inspire those men and women who bear the titles “husband” and “wife”. Help them to look to You, to themselves, to one another to rediscover the fullness and mystery they once felt in their union. Let them be honest enough to ask: “Where have we been together and where are we going?” Let them be brave enough to question: “How have we failed?” Let each be fool-

hardy enough to say: “For me, we come first.” Help them, together, to reexamine their commitment in the light of Your love, willingly, openly, compassionately.

PRAYER FOR RAIN: O God, our Creator, you are the source of all life. It is through your divine providence and infinite power, that the wonder and splendour of all creation surround us. “How majestic is your name in all the earth”. We pray to you who calms the raging waters and commands the wind, to provide us sufficient rain to meet our needs. During this time of drought, we are mindful of our dependence on you for all that sustains our body and soul. We pray for the cooling, gentle rain that will once again bring life to the fields and crops that feed us, restore the colourful rainbow of flowers and the cooling shade of the trees. We also pray for all those who are suffering from other natural

disasters. May they look to you for the strength to restore their lives and heal their wounded land. Help us to always be good stewards of your creation and care for the many resources of this earth. May your grace refresh our souls. We ask for these blessings through the intercession of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth. Amen. O VIRGIN Mother, In the depths of your heart you pondered the life of the Son you brought into the world. Give us your vision of Jesus and ask the Father to open our hearts, that we may always see His presence in our lives, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, bring us into the joy and peace of the kingdom, where Jesus is Lord forever and ever. Amen

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Liturgical Calendar Year B – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday March 18, 5th Sunday of Lent Jeremiah 31:31-34, Psalms 51:3-4, 12-15, Hebrews 5:7-9, John 12:20-33 Monday March 19, St Joseph, Husband of Mary 2 Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16, Psalms 89:2-5, 27, 29, Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22, Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24 or Luke 2:41-51 Tuesday March 20 Numbers 21:4-9, Psalms 102:2-3, 16-21, John 8:2130 Wednesday March 21 Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95, Responsorial Psalms Daniel 3:52-56, John 8:31-42 Thursday March 22 Genesis 17:3-9, Psalms 105:4-9, John 8:51-59 Friday March 23, St Turibius of Mogrovejo Jeremiah 20:10-13, Psalms 18:2-7, John 10:31-42 Saturday March 24 Ezekiel 37:21-28, Responsorial Psalms Jeremiah 31:10-13, John 11:45-56 Sunday March 25, Palm Sunday Procession Mark 11:1-10 or John 12:12-16, Isaiah 50:4-7, Psalms 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24, Philippians 2:611, Mark 14:1--15:47

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The wedding of St Joseph and Mary, stained glass window in St Joseph’s church, Nazareth, Israel.

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Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion: March 25 Readings: Mark 11:1-10, Isaiah 50:4-7, Psalm 22: 8-9, 17-20, 23-24, Philippians 2:611, Mark 14:1-15:47

N Sunday, we shall be entering the solemn drama of Holy Week. We shall start with the procession recalling Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, riding a donkey. Perhaps we shall remember that the crowds who cried “Hosanna” will soon be baying for Jesus’ blood; then in the Mass we begin our hearing of the four “Songs of the Suffering Servant”, all of which we shall hear in the course of this week. Then we listen to Paul’s wonderful poem about what happened to Jesus as a result of his unselfish death. But it is the Gospel that really catches the eye (it is very long, for one thing); and it seems good to mention some of the points that you might like to reflect on as it is read out. We know the story so well that it can go over our heads: but as you listen, I should like you to notice the different ways in which God is at work even in the awfulness. The Gospel begins with a contrast between various attitudes to Jesus in his last days. You have the “High Priests and Scribes”, who are determined to arrest and kill him; then there are those (his disciples?) who saw Jesus being anointed, and got cross with the unnamed woman who anointed him. Then there is

S outher n C ross

Judas, who offered to hand over Jesus to the High Priests (and was promised money for it), and who “sought to see how he might hand him over at a convenient moment”. But the hero of the story is undoubtedly the woman, who by anointing him pronounced him to be the Messiah, and then had her gesture reinterpreted by Jesus as “for my burial”: he is a dying Messiah. Of her, Jesus remarks that “what she has done will be spoken of to commemorate her”. Which side will you find yourself on, this Sunday? This is followed by the Passover supper, clouded with menace, the disciples a bit late in thinking that something should be done about organising it, and then baffled at the idea that one of them might betray him. We listen to Jesus telling them, “You will all be scandalised”, and Peter’s terrible boast, “Not me!” Then we witness the prayer in Gethsemane, while Jesus’ “inner cabinet”— Peter, James and John—snore, just at the moment when he most needs their support. This is followed by the arrest of Jesus, and his abandonment by his brave disciples, including the young man who even left his clothes behind! After that, there is the awful moment when we hear Judas telling the arresting party

Archbishop MacNeil led us well, nothing too daring, nothing reactionary, just good, steady, charitable leadership that helped us, among other things, be more pastorally sensitive, more ecumenical, less self-absorbed, less clerical, more open to lay involvement, and more sensitive to the place of women. He kept things steady but inching forward, even while properly honouring the past.

Classic Conrad

mong his many gifts, three qualities of his leadership particularly stand out for me as a challenge for us all to live out our own discipleship more deeply. First, he could live with ambiguity and not panic when tension seemed everywhere. He was not frightened or put off by polarisation and criticism. He sorted them through with patience and charity. That helped create space for a more-inclusive Church, one within which people of different temperaments and ecclesiologies could still be within the same community. He kept his eyes on the big picture and not on the skirmishes that so easily deflect attention away from what’s important. Good people carry tension so as to not let it spill over unnecessarily onto others. Good leaders put up with ambiguity so as to not resolve tensions prematurely. He was a good person and a good leader. He could be patient with unresolved tension. Second, he understood the innate tension that comes from our baptism wherein we are perennially torn between two loyal-

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Sunday Reflections

how they will know which one is Jesus: “the one whom I’m going to kiss” is the appalling signal. Contrast that with Jesus’ calm response: “Have you come out to arrest me as though I was a brigand, with swords and clubs?” Then we listen to the kangaroo trial before the High Priest, interwoven with the sad story of Peter’s threefold denial that he had ever heard of Jesus; a little slave-girl has intimidated him into these noisy lies (but he did at least follow Jesus to the end). It ends, of course, in tears; but even those tears may be read as a sign of hope. Then there is that other trial, before Pilate, and its absurd ending, with Pilate formally declaring that Jesus is the King of the Jews, while the crowds and the High Priests demand his death, and are duly gratified. What follows is mockery, on the part of the soldiers, the passers-by, the “High Priests and Scribes” (them again), and even “those crucified with him”, who might have been expected to show a bit of fellow-feeling. Then, it seems, Jesus finds himself abandoned even by God, as he bellows “Elohi, Elohi, lama sabachtani?” and is misunderstood: “Look! He’s calling Elijah”, and they give him a drink to see if Elijah will come.

The mark of a good shepherd O community should botch its deaths. Last month a wonderful leader within the faith community in Canada died and it could profit us all to more fully receive his spirit. How do we do that? It can be helpful for us, I believe, to highlight those places where his life, his energy, and his leadership more particularly helped steady us in our faith and to use our own gifts more fully to serve God. Who was this man? Joseph Neil MacNeil, emeritus archbishop of Edmonton. I was lucky enough to have had him as my bishop for the first 18 years of my priesthood. He was a good mentor and I needed one. I had just finished seminary and, not unlike many a naïve young man just turned loose in ministry, I had overly-rigid views on what was wrong with the world and how to fix that, views rooted more in personal immaturity than in prudence, views in need of a lot of levelling out. He was a guiding hand, not just for me but for many others. And this was a time as well where the Church was struggling for a deeper maturity. It was just engaging the reforms of Vatican II, wondering whether it was going too far or not far enough, and reeling at the same time from the radical cultural and sexual changes of the late 1960s. Nothing, Church-wise or otherwise, was as before. We were a pioneer generation ecclesially in need of new leadership.

Nicholas King SJ

Judas’ appalling kiss

However, there are shafts of light in the darkness, though it is so dark that we hardly notice them: Simon of Cyrene, we learn, is the father of Alexander and Rufus, which must mean that something happened to that African and his family on that Friday afternoon when he was compelled to assist the convicted criminal. Then there is the “darkness over the whole earth”, which is presumably, like the “tearing of the Temple veil”, God’s comment on the situation. Not only that, but we hear the centurion (of all people!) declare that “truly this man was Son of God”; and then we discover that those brave women had followed him all the way from Galilee, that they were “looking on from afar” and “saw where he was buried”. And finally, there is Joseph of Arimathea, an establishment figure who had the courage to stand out against the rest. So our task, this Holy Week, and all through our lives, is to look out for the ways in which God is at work, even in the worst that can happen. Will you do that, during these days?

Southern Crossword #802

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

ties, that is, the tension between being loyal to the Church and its rules on the one hand, and being loyal at the same time to the fact that we are also meant to be universal instruments of salvation who radiate God’s compassion to everyone within all the churches and within the world at large. Here’s one example of that: In the face of a very messy and painful pastoral situation, I once phoned him asking him what I should do. His answer properly interfaced law and mercy: “Father, you know the mind of the Church, you know canon law, you know my mind, and so you know what ideally should be done here … but you also know the principle of epikeia [the law according to the intent of the lawgiver and the principles of natural justice], you are standing before the pain of these people, and God has put you there. “You need to bring all of this together and make a decision based on that. Tell me afterwards what you decide and then I’ll tell you whether I agree or not.” I did make a decision and phoned him afterwards. He didn’t agree with me, but he thanked me for doing what I did. Finally, as a faith leader he understood the difference between catechesis and theology, and he honoured and defended the special place of each of them. Catechesis is needed to ground us; theology to stretch us. He understood that. As a former university president who had done graduate work at the University of Chicago, he wasn’t threatened by theologians. One of his pet sayings when one of his theological faculty came under scrutiny or attack was simply: “They’re theologians! They speculate. That’s what theologians do. They aren’t catechists.” He offered an equal defence for his catechists. In Church parlance, a bishop, an archbishop, a cardinal, or a pope is considered a “Prince of the Church”. Archbishop MacNeil was that, a Prince of the Church … not because the Church anointed him as such, but because he had the intelligence, grace, and heart of a leader.

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ACROSS

3. Religious instruction (9) 8. First name (4) 9. Ama is born from the liturgy of Milan (9) 10. Songs of the Nativity (6) 11. They are combustible at some funerals (6) 14. Skinﬂint (5) 15. Could you warm to this evangelist? (4) 16. Garment (5) 18. He weathered the storm (4) 20. Paul salutes him and his mother (Rm 16) (5) 21. Weavers build them to live in (5) 24. Injury comes from parking in rough rains (6) 25. Golf score quantity is most important (9) 26. Son of Adam (4) 27. Disturbed appearance of the disciples at Pentecost? (9) Solutions on page 11

DOWN

1. Stiﬀ material for writing on (9) 2. Scar saint reveals for sanctuary worker (9) 4. Money for the poor (4) 5. Sooner than expected (5) 6. He lost the way to the lodging (6) 7. Length of time on the bridge? (4) 9. Be prepared later (5) 11. Pieces of stained glass window (4) 12. Bishop in the metropolitan area (9) 13. Making logical judgments (9) 17. Burial vault under the church (5) 19. Was John the Baptist among this kind of angels? (6) 22. Short rolling movement conceals an ugly creature (5) 23. It’s like Mother Theresa’s garment (4) 24. Psalmist wants to be whiter than this (Ps 51) (4)

CHURCH CHUCKLE

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