180411

The

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

April 11 to April 17, 2018

Parish has a proper church at last

reg no. 1920/002058/06

r8,50 (incl VaT rSa)

Nuns show the secret of aging well

How world’s biggest monastery grew in SA

Page 2

no 5079

Page 9

Page 10

Priest: ‘Miracle in my church’s destruction’

By Erin carELSE

A Members of the cMM associates gospel group, who have just released their debut cD of gospel songs, produced by Fr Lawrence cMM Mota (inset). (Photos: Mauricio Langa)

How music can uplift people

By Mauricio Langa

F

OR a Mariannhill Missionaries priest, empowering the disadvantaged through music is part of his efforts to help them find their strengths, and thereby to achieve their potential in life.

Fr Lawrence Mota, who is also the monastery superior in Mariannhill, is no stranger to the music scene. He shot to prominence in 2010 when he released his first gospel CD, Ngigowakho Baba. Following this release many were added to his name, including the recently released gospel CD with the Associates of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill (CMM Associates).

Fr Mota said that he firstly heard the CMM Associates group sing during the major feasts of the congregation, February 2 and July 26.

He said he was captivated seeing them perform and sing in church.

“It has always been an amazing experience worthy recording, and this led me to engage with the CMM Associates and discuss with them the possibility of releasing a gospel CD with them,” said Fr Mota.

He said his main objective with music is to empower and help people of all age groups to realise their potential and aspirations. He noted that many people, particularly the youth, live in despair and unaware that they

have in them precious gifts that could be cultivated for the benefit of society.

“I always sought to advocate the idea of empowering people, and for this we need to encourage people to know see their strengths—even those who think they have no strengths”, Fr Mota said.

The CMM Associates welcomed the idea to record a CD as an opportunity to promote their musical talent; and also to be known as CMM Associates and their responsibility in the church through the Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill.

Mama Ngidi, one of the members of the gospel group, could not hide her emotion and joy at the news that the CMM Associates were to release a gospel CD with the help of Fr Mota.

“I could not even imagine myself that at my age my voice would recorded for life.”

She added that young people need to take advantage of the existing opportunities in order to improve their lives and thus realise their dreams.

NgigowakhoJesu is the sixth gospel CD released under Fr Mota’s tutelage. Previous titles include Ngiyavuma Baba; Sisize Baba; Sihawukele Baba; Glory to God; and UkholoLwami. n NgigowakhoJesu is available at the Mariannhill Monastery Repository for R70 per copy. To order contact Mpume Ndlovu at 031 700-1031 or 082 967-8558.

PRETORIA parish is picking up the pieces after its church suddenly collapsed just hours before it was going to be packed with the faithful.

The Good Shepherd church in the pastoral district of Winterveld collapsed in the late afternoon of March 31, just hours before the faithful were about to celebrate the Easter Vigil Mass.

Preparations for the vigil were underway at the Good Shepherd church on the morning of the collapse. The church was being cleaned and decorated.

Once preparations were done, parish priest Fr Jacob Banda retired to his presbytery to rest, when he heard a loud sound outside.

“When I heard the boom, I initially thought that a part of the church had collapsed. I was devastated when I stepped outside and discovered that the entire structure had crumbled, and all that was left was rubble.”

Fr Banda, who joined Good Shepherd parish last year, said that this wasn’t the first structural collapse they had experienced. Last year the chapel, also on the premises, collapsed. He managed to erect it again—only for the church to now collapse.

Fr Banda said that parishioners suspect that both incidents of buildings collapsing might be a result of poor workmanship by the construction company the parish had entrusted with the buildings.

“When the church collapsed on Saturday, it was not raining nor windy. It was only upon further inspection that we realised that the church appeared to not have been built well structurally, and noticed that no cement was used between most of the bricks, and where cement had been used, it was not the correct cement,” Fr Banda said.

The three churches which fall under the Klippan pastoral district in Winterveld— Good Shepherd, Emmanuel and St Peter’s— were all supposed to celebrate the night vigil at Good Shepherd. Due to quick thinking and

The collapsed church in Winterveld. Parish priest Fr Jacob Banda says it is a miracle that nobody was hurt or killed. communication between the three parishes, the parish was able to change the venue and hold the vigil at St Peter’s.

For now, the parishioners will celebrate Mass in the rebuilt chapel on the premises.

Though not ideal, as the size does not cater for the number of people, it will have to do.

Fr Banda said that despite the devastating incident, he is thankful that the church was empty at the time it collapsed.

“If this had happened on the night of the vigil, it would have been a really tragic event and nobody would have survived,” he said.

“These are miracles that cannot be understood or explained, but if you start counting the blessings and you look at how God has protected us from something tragic, then you’ll see it was definitely a miracle.”

Inside the church was a big, heavy crucifix hanging above the altar. All that remained of it after the collapse was Jesus’ hands on the cross.

Work is underway to clear the rubble, and Fr Banda is hoping that the diocese and the community will help the parish in raising the church again.

Why The Southern Cross must survive

L

ast week we explained in this space the reason for our forthcoming price increase, as of the issue of May 2: it will enable The Southern Cross to survive a particularly difficult time when we have been hit by sharp hikes in the cost of producing and distributing the newspaper — on top of the Vat increase.

We hope our faithful readers will understand our reasons and continue to buy The Southern Cross.

While most years we avoid making a loss, a couple of bad years like the current one could destroy The Southern Cross. this would be terrible for the local

Church, of which The Southern Cross has been such an integral feature for almost 100 years. The Southern Cross is a Catholic tradition we must not lose!

Our loyal readers know what they have in their Catholic weekly, and they value our content.

But our readership extends beyond those who buy the newspaper. We are working hard to improve our presence on social media and increase traffic to our website so as to gain new readers, particularly younger ones. We are committed to reaching young Catholics who are the future of our Church and

who have such an important contribution to make. this needs to happen through digital means in addition to the printed paper, all of which carry their associated costs.

In a deeply divided local Church, The Southern Cross is one of the very few ways — perhaps the only one — by which Catholics of different backgrounds from throughout the country come together. In this way, The Southern Cross is a vehicle for unity among our region’s Catholics.

What else would take the place of The Southern Cross as a meeting place

for southern africa’s Catholics?

How can Catholics keep The Southern Cross alive?

• By remaining loyal to The Southern Cross, YOU are helping it to survive.

• By promoting The Southern Cross in your diocese, deanery, parish and among your Catholic friends.

• Parishes which have a dedicated team of Southern Cross promoters do better than parishes that don’t. and those where the priest talks about interesting items in that week’s issue record better sales.

• those who can afford it, can sup-

port The Southern Cross by contributing to the associates Campaign, which has already helped us navigate stormy seas.

Launched in 2002 to help us build up reserves and undertake important outreach work, the associates’ Campaign is crucial in keeping The Southern Cross alive. to find out more, please e-mail admin@scross.co.za or call 021 4655007 or visit scross.co.za/associatescampaign for details.

In the meantime, imagine a south african Church without The Southern Cross! and please pray for us!

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The Southern cross, april 11 to april 17, 2018

LOCAL

Rivonia has a new church STaFF rEPorTEr

T

HE parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes in Rivonia, Johannesburg, have settled into their brand-new church, which was consecrated last month, after having used a church hall for the past 56 years.

The parish had previously used facilities that were inadequate, so in August 2010, under Fr Peter Doherty and then-pastoral council chairman George Skinner, it began to explore the feasibility of building a church that would meet the community’s needs.

The parishioners, led by Mr Skinner, eventually appointed professional construction consultants, with Ed Rouillard as principal agent, John Banahan as project manager, and architects Flavio Maraschin and Paseko Sebolecwe of NWS Quantity Surveyors. Tex Teixeira served as the electrical consultant and Dave Pritchford as fire consultant. They were supported by Richard Tyack, a quantity surveyor and parish representative.

The new church was consecrated

by Bishop Duncan Tsoke, auxiliary of Johannesburg, at a Mass concelebrated with several priests, including Fr Doherty, and attended by more than 800 parishioners as well as representatives of the Carmelite Sisters. Mr Skinner was also present.

It has been a long way for Rivonia parish, which in its early days

Seen at the consecration of rivonia’s new church of our Lady of Lourdes (left) are (from left) Fr chris Townsend of Pretoria, parish priest Fr Peter Doherty, Bishop Duncan Tsoke, former PPc chair george Skinner, and parishioner clement Lungu, who was involved with fundraising for the church. was linked with the Carmelite Convent, said current parish pastoral council chair Tim Simba.

At the invitation of Bishop David O’Leary, vicar-apostolic of the Transvaal, the Discalced Carmelite nuns opened a convent in Rivonia, then farmland, in September 1931.

“The original intention of Bishop O’Leary was to build a seminary to train diocesan priests on this piece of land, which extended from the present day 1st Avenue to 3rd Avenue,” Mr Simba explained.

“In 1954 Fr Terence Kelly was appointed to Carmel as chaplain and was asked to investigate the possibility of establishing a parish

in this northern corner of the diocese. Initially, due to funding constraints a hall-church was opened in January 1962,” Mr Simba said.

At the time, the parish served roughly 400 active parishioners.

“Massive urbanisation in Sandton led to the need for the hallchurch to be extended to accommodate those attending Mass from the adjoining areas of Bryanston, Buccleuch and Kelvin, as well as the growing suburbs of Gallo Manor, River Club and Morningside,” he said.

A parish hall was built in the 1970s and ’80s to include meeting rooms and catechetics classrooms,

since the parish had no Catholic school within its boundaries.

Mr Simba said that various priests had undertaken studies to build a proper church in the late 1980s but had decided the cost of construction was not feasible.

This changed in 2010, when Fr Doherty planted the mustard seed for the new church.

“The main difference with the old church is that the new church has been designed and built to Catholic Church specifications—it is a church building whereas the old one was a hall converted to serve as a church,” Mr Simba said.

The new church can hold 800

people, including about 100 on the balcony, or even up to a thousand on special occasions.

The new church serves 1 120 families registered with the parish as active parishioners, Mr Simba said.

Attendance over the four weekend Masses is about 2 500 people.

The old church building has been retained to be converted to a place for much-needed catechism classes by erecting subdivisions later on.

Since Fr Kelly, the parish has been served by Frs John O’Donohue OMI, Jack Braniff OMI, David Adam OMI, Michael Austin SJ, Graham Rose (now bishop of Dundee), and since 2005 by Fr Doherty.

Hurley centre trains deaf young adults

By Erin carELSE

S

INCE the beginning of March, the Denis Hurley Centre (DHC) in Durban has been hosting a group of ten deaf young adults for a one-year National Vocational Qualification training course.

The Kwa Thintwa School for the Deaf—founded at a meeting at Inchanga mission in 1980 by the late Archbishop Denis Hurley—together with i-Can, started the initiative, called Face-to-Face, to focus attention on different ways of communicating.

Raymond Perrier, director of the DHC, said it was the important that the students were made to feel welcome in

amanda clyde from i-can leads the deaf awareness and sign language classes at the Dennis Hurley centre on Friday afternoons (Photo: Sithembiso Shoba)

The

S outher n C ross Pilgrimage 2019

HOLY LAND & ROME 5 – 17 May 2019

the building. To that end, course facilitator Amanda Clyde ran a session on deaf awareness for all staff.

“Often, hearing-people may inadvertently do things which make communication even harder for deaf people, so we all benefit from being made more sensitive to the needs of others,” Mr Perrier said.

Ms Clyde also runs a simple class in South African sign language which is open to staff, volunteers and anyone who wants to get involved, every Friday from 14:00 to 15:00.

While it is not possible to become fluent in sign language in such a short informal course, the DHC hopes that

people will learn enough sign—and learn to become comfortable with signing—so that communication will become easier and more natural.

The students will learn business as well as catering and hospitality skills.

Preparations are underway at the centre’s St Augustine’s Café to accommodate a training kitchen.

The DHC has received a generous donation of bricks from Corobrik and is looking to catering equipment suppliers and existing cafes and restaurants for donations of the professional equipment that they will need. n Those who would like to help can contact cafe@denishurleycentre.org

Artist presents ‘favourite’ painting to priest

W

ELL-KNOWN artist and writer Eric Bolsmann presented one of his favourite “not for sale” paintings to Mgr Marc de Muelenaere of the church of the Beatitudes in Zwavelpoort, eastern Pretoria, on the occasion of his 75th birthday and 50th anniversary celebrations as a priest.

The painting of Christ the Redeemer, “apres Leo Theron”, is of one of the late Theron’s glass windows in a church in Pretoria which Mr Bolsmann painted 25 years ago.

Mr Theron had seen the painting before he died and approved of the work.

The painting will be on permanent display in the church of the Beatitudes.

artist Eric Bolsmann with Mgr Marc de Muelenaere and archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria with a painting by Mr Bolsmann which was presented to Mgr De Muelenaere.

Led by

FR RUSSELL POLLITT SJ with Günther Simmermacher (Author of The Holy Land Trek)

To book or for info contact gail at info@fowlertours.co.za or 076 352-3809

www.fowlertours.co.za/pollitt

Cardinal Napier’s warning to priests

By DEniS EkWErikE

C

ARDINAL Wilfrid Napier of Durban has called on priests to read the signs which may indicate that the spirit of their priestly vocation is gravely endangered, so as to consciously work for a revival.

Priests and deacons, the cardinal said at the annual Chrism Mass, receive the Holy Spirit at ordination to give them strength and the focus to function as servants to the people of God. He noted that the priest who is truly alive burns with zeal for the service of the Lord while striving daily for a deeper union with Christ.

Cardinal Napier advised priests to watch out for signs that might indicate that this zeal is flagging.

“You need to watch out for: drifting away from the Eucharist; giving up on the Divine Office; not seeing that you need confession; missing priests’ meetings and recollection; overemphasis on socialising; the overuse of alcohol; and, worst of all, adopting the standard and way of thinking of the world,” he told priests.

“It is when priests start speaking about the Eucharist that they become noticeably energised and upbeat,” the cardi-

nal said.

He challenged priests not just to hide under the inherent holiness of the sacraments they celebrate in the name of the Church but to become like Christ.

“The priest is more than a presider, more than a social activist,” Cardinal Napier said.

“He is one who offers himself sacramentally in the Eucharist and to the extent that Christ is in him. Holiness for the priest begins when he becomes the sacrifice that he offers.”

The cardinal also enjoined the faithful to equally see themselves as servants called to discharge designated roles in their families.

The Southern cross, april 11 to april 17, 2018

LOCAL

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Bicentennial Mass to Early intervention critical honour missionaries to save kids from gangs

By Erin carELSE

A

S part of the bicentennial celebrations of the Catholic Church in South Africa, the archdiocese of Cape Town will host a Mass dedicated to missionaries in May. “Countless missionaries, both men, and women, left their countries, families and friends, with immense dedication and sacrifice, to answer the mission-calling of the Church and came to Southern Africa, and it is, therefore, appropriate that we remember that our Catholic faith has been brought to us by them,” said Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town.

“The words of Jesus, ‘Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations’ (Mt 28:19), became their motivation to leave everything behind for the kingdom of God. Some of our earlier missionaries left their shores with the understanding that they might never return home, and even some of them died young because of the harsh climate awaiting them in Africa,” he said.

The archdiocese of Cape Town is blessed by the presence and ministry of a large number of missionaries, including Fidei Domum

priests, from countries around the world. The early missionaries made many contributions in building churches, schools, and hospitals.

“Due to their selfless efforts, many of these institutions became the backbone of the Church in Southern Africa and society in general,” Archbishop Brislin said. “It is these men and women that we wish to honour, celebrate and show our appreciation to.”

The Mass will be celebrated at Good Shepherd church in Bothasig on Saturday, May 19, at 10:00, followed by refreshments.

Superiors of religious communities are asked to advise the secretary of Good Shepherd church of the number of people who will be attending from their communities, on 021 558-1412. Priests are also requested to RSVP by May 4.

For more information contact Fr Ivanhoe Allies on 021 558-1412/ 079 154-6919 or Vic Barra, chair of the parish pastoral council, on 083 308-4014.

The highlight of the bicentennial celebrations in the archdiocese of Cape Town will be the closing Mass on June 24 in Coetzenburg, Stellenbosch. Further details will follow closer to the time.

our Lady of Lebanon Maronite parish in Johannesburg will be holding its 17th annual festival in May, which will include traditional Lebanese dancing.

By nErEESHa PaTEL

T

HE alarming increase in gangrelated violence in the Western Cape in the last few months negatively affects children, both as victims and perpetrators of such violence, according to a report by the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO).

CPLO researcher Lois Law in her report explained the increased exposure to violence at homes, schools and in the community causes immense psychological distress, particularly to children who are caught in the crossfire between rival gangs.

Participants at a roundtable on which the report is based—a discussion that looked at the causes and consequences of gang violence—said children who are witnesses to such violence are afraid to leave home, and are tormented by nightmares.

“There is no really safe place to be or to go to. Children have even been injured and killed at home by random bullets,” said Ms Law. Research shows that an estimated 150 000 people belong to about 100 gangs on the Cape Flats in Cape Town alone. Murder levels increased by more than 20% in the areas traditionally affected by gang violence in the Western Cape compared to the 2015-16 reporting year.

At least 21 children were killed in gang violence in the Western Cape during 2017.

Another factor is children becoming involved with gangs from an early age, Ms Law said. Research from different sources agrees that Grade 4, when children are on average nine years of age, is pivotal.

This is when poor academic performance, anti-social behaviour and learning difficulties become more prevalent. These can result in children expressing negative feelings through increasingly violent, antisocial behaviour as they grow older.

Desperate for affirmation and a sense of belonging, they turn to

gang violence is increasing in the Western cape, and children experiencing alienation and vulnerability can be easily exploited. those they admire and aspire to be like gang leaders.

“Gangs come to represent belonging … and safety,” said Lucille Meyer of the Chrysalis Academy. “When youth are not engaged and connected to self, family, to social, cultural and economic activities, there is a greater propensity to join gangs.”

O

ther contributing factors include over-crowded classrooms, where attention to struggling learners is not possible, as well as little opportunity for extra-mural activities and few sporting facilities.

This allows older gang members involved in criminal activity to easily exploit such children.

“Being used in such a way is detrimental to these children’s wellbeing and development, and condemns them to a life of crime that will be almost impossible to leave.

Not only physically, but also emotionally and mentally,” said an activist present at the roundtable.

Ms Law said that early intervention is key in curbing this cycle of violence. “Gang violence demands a coordinated response at every level. Communities must hold law enforcement to account. Support

groups for parents should be established and positive discipline methods promoted.”

Initiatives are being rolled out.

The Walking Bus Project sees adult volunteers from the community escort a maximum of 30 children to and from school in “walking buses” or groups. They also escort learners who are walking long distances or crossing dangerous roads to get to school.

The project is funded by the Western Cape Department of Community Safety and was launched in May 2016 at four schools on the Cape Flats. It has since expanded to other schools on the Cape Flats and is being piloted in other provinces.

The focus on Early Childhood Development (ECD) programmes and centres, many of which the Church operates, is also crucial.

They enable children to receive education and support appropriate to their developmental age in environments that are safe for learning.

These ECD centres can be contacted through the different dioceses. Donations can take the form of repair and maintenance, books, toys, money and volunteer work, among others.

Maronite festival in May By nErEESHa PaTEL

O

UR Lady of Lebanon Maronite parish in Mulbarton, Johannesburg, will be hosting its 17th annual festival on Sunday, May 27 in celebration of its inauguration.

The history of the Lebanese community and mission in South Africa dates back to the late 19th century when the first immigrants arrived, the majority of them of Lebanon’s Maronite Christian rite.

Our Lady of Lebanon, opened in 2003, is the third Maronite church to be established in the region.

The festival will follow the 10:00 Mass at Our Lady of Lebanon, 10 Blougom Crescent, Liefde-en-Vrede, Mulbarton. Tickets cost R50 each per adult and entry for children is

free. Pre-sold tickets are available from the church office. Tickets will also be available at the gate.

The festival will offer foodstalls, games, rides and jumping castles for children, and a beer and tea gardens for adults.

There will also be traditional Lebanese dancing, Portuguese folkdancing, hip-hop and modern dancing, and various other performances from singers and musical groups.

Funds raised will be distributed between underprivileged families in the community, church maintenance, and the construction of the hall at Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic School. n For more information, contact Our Lady of Lebanon’s church office at 011 432 5331 or 011 432 5312.

Thanksgiving Pilgrimage We accommodate small Conferences, Retreats and workshops

We are 5 min from Howick Falls, 10 min from Midmar Dam, 20 min from Pietermaritzburg.

Contact Veronica 083 784 7455 Email redacres@omi.org.za

Regrettably, due to stolen telephone cables, we no longer have a landline.

Centres slam Home Affairs for ignoring court order

T

HE Scalabrini Centre in Cape Town has expressed its disappointment that the Department of Home Affairs has failed to reopen the Cape Town Refugee Reception Office (RRO) by March 31, as ordered by the Supreme Court of Appeal last September.

In a joint statement with the Somali Association of SA, the Catholic refugee centre said “this failure to adhere to the rule of law is occurring as the asylum system collapses”, in large part because of Home Affairs’ “unlawful closures” of RROs. “Since the closures, pressure has increased at the remaining RROs and the system has a backlog. This means

asylum seekers “will take years to navigate the asylum process” and are “forced to travel long distances to have permits extended and asylum applications adjudicated”.

The court found the department’s decision to close the Cape Town RRO “substantively unlawful and irrational” and required it to reopen as a fully functional RRO, and to report monthly on its progress in complying with the order.

“The refugee system is now characterised more for its creation of undocumented asylum seekers than by its primary goal: to identify and provide protection to refugees,” the statement said.

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4

The Southern cross, april 11 to april 17, 2018

INTERNATIONAL

The Syria visited by Pope John Paul II, and war-torn Syria today By courTnEy grogan

W

HEN Pope John Paul II visited Syria in 2001, he called on Christians to remember Syria’s “magnificent contribution” to the history of Christianity. As the country reels from seven years of civil war, Christian communities in Damascus continue to struggle to protect that heritage.

“We remember that it was in fact in Syria that the Church of Christ discovered her truly catholic character and took on her universal mission. The Apostles Peter and Paul, each according to the grace received, worked here to gather together the one family of Christ, welcoming believers coming from different cultures and nations,” said Pope John Paul II in Damascus on May 6, 2001.

Within the walls of Damascus’ Old City is the tomb of St John the Baptist, the house where St Ananias took in a blinded Saul, and the Gate of St Thomas, known as Bab Touma, through which the apostle travelled on his way to evangelise India.

For Pope John Paul II, it was primarily a pilgrimage in the footsteps of St Paul that brought him to Damascus. The pontiff spent three days in Syria in 2001 as part of a six-day journey following St Paul’s evangelising missions in the Mediterranean, including stops in Greece and Malta.

“At the gates of Damascus, when he met the Risen Christ, St Paul

learned this truth and made it the content of his preaching. The wonderful reality of the Cross of Christ, upon which the work of the world’s redemption was wrought, became present before him…Brothers and sisters, let us lift our eyes to the Cross of Christ to find the source of our hope!” proclaimed the pope during his trip.

The Holy Father also praised the great contributions of Syria’s saints throughout history.

“From the very beginning of Christianity, flourishing communities were to be found here. In the Syrian desert Christian monasticism flourished; and the names of Syrians such as St Ephraem and St John Damascene are etched for ever in Christian memory. Some of my predecessors were born in this area.”

One of the historic monasteries built in the fifth century has been destroyed. St Elias Monastery was bulldozed by ISIS in April 2016, during the jihadist group’s genocide of Christians in Syria and Iraq.

T

oday, the reality of the cross is vivid for the remaining Christians in Syria, who have seen their communities drop by 75% in cities like Aleppo, once home to the country’s largest Christian population.

On Easter, Pope Francis prayed for an end to the “carnage in the beloved and long-suffering land of Syria, whose people are worn down by an apparently endless war”.

Pope John Paul ii, centre, waves to a crowd of wellwishers on May 7, 2001 during a visit to the demilitarised city of Qunaitra, Syria, in the golan Heights. (Photo: courtney kealy/newsmakers) Catholics who remain in Damascus walked through the Old City’s narrow streets on Holy Thursday to pray at seven historic churches, some of which had been damaged by mortar coming from the Eastern Ghouta suburb, only 12km away.

One of the churches visited during the Holy Week procession is the Syrian Orthodox cathedral of St George, the same church in which Pope John Paul II reflected ten years before the start of the Syrian civil war, “these will be the marks of our fidelity to God: to pray, to carry the Cross, to obey God’s will

This year, St Joseph’s Marist College is celebrating 100 years of transforming lives through education.

Our Catholic, Marist Ethos enables the pupils to feel part of a family where they are well-known by all and are cherished for their uniqueness. Our mission is fulfilled through the high standard of Catholic Education, the pursuit of academic excellence and our Marist Values of humility, modesty and simplicity.

and to honour everyone as a brother or sister”.

P

ope John Paul II made history during his short visit in May 2001 by being the first pope to enter a mosque. The Umayyad mosque was decorated with Vatican and Syrian flags for the occasion. In 715AD, the mosque was built on top of a fourth-century Christian cathedral containing the head of John the Baptist, according to tradition.

The pope lamented that his short trip to Syria did not allow him to visit “all the churches dedi-

cated to the Mother of God in this great and noble city of Damascus”.

“I would also have liked my pilgrimage in the footsteps of St Paul to have included a visit to some of the venerable shrines of the Virgin Mary, such as those at nearby Seidnaya, or in Homs, Aleppo, Tartus and elsewhere. I have not forgotten that according to a pious tradition it was near Tartus that the Apostle Peter, on a journey from Jerusalem to Antioch along the Mediterranean coast, dedicated a chapel to the Virgin Mary, the first Marian shrine in Syria,” continued the pontiff.

Homs and Aleppo, mentioned by the late pope, are among the cities most devastated by the Syrian conflict.

Between 5 000 to 13 000 people have been killed during the conflict, according to Amnesty International.

The 6th-century Seidnaya monastery, containing a miraculous icon of the Theotokos, has also been damaged in the conflict.

The Syria encountered by the late pope in 2001, before the September 11 terrorist attacks, was vastly different from the war-torn Syria today, but Christians there still cling to words he spoke during his visit to the country: “The joy of Easter flowered on the wood of the Cross…when God acts, the impossible becomes possible. It is our task to say ‘yes’ to God’s saving will and to accept his mysterious plan with our whole being.”—CNA

We are proud of our school’s rich heritage and how it has evolved throughout the years to become the co-educational, diverse, independent College of today. The school’s innovative curriculum enables all pupils to achieve their full potential. Alongside our Mainstream curriculum, Montessori classes are offered from age 3 to 12 and our Special Needs Unit caters for up to 20 children. There are many sporting and cultural extra-murals on offer. St Joseph’s Marist College offers a well-rounded, fulfilling educational experience for each child.

We enjoyed celebrating our Centenary with our Marist Family and invited guests at a number of wonderful events: The Centenary Gala Dinner, St Joseph’s Day Mass and our annual Jazz on the Lawn music festival.

INTERNATIONAL

F

By Junno arocHo ESTEVES

W

People gather in front of the Trevi Fountain in rome. rome’s city council has an agreement with caritas to give the coins collected from the fountain to the city’s poor. (Photo: alessandro Di Meo, EPa) The decision was welcomed by Mgr Enrico Feroci, director of Caritas Rome, saying it “concretely expresses the solidarity of the whole city of Rome towards those who suffer and are disadvantaged”.

By trusting Caritas Rome with the money collected from the Trevi Fountain, he added, the Rome city council has recognised that the Catholic charity has a special and unique history in the city in “reach-

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Facebook apologises for blocking ad with crucifix

Trevi Fountain coins bring fortune to Rome’s needy HILE millions of tourists throw a coin over their shoulder into Rome’s Trevi Fountain hoping to return to Rome one day, the money scooped out of the fountain each week offers more concrete hope to the city’s poor.

Rome’s city council extended an agreement with Caritas Rome to entrust it with the tourists’ coins to provide food and shelter to the city’s poor and needy.

Each day countless tourists from around the world squint their eyes, make a wish and toss thousands worth of coins into the fountain; the money is then collected by city workers using high-powered vacuums.

According to Caritas Rome, an estimated 1,4 million euros (R20 million) worth of coins were tossed into the famed fountain in 2016.

Although the Catholic charitable organisation has been entrusted with the fountain’s profits for 20 years, the city council was considering cancelling its agreement and instead using the money to help fund various projects in the financially strapped city.

However, the city council delayed its decision and the charity will continue receiving the fountain’s revenue stream at least until December 31, Caritas Rome said.

The Southern cross, april 11 to april 17, 2018

ing out and encountering the most diverse forms of poverty”, particularly in serving the homeless, the elderly, migrants and struggling families.

While many tourists make a wish to return to the Eternal City one day, Mgr Feroci said the funds they unknowingly contribute allow them to join the Catholic charity in becoming “protagonists of change” for the city’s poor. —CNS

ACEBOOK has apologised for what it called a “mistake” in rejecting a theology ad from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, US, on the grounds that an image of the cross was too violent and sensational.

“Your image, video thumbnail or video can’t contain shocking, sensational, or excessively violent content,” was Facebook’s response, according to Tom Crowe, web communications director for the Franciscan University of Steubenville.

Used to promote Steubenville’s master’s programmess in theology, catechetics, and evangelisation, the image was of the San Damiano Cross, a 12th-century cross most commonly associated with the university’s patron, St Francis of Assisi.

A Facebook spokesperson apologised for the error, stating “sometimes we make mistakes”.

“This image does not violate our ad policies. We apologise for the error and have already let the advertiser know we approved their ad,” the spokesperson said.

Since other ads with this image have been approved, Mr Crowe said it was likely that this was not “systemic religious bigotry” but a one-off mistake, possibly from a low-level Facebook employee with a grudge

The San Damiano cross against Christianity.

The mistake spurred Mr Crowe to write a reflection on the culture’s view of the cross and its rejection of Christ.

“The San Damiano Cross. Jesus in glory, reigning from his cruciform throne. This is what the monitors at Facebook consider excessively violent, sensational, and shocking,” he wrote.

“And indeed, the crucifixion of Christ was all of those things. It was the most sensational action in history.

“But it was love that kept him there. Love for you and for me, that we might not be eternally condemned for our sins but might have life eternal with him and his Father in heaven.”—CNA

Jesuit priest, son of Irish Bishop explains the trouble with revolutionary, dies at 104

A

Brexit for Ireland and peace

By SaraH Mac DonaLD

A

PRIL 10 marked the 20th anniversary of the historic Good Friday Agreement, which brought peace to Northern Ireland.

The peace deal effectively brought an end to “The Troubles”, which had cast a sectarian shadow over Northern Ireland for three decades and resulted in the deaths of more than 3 500, the majority of whom were civilians.

The agreement saw the removal of British Army security checkpoints and watchtowers along the 500km border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, making crossborder travel much more accessible and increasing trade.

But today, at least one Irish bishop is concerned that the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union could complicate life for Ireland, north and south of the border.

Despite assurances from London, Brexit has raised fears of a return to a hard border on the island of Ireland, with the spectre of customs posts between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK. In some cases, farms, businesses

and even some homes straddle the border, and what the future holds for them remains unclear.

Britain and Ireland’s shared membership of the European Union meant Brussels became the source of much-needed funding for cross-border cooperation programmes aimed at helping trade. But in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement, these programmes also eased tensions between divided and alienated communities. Ireland and the UK are currently partners in three EUfunded cross-border cooperation programmes worth about R9,5 billion.

“The Good Friday Agreement was based on the assumption that both the Republic of Ireland and the UK would be in the EU together,” Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry said.

The bishop said the prospect of a hard border would cause “enormous resentment. It would mean going back on the ‘identity’ assumptions of the Good Friday Agreement. There is also resentment in some quarters that English nationalism has decided to leave the EU and that Northern Ireland and Scotland [which both voted to remain within the EU] simply have to follow mother”.

Overall, 55,8% of the people of

Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU. But as part of the UK, Northern Ireland still must leave, and it will thus lose EU subsidies worth 87% of all farm earnings.

Officials estimate at least 30 000 people currently cross the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland every day for work, an indication of how interconnected their economies have become.

Brexit is causing “huge concern”, Bishop McKeown acknowledged. On the economic front, the economies of Northern Ireland and the republic “are intertwined, most especially in the field of agriculture and food production/processing. Within the EU, the two jurisdictions have been enabled to grow together with enormous benefits for both”.

Although the six counties of Northern Ireland are part of the UK, the Irish Church is united on the island. Bishop McKeown’s own diocese of Derry is one of three dioceses that straddle the IrelandNorthern Ireland border.

The others are Armagh and Clogher, and the diocese of Kilmore has half a parish in Northern Ireland.—CNS

Colombian diocese donates hosts to stricken Venezuela

W

ITH a flour shortage leading to a lack of hosts in Venezuela, the neighbouring diocese of Cúcuta, Colombia, donated 250 000 hosts for border dioceses to celebrate liturgies during the Triduum.

Bishop Victor Manuel Ochoa of Cúcuta donated the hosts to dioceses along the Colombian-Venezuelan border in their area, saying that he hoped to convey “the charity of Christ”.

The delivery was made early on the Simon Bolivar International Bridge, which connects the two countries.

Hosts donated by colombian Bishop ochoa. (Photo: Diocese of cúcuta) Venezuela is facing severe food and medicine shortages amid an economic crisis. Thousands have fled the country as

necessities become increasingly scarce.

It had been reported that the economic crisis had caused the production of hosts in three Venezuelan states to drop by 60%, causing priests in some areas to have to divide hosts into numerous pieces in order to provide for the faithful.

The diocese of Cúcuta, which provides thousands of meals daily to refugees fleeing from Venezuela into Colombia, noted in a statement that “it is also important to take care of the needs that afflict the faith as a consequence of this time of crisis in the border region”.—CNA

PRIEST whose father was executed following Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising has died at the age of 104, after a lifetime of mission work.

Fr Joseph Mallin SJ passed away early Easter Sunday at a Jesuit community house in Hong Kong, where he had served as a missionary since 1948. He was the last surviving child of the leaders of the uprising that led to Irish independence.

“He was 104-and-a-half, but it is still a shock and especially on Easter Sunday,” his niece Úna Ó Callanain said, according to the Irish Times.

His father, Commandant Michael Mallin, was imprisoned at Kilmainham Jail after leading troops of the Irish Citizen Army at St Stephen’s Green during Easter Week.

Set to be executed on May 8, 1916, he summoned his children, including the future priest, and his wife. He gave his wife a note with comments for his children.

“Joseph, my little man, be a priest if you can,” the note told the child.

He also wrote to his daughter Úna that she should become a nun, which she later did.

The Easter Rising did not go ac-

Fr Joseph Mallin SJ, last surviving child of irish revolutionary leaders, has died aged 104. (Photo: The Irish Times) cording to plan and Irish republican forces were defeated within days by the British military.

The execution of the uprising’s leaders provoked such a hostile reaction from the Irish people that it gave new momentum towards Irish independence from Britain.

The aftermath of the uprising set the stage for partition between what would become the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, through a 1921 treaty that prompted a short civil war in Ireland and ongoing troubles that linger through to the present.—CNA

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The Southern cross, april 11 to april 17, 2018

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Life’s littered paths

W

HEN Pope Francis was elected to the Chair of St Peter, he reportedly whispered: “I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There are many lessons in that brief statement. The most important of these relates to God’s infinite mercy, but it is also a reminder that none of us travel on our pilgrimage through life without the baggage of our own sins. Hard as we try, we are always in the presence of temptation and prone to succumb to sin, big or small.

The roads we travel are littered with our transgressions—but they are also illuminated by the good we have done.

The death on Easter Monday of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela gave South Africans opportunity to reflect on the paths she travelled on her 81-year journey in this world. Undeniably, it was a remarkable life.

Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was a great leader who articulated the frustrations and aspirations of most South Africans, under apartheid and even until her final illness. Especially during the dark years of apartheid, she gave leadership with immense courage, resilience and self-sacrifice.

She is one of the great daughters of the nation. And to acclaim her as such, we need not and must not gloss over the cracks in her character, which are also part of her story. Heroism does not require an absence of failure.

Mrs Madikizela-Mandela made many misjudgements and she could not be said to be innocent of the sin of pride.

But for most South Africans these failings were secondary to her accomplishments.

South Africa’s bishops evidently shared that sentiment. In a statement, signed by Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria, the SACBC said: “She has a complex history. Mistakes were made arising from a suffering and impetuous heart. To witness the deep humiliations of one’s people every day, to observe as a social worker the blanket inequality of access to welfare, health, schools, land and basic rights were bound to cloud the mind. One is inclined to remember Debora and some of the other great women of the Old Testament.”

The SACBC added that Mrs Madikizela-Mandela’s “courage, her thirst for justice for all, black and white, her inspired and persistent defiance towards an unjust system was historic and will inspire many in the future”.

There was a minority who took a different view: one that saw Mrs Madikizela-Mandela as a wicked person whose death merited no mourning. Rather than recalling her pivotal role in defeating apartheid, that view focused on the murder of Stompie Seipei—for which Mrs Madikizela-Mandela was convicted of kidnapping and being an accessory to assault—and her regrettable comments about necklacing.

If social media can serve as an indicator, these critiques tended to come from those who propose to leave the past behind. But there can be no selective memory: if one raises the killing of Stompie Seipei or the abhorrent practice of necklacing, then one must also talk about the context in which these took place, about the many children who were murdered by the apartheid regime or the torture of struggle activists in detention.

Everybody’s life story has its cracks, some more and some fewer than others. Pope Francis has spoken of “the life of a human person” as “a land full of thorns and weeds”.

We do not know what sins Pope Francis is thinking of when he identifies himself as “a sinner”—quite likely, these sins are more trivial than those of most people. Presumably, Mrs Madikizela-Mandela’s baggage of sin weighed more than that of the Holy Father.

As a Christian, she will have entrusted both her acts of sin and her works for the good to Christ.

We know that on Good Friday— just days before her death—she spent five hours in church, in the presence of the One who is “rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4).

The final judgment is God’s prerogative, not that of social media commenters. The Church teaches that God judges with mercy for those who seek it.

Whatever we may think of her—a giant of the struggle or flawed individual—we must pray that when Winnie MadikizelaMandela’s passed from our world into the next, she was met with God’s merciful gaze.

PUblic lectUre on

Noisy kids are tomorrow’s Church

I

WOULD like to respond to the mother who wrote about being challenged by a parishioner about her noisy children, and more so the encouraging remarks from grandma Sharron Reynolds (March 14).

In reading most of the comments on this sensitive matter, it’s my humble opinion that so many of our Catholics brothers and sisters are very godly, without always living out the teaching of the Gospel message—but in the same vein they can be very petty and legalistic in practising their faith, without realising that legalism breeds a lifeless, boring belief.

Going to Mass as a family matters

T

HANK you so much for your editorial “Children at Mass” (March 14). Ever since I read the first letters on the subject, I wanted to reply and say that we had four children and took them to Mass from an early age, as my late husband and I enjoyed going to Mass together as a family.

I was strict, as I was very conscious about disturbing others, and the children got the message that they had to behave at Mass.

But if you are a single parent, you have no option but to stay with the children, even if they are noisy.

Maybe if we mothers had been more relaxed about bad behaviour and the children hadn’t felt so restricted, then they might have enjoyed Mass more and never wanted to leave when they were old enough to make their own decisions.

I pray that the mother who wrote the initial letter and her children are back in their church where they belong—please God. As an 86-year-old mother, granny and great-gran, I pray that God gives us all patience as we welcome families, smile more, and make them feel welcome and loved.

Cynthia Jones, Durban

Sisterwas unfair to good priests

T

HE letter “Christians are all alter Christus” (March 28) by Sr Sue Rackozy IHM refers. While I concur with her emphasis on baptism as the fundamental basis of identity as “other Christs” (Christians) and with her stance against clericalism, some of her claims are preposterous.

For example, she claims that “in South Africa ... at least ... one priest insists that ... people must come and kiss his feet”. She also made these claims a few months ago in an opinion piece in The Southern Cross.

the Journey of the catholic church towards a Humane Sexual ethics Date: time: Venue:

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My advice to those who moan, groan and pull ugly faces for noisy kids is to better concentrate on the altar—in which case they’ll experience the children’s noise as soothing medicine for their souls, an integral part of the music and holistic celebrations.

I concur with Fr Francis Dufour SDB of Johannesburg that moaners must get themselves a comfortable seat in the crying room. The bottom line is that those kids who are criticised for being noisy now, already show that they will be the Catholics of the future.

Viva to our noisy kids who, come tomorrow, will be the Church that stood the test of time.

Dougie Eckard, Cape Town

I’m privileged to have raised four children in our Catholic belief, resulting in 11 grandchildren, of whom seven are fully-fledged Catholics while the rest are fullpractising Christians born of a solid Catholic background.

The Catholic grandchildren (the eldest is 21 and the youngest five) are active in the Church, side by side with their parents.

Needless to say, we received criticism on many occasions while the kids went through their natural noisy phase. I encouraged my son to ignore those parishioners who come to Mass to judge others.

He did not, however, mention that the said permission to receive Communion also condones the following activities, which are stated by canon law to be sacrilegious: 1. The civil marriage itself, after which the mortally sinful state of adultery commences.

2. The said receipt of Communion itself, as it takes place while the recipients are in the said state of the mortal sin of adultery.

Damian McLeish, Johannesburg

I challenge her to name the said priest so that we may verify her allegations.

It is quite uncharitable to paint all 1 000-plus priests in South Africa with such a vague and sweeping statement.

Fr S’milo Mngadi, Vosloorus

Universality of Church key value

Did pope actually see abuse dossier?

I

LOVE being a Roman Catholic. In the midst of the stormy seasons we find ourselves in, one of the mainstays that has always given me confidence was our universality.

And now, having participated at Mass in various local churches, it is clear we are wandering—and dangerously so.

The General Instruction on the Roman Missal is being increasingly adulterated by our priests, with often as many as ten and more variations.

I would like to continue being a Roman Catholic—not a South African Catholic, not a Gauteng Catholic, nor a Bryanston Catholic.

Please keep the faith.

Deacon Alex Niven, Johannesburg

I

READ with interest the editorial “The pope’s big crisis” (February 14), and it raises one huge question in my mind: what happened to the dossier on Bishop Baros of Chile after Cardinal O’Malley had handed it to Pope Francis? Given that there are all sorts of power plays going on in the Vatican, could it be that the dossier was surreptitiously removed from the pope’s attention on purpose to embarrass him?

It is obvious that all is not well with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, given that victim member Marie Collins resigned because she felt she could not make headway in making others understand the trauma that abuse victims suffer, the pivotal point of discussion.

Then there is also the very serious fact that the perpetrators are all male, and have used their so-called religious-dominating mindset to their own advantage.

Antonio Tonin, East London

Communion for remarried: see law

D

R JH Goossens (February 28) stated that the papal exhortation Amoris Laetitia is an attempt to create a third exception to the permanence of marriage, the first two being the Petrine (no consummation of marriage) and the Pauline (refusal to accept a partner’s Christian conversion) privileges respectively.

Presumably he means that its permission in certain circumstances to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion condones the rejection by them of their valid first marriages.

If so, his contention appears to be prima facie correct.

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 can be sent to PO box 2372, cape town 8000 or editor@scross.co.za or faxed to 021 465-3850

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The Southern cross, april 11 to april 17, 2018

PERSPECTIVES

The problem with loving Mary too much

M

ANY Christian denominations unfairly condemn the Catholic Church for the special honour given to the Virgin Mary; they inaccurately accuse the Church of “worshipping” Mary side-by-side with God. As the Mother of God—the uniquely perfect example of faithful discipleship to her son Jesus, the Son of God—Mary is the greatest of all the saints and is rightly the most honoured human being. But she is not equal to God. She herself humbly declared her servanthood to the Almighty. At the Annunciation she proclaimed: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

So, in Catholic spirituality we are called to give hyperdulia—that is, veneration as the holiest of humans—to Mary, our Blessed Mother. But to God alone, we are instructed to give latria—the Latin-based word for worship.

Nigeria, with one of the largest Catholic populations in Africa, has a serious problem here. Many Catholics here seem to worship the Virgin Mother Mary in place of, or on a par with, God. This is because many Nigerian Catholics, unfortunately, have not been instructed in the basic teachings of Catholicism, which has led to misconceptions regarding many of the Church’s traditions and teachings.

But on a positive note, there are many Marian societies in the Catholic Church here in Nigeria that correctly honour the Virgin Mother rather than worship her.

Still, numerous local parish ministries often erroneously put her on the same level with God. For instance, many people prefer to spend significant amounts of money on statues of the Virgin Mary rather than honouring Christ in giving to the poor and supporting other important works of the Church.

H

onestly, some out of ignorance have come to replace God in their heart with the Virgin Mary, or try to make her an equal to God. This is especially prevalent among many rural Nigerian Catholics.

A deeper commitment to catechetical instruction is needed here.

I have seen many who would never

Mass at Holy rosary church in abuja, nigeria. Many nigerian catholics skip Mass but will never miss a group rosary, writes arinze Joseph ani. (Photo: afolabi Sotunde, reuters/cnS)

Why we must hear youth!

L

AST month, 300 youth representatives from around the world gathered in Rome to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing young people today.

Their conversations were summarised in a document that will guide the bishops when they meet in October for the Synod on Youth.

As I read through the document, I was impressed with the depth and substance of the young people’s discussion.

Sometimes, as adults, we don’t give as much weight to the insights of the youth as we should. Perhaps we feel that they lack the life experience and wisdom to understand the complexity of the world around them, or maybe we forget that we too were young once and filled with high ideals and a burning fire to make our lives count.

Some of the insights that the youth representatives had should be a wake-up call to the rest of the Church. They serve as a reminder that, while we have a responsibility to guide and shape our young people, we also have a responsibility to listen to them and allow them to call us out on areas that call for greater circumspection, especially if we truly want to build the Church of the future.

Too often we say, the children and youth are the future of the Church, but how often do we give them the space and responsibility to shape that future?

Here are some of the things they had to say: • Support for family life: The Church has been saying this for decades, but yet our young people are pointing out the decline of family life, the need for healing from the hurts that arise from our experiences of family.

They are telling us that they need a “sense of belonging” as part of the process of shaping their personalities and identities, but also require wholesome families in which “there is room for everyone”.

• The formation of meaningful relationships is important to our youth, but they admit that this is often difficult in a superficial world characterised by a “throwaway culture”.

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Pope Francis poses for a selfie during last month’s pre-synod gathering of youth delegates in rome in preparation for the Synod of Bishops on young people this october. (Photo: Vatican Media/cnS) They say that in a world that is increasingly secular, it can be difficult to find others who share their faith “in a social environment that is averse to religion”.

Despite this, they celebrate the diversity of living in a globalised and interreligious world, and call on the Church to do the same by building on already existing theological guidelines for peaceful, constructive dialogue with people of other faiths and traditions.

• Contrary to what we might think, our young people don’t just live for today.

They have hopes and dreams for the future, but want to live in a society that is “coherent and trusts us” by allowing them to be “active participants” in “building a better world”.

They recognise that they cannot do it alone and ask the Church to help them discern their vocations, and find new ways of making the path to holiness and sainthood attractive to young people as a source for happiness.

They also recognise that the world is not perfect and that conflict, economic instability, climate change and social inequality often prevent young people from fulfilling their dreams and making longterm decisions.

In this regard, they ask the Church to support those who are drawn to the

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Letter from nigeria

miss a Rosary prayer meeting (popularly called a “Block Rosary”) and various Marian prayer services—but they regularly miss Holy Mass on Sundays. Yet they still feel they are practising the Catholic faith.

These same people who are hungry for God and holiness have their priorities out of order. They are not allowing God alone to be first and foremost in their lives.

One of the practices that baffles me the most is that many Nigerian Marian ministries have misguided rules such as: • There’s a number of given seconds you must venerate a statue of Mary anywhere you see it.

• Prayers can never be answered if not accompanied by at least a decade of the Rosary.

• A child cannot be registered for kindergarten education unless he or she learns to pray the Hail Mary; even when the child attends a non-Catholic school.

May Mary, our beloved mother, the Mother of God, lead all Nigerian Catholics, all Southern African Catholics, and all Catholics throughout the world to her Son the God-man, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit alone deserves our adoration and worship.

Sarah-Leah Pimentel

The Mustard Seeds

Church’s Social Teaching to build a “world of peace, one that harmonises integral ecology with a sustainable global economy”.

• Who better to tell us about how to live with technology, than our youth who are the first generation to have been born into a highly technological world and have always had access to it?

They explain that technology is a “significant part of young people’s identity and way of life”, and it has the potential to create connections with others, “unite people across geographical distances”, and provide educational opportunities for those living in isolated or impoverished communities.

However, they are also the first to recognise that excessive dependency on technology can erode real-world relationships and, when misused, can give rise to “a delusional parallel reality that ignores human dignity”.

The youth, therefore, ask the Church to “deepen her understanding of technology so as to assist us in discerning its usage” and to recognise the potential of social media and other online platforms as a “fertile place for the New Evangelisation”.

• We remember it well ourselves: the agonising search for meaning and purpose in our lives. Today’s young people are the same.

The difference between them and us, they say, is that they have “lost trust in institutions” and many are not looking to their faith as a place to find meaning. Instead they are placing disproportionate emphasis on “job and personal success” or look to other spiritual movements as answers to their unanswered questions.

To this they add their perception that women are not given equal place within the Church and ask: “What are the places where women can flourish within the Church and society?”

They also have questions about many of the Church’s teachings, such as the issues Continued on page 11

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Emmanuel Ngara

christian Leadership

Good leaders get up again when they fall

W

E conclude this series on understanding leadership with a column on leadership qualities.

As it is not possible in this short essay to summarise all the principal leadership qualities that an aspiring leader should develop, let’s highlight a few of the most important qualities of a leader.

First and foremost, a leader must have a vision and a sense of purpose.

One of the very first things good leaders do is to paint a picture of where the organisation needs to go and to show their followers how to work towards the goal that the organisation needs to achieve.

As a leader, therefore, you must be able to dream dreams of the kind of future you want to see. But the future is not something you wait for; it doesn’t end as a dream—the future is purposely created. You need to have a plan to create the future you dream of.

To win the support of your followers, the future you create must be a compelling one which inspires others to want to buy into the vision.

To inspire others, you must be a person of influence.

Great leaders have inspired others to do extraordinary things. It is not a question of using force. A leader who uses force to achieve what he or she wants to achieve is a dictator.

True leadership thrives on the power to influence: the ability to inspire others so that they find themselves willingly and voluntarily doing what the leader wants them to do, without coercion and without fear of reprisals.

For followers to be inspired in this way, what the leader wants them to do should be something they can relate to; something about which they can say: “Yes, this is good for the organisation. Yes, this is good for us.”

N

ow, for the leader to be able to influence and inspire others like this, he or she must be a person of character. This means a person who is consistent in behaviour, a person of integrity whose character is unquestionable; a person whose conduct and behaviour is beyond reproach.

In other words, the leader must be a role model. They must embody what they stand for; meaning that a leader must be someone who walks their talk. What it also means is that the leader must behave ethically in relation to their followers.

Going back to the need for a vision, it is important to note that it is not enough for the leader to have a vision—their character should be such that they do not betray the vision through bad and unethical behaviour. As John Maxwell has put it: “The leader finds the dream and then the people. The people find the leader and then the dream.”

The result of having a character that is not questionable is that such a person is trusted by others. It is easier to lead people who trust you, and hence leadership gurus have said trust makes leadership possible. As has been implied, character is built on the qualities of integrity, accountability and respectability.

Leadership also requires developing the qualities of courage and tenacity. You may have a compelling vision, and people sabotage you, oppose you, or even develop a hostile attitude towards you.

This highlights two principles: First, that in addition to courage and tenacity, you must be committed to your vision and principles. Your commitment to the cause will keep you going.

Second, the three qualities—commitment, courage and tenacity—highlight the fact that leadership is not for the fainthearted. It entails standing up for your principles in the face of opposition, and even in the face of failure.

Yes, in leadership sometimes you win and sometimes you fail. The thing to remember is to turn the failure into a lesson so that the failure becomes a lesson learnt for future success.

Leadership is like a race. In a race you may fall. The thing to do is to say to yourself: “It doesn’t matter how many times I fall. Every time I fall, I must stand up and continue with the race.” n After 11 years of writing his monthly column on Christian leadership in The Southern Cross, Prof Ngara will take a sabbatical. We thank him for his long service and invariably inspiring articles. Find his previous columns at www.scross.co.za/category/ perspectives/ngara/

8

The Southern cross, april 11 to april 17, 2018

COMMUNITY: EASTER

on Palm Sunday, our Lady of Fatima parish in South Hills, Johannesburg, hosted papal nuncio archbishop Peter Wells. at Mass his co-celebrants were Scalabrini Father Pablo Velasquez and Deacon Walter Middleton. archbishop Wells is pictured with parishioners after the service.

The catholic Women’s League of St Therese’s parish in Edenvale, Johannesburg, hosted a paschal meal, with readings and prayers followed by a Passover meal, catered for by ricky gomes of Mimmos in kempton Park.

The congregation of St kevin’s church in Windvogel, Port Elizabeth, took part in a Palm Sunday procession with parish priest Fr callistus nwosu, recalling Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.

Parishioners at Sibasa parish in Thohoyandou, Tzaneen diocese, took part in a procession on Palm Sunday.

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Preschool and junior school teachers and students at cBc St John’s Parklands in Table View, cape Town, came together to celebrate Passover, with washing of the feet and the ceremony of the Seder meal.

Monks at St Benedict’s abbey in Polokwane, Limpopo province, participated in a Way of the cross procession, among other activities from the feast of St Joseph until Palm Sunday. Br Edward holds the cross during prayer on the route. (Supplied by Br Basil oSB)

Send your photos to

pics@scross. co.za Foundation phase pupils at Holy rosary School in Edenvale, Johannesburg, re-enacted the Easter story.

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African youths at the Vatican: Give us a voice I

F the Catholic Church at every level— and governments, too—would listen to young people and give them a voice in decision-making, they could unleash great potential, African young adults told Catholic media in the Vatican.

Tinyiko Joan Ndaba of Pretoria was one of the 305 young adults participating in a weeklong meeting designed to allow young people—involved Catholics and others—to provide input for Pope Francis and the world’s bishops, who will meet in a synod in October to discuss “young people, faith and vocational discernment”.

“I hope that young people can be given a chance to change society because I think we have so much potential,” she told Catholic News Service.

“But we can’t do it on our own,” she said.

“We need support from the people who have been there before and who can give us direction [on] where to go.”

Ms Ndaba was chosen to attend the meeting by Talitha Kum, the anti-human trafficking organisation where she works. The organisation is an international network of consecrated men and women in 75 countries promoting initiatives against human trafficking.

While the Catholic Church in South Africa is doing its best to prevent future cases of human trafficking, she said, the Church also must warn young people of the harm inflicted by those who exploit women, especially when “the demand is coming from Catholics”.

A

ddressing the meeting, Pope Francis used strong words to condemn prostitution.

“One who goes to a prostitute is a criminal—a criminal,” Pope Francis told the young people. “This is not making love. This is torturing a woman. Let’s not confuse the terms. This is criminal.”

As one of many men and women working to prevent human trafficking in Africa, Ms Ndaba said she was happy to hear the pope speaking frankly about a “hidden crime”

T

that is “not talked about so much”.

Human trafficking is an important topic for a youth gathering, she said, “because most victims of human trafficking are young people who are trying to find better jobs, a better life, so they migrate and traffickers take advantage of that, most especially with young people.”

T

endai Karombo, a 26-year-old from Zimbabwe, said she wants the Church in her country to have greater appreciation for young people, many of whom become caregivers for their elderly parents as early as 1215 years old.

“When we come to Church, we do not get that respect…We are then sidelined to minor things, we cannot do a lot, we are viewed as weak, [so] we cannot do so many things,” she told Catholic News Agency.

“I [would] hope and appreciate if the Church can also see that strength in us, make us responsible, and we can save so many souls,” she said.

Vincent Paul Nneji from Nigeria said that the preparatory meeting offers a chance for young Catholics in his country who are considered “a minority voice” to speak out on important issues.

“When the pope sent a letter on this meeting, we said, ‘Finally, the Church in Rome has decided to give us a platform; they decided to give us a listening ear,’” Mr Nneji said.

African youths today have “so many things in our hearts we want to express and want to say”, yet they often feel disregarded.

Too many, he said, then resort to violence in the hopes of provoking change.

Mr Nneji hopes that, through the presynod meeting, the whole world “may see a reason for allowing youths to be heard, for allowing [young people] to be part of decision-making, even in society.”

“If we were allowed to express ourselves, we would have less violence, we would have more peace in our society and in our world,” he said.

or Tinyiko Joan Ndaba, an anti-human trafficking activist from Pretoria and delegate to the presynod meeting at the Vatican, speaks during a media opportunity. Youths from all over the world met at the Vatican in preparation for the Synod of Bishops on young people, the faith and vocational discernment this October at the Vatican. (Photo: Robert Duncan/CNS)

Pope Francis in numbers

BY CAROL GLATZ

I

N just five years as leader of the universal Church, Pope Francis has made 22 international trips, travelling 250 000km—the equivalent of six times around the world.

He also has declared 80 new saints, plus 800 more in the form of Italian laymen killed

by Ottoman soldiers in the 15th century.

Those numbers and more were released by the Vatican, detailing the many papal events, documents, travels and accomplishments of the past five years. The numbers cover the period starting from March 19, 2013—the solemnity of St Joseph, the day officially inaugurating the start of his pontificate.

According to the Vatican statistics, the 81year-old pope has: • Created 61 new cardinals.

• Led 219 general audiences, with catechetical series that include reflections on the sacraments, the Church, the family, mercy, and the Mass.

• Issued 41 major documents, including the encyclicals Lumen fidei and Laudato Si’, and the apostolic exhortations Evangelii Gaudium and Amoris Laetitia.

• Prayed the Angelus and “Regina Coeli” with visitors 286 times.

• Completed 22 trips abroad, 18 pastoral

visits within Italy and 16 visits to parishes in Rome—the diocese of the pope as bishop of Rome.

• Made nine other visits to churches for special events and places of worship in Rome, including the city’s synagogue and Rome’s Evangelical Five years of Pope Lutheran and AngliFrancis. (Photo: Paul can churches, and the Haring/CNS) Ukrainian Catholic basilica.

• Called four synods of bishops: two on the family, this year’s synod on young people and a synod on the Amazon in 2019.

• Declared two special years: on consecrated life and the Year of Mercy.

• Established or proclaimed seven special days, including World Day of the Poor, 24 Hours for the Lord, the annual September 1 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria, South Sudan and Congo.

• Attended two World Youth Days (in Brazil and Poland), with the one in Panama planned for 2019.—CNS

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on Easter Sunday, Sacred Heart parish in Mahobe, umzimkulu diocese, took the occasion to celebrate young parishioner amanda Miya passing matric with flying colours. She is a member of Soldiers of christ in the parish and is now enrolled at Durban university of Technology. amanda is seen with parish priest Fr Thokozani Masina. (Supplied

by Sr Zithobile Zondi)

During the Easter Triduum services at St Mary’s cathedral in cape Town, archbishop Stephen Brislin washed parishioners’ feet. (Photo: Michelle Parry)

The Southern cross, april 11 to april 17, 2018

LIFE

9

Nuns show the secret of aging well What is the secret to happiness and aging well? A long study of nuns in the US holds some of the answers, as Fr HugH Lagan SMa explains.

I

N the 1930s, a group of 180 young Catholic women were asked to write short autobiographies as part of their admission requirements to the School Sisters of Notre Dame congregation in Mankato, Minnesota.

Decades later, their essays would become an important part of the study of positive psychology (what makes life worth living), as well as challenge decades-old theories of age-related brain disease and longevity.

In 2001, researchers from the University of Kentucky published their now famous “Nun Study” which analysed the linguistic patterns of handwritten autobiographies of young female aspirants to religious life.

The researchers also conducted a longitudinal study of aging and neurocognitive disease among present-day finally professed Sisters to better understand the potential causes and risk factors for the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

The Sisters were considered an ideal research group due to their homogenous lifestyle and histories. Their remarkable similarities eliminate many of the confounding variables that plague most human studies.

The researchers found a “very strong association” between positive emotional content in the autobiographies written in early adulthood—in the 1930s—and longevity six decades later.

“Positive emotional content” was defined by the researchers as the use of descriptive language which communicated a high level of fulfilment, accomplishment, optimism and meaning in one’s life.

The aspirants whose autobiographies showed low emotional content frequently communicated obligation, fear, shame and moral duty as strong motivating principles in their lives.

The researchers discovered that the more cheerful sisters lived ten years longer than the least cheerful Sisters—and for every one percent increase in the number of positive sentences in their autobiographies, there was a 1,4% decrease in mortality rate.

Additionally, the more cheerful Sisters had an 80% chance of getting to the age of 85, while the least cheerful Sisters had only a 54% chance of reaching 85.

Interestingly, 54% of the more cheerful Sisters reached 94 while only 15% of the least cheerful Sisters reached that age.

The correlation between the use of positive emotions and wellbeing remained strong even when the researchers compared autobiographies of equal complexity.

In other words, a worldview in early adulthood which values gratitude, connection and purposeful living positively contributes to well-being, resilience and longevity.

The results of the “Nun Study” resonate strongly with research exploring what makes for a happy and contented life.

Positive psychology studies consistently have found that authentic happiness primarily stems from creating purpose and meaning in our lives.

The “Nun Study” suggests that living a long and fulfilled life does not come from the distant hope of finding meaning in our future; rather, it comes from creating

Long-term studies on nuns, going back to the 1930s, have revealed the secret of growing old well: among the chief attributes are happiness and fulfilment. (Photo: alessandro Bianchi, reuters/cnS) meaning in our present lives, nurturing gratitude and compassion in our relationships and believing in something greater than ourselves.

Avoiding Alzheimer’s The second study conducted by the University of Kentucky researchers included 678 finally professed School Sisters of Notre Dame and sought to better understand what causes the brain to deteriorate with age in some people while others remain intact.

The Sisters ranged in age from 75 to 106 when the study began in 1986. Some of the 90-year-old Sisters were highly functional while others in their 70s were already severely disabled.

The researchers were able to access a treasure trove of personal information related to each sister in the convent archives.

This included birth certificates, socioeconomic status of family, medical histories, education records as well as comprehensive social and occupational data.

All participants agreed to annual assessments of cognitive and physical function, medical exams, blood work for genetic and nutritional markers, neuropsychological testing and brain donation at death for neuropathologic study.

The subjects of the “Nun Study” remain the largest brain donor population in the world.

One remarkable finding in this study continues to confound medical professionals and researchers.

Post-mortem brain tissue evaluation of 500 Sisters revealed that many met criteria for full-blown Alzheimer’s disease without showing any lifestyle symptoms while they were still alive.

The robust synaptic density and high cognitive reserve present within the brains of these Sisters was understood to be protective against cognitive loss and neurogenerative disease. It seems that as particular areas degenerated in their brains, other well-exercised areas took over those functions.

In reviewing the autobiographies written by the Sisters while they were still young adults many decades before, researchers found that those Sisters who displayed superior language skills in their

54% of the more cheerful sisters reached the age of 94

writing were 60 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s later in life when compared to those Sisters whose autobiographies displayed low language skills.

Language skill was defined as grammatical complexity and idea density (average number of discrete ideas contained in every ten written words). High language skills correlated positively with high cognitive test scores later in life.

This finding lends support to the hypothesis that strong mental reasoning skills early in life and an active commitment to life-long learning helps reduce the risk of brain atrophy and neurogenerative disease later in life.

Lifestyle is the key In both studies, lifestyle factors were shown to enhance both quality of life and longevity. Strong social connections, a life-long love of learning, and being attentive to the needs of others all fostered healthy aging.

When asked her motivation for agreeing to participate in the “Nun Study”, one 101-year-old sister, who had been an educator all her life, replied: “The ‘Nun Study’ allows me to keep teaching even after I die.”

Continuing to stay actively engaged in something you love, mentoring others and stable friendships are much of the secret of aging well.

While a spiritual worldview was understood to positively correlate with better quality of life, the positive or negative traits attached to a higher power were key to understanding how such a belief enhances wellbeing and builds resilience.

Healthy eating also contributed to brain health. The researchers found during postmortem brain examinations that the Sisters who had high levels of folate (folic acid) were less likely to display the physical lesions of Alzheimer’s disease.

Folate is a naturally occurring vitamin commonly found in dark green vegetables such as spinach and broccoli and is understood to help protect the brain against neural damage.

A larger and more racially diverse study begun in 1993. Called the “Religious Orders Study” (Rush University), it seeks to extend the “Nun Study” and boasts 1 350 male and female participants from

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45 religious orders (including the School Sisters of Notre Dame).

The “Religious Orders Study” investigates memory and aging, and has identified protective and risk factors in the development of Alzheimer’s disease across the lifespans.

Protective factors included maintaining a strong social network, healthy eating, physical exercise, good sleep, hygiene and active life-long learning.

Risk factors for cognitive decline included heightened anxiety, clinical depression, self-perceived loneliness, and entrenched negative thinking.

A popular urban myth posits that playing sudoku, crossword puzzles and visiting “brain-training” websites help build cognitive reserves and mitigate against the onset of dementia disease later in life. The bad news is that the level of difficulty in these activities is considered too low, and so the benefits to brain health are considered minimal.

A healthy diet, moderate daily exercise, socialising, volunteering, learning a new language, and sufficient sleep are considered much better predictors in building cognitive health and robust memory functioning.

The “Nun Study” and the “Religious Orders Study” challenge the belief that a decline in brain health and wellbeing are inevitable consequences of aging.

Like so much of life, the attitude we bring into each new day can powerfully determine how we experience the quality of our lives.

Remember, life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you choose to react to it.

One of the participants in the “Nun Study” witnessed her mother and sister suffer through many years of living with Alzheimer’s disease until their deaths.

While the study participant acknowledged that the findings of the study will not bring her loved ones back, she explained her decision to volunteer for the study as wishing to contribute to her local community and leave the world a better place than she found it.

It is perhaps such a generative and generous outlook which makes all the difference between living a long and fulfilled life and simply living your life as a spectator on the sidelines.

And with the help of some divine inspiration, the brain remembers this difference.

Our daily attitude can powerfully determine the quality of our lives

n Fr Hugh Lagan is a priest with the Society of African Missions and a clinical psychologist.

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The Southern cross, april 11 to april 17, 2018

SA CHURCH 200

How Pfanner set up world’s biggest monastery One of the defining moments in the growth of the Catholic Church of South Africa was the arrival of Abbot Franz Pfanner and his Trappist monks. nicki Von DEr HEyDE tells the story of the man born as Wendolin Pfanner.

Nonetheless the monks started work with vigour, clearing the thorn bush and planting crops to achieve the Trappist goal of self-sufficiency.

When increasing amounts of money were needed for equipment and materials, Pfanner printed brochures with photographs of progress made, and sent them to Europe to raise funds.

He also went to Europe himself, on fund-raising tours. He would travel from town to town in an open cart, eating only bread and fruit, and give such humorous, witty and charismatic speeches that his audiences donated generously.

But sadly, the drought in the Cape persisted, locusts destroyed the little food the monks managed to cultivate, and it was clear that the project was doomed to fail.

A

T the turn of the last century a remarkable phenomenon occurred among the rolling foot-hills of rural Natal: a series of magnificent, neo-Gothic churches materialised, as if by magic, in rural environments where neighbouring dwellings were mostly simple, thatched huts.

The towering spires of these European churches marked the astonishingly rapid spread of Trappist mission stations, founded by monks of the silent order.

How this came about, is a triumphant and at the same time tragic story that has at its centre the personality of one exceptional man: Abbot Francis Pfanner.

Born in 1825 as Wendolin Pfanner to a farming family in Austria, he was one of twins, endowed with red hair and a strong personality.

Being a sturdy lad, he was the acknowledged champion of a form of wrestling called Hosenlupf. He also enjoyed practical jokes and was leader of the village gang.

However, as far as farm work was concerned, he was impatient and hasty, knocking over milking pails and spilling trailer-loads of sand.

His twin brother, Johann, seemed better suited to farming than Wendolin, who was consequently sent off to grammar school to acquire an education. Being a clever and studious boy, he excelled in his studies and went on to university.

His academic record was so good that he went on to do a post-graduate course in philosophy at a university in Padua in northern Italy.

However, while he was in Italy, he fell ill with pneumonia and meningitis. Forced to interrupt his studies, he recovered his health in a sanatorium.

It was while he was there that he felt a calling to mission work. However, his weak lungs would seem to preclude the mission fields for the time being.

He studied to become a priest and was ordained at the age of 25.

He was given a difficult parish to administer. He poured all his prodigious energy into the task and was very successful, although his lungs were still weak from his illness.

His fiery personality and bound-

The room of abbot Franz Pfanner, who is pictured right, is preserved at Mariannhill monastery, near Durban. (Photo: günther Simmermacher) less drive fed in him a growing passion for Christian outreach; however, when he requested the bishop to send him to the mission fields, the bishop refused, believing Pfanner’s health not sufficiently robust.

Instead he sent him to oversee a convent of nuns in Croatia. The young priest soon gained their admiration and support but, while he was there, he again suffered a bout of illness, and had to spend time recuperating.

Expected an early death After this, he approached the bishop with a singular request. He wished to join the Trappist order.

He reasoned that his ill health would lead to an early death, and desired to prepare himself for the afterlife. The best preparation would surely come from spending time in the strictest religious order, that of the Trappists.

This was a strange request from a priest who was passionate for outreach and evangelisation. The Trappist monks were contemplative; speaking was discouraged, and the preparation of the soul for the afterlife was their primary focus.

This was surely not compatible with missionary outreach. But Wendolin Pfanner’s choice stemmed from his conviction that he did not have much longer to live.

The bishop kept Pfanner waiting a long time for his reply, no doubt believing the priest would change his mind. When Pfanner remained obdurate, he was sent to join the Trappist Mariawald monastery in western Germany.

Wendolin took the religious name of Franz, the German form of Francis.

He embraced the Trappist lifestyle with enthusiasm, throwing himself whole-heartedly into hard physical labour. His favourite pas-

time was chopping wood. It seems that the vegetarian diet and hours of exercise strengthened his previously weak constitution, and he became a strong and healthy man, full of energy and devoted to hard work.

It wasn’t long before he was chivvying the monks who didn’t work hard enough, and this made him unpopular. Complaints against him resulted in his being sent away from Mariawald and told that he should go and establish his own Trappist monastery elsewhere in Europe.

Franz Pfanner visited Rome and the Holy Land before he finally established a new mission station near Banja-Luka in Bosnia. He named it Mariastern (Star of Mary).

Pfanner’s first monastery

He supervised the building of a mill and a fruit-drying plant; bridges and roads were constructed; a school and orphanage followed.

Building operations were hampered by the fact that materials needed for construction had to pass through customs.

Apart from the delays this caused, customs refused to let bells come into the country at all, because bells were forbidden in Bosnia. However, as the Trappists were not allowed to speak, the tolling of bells governed their timetable and were indispensable.

Pfanner solved the problem by smuggling them in, concealed in wine casks.

Throughout his life he would refuse to allow man-made rules to obstruct his love of God and his calling.

Because monks were not permitted any contact with females, they could not teach or work in the coeducational school or orphanage at Mariastern. Pfanner managed the problem by bringing in convent Sisters to teach at the school and work in the orphanage.

They proved a great success and Franz was later to adopt Günther Simmermacher the same strategy at Mariannhill mission in South THE HOLy LAND TREK Africa.

Let Günther simmermacher guide you with insight and humour through His converts and congrethe great sites of the Holy Land and Jordan on a virtual itinerary, examingation at Mariastern grew at ing the great sites of the region and their history. Only R150 (plus R28 p&p)

The move to Natal such a rate that he had to buy up more land to grow crops, as it was imperative that the monastery produce enough food for all—an important Trappist principle was that of self-sufficiency.

Sadly, the extension of monastery land caused conflict, because Bosnians living on neighbouring properties complained about the frequent tolling of the bells, which were needed to announce set times of work or contemplation. Objections were sent to the bishop who instructed Franz to “curb his unruly spirit” and to limit further development.

However, it could not be denied that Mariastern monastery was a great success, and it transpired that Franz Pfanner was to be proclaimed an abbot.

This would have meant a life of comparative ease, but it was not what Franz wanted; his heart remained devoted to outreach and mission work.

Determined to remain in Africa, Pfanner wrote to the bishop of Natal to ask if he might relocate his mission from the Eastern Cape to wellwatered Natal. Bishop Jolivet agreed, planning to settle the Trappists on an abandoned mission station near Umzinto, on the south coast.

Fortunately for Pfanner, he heard from a prominent Natal businessman that factionfighting among those living in that area would make it untenable for mission work. Pfanner looked around for a suitable farm to buy instead.

Fortuitously, there was a farmer close to Pinetown whose land was up for sale; he owned fertile fields on the banks of the Umhlatazana river. Pfanner’s offer for the farm was accepted, and he lost no time in moving his monks, printing press and other equipment to Pinetown by rail, and then to the new farm by ox-wagon. He arrived in December 1882.

The success of the Trappists at Mariannhill monastery soon became legendary. Their motto— ”Work and Prayer”—reflected their Benedictine origins; and their way of living produced wonderful results.

The monastery, with a farm and workshops, was in the heart of a rural community, and the people around learned by example from the Brothers.

The monks did all the hard, physical labour themselves and in this way taught farming methods and technical skills.

Before long the school engendered well-educated young Blacks, many of them skilled in the trades of wagon-building, carpentry, ironwork, book-binding, tanning, leatherwork, barrel-making, printing, tailoring, candle-making and more. n Part 2 will run next week. Nicki von der Heyde’s book Triumph and Tragedy: Trappist Missions in South Africa, with more than 200 historic and modern photographs, will be published later this month. To order, contact the author at nicki@campaigntrails.co.za

Bells were illegal, so Pfanner smuggled them in wine casks.

Life-changing call from SA It was at this juncture in his career that an event occurred that would change his life—and those of countless others.

At a chapter meeting of the order, Bishop James David Ricards, of the Eastern vicariate in South Africa made an unusual request: he sought a group of monks to open a mission station at Dunbrody, near the Sundays River in the Eastern Cape. Abbot Pfanner, to the amazement of all those present, offered to go, with the famous words: “If no one will go, I will go.”

Travel arrangements were concluded and shortly afterwards Abbot Pfanner, a group of monks and a printing press left by ship for Africa.

Franz was miserably seasick the whole way, arriving emaciated and hollow-eyed. His condition was not improved by the sight of the land on which he was to build his station. It was arid, drought-stricken and barren.

Chris Moerdyk

The context in which Pfanner arrived

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HE Trappists arrived in South Africa shortly after the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.

The British won the war and annexed Zululand, prompted by a desire to confederate all of South African states under Britain. (Natal, the Cape and the Transvaal were already British colonies.)

But the annexation of Zululand caused civil war there as rival factions competed for ascendency. And the annexation of the Transvaal created an uprising of Boer national feeling that culminated in the sieges of the Transvaal garrison towns of Rustenburg, Lydenburg, Potchef-

stroom, Pretoria and Wakkerstroom.

This unrest escalated into the War of Independence (First Boer War 1880/1). When the Boers decisively won the battle of Majuba in February 1881, the Transvaal was granted independence, but without political suzerainty.

The political situation in the country was therefore tense when the Trappists first arrived in Natal.

Franz Pfanner, who was an astute man with political views far ahead of his time, knew that he would have to tread carefully, or risk having his missionary outreach used for political ends.

Zulu chiefs wanted his support to

help them against rival chiefs, and the Boers, many of whom had German origins, sought to use the monks’ influence against Britain.

Matters were further complicated when an attempt was made by some Germans to lay claim to Lake St Lucia, north of Durban. Because the Trappists were mostly from Germany or Austria, it meant that, should they move into this region, they would become involved in a political wrangle.

These were the reasons why the spread of mission churches took place mostly south and west, instead of north and east, towards Zululand.

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Speakers at a catholic Parliamentary Liaison office roundtable on migrant children and education were (from left) colin northmore, cPLo director Fr Peter-John Pearson, Prof anne Skelton, and Musa Emmanuel.

Educating migrant children

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ELD in Johannesburg at Sacred Heart College, a Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office roundtable on educating migrant children attracted more than 90 people.

They represented the migrant community, educators, lawyers, and civil society groups.

The event was co-hosted with Three2Six, a Sacred Heart project which provides education for children of migrants who, for

various reasons, fall between the cracks and cannot enter the normal educational stream.

Prof Anne Skelton from the University of Pretoria spoke of the Constitutional obligations regarding education for all children irrespective of status, the national legislation, and the interpretations given to contested clauses, which all favour universal education.

Colin Northmore, head of Sa-

that affect their lives and their relationship to Christ and the Church.

Even before the bishops meet in October to discuss these weighty issues, what answer can we, as laity, as priests and religious, as parents, as youth workers give to our young people?

Will we allow ourselves to learn from them? Do their questions perhaps remind us of issues that we once dedicated much attention to ourselves, but then as the weight and responsibility of adulthood consumed more and more of our time and energy, we cast into the back of our minds and have not even

community calendar

To place your event, call Mary Leveson at 021 465 5007 or e-mail m.leveson@scross.co.za (publication subject to space) JOHAnneSbUrg: book launch: american Fr James Mallon’s new book Divine Renovation: From a Maintenance to a Missional Parish will be launched in South arica on april 19 at 18:30 at the Jesuit institute, 15 Molesey avenue, auckland Park. E-mail invitations@jesuitinstitute.org.za by april 16 to attend.

St Anthony’s church in coronationville is calling for donations of tinned fish, peanut butter, jam, butter and juice for their soup kitchen. contact Faried and nadine Benn on 073 906 6037 or 083 658 2573. cAPe tOWn: retreat day/quiet prayer last Saturday of each month except December, at Springfield convent in Wynberg, cape Town. Hosted by cLc, 10.00-15.30. contact Jill on 083 282 6763 or Jane on 082 783 0331.

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

St Anthony’s rosary group. Every Wednesday at 18:00 at St anthony’s church opposite greyville racecourse. all are welcome and lifts are available. contact keith chetty on 083 372 9018. nelSPrUit: Adoration of the blessed Sacrament at St Peter’s parish every Tuesday from 8:00 to 16:45, followed by rosary, Divine Mercy prayers, then a Mass/communion service at 17:30.

tHAnKS

cred Heart College, spoke about the history of Three2Six, the gaps it seeks to remedy, and the quest of the school to use its resources in socially responsible ways.

Musa Emmanuel, a refugee community activist, spoke about the bewildering obstacles which migrant parents face in accessing education for their children, and the social pathologies that follow if children are not schooled.

Why we must hear youth!

Continued from page 7 of “cohabitation, marriage, and how the priesthood is perceived in different realities in the Church”.

In light of their questions, they are pleading for “authentic witnesses—men and women who vibrantly express their faith and relationship with Jesus while encouraging others to approach, meet, and fall in love with Jesus themselves”.

These observations are only from the first section of a far lengthier document, but I hope they give us a taste of the deep thought and reflection that the youth have given to these topics

brOWn—William christian. in loving memory of our father and grandfather who passed away on april 13, 2004. years have passed, but you are still in our thoughts and prayers.

Fondly remembered by ruben, gloria and family.

thought of in many decades?

Above all, what authentic witness can we give to our young people?

Do we display for them a faith that prioritises family life, models healthy relationships, gives them some share in the responsibility of building a better world?

Do we learn from them how to use technology responsibly?

Do we show them that every member of the Church community is loved and has value and dignity, irrespective of history, social class, race, sexual orientation, gender, and religious background?

Liturgical Calendar Year B – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday April 15, 3rd Sunday of Easter Acts 3:13-15, 17-19, Psalm 4:2, 4, 7, 9, 1 John 2:1-5, Luke 24:35-48 Monday April 16 Acts 6:8-15, Psalm 119:23-24, 26-27, 29-30, John 6:22-29 Tuesday April 17 Acts 7:51--8:1, Psalm 31:3-4, 6-8, 17, 21, John 6:30-35 Wednesday April 18 Acts 8:1-8, Psalm 66:1-7, John 6:35-40 Thursday April 19 Acts 8:26-40, Psalm 66:8-9, 16-17, 20, John 6:44-51 Friday April 20, St Marcellinus Acts 9:1-20, Psalm 117:1-2, John 6:52-59 Saturday April 21, St Anselm Acts 9:31-42, Psalm 116:12-17, John 6:60-69 Sunday April 22, 4th Sunday of Easter, Vocations Sunday Acts 4:8-12, Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28-29, 1 John 3:1-2, John 10:11-18

tHAnKS to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mary and St Joseph, St Jude, St anthony and Mother Teresa for answering my prayers. cecilia g. grAtefUl tHAnKS to St Jude Thaddeus for prayers answered. gMDc.

PrAYerS

HOlY St JUDe, apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of Jesus christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron in time of need. To you i have recourse from the depths of my heart and humbly beg

you to come to my assistance. Please help me now in my urgent need and grant my petition. in return i promise to make your name known in distribution of this prayer that never fails. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be forever blessed and glorified. Holy Mary Mother of god, pray for us and grant my request (name your request). our Father, Hail Mary, glory Be. Dermot PE. 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 foolhardy enough to say: “For me, we come first.” Help them, together, to reexamine their commitment in the light of your love, willingly, openly, compassionately.

O Virgin Mother, in the depths of your heart you pondered the life of the Son you brought into the world. give us your vision of Jesus and ask the Father to open our hearts, that we may always see His presence in our lives, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, bring us into the joy and peace of the kingdom, where Jesus is Lord forever and ever. amen. tHAnKS be to thee, my Lord Jesus christ, For all the benefits thou hast won

for me, For all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me. o most merciful redeemer, Friend, and Brother, May i know thee more clearly, Love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, For ever and ever.

PerSOnAl

AbOrtiOn WArning: The truth will convict a silent church. See www.valuelife abortionisevil.co.za AbOrtiOn WArning: The Pill can abort. all catholic users (married or cohabiting) must be told, to save their souls and their unborn infants. See www.epm.org/ static/uploads/downloads/ bcpill.pdf

MarianELLa guest house, Simon’s Town: “come experience the peace and beauty of god with us.” Fully equipped with amazing sea views. Secure parking, ideal for rest and relaxation. Special rates for pensioners and clergy. Malcolm Salida 082 784 5675, mjsalida@ gmail.com MOntAgU: Self-catering cottage in central area.Sleeps 3 in lovely garden setting. Braai patio and secure parking. Pets and children welcome. Phone 082 975 8049.

KZn-DUrbAn: Self-catering guest house close to churches, shopping malls and beach. Tel: 083 263 2174.

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 806. ACROSS: 4 Accused, 8 Agreed, 9 Private, 10 Infamy, 11 Insult, 12 Ascended, 18 Our death, 20 Clinic, 21 Victim, 22 Redress, 23 Hebron, 24 Lessons. DOWN: 1 Vatican, 2 Prefect, 3 Newman, 5 Corridor, 6 Unvest, 7 Extols, 13 Diocesan, 14 Eastern, 15 Chiming, 16 Allege, 17 Snares, 19 Drivel.

Our bishops’ anniversaries This week we congratulate: April 10: Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg on the 19th anniversary of his episcopal ordination as archbishop of Bloemfontein

Word of the Week

Alleluia: A Hebrew word meaning a joyful expression of praise to God (omitted from the liturgy during Lent).

Roman Missal: The liturgical book comprised mainly of the sacrmentary (prayers) and the lectionary (scripture readings), approved by the local bishops’ conference and Rome.

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the

Fourth Sunday of Easter: April 22 Readings: Acts 4:8-12, Psalm 118: 1, 8-9, 2123, 26, 28-29, 1 John 3:1-2, John 10:11-18

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EXT Sunday will be Vocations Sunday; and it is no use burying your head in your hands like that, because you do have a vocation from God, whether you like it or not, although it may not be to the priesthood or religious life.

In the first reading, Peter, whom not long ago we saw in panic-stricken denial that he had ever heard of Jesus, is now “filled with the Holy Spirit” and discovering his vocation as he fearlessly faces down the “rulers and elders of the people” in the aftermath of his having healed the man who had been paralysed from birth.

Stoutly, he insists: “It should be known to you all, and to the entire people of Israel, that it is in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you people crucified, whom God raised from the dead, that is the name by which this man stands in your presence, healthy.”

Then he quotes from today’s psalm: “The stone which was rejected” (at this point he adds “by you people”) “by the builders, turned into the corner-stone.” Then he turns all that (and his own earlier cowardice) on its head, by insisting: “There is no other name, except that of Jesus, by which we must be saved.”

We may say Peter has found his vocation.

S outher n C ross

You too have a vocation The psalm for next Sunday presents the reader with what may be the vocation of all of us: “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; for his steadfast love lasts forever” and it is “better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans”.

Then comes the line about the “stone that the builders rejected”; and the unflinching focus on God (which makes it easier to accept our vocation): “This has been done by the Lord, wonderful in our eyes.”

Then comes a line often applied to Jesus, finding his own vocation: “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Finally the psalm ends, as it began, in gratitude and praise to God; which is where you will find your vocation this week.

In the second reading, we are given a glimpse into the depth of the mystery: “See what great love the Father has given us, that we should be called God’s children—as we are”; and that has the further implication that we are not recognised by “the world”, which is all the forces opposed to God’s project.

But there is an important aspect to our vocation hinted at here, which is that there is always more to come: “We are now God’s

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nothing more of God. When I lament before God, it is usually my own suffering that is the starting point. Even when I petition God, the occasion is often my own problem. I need something from God. And even when I thank God, unfortunately I am usually thankful for something I have received. But when I adore, I let go of myself and look only to God.” Admittedly: lament, petition, and thanksgiving are high forms of prayer. An old, classical, and very good, definition of prayer defines prayer as “lifting mind and heart to God”, and what’s in our hearts virtually at all times is some form of lament, petition, or thanksgiving.

Moreover, Jesus invites us to ask God for whatever is in our heart at a given moment: “Ask and you will receive.” Lament, petition, and thanksgiving are good forms of prayer; but, in praying them, we’re still focused in some manner on ourselves, on our needs and our joys.

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Conrad

owever, in adoration we look to God or at some attribute of God (beauty, goodness, truth, or oneness) so strongly that everything else drops away. We stand in pure wonder, pure admiration, ecstatic awe, entirely stripped of our own heartaches, headaches, and idiosyncratic focus. God’s person, beauty, goodness, and truth overwhelm us so as to take our minds off ourselves and leave us standing outside ourselves.

And being free of our own selves is the very definition of ecstasy (from the Greek

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Sunday reflections

children, and yet it has still not become clear what we are going to be.”

And then he gives us the reason for this: “When he appears [this could be either God or Jesus, of course] we’ll be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” In that case, of course, our vocation will become clearer.

In the Gospel our vocation becomes a bit more focused, for Jesus offers the charming image of a shepherd and his flock: “I am the Good Shepherd”, says Jesus, and we respond to that with some enthusiasm.

Yet we are invited to notice that this vocation can be rather dangerous, as we discover the implications of this calling of his: “The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”; so presumably, if Jesus has done that for us, we too can be expected to do that for others.

There is a contrast here between the “shepherd” and the “hired person”; the latter is the one for whom “they are not his own sheep”, who does not have the vocation, but “sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees, and the wolf plunders and scatters them; because he is a hired person, and does not care about the sheep”.

When time stands still HE theory of relativity tells us that space and time are not what they appear to be. They’re relative, meaning that they don’t always function in the same way and they aren’t always experienced in the same way. Time can stand still.

Or can it? This side of eternity, it would seem not. Ever since the universe started with a mammoth explosion some 13,8 billion years ago, the clock has been running non-stop, like a merciless meter, moving relentlessly forward.

However, our faith suggests that time will be different in eternity—so different in fact that we cannot now even imagine how it will be in heaven.

As St Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.” How will time be experienced in heaven? As we’ve just affirmed, that cannot be imagined now.

Or can it? In a wonderful new book, Is This All There Is?: On Resurrection and Eternal Life, the renowned German scripture scholar Gerhard Lohfink suggests that we can, and sometimes do, have an experience of time as it will be experienced in eternity. For Lohfink, we experience this whenever we’re in adoration.

For him, the highest form of prayer is adoration. But what does it mean to “adore” God and why is that the highest form of prayer?

Lohfink answers: “In adoration we ask

Nicholas King SJ

We have here the difference between one who has a vocation and one who does not.

Then comes another way of looking at it, in terms of mutual knowledge: “I am the Good Shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me.”

This is then put into the all-important context of the relationship between Father and Son: “As the Father knows me and I know the Father.”

Then again we are given the distinguishing mark of a real vocation: “I lay down my life on behalf of the sheep.” And there is a further aspect to this: “There are other sheep who are not of this fold, and I must lead them—and they will listen to my voice; and they will become one sheep-flock, one shepherd.”

And once again there is the possibility of death: “This is why the Father loves me, that I lay down my life.” But that is not the end of the story, for he concludes, “that I may take it back again”.

What about that vocation of yours, this week?

Southern Crossword #806

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final reflection

ekstasis, to stand outside oneself). Thus, to be in adoration is to be in ecstasy— though, admittedly, that’s generally not how we imagine ecstasy today. For us, ecstasy is commonly imagined as an earthshaking standing inside ourselves, idiosyncrasy in its peak expression. But true ecstasy is the opposite. It’s adoration.

Moreover, for Lohfink, not only is adoration the only true form of ecstasy, it’s also a way of being in heaven already right now and of experiencing time as it will be in heaven.

Here’s how he puts it: “In the miracle of adoration we are already with God, entirely with God, and the boundary between time and eternity is removed. It is true that we cannot now comprehend that adoring God will be endless bliss. We always want to be doing something. We want to criticise, intervene, change, improve, shape. And rightly so! That is our duty.

“But in death, when we come to God, that all ceases. Then our existence will be pure astonishment, pure looking, pure praise, pure adoration—and unimaginable happiness,” Lohfink writes.

“That is why there is also a form of adoration that uses no words. In it I hold out my own life to God, in silence, and with it the whole world, knowing God as Creator, as Lord, as the one to whom belongs all honour and praise. Adoration is the oblation of one’s life to God. “Adoration is surrender. Adoration means entrusting oneself entirely to God. As we dwell in adoration, eternity begins— an eternity that does not withdraw from the world but opens to it utterly.”

Time can stand still! And it stands still when we’re in pure admiration, in awe, in wonder, in adoration. In those moments we stand outside ourselves, in the purest form of love that exists. At that moment, too, we are in heaven—not having a foretaste of heaven, but actually being in heaven.

Eternity will be like that—one moment like a thousand years and a thousand years like one moment.

When we adore, time stands still—and we’re in heaven!

CATHOLIC Feast day at shrine of IRELAND OUR LADY OF KNOCK,

ACROSS

4. One who’s charged in the dock (7) 8. Concurred to drag eastwards twice (6) 9. Bishop’s secretary who has no general title (7) 10. Disgrace in some of the family (6) 11. slight but may not be very slight (6) 12. Climbed like Christ?

(8) 18. We ask our Lady’s prayers at this hour (3,5) 20. Get nursing sister’s treatment here (6) 21. Object of sacrifice (6) 22. Compensation for vesting again (7) 23. Where abram built an altar (Gn 13) (6) 24. Liturgical readings for learning? (7)

DOWN

1. tax I am able to show is in Rome (7) 2. Roman governor in senior school (7) 3. Cardinal not of the older generation (6) 5. Passage to the cloister (8) 6. take off chasuble (6) 7. Praises former bell sounds (6) 13. a sin code to shake the local Church (8) 14. Nearest direction (7) 15. sound from the clock tower (7) 16. Claim more than about legal (6) 17. Wickedness and ... of the Devil (st Michael prayer) (6) 19. talk nonsense when Red turns with 56 Latin numerals (6)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

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HE church was filled to overflowing one Sunday morning. The priest was ready to start Mass when two men, wearing long black coats and armed with automatic weapons, entered.

One of them loudly announced: “Everyone willing to take a bullet for Jesus stay in your seats!”

Naturally, the pews emptied, followed by members of the choir, and altar servers.

After a few moments, there were about 20 people left sitting in the church. The priest was holding steady in the pulpit.

The men put their weapons away and said, gently: “All right, Father, the hypocrites are gone now.

You may begin Mass.”

S outher n C ross

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