180530

The

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

May 30 to June 5, 2018

Honorary doctorate for Pretoria priest

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Reg no. 1920/002058/06

no 5086

R10 (incl VAT RSA)

Pilgrimage on the Abbot Pfanner trail

Winter Theology priest dreams of going to space

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Page 10

200th birthday: What SA Church plans for jubilee

By ERIn CARElSE

M learners of Brescia house School in Bryanston, Johannesburg, with their distinctive hats, are seen attending the annual Grade 11 Catholic Schools Mass at the archdiocese’s cathedral of Christ the King. The event is organised by the Catholic Schools office and every Grade11 class of all the Catholic schools around Johannesburg attends each year.

Nuns invite prayer at arts fest

By SAMAnThA CARoluS

T

WO religious Sisters will aim to bring a sense of quiet and calmness to the busyness of the Grahamstown Arts Festival in late June through guided prayer.

Running as part of Spiritfest, the festival’s religious component, Guided Prayer is an opportunity to take some quiet time and space to become aware of God’s presence.

Assumptionist Sister Ursula Hinchion of the St Patrick’s parish will be leading the guided prayer sessions, with the help of Sr Geraldine Carolan.

The guided prayer session takes the form of a one-on-one, confidential conversation in a warm and comfortable space, in which there is listening and sharing. It is then followed by focused prayer.

One could compare guided prayer to a doctor’s visit, said Sr Ursula.

In the same way that one goes to the doctor and explains all the pain and symptoms, so would one go to a prayer companion and discuss troubling issues. Then, like the doctor who prescribes medication to treat the symptoms, the prayer companion will give prayers and help the person to pray over the

The

issue troubling their heart.

This, in turn, deepens one’s relationship with God. “It has a ripple effect on your faith,” Sr Ursula said.

She explained that the prayer guide gives the person an opportunity to reflect on what is happening in their daily life and where God and those around them fit into their daily schedules.

The prayer guide is there to listen, she said. This in turns helps to encourage and to help the person become more aware of God’s loving presence in their life.

The session is usually half an hour and is carried out in an atmosphere of trust and confidentially, she said.

The event has seen great success over the years. Sr Ursula noted that “people feel more at peace and closer to their God, just after a quick and simple thirty minutes of prayer”, with many people leaving the sessions “feeling more whole”.

The guided prayer sessions are available from July 2-6 between 10:00 and 12:00 at St Mary’s Catholic church in Hill Street. n For more about Spiritfest see www.grahams towncathedral.org/spiritfest

S outher n C ross

ASSES throughout the country on June 10 will celebrate the bicentenary of the Church in South Africa, while the archdiocese of Cape Town will conclude the jubilee year with a closing Mass on June 24.

The national Masses of thanksgiving to mark the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the Church in the country will be taking place in all cathedrals, parishes and mission stations throughout Southern Africa at 12 noon on June 10.

Church bells will be rung to symbolise the solidarity of faith.

A recording from Pope Francis will also be aired, and the special bicentennial candle that was blessed and given to every bishop or his delegate to take back to their cathedral at the inaugural bicentennial celebration Mass last year will be lit in every cathedral.

For Catholics in Cape Town, there will be a Mass in the cathedral of Our Lady of the Flight into Egypt—South Africa’s mother church—on the day.

Planning is also underway for the closing Mass of the bicentennial on Sunday, June 24 at the Bellville Velodrome in Bellville at 14:00. It will be presided over by Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town.

It was previously announced that the closing Mass would be held in Stellenbosch but the Velodrome will allow for a greater number of people to attend, as the seating inside accommodates 5 000 people.

The Mass is a tickets-only event. Should more than 5 000 be attending, there will be an overflow section for 3 000 people in the adjacent athletics stadium, which will be partially enclosed with big screens and a live feed of the proceedings.

Bishops from the rest of the country have also been invited as Cape Town is the mother diocese. Together with the priests,

Altar servers lead the recessional at the end of the Mass in St Mary’s cathedral, Cape Town, which launched the bicentennial jubilee in June 2017. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher) they will join the archbishop in the sanctuary which will have a raised platform with the altar, as well as two screens on either side for better viewing.

Archbishop Brislin will also be inviting civic dignitaries and leaders of other religious bodies.

The Mass will have an all-inclusive liturgy and the prayers of the faithful will be said in different languages.

The archdiocesan choir will be leading the music and there will be liturgical dancing done by dancers of an archdiocesan group, representing all of the dioceses.

June 24 is the solemnity of the birth of St John the Baptist, and therefore white vestments will be used.

There will be a live stream on YouTube on the day, so those unable to come to the Mass will be able to watch it live. The URL will be released closer to the time. n See next week’s issue for a timeline of the Catholic Church, from the first Mass celebrated on South African soil to the bicentennial jubilee.

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The Southern Cross, May 30 to June 5, 2018

LOCAL

Top St Augustine College 100 ways to honour Mandela award for veteran priest T A STAFF REPoRTER

By ERIn CARElSE

VETERAN Pretoria priest received this year’s prestigious Bonum Commune Award from St Augustine College, South Africa’s Catholic university.

Mgr Marc de Mûelenaere was presented with the award at the university’s annual graduation ceremony at its campus in Victory Park, Johannesburg.

As is tradition, St Augustine uses its graduation event to confer the Bonum Commune Award on a worthy recipient.

Equivalent to an honorary doctoral degree conferred by state universities, the Bonum Commune Award celebrates those who have made an outstanding contribution to the common good.

Mgr de Mûelenaere has played an important role in the life of Pretoria archdiocese over the past 50 years, the college noted.

Apart from his pastoral contribution in rural, township and urban parishes, he has served as dean, chancellor, and member of the finance committee.

However, it is as a canonist that Mgr de Mûelenaere is probably best known: he has taught canon law at St John Vianney Seminary for many years, and is the founder and coordinator of the postgraduate canon law programme at St Augustine.

The monsignor has headed the Pretoria interdiocesan tribunal as judicial vicar, and the Zimbabwe national marriage tribunal as acting judicial vicar.

The

Mgr Marc de Mûelenaere, who played an important role in the life of Pretoria archdiocese over the past 50 years, received St Augustine College’s Bonum Commune Award, the equivalent of an honorary doctorate.

Over the past 32 years, he has trained most of the young priests of South Africa in canon law.

Perhaps uniquely among the clergy of South Africa, Mgr de Mûelenaere has received honours from two popes, a president and a king.

Pope John Paul II named him a personal chaplain in 1993, and Pope Francis bestowed upon him the medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.

President Jacques Chirac named him a Chevalier in the National Order of Merit of France,

HE people of Durban will have an opportunity to choose from 100 different ways to celebrate Nelson Mandela, over a period of 100 days centred around the 100th anniversary of his birth in July.

The Denis Hurley Centre is running its “Mandela 100” campaign from May 30 to September 6, which places the centenary of Mr Mandela’s birth on July 18 in the middle.

The idea of the campaign is to give people concrete ideas of ways to celebrate Mr Mandela, not just on the traditional Mandela Day but over a period of 100 days.

“We are working with a number of NGOs to offer people a list of 100 ways they can choose from, to honour Mandela and help the people we help,” said Raymond Perrier, director of the Denis Hurley Centre.

“The focus is not on giving money but rather on sharing time and goods,” he said, adding: “Though we hope people will give money as well.”

All the activities and goods will be to the benefit of inner-city Durban.

People can volunteer or donate

through a range of organisations of different faiths that serve the innercity poor.

These organisations include the Denis Hurley Centre, Diakonia Council of Churches, Emmanuel cathedral, iCare, Makabongwe preschool, Refugee Pastoral Care, Talk English, SANZAF and YMCA. Between them, the organisations have created a combined list of 100 possible activities: • General donations of goods • Specialist donations of goods • General volunteering • Specialist volunteering • Events that promote Mandela’s values People are asked to respond directly to the e-mail contact given for each activity, so each NGO will handle its own responses.

On Mandela Day itself on July 18 there will be a special service in Emmanuel cathedral, and at the end a closing ceremony and awarding of certificates of participation. n Contact Denis Hurley Centre on 031 301 2240 or e-mail admin@denis hurleycentre.org for others’ details.

and King Albert II of Belgium made him an Officer in the Order of King Leopold.

St Augustine conferred its Bonum Commune Award on Mgr de Mûelenaere specifically in recognition of his service to the Church in Southern Africa and the outstanding support that he has lent to the university.

The ceremony was presided over by the grand chancellor of St Augustine, Archbishop Jabulani Nxumalo of Bloemfontein.

S outher n C ross Pilgrimage 2019

Sr Mary McAteer, organiser of a conference in nemato, Eastern Cape, on special needs, with Dr Pam Mclaren, keynote speaker at the conference.

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By ERIn CARElSE

CENTRE for people with intellectual disabilities expects to benefit from the outcome of a conference it hosted.

Enkuthazweni Centre in Nemato, Eastern Cape, consists of a school for children with intellectual disabilities, a rehab centre for those with severe or multiple disabilities, and a skills centre for young adults with intellectual disabilities.

The high-level conference was organised by Assumption Sister Mary McAteer and sponsored by the Irish mission funding agency Misean Cara.

Attending were special needs coordinator Suzanne Halligan, representatives of the multi-disciplinary teams associated with the education and training, and health and wellbeing, of challenged children and adults at Enkuthazweni, plus officials from the Departments of Education, Social Development and Health, and other NGOs. The key paper was presented by Dr Pam McLaren of the Disabled Action Research Team, based in KwaZulu-Natal. The team has contributed extensively to knowledge of the needs of those with disabilities in Eastern Cape. Many of Dr McLaren’s findings are significant for other areas of the country as well.

Her paper highlighted the vast need for increased resources for those with disabilities.

Research has shown that Eastern Cape has the highest rate of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which is caused by alcohol consumption during pregnancy, not only in South Africa, but in the world.

Points raised as a result of Dr McLaren’s presentation included: • That all learners be included in the mainstream, but provision has not yet been made.

• The Department of Education has developed a policy to determine how inclusion should happen. The policy says children can be referred to special schools if their needs cannot be met locally. For example, an autistic child could be referred to Port Elizabeth. The policy aims at early identification of needs.

• The quality of education for special needs is variable.

• Early identification is made difficult by parents’ denial of special needs.

• There is a community stigma regarding special needs.

• All care centres should be registered.

A

court case has been brought against the Western Cape Education Department and national government to compel the provision of quality special education. This would result in the provision of funding from the Treasury.

Localised problems identified in breakaway groups were the permissive attitude allowing taverns to remain open until 4am over holiday weekends in Nemato, and taverns which admitted underage drinkers.

Parasitic infections were also widespread, with up to ten different infections which can affect concentration in children.

On the positive side, there were meetings of stakeholders every two weeks organised by the South African Police Service, which also conducts regular drug searches, and community nurses who visit schools.

Breakaway groups reported a severe lack of resources, which hindered professionals from carrying out their huge responsibilities.

These included no transport or unreliable transport, to an overwhelming number of children needing support in situations where one or two social workers or psychologists could not cope.

The Southern Cross, May 30 to June 5, 2018

LOCAL

3

Joy as Oblates merge at unification Mass

By ERIn CARElSE

Fr neil Frank (left), the first provincial of the three unified oblate provinces, with Fr Guillaume Muthunda hengelela, general councillor for the Africa-Madagascar oblates, at the unification Mass in Johannesburg

T

HERE was great excitement at the unification Mass of the three former provinces of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, including the mission into Zimbabwe, at St Charles’ church in Victory Park, Johannesburg.

Fr Neil Frank was officially installed as the provincial of the OMI Southern Africa at the Mass.

The Mass was led by Fr Guillaume Muthunda Hengelela, general councillor for the Africa-Madagascar Oblates, with five bishops present: apostolic nuncio Archbishop Peter Wells; Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg and his auxiliary, Bishop Duncan Tsoke; Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria; and Bishop Victor Phalana of Klerksdorp.

Archbishop Tlhagale is an Oblate himself.

Fr Frank, an Oblate for 25 years this year, made his first vows in 1993 and was ordained a priest in

1999. He worked in the missions in KwaZulu-Natal and served as president of St Joseph’s Theological Institute before being appointed provincial of the new province.

“The most meaningful aspect of the celebration for me personally was the great number of Oblates

who attended, travelling from Cape Town, Kamieskroon, Kimberley, Bloemfontein, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Potchefstroom, and Zimbabwe to Johannesburg,” Fr Frank told The Southern Cross.

“The effort my Oblate brothers made to participate in this historic

event signified the support they have for the new structure and for the mission it is intended to serve.

As the first provincial I felt blessed and encouraged by such support.

There was much joy in being together.”

In a deep theological and symbolic gesture, the outgoing provincials of the three provinces that have united—Frs Vusumuzi Mazibuko, Ronald Cairns and Mokone Rathokoa—brought up three jugs of wine in procession and poured them into one jug held by Fr Frank who filled the chalices from this one jug.

The unification into one province is at the service of the Church for the salvation of souls.

A number of Oblate anniversaries were also celebrated. Among them were those of Fr John Patterson (75 years), Bishop Edward Risi (50 years), and Archbishop Tlhagale (50 years).

Celebrating notable priesthood

anniversaries were Frs Sean Coleman (60 years), Paul Decock (50 years) and Thomas Zondi (25 years).

There were 22 jubilarians altogether, who for the first time celebrated in the new province.

“It meant a lot that my family, friends, and the Oblate Associates had celebrated with us. Many people have felt close to the Oblates and have rejoiced with us at the start of this new province,” said Fr Frank.

“There are many challenges ahead for us, but the Spirit gives us much confidence. Our general has asked us to be ‘bold and courageous’.

“It is important that we preserve our Oblate way of life and break out of the parish priest mould that we often get cast in,” he said.

“Community life is central, with Oblates living under the same roof and having a common life together.

This witness is essential to our way of serving the Church,” said Fr Frank.

‘Fab 4’ to Comrades for Radio Veritas

By ERIn CARElSE

T

WO priests and two laymen will run the 2018 Comrades Marathon run to raise funds for Radio Veritas. The #runforradioveritas campaign will see them doing the 90km “down run” from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.

Fr Teboho Matseke, Oblate Father Zweli Mlotshwa, Boycie Ntlwane and Collins Mokgotlwa will be among 20 000 runners from more than 60 countries who will take part in the race on June 10.

“The Fab 4”, as they have named themselves, will be carrying and flying the Catholic flag high at this year’s iconic international ultramarathon.

The spirit of the Comrades Marathon embodies the attributes of camaraderie, selflessness, dedication, perseverance, and ubuntu. This is the spirit these men are showing.

Mr Ntlwane discovered his talent for running by accident.

“I discovered I was good at running when I was in high school and we were all forced to run because

they needed to select a school team.

To my surprise, I was the first to finish, with a one-hour gap ahead of all the other students,” he recalled.

Mr Mokgotlwa recalled that he never liked sport, especially athletics. But he was inspired by his sister, who enjoyed running. When he

Catholic journalists across Africa to meet

C

ATHOLIC journalists from across Africa will meet in Cape Town in September for the annual congress of the Union of the Catholic African Press (UCAP).

Held in collaboration with the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the congress will bring together Church and secular journalists at Schoenstatt Retreat and Conference Centre from September 9-13.

The conference theme is “Using the Media for Promotion of Integral Human Development in Africa”, said UCAP president George Sunguh.

The theme will be subdivided into four separate themes: journalism for truth and reconciliation in the Church and of service to peoples; promoting peace, truth and reconciliation in Africa in a digital age; making the Church more relevant to the youth in the Church in Africa, and promoting the social teachings of the Church through the media in Africa.

The congress comes to Cape Town at a time when Catholics in Southern Africa are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the Catholic Church in the region.

In recent years, UCAP congresses have been held in Mali, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

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saw her doing it, he thought to himself, “I think I can do that.”

Fr Mlotshwa’s love for running started while he was studying at St Joseph’s Oblate Scholasticate in Cedara. And now he is addicted.

With Fr Matseke, they thought that as proud Catholics, this year they should be pounding the road in the name of Radio Veritas.

“Everyone should support this campaign for Radio Veritas, because they have created a community and that’s what we are called to do,” Fr Mlotshwa said.

“The radio station is doing a lot to promote the Catholic ethos, and putting the Church out there. Radio Veritas is important, and the money we raise will be put to good use.”

The runners are inviting individuals to sponsor them at R20 or more per kilometre of their run. All the proceeds will go to Radio Veritas.

To pledge, SMS the word “mara” to 41809. Further details will then be sent by return SMS. n For information on other ways of pledging, contact Mahadi Buthelezi on 011 663-4700.

The diocese of Queenstown, led by Bishop Dabula Mpako, had a special celebration in its Christ the King cathedral to mark the bicentenary of the Catholic Church in South Africa. See next week’s issue for an overview of the history of the Church in South Africa.

SA’s national Catholic Weekly newspaper

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4

The Southern Cross, May 30 to June 5, 2018

INTERNATIONAL

New cardinals: College more international, not much younger

By CInDy WooDEn

A Mgr Dario Vigano, assessor in the Vatican Secretariat for Communication, looks at a historical film in the film storage room at the Vatican. Mgr Vigano said his office authorised production requests for about 90 documentary projects at the Vatican in 2017. (Photo: Paul haring/CnS)

And action! Making movies in the Vatican

By RoBERT DunCAn

E

ARLIER this year, dozens of movie extras dressed as cardinals milled around the streets outside St Peter’s Square. One member of the film crew told The New York Times: “This is the dominion of Netflix.”

But when it comes to filmmaking inside the square or on Vatican property, only the Secretariat for Communication can claim pontifical authority.

Created by Pope Francis in June 2015 as a means of unifying the Vatican’s communications offices, the secretariat fields all requests from film producers for access to Vatican property and the pope.

The Vatican receives many requests for “images of the Vatican Gardens, the Sistine Chapel, St Peter’s,” said Mgr Dario Vigano, the former prefect of the secretariat, who currently serves as a top counsellor to the office. “We are the reference point for these requests from various international production houses.”

In 2017 alone, the secretariat reviewed and authorised production requests for about 90 TV and documentary projects focusing on the artistic, cultural and spiritual patrimony of the Vatican or the daily activities of Pope Francis, Mgr Vigano said.

A green light is given based on the quality of the proposed project, without preference for big or small budget projects, language group or country, Mgr Vigano said.

A Japanese made-for-television documentary called Michaelangelo’s Vatican, a German TV special on the 90th birthday of retired Pope Benedict XVI, and a French project highlighting women working at the Vatican were among the bigger projects Mgr Vigano’s office recently authorised.

Even the Netflix claim to “dominion” over a set in the shadow of the St Peter’s colonnade was not absolute. The production company requested rights to archival images of the 2005 and 2013 conclaves from the Vatican for the film they are producing on the relationship between Pope Benedict and Pope Francis,

he said.

Until the Wim Wenders documentary Pope Francis: A Man of His Word, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, the current pontiff was never directly involved in any motion picture.

Pope Francis often “told me that he isn’t an actor and doesn’t want to be an actor,” Mgr Vigano explained.

On that basis, he said, the Vatican had always denied requests from production companies to make a day-in-the-life film of Pope Francis, as had been done with Pope Pius XII and St John XXIII. But the Wenders documentary “was a little different. Why? Because the pope was in front of a very poetic director, a Christian director, of great sensibility,” Mgr Vigano said. “We had a guarantee to be present in the production step by step.”

Above all, the pope, in merely explaining themes important to his pontificate, wouldn’t be acting, he said. “It is Bergoglio explaining Bergoglio,” he said, using the pope’s given surname, “and in the end, a great film was released, in my opinion.”

In addition to listing the desired filming locations and equipment to be used, applicants must disclose their interview subjects, an overview of questions to be asked and an outline of the film’s purpose and content.

“If questions arise in reading the script, we ask that a part be clarified,” Mgr Vigano said of the review process, but a film is neither rejected or accepted on that basis alone.

When the Media Projects Office of the secretariat agrees to cooperate with a film in development, there “a pact of trust” that the filmmaker will not misrepresent the Church, he said.

“Of course, that doesn’t mean blind trust,” Mgr Vigano said. “I must know who is in front of me— at least those things that I can know.”

The priest, who has a doctorate in the history of cinema, said he wants to help filmmakers “better say the things they have to say,” but in the end, “a film is a film, it’s not a catechism”. —CNS

LTHOUGH it is not unusual for a pope to set aside temporarily the limit of 120 cardinals under the age of 80, Pope Francis has done so in a way that could last for more than a year.

The pope announced that he would create 14 news cardinals on June 29; 11 of them are under the age of 80 and would be eligible to enter a conclave to elect a new pope.

In early June, Cardinal Angelo Amato will celebrate his 80th birthday, which will drop the number of electors to 114. Three weeks later, the batch of new cardinals will raise the number of potential electors to 125.

Cardinal Amato is the last cardinal to turn 80 in 2018. And it will take until July 31, 2019, for another five cardinals to age out.

Confirming the limit of 120 electors set by Paul VI, John Paul II wrote in Universi Dominici Gregis, his rules for a conclave, that “the maximum number of cardinal electors must not exceed 120”.

Conclaves don’t happen that often and none in recent history took place when there were more than 120 eligible electors. But the idea of a lottery for entrance into the Sistine Chapel, where the voting would take place, led many people to scratch their heads.

And while a year may be a long time to exceed the 120 limit, exceeding it by five cardinals is minor compared to what John Paul II did in February 2001. Creating 44 new cardinals—the biggest batch ever at one consistory—the pope raised the number of cardinal electors to 135.

By the time he died in 2005, only 117 were under 80, and two of those

Pope Francis arrives for a 2017 consistory in St Peter’s basilica. The pontiff announced that he will create 14 new cardinals at a June 29 consistory. (Photo: Paul haring/CnS) were too ill to participate in the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI. The Polish pope’s mega-consistories broadly expanded the international—in other words, the catholic —identity of the College of Cardinals. It is a process that continues.

Pope Francis’ latest cardinals-designate include churchmen from five countries not currently represented in the College of Cardinals. But each of those countries—Bolivia, Pakistan, Japan, Madagascar and Iraq—has had a cardinal in the recent past.

With the addition of the new cardinals, the group of electors will represent 67 nations.

The number of Italians still far exceeds those of any other nation, and Pope Francis is about to add three more to their number.

The day before the consistory, 18 Italians would be eligible to enter a conclave.

The country with the next-high-

est number of cardinal electors is the US, which has ten cardinals under the age of 80.

At a Mass with the College of Cardinals in 2017, a Mass marking his 25th anniversary as a bishop, Pope Francis said that the Catholic Church is not a “gerontocracy” ruled by old men: “We aren’t old men, we are grandfathers.”

But his choices for the June consistory do very little to lower the average age of the group of electors.

Only one, Cardinal-designate Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, is still in his 50s. He is 54. Cardinal Dieudonne Nzapalainga of Bangui, Central African Republic, is 51 years old and still will be the youngest cardinal once the consistory is over.

On June 28, there will be 114 electors with an average age of 71 years.

After the consistory the next day, there will be 125 electors with an average age of 71 years.—CNS

Chilean bishop suspends 12 priests after entire episcopate resigns

By ElISE hARRIS

A

CHILEAN bishop has suspended several priests after allegations of sexual misconduct were raised against them, and apologised for not following up when the accusations were first brought to his attention.

“I would like to ask forgiveness for my actions in this case,” said Bishop Alejandro Goi Karmeli of Rancagua in a statement.

Bishop Goi admitted that he had “acted without the proper swiftness” when a youth minister came to him nearly a year ago with concerns regarding the conduct of Fr Luis Rubio and other priests.

The apology came after a TV programme detailing accusations against Fr Rubio was aired, after Bishop Goi returned from Rome where he and the other bishops of Chile met with Pope Francis.

Bishop Goi, along with every other of Chile’s 34 active bishops, submitted a written resignation to Pope Francis on the last day of their meeting with the pope.

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The meeting was called by Pope Francis himself last month following an in-depth investigation of abuse cover-up by the Chilean Church hierarchy. The investigation, carried out by Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Mgr Jordi Bertomeu, resulted in a 2 300page report, which has not been made public.

It is up to Pope Francis to decide whether to accept or reject all or some of their resignations.

In a scathing letter to the bishops, Pope Francis skewered the Chilean prelates for a systematic cover-up of abuse involving not only the destruction of documents, but superficial investigations that led to moving accused abusers to other schools or parishes where they had access to children.

Pope Francis noted how the investigation found that while some religious had been expelled from their orders due to “immoral conduct”, blaming their “criminal acts” on simple weakness, they were then transferred to other parishes or dioceses and given jobs where they had

“daily and direct contact with minors”.

The pope said he was “perplexed and ashamed” to have read statements saying Church officials investigating abuse allegations had been pressured, and that in some cases, documents had been destroyed by those in charge of diocesan archives.

Pope Francis stressed the need to recognise not only the damage done, but also the underlying causes that led to abuse and coverup, and to identify ways to repair the pain and suffering many have endured.

He said the problem is not isolated, but everyone is responsible, “I being the first,” and that no one can be exempted by “moving the problem onto the backs of others”.

“We need a change, we know it, we need it and we desire it,” he said, and encouraged bishops to put Christ at the centre. He said in recent history, the Chilean Church has lost this focus, putting itself at the centre instead of the Lord.— CNA

Colombian cardinal dies at 88

By CInDy WooDEn

C

OLOMBIAN Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, a longtime Vatican official, died on May 18 in Rome at the age of 88.

Cardinal Castrillon formally retired a few days after his 80th birthday as president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei”, the commission charged with outreach to the traditionalist Society of St Pius X and assistance to Catholics attached to the pre-Vatican II liturgy.

With the cardinal’s retirement, then-Pope Benedict XVI placed the commission under the Con-

gregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; the realignment was seen as a response to the widespread criticism that arose a couple of months earlier when Pope Benedict lifted the excommunication of four traditionalist bishops, including one who denied the extent of the Holocaust.

Pope Benedict candidly admitted mistakes in the way he and other Vatican officials handled the reconciliation move with the bishops of the Society of St Pius X. Many observers thought that Cardinal Castrillon should have looked more carefully at Bishop Richard Williamson beforehand

and briefed Pope Benedict about the bishop’s radical views on the Holocaust.

Born in Medellin, Dario Castrillon Hoyos was ordained to the priesthood in 1952. In 1971, he was named coadjutor bishop of Pereira, and five years later, he became head of the diocese. He also served from 1983-87 as secretarygeneral of the Latin American bishops’ council CELAM and was elected president in 1987 and served until 1991.

Named archbishop of Bucaramanga, Colombia, in 1992, Archbishop Castrillon was named a cardinal in 1998.—CNS

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, May 30 to June 5, 2018

5

Bl Paul VI, Oscar Romero to be canonised on Oct 14 CInDy WooDEn

P Pop singer Rod Stewart is seen during Pope Francis' general audience in St Peter's Square at the Vatican. (Photo: Stefano Rellandini, Reuters/CnS)

Archbishop convicted of cover-up steps aside

A

USTRALIAN Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide, who faces a maximum penalty of two years in jail for failing to inform police about child sexual abuse allegations, has stepped aside from running his archdiocese.

A Newcastle court found that then-Father Wilson had been told by a 15-year-old boy in 1976 that he had been indecently assaulted by a priest who later died in prison, but that Fr Wilson chose not to go to the authorities despite believing the allegations were true.

“I will now have to consider the reasons for the conviction and consult closely with my lawyers to determine the next steps,” the 67-year-old archbishop said. The sentencing is expected in June.

“If at any point in time it becomes necessary or appropriate for me to take more formal steps, including by resigning as archbishop, then I will do so,” Archbishop Wilson said.

“Archbishop Wilson maintained his innocence throughout this long judicial process,” Archbishop Mark

Coleridge of Brisbane, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said in a statement.

Archbishop Wilson is the highest-ranking Church official to be convicted of covering up abuse charges. He recently was diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and throughout the magistrate’s hearing he testified that he had no memory of the conversation.

However, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Magistrate Robert Stone said the weight of multiple prosecution witnesses, “solid, church-going people”, helped convince him.

In his statement, Archbishop Coleridge said: “The Catholic Church, like other institutions, has learned a great deal about the tragedy of child sexual abuse and has implemented stronger programs, policies and procedures to protect children and vulnerable adults.”

“The safety of children and vulnerable adults is paramount for the Church and its ministries,” he said.—CNS

OPE Francis will declare Archbishop Oscar Romero, Pope Paul VI and four others, saints on October 14 at the Vatican during the meeting of the world Synod of Bishops, an institution Bl Paul revived.

The date was announced during an “ordinary public consistory”, a meeting of the pope, cardinals and promoters of sainthood causes that formally ends the sainthood process.

During the consistory, Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, formally petitioned the pope “to enrol in due course among the saints” six candidates for canonisation “for the glory of God and the good of the whole Church”.

Briefly giving a biographical sketch of the candidates, Cardinal Amato said that during El Salvador’s civil war, Archbishop Romero, “outraged at seeing the violence against the weak and the killing of priests and catechists, felt the need to assume an attitude of fortitude. On March 24, 1980, he was killed while celebrating the Mass”.

Reviewing the facts of Bl Paul’s life, Cardinal Amato highlighted how, as a high-level official in the Vatican Secretariat of State during World War II, the future pope “organised charitable assistance and hospitality for those persecuted by nazism and fascism, particularly the Jews”.

Pope Francis then certified that he had solicited the opinion of the cardinals, who agreed that “these same blesseds should be proposed to the whole Church as examples of Christian life and holiness.”

B

lessed Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, was assassinated one day after calling on the government to end its violation of the human rights of El Salvador’s people.

While Catholics inside and outside El Salvador recognised him as a martyr immediately, his sainthood cause

Pope: Church must go where people are hostile to the faith

By CARol GlATz

T

HE most desolate places in the world in need of Christ are where people are indifferent, even hostile to God and his love, Pope Francis said.

The Church’s mission is to bring the faith to the ends of the earth, he said, especially to these “extreme peripheries”, and to use the many means possible, including social networks, he said.

The pope’s remarks came in his message for World Mission Sunday, which will be celebrated on October 21. This year’s message, titled “Together with young people, let us bring the Gospel to all”, was dedicated to young people.

In the message, released at the Vatican, Pope Francis said the upcoming Synod of Bishops in Rome in October, the month of the missions, will be devoted to young people, offering “an opportunity to understand more fully, in the light of faith, what the Lord Jesus wants to say to you young people, and, through you, to all Christian communities”.

Having the synod and month of missions coincide “will prove to be one more occasion to help us become missionary disciples, ever more passionately devoted to Jesus and his mission, to the ends of

the earth”, he said.

“Every man and woman is a mission”, he said; it is the reason for why one is alive on this earth.

“To be attracted and to be sent are two movements that our hearts, especially when we are young, feel as interior forces of love; they hold out promise for our future, and they give direction to our lives,” Pope Francis said.

But it is still a great challenge to live out this responsibility for the world with joy, he added.

However, he urged young people, “do not be afraid of Christ and his Church! For there we find the treasure that fills life with joy”.

R

ecalling his own experience, the pope said it was thanks to his faith that “I found the sure foundation of my dreams and the strength to realise them”.

Even though he has seen so much suffering and poverty, “for those who stand by Jesus, evil is an incentive to ever greater love”, the pope said.

He asked young people to “be set afire by the love of Christ” so they are “consumed by that fire” and grow in understanding by its light and warmed by its love. Never stop wondering, he said, “What would Christ do if he were in my place?”

When it comes to bringing the Gospel to the “ends of the earth”, today’s extreme peripheries are not just places that that have never heard of Jesus and experienced the sacramental presence of the Church.

“The most desolate periphery of all is where mankind, in need of Christ, remains indifferent to the faith or shows hatred for the fullness of life in God. All material and spiritual poverty, every form of discrimination against our brothers and sisters, is always a consequence of the rejection of God and his love,” he said.

Many of these places are “easily navigable” today, he said. The digital world, with its social networks, “dissolves borders, eliminates distances and reduces differences”.

But even though everything appears within reach and immediate online, if it lacks “the sincere gift of our lives, we could well have countless contacts but never share in a true communion of life”, the pope said.

“To share in the mission to the ends of the earth demands the gift of oneself in the vocation that God, who has placed us on this earth, chooses to give us,” he said, which is why it is so important young people seek, discover and persevere in his or her vocation.—CNS

Bls Paul VI, oscar Romero, and four others will be declared saints on october 14 in Rome. (Photos: CnS) was stalled for years as some Church leaders debated whether he was killed for his faith or for his politics.

Pope Francis told a group of Salvadoran pilgrims in 2015 that even after his death Bl Romero “was defamed, slandered, his memory tarnished, and his martyrdom continued, including by his brothers in the priesthood and in the episcopate”.

In February 2015 Pope Francis signed the formal decree recognising Bl Romero’s martyrdom; the archbishop was beatified three months later in San Salvador.

The Salvadoran bishops’ conference and many Salvadorans had hoped Pope Francis would preside over the canonisation in San Salvador, particularly because of the difficulty and expense of travelling to Rome. Others, however, argued that holding the ceremony at the Vatican makes it clear that Bl Romero is a saint for the entire Church, not just for the Church in El Salvador.

B

lessed Paul VI, who was born Giovanni Battista Montini, was pope from 1963-78. He presided over the final sessions of the Second Vatican

Council and its initial implementation. He also wrote Humanae Vitae, the much-debated encyclical on married love which was published 50 years ago next month, the 1975 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi on evangelisation and Populorum Progressio, a 1967 encyclical on social development and the economy.

In 1962, the year before he became pope, Cardinal Montini visited South Africa, where he laid the foundation stone for the Regina Mundi church in Soweto.

Speaking in 2013 to a group of pilgrims from Brescia, Italy, Pope Paul’s home diocese, Pope Francis said his predecessor had “experienced to the full the Church’s travail after the Second Vatican Council: the lights, the hopes, the tensions. He loved the Church and expended himself for her, holding nothing back”.

And, beatifying Pope Paul in 2014, Pope Francis referred to him as “this great pope, this courageous Christian, this tireless apostle”, who demonstrated a “humble and prophetic witness of love for Christ and his Church.”—CNS

SPRINGFIELD CONVENT SENIOR SCHOOL Applicants are invited for the following post:

TEACHING POSTS: JANUARY 2019

Springfield is a day school for girls from Pre-School to Matriculation, set in beautiful gardens on Wynberg Hill in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. Founded by the Irish Dominican Sisters in 1871, Springfield has a caring, Catholic atmosphere, a proud academic record, vibrant Music, Art and Drama Departments and excellent facilities for Sport.

Springfield Convent requires the following teachers to commence January 2019:

• Mathematics Teacher: Grades 8 – 12.

• Afrikaans (First Additional Language) Teacher and/or Subject Head: Grades 8 – 12 • Geography Teacher: Grades 8 - 12

The successful applicant will need to: • • • •

be a qualified teacher with appropriate experience have SACE registration have a talent and passion for teaching children be able to subscribe to the Catholic ethos of Springfield

A competitive salary package will be offered. Please apply in writing to: The Headmistress, Springfield Convent Senior School, St John’s Road, WYNBERG, 7800. Email: headmistress@springfieldconvent.co.za giving details of qualifications, experience and names of two contactable referees.

Closing date: Monday 30 July 2018

The School reserves the right not to proceed with the filling of the post. An application will not in itself entitle the applicant to an interview or appointment, and failure to meet the requirements of the advertised post will result in applicants automatically disqualifying themselves from consideration.

Please note no faxed applications will be considered and only those applicants invited for an interview will be contacted.

Springfield is a member of the Independent Schools’ Association of Southern Africa.

6

The Southern Cross, May 30 to June 5, 2018

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Church has abuse civil protocols OLLEEN Constable in her opin- allegedly taken place.

C ion article “Abuse: Can we trust Each diocese should have apChurch leaders?” (May 16) raises a pointed independent contact per-

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

The Great Commandment

P

OPE Francis reassured some people and confused others when he reportedly told a young homosexual man that “God made you like that and he loves you like that and I do not care”.

These words were quoted by Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean victim of sexual abuse, who had a private meeting with the Holy Father.

Those who found Pope Francis’ words encouraging will have recognised in them the caring response one might expect of a loving parent.

These words reflect God’s love for any of us, which is unconditional. They also serve to include those who feel excluded from the Church, and thereby separated from God. The pope is teaching the faithful that our mission is to communicate God’s love for all, not to issue censures.

But these words have also confused and alarmed some people, who fear that the pope’s response might lead to a dilution of Catholic doctrine.

But there is no such dilution.

Firstly, these words are the reported speech of Pope Francis.

Of course we know that Pope Francis’ famous words, “Who am I to judge?”, represented a change in papal tone. It is perfectly plausible that Pope Francis actually said what Mr Cruz quoted. But they have no official standing.

Secondly, Pope Francis at that moment spoke to Mr Cruz as a pastor and father in faith, not as the head of the magisterium. His words, uttered in private conversation, do not change the doctrines of the Church.

Thirdly, “God made you like that” is too vague a phrase to have invested in it much theological weight. Theologians struggle to reach a consensus on whether God “made” homosexuality, or why he permits any disordered desires, addictions, illnesses and so on.

Finally, a clear line must be drawn between the situation of being homosexual and the choice of engaging in sexual activity. Pope Francis, in his words to Mr Cruz, referred to the former condition. The Catechism teaches that being homosexual is, in itself, not a sin.

The Editor reserves the right to shorten or edit published letters. Letters below 300 words receive preference. Pseudonyms are acceptable only under special circumstances and at the Editor’s discretion.

Name and address of the writer must be supplied. No anonymous letter will be considered.

The Church teaches that homosexuals, like all people who are not in a marriage between a man and a woman, are called to chastity, and married partners to absolute fidelity.

The Church knows, and God knows, that some people will succeed in this calling, and many will fail. This is true for homosexuals as it is for heterosexuals, and even for some priests. It is the human condition.

We all have desires and inclinations that tempt us to sin, sexually and otherwise. That is a lifelong battle which we must aim to win through God’s grace.

And it’s a struggle in which we are not at liberty to cast sideways glances at the sins of others by way of judgment—though we are, of course, obliged to encourage one another in a spirit of charity to avoid sin.

The Holy Father, the “Pope of the Gospel”, counsels us not to judge. Judgment is God’s prerogative, not ours.

We need not be confused, never mind alarmed or scandalised, by Pope Francis’ approach to pastoral mercy. We find it in the Gospel, practised

by Jesus, who let a woman of loose virtues become his first non-Jewish apostle and who saved the woman caught in adultery from being stoned in judgment.

Jesus told the woman to go and sin no more, but he knew that she was going to sin again in some way or another, and perhaps against her best judgment.

And every time she’d fall, he would be there to raise her up as he is there for us. That woman is all of us.

Christ commands us to love, not judge. We are called to love, which precedes love of the law.

St Paul explained the primacy of love in the first verses of 1 Corinthians 13: “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal,” and so on.

Pope Francis in his words to Mr Cruz gave us a demonstration of how to act with love and how to communicate God’s love for us. This should neither confuse us nor scandalise us—it must inspire us to always pursue the Great Commandment.

very important issue: that of abuse in the Catholic Church.

Her column was prompted by the Chilean abuse saga. Pope Francis, after meeting with the victims of abuse in Chile, summoned the bishops of Chile to Rome so that he could speak to them.

I would like to clarify what the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) has in place, which all Catholics should know about so that the Church in the region can be held accountable.

The SACBC takes sexual abuse seriously; it is a crime against children and vulnerable people. It has had protocols in place since 1999. All are available on the SACBC website.

The protocol outlines clearly what must happen when abuse has

Communion for all is dishonest

WRITE with reference to Shirley Doyle’s letter (May 2), and in view of the German bishops’ deliberations regarding Communion for non-Catholic spouses.

At Communion, especially at nuptial and funeral Masses which invariably include a broad spectrum of Christians, we experience a heightened sense of the unfortunate divisions in the body of Christ.

But that can also, paradoxically, be where we grow most aware of the significance of COM-m-union.

And the reason for not leniently inviting all and sundry to receive it is precisely that it would then diminish that significance.

Like sexual intimacy in marriage, eucharistic Communion is the ultimate act of bonding among believers. It is not just a special moment of intimacy with Jesus, one on one, but a public act of faith that proclaims my commitment to and union with all others receiving Communion.

Accepting Communion at a service of a denomination not our own, even though there are many convergences of faith between us, is inappropriate since there are regrettably still too many areas of major disagreement.

In fact to receive Communion together if we are not in-communion, is simply not being honest. We cannot sweep those differences under the carpet and pretend to be all one.

We must avoid reducing the Eucharist to a feel-good act, a spiritual hug, in the same way that sexual intercourse is too often reduced from what wedding vows declare, to meaning little more than “Let’s have a bit of fun together!”

In eucharistic Communion, just

PO Box 11095, Mariannhill 3624

Individual, directed or private retreats can be arranged for periods of 2-8 days throughout the year. Diocesan, Parish and Church meetings and workshops should be booked well in advance Reception: 031 700 2155 Fr Urs Fischer 031 700 2890 Fax 031 700 2738 Email: monretreat@saol.com

opinions expressed in The Southern Cross do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy.

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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sons. The name and contact details of this person, as well as those of the local police station, should be available in poster form on all parish noticeboards in the SACBC region.

To be clear: the protocols and policies state that allegations must be reported to the police/competent civil authorities in the first instance, as required by the amended Children’s Act of 2006.

The contact person must advise the alleged victim (or the parents/guardians if a minor) of their right and duty to report the case to the civil authorities.

If they refuse to do so, the Church authority will do so, following the prescriptions of civil authorities regarding the reporting of allegations of this kind. This ensures that report-

as in becoming one flesh in marriage, there is a basic rule of thumb which can help us: the level of our intimacy should parallel the level of our commitment, and until our commitment is absolute, then neither should our intimacy be complete! Those T&Cs apply.

Fr Francois Dufour SDB, Ennerdale, Gauteng

Let Communion unite Christians

D

UTCH Cardinal Wim Eijk of Utrecht has taken issue with Pope Francis’ supposed failure to give clear guidance to German cardinals on whether non-Catholic partners of Catholics should be allowed to share in the Eucharist, saying the pope is allowing “a drift towards apostasy from the truth”.

If Cardinal Eijk was serious about ecumenism, he would refrain from sniping at Pope Francis.

In his recent open letter to the pope, the cardinal raises the age-old dilemma of non-Catholics receiving Communion within the Church.

He spells it out in black and white: “Communion should not be administered to a Protestant, even if married to a Catholic, because the Protestant does not live in full communion with the Catholic Church and, therefore, does not explicitly share faith in her/his Eucharist.”

Who would invite their brother or sister for lunch, and then tell their respective spouses they are not

ing does occur outside the Church.

Once this is done, the Church allows the law to take its course: the matter is handled by the necessary civil authorities.

Once the civil process has been completed, the Church could then initiate its own investigation, if this is deemed necessary.

The SACBC agrees with Ms Constable: nobody, including clerics and Church workers, is above the law. In policy currently being established, all clerics and Church workers must have police clearance to work in Church institutions.

The Church in the region of the SACBC is fully committed to dealing with this scourge. We encourage all Catholics in the region to be familiar with the SACBC’s safeguarding protocols and policy so that we are vigilant in ensuring that no abuse occurs.

Fr Michael Lewis SJ, Chair: SACBC Professional Conduct Committee welcome to share in the meal because they’re not a sibling?

Instead of looking to be divisive by focusing on the small print, Cardinal Eijk should rather be supporting Pope Francis in his efforts to foster goodwill among Christians.

It is time to realise Communion revolves around God’s gift to mankind in the form of those who care for us (depicted by Jesus as the Good Shepherd), the air we breathe, nourishing sunlight, and the fruits of the earth.

Receiving Communion should rather symbolise our gratitude, instead of being a bone of contention among Christians.

Patrick Dacey, Johannesburg

Love is within us

I

OFTEN wonder why we cannot find peace with each other, in this wonderful world, despite the fact a vast number of us claim to be Christians. So I consulted a very wise man I know in India, Fr Kurian Perumpallikunnel of Kottayam in Kerala.

The solution, he says, in within us.

“Those who love are already in heaven. They are the makers of heaven. Love unites, hate and fear divides. Only when we human beings transcend our ‘small self’ (ego) and realise our ‘large self’ (mahatma), will peace prevail,” he wrote.

“All divisive thoughts are dangerous. Divisive thoughts emerge from selfishness and unitive thoughts emerge as we become increasingly selfless.

“It is a long and gradual process, and we are all slowly but surely moving towards that heaven.”

I thought your readers might find inspiration in Fr Kurian’s wisdom.

Roy Glover, Knysna

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Pope now owns a statue of Our Lady of Ngome STAFF REPORTER

H TV personality Katlego Maboe entertains guests at this year’s Ball of Hope in Cape Town, which raises funds for HOPE Cape Town, an HIV/Aids project founded by the Germanspeaking Catholic Community of the Cape Peninsula. The ball was addressed by co-founder and chairman Fr Stefan Hippler; Cape Town vicar-general Fr Peter-John Pearson delivered the prayer. Also attending were Frs Wim Lindeque and Stan Botha.

Fr Rolheiser comes to SA P

BY ERIN CARELSE

Cellphones: 083 963 3848 083 544 1504 082 730 7180

Fr Urs Fischer Bro Crispin Mrs N Qupa

OPULAR Canadian writer Fr Ronald Rolheiser (pictured), whose column appears weekly in The Southern Cross, will visit South Africa to deliver a public lecture to his fellow Oblates of Mary Immaculate on June 1.

Fr Rolheiser will be in South Africa for the annual meeting of the Association of Oblate Institutes of Higher Learning, a meeting of all the OMI institutes around the world where the presidents of each institute get together for a week to discuss and network.

This year St Joseph’s Theological Institute in Cedara, near Pietermaritzburg, is the host, and will present the inaugural Kusenberger Chair of Oblate Studies Lecture to coincide with the meeting.

Fr Rolheiser will speak on the topic “The Oblate Charism Today: Its Essence, Its Modesty, Its Vitality, Its Struggles, and Its Urgency”.

Fr Ewan Swartz OMI, acting president of St Joseph’s, said he is looking forward to having Fr Rolheiser as keynote speaker.

“Having heard Fr Rolheiser speak before, and reading his articles and books, we are assured that he will impart wisdom, insight, and understanding on the topic,” he told The Southern Cross.

“His ability to expound on such themes is inspiring and will surely provoke and awaken in all a spirit of hope and enthusiasm. I hope

he will enlighten us on the struggles we face, not only as Oblates, and especially offer ways of overcoming these.”

The programme for the day also includes talks by Fr Paul Decock OMI, on Archbishop Denis Hurley’s contribution to the development of St Josephs, and Fr Joseph Phiri OMI, on the challenges to formation in the Oblate charism, as well as musical items by the Drakondale Girls Choir School, and responses to Fr Rolheisers talk.

“This being the inaugural lecture, we are humbled that it will take place at St Joseph’s,” Fr Swartz said. “We are looking forward to hosting all our foreign and local visitors for this auspicious occasion and are certain that it will be well attended,” he said.

The event will be live-streamed to make it available throughout the world. The link to the live streaming will be available on St Joseph’s website closer to the time.”

Due to limited capacity, it is important to RSVP by contacting Tracy Naidoo at tracyn@sjti.ac.za or phone 087 353-8940 during office hours.

AVING returned from a pilgrimage to Italy to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Neocatechumenal Way, the movement’s coordinator in South Africa said the group of 180 South Africans were deepened in their faith by the experience.

One of the pilgrimage’s highlight was an opportunity to present Pope Francis with a statue of Our Lady of Ngome.

Ngome is a shrine in rural Eshowe diocese, dedicated to the ten Marian apparitions reported by Benedictine Sister Reinolda May from 1955-70. Pope Francis is known to have a deep devotion to Our Lady.

“Our pilgrims from South Africa wanted to send special greetings to the pope, assuring him of their prayers and inviting him to South Africa,” said Dino Furgione, who coordinates the Neocatechumenate in South Africa.

The group was led by Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria and included followers of the Neocatechumenal Way from Cape Town, Pretoria, Witbank, Port Elizabeth, East London and Oudtshoorn, joining pilgrims from 125 different countries.

“The unity with the Church and the obedience to the pope within the Neocatechumenal Way is what makes it so close to Franciscanism,” said Archbishop Slattery, who is a Franciscan. “You are doing the same work as Francis did: you are incarnating the Gospel and his radicality, giving a new impulse to evangelisation,” he told the pilgrims.

“Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Catholic Church in South Africa,” said Archbishop Slattery, “the Holy Spirit is inspiring answers to the doubts and challenges that our Church has to face. The Neocatechumenal Way is certainly one of these answers. Having to give new thrust to the evangelisation in our country, we have to take advantage of the new realities within the Church, and among them, for sure, of the Neocatechumenal Way”.

As part of a special programme on the meeting, Mr Furgione and his wife Roberta were interviewed for over an hour on Vatican Television’s TV2000.

“The [Neocatechumenal] community is

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

5-17 May 2019

HOLY LAND & ROME Led by Fr Russell Pollitt SJ with

Günther Simmermacher, author of The Holy Land Trek For more information or to book, please contact Gail at info@fowlertours.co.za or phone/WhatsApp 076 352‐3809

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The South African flag was prominent at the Tor Vergata in Rome where the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Neocatechumenal Way took place with Pope Francis. Among the 1000 000 crowd were 180 pilgrims from South Africa. helping all of us to make a concrete experience of the presence of the Risen Lord in our lives.

It is absolutely necessary in today’s world to live our faith within a community, where we find ourselves loved by God and by the others just as we are,” Mr Furgione told viewers.

The pilgrimage was made possible by the willingness of the families of the Neocatechumenal communities in Italy to accommodate and feed the pilgrims in their homes, Mr Furgione told The Southern Cross.

“They opened for us not only their houses, but also their hearts,” said pilgrim Karen from Eersterust, Pretoria. “We never expected to experience such a communion with people we didn’t even know.”

“This was a true pilgrimage, in which the brothers and sisters of the Neocatechumenal communities of South Africa had the chance to visit the most important sanctuaries of Italy and of Christianity: the Marian shrines of Pompeii and of Loreto, Assisi and of course Rome, walking in the path of the martyrs through the Colosseum, the catacombs and the great basilicas, up to St Peter’s, and the meeting with Pope Francis,” said Mr Furgione.

Feed your soul with The

S outher n C ross

IT’S WORTH IT!

The Southern Cross, May 30 to June 5, 2018

PERSPECTIVES

We can be the change we want to see Judith Turner O NE of the key principles of Catholic Social Teaching is justice and peace.

But how can we bring this about. In this question we may take inspiration from the Mahatma Gandhi who said: “Be the change you want to see.”

After a recent heated debate with a friend regarding the contributions made by people towards the struggle for liberation in our country, I reflected on different ways in which the struggle for justice can be—and must be—fought by every one of us on a daily basis.

Bearing in mind that not all of us are the same in terms of charism, time, circumstances, economics, and even attitude, it follows that there are different ways in which to stand up for a more just society. There are different ways and means in which we can practically demonstrate our desire and our intent to promote social justice.

It is one thing to complain about the corruption, non-delivery of service, crime and violence, increase in food prices, and so on, and it is quite another thing to do something about it, especially to save the most vulnerable people from suffering the consequences of these things.

Social justice is an underlying principle for a peaceful and prosperous coexistence.

How can we live peacefully with each other if many of us do not have food to eat, clothes to wear, decent shelter to rest our bodies, a decent job which brings us dignity, and so on? It is very difficult to live peacefully with each other in a country with such a huge gap between the rich and the poor.

While we all can agree with this, many of us are at a loss when it comes to acting on or upholding the principles of social justice in our everyday lives, especially when we have no or very little personal knowledge and experience about the poor.

So here I offer a few ways of how we can put our words into actions and advance social justice every day, which will lead us to the future that we all pray for and hope for.

Spread information

Become active in spreading information that can help the poor. If you know of opportunities which normally are not accessible to people living on the fringes of society, then communicate this information via your friends and family and your social media networks so that it reaches those most in need of it.

Faith and life

We are always tempted to think that we have the answers to the problems faced by others. No one knows the solution to a problem better than those who are facing it. People already know the solution to their problem, they just need support in gaining access to the means to solve it.

how you can support their events and campaigns.

There are many small ways in which you can make a huge difference. In the Church you can approach organisations like Justice & Peace, St Vincent de Paul, the Kolping Society, and others which serve the poor. There are also many organisations and groups outside the church.

Call any of the above organisations and ask them what you can do.

Attend a march!

Reach out to the ‘other’

Listen to those in need

There are a multitude of groups that fight for equality and the basic human rights for all. Find the group whose message resonates most with you and find out

Visit communities that are different from yours to gain a greater appreciation of diverse cultures. If this is not practical for you to do on your own, then ask one of the above organisations if you can accompany them in their work.

When you befriend someone of a different race, ethnicity, religion or age, you can explore your prejudices and gain a better understanding of the issues affecting them and then have a more appropriate idea about how you can assist.

Catholics in action: Fr Mark Pothier leads a procession of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Cape Town.

And so does social justice! There is no point going out and urging others in the community to change their words and actions if you haven’t first looked at your own stomping ground.

Get your children, friends or family members involved, and keep them informed and educated about social justice issues and human rights.

Respectfully point out to people the prejudices they utter around dinner tables and braai parties.

By doing some of these fairly simple things on a regular basis, we will be well on our way to bringing about the change that we want to see in our society.

I know this is not everyone’s cup of tea, but there is strength in numbers. If you feel strongly about an issue, then show it in action. This way you demonstrate that you’re part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Time, talent, treasure

Charity begins at home

My story of the Gentile and the Jew W E arrived in Cape Town on the afternoon of New Year’s Day 1980 after a long haul from Johannesburg, accompanied by the furniture vans.

No 2 Highfield Road, Rosebank, was soon echoing to a procession of trampling feet as household goods accumulated over 18 years were resettled in our new home.

It was hard work, with everyone pitching in, boxes on heads and shoulders. We had been going for some three hours when a woman appeared at the front door carrying trays of food. She introduced herself with a warm smile and sparkling eyes: “I’m your neighbour, Rosalie Bloch. I thought you must be hungry after your long journey.”

This was how I met Rosalie, who was to become for me a living experience of the person Mgr Frederick Mason had in mind when, as vicar-general of the archdiocese of Pretoria, he put the question in a radio broadcast one Sunday morning: “Who is my neighbour?”

In the years that followed, with her home overlooking ours, we got to know Rosalie as a dear friend who shared a legal background with my wife Christiane. She was a regular at our bridge parties which continued after we had left Rosebank for St James. She thrilled to good company and conversation. When she liked you she hardly paused for breath. She was both kind and feisty.

Rosalie was passionate about her family and friends, her work and social justice. Her eldest son, Nigel, an activist and conscientious objector, was in exile in The Netherlands. Her second son Graeme, a detainee

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Rosalie Bloch, the Good Samaritan, who was murdered at 84 this month. and university academic, was to marry UDF activist Cheryl Carolus.

I

was working on the Cape Argus in the early 1980s, when Rosalie announced she had bought a video player. She said: “I know you finish work before me so I’m putting the front door key under the mat for you to watch videos anytime you want.”

A few weeks later, she was at our front door, impatient with excitement: “I’ve joined a video library and I’ve got a film you must see.”

The film turned out to be the ITV dramatisation of Evelyn Waugh’s account of the intricacies and sensibilities of Catholicism and relationships in Brideshead Revisited. I sat through all 11 episodes in a matter of days, with Rosalie sometimes catching the tail-end of an episode.

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We were having a family TV dinner a few days later when I got up to answer a knock on the door. It was Rosalie, but she had with her Judge Denys Williamson and his wife Sannie, who lived across the road from Rosalie and were known to us from Johannesburg as converts to Catholicism. They had just finished watching Brideshead Revisited.

Judge Williamson got to the point: “I think we need to talk. Can we?”

I bid them enter and what followed was a lively exploration of Catholicism and its impact on the Marchmain family and their close friends and suitors, who between them were experiencing the fluctuations of faith through irregular living, divorce, confession, reconciliation, dying and sacramental life.

My journalism took me closer to Rosalie and her involvement in various political and humanitarian organisations.

Then came those momentous days when I had joined the Cape Town chancery led

by Archbishop Stephen Naidoo then Archbishop Lawrence Henry, when the churches and the UDF were defying the apartheid regime and the system was crumbling.

Rosalie, 84, and her long-time partner Aubrey Jackson, 94, were found murdered Continued on page 11

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7

Fr Dikotsi Mofokeng

Bicentenary Reflection

Why we must be grateful to missionaries

I

N the year of the bicentennial celebrations of the Roman Catholic Church in South Africa, the bishops in the January plenary session cited the words of St John Paul as an inspiration to the celebrations and commemorations: “Remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look to the future with confidence.”

We must acknowledge the enormous contribution made by the gallant men and women, religious and diocesan priests whose resilient sacrifice and love are kept alive in the local Church today.

I am not “canonising” them but I want to pay tribute to these religious men and women of God for their generosity with their lives.

Through my private readings and studies, I learnt that many extraordinary things happened in the lives of the missionaries who landed on our shores.

Many of the pioneers came from Germany, France and Belgium. They left their parents and familiar surroundings and chose to come to Africa—Southern Africa.

Evidence of poverty, hunger, wars, dictatorship, apartheid, government persecutions, expulsion from the country, various theological ideologies, sickness and so on were right in their faces. They were also affected by the socio-political and historical context within their communities. Yet, despite all of these, the missionaries stood firm in proclaiming the kerygma—the basic Gospel truth.

Most of the time, it would take them an entire day’s trip to bring the Good News to the remote, isolated, rural and mountainous regions where most of the roads were no more than simple dirt paths. In return, the indigenous people welcomed the European missionaries with true generosity and open arms.

W

ith humility and determination, the missionaries helped many Africans to reach the heights of Christianity and education. They introduced many people to the Christian mysteries, including Africans who practised traditional religions, and converted many animists to the Christian faith. They made the neophytes understand that the Cross of Jesus Christ is at the centre of his salvific mission.

Many missionaries learnt the indigenous languages. In mastering the local language they were able to teach catechism and preach to the locals. They celebrated the daily Eucharist in the vernacular of people and translated hymns into their languages.

These missionaries encouraged vocations to religious life and trained many young men to become priests. Youth centres were established with study rooms and game rooms.

Furthermore, a good number of children in the local communities earned their primary school education through the assistance of the missionaries. Under trying circumstances, missionaries provided boarding schools for students.

In the mist of poverty, the missionaries sustained themselves and the people by farming the land and obtaining the resources necessary to cover the costs of running the mission. In such poverty, these men and women of God sacrificed themselves without ever complaining.

Their lives were completely imbued with the spirit of God. They catechised many people, baptised them even at the very moment of their death, and buried them with dignity.

The majority of these missionaries remained in our conference area for the rest of their lives.

They understood that their work would not have been completed until the moment of their death. Some of them were brutally taken off by untimely deaths. Primarily, they were here to serve God and his people.

Personally, I will always appreciate the efforts made by the missionaries who heeded the command of Jesus “to bring the Good Tidings to all people and to the ends of the earth”.

Undoubtedly, the Church in Southern Africa is strong for she was founded on the sacrifices of missionaries and on Evangelii Gaudium—the Joy of the Gospel. n Fr Dikotsi Mofokeng is a priest of the diocese of Bethlehem. He wrote his PhD on Mission and Evangelisation.

8

The Southern Cross, May 30 to June 5, 2018

COMMUNITY School chaplain Fr Thabo Mothiba of St Benedict’s Junior Preparatory School in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, crowned and blessed the our lady of Fatima statue during the Marian month of May.

Send your

St Martin de Porres parish in Bishop lavis, Cape Town, staged the 14 Stations of the Resurrection (The Way of the light or Via Lucis). Pictured are the 14 readers from different societies who each read a station. Deacons Arthur Arries and Terry okkers (back left and right) did the introduction and conclusion. (Submitted by Martin Keith Julie)

(From left) Elaine Carter, May Walker, luisa da Silva, Melanie Greenall (president) and Grace Drumgoole celebrate after the Catholic Women’s league’s annual general meeting at St Charles’ parish in Victory Park, Johannesburg. (Submitted by Glenda Beukes)

photos to

pics@scross. co.za

The Catholic Women’s league at our lady of Fatima church in Durban north invited the parish’s four novices to a branch meeting to hear what the CWl does and to hear from the novices what motivated them to join the religious life. Two novices are from Vietnam, one from Johannesburg, and one from Colenso in Kwazulu-natal. (Submitted by Anna Accolla)

Grade 5 student Mkhokheli Maomela at Marist Brothers linmeyer in southern Johannesburg was chosen to participate in the 2018 Jozi youth Dance Company’s production of Domaine (French for Realms).

Denzl Pillay (seen with his wife Desirée) was awarded a higher certificate in biblical studies, with distinction, at the graduation ceremony at St Augustine College in Johannesburg. The Pillays are members of our lady of loreto parish in Kempton Park. (See also page 2)

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Grade 8 learners and three teachers at Sacred heart College in observatory, Johannesburg, spent four days at Sugar Bay Resort on the Kwazulu-natal north Coast. Seen is Tristan naidoo during a standup paddleboard class.

The Salesian Family gathered at Don Bosco Educational Projects in Ennerdale, Johannesburg, to celebrate the Salesian charism among its various branches. Present were Salesian cooperators, the Salesians of Don Bosco, Salesian Sisters, missionary Sisters of Mary help of Christians, and Salesian past pupils. Archbishop Peter Wells, apostolic nuncio to Southern Africa, celebrated the Mass. (Submitted by Br Clarence Watts SDB)

Student Courtney Westley and rowing coach Kwaku owusu from Assumption Convent School in Germiston, Johannesburg, were invited to the united Kingdom as part of the SA Schools Rowing union squad. Courtney participated in three regattas, and won two bronze medals in the sculls and a gold medal for winning the final eight race with her SA schools team.

The little Eden fête was held at the Domitilla and Danny hyams home in Edenvale, Johannesburg.

Visitors enjoyed live entertainment, food, and bargains.

The pipe band from St Benedict’s College and an “angel” added to the entertainment.

The matric class of 1963 of the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, met to celebrate 55 years of friendship. Theirs was the last matric class before the convent relocated to become McCauley house in Parktown.

(Back from left) Maryon (locke), Joan (Gauchot), lorraine (Crawford) and Paddy (Barlow). (Front from left) lynette (Bastion), Anne (Cook), Irmingard (herb) and Sandra (Sirmelenios).

The Southern Cross, May 30 to June 5, 2018

SPIRITUALITY

9

A pilgrimage on the trail of Pfanner One needn’t go to Spain for a Camino: a local walking pilgrimage is available on the trail of Abbot Pfanner in KwaZulu-Natal.

JuDITh ShIER describes her experience, and that of her fellow pilgrims of the 12-day KZN Camino.

‘W

HAT happened?” a voice called out. “Why are you walking?”

These words floated out to us on a dull and drizzly day as our 16strong group walked through a village on the way from Emaus mission to Umzimkulu in KwaZuluNatal.

And strange we must have appeared to many people we encountered on the way, a mixed group of young and old, black and white, priest and laypeople, Catholic and non-Catholic—all pilgrims on the newly conceived, inaugural Abbot Pfanner Trappist Trail.

The trail is the brainchild and dream of Sylvia Nilsen, who with her co-director Jenny Rooks and several others, has been working tirelessly to establish a trail which is “more than just a hike” in our very own KZN. Inspired by the Camino pilgrimage in Spain, this walk took us from Mariannhill monastery and back, (partly by bus) over 12 days, via eight Trappist mission stations. All of these missions were set up in the 19th century by the friar from Austria, Francis Pfanner, first abbot of Mariannhill.

Now the trail is also becoming publicly available for anyone up to its physical demands. In future there will be an option of eight or 12 days.

Set in beautifully undulating countryside, with views of the hills and valleys made famous by Alan Paton in his classic novel Cry the Beloved Country, the walk offers much on the physical and the spiritual level.

Some will be attracted by the opportunity to see the many mission stations—such as Reichenau, Centocow, Emaus and Lourdes, among others—which are all steeped in a rich history of Trappist ways, still evident in the beautiful buildings they made from materials they created and formed themselves.

Church ‘near to heaven’ Many of the churches are wellpreserved and some, like the almost abandoned St Bernard’s on top of a remote hill—”near to heaven”, as filmmaker Siphiwe Mazibuko put it—need to be preserved.

Mr Mazibuko, a freelance camera man and filmmaker who accompanied us all the way, felt that for churches like this, “someone has to do something”.

There is a gradual recognition that there lies in these hills and valleys a unique tourism focus, as Mr N Mkhize of Ubuhlebezwe municipality put it.

Mdu Zuma, a Catholic and local tour guide who was part of the pilgrim group, said: “I knew before

Pilgrims on the Abbot Pfanner Trail walk through Kwazulu-natal’s green countryside in rain. (Photo: pierre retief photography – PRPhoto.co.za) that Abbot Francis was the one guy who started all the missions, but I didn’t have more information about him. For me to visit all these missions was great, especially the Emaus mission.”

He was interested to learn that Abbot Pfanner spent the last years of his life at Emaus, where he died in 1909. Mr Zuma enjoyed seeing how the abbot was living, “as well as the museum that is telling more of the story of Abbott Pfanner”.

Another highlight at Emaus was the 14 Stations of the Cross, going up the mountain.

Many in the group—Catholic or non-Catholic Christians, and even non-believers—may be looking for a spiritual side of a walk such as this, whether it be found in the Mass held in churches along the way, the opportunity for quiet prayer in the churches at mission stations, or in connecting with the environment.

As one pilgrim put it, out there on the never-ending hills and pointing to the landscape: “This is my church!”

Nombuso Kheswa, a freelance journalist who walked all the way, said: “I had something I cannot explain the day we were walking to St Bernard’s. I came to realise that this walk doesn’t specifically need Catholics; it needs everyone who is willing to know him or herself well and to understand the environment.”

days of the pilgrimage. (We are grateful to Fr Ignatius Stakiewicz, his superior, who was able to spare him for that time!).

Fr Paul was able to celebrate Mass on several occasions on the pilgrimage, recognising that the organisers “want something more than a tourist trip” and having been, in his native Poland, witness to the effect of celebrating Mass on the trail.

He also offered a daily blessing to all. One of the Catholic participants, experienced Camino walker Susie Wilkie, said that “having the experience of a priest walking with us, saying Mass on a verandah in a shed by the dam, and having a Mass in an abandoned church up on a hill with the local congregation singing, were all amazing experiences”.

“And to be able to celebrate Mass so often during this 12-day walk was very special on the religious side, as well the historical aspect of [the] missions.”

Ms Wilkie reported that she came to realise on the basis of the faith she saw in the local Catholics, that she had a lot of work to do with her own religious faith and spirituality.

We were received most hospitably by all the missions we visited, respectfully and with friendly greetings in villages we passed through, most of which were neat and clean.

A Catholic eye-opener

Loud and joyful singing

For one of the Catholics on the trail, it was a real eye-opener.

Sharon Miller knew it was going to be a religious walk but did not realise the impact it would have on her.

“As a Catholic, it’s been an absolute privilege because I have experienced some amazing sides to the Catholic Church that I didn’t even know existed”—the deep faith of the faithful she met along the way.

“The people out here are so devout. I’ve never seen Catholics so devout. I have travelled in Europe—European Catholics aren’t half as devout as the rural Africans, and it’s been absolutely incredible.

I’ve been very, very moved.”

The group was accompanied by Fr Paul of Centocow mission for six

Church services were going on in various buildings in these villages on Sunday, and some members of the St Bernard (Lourdes)

The pilgrims joined the community at Mass in Maria hilf, one of the Trappist missions established by Abbott Francis Pfanner. (Photo: pierre retief photography – PRPhoto.co.za) community even climbed the faraway hill to join us in Mass, giving up their seats to us, and offering loud, joyful singing and percussion.

The isiZulu-speakers in our party explained to interested community members what the trail was all about. We never had any reason to feel unsafe on our pilgrimage.

Walking involved traversing hill and dale on farm land, tribal land, forestry roads and grassland, often 20km or more per day. Some paths are gravel roads, others rocky or narrow, through streams and dongas.

“I enjoyed the walking. I am a slow walker up the hills, so I found that a bit challenging,” said Sharon Miller. “But I managed. I asked for a little bit of guidance and divine intervention to give me some

strength in my legs—and it helped!’

Trails offered by amaWalkers Camino are led by an experienced group leader and a local trail guide.

The size of the groups is limited to 12 people. Accommodation is in mission stations, or local guest farms. Meals are provided with pilgrims’ luggage transferred between accommodations.

The trail has been prepared with an enormous amount of planning, effort and organisation by the Abbot Pfanner Trappist Trail team.

It is hoped that mountain bike trails will soon be available.

Churches, hiking clubs and other groups can offer their own trails. n For more information e-mail aptta@ mweb.co.za or visit www.abbot pfannertrappisttrail.weebly.com

Fr Paul of Centocow talks with members of the community during pension day in one of the villages through which the pilgrims passed. (Photo: pierre retief photography – PRPhoto.co.za)

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The Southern Cross, May 30 to June 5, 2018

CHURCH

‘Soul-sickness’ racism: Church can help In this year’s Winter Living Theology, a US priest aims to find faith-based answers to the problem of racism.

FR RuSSEll PollITT SJ introduces Fr Bryan Massingale.

T

HE US priest who will present Winter Living Theology 2018 says coming to South Africa at this point is important to him at a time of high-profile incidents of racism in both the United States and South Africa.

Fr Bryan Massingale is a leading voice among African-American Catholic priests in the US and an author on racial justice issues.

In his award-winning book Racial Justice and the Catholic Church (which will be on sale during his visit to the country), Fr Massingale says that racism is a “soul-sickness”.

He believes that both challenge and healing are needed for all people in a society where racism has been prevalent for so long.

“Any attempts to address racial inequalities on the social and political fronts without dealing with the ethical and religious dimensions will be both inadequate and ineffective,” he says.

Fr Massingale hopes to “contribute to a greater understanding of faith-based responses to the ongoing need for racial justice” during his visit to South Africa.

He would also like to learn more about what the Church in South Africa is already doing to address this issue.

“I hope to take the lessons I learn home to the United States where we are also struggling with the issue of racism,” he said in an interview.

The bishops of Southern Africa highlighted and addressed the issue of racism in a pastoral letter in 2016. The Justice & Peace Department of the bishops’ conference prepared a series of reflections on racism for Lent in 2018—though

many parishes did not know about or use these reflections.

All the while, racial tensions keep building in society.

“Both South Africa and the United States have troubling histories of racial injustice and white supremacy, whose legacies continue to negatively impact our present societies,” Fr Massingale said.

Unique contribution He believes that our Catholic faith and the rich theological tradition of the Church are a resource for facing this plague in society.

“Religious faith historically has been an important resource for those working for a better society.

I believe it has a unique contribution to make in the present,” he said.

Fr Massingale said he hopes that he will be able to “contribute to a greater understanding of faithbased responses to the ongoing need for racial justice.”

His main message, he said, is that he really believes that racism is not just a sociological and political issue: “At the heart of the race question is a religious and moral one that needs to be interrogated.”

He has been critical of the Catholic Church’s shortcomings in addressing racism.

In an article for US Catholic magazine last year he noted: “The truth is that many white Christians find no contradiction between their so-called Christian faith and their angers, fears, and resentments about people of colour.

“Too often they never hear such angers and resentments challenged from their pulpits or denounced by their ministers. They rarely hear their racist jokes, slurs, and stereotypes—much less their discriminatory behaviours—labelled as ‘sin’ by their pastors,” he wrote.

“For too many Catholic Christians, their racism and that of their friends, neighbours, and family members is abetted by the silence of their pastors and teachers. A permissive silence. A silence that gives comfort to those who har-

Fr Bryan Massingale, author of Racial Justice and the Catholic Church, addresses a gathering. The uS priest will present this year’s Winter living Theology in June/July. (Photo: Peter Finney Jr, Clarion herald) bour resentment, fear, and even hatred in their hearts. A silence that allows Jesus and racial animosity to coexist in their souls.”

Second visit to SA This will not be Fr Massingale’s first trip to South Africa.

“I have been once before, in 2008, for a conference on faithbased responses to the HIV/Aids stigma which took place in Johannesburg,” he recalled. “I thoroughly enjoyed that trip, even though it was short, and look forward to visiting again.”

Fr Massingale grew up in the Midwest of the US, in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, about

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150km north of Chicago.

Before moving to New York City to take up the position of professor of theological and social ethics at the Jesuits’ Fordham University, he worked at another Jesuit institution in his home town, Marquette University.

Although he works with the Jesuits, Fr Massingale is not a Jesuit but a diocesan priest of the archdiocese of Milwaukee.

He is also a senior ethics fellow at Fordham’s Centre for Ethics Education.

Fr Massingale studied theology at the Catholic University of America. He earned his doctorate in moral theology at the Domini-

can-run Alphonsianum in Rome.

He has an interest in a number of research topics including Catholic social thought, AfricanAmerican religious ethics, racial justice, liberation theologies, and race and sexuality.

When he is not studying, teaching or talking at conferences around the United States—or in different parts of the world—Fr Massingale enjoys “hiking in nature, eating good food and having great conversations with friends”.

He admits to being a “major fan” of the science-fiction TV and film series Star Trek. “I still have dreams of being the first priest to travel into space!”

Where to see Fr Massingale

W

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INTER Living Theology is organised annually by the Jesuit Institute in collaboration with the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference. This year the Jesuits’ Fordham University in New York has also joined the partnership.

Winter Living Theology is intended to provide ongoing formation to clergy and lay people in different theological and pastoral topics.

Fr Bryan Massingale will speak in Pretoria (June 25), Johannesburg (June 26-28), Port Elizabeth (July 2-4), Cape Town (July 10-11), and Durban (July 17-19).

For more information contact the Jesuit Institute at wlt@jesuitinstitute.org.za. Bookings can be made online at jesuitinstitute.org.za

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The Southern Cross, May 30 to June 5, 2018

CLASSIFIEDS

Clifford Kgatle

L

ONG-TIME bishops’ conference employee Clifford Kgatle died on May 6 at the age of 58.

Messages of condolences arrived from all corners of South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland, including from people of different portfolios of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC), including bishops, apostolic nuncio Archbishop Peter Wells, and SACBC Khanya House colleagues.

Nicknamed “Mandela” by his family members and friends, Mr Kgatle died of cancer, some eight months after he was diagnosed. He spent this last days in great pain but persevered with courage until the end when God called him.

After the completion of his tertiary studies at the Medical University of South Africa, Mr Kgatle opted to offer his service

to the Church.

He spent half his life working in the administration of the SACBC. For 28 years, with total dedication and humility, he gave his heart to the service of God. Born on November 26, 1963, in Mamelodi, Pretoria, as the third child of Catherine Kgatle and her now late husband Jacob, Mr Kgatle married Constance Magolego in 1994.

They had a daughter, Reneilwe, and a granddaughter, Moeketsi.

He also leaves behind his mother and five sisters.

Mr Kgatle was buried in Mamelodi West on May 12 in the presence of family members, friends, neighbours and colleagues, as well as Bishop Jan de Groef of Bethlehem, auxiliary Bishop Duncan Tsoke of Johannesburg, SACBC secretary-general Sr Hermenegild Makoro CPS, associate secre-

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IN MEMORIAM

tary-general Fr Patrick Rakeketsi CSS, several priests, and his parish priest, Fr Thabiso Ledwaba.

“The life of Clifford; his special love for his family; his humility and respect for everybody; his unreserved commitment to the service of the Catholic Church in Southern Africa will be sorely missed”, said Sr Makoro.

My story of the Gentile and the Jew Continued from page 7 in their home on May 4, deeply distressing a society already afflicted by the high incidence of murder, rape, abuse of children and women, violent crime—and lawlessness on many roads.

It was said of the killers: “They must have been already dead in themselves to do what they did.”

News of the deaths prompted an outpouring of sympathy and grief. The joint memorial service for Rosalie and Aubrey at the Baxter Theatre on May 17 drew a large gathering of mourners and tributes from grandchildren, sons and daughters, to friends and struggle stalwarts.

They spoke with affection and humour of Rosalie of the sweet tooth and Rosalie of the sweet heart; of Rosalie the

mother hen who nurtured and protected her brood; of Rosalie who nursed her dying domestic worker; of Rosalie who frequented the Baxter itself to take in plays; of Rosalie who opened her home and heart to the UDF, the Congress of Democrats, the Black Sash, the Detainees’ Parents’ Support Group and the Women’s Movement for Peace.

Rosalie’s youngest son Shaun was MC. Her sons Lance and Guy spoke. Sue Jackson spoke.

Cheryl Carolus, Trevor Manuel, Anglican dean Rev Michael Weeder and cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro spoke.

Together they weaved a colourful tapestry of a woman who used her life to do good.

Rivonia trialist Denis Goldberg closed the tributes from his wheelchair, using a microphone

Liturgical Calendar Year B – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday June 3, Body and Blood of Jesus Christ Exodus 24:3-8, Psalm 116:12-13, 15-18, Hebrews 9:11-15, Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 Monday June 4 2 Peter 1:2-7, Psalm 91:1-2, 14-16, Mark 12:1-12 Tuesday June 5, St Boniface 2 Peter 3:12-15, 17-18, Psalm 90:2-4, 10, 14, 16, Mark 12:13-17 Body and Blood of Jesus Christ Wednesday June 6, St Norbert 2 Timothy 1:1-3, 6-12, Psalm 123:1-2, Mark 12:18-27 Thursday June 7 2 Timothy 2:8-15, Psalm 25:4-5, 8-10, 14, Mark 12:28-34 Friday June 8, Sacred Heart of Jesus Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8-9, Responsorial psalm Isaiah 12:2-6, Ephesians 3:8-12, 14-19, John 19:31-37 Saturday June 9, Immaculate Heart of Mary, St Ephrem Isaiah 61:9-11, Psalm 1 Samuel 2:1, 4-8, Luke 2:41-51 Sunday June 10, 10th Sunday of the Year Genesis 3:9-15, Psalm 130:1-8, 2 Corinthians 4:13--5:1, Mark 3:20-35 Sacred heart of Jesus

CLASSIFIEDS

11

and no notes.

The Baxter resounded with his dramatic and compelling eulogy in describing Rosalie as the political sister he had not known, but had found.

He quoted fellow trialist Govan Mbeki who had said, in the context of the Holocaust: “Racism leads to gas ovens, death and destruction.”

Goldberg ended with a cri de coeur for all to reflect on: “In desperate times the meaning of life is service to others.”

And I was thinking of Rosalie, the compassionate advocate for justice, the lover of hikes and nature, mother to all, the Jewish woman who came to talk about Catholicism and faith, the humanitarian extraordinaire–the Good Samaritan.

Adieu Rosalie. Shalom!

Word of the Week Alleluia: (Hebrew) a joyful expression of praise to God.

POTHIER—Bernard. Died May 24, 2011. With us in spirit and still fondly remembered by the staff of The Southern Cross and colleagues on the board of directors.

POTHIER—Bernard.

Passed away May 24, 2011. his legacy of love and service lives on. Still so well-remembered by many, but especially by his family. Stay with us and intercede for all those in need of help. In gratitude, Margaret, Dominic, Siobhain, nicholas, heide, Rosanne, Tiernan, the grandchildren and extended Pothier and Gallagher families.

OSBORNE—Katy, died May 30, 2016. My mother died two years ago at the age of 92. She will always be remembered in our prayers.

Solly, Sally and family.

PRAYERS

PARENTS FOR CHILDREN: o Jesus, lover of children, bestow your most precious graces on those whom you have confided to our care.

Increase in them faith, hope and charity. May your love lead them to solid piety, inspiring them with dread for sin, love of work and an ardent desire of worthily approaching your holy table.

Preserve in them innocence and purity of heart; and if they should offend you, grant them the grace of a prompt and sincere repentance. From your tabernacle, watch over them day and night; protect them in all

Our bishops’ anniversaries This week we congratulate: June 7: Bishop Frank Nabuasah of Francistown, Botswana, on his 69th birthday June 7: Bishop Xolelo Thaddeus Kumalo of Eshowe on the 10th anniversary of his episcopal ordination

their ways. Grant that they may acquire the knowledge that they need to embrace the state of life to which you have called them. Grant us a sincere love, constant vigilance and generous devotedness towards them. Grant us all consolation on earth and eternal reward in heaven.

PRAYER FOR RAIN: o God, our Creator, you are the source of all life. It is through your divine providence and infinite power, that the wonder and splendour of all creation surround us. “how majestic is your name in all the earth”. We pray to you who calms the raging waters and commands the wind, to provide us sufficient rain to meet our needs. During this time of drought, we are mindful of our dependence on you for all that sustains our body and soul. We pray for the cooling, gentle rain that will once again bring life to the fields and crops that feed us, restore the colourful rainbow of flowers and the cooling shade of the trees. We also pray for all those who are suffering from other natural disasters. May they look to you for the strength to restore their lives and heal their wounded land. help us to always be good stewards of your creation and care for the many resources of this earth. May your grace refresh our souls. We ask for these blessings through the intercession of Mary, Queen of heaven and Earth. Amen O VIRgIN Mother, In the depths of your heart you pondered the life of the Son

O gREAT ST JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO, who by your prayers obtained from God the grace of being asked at your examinations the only questions which you knew, obtain for me alike success in the examinations for which I am now preparing and in return I promise to make your name known and caused to be invoked in prayers. Amen.

PERSONAL

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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.

FATHER in heaven, ever-living source of all that is good, keep me faithful in serving you. help me to drink of Christ's truth, and fill my heart with his love so that I may serve you in faith and love and reach eternal life.

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

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the

10th Sunday: June 10 Readings: Genesis 3:9-15, Psalm 130:1-8, 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1, Mark 3:20-35

N

EXT Sunday we return for a while to Ordinary Time, after all the excitement of Lent and Easter. Accusations and counter-accusations are the keynote.

In the first reading, our first parents have been found out, by an innocent question from God. “Where are you?” he says to Adam, and the reply is a giveaway: “I heard your voice in the Garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked—and I hid.”

Naturally that raises the question of where this discovery came from, and so God asks: “Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you not to eat?”

So Adam does what we all do, and blames someone else: “The woman which you gave me to be with me, she gave it to me from the tree—and I ate.” So then the woman joins the “blame-game” and says: “The snake tricked me, and I ate.”

So the snake (who has no one to shift the blame to, of course) gets into trouble, and is made to crawl on his belly and eat dust. It is a story that is all too familiar, of course.

The responsorial psalm is the De Profundis, that ancient penitential psalm. Perhaps we are not talking here about accusation, but the poet who wrote it is quite clear about the seriousness of sin, and the need for God to hear

S outher n C ross

his plea for forgiveness; at the same time he is clear that God is a forgiving God (“for with you is forgiveness”).

Then there is a lovely image of “waiting”: “My soul is waiting for the Lord, more than watchmen for morning, watchmen for morning”, and you can just see them struggling to stay awake in the small hours.

Now Israel must do the same: “Let Israel wait for the Lord, because with the Lord there is loving-kindness and full redemption; God will redeem Israel from all their sins.”

The second reading continues the reading of Second Corinthians. It is possible that we are overhearing a conversation between Paul and the Corinthians about the fact that he had nearly died, which was not the kind of thing they thought ought to happen to an apostle.

So (in answer to their accusation about his brush with death), Paul expresses his confidence in God: “We know that the One who raised up the Lord Jesus will raise up us also and place us with you.”

For (in answer to their accusation), “Everything is for your sakes, in order that the grace which overflows onto more and more people may make thanksgiving (the word is ‘Eu-

O

ship.

Dictionaries define friendship as a relationship of mutual affection, a bond richer than mere association. They then go on to link friendship to a number of words: kindness, love, sympathy, empathy, honesty, altruism, loyalty, understanding, compassion, comfort, and (not least) trust.

Friends, the dictionaries assert, enjoy each other’s company, express their feelings to each other, and make mistakes without fear of judgment from the other.

Yet to better grasp the real grace in friendship, a number of things inside those definitions need explication.

First, as the Greek Stoics affirmed, and as is evident in the Christian spirituality, true friendship is only possible among people who are practising virtue. A gang is not a circle of friendship, nor are many ideological circles. Why? Because friendship needs to bring grace, and grace is found only in virtue.

Next, friendship is more than merely human, though it is wonderfully human.

When it is genuine, friendship is nothing less than a participation in the flow of life and love that’s inside God. Scripture tells us that God is love, but the word it uses for love in this case is the Greek word agape, a term which might be rendered as “family”, “community”, or “the sharing of life”. Hence the famous text (“God is Love”) might be transliterated to read: God is family, God is commu-

nity, God is shared existence, and whoever shares his or her existence inside community and friendship is participating in the very flow of life and love that is inside the Trinity.

But this isn’t always true. Friendship and family can take different forms. Parker Palmer, the contemporary Quaker writer, submits: “If you come here faithfully, you bring great blessing.” Conversely, the great Sufi mystic, Rumi, writes: “If you are here unfaithfully, you bring great harm.”

Family and community can bring grace or block it. Our circle can be one of love and grace, or it can be one of hatred and sin. Only the former merits the name friendship. Friendship, says St Augustine, is the beauty of the soul.

D

eep, life-giving friendship, as we all know, is as difficult as it is rare. Why? We all long for it in the depths of our souls, so why is it so difficult to find?

We all know why: we’re different from each other, unique, and rightly cautious as to whom we give entry into our soul. And so it isn’t easy to find a soulmate, to have that kind of affinity and trust.

Nor is it easy to sustain a friendship once we have found one. Sustained friendship takes hard commitment and that’s not our strong point, as our psyches and our world forever shift and turn. Moreover, today, virtual friendships don’t always translate into real friendships.

Finally, not least, friendship is often hindered or derailed by sex and sexual tension. This is simply a fact of nature and

Classic Conrad

Sunday Reflections

charist’) abound to the glory of God.” We can more or less follow the gist here.

And the result? “So we do not give up, even if our outer person is being destroyed; but the inner person is being renewed, day after day”.

Once again, it is not easy to know precisely what he is saying, but there are clearly grounds for optimism here. Paul’s eyes are on another world: “Not the things that are seen but the things that are unseen”.

Then he contemplates the possibility of his own death (about which they are making accusations), and comments: “We know that if our early home, a tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in heaven.” This is very strong language.

There is strong language, too, in the Gospel, where Jesus is accused first of bringing shame on his family, because they did not have time “even to eat a loaf of bread”, so that “his people” come to arrest him.

The reason for that is that if a family member goes starving in that culture, it brings disgrace on the household. This is followed, however, by a much worse accusation, made by the scribes (who have already shown form

What is true friendship?

NE of the richest experiences of grace that we can have this side of eternity is the experience of friend-

Nicholas King SJ

Accusing others falsely

in this Gospel as enemies of Jesus), namely that “he has got Beelzeboul, and it is by the ruler of demons that he casts out demons”.

This is of course a terrible accusation, but is effortlessly refuted, as Jesus asks: “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, then that kingdom cannot stand.”

So then Jesus has to deal, very sharply indeed, with that accusation: “All other sins and blasphemies that human beings commit shall be forgiven; but if anyone blasphemes against the Holy Spirit [such as by accusing Jesus of being in league with the devil], they will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

Mark explains this (so you should not be worrying if you feel that you might have committed this blasphemy) by giving the reason: “Because they were saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’”

Then comes another intervention from his family; Jesus redefines “family” in different terms: “Anyone who does God’s will”. That should put an end to all accusations.

Southern Crossword #813

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

a fact within our culture and all other cultures.

Sex and sexuality, while they ideally should be the basis for deep friendship, often are the major hindrance to friendship. Moreover, in Western culture (whose ethos prizes sex over friendship), friendship is often seen as a substitute, and a second-best one at that, for sex.

But while that may be the cultural ethos, it’s clearly not what’s deepest in our souls. There we long for something that’s ultimately deeper than sex—or is sex in a fuller flowering.

There’s a deep desire in us all for a soulmate, for someone to sleep with morally.

More deeply than we ache for a sexual partner, we ache for a moral partner, though these desires aren’t mutually exclusive, just hard to combine.

Friendship, like love, is always partly a mystery, something beyond us. It’s a struggle in all cultures. Part of this is simply our humanity.

The pearl of great price is not easily found nor easily retained. True friendship is an eschatological thing, found—though never perfectly—in this life. Cultural and religious factors always work against friendship, as does the omnipresence of sexual tension.

Sometimes poets can reach where academics cannot and so I offer these insights from a poet vis-à-vis the interrelationship between friendship and sex. Friendship, the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke suggests, is often one of the great taboos within a culture, but it remains always the endgame: “In a deep, felicitous love between two people you can eventually become the loving protectors of each other’s solitude.

“Sex is, admittedly, very powerful, but no matter how powerful, beautiful, and wondrous it may be, if you become the loving protectors of each other’s solitude, love gradually turns to friendship.”

And as the French Renaissance philosopher Montaigne once affirmed: “The end of friendship may be more important than love. The epiphanies of youth are meant to blossom and ripen into something everlasting.”

ACROSS

3. Monks’ kind of love (9) 8. It’s what keeps you busy (4) 9. Met Boston in the graveyard (9) 10. Simon had this other name (Lk 6) (6) 11. Vesuvius may do it (5) 14. They are not ordained ministers (5) 15. Keep safe (4) 16. Get echo right for colour (5) 18. They left their ... and followed him (Mt 4) (4) 20. Spin around in wind or pool (5) 21. Serious without the booze (5) 24. Race I’m around in Ukraine (6) 25. The silversmith in Acts 19 (9) 26. It goes before cedent (4) 27. Sons of Thunder (Mk 3) (9)

Solutions on page 11

DOWN

1. Where to find the bishop of Manzini (9) 2. They do the manual work with the choir (9) 4. Trio involved in disturbance of the peace (4) 5. Mount of the Transfiguration (5) 6. Legally prevents poets going south (6) 7. It’s part of a chain reaction (4) 9. Japanese capitalists are found here (5) 11. Anaesthetic in the sky above? (5) 12. Alms saint gets together for lucky items (9) 13. Fortune-teller’s reading matter (3,6) 17. Some newer saucers are jugs (5) 19. Formal kind of ceremony (6) 22. You are wrong to be in it (5) 23. He’s admired for his courage (4) 24. Heal a French priest (4)

CHURCH CHUCKLE

T

HE bitter old man who had spent his lifetime issuing angry tirades at his fellow parishioners died.

As his coffin was carried inside the church at the funeral, dark clouds were gathering. Inside, the organ played softly and the priest started the eulogy.

All of a sudden, there was a roar of thunder followed by lightning striking in the church’s courtyard.

The whole congregation went quiet, except for an old woman at the back of the church, who said: “Well, he got there.”

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