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June 13 to June 19, 2018
Help for Kenyan sailors stranded in Cape Town
World Cup: Here is a true football hero
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Top German cleric joins SA ethics dialogue By eRIN CARelSe
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ISITING German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, “instead of a learned dissertation, talked freely, using a lot of practical examples or anecdotes” at a meeting on the mining industry and Catholic Social Teaching, noted Cardinal Wilfrid Napier OFM. Cardinal Marx, chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, was in South Africa as part of “Courageous Conversations”, convened by Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba. The mining industry meeting, one of the “Courageous Conversations”, was facilitated by the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office and the Justice & Peace Commission of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC). Cardinal Marx, with members of his delegation, was joined by Cardinal Napier, Archbishop Stephen Brislin, Anglican Archbishop Makgoba and Bishop Abel Gabuza. Also present were other leading representatives of churches and religious communities, as well as of non-governmental organisations and mining companies, to jointly discuss the social and ecological problems of South Africa’s mining economy. Pope Benedict XVI elevated Cardinal Marx to the cardinalate in 2010 and in 2014 Pope Francis made him chairman of the Council for Economy. Cardinal Napier, who spends time every three months as part of the Council for Economy, said he wasn’t fully aware, until this visit, of the extent of Cardinal Marx’s study and expertise on business ethics. He said he appreciated Cardinal Marx’s direct approach in the mining industry discussion to making his points. “It was our good fortune,” Cardinal Napier said, “that the counterpart from the mining industry, himself a pastor of the Apostolic Faith Mission, did much the same thing as he explained how the mining industry, like the Church, has to think and invest long term rather than short term. “Thus it thinks in decades rather than
The
Grades 4 to 7 at St Dominic’s School in Boksburg, Gauteng, put on a drama production of “Shrek, the Musical”. (Submitted by Sharon Antonizzi)
‘Street priest’ made cardinal By CAROl GlATz
Johannesburg Archbishop Buti Tlhagale OMI and German Cardinal Reinhard Marx and his delegation paid an impromptu visit to St John Bosco parish in Robertsham, Johannesburg. (From left) Archbishop Tlhagale, Cardinal Marx and St John Bosco parish priest Fr John Thompson SDB. years regarding returns when it sinks a shaft. That was a real surprise to me!” Cardinal Marx was also hosted by the SACBC secretariat, and celebrated Mass with St John Vianney Seminary staff and students. He was assisted by Bishops Sithembele Sipuka and João Rodrigues. The cardinal later paid a courtesy call to Archbishop of Johannesburg Buti Tlhagale OMI and his auxiliary Bishop Duncan Tsoke. After visiting the Apartheid Museum, he went for prayers at Regina Mundi church in Soweto. Another side of Cardinal Marx that came as a surprise to Cardinal Napier was his real commitment to Church dialogue between Africa and Germany. “Speaking about his first visit to Madagascar, the cardinal could not hide his shock and alarm at the poverty there,” Cardinal Napier said. “That was quite heartwarming, especially coming from a man who appears rough and ready for action in a very physical sense.” Cardinal Napier said being with Cardinal Marx and being exposed to “Courageous Conversations” was truly worthwhile.
S outher n C ross
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EALISING he could no longer minister directly to poor people as he used to in Buenos Aires, Pope Francis found another secret “street priest” to act in his place—cardinal-designate Konrad Krajewski. For years, this Polish assistant to St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI has walked Rome’s streets offering meals and assistance. “My arms have been shortened,” he said Pope Francis remarked when explaining why he was naming him papal almoner. “If we can make my arms longer with your arms, I will be able to touch the poor of Rome and in Italy. I can’t leave. You can,” the pope explained. By naming him to the College of Cardinals, the pope is elevating the office of papal almoner, the 54-year-old Archbishop Krajewski said. This honour “is for the poor and the volunteers. I can take no credit”, he said. Every morning he reads requests for help forwarded from the pope with a comment that says, “You know what you must do.” “And so I try to think, what would Francis do if he were here?” he said. As papal almoner, the cardinal-designate distributes charitable aid from the pope; but he has taken the job to a whole new level, getting a dormitory, showers, a barbershop and laundromat set up near the Vatican for homeless people. He handed out 1 600 prepaid phonecards to refugees who survived a dangerous journey by boat to Lampedusa to let their families
Cardinal-designate Konrad Krajewski (right) with helpers organising local food bought by the Vatican to aid the homeless after an earthquake in central Italy. (Photo: CNS/Vatican Press Office) know they were safe. He’s also organised special tours for poor and homeless people to the Vatican Gardens, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Receiving the red hat should not make a big difference in his day-to-day dealings, cardinal-designate Krajewski said. He said Pope Francis told him to sell his desk when he was hired because his job wasn’t to wait for people to come ringing, but to go out and look for those in need. Despite always being in the thick of things, cardinal-designate Krajewski said he prefers to stay off the radar. “Poverty is something serious; it’s not there to give oneself publicity.”—CNS
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The Southern Cross, June 13 to June 19, 2018
LOCAL
‘Our spirituality includes care for creation’ By ANNABel MARIAN HORN
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HE Church’s care for creation has culminated in Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, said Fr Russell Pollitt at an environmental workshop. The workshop was planned and hosted by the Cape Town archdiocese, and facilitated by the Jesuit Institute in partnership with Gondwana Environmental Solutions. Archbishop Stephen Brislin opened the Care of the Environment workshop at St Anthony’s church in Langa, saying that we need to cultivate a lifestyle that integrates care for the environment into our daily lives and communities. “I encourage people to do this through meaningful initiatives, especially in parishes. Even though it has rained in Cape Town recently, water-saving ideas, such as reuse of grey water, should continue to be pursued even after the crisis is over,” he said. In the first session of the workshop Fr Pollitt, director of the Jesuit Institute, looked at Laudato Si’. “Pope Francis is inviting us to break free from the silo mentality—spirituality needs to encom-
pass all areas of our lives, including our care and respect for creation. Throughout the Bible, God’s interaction with his people is always in and through creation; creation reveals God to us,” he said. Dr Martin van Nierop, managing director of Gondwana Environmental Solutions, who presented with Fr Russell, said that Pope Francis teaches us that we will never solve our environmental problems unless we solve our social, economic and cultural issues. He said that this was a powerful lesson: “The rich-poor imbalance is very much part of the environmental problems we face.” A number of issues were discussed at the workshop, including how politics and economics dictate decisions that lead to environmental degradation, vegetarianism, and population growth. The issue of advocacy on environmental issues was also raised—in local communities, in the Church, and on national and international scales. The delegates at the workshop were then challenged, in small groups, to think about how they could put into action caring for the
Archbishop Stephen Brislin with delegates at the Care of the environment workshop in Cape Town. (Photo: Annabel Horn) environment in their own homes, neighbourhoods, workplaces, and parishes. About 80 people, representing a broad spread of communities in metropolitan Cape Town, shared their ideas and inspirations. Among the action plans they came up with are the following: • Do an environmental audit of your parish, as to how energy, gar-
dens, litter, and waste are managed and prioritise one or two areas to work on. • Challenge municipalities to be involved in communities around environmental sustainability. • Create awareness around litter. Many people do not have an awareness about why they should not litter, or not use items such as straws.
• Create awareness of the management of energy usage in homes and the church, such as switching off lights when not in a room. • Have an arbour day and plant a tree at your parish or in the community. • Encourage people to be advocates for change in environmental matters and social justice, and to see this as a struggle that the Church needs to be involved in. • Translate waste, such as bottle tops, into wheelchairs for the disabled, or a product an unemployed person could sell. Recently Jesuit Father Rampe Hlobo wrote a column in The Southern Cross, saying the poor of Cape Town were angry because “they have been using less than 50 litres of water a day all their lives, and now it seems there is a possibility in the current drought that the city could run out of water.” It is the poor who suffer most when this happens, Dr van Nierop said. “Human ecology is inseparable from the common good, which is described as those conditions of social life which allow people to have lives of fulfillment.”
Farm programme gives hope to addicts NOAH and the staff of The Trestle Table would like to thank all the donors of second hand goods for supporting our initiative over the past year. We are truly grateful for your support.
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Living the joy of the Gospel as a Franciscan Friar!
By eRIN CARelSe
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FREE State farm for addicts focuses on spirituality, community, and work as the three pillars needed for recovery. The rehabilitation centre was started on 130 hectares of land donated by Bishop Jan de Groef of Bethlehem and is based on the Brazilian programme Fazenda da Esperança, meaning Farm of Hope. This was first established in 1985 in a small Brazilian community by Fr Hans Stapel, and is now present in more than 130 communities in over 22 countries. Fazenda works with spirituality, which gives meaning and direction to people’s lives; community life, where love and unity are lived; and work, as a concrete way of assuming responsibility for one’s own life. Fr Dekson Teope, who runs the programme in Bethlehem, explained that what makes Farm of Hope different from other centres is that it underlines not so much people’s dark history of addiction that needs to be left behind, but what a new life could be. The programme tries to help them discover these new lives, “leading them to a personal discovery of God-Love as their source of light and happiness to bring true fulfillment and abstinence from drugs”, Fr
Farm of Hope in Free State offers a positive Christian way of recovery for addicts. Volunteers and those in the programme are pictured. Teope said. The community is becoming increasingly known in Free State and beyond. This year the centre has already hosted seminarians and school students, who stayed for a few days to listen to the experiences of renewal of Fazenda “missionaries”. These are people who suffered addiction before, but, after rehabilitation in Fazendas in Brazil, the Philippines or Mozambique, have volunteered as missionaries. Clint Eksteen, a recovering addict and former gangster from Durban, said that Fr
Teope and the team at Farm of Hope have been a blessing from God for him. Now he sees his new purpose as making young people aware of the dangers of drugs and violence. “I started smoking dagga in Wentworth when I was in Grade 10. I did it because my friends were doing it, but it was my choice. I then moved on to mandrax and rocks [crack cocaine],” he recalled. “Being the youngest in my family and the only boy among five sisters, with no male influence, I was basically left to do as I wished.”
His late mother worked very hard in trying to raise him and his sisters as a single parent, as his dad was absent. “I dropped out of school in Grade 11 and continued my life of drugs, alcohol and partying,” Mr Eksteen said. “I was then introduced to the drug known as sugus or whonga, which I felt no escape from. I could not hold down a stable job, because of my dependency on drugs. “I eventually reached a point where I didn’t want to do drugs anymore and reached out to my sisters for help,” he said. “They then introduced me to Fazenda da Esperança.” A unique aspect of Fazenda is the close collaboration volunteers have with the families of those under rehabilitation. They are encouraged to join monthly meetings. So families come to know the life of the farm and the experiences of those in the programme. That way, they too become part of the whole process of recovery. “Farm of Hope offers substance addicts the opportunity to a better and cleaner life. Our calling from God is to live a life wholly at the service of those who have lost hope,” Fr Teope said. n For more information on the programme, please contact Fr Teope on 078 502-2830 or e-mail dekst59@gmail.com
Salesians change Life Choices campaign By eRIN CARelSe
F Join us in a life of…Prayer, Brotherhood, and loving Service Contact: Br. Thabo Mabaso OFM National Vocations Director Mobile: 078 000 2531 Email: mabasothabo806@gmail.com Post: P.O Box 914-1192 Wingate Park 0153
OR the past four years, Salesians Life Choices has celebrated June with its “30 Stories in 30 Days” campaign. This year, the campaign is changing format. A group of marketing students challenged Life Choices to change the campaign. They said though young people are diverse individuals from different backgrounds, all individuals face challenges during their lives, and that overcoming challenges tends to make humans relate to each other better, uniting them. The students said Life Choices should focus the campaign on connecting youth, and as a consequence young
people would indeed support each other and join together as the youth of South Africa. Even though the focus for the campaign has changed this year, Life Choices plans to revisit 16 stories from the previous campaigns. One of those stories is of Cabangile, who was born in KwaZulu-Natal and when she was three, her family relocated to Cape Town. She faced many challenges growing up. She had an abusive father who would get drunk and violent and beat her mother while she and her brother tried to stop him—they would end up getting hurt in the process. He would spend all his money drinking and then he
would leave. Her mother struggled, as she never finished school, which made it difficult for her to find employment. She would be gone for periods of time trying to find a job. Through all of this, Cabangile loved school. For her, it was the only place she could be free and be like a child. She kept going each day without any guidance from an adult. In matric she was selected to be headgirl and her plan was to study further and go to university. Fast forward to 2018 and Cabangile is studying for a BA in social work at the University of Cape Town and is in her third year.
She said going to university has been a positive experience for her as it has afforded her financial security for the first time in her life. “For the first time I haven’t needed to worry about the most basic things like food and electricity; it has given me the freedom to focus on my studies.” Although it has been a big jump academically, Cabangile continues to succeed and reach towards her goal. After graduating next year she hopes to specialise in clinical social work and focus on helping those who are struggling with psychological issues. n To see more visit www.life choices.co.za
The Southern Cross, June 13 to June 19, 2018
LOCAL
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Weekend course on core of Christianity Mandela 100 to By eRIN CARelSe
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WEEKEND course for Catholics who want to seriously look at themselves and their lives, their relationships with others, and their relationship with God, will be offered in Johannesburg later this year. A Cursillo weekend will run from September 21-24 at Koinonia Centre. Cursillo, Spanish for “a short course”, is a ministry that has spread to other Christian denominations. The ministry aims to share the essence of Christianity and thereby gradually transform communities from within. Cursillo was conceived especially
for the laity, but priests and religious are welcome to join. Organisers recommend that married couples participate together. The course, which usually starts on a Thursday afternoon and ends on a Sunday afternoon, is also helpful for those who have fallen away from the Church, as it stresses the fundamental aspects of Christianity. The weekend includes 15 talks (some given by priests and some by lay people), small group discussions, summaries, fellowship, meditation, songs, community meals, Eucharistic adoration, Mass, and reconciliation. A priest serves as the spiritual director. To participate in a Cursillo week-
end, one needs to be referred by a spiritual sponsor—someone who has already attended a Cursillo or someone recommended by the spiritual director. The spiritual sponsor’s job is to pray for the participant before, during, and after the weekend. The Cursillo in September, which will be mixed-gender, will cost R1 350. Application forms and 50% of the fee deposit are due six weeks before the weekend, and the balance is due one month before the start. n For further information contact Karon Willson at 082 493-2542 or decolores@cursillosa.co.za, or Dirk van Doorene at 083 209-1036 or dirk vandoorene@gmail.com
Charity aids stranded Kenyan sailors By eRIN CARelSe
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GROUP of Kenyan seafarers has been stuck in the port of Cape Town for a year waiting for their tugboat to be repaired. Catholic charity Apostleship of the Sea (AoS) has been providing the sailors with practical and pastoral care. The men are the crew of the tugboat Comarco Falcon, hired in May last year to deliver a barge from Mombasa port to Port Elizabeth en route to Nigeria. After making the delivery, the crew tried to sail onwards to Nigeria but extremely high waves forced them to turn back to Port Elizabeth. They waited for the weather to clear and eventually reached Cape Town at the end of May last year. Nicholas Barends, national director of AoS South Africa, said that due to a deal with the new tug owner failing to materialise, and their boat being in dry dock for repairs, the seafarers are still in port. “The crew comprises three Catholics and four Muslims. They’re coping well despite their current situation, and the dangerous voyage they’ve been through, which left them fearing for their lives,” he added. Since they landed, Mr Barends and AoS Cape Town volunteers Anthony Erispe and Gerard Assam
Kenyan sailors stranded in Cape Town have been helped by Catholic charity AoS, and this has included a braai at AoS national director Nicholas Barends’ home. have been visiting the seafarers regularly. The Catholic sailors have been attending Saturday evening Mass—either walking or taking a minibus to the chapel at the seafarers’ centre. Mr Barends also organised a braai at his home for the Kenyan sailors. “They are extremely appreciative of the support and care given to them,” he said. AoS provides support to all seafarers, regardless of nationality, belief or race. Their port chaplains and volunteer ship visitors welcome sea-
farers, offer welfare services, advice, practical help, care, and friendship. About 90% of world trade is transported by ship. The life of a modern seafarer can be dangerous and lonely. They may spend up to a year at a time away from home, separated from their family and loved ones and often working in harsh conditions. AoS relies solely on voluntary contributions to continue its work. n For more information and to help, contact Nicholas Barends at nicholas. barends@stellamarismail.org
transform city By eRIN CARelSe
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HIS year, being the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth, the Denis Hurley Centre in Durban is running a campaign to make the city a better place for all. Working with other NGOs, the DHC is encouraging people to join “Mandela 100”—100 ways to transform particularly the lives of the inner-city poor. This can be enacted any time during a period of 100 days from May 30 to September 6. Ela Gandhi, a DHC patron who served with Mandela in the 1994 parliament, launched the campaign. Over 80 people were present to hear her reflections, and testimonies of schools and corporates committed to volunteering. Mandela’s birthday, July 18, has been honoured as Mandela Day by the United Nations, and people the world over are always keen to help by sharing time and goods. But their generosity is not so helpful when concentrated on one day. To assist people during the campaign, the NGOs have drawn up a list of 100 activities. Some involve donating everyday goods like toys or clothes; some donations of specialist goods like computers or gardening equipment. If you are an individual, or a group of friends or organisation, there are general ideas for volunteering to honour Mandela’s legacy. You can make meals or be a
Thandi Bhengu from Holy Family College in Berea, Durban, helped with the “reverse offertory” at the launch of the 2018 Mandela 100 campaign. All present were given an old 1c coin, to mark Mandela’s centenary, and reference the biblical parable of the talents, which brings to mind the need to invest our talents in the Mandela 100 campaign. driver; or offer your skills, for example, as a social worker or an optician. Included in the list are concerts celebrating Mandela and community-building events. n The full list of activities can be found at www.denishurleycentre.org or if you are inspired to act, e-mail mandela100@denishurleycentre.org
Couple to celebrate 50 years together
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INSTON and Muriel Maritz of Cape Town are preparing to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary.
They married on June 22, 1968, at St Mary's church in Retreat, with the ceremony officiated by Fr Feeny CSsR.
Franciscan Sisters
Servants of the Holy Childhood of Jesus
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Led by Bishop Victor Phalana Climb Apparition Hill and Cross Mountain while you pray through the stations of the Cross. Experience daily live apparitions by Our Lady and be a part of a spiritually strengthening Pilgrimage Medjugorje is truly a place of great graces and blessings 26 September – 07 October 2018 R22 995.00 incl. Airport taxes
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The Southern Cross, June 13 to June 19, 2018
INTERNATIONAL
Vatican asks bishops to set aside plans for Eucharistic sharing By CINDy WOODeN
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OPE Francis has asked the Catholic bishops’ conference of Germany not to publish nationwide guidelines for allowing Protestants married to Catholics to receive Communion at Mass, but to continue having diocesan bishops judge specific situations. Greg Burke, director of the Vatican press office, confirmed the authenticity of a letter published on the Italian blog Settimo Cielo. “The Holy Father has reached the conclusion that the document has not matured enough to be published,” said the letter signed by Cardinal-designate Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The prefect had hosted a meeting with a group of German bishops, including supporters and opponents of the document, and with officials from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. A Vatican statement issued at the end of the meeting said: “Pope Francis appreciates the ecumenical commitment of the German bishops and asks them to find, in a spirit of ecclesial communion, a result as unanimously as possible”. Cardinal-designate Ladaria’s letter said he spoke to Pope Francis specifically about the proposed guidelines and the meeting on two occasions and mentioned how the Germans’ proposal raises “a series of problems of notable importance”. The doctrinal prefect listed three main issues: • “The question of the admission
Pope Francis meets with a delegation from the evangelical lutheran Church of Germany on the same day that the Vatican confirmed the pope had asked Germany’s bishops not to publish guidelines on ecumenical Communion. (Photo: Vatican Media/CNS) to Communion of Lutheran Christians in interconfessional marriages is a theme that touches on the faith of the Church and has relevance for the universal Church.” • “Such a question has effects on ecumenical relations with other churches and other ecclesial communities that cannot be undervalued.” • The matter also involves Church law, particularly the interpretation of canon 844 of the Code of Canon Law, which says: “If the danger of death is present or if, in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or conference of bishops, some other grave necessity urges it, Catholic ministers administer these same sacraments licitly also to other Christians not having full communion with the Catholic Church, who cannot approach a minister of their own community and who seek such on their own accord, provided that they manifest Catholic faith in respect to
these sacraments and are properly disposed.” The text of the German guidelines was never made public, but it was widely assumed to foresee situations in which a Lutheran married to a Roman Catholic and regularly attending Mass with the Catholic spouse could receive the Eucharist on a regular basis. Already in many dioceses around the world, bishops permit such eucharistic hospitality on special occasions like the baptism or first Communion of their child. Cardinal-designate Ladaria’s letter said because of varying interpretations of the canon, “the competent dicasteries of the Holy See already have been charged with producing a timely clarification of such questions on the level of the universal Church”. “In particular,” he said, “it appears opportune to leave to the diocesan bishop the judgment about the existence of a ‘grave necessity’” that would permit Christians of other denominations to receive the Eucharist at a Catholic Mass. Given the pope’s early May encouragement to try to find a unanimous position, Matthias Kopp, spokesman of the bishops’ conference said in a statement, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Germany’s Bishops’ Conference president “is therefore surprised” by the doctrinal congregation’s letter. Cardinal Marx, he said, will need to discuss the letter with the other German bishops and, eventually, he hopes also to discuss it with Vatican officials and Pope Francis himself.— CNS
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A real and a doctored photo show Pope Francis greeting the crowd in St Peter’s Square after his election at the Vatican on March 13, 2013. In the doctored photo on the right, horns have been added to the pope’s shadow to allude to the devil. The images are in the book Fake Pope: The False News about Pope Francis, which compiles and debunks the most popular false news stories about the pope. (Photo: Publisher San Paolo/CNS)
Fake pope stories and pics myth-busted By JuNNO AROCHO eSTeVeS
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ROM the moment of his election, Pope Francis’ down-toearth take on communicating the Gospel has led to countless front-page headlines either praising or criticising him. But his disarming and sometimes even blunt style also has meant he has become a popular target of “fake news”. In fact, there is enough of it out there to fill a book. When the pope speaks unguardedly, “there is a risk that some of his expressions can be manipulated or interpreted incorrectly,” Italian journalist Nello Scavo told Catholic News Service. However, he added, “I absolutely think he should not change his style.” “Every priest on Sunday, when he delivers a homily, takes a risk when speaking,” Mr Scavo said. “And the pope, in this way, acts like a pastor. In this sense, he has become a ‘global pastor’.” An investigative journalist for the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire, Mr Scavo ran across countless stories about and doctored photos of the pope while conducting research for his book, Francis’ Enemies. He compiled the most popular fake news stories—and debunks them -—in his new book, Fake Pope: The False News about Pope Francis. The book includes copies of digitally manipulated photos that have spread online during the five years Pope Francis has been pope. The book includes a photo, which was posted on an Instagram account claiming to be affiliated with the Vatican, that purports to be the first papal selfie. The photo made headlines and was even featured on CNN. But in reality, it was a screenshot from a video chat Pope Francis held with young men and women from around the world during a 2015 event sponsored by Scholas Occur-
rentes. While fake news stories and photos are often laughable, Mr Scavo said, they also reveal “how much violence there is in the media against” the pope. To prove that statement, the Italian journalist included in his book several doctored photographs from the pope’s earlier years in his native Argentina. One claims to show a young Jorge Mario Bergoglio being held by Evita Peron standing alongside her husband, Argentine President Juan Peron. Aside from the difference in colour between the child in the photo and Peron, Mr Scavo noted that the pope was between the ages of 10-19 during Peron’s presidency, much older than the child in the photo. Another photo Mr Scavo mentions in his book is of a priest—erroneously identified as a young Fr Bergoglio—giving Communion to Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla. The picture, which was shared widely on the internet, was considered proof that the new pope supported a right-wing dictatorship responsible for the deaths and disappearance of an estimated 30 000 people. With the gamut of false reports ranging from the ridiculous to distorted half-truths, Mr Scavo said that false news continues to be used as a “weapon of mass distraction”, used by both pranksters and groups with clear agendas not only to discredit Pope Francis but “to turn people’s attentions from the real problems”. “He is a pope that evidently bothers some people, that makes some people uncomfortable,” Mr Scavo said. ”—CNS
Nicaraguan Cardinal dies 92 By CAROl GlATz
O Tickets cost R200 eacch and can be purchased vvia EFT zŽƵ ĐĂŶ ďƵLJ ĂƐ ŵĂŶLJ ƟĐŬĞƚƐ ĂƐ LJŽƵ ǁĂŶƚ͘KŶůLJ ϱϬϬϬ ƟĐŬĞƚƐ ĂƌĞ ĂǀĂŝůĂďůĞ ůů ƟĐŬĞƚ ƐĂůĞƐ ŐŽ ƚŽǁĂƌĚƐ ƐƵƉƉŽƌƟŶŐ ^ƚ >ƵŬĞ͛Ɛ ŽŵďŝŶĞĚ ,ŽƐƉŝĐĞƐ ƉĂƟĞŶƚƐ ĂŶĚ ĨĂŵŝůŝĞƐ͘ dŽ ƉƵƌĐŚĂƐĞ ƟĐŬĞƚƐ ĐŽŶƚĂĐƚ ƵƐ ŽŶ ϬϮϭ ϳϵϳ ϱϯϯϱ or ĞŵĂŝů ƉƌŽũĞĐƚƐΛƐƚůƵŬĞƐ͘ĐŽ͘njĂ ůŽƐŝŶŐ ĚĂƚĞ ĨŽƌ ƟĐŬĞƚ ƐĂůĞƐ ŝƐ ϭϳ ƵŐƵƐƚ ϮϬϭϴ
NCE honoured by his native Nicaragua as a “father of peace and reconciliation”, Cardinal Miguel Obando Bravo, retired archbishop of Managua, died June 3 at the age of 92. Cardinal Obando was known for defending human rights during both the right-wing dictatorship of the Somoza family and the left-wing Sandinista regime, which seized power in 1979. Many international organisations recognised his “ceaseless pastoral and humanitarian work”, according to Vatican News. Born on February 2, 1926, in La Libertad, Nicaragua, the future cardinal earned degrees in Latin, Greek, mathematics, physics and philosophy. After joining the Salesians of St John Bosco, he also studied theology and psychology. He was ordained a Salesian priest in 1958 and taught in high schools and seminaries for many years. In 1968, Bl Pope Paul VI appointed him
Cardinal Miguel Obando Bravo, retired archbishop of Managua, Nicaragua, died June 3 at 92. (Photo: Jeff Mitchell, Reuters/CNS) auxiliary bishop of Matagalpa, where he was particularly dedicated to impoverished peasant farmers. He was named archbishop of Managua in 1970 and served a number of terms as president of the country’s bishops’ conference. St John Paul II made him a cardinal in 1985 and he retired as Managua’s archbishop in 2005 at the age of 79.— CNS
INTERNATIONAL
The Southern Cross, June 13 to June 19, 2018
Pope writes letter to Catholics in Chile By JuNNO AROCHO eSTeVeS
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N a letter to Catholics in Chile, Pope Francis expressed shame for the Church’s failure to listen and defend survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of the clergy. Released by the Chilean bishops' conference, the letter from the pope said that the time of “revision and purification” in the Church was possible through the efforts of abuse survivors “who, against all hope or painted as discredited, did not tire of looking for the truth”. They are “victims whose cries reached to heaven. I would like to once again publicly thank all of them for the courage and perseverance”, the pope wrote. The Vatican announced that Pope Francis will send Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta and Fr Jordi Bertomeu Farnos back to Chile and visit the diocese of Osorno “with the aim of advancing the process of reparation and healing of abuse victims”. In his message, the pope said it has been a “time of listening and discernment” for the Church to get to the root of the sexual abuse crisis in
Chilean priests, abuse victims of Fr Fernando Karadima, after being invited to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican. (Photo: Ivan Alvarado, Reuters/CNS) the Chilean Church and to find concrete solutions and not “mere strategies of containment”. He also acknowledged the Church’s shortcomings in not listening to survivors of abuse. “Here, I believe, lies one our principal faults and omissions: to not know how to listen to victims. Thus, partial conclusions were built that lacked crucial elements for a healthy and clear discernment. I must say
with shame that we did not know how to listen and react in time,” the pope wrote. The Church, he continued, must say “never again” to a culture that not only allowed sexual abuses to occur but also “considered a critical and questioning attitude as betrayal”. “The culture of abuse and cover up is incompatible with the logic of the Gospel given that the salvation offered by Christ is always an offering, a gift that demands and requires freedom,” the pope said. The pope also encouraged Chilean Catholics to continue their devotion to popular piety which is “one of the few areas where the people of God is above the influence of that clericalism that seeks to control and restrain the anointment of God upon the people”. “A Church with wounds doesn’t place itself at the centre, it doesn’t think itself perfect, it doesn’t look to cover up and conceal its evil, but instead places them before the only one who can heal wounds and he has a name: Jesus Christ.—CNS
Vatican names permanent apostolic visitor to Medjugorje By JuNNO AROCHO eSTeVeS
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OPE Francis has named as apostolic visitor to Medjugorje the Polish archbishop he had initially sent to the town as his personal envoy to study the pastoral needs of the townspeople and of the thousands of pilgrims who flock to the site of the alleged Marian apparitions. The pope appointed Archbishop Henryk Hoser, the retired archbishop of Warsaw-Praga, Poland, to be apostolic visitor to Medjugorje, BosniaHerzegovina, for an indefinite period, the Vatican announced. “The mission of the apostolic visitor has the aim of assuring a stable and continuous accompaniment of the parish community of Medjugorje and of the faithful who go there in pilgrimage, whose needs require special attention,” the Vatican announcement said. Greg Burke, director of the Vatican press office, told journalists that Archbishop Hoser “will reside in Medjugorje” and that his mission does not involve investigating the authenticity of the alleged appari-
tions. At a news conference following his first visit, Archbishop Hoser said that although he has no authority or expertise to discuss the authenticity of the alleged apparitions, it was clear that “there is a special spiritual climate” in Medjugorje. “The biggest miracle of Medjugorje are the confessions” of hundreds of people each day, Archbishop Hoser told reporters in April 2017 In 1981, six young people claimed that Mary had appeared to them. Some of the six say Mary still appears to them and gives them messages each day, while others say they see her only once a year now. Diocesan commissions studied the alleged apparitions in 1982-1984 and again in 1984-1986, and the then-Yugoslavian bishops’ conference studied them from 1987 to 1990. All three commissions concluded that they could not affirm that a supernatural event was occurring in the town. Pope Francis acknowledged that pilgrims to the Marian site deserve spiritual care and support, but he
Priest rejects anti-Jewish charges against Polish cardinal By JONATHAN luxMOORe
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CATHOLIC priest involved in the sainthood cause of a Polish cardinal has rejected claims the cardinal fostered anti-Semitism and refused help for endangered Jews. “These charges are manipulative and untrue. There’s no way he can be accused of anti-Semitism,” said Fr Boguslaw Koziol, vice-postulator for the cause of Cardinal August Hlond, who headed the Polish Church from 1926 until his death in 1948. “His letters have been cut and published only in fragmentary form to portray him negatively when speaking about Jews. The latest accusations come from the same sources and are thus based on distortions,” Fr Koziol said. The priest’s comments came after claims by Rabbi David Rosen, international director of interreligious affairs for the New York-based American Jewish Committee, that Cardinal Hlond advocated a boycott of Jewish-owned shops and businesses in a 1936 pastoral letter, and
later declined requests for help from threatened Jewish communities. The cardinal had urged Polish Catholics to shun Jewish shops and publications, Rabbi Rosen said, and to avoid “the harmful moral influence of Jews” and their “anti-Christian culture”. “While realising the Holy See has its own criteria for the cause of canonisation, such a step will be perceived within the Jewish community and beyond as an expression of approval or at least absence of condemnation of his extremely negative approach,” the rabbi said. “While he did temper his remarks with an admission that “not all Jews are this way”, and forbade assaults on Jews or attacks on their property, he nevertheless condemned Judaism and Jewry for rejecting Jesus,” he added. Fr Koziol said that the claims had been disproved by “historically objective and unemotional research”, and said there were “overwhelming arguments” for his beatification.— CNS
also expressed doubts about claims of the continuing apparitions of Mary in Medjugorje. —CNS
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A unidentified bishop plays football with boys during a visit in Gaza City. The bishop was part of a delegation from North America, europe and South Africa. (Photo: Marcin Mazur, CNS)
Sports on Sundays OK, but not to skip Mass By CAROl GlATz
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NEW Vatican document cautions against the dangers of highly competitive children’s sports, political and economic pressures on athletes to win ‘“at all costs” and the unsportsmanlike or violent behaviour of fans. The document on sports also calls on every group or institution sponsoring sports programmes to have expert-guided child protection policies in place and it urged bishops, parishes and lay Catholics to be proactive in helping “humanise” sports. The document, “Giving the Best of Yourself”, also condoned sports on Sundays as a means of bringing families and communities together in joy and celebration, but only as long as such events are not used as an excuse to miss Mass. The document was released by
the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, and is the first Vatican document on sports, said Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the dicastery’s prefect. In a message to the cardinal, Pope Francis applauded the document and said, “Sport is a very rich source of values and virtues that help us to become better people.” “We need to deepen the close connection that exists between sport and life, which can enlighten one another,” said the pope, who often fondly recalls how he and his family cheered on his favourite football team when he was a boy. The 52-page document highlighted the Church’s positive view of the important values inherent to sport and blew the whistle on the growing threats in the sports world, including corruption, over-commercialisation, manipulation and abuse.—CNS
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The Southern Cross, June 13 to June 19, 2018
LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
‘A Christian in order to become one’
Editor: Günther Simmermacher Guest editorial: Michael Shackleton
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Youth and Truth
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ENIOR readers will remember the opening words of the old Latin Mass: “Introibo ad altare Dei, ad Deum qui laetificat iuventutem meam”, meaning “I shall go to the altar of God, to God who gives joy to my youth”. These are taken from Psalm 43 written by the young king David of Judah. David revelled in his youthful vitality. He was not much more than a boy when he toppled the fearsome Philistine giant of a man, Goliath (1 Sam 17). He surprised the conservatives when he performed a solo dance in praise of God in front of the Ark of the Covenant which had been reclaimed from the Philistines (2 Sam 6). True to his reputation as the composer of the inspiring psalms that grace the prayers and liturgies of the Church, he never failed to remember to praise and thank God for his life with all its ups and downs. The sages of history have consistently recognised that the years of human adolescence and early adulthood are characterised by wild enthusiasm for all sorts of causes and idols, as well as rapid political and psychosocial changes in young, immature lives. There are demands that are considered essential for them to grapple with and face if they are to meet the future challenges of adulthood, and establish their identity as persons of worth. Values drummed into them by parents and teachers, even their duties to God and his will, can be questioned and dismissed as more myth than truth. Youth is always vulnerable and in the 21st century it is confronted by a bombardment of excessive information via social media and peer groups. Very aware of the necessity of making use of young people’s talents and abilities, successive popes have encouraged the Church to be actively aware that its God-given mission to humanity depends on the formation of faith-filled young folk. Pope Francis has advised the youth of our times to speak out and tell the Church of their hopes and problems. He has no illusions that their views may not always be what would be regarded as orthodox.
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But his patent confidence in the power of the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17) indicates he has no fears of youthful and truthful opinions. Importantly, a new book entitled God is Young has just been published, written by Italian journalist Thomas Leoncini. It contains interviews with Pope Francis. Its English edition is scheduled to be ready in time for October’s Synod on Youth. In the book Pope Francis sees a young person now as someone in constant movement, so it is useless to think one is on the same wavelength if one is not similarly “mobile”. Young people need slowing down, and older people need accelerating. It appears the pope wants there to be more bridge-building between young and old because right now they are growing apart, which is unhealthy for both. Turning to the Internet, Pope Francis believes the web can leave young people “in the air”, unconscious of the need to dialogue with their seniors. The young and the old, he says, have to talk to each other and have to do it more and more often. Those who are old must take the initiative just as much as those who are young. Pope Francis’ qualifications for commenting on youthful minds and behaviour are solid. As a Jesuit priest he was involved in educating and understanding young people. These reflections, at this time when South Africa celebrates Youth Day on June 16, should nudge our consciences again towards society’s responsibility to its youth. It is instructive to know that our Jesuit Institute and the Catholic Institution of Education will host a seminar on “digital pathfinding” to guide schools and parents to keep up with the pace at which online life is affecting the young. The seminar is scheduled for September 13-14 this year in Randburg, Johannesburg. It will cover current concerns such as screen time, online bullying, and the law. More information is available at www.cie.org.za This initiative and others like it deserve support and encouragement.
ANY years ago I applied for a driver’s licence in Welkom, Free State. The official (there was only one) came out to my car, and told me to drive. We went about 300m down the road, and he told me to make a three-point turn, which I had never heard of before. He directed my actions, and we returned to the office, I with much trepidation. He completed a document and handed it to me with the words, “Here’s your licence, now you can go and learn to drive!” This may sound a bit back-tofront, it may also be an indictment of the times and the place, but it is actually what happens in daily life.
We can only learn things by doing them! Fr Karl Rahner, in a quote I came across recently, said: “A person is a Christian in order to become one.” I realised that the same rule does indeed apply. One has to join the Club before you can learn the game, or even the rules. It is often heard, “I don’t go to church, but I am a Christian.” Really? It seems to me that, although I believe all humans are born with an innate sense of morals, of ethics, we still learn a great deal from those with whom we associate. And again, although formalised communal prayer may have its limitations (we need, surely, to communicate with our God on a more
Ireland capitulates Let Christ’s love be made known in abortion vote
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HE Republic of Ireland recently capitulated to “pro-choice” insistence on abortion on demand (as reported in your June 6 article by an Irish bishop after the abortion referendum). Yet the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster, courageously continues to resist it. With a greeting and a signingoff, I have written the following letter to Mrs Foster. “I am a retired South African Catholic lawyer and an anti-abortion activist. “I am writing to express to you my great admiration and support for yourself and your Democratic Unionist Party colleagues for opposing in your country the satanic demands for legalised abortion, which, by murdering unborn infants, breaches the fifth Commandment: ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ “By doing this, you are preventing your country from joining, inter alia, the world’s largest abortuary, the United Kingdom. “The recent tragic capitulation of Southern Ireland to this evil, and the omission of the Catholic hierarchy and bishops to oppose this, means that your nation is now the only one in the world that unreservedly defends unborn human life. “This is a privilege conferred on you by Almighty God, which will ensure your protection from the disasters afflicting the world if you continue to carry out his wishes. “In conclusion, I offer you and Northern Ireland my prayers that our Creator shall give you the courage to resist the demonic world’s ‘pro-choice’ forces, which are seeking your destruction.” Damian McLeish, Johannesburg
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HE older I get, the more it amazes me just how much love there is about, and considering that it’s Our Lord’s greatest gift to us, I am equally amazed at how little organised religion concentrates on this fact. For example, often if you tell someone you love them, no matter how long you have known them, they will look at you as if they wonder what you are up to, but that is what Our Lord told us to do. I have known people—male and female—who have said they loved me, but who would never go into a church. To my simple way of thinking, that is true Christian love, as Our Lord commanded. So I cannot understand why organised Christianity does not spend far more time on this core aspect. The media have made the word “love” cheap and linked it directly to sex and procreation. I believe our Church should firmly oppose the cheapening of the word “love” and explain that to truly love someone is to practise true Christianity. If there was more true Christian love about, as given to us and commanded by Our Lord, this would be a far better and happier world. Roy Glover, Knysna
No penalties lead to student violence
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HAVE a slightly different view to many others regarding certain behaviours in our society these days. Handling of the youth is one. The youth of today are handled with such “kid gloves” that I am of the opinion that this is a big reason for the criminal activities and poor behaviour that is so frequently displayed. Johannesburg’s Sacred Heart Col-
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personal basis as well), it does serve to bring a community together, to define a gathering of people with a common purpose—that of recognising, acknowledging, and worshipping the God who gave us life. So, is it not important, if not essential, for most people to belong to the Christian community in order that they may receive support, learn practices, contribute to causes, and promote by their very existence and their example the ideals that Jesus Christ left us? Of course, there are those of us who join for other reasons, often of a more social nature, and that’s perhaps a little shallow. We need to keep in mind the real purpose of our Christianity. “A person is a Christian in order to become one!” Tom Drake, Gauteng
lege Primary principal Dr Mark Potterton (May 23) states that corporal punishment “teaches children the values of degradation, force and humiliation”. I grew up, as many of our readers, and community, in an era of allowable corporal punishment. It only added to my better behaviour and the values of respect and obedience. It was an acceptable punishment and we as youth had full realisation thereof. Children should be made to respect laws, and other people as well. Non-achievement, violence that even includes murder, and total disregard in many instances of rules and respectable norms at schools is totally unacceptable. It is my humble opinion that corporal punishment, administered within reason and where it is applicable, is a good tool to teach and guide the youth on the correct behaviours required in life. The current handling of the youth has in many instances shown its failure and I therefore agree with my parents’ philosophy of “Spare the rod and spoil the child”. Looking at our university students’ behaviour and demands, it is clear that they have total disrespect, and unfortunately know that misbehaviour and destructive actions carry no penalty or consequence. It is, in their case, too late. Some people need a little “encouragement” in life. Brian Gouveia, Bloemfontein Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in letters to the editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy. The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate. letters must not be understood to necessarily reflect the teachings, disciplines or policies of the Church accurately. Letters can be sent to PO Box 2372, Cape Town 8000 or editor@scross.co.za or faxed to 021 465-3850
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The Southern Cross, June 13 to June 19, 2018
PERSPECTIVES
Tshiamo Stephen Takongwa
How a true football hero emerged Günther O Simmermacher NE of my proudest childhood moments was when my father, a great football journalist, quizzed me about the 1974 World Cup. I was eight and we were driving with my dad’s mentor, an old newspaper editor whose match reports from the 1920s I once came across in an old book. I was quizzed on results, scorers, stadiums…and I aced all the questions. Then my father proudly pronounced to his friend: “The boy knows more about football than me.” I was not inclined to disagree. This is one of the many World Cup memories I have stored up, sitting in the trophy cabinet of my mind right alongside the many adventures I had with my son during the 2010 event in South Africa. But football, that great childhood love of mine, has changed. Club football has become tedious, with the same group of interchangeable teams winning the same trophies. As a supporter of Manchester United— a club I picked when I was nine because I thought the newly-promoted team were plucky outsiders—I find it difficult to be enthused about the English Premier League or the Champions’ League. And it’s not just because of manager José Mourinho’s anti-football or because another team is doing better. My lack of enthusiasm relates to the meaninglessness of competition in conditions where clubs who have the most money win. This has become especially bad since the competition-distorting advent of financial doping into clubs like Chelsea, Manchester City, Paris St Germain or, down the chain, Wolverhampton Wanderers by assorted oligarchs and sheikhs. In South Africa, having a zillionaire benefactor doesn’t always buy you automatic success, though this season probably isn’t the best time to make that point.
The dominance of money in football is dispiriting. What fun is there in watching a match between a team of 11 superstars and a team whose star player earns in a year what his opponent earns in a week? I’ve had greater fun following the miserable relegation-bound season of my German team, FC Cologne, than I’ve had watching Man Utd. And that’s where the good-news story of the year comes from.
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fter Cologne was relegated, Germany’s regular left-back, Jonas Hector, announced that he’ll remain loyal to the club even in the second division. Talented goalkeeper Timo Horn did likewise. What a counterwitness to the greed and lust for glamour exhibited by many star players today! There were players over the past couple of years who actually went on strike to force a transfer. Let that sink in: men who earn obscene amounts of money went on strike because they didn’t feel like meeting the obligations of the contracts which they had signed to make them very rich in the first place.
German defender Jonas Hector, a true football hero with values.
Let’s plan Madiba 100! A S we mark Fathers’ Day this weekend, we might also reflect on the Father of the Nation, Tata Nelson Mandela. It’s too soon, you might cry. Mandela Day— named by no less than the United Nations —is not until his birthday July 18. So why do we have to start thinking about it now? A focus on Mandela Day—as a way of encouraging people to think about sharing their time, sharing their talents and sharing their goods—is a good start. But it should only be a start. It is great that people are inspired by the great man’s example to ‘do their bit’. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they did so not just one day a year but all through the year? As anyone who runs an NGO around the country will tell you, every day should be Mandela Day! For that reason, we launched the “Mandela 100” initiative, at the Denis Hurley Centre. To mark 100 years since Madiba’sbirth, we are inviting people to help transform inner-city Durban. We are partnering with other NGOs in the CBD to offer 100 ideas of how to help. To spread the goodwill so that it can be more effective, the focus is not just on Mandela Day but on the 50 days before and the 50 days after 18 July. So 100 years, 100 days, 100 ways to help. It is fitting to mark Mandela’s legacy with generous acts of volunteering and donating. They express the values of a man who gave so much throughout his life and continues to inspire people the world over to do the same. He is quoted as saying: “There can be no greater gift than that of giving one’s time and energy to help others without expecting anything in return.” We see such generosity all the time at the DHC—and I know that other NGOs are similarly blessed. People usually explain that they “want to give something back”. They
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Father’s Day comes a month before we celebrate the Father of the Nation’s 100th birthday and its time to plan for it. recognise that they have more than others around them, and that it is only right to share. Christianity expresses this idea in a more theological way. If all that we have is from God, and is a gift from God that we do not necessarily deserve, then we have a religious duty to share with those who have been given less. As St Teresa of Avila put it: “God has no hands but my hands; no eyes but my eyes.” What’s more, we do get something back in return. I experienced that myself when I first did some serious volunteering. I was in my 30s and working intensely for an advertising agency in London. But—as I stepped out of an expensive restaurant and into a black cab—I was reminded that I was sharing the city with people living on the streets who had so little. I started volunteering regularly for a homeless charity, thinking that it was a way of “giving back”. But I had no idea how much I would learn—about other people, about the city, and about myself— by placing myself in such a different situation. I was working for and alongside people whose experience of the city was so differ-
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Point of Marriage
Point of Sport
Cohabitation defies God
And the clubs some of these guys held to ransom were not struggling entities like my relegated FC Cologne. Those were big, successful clubs like Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund. So the decision by Jonas Hector to remain with his relegated team, despite keen interest from clubs like Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Dortmund and Liverpool—any of whom would have paid him much better, guaranteed him the exposure of Champions’ League football and the prestige to land highly annotated endorsement contracts—is heartwarming and inspiring. It speaks of values such as loyalty, humility and groundedness. Here’s a footballer—a first-choice player in the German national team, don’t forget—with whom fans can identify in ways that have become almost anachronistic. Heroism requires courage and at least some sacrifice. By that definition, Jonas Hector is more a football hero than a striker who just puts the ball into the net. Over the next few weeks we will see many shiny megastars taking to the football pitches in Russia. And these stars will be subject to hype and adulation—but I hope that Jonas Hector will shine most brightly, and not only because he wears the colours of my team. Perhaps some proud dad might quiz his young son about the 2018 World Cup, and the answer to his question—preferably, “Who scored the winning goal in the final?”—will be: Jonas Hector.
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ARRIAGE is not a human invention but part of God’s plan for humanity. The first thing to be labelled “not good” by God was not man’s disobedience but man’s aloneness (It is not good for a man to be alone). So God created woman and put the two into an inseparable union: the two shall become one (Gen 2:24). In that way God instituted marriage, as a union of two physical beings (one man, one woman) who are one spiritually. Though marriage is divinely instituted, it is very much a human affair which is not immune to the challenges that characterise the human sphere. When God instituted marriage it was his intention that the two be committed to each other to the extent of each leaving his mother and father and clinging to their partner. This commitment was meant to be permanent and exclusive, in the sense that God created one Eve for Adam as opposed to several Eves. The current human trend leans towards “instantism” and temporality: “I want it, and I want it now. And I can dispose of it whenever I feel like it.” These tendencies have also found their way into the institution of matrimony. This has affected and to a great extent altered God’s original plan. Instantism has led to a failure to delay gratification. Young people enter into a relationship already geared towards sexual intercourse. The injunction to abstain from sex before marriage is seen as archaic and even repulsive to many youths. This leads to many early pregnancies and eventually unplanned marriages. The two hardly know each other, they are hardly committed to each other, yet they are entering into something that is meant to be permanent. Accidental marriages do not tend to last. Temporality makes people keep a thing for only as long as they enjoy it. The moment it calls for endurance, they dispose of it and look for another thing which gives them instant pleasure.
Raymond Perrier
Faith and Society
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his has also crept into the marriage sphere. People are entering into marriage without much preparation for commitment. Marriage has very much become a temporary and disposable arrangement. In that context, marriage in the plan of God suffers. In that plan, marriage is meant to be a sacrament, in the sense of it being a visible sign of an invisible God. Marriage is meant to be a reflection of God. St Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 outlines the characteristics of God: loving, faithful, trustworthy, all-forgiving. God is a permanent reality, and marriage, as a mirror of God, must reflect permanence. But the world today tends towards the temporary. This tension between God’s original plan and the status quo has led to an alternative to marriage: cohabitation, which has become commonplace even among Africans. This is an agreed union where two people stay together for as long as they choose to. There is no permanence and formal commitment. Have people lost the stamina to abide by the demands of marriage? How can we approve of cohabitation while at the same time claiming to be Christians? It is a paradox to go against the original plan and be called Christians. Where is God in our society today? We need to wake our moral conscience and revive our commitment to God. God cannot institute that which he cannot give us power to handle. He is the designer of marriage and he knows how to fix it when it is in trouble. We cannot settle for the easy while at the same time defying the God, on whom we rely for everything. Despite its challenges, we have to realise that marriage is beautiful and contains good things. A relationship that does not mirror God’s original plan cannot to be condoned. Let’s go back to God. Trust God, everything he created, everything he put in place is indeed very good.
ent to mine. Again, to quote Mandela: “The most difficult matter is not so much to change the world as to change yourself.” Volunteering can open us up to become better versions of ourselves. There are other reasons why people volunteer beyond pure philanthropy—and they are valid and good motivations. At the DHC we see young people who want to get out of their protected bubbles and experience the real world; university students who want to bolster their CVs and add new skills; qualified people who are unemployed and who want to keep their skills fresh and stay employable; corporate groups who come for a shared teamwork experience; skilled professionals who don’t want to use their skills just for making money; retired people who want company and purpose; families who want to share an inter-generational experience. The challenge is to match the generosity of the givers with the needs of the community. NGOs must seek to understand what people want to offer, but they also need to be clear about what they need. I recall the law firm who told me very precisely that they had 15 people available on Mandela Day from 10.30-12.15 and could I deliver 50 homeless people for them to help? I explained that it wasn’t like ordering pizza. The same sometimes happens with donations. Another “generous donor” was put out that I would not come and collect her broken TV which she wanted to donate for the homeless! It is good that we want to reuse things that we no longer need. But we Continued on page 11
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The Southern Cross, June 13 to June 19, 2018
COMMUNITY
Holy Rosary High School in edenvale, Johannesburg, held its annual Interhouse One-Act Plays Festival. The winning house, Rosary, performed Citizen’s Arrest, written by Bobby Keniston. Seen is the full cast of the play. Rosary also won best junior actor (Claudia Agostinetto), best senior supporting actor (eliane Buta), best junior supporting actor (Angelina da Silva), best cameo role (Jada Dihahlo), best set and costumes, and best director.
On Divine Mercy Sunday, the parish of St Francis xavier on the Bluff in Durban invited those parishioners married for 50 years or longer to renew their commitment, together with parish priest Fr Michael Foley OMI and, in her absence, Sr Felicity-lilian Isaacs OP, both of whom celebrated 50 years of religious profession this year. The special Mass was followed by tea for the couples and their families. Pictured are the 10 couples with Fr Foley and Deacon Malcolm Wright. Ciara Jackson received her First Holy Communion at Our lady of Montserrat parish in Betty’s Bay, Western Cape, on the feast of Corpus Christi. She is pictured with Fr John Keough, her parents Dominic and Roxy, and brothers Kenji and Kai. Roxy was received into the Catholic Church at the easter Vigil earlier this year. (Submitted by Janet Hyland)
Three students from the Province of Our lady Queen of Peace (OFM) received their bachelor’s degrees in philosophy at St Bonaventure university College in lusaka, zambia.
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Fr Tom Segami OMI, assisted by deacon Thabo Thokoane, baptised 12 infants on Pentecost Sunday at St Peter Claver parish in Pimville, Soweto. (Photo: Sello Mokoko)
PRICE CHECK
High school pupils at Our lady of Fatima Dominican Convent School in Durban North raised R10 000, and donated it to the St Vincent de Paul Society. Seen is SVP representative Alistair Davies receiving the cheque from head of humanities Jordyn Beetge.
Cardinal Wilfred Napier joined Catholic Women’s league members in Durban North at their 64th annual general meeting. (Submitted by Anna Accolla)
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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
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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. For more about Spiritfest see www.grahams towncathedral.org/spiritfest
S outhern 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,
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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. 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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One of the prefects at Marist Brothers linmeyer in Johannesburg, Cassidy Anderson, Grade 12, read on Facebook about a woman who had lost everything when her house burnt down. Cassidy and other prefects collected blankets, food and toiletries to help the woman.
Friar Sekabata Solomon Mphela OFM with the Poor Clares in their monastery in lusaka, zambia. (Submitted by Friar Mphela)
CHURCH
The Southern Cross, June 13 to June 19, 2018
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Our call to welcome the stranger June 20 is World Refugee Day. To mark the occasion, DAluxOlO MOlOANTOA explains how the Catholic Scalabrini centres respond to Christ: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me”(Mt 25:35).
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HE Catholic Scalabrini Centre has taken on the Department of Home Affairs in what is a David and Goliath battle. It began in July 2012 when Home Affairs (DHA) closed its Refugee Reception Office in Cape Town. This action kicked the city’s Scalabrini Centre into action. The courts have ruled in cases brought to them by the Scalabrini Centre that Home Affairs reopen the reception office. But despite two court orders to do so—and knowing the devastating consequences for asylum seekers of not doing so—it has failed to reopen the office. The most recent court order, handed down in September 2017, mandated Home Affairs to reopen the reception office by March 31. Despite being in contempt of court, there is no indication from Home Affairs that they are working urgently to do this. Be that as it may, the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town has gained widespread recognition for taking on the powerful government department. And that has brought to public attention the name of John Baptist Scalabrini and the congregation he founded. Scalabrini was the bishop of Piacenza in Italy who founded the order that bears his name in 1887 to care for the welfare of migrants. Today the Scalabrini Fathers specifically care for migrants, refugees, and seafarers. They interpret migration as a meeting place for peoples of different cultures and nationalities. The congregation and their various lay organisations can be found in 24 nations across Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The Scalabrini motto draws from the Gospel: I was a stranger and you welcomed me (Mt 25:35). The Scalabrini Fathers have been providing welfare services in Cape Town to displaced communities since 1994. Housed in the same Cape Town building as the Scalabrini Centre is the Scalabrini Institute for Human Mobility in Africa, or SIHMA (www. sihma.org.za). The organisation is a research services-orientated entity, and is
Refugees and asylum-seekers receive assistance and advice from the Scalabrini Centre in Cape Town, an initiative of the Scalabrini Fathers. (Photo: Hafeez Floris) part of a worldwide network of research centres known as the Scalabrini Migration Study Centres. SIHMA sees its role as conducting and disseminating research that contributes to the understanding of human mobility and informs policies that ensure the rights and dignity of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Africa.
Skills benefit economy Skilled migrants can contribute to South Africa’s economy. “I think South Africa should adopt a friendly migration policy for skilled migrants; there are still too many barriers which prevent
the recruitment of highly skilled foreigners who are willing to move to South Africa and can be an asset to the country s economy,” said Sergio Carciotto, SIHMA’s associate director. “At the same time, it’s important to develop strategies to deal with low-skilled migrants,” he added. A good example is the special dispensation for Zimbabweans which has regularised nearly 200 000 Zimbabwean nationals since 2010. “Asylum policies should be humane and respect the rights and dignity of refugees,” Mr Carciotto said, adding that asylum-seekers
should be allowed to work, trade and be self-reliant. “Local municipalities can play a greater role in facilitating integration and promoting social cohesion between local and migrant residents and should pursue policies of inclusion and fair participation,” he said. “Limiting the participation of migrants from public consultations, community meetings and participatory planning may lead to their exclusion. “It is recommended to establish, in those areas where the presence of migrants’ tends to be higher, migrants desks to enable all residents, including migrants, to access welfare and other services offered at municipal level.” The South African government is in the process of reviewing its whole migration policy, Mr Carciotto said. “We have been providing inputs and comments on multiple occasions.”
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A volunteer with children at the Bienvenu Shelter run by the Scalabrini Sisters in Johannesburg. (Photo courtesy Bienvenu Shelter)
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In Johannesburg the Scalabrinians are represented by the Scalabrini Sisters. Schooling, legal assistance for documentation, accommodation and emergency support are among the many services provided by the Sisters to help the city’s migrants to build up their lives in a dignified way. The Sisters provide their services mainly through the Department of Pastoral Care for Migrants and Refugees of the archdiocese of Johannesburg. “We are challenged to assist the minor migrant and refugee chil-
dren. We see the need to integrate them in our society; to be positive actors in the process of social inclusion and for better social cohesion,” said Sr Maria de Lourdes MSCS, head of the Department of Pastoral Care and Migrants. One major operation through which the Sisters make their contribution in the city is the Bienvenu Shelter. Situated on the eastern periphery of Johannesburg’s central business district in Bertrams, the shelter was founded in 2001 in response to the lack of services that cater for the basic needs of migrant (refugees or asylum seekers) women and children in Johannesburg. At any one time, the shelter can accommodate 45 women and children. In 2014, it accommodated 151 migrants from 11 different African countries. Over the past three years, the shelter has helped around 1 500 women, both within Bienvenu Shelter and through the centre’s outreach programme. The shelter is currently recognised in Johannesburg and beyond as the sole organisation that specifically provides safe and secure residential care for refugee children and women. The Bienvenu Shelter aims to provide for the needs of migrants by offering them accommodation, guidance and support, food, clothing and assistance in accessing other needs such as basic health care, legal documentation, education and training, through referrals to other organisations. The shelter also provides a creche, a baby room, and nursery and daycare services for children. As a general rule, women and their dependents are allowed to stay for three months. Extensions are considered on an individual needs basis, so that the women can look for gainful employment and rebuild their lives in South Africa. In its quest to be part of the community around it, and to foster relationships between the shelter’s residents and members of the neighbourhood, assistance and support are extended to local residents in the shelter in the form of access to childcare, food parcels and skills such as sewing and computer-literacy training. The Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town will be involved in a number of activities for World Refugee Day on June 20. These include a UNHCR food festival, the Africa Unite Youth Debate as well as a Cape Town Holocaust Centre panel discussion on migration. Visit the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town’s Facebook page for more details. n Daluxolo Moloantoa is the content manager of the Scalabrini Institute for Human Mobility in Africa.
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The Southern Cross, June 13 to June 19, 2018
CHURCH
Why exorcisms now take longer Exorcisms are taking longer now because Church and society have let down their defences against the devil, an exorcist in Italy told elISe HARRIS.
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CCORDING to an exorcist working in Italy, the average time needed for a person to be freed from demonic influence in an exorcism is taking much longer than it did in even the recent past. Whereas before it was common for a person to be liberated in one session, even if the blessing lasted several hours, now on average sessions are growing longer, and multiple meetings are required for a person to be completely freed from the devil’s grasp. Dominican Father Francois Dermine, an exorcist of nearly 25 years, believes the prolongation can be attributed to a few basic elements: the high diffusion of atheistic attitudes in society at large; the reduction of the understanding of faith as merely an intellectual concept; and a growing lack of belief within the Church, even among priests and bishops, in the devil and his actions. Though there are no set rules for how long it should take for someone to be liberated from demonic obsession or possession, Fr Dermine said that “some people can be liberated with very few blessings, though many require months”. Others, if they are serious cases of possession, “can take a year”. However, longer sessions like this did not really happen until after the 1960s, he said. “One blessing was enough—a blessing of one hour, two hours, three hours, six hours—to liberate one person of a possession. But now it’s different. It’s becoming very long,” the priest said. “I think the reason for that is our society is becoming more and more
Fr Francois Dermine OP, an exorcist in Italy, says that many in the Church and society believe the devil doesn’t exist, thereby lowering our defences against evil. But he also warns that priests should not dwell on the devil too much, to avoid superstition. atheistic, people are going away from prayer and the sacraments… so there are fewer defences against the devil.” Another important, but “abnormal” factor, he said, is a lack of faith within the Church itself, because during an exorcism, “the exorcist prays in the name of the Church”. “If, within the Church, you have the clergy and also a certain number of bishops, who do not believe in the devil or his actions, then the exorcist is deprived of the power of the prayer of the Church,” Fr Dermine said. Because of this, “the exorcist is liberating [people] more slowly. Before it was not the case.”
Lack of anti-devil action Fr Dermine was ordained a priest in 1979 and has been an exorcist since 1994, He currently serves as the exorcist for the Italian archdio-
cese of Ancona-Osimo. The Dominican said there is a general lack of formation on exorcism and the actions of the devil in the Church today. This year’s course on exorcism, run in April by the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome, had 295 students—mostly priests studying at pontifical universities—enrol. Fr Dermine said the high number can be attributed at least in part to the fact that courses on exorcism and the devil are not included in theological curricula. “There is a void,” he said, “so they want to learn what is not taught to them but should be taught.” In the past, it was common for a theological curriculum to include courses on angels, demons, and their influence. “It was very important for moral theology and also for the theology of exorcism, but now
it does not exist anymore,” Fr Dermine said. “So it’s a sign that within the Church faith in these things is not as strong as it was before.” However, the exorcist said that while it is crucial that priests be instructed on the topic, it is also important not to dwell on the devil too much, in order to avoid superstition. Fr Dermine also voiced concern that the practice of the faith is becoming more intellectual, but less spiritual, and is therefore at times being reduced to a sort of “moralism” void of actual belief. “Our faith is becoming more and more intellectual. We have to inform the person, we have to instruct the person with catechism, it’s very important,” he said. “I myself am a Dominican, I am a moral theologian, I teach theology, I believe in formation,” he said, while emphasising that “problems cannot be solved only through information”. Faith, he said, is above all “a mystery of salvation; we have to be saved from something, from someone, and this someone is also the devil”. Because of this, simply changing our behaviour is not enough, because “this is a sort of moralism; but our faith is not a moralism”. Moral principles are important, but they are not the full picture, he said, explaining that Christ came to save men from sin and death, and from the actions of the devil. Because of this, it is important to know the devil and how to fight him.
Qualities of an exorcist Speaking of the qualities needed in an exorcist, Fr Dermine said he believes being an exorcist is a “vocation within a vocation”, and as such, is not something priests should strive for, because it is a call from God. Rather, he said exorcists ought to be appointed by their bishop, without trying to pursue the job themselves.
A strong personal prayer life is also something essential for an exorcist, he said, and stressed that someone called to this role is not a “super priest”, but is “a person named by the Church, and that’s all”. Fr Dermine said the majority of exorcisms he performs are not fullon possessions but rather blessings or prayers of liberation for people who have opened the door to the devil through actions such as fortune-telling or the reading of tarot cards, or who have been attacked by the devil or cursed in some way. He pointed to a growing superstitious and “magical” mentality in global society, saying dabbling in spiritualism and occult practices can open the door to demonic activity, and make it easier for the devil to take hold of a person or influence their life. It is important for exorcists to know the difference between someone with a genuine charism who receives spiritual gifts from God, and a medium, who is a person who may have the ability to predict or foretell past or present events but whose abilities do not come from God. In the case of mediums, many “think it’s normal to have these phenomena, but it’s not normal”, he said. “Many times these people have a lot of problems, but they don’t understand why they have these problems,” so they come to an exorcist for help. For those who have opened the door to the devil through occult activities, “we must try to convince these people to renounce these phenomena, which is not always easy because many of these people feel important because they have these paranormal phenomena—but they pay a very heavy price for these faculties”. “They must renounce them because they are not moved by God,” Fr Dermine said, explaining that every true charism that comes from God is meant to produce a spiritual or salvific effect.—CNA
Priest calls for action as reports of demonic activity increase SA’s National Catholic Weekly Newspaper
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N Irish priest and exorcist is asking the country’s bishops for more support after noticing a dramatic increase in claimed demonic activity in the country. Fr Pat Collins said he has been overwhelmed by the number of requests for exorcisms from the faithful in Ireland. He has urged the Irish bishops to train more priests to deal with the demand. “It’s only in recent years that the demand has risen exponentially,” Fr Collins told The Irish Catholic newspaper earlier this year. Fr Collins’ comments reflect those of other exorcists throughout the world, including the International Association of Exorcists (IAE), a group of 400 Catholic leaders and priests, which has reported a dramatic increase in demonic activity in recent years. In 2014, the IAE said the levels of demonic activity throughout the world had reached what they considered a “pastoral emergency”. Fr Collins said that anyone who doesn’t see the need for more exorcists is “out of touch with reality”. “What I’m finding out desperately, is people who in their own minds believe—rightly or wrongly—that they’re afflicted by an evil spirit,” Fr Collins said. “I think in many cases they wrongly think it, but when they turn to the Church, the Church doesn’t know what to do with
them and they refer them on either to a psychologist or to somebody that they’ve heard of who is interested in this form of ministry—and they do fall between the cracks and often are not helped,” he said. “I can’t judge from my own subjective experience because people see on the Internet that I’m supposed to be an exorcist so I get an inordinate number of calls from people, and e-mails, all I can say is I have that reputation, but it’s only in recent years that the demand has risen exponentially,” Fr Collins told the Irish bishops.
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spokesperson for the bishops’ conference noted that each diocese is required to have a trained exorcist, who is able to discern the difference between signs of true demonic possession and signs of mental or psychological illness. “Exorcisms are very rare and this office has not been made aware of any cases of ‘exorcism’ in Ireland in recent years,” the spokesperson said. The Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasises the importance of distinguishing between demonic activity and mental illness. “Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church,” the Catechism says. “Illness, especially psychological illness, is a very different
matter; treating this is the concern of medical science. Therefore, before an exorcism is performed, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the Evil One, and not an illness” (1673). Recently updated rules of the Catholic rite of exorcism state that a person who believes they are possessed must first rule out mental illness before seeking an exorcism. If the rite of exorcism is still needed, they may seek out a priest who has been trained and appointed as exorcist for his diocese by his bishop. Fr Cipriano de Meo, who has been an exorcist since 1952, told Italy’s ACI Stampa agency that typically, a person is not possessed but is struggling with some other illness. The key to telling the difference, he said, is through discernment in prayer on the part of the exorcist and the possessed—and in the potentially possessed person’s reaction to the exorcist himself and the prayers being said. The exorcist will typically say a “prolonged prayer to the point where if the adversary is present, there’s a reaction,” he said. “A possessed person has various general attitudes towards an exorcist, who is seen by the adversary as an enemy ready to fight him.” In such cases, he said, “there’s no lack of frightening facial expressions, threatening words or gestures and other things...but especially blasphemies against God and Our Lady.”—CNA
The Southern Cross, June 13 to June 19, 2018
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Irish president apologises to Magdalene laundries women By MICHAel Kelly
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RESIDENT Michael Higgins of Ireland described the treatment of women and children in state-controlled institutions managed by the Catholic Church as a “deep stain on Ireland’s past”. During an historic ceremony hosted by Mr Higgins and his wife Sabina to honour former residents of Magdalene laundries, the president said that “all of you and all the other women who cannot be with us today were failed by these institutions, the experience of which you share, and the religious orders that ran them”. “You were profoundly failed by the state which, in its relationship to these institutions, should have had your welfare at its core. You were failed by governments that knowingly relied on the existence and practices of these institutions rather than addressing your particular needs in other, more sympathetic, ways,” he said. Mr Higgins apologised to the women, whom he called “survivors of the Magdalene regime”. Magdalene laundries, run by religious sisters, were common in Britain and Ireland in the 20th century. They were so named as a reference to the belief that Mary Magdalene washed Jesus’ feet with her tears. The women sent to work in the laundries, the last of which closed in 1996, and to live in the convents attached to them, were given the work of washing laundry as a penance for sins, real and imagined. Some of the young women were sent by parents or civil authorities for rea-
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HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION
An early 20th century photograph of a Magdalene laundry. An historic ceremony was hosted by Ireland’s President Michael D Higgins to apologise for the state’s failure in collaborating with the Church institutions that ran such laundries for young women. (Photo: Frances Finnegan) sons that included having children out of wedlock, being seen as sexually promiscuous, or being perceived as being in moral danger. Some 230 women attended the event. It marked the first time that they have been honoured by the Irish state and came as the government announced a comprehensive compensation plan. Mr Higgins highlighted that since Irish independence in the 1920s, more than 11 000 women spent time in the laundries, “but their experiences were too often never shared”. “In recent years, the silence has been broken and you all have helped to let the light into some very dark corners of our shared past,” he said.
Let’s get together to plan Madiba 100! From page 7 But we need to spend a few moments thinking about whether they will actually be useful to someone else. An initiative like the Mandela 100 is one way of matching volunteers and donations of items with the organisations that can make good use of them. In Durban, we might be a bit ahead of the curve but it is not too late in other parts of the country for NGOs—or better still, networks of NGOs—to work together to compile a list of their needs and share them with their local communities. That way we will avoid thousands of school children all wanting to make jam sandwiches on July 18! My experience is that South Africa is full of people who want to give their time, their goods and (I hope) their money to help others—they just need a structured way of doing it. As NGOs and faith-based organisations we need to encourage the goodwill and generosity that is already there but also direct it in a way that is genuinely useful. We don’t help anyone by claiming that 67 minutes of token volunteering once a year is enough. But it is a start. To quote Mandela again: “You can start changing our world for the better daily—no matter how small the action.” n The Mandela 100 list is available by e-mailing mandela100@denishurleycentre.org or looking on the websites and Facebook pages of the Denis Hurley Centre.
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“You have presented us with what makes a very harrowing reflection of an Ireland some would prefer not to be able to recognise, but which has to be acknowledged, transacted, and to which a response must be made.” Mr Higgins said: “The treatment of vulnerable citizens in our industrial and reformatory schools, in the Magdalene laundries and in mother and baby homes represents a deep stain on Ireland’s past.” The women—many in their 80s—travelled from the United States, Britain, Australia and throughout Ireland. The ceremony was part of a two-day commemoration and consultation on how the women’s ordeals should be remembered.—CNS
Liturgical Calendar Year B – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday June 17, 11th Sunday of the Year Ezekiel 17:22-24, Psalm 92:2-3, 13-16, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, Mark 4:26-34 Monday June 18 1 Kings 21:1-16, Psalm 5:2-3, 5-7, Matthew 5:38-42 Tuesday June 19, St Romuald 1 Kings 21:17-29, Psalm 51:3-6, 11, 16, Matthew 5:43-48 Wednesday June 20 2 Kings 2:1, 6-14, Psalm 31:20, 21, 24, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 Thursday June 21, St Aloysius Gonzaga Sirach 48:1-14, Psalm 97:1-7, Matthew 6:7-15 Friday June 22, St Paulinus of Nola, Ss John Fisher and Thomas More 2 Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20, Psalm 132:11-14, 17-18, Matthew 6:19-23 Saturday June 23, Saturday Mass of Our Lady 2 Chronicles 24:17-25, Psalm 89:4-5, 29-34, Matthew 6:24-34 and Evening Vigil of the Birth of St John the Baptist Sunday June 24, Birth St Thomas More (By Hans Holbein of St John the Baptist the younger) Isaiah 49:1-6, Psalm 139:1-3, 13-15, Acts 13:22-26, Luke 1:57-66, 80
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PRAYERS
PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT: Holy Spirit, you who make me see everything and show me the way to reach my ideal, you who give me the divine gift to forgive and forget all the wrong that is done to me and you
who are in all instances of my life with me. I, in this short dialogue, want to thank you for everything, and affirm once more that I never want to be separated from you, no matter how great the material desires may be. I want to be with you and my loved ones in your perpetual glory. To that end and submitting to God’s holy will, I ask from you (mention your favour). Amen. This prayer should be said for 3 consecutive days. After the 3rd day, your sincere wish will be granted no matter how difficult it may be. Promise to publish it on granting of your favour. The idea is to spread the wonder of the Holy Spirit. 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.
O VIRGIN Mother, In the depths of your heart you pondered the life of the Son you brought into the world. Give us your vision of Jesus and ask the Father to open our hearts, that we may al-
ways 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 LORD, inspire those men and women who bear the titles “husband” and “wife”. Help them to look to you, to themselves, to one another to rediscover the fullness and mystery they once felt in their union. let them be honest enough to ask: “Where have we been together and where are we going?” let them be brave enough to question: “How have we failed?” let each be foolhardy enough to say: “For me, we come first.” Help them, together, to reexamine their commitment in the light of your love, willingly, openly, compassionately.
THANkS be to thee, my lord Jesus Christ, For all the benefits thou hast won for me, For all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother, May I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, And follow thee more nearly, For ever and ever.
Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 815. ACROSS: 5 Dove 7 Impressive, 8 Oxen, 10 Uplifted, 11 Snuffs, 12 Tartan, 14 Spires, 16 Nuncio, 17 Potiphar, 19 Urns, 21 Cistercian, 22 Bath. DOWN: 1 Milo, 2 Transfer, 3 Issues, 4 Piglet, 5 Deaf, 6 Veneration, 9 Xenophobia, 13 Renounce, 15 Schism, 16 Nerves, 18 Inch, 20 Sons.
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The Birthday of John the Baptist: June 24 Readings: Isaiah 49:1-6, Psalm 139:1-3, 1315, Acts 13:22-26, Luke 1:57-66, 80
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EXT Sunday we celebrate John the Baptist’s birthday. This saint is remarkable in that even his birthday trumps the Sunday, and that he has no less than two feasts, one for his execution, and one for the day when he was born. What is so special about him? In the first reading, his importance is that he listened to the call of the Lord, like the prophet before him in Babylon, and like Jesus after him (for both of these find their meaning in this poem); and their function is to listen to the call “from my mother’s womb”. And then he comes to carry God’s message to Israel (mentioned three times in our passage, and twice more in the verse that follows). Not only that, but he is going to be a “light to the Gentiles”, as well as his “servant”; and, of course, like many of God’s servants, he gets fed up: “I said, ‘I toiled in vain; and for uselessness and a breath I spent my strength.’” All of this could fit John the Baptist very nicely, and even the certainty that “my reward is with the Lord, my recompense with my God”. God is at work in our lives, if only we will listen. The psalm is a lovely meditation on the way in which God calls us: “Lord—you
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‘You knew my inmost self’ probed me and you know me; you know my sitting and my rising…you knitted me in my mother’s womb.” The poet is really talking to God about God; and that kind of intimacy is at the heart of what Jesus is about, and, of course, is true also of John the Baptist: “I praise you, because you made me so wonderfully…you knew my inmost self.” This is a God who lovingly knows everything about us “when I was being fashioned in secret”. We could do worse than to sit with this poem today, and talk about it to God, to see where we are being called. The second reading is from Paul’s first speech in a synagogue after his remarkable conversion, which gives a rapid run through Jewish history, stressing the importance of doing what God asks. Our portion starts with the dismissal of King Saul, and his replacement by David, as someone who in God’s view “will perform all my wishes”. Then the story leaps to David’s descendant, Jesus, who comes “in accordance with God’s promise”. Next John the Baptist (clearly someone
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But, by standing there, the beloved disciple also stands in solidarity with the millions of poor and victimised all over the world who can do nothing against their plight. When one stands in helplessness, when there’s nothing possible to be done, one gives silent voice to human finitude, the deepest prayer possible at that moment. Then, afterwards, the beloved disciple takes the mother of Jesus into his home, an image that doesn’t need much elaboration.
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owever, a second image connected with the beloved disciple leaning on Jesus’ breast does need some elaboration: As the beloved disciple reclines on the breast of Jesus an interesting dialogue takes place: Jesus tells his disciples that one of them will betray him. Peter turns to the beloved disciple and says to him: “Ask him who it is?” This begs the question: Why doesn’t Peter himself ask Jesus who it is who will betray him? Peter would not have been sitting so far away from Jesus as to not be able to ask the question himself. Moreover, Peter’s question takes on its real significance when seen in its historical context. Scholars estimate that the gospel of John was written somewhere between the years 90 and 100 AD. By then Peter had been pope and had been martyred. What the gospel is suggesting here is that intimacy with Jesus trumps everything else, including ecclesial office, including being pope. Everyone’s prayer has to go through the beloved disciple.
Conrad
Sunday Reflections
who performs God’s will) is brought into the story. His task is to proclaim [Jesus’ coming] in advance, and then to divert attention from himself to Jesus: “I am not he; no—look! There is one coming after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not fit to undo.” Then it gets real and contemporary, and a decision is called for: “Descendants of Abraham and the God-fearers among you, it is to us that this word of salvation has been sent.” God is at work, you see, if only we shall listen. The Gospel for the feast tells Luke’s beautiful story of the birth of John (what else could it do?). You might notice the ways in which Luke lets us see that God is at work: “The time was fulfilled…God has magnified his mercy.” Then the opening of Zachariah’s mouth is clearly God’s doing, “and he started to speak, blessing God”, while the neighbours “in the whole hill-country” comment, and note that “the hand of the Lord was with him”. But there is more that enables God’s will to be done. Not least is the fact of the doughty and spirited response of Elisabeth when her male relatives barged in with orders
On being the Beloved Disciple HE gospel of John presents us with a very powerful and rather earthy mystical image: As John describes the Last Supper scene, he tells us that as they were at table the beloved disciple was reclining with his head against Jesus’ breast. The power of that image has, I believe, been better captured by artists than by theologians and biblical scholars. Artists and iconographers generally present the image to us in this way: The beloved disciple has his head leaning on Jesus’ breast in such a way that his ear is directly above Jesus’ heart but his eyes are fixed outward looking at the world. What a powerful image! If you put your ear at just the right place on someone’s chest you can hear that person’s heartbeat. The beloved disciple then is the one who is attuned to the heartbeat of God and is looking out at the world from that vantage point. Further, John gives us a series of other images to flesh out the implications of hearing God’s heartbeat. First, the beloved disciple stands with Jesus’ mother at the foot of the cross as Jesus is dying. What’s encapsulated in this image? In Luke’s gospel, Jesus admits that sometimes darkness seems to overpower grace and God seems powerless: Sometimes darkness just has its hour! His death was one of those hours and the beloved disciple, like Jesus’ mother, could do nothing other than stand in helplessness inside and beneath that darkness and injustice. There was nothing to be done but to stand inside the helplessness.
Nicholas King SJ
that the child was to be named after his (currently speechless) father: “No!” she says, “He is going to be called John”. Sadly they cannot bring themselves to trust a mere woman, and in any case none of the family has ever been called that (but as Elisabeth well knows, God is in charge). So they have to bring the father into it. Pardonably enough, I suppose, they forget that he is currently dumb, not deaf, and “semaphored to him, what he wanted him to be called”. He gets out his I-Pad, and writes “John is his name”; and at that moment, “His mouth was opened and also his tongue, and he started to speak, praising God.” That is what happens when we do what God asks of us, you see, that “fear came upon all those who lived round about…and they put it in their heart, saying, ‘What is this child going to be?’…the child grew and became strong in the Spirit”. This could be our story, if we would listen to what God is saying to us.
Southern Crossword #815
Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI
Final Reflection
The pope cannot pray as pope but only pray as the beloved disciple (which, like any other Christian, he can be). He can offer prayers for the world and for the church as pope, but he can pray personally only as beloved disciple. Finally, the notion in the gospel of John that intimacy with Jesus is more important the ecclesial office is further illustrated on the morning of the Resurrection. Mary Magdala comes running from the tomb and tells the disciples that it is empty. Peter and the beloved disciple set off at once, running towards the tomb. We can easily guess who will arrive there first. The beloved disciple easily outruns Peter, not because he’s perhaps a younger man but because love outruns authority. The pope can also get there first, if he runs as the beloved disciple rather than as a pope. It is commonly assumed that the beloved disciple was the Evangelist himself, John. That may in fact be correct, but that is not what the gospel text wants you to conclude. The historical identity of the beloved disciple is deliberately left an open question because the gospel wants that concept, to be the beloved disciple of Jesus, to be a designation that beckons and fits you—and beckons and fits every Christian in the world, including, hopefully too, the pope himself. Who is the beloved disciple? The beloved disciple is any person, woman, man, or child, who is intimate enough with Jesus so as to be attuned to the heartbeat of God and who then sees the world from that place of intimacy, prays from that place of intimacy, and sets off in love to seek the Risen Lord and grasp the meaning of his empty tomb. Mystical images are best illuminated by other mystical images. With this in mind, I leave you with an image from the 4th-century Desert Father, Evagrius of Pontus: Breast of the Lord Kingdom of God Who rests against it A theologian shall be.
ACROSS
5. The Spirit came down on him like a ... (Jn 1) (4) 7. Viper I mess around is remarkable (10) 8. Cattle (4) 10. Taken above with holy inspiration (8) 11. Puts out the altar candles (6) 12. It may materially show the Scottish bishop’s true colours (6) 14. Church towers (6) 16. The pope’s representative abroad (6) 17. The commander who bought Joseph as a slave (Gn 37) (8) 19. Gets an income, by the sound of it, from big vases (4) 21. A very strict monk (10) 22. Chaucer’s Canterbury tale about the Wife of ... (4)
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1. Famous statue of Venus from here (4) 2. Move priest to another parish (8) 3. Publications with which you may have problems? (6) 4. Little beast that’s not kosher (6) 5. Unable to hear inside African space (4) 6. Your genuflection will show it (10) 9. Irrational fear of the foreigners (10) 13. Abandon the faith (8) 15. Separation in the Church (5) 16. The new preacher may get a fit of them (6) 18. A short distance in chess game (4) 20. How James and John were related to thunder (Mk 3) (4)
Solutions on page 11
CHURCH CHUCKLE
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PRIEST who lived a decent life was shocked to find himself in purgatory, shackled to an ugly old hag. When he spotted his former bishop nearby, chained to a supermodel, he called St Peter to complain. “Hey, why do I get to be shackled to an ugly old hag and the bishop over there gets to be shackled to a supermodel?” “Mind your own business,” St Peter snapped back. “You get on with your penance and let her get on with hers!”
S outher n C ross Pilgrimage HOLY LAND & ROME
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