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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.
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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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