The
S outher n C ross
August 15 to August 21, 2018
Reg No. 1920/002058/06
New SACBC president: What it means
No 5096
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New focus on Church and media
Page 3
Pages 2&7
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R10 (incl VAT RSA) associates-campaign
How Pope Paul VI’s letter caused a big stir
Page 10
Bishops OK Ngome nun’s saint cause STAFF REPORTER
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HE bishops of Southern Africa have approved the process of the sainthood cause for the Benedictine Sister whose visions of the Virgin Mary in the 1950s and ’70s are the source of devotion at the shrine of Ngome in Eshowe diocese. The cause for Sr Reinolda May, who died in 1981, will join two other current sainthood causes: those of the martyr Bl Benedict Daswa and of Abbot Franz Pfanner, founder of the Congregation of Mariannhill Missionaries and the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood. Bl Daswa was beatified in 2015, the first South African to reach the final stage before canonisation as a saint. For Bl Daswa’s canonisation, one Vaticanapproved miracle is necessary. For Sr Reinolda’s cause, a large amount of documentation and other bureaucratic processes are the first step. The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference at its August meeting in Mariannhill heard a presentation, led by Bishop Xolelo Thaddaeus Kumalo of Eshowe, on the proposed cause for the German-born nun before approving it. “With this approval the diocese of Eshowe will now request Pope Francis and the Vatican to examine the life of Sr Reinolda in the hope of declaring her a saint,” said SACBC spokesman Archbishop William Slattery in a statement. “Sr Reinolda worked for 38 years as a midwife and tutor of generations of nurses. All who knew her spoke of her gentleness and her total dedication to women giving birth,” Archbishop Slattery said. “One of the witnesses who it is hoped will give evidence is [Zulu] King Zwelithini whom Sister assisted into the world at his birth,” he said. The German missionary was a very popular midwife at Benedictine Mission Hospital in Nongoma—many thousands of
Bishops and officials of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference at their August plenary in Mariannhill at which they discussed economic transformation, elected a new leadership, and approved the sainthood cause for Sr Reinolda May of Ngome (more on pages 2 and 3). (Photo: SACBC)
Sr Reinolda May, whose sainthood cause was approved by the bishops of Southern Africa. Now Pope Francis must give the goahead for it to be formally launched. newborns went through her hands, from princes to the poorest. Born as Franziska May on October 21, 1901, in Pfahlheim, near Stuttgart, she was professed as a Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing in 1925 and left for South Africa the same year. She made her final vows in 1928. She worked for ten years in Mbongolwane in KwaZulu-Natal and at Inkamana Abbey, near Vryheid. Having obtained a diploma in midwifery in 1938, she opened the maternity section in the Benedictine Mission Hospital in Nongoma. Nicknamed Mashiyane by the locals on account if her thick eyebrows, Sr Reinolda was fluent in isiZulu.
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ister Reinolda reported ten apparitions of Our Lady between 1955 and 1971. Eight of her apparitions took place in the 1950s; during one of them, Our Lady asked
for a shrine to be built at a place “where seven streams meet”. When Sr Reinolda identified Ngome—which was already sacred to Zulus—as that site, springs were found. A small church was built there in 1966, with the reluctant permission of Bishop Aurelian Bilgeri. First signs of devotion were evident already in 1966, but while the local bishop allowed a small church to be built there, he limited the devotion. Almost 12 years after the last of the eight 1950s apparitions, the Virgin appeared for twice more, as Mary, the Tabernacle of the Most High, in 1970 and 1971. The devotion grew after Sr Reinolda’s death at 79 on April 1, 1981. In 1992, Bishop Mansuet Biyase, who had initially been reluctant, allowed the construction of a new church and encouraged pilgrimages to Ngome. Ngome is becoming an increasingly popular Marian shrine with Catholics from throughout South Africa and neighbouring countries. “Great numbers of people have found Ngome a place of peace, reconciliation with God and recovery of their faith,” Archbishop Slattery said. Sr Reinolda “was renowned for her holiness, prayerfulness and total dedication as a nurse”, he said. Many pilgrims who go to Ngome also include a visit to Sr Reinolda’s grave at Inkamana Abbey.
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HERE are four essential stages by which a cause for sainthood leads to canonisation, all including several smaller stages. Step 1: The local bishop presides over an initial investigation of the candidate’s life to determine whether that person is worthy of further consideration. If the bishop and his conference decide to proceed with the cause, the Vatican is asked to grant a Nihil Obstat (Latin for “nothing hinders”). This is the stage of Sr Reinolda May’s cause. Once a Nihil Obstat is granted, the candidate is called a “Servant of God”. Step 2: A Church official called “postulator” is appointed to coordinate the cause. His or her job is to prove that the candidate lived heroic virtues by compiling documents and testimonies. These are presented to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. Approved candidates are given the title “Venerable”. Step 3: To proceed to beatification, one miracle through the candidate’s intercession must be approved (except for martyrs, such as Bl Benedict Daswa). Step 4: Canonisation requires a second miracle after beatification, though a pope may waive that requirement.
6-16 October 2019
CATHOLIC FRANCE Led by Bishop Joe Sandri
Four steps to sainthood