181219 by The Southern Cross

The

S outher n C ross

December 19 to December 25, 2018

www.scross.co.za

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 5114

R20

(incl VAT RSA)

SPECIAL 28-PAGE CHRISTMAS EDITION What do you know? The big Christmas Quiz Page 28

The biography of a Christmas carol Page 5

What bishops do at Christmas

Page 3

ROUND-UP: This was the year 2018 Pages 14-16

How deacons are called to serve

Page 8

Flashback: Christmas in 1958

Page 6

Christmas around the world

Page 26

“The Virgin with Angels” (1900) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

After bullying: ‘How I found my voice’

Page 19

The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

CH RIST MAS

God’s great gift to us In Bethlehem a bit over 2 000 years ago, majesty was born in the midst of the mundane, as FR RALPh de hAhN notes in his Christmas reflection.

HE little town of Bethlehem was no longer little. The streets were alive with unusual noises and bustle; a new excitement filled the air. The innkeepers smiled with delight as the economy was boosted by the decree of Augustus Caesar. Travellers poured into the town from all sections of the country. Everyone seemed so immersed in conversation and gossip. So busy, indeed, that nobody mentioned a pregnant young girl slowly moving into the town with a very tired husband by her side. But there was no room, no bed, no shelter from the night’s chill. It was just fortunate that the innkeeper’s wife noticed the awkward and urgent needs of the young couple, and so offered the pregnant mother a stable bed behind her inn; only a smelly stable with the animals and the pungent stench of dung and urine, and disturbing noises. A more lowly place for a little baby could not exist! Here, the couple rested, and waited, in these miserable surroundings; waited for that one remarkable moment when God would enter our world. No mighty welcome, except the poor shepherds whose watch on the hills was so shockingly interrupted by that explosion of light and the symphony of angels. Then, later, came the stargazers from the east with their prophetic gifts. There in that virgin’s arms was a babe who had no mother in heaven, and no father on earth. The young mother could not take

Bouguereau’s “Madonna of the Lilies” of 1899 has the same face as the Virgin in his Pieta of 1876—and also as that of the Virgin on the cover painting. A Nativity scene imagines the setting of the Saviour’s birth in a humble stable. God’s Word was made flesh and dwelt among us... her eyes off that beautiful babe— her flesh, her blood—and she simply looked down upon heaven resting in her arms. Joseph, now overtired and perplexed, totally obedient, needed to sleep. That tiny group shared those awesome moments with Emmanuel there present, not like a human baby, but as a human baby!

he impossible made possible, as foretold by the Jewish prophets, and only by the power of a Love beyond human understanding. Majesty in the midst of the mundane, so utterly dependent on this young mother, so helpless, so fragile and vulnerable—yet, unbelievably, the Lord of all creation. Eternity measureable in the claws of time. Heaven opened herself and placed the precious One in a human womb. God now had a face in Jesus, and ears, and a tongue, a human heart, and kidneys and blood.

Mary changed his nappy, fed him, talked to him, cared for him in that smelly stable. How uncomfortable, even irreverent, we feel knowing that this is the almighty, eternal God, and this is all his creatures have to offer him. It would sound far easier to keep our sinful humanity out of the Incarnation. But the mystery persists. For the unbeliever there is no explanation, but for us who believe in God’s inexplicable and endless love, no explanation is necessary. God’s Word was made flesh and he dwelt among us. Indeed, a remarkable moment! A truly remarkable gift in a very remarkable package. Christmas begins what Easter will later celebrate. And with the Psalms we join the roaring of the oceans, the deserts flowing with springs of living water, the mountains leaping for joy, the heavens thundering their praise for at that one and only moment the infant God crawled onto the human stage.

Prayerfu ully y wishing all my frriends and supp porters ‐clergy and religious ‐ a glorious and frruitfu ul Christmas deeply y touched by the love and peace of Je esus, the incarnate God

FA AT THER RALPH de HAHN

What the cover painting means T HE cover image of the edition you are reading is titled “The Virgin with Angels” and was painted in 1900 by the French realist painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905). It is currently displayed in the Petit Palais in Paris. Bouguereau’s body of work is diverse and mostly secular, but he produced a number of paintings of the Virgin Mary. His “The Madonna of the Lilies”, painted in 1899, depicts the Virgin with the baby Jesus. Here the Mother of God is a younger version of the Mary in his “Pieta” of 1876. In both artworks the Blessed Mother is holding her Son: she holds him at the beginning of his earthly life, and she holds him again at the end of it. Bouguereau—who once began studies for the priesthood—produced two paintings of the Virgin with angels. In 1881 he produced a life-size painting of angels serenading the sleeping Jesus in the arms of the young Mary. The painting featured on our cover depicts the Virgin Mary holding her baby while seated on the throne as angels admire and praise the newborn Son of God with incense. The focus is on Our Lady—the same face as that in “The Madonna of the Lilies”“—and her infant. But the painter gave each of the angels surrounding them their own character. The angels are wearing white gowns with golden trimmings,

but, the Virgin wears a black gown, foreshadowing the grief that awaits her. The baby is depicted naked to show that the Incarnation was indeed fully human. His hands are raised and spread out to reach all people who are willing to embrace him and his message; the right hand displays a sign of peace. The Virgin sits on a throne, a crown of stars above her. She is the Queen of Heaven. The angels are depicted with wings to symbolise their supernatural powers, but neither the Virgin nor Jesus have wings because they are ordinary human beings. Still, all the angels are either kneeling or standing around her throne and burn incense as a sign of their veneration and submission. Bouguereau’s message was to depict the holiness and purity of the Virgin and her baby, and the recognition they have among angels and other heavenly beings. Hugely popular with the people, Bouguereau’s art was dismissed by the critics of his time, when the Impressionists were coming into fashion, for its supposed sentimentality and “social conservatism”. For many decades it was controversial in art circles to admire Bouguereau, with his rehabilitation starting only in the 1980s. Yet, Impressionist giants Monet and Degas both believed Bouguereau would be considered the greatest 19th-century artist.

SERVANTS OF CHRIST THE PRIEST

Secular Institute of Consecrated and Apostolic Life Founder: the very Rev Father Andre Joseph Blaise OMI (1902-1992)

Our director general the Very Rev Father Cosmos Matoane, all priests and lay brother Servants of Christ the Priest; wish all our friends and benefactors and all those associated with our institutes. Peace and blessings during the holy season of advent; at Christmas and Christmastide; and a peaceful and blessed new year of our Lord 2019 Let us put Christ back into Christmas; as Christ is the focal point of Christmas. And we be his witnesses

CH RIST MAS

The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

What do bishops do for Christmas? What do bishops do at Christmas? ChRISTeN TORReS spoke to five South African prelates to find out.

HRISTMAS is a day of family, celebration and relaxation, but for bishops, as it is for all clergy, it’s also a time of meeting responsibilities and work before they can take off their mitres and join in the Christmas fun and peace. Five bishops shared with The Southern Cross what Christmas Day means to them, and what they do over the festive days.

Christmas Day Many bishops spend their Christmas day celebrating Mass in their cathedral or in parish churches in their dioceses. Bishop Zolile Peter Mpambani of Kokstad will celebrate Mass with the parishioners of Our Lady of Assumption parish at Cedarville in his diocese, followed by Christmas lunch. “I will also visit a community of Sisters to wish them ‘Merry Christmas’, and go back home for a rest—and that is the end of Christmas Day,” Bishop Mpambani said. Bishop Joe Sandri of Witbank has a series of liturgical functions planned. He usually spends the Christmas vigil in one of the parishes of his diocese, joining parishioners in the local celebrations. “This year I will join the cathedral parish for a time of Christmas carol-singing and preside at midnight Mass,” Bishop Sandri told The Southern Cross. “On Christmas Day I preside at Mass at another parish, and then I celebrate with the local people or share a meal with the elderly at one of our homes for the aged,” he said. “On Christmas Day or other days near Christmas I have lunch or supper with friends and exchange simple gifts,” said the bishop, who is scheduled to lead The Southern Cross pilgrimage to

Archbishop Slattery

Bishop Gabuza

France in October 2019. Midnight Mass is not always at midnight, as Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria noted. “We usually have Midnight Mass, and it is always a beautiful occasion. Generally it’s not at midnight, so it has to be around 19:00 or 20:00 for people’s safety.” On Christmas Day, “I go to a rural parish that doesn't usually have a Mass”, he said. After that, he visits an organisation “which is made up of university students who go out and help the poor”, Archbishop Slattery said. “On Christmas Day they put on a great party for children. I go there in a red coat and set out to entertain the kids. They think I’m Santa Claus,” Archbishop Slattery said. “I go to the children and pat them on the head and say nice things. I also go around and bless the children.” Bishop Abel Gabuza of the huge Kimberley diocese will spend a good chunk of his day driving to a rural parish. “I will have to leave Kimberley early in the morning on Christmas Day and drive for two hours in order to be on time for Christmas Mass at 8:00. The Mass is preceded by the singing of Christmas carols in various languages,” he said. “I buy some sweets, fruit and toys for the children,” the bishop said. “These are prepared and packed in small parcels for the boys and girls under 12 years old. The parcels are given to the children at the end of Mass.”

Bishop Sandri

Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha will have Mass on Christmas Day, “and after that I will be in my house”. “I might visit my mother who lives 100km away from Mthatha or accept an invitation for supper from one of the parishes around Mthatha” he added.

Family and friends Spending time with family and friends is an especially important part of Christmas celebrations. That is true also for the clergy. “I remind all communities that Christmas is also an occasion for families to come together,” Bishop Gabuza said. “It is important on this day that all members of different families be together.” For Bishop Sandri, a Comboni missionary, there sometimes is the joy of having family visiting from Italy. “With them I visit the Kruger Park and other tourist places in Mpumalanga,” he said, adding: “At times I spend a few days in a lonely place or in a lodge.” Bishop Sandri tries to stay in contact with friends and family, even those who might be

Kolbe House

Bishop Mpambani

and take some walks. I read and update myself on Church documents, books, magazines and so on. I pray a little more,” he said. Bishop Sipuka noted that “the focus of Christmas is not on Church but family”. “This is the time when family members return home from various parts of the country where they work. It is often at this time that family rituals and other functions are done,” the Mthatha bishop said. “So when December comes, people switch off about the Church. They close at work and they close at Church, and focus on being with family and extended family members, inclusive of those who believe differently in terms of Church denomination or who don’t belong to any Church,” he observed. However, sometimes Christmas Quiet time doesn’t go quite as planned, as Christmas is a time of Archbishop Slattery pointed out. calm and some leisure. “One Christmas I was in an out“The bishops’ of- station when I locked my keys in fices are closed, the the boot of the car and couldn't employees are at get back in. I got home only at home. It is a time 21:00 that night. I could only of quiet”, ex- chew a bone while I was waiting plained Bishop for help,” he recalled. Sandri. “Another Christmas I ate only a “I also slow chicken head that was boiled in down a little. I oil!” he said. have time to The archbishop noted: “I have evaluate the had many different Christmases, past year but they have always been joyous and plan and filled with love.” for the And, of course, for the bishops year to and for us, Christmas is the time come. I when we gaze with joy, wonder v i s i t and gratitude at the Incarnation in f r i e1 n d26/11/18 s the Manger. 15:33

far away. “I write a Christmas greetings circular to send by post and e-mail to my fellow bishops, to priests, religious and faithful of the diocese of Witbank, as well as to family members, friends, benefactors and my Comboni Missionaries confreres”, he said. “A few days before Christmas I spend time phoning my family members and some good friends.” Archbishop Slattery noted how his Christmas in South Africa differs greatly from what he knew in his native Ireland. “It is very much about family there. My mother used to cry for me because I wasn’t in Ireland,” the Franciscan missionary said, adding: “She didn’t know that the last thing I wanted was to be in Ireland in the cold!”

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The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

CH RIST MAS

Hark! Harold and the Carols

Does the Bible say the angels sang at Christ’s birth? hARRY dUdLeY suggests that whether or not they did, we should just enjoy singing for God’s glory.

ID you ever wonder where all this Christmas carolling came from? The first question I think of is one I remember a dear friend shared with me one Christmas. As a child, she would ask: “Who on earth is ‘Harold Angel’? You know, the one we sing about in “Hark, the Harold Angel Sings”? Yet, even knowing as an adult that the word is “herald”, the adult question might be: “Where did we ever get the idea that angels sing?” Biblical scholars like to note that the usual passages quoted about the singing of angels in Scripture are not clear (see Jb 38:7; Rev 5:9). In Job, the Hebrew word translated as “sang” doesn’t always refer to music. It can also be translated as “joyfully shouted”, “resoundingly cried” or “rejoiced”. Even the word “angels” itself, in the New International Translation, means “sons of God”. There are similar concerns in the Book of Revelation. But what about the Christmas story found in Luke 2:13-14? Again, the words of the angels are “said”, not specifically “sung”. Since singing is a type of speaking, the passage does not eliminate the idea that the angels sang—but neither does the passage clearly help us. In short, the Bible alone can’t

help us. Another question can be raised. Why do we sing carols everywhere, at home, in bars, in malls, and so on? Well, we can look to England for a possible answer. Confusion about the biblical language, along with some of the practices connected to singing Christmas carols, led Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan Parliament to stop the singing of carols in church or in public in 1647. Rather than stop carolling, this led the practice to continue in homes right up to Victorian times when collections of carols were gathered and shared to be sung again in later years in public and church festivals. However, can we look further back in history? The word “carol” perhaps comes from the Greek choros. Choros means a dance or a song of praise and joy. In pagan times, carols used to be written and sung during all four seasons, but only the tradition of singing them at Christmas has really survived.

he first known carols were in Latin. However, God’s troubadour, St Francis of Assisi and his band of little brothers, changed that and developed carols in the language of the people for use in celebration of the Nativity. There is a treasure trove of information on the internet about this history and how the custom spread. We may ask, why is singing so important anyway? Well, perhaps we can thank King David and his singing of the psalms for that. It is, however, St Paul who advised the Ephesians (5:18-20) to be “filled with the Spirit, addressing

did the herald angels sing? The Bible doesn’t really tell us, but that does not mean that we can’t sing for joy at the Saviour’s birth. one another [in] psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father”. Apparently, singing is a natural response to God’s presence. Since we celebrate God sending Emmanuel to set his tent among us, we have much to sing about. As the

angels are always in God’s presence too and aware of it, it is no wonder that we believe they sing! After all, singing has a tremendous power to unite us and lift up our hearts, minds and, yes, even our bodies to want to dance in God’s presence. Singing reminds us that we are all connected to God and one another in our common humanity.

God taking on that humanity is what we celebrate as the true “reason for the season”. Perhaps we need to ask fewer questions for a moment and simply enjoy singing more during this glorious season. So, let’s join in with Harold Angel, oops, I mean the “Herald Angels” and sing “Glory to our newborn king”!—CNS

CH RIST MAS

The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

A bio of ‘God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen’ Once a folk carol sneered at by purists, ‘God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen’ has a profound Christian message. GüNTheR SIMMeRMACheR looks at the carol’s history.

HEN the carol-singer came upon Ebernezer Scrooge’s door to croon the cheers of yuletide through the keyhole, he had to flee in terror at the threat of having violence visited upon him. The carol that sent the lead character from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol into a mood of disproportionate fury was “God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen”. Happily, the crooner managed to escape Scrooge’s rage, “leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost”. Dickens’ choice of this carol shows that “God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen” was ubiquitous in 1843, the year his classic book of Christmas and conversion was published. Indeed, it is one of the oldest surviving English Christmas carols. The language of the lyrics suggests that it goes back as far as the 1500s, around the time other carols such as “The First Noel” were popular. But the first known publication of its words dates to around 1760—when it is referred to as “Tidings Of Comfort And Joy”—and of the melody to 1829 (as part of a parody of the carol), although it was used long before that. The melody and text were first published together as a Christmas carol in 1833, in a collection titled Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, compiled by William Sandys, which also included the first publications of old Christmas hymns such as “The First Noel” and “I Saw Three Ships”. The clue that “God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen” predates those various years by a century or two is in the title: the usage of the verb “to rest” in the sense of “causing

Carollers are depicted on a London street outside the office of Scrooge & Marley from Charles dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The sound of the carol “God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen” sent ebenezer Scrooge into a violent fury. one to remain” was common in the 16th and 17th centuries, but obsolete by 1760.

Changed meanings If grammar gives us a clue as to the carol’s age, grammar is also the victim in the incorrect rendering of the title—and our friend Dickens was an early perpetrator of that. The comma comes before the word “merry”. The title does not suggest that the eponymous grandees are of such convivial cheer that they needed God to help them sleep. Rather than suggesting a spirit of joviality, as we understand the word today, the adjective “merry” meant as much as prosperous and agreeable. By the late 17th century, the word “merry” had acquired rather profane connotations; for example in the use of the term “merrybout” for sexual intercourse (but don’t let that put you off from wishing others a “Merry Christmas”). In the mid-18th century, the carol’s usage of both “rest” and “merry” was already archaic. Dick-

May the love of Our Lord embrace you this Christmas and throughout 2019! www.fowlertours.co.za The managers of The

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ens had so little use for it that he paraphrased the title “God bless you, merry gentlemen”, shifting the comma where it doesn’t belong. This might or might not have been Dickens exercising his editorial prerogative. But before lyric sheets standardised folk songs, the words were always subject to change, depending on the singers and where, when and to whom they were singing. So chances are that Dickens’ version of the title was in use, at least in the 1840s in London. Evidently, it didn’t catch on, leaving us with relics of 16th-century English that makes little sense today. Contrary to tropes shared annually on social media, “merry” does not mean “mighty”, and “God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen” is not a call to arms in the face of the supposed “War on Christmas”. Today, the carol’s unknown writers might implore, “May God keep you in contented spirits, folks”—though that sounds neither elegant nor catchy—with the attendant recommendation that we should let nothing dismay us,

since we have the Saviour with us. What Dickens got right, and many others get wrong, is the use of the pronoun “you”. It might sound suitably quaint to use the archaic “ye” instead, but it’s wrong because—and this one is for the grammar enthusiasts among us— ”ye” is a subjective (nominative) pronoun, and is never used as an objective (accusative) pronoun. Dickens’ transposition of the comma is forgivable: the comma has already moved in a landmark 1775 publication of the lyrics; though the 1833 publication has the comma in the correct position.

Rebellion by carols The full lyrics were published in 1775, in The Beauties of the Magazines, and Other Periodical Works, Selected for a Series of Years, reproduced from a song-sheet a contributor identified only as C. (likely the English dramatist George Colman) had bought from a caroller in the street. His purpose was not to propagate the carol, but to condemn it by publishing it as an example of the kind of non-liturgical Christ-

mas songs he despised; “the same carrols [sic] I have heard sung about the streets in this season for above these 30 years”. Liturgical music at the time was quite the flipside to popular street carols; it was dour and slow, not joyful and light. Carolling in jubilation at Christmas was something of a popular rebellion against the sombre music of the liturgy. We can imagine the people singing it and dancing to an upbeat, accompanied by the folk instruments of the times. Colman (if it was he) has no kind words for the woman he had bought the sheet from: “A poor woman with two children bundled at her back and one in her arms, and who, I am persuaded, was very far from knowing what she said.” What is the profound theology of the carol to a man who finds his equals not on the street? He sounds not unlike Dickens’ Scrooge as he grandiosely bemoans “having my ears pestered in every street this last week, by numberless women and children singing what they called Christmas carrols, but what, if I had heard them in an alehouse, or if they had been sung by drunken people in a night-cellar, I should have thought the most bare-faced reflections and the grossest buffoonery upon the most sacred subject that could be devised by the devil himself”. His sentiments evidently, and rightly, were not shared by his contemporaries nor by the successive generations of anglophone Christians that came after, for “God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen” has remained one of the most popular Christmas carols. By the time the Victorians got into the Christmas spirit, the carol even came to be sung in churches, for its message is indeed a profound reflection on the Nativity of Our Lord. After his conversion, Scrooge might have joined in the singing. Colman, on the other hand, would be aghast at that, notwithstanding all invitation to let nothing him dismay. n For more histories of Christmas carols, see www.scross.co.za/category/ features/biography-of-hymns/

The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

CH RIST MAS

A Southern Cross Christmas, 60 years ago The Christmas edition of The Southern Cross in 1958 was a bumper 32page affair. GüNTheR SIMMeRMACheR steps into a time-capsule from 60 years ago.

N the 1950s, the Catholic Church in South Africa, as elsewhere, was confident, which finds expression in the Christmas issue of 1958, dated December 10. Coming in at 32 pages—including a 20-page Christmas supplement and two full-page ads—the cover price was a shilling (pictured above), which would have the purchasing power of around R35 today. There are many more photos than there were in previous decades. One shows the Durban Players Guild’s production of The Mime of Bernadette by Hugh Ross Williamson.

• The executive of the Catholic Men’s Union in Mariannhill describes the efforts made to address the hardships and dangers of the migration labour system. • The recent coronation of new Pope John XXIII, which was attended by Archbishop Owen McCann with his secretary Fr Jerry McMorrow, made history on British TV as the longest transmission of any event, at 4,5 hours. • Sacred Heart church in Kabega, Port Elizabeth, becomes the diocese’s second new parish of 1958.

Features • James Rogan of Durban writes about US peace activist Fr Daniel Berrigan SJ. • Michael de la Bedoyere, editor of The Catholic Herald in Britain, reflects on the centenary of the apparitions at Lourdes.

Columnists The Radio Critic in the “This Week on Air” column notes that he (if, indeed, it was a he) is losing interest in radio. “the sequence of programmes day by day has settled into such drab sameness,” he writes. The only unmissable programme is Dewar Macormack’s “Friday Night at 8:15”. Invariably, lots of English writers filled the pages of The Southern Cross back in ‘58. Douglas Hyde wrote his long anti-communist articles, Sir Leslie Shane recounted his reception into the Church in 1908. This week’s “Catholics Among the Stars” column looked at British actress Noelle Middleton.

The editorial Editor Fr Louis Stubbs writes two editorials: one on Christmas, and the other on how non-Catholics see the Church as an organisation. Rather, he writes, the Catholic Church is an organism which grows from the “living vine”—Jesus Christ.

The leading news The lead story concerns the shortage of Catholic churches and schools in Salisbury, today’s Harare. With so many missionaries arriving, said Archbishop Francis Markall, the faithful must pitch in to build these much-needed structures.

Letters page In one of only two letters, “Shareholder” asks about selling shares in the Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Co, which publishes The Southern Cross. The editor explains how that is done, and points out that for the past three years, dividends have been 7,5%. Happy days!

In other news • Two new priests have been ordained: Fr William Barnes in Port Elizabeth and Fr George Foley in Pretoria. Fr Barnes still lives in Port Elizabeth; Fr Foley moved to Texas and is retired in Fort Worth.

• Mgr Desmond Hatton visits nuns in Gwelo (now Gweru in Zimbabwe) who are running a printing press.

how big do you want your car? Advert in the 1958 Christmas issue.

Christmas supplement Dorothy Sprigg offers an ABC of Christmas. The letter E stands for

We wish all our listeners, donors and supporters a Happy and Holy Christmas. We thank you very much for your support in 2018 and wish you God’s blessings in 2019! Medium Wave 576AM DSTV Audio Bouquet Channel 870 Streaming Live on www.radioveritas.co.za

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The front-page of The Southern Cross of december 10, 1958, and the cover of that edition’s Christmas supplement. “the egg that the hen laid for Our Lady’s breakfast. St Joseph boiled it for her on the first Christmas morning”. Obviously. On a less fanciful level, John Paris, director of the SA National Gallery, writes about the iconography of Christmas, and Fr Thaddeus Kidd OFM surveys Christmas customs. Some big names contribute to the supplement. Noted philosopher Martin van Versveld discusses St Luke’s Nativity account, author Francis Stuart recalls going Christmas shopping as a child in Ireland, Fr Daniel Berrigan SJ reflects on the Christmas liturgy. Bishop Fulton Sheen calls for a Christmas gift to the Christchild: to resolve spending an hour a day in his presence. Aunty Valerie Fisher offers two Christmas articles to the fans of her “Children’s Corner”, and Fr Gerald McVann OP reflects on the Third Joyful Mystery: The birth of Our Lord. Finally, Laurence McCauley takes pity on the poor poultry destined for the Christmas table, but notes: “That Christmas dinner, however

hard it might be on the worried birds who play so central a role in the festivities, is almost as much part of Christmas as the Mass.”

Adverts In 1958, Catholic businesses supported the Catholic press. From Durban there were, among many others, Durity Frocks, Hatcher’s auto salvage experts, Irene Lord’s furriers, North’s lawnmowers, and the Creamery and Browdun’s tearooms. Other small businesses that advertised included Brooking & Shaw Outfitters and the famous Danish Confectionary tearoom in Johannesburg; Inman & Co livestock feed supplies in Pietermaritzburg; Crawford’s carpets and JG Ryan electrical engineers in Cape Town. National advertisers included Regina champagne by Monis, John Orr’s, Ellis Brown, CNA, The French Airline, Markham’s, Royal baking powder, Henwood Stores, and Stork nappies. And then there is an ad placed by all the contractors involved in building St Finbar’s church in Fairview at Walmer, Port Elizabeth— the diocese’s first church in 1958.

The

S outher n C ross

December 19 to December 25, 2018

www.scross.co.za

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 5114

www.scross.co.za/ associates-campaign

The editor and staff of The Southern Cross wish all our readers, advertisers, associates, friends and supporters a blessed and joyful Christmas, and a happy, peaceful and faith-filled 2019.

Bishop: New NPA head must tackle corruption crisis STAFF RePORTeR

T holy Trinity parish in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, offered free hIV-testing to all who attended Mass, to align with the slogan “Know your status”. The testing was done in the parish’s clinic and was organised by holy Trinity’s hIV/Aids ministry outreach. Fr Russell Pollitt SJ, director of the Jesuit Institute who was helping for the weekend, and parish deacon Rev Billy davies were the first to get tested. The testing takes 20 minutes and is done in three stages. A health professional counsels the testee and explains how the test works. The person to be tested also fills in a consent form. Then the test is done with a small blood sample. After this the result is confidentially shown to the testee and the person is counselled again about their status. Testing is a regular annual event at holy Trinity.

Double up efforts for migrants, churches told STAFF RePORTeR

HE Church must double its efforts in supporting migrants in what is a hostile environment for those who leave their homes for a better life. This was one of the conclusions of an international conference on “Rebuilding Lives at the Borders: Challenges in dealing with migrants and refugees”, held in Benoni and organised by the Scalabrini International Conference for Migrants and Refugees. “The Church should strengthen and create new partnerships that mobilise individuals, families and communities for the greater good of migrants and refugees,” according to the conference, which was co-sponsored by the SACBC and Radio Veritas, among others. The conference statement noted that “human migration is as old as human history”, but decried a public discourse on migration that has become politicised. “Institutional frameworks are failing to accommodate the various migration and refugee situations,” the conference statement pointed out. It also decried polemic on the issue.

“Mean-spirited mischaracterisation, spurious comments and wrong assertions about migrants and refugees have recently aroused several reactions and feelings in many countries. “Therefore, we think it is essential to clearly lay out some objective facts about contemporary human migration, correct some misinformation and share a much more considered perspective about people on the move.” Noting that migration processes are varied and complex, the conference found that understanding of these is limited. Continued on page 9

HE bishops’ Justice & Peace Commission has welcomed the appointment of Advocate Shamila Batohi as the new National Director for Public Prosecutions (NDPP), calling on her to tackle corruption. “Over the years, the NDPP has largely been ineffective as a key component in the anti-corruption system,” J&P said in a statement signed by its chairman, Bishop Abel Gabuza of Kimberley. “As a result, corruption and its impunity have now escalated to levels that are not good for the economy and the poor.” The appointment of Adv Batohi, the statement said, “beholds a prospect for a new phase in the fight against corruption”. “We have confidence in the new public prosecutor and her ability to address the problem of executive interference and factional battles” within the National Prosecuting Authority, Bishop Gabuza said. “We expect her to be strong in resisting the efforts of those who seek to capture [the NPA] and use it for the factional battles within the ruling party,” the statement said Adv Batohi’s first order of business should be to act decisively and without fear or favour on state capture and the VBS Bank scandal, it said. “We also expect her to focus on corruption cases in both sectors: the public sector and the private sector,” the statement said, noting that corruption is endemic in both sectors. “As a nation, we have often put less emphasis on private sector corruption and eco-

nomic crimes committed by big companies and rich individuals,” Bishop Gabuza said, adding: “Private sector corruption and economic crimes are equally bad for the economy and the poor.” Adv Batohi will take up her post in February 2019 after serving out her notice as senior legal advisor at the International Criminal Court. She has served in that position since 2009. She is the first woman to be appointed as an NDPP. Three of the five advocates on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s shortlist were women. Adv Batohi was also the first woman to be appointed as a director of public prosecutions when she took up the job in 2009 in KwaZuluNatal. Before that, she was in a high-level team appointed by Nelson Mandela in 1995 to investigate apartheid-era hit-squad activities. As a previous provincial NPA director, Adv Batohi brings with her that institutional experience, but having left in 2009, she is untainted by factional conflict or the sleaze of corruption. The new NDPP made her mission clear at a press conference following her appointment. “We in the NPA have important work to do,” she said, “which includes devoting our efforts to holding accountable those who have corrupted our institutions, who have betrayed the public good and the values of our Constitution for private gain, especially those in the most privileged positions of government and corporate power,” she said.

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The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

REFLECTION

How deacons are called to serve The Church has two types of deacons: permanent and transitory; the latter being future priests. To mark the December 26 feast of St Stephen, ReV RUNAINe RAdINe, who was ordained to the transitory diaconate in September, reflects on the deaconâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s call to serve.

N Heritage Day this year, Bishop Vincent Zungu of Port Elizabeth ordained three transitory deaconsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and I was one of them. The occasion was marked by noble simplicity. My fellow ordinands, Patrick Misomali and Xolile Mafu, and I processed into the packed St Augustineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cathedral, to the singing of that appropriate hymn â&#x20AC;&#x153;Holy God We Praise Thy Nameâ&#x20AC;?. It was a moving experience, especially after each of our unique journeys. In my case, it came after I spent eight long, uninterrupted years in formation, a time not without its fair share of challenges. This moment felt like the fulfilment of an era and the opening of another, more exciting one. It was a celebration of community, with the presence of people from all areas of our lives: beloved family, friends, past educators, parishioners of our home parishes as well the communities in which we now serve. All gathered around the altar with the bishop and clergy of the diocese and beyond. Those Catholics â&#x20AC;&#x153;schooledâ&#x20AC;? prior to the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) often speak about the seven steps to priesthood: the tonsure, the minor orders (offices of porter, lector, exorcist, and acolyte), and the major orders (subdiaconate, diaconate, and the priesthood). Pope Paul VI in his 1972 apostolic letter Ministeria quaedam addressed the first tonsure, minor orders, and subdiaconate, which were closely related to the liturgical celebration and the practice of charity from the Churchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earliest times. He abolished the first tonsure and renamed minor orders as min-

istries. Furthermore, having abolished the subdiaconate too, only the ministries of lector and acolyte are retained in the Latin Church, and these ministries can now be conferred, by institution rather than ordination, on both those men who are candidates for holy orders as well as those who are not. Nonetheless, candidates for ordination as deacons and priests must receive the ministries of lector and acolyte prior to ordination. Since ministries are no longer strictly reserved to the clergy but are open to lay Christians, four categories of ministries have emerged: â&#x20AC;˘ Hierarchic ministry of the ordained: bishop, priest, and deacon (the permanent diaconate was restored by Pope Paul VI in Ad Pascendum of August 15, 1972) â&#x20AC;˘ Instituted (lector and acolyte) â&#x20AC;˘ Deputised (for example, readers and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion) â&#x20AC;˘ Recognised ministries (commentators, altar servers, and so on). The aim of this reflection is to consider in greater depth the order of the diaconate, by which men become members of the clergy. If this is the final step to the priesthood, it is certainly a step down, in the sense that a deacon is a servant (from diakonia in Greek). Indeed, deacons were typically servants; they were the assistants of the bishop and involved in a great range of services.

Rooted in Scripture The Acts of the Apostles (6:1-7) relays a prime example of this ministry which arose out of the needs of the local Church. The duties associated with this new ministry would entail serving at table while the apostles would continue to devote themselves â&#x20AC;&#x153;to prayer and the service of the wordâ&#x20AC;? to the faithful, ever-increasing in number. Vatican IIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dogmatic constitution on the Church, Lumen gentium, explains the meaning of the diaconate as follows: â&#x20AC;&#x153;At a lower level of the hierarchy are deacons, upon whom hands are imposed not unto the priesthood, but â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;unto a ministry of serviceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. For strengthened by sacramental grace, in communion with the bishop and his group of priests, they serve in the diaconate of the liturgy, of the word, and of

Three transitory deacons were ordained at St Augustineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cathedral in Port elizabeth by Bishop Vincent Zungu. (From left) deacon Patrick Misomali, Bishop Zungu, and deacons Runaine Radine and Xolile Mafu. charity to the people of Godâ&#x20AC;? (29). While reaffirming the distinctionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in degree and essenceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;between the common priesthood of all the baptised and the ministerial priesthood of the ordained, Pope Benedict XVI clarified the difference between the three grades of Holy Orders, in his 2009 apostolic letter Omnium in mentem. Here, the pope added a third paragraph to canon 1009, in order to demonstrate that only those in the episcopate and presbyterate act in the person of Christ the Head, whereas deacons are empowered to serve the people of God in the ministries of the liturgy, the word and charity. If anything, this clarification stresses the fact that deacons serve. In his homily during the Mass of ordination, Bishop Zungu explained this key understanding of the diaconate as a ministry of service. Going through the rite of ordination itself will illustrate this aspect: Ordination, which takes place during the Mass, begins after the Gospel, with the calling of the candidates by a deacon. Following this, the candidates are presented to the bishop. This was done by Fr Peter Whitehead, who is responsible in Port Elizabeth diocese for seminarians and their formation. He was thus in a privileged position to respond to the rather direct question of the bishop, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do you judge them to be worthy?â&#x20AC;? His testimony allows the bishop to elect the candidates for the order of deacons, to which the people consent with the response, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thanks be to God.â&#x20AC;? After exhorting the candidates in the homily, the rite of ordination continues with a series of questions, pertaining to the life and ministry of deacons, which expresses the free will with which we approach this order.

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In our cases, since we are transitioning to the priesthood and therefore unmarried, we make a public commitment to celibacy, â&#x20AC;&#x153;as a sign of...interior dedication to Christ...for the sake of the kingdom and in lifelong service to God and mankindâ&#x20AC;?. The response of the bishop to this commitment shows that it cannot be done without the help of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grace: â&#x20AC;&#x153;May the Lord help you to persevere in this commitment.â&#x20AC;? The examination of candidates underscores essential elements of the office of deacons: humility and love; assisting the bishop and the priests; serving the people of Christ; prayer (especially the Liturgy of the Hours)â&#x20AC;&#x201D;all of this in imitation of Christ who came not to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45).

Ordination promises At this point, each individual candidate approaches the bishop to make a promise of obedience, by placing his hands into those of the bishop. It is worth mentioning here that we are members of the secular (or diocesan) clergy who are attached to a diocese under the direct authority of the diocesan bishop, unlike religious clergy (such as, for example, Franciscans or Dominicans) who belong to their religious order. The Litany of the Saints comes at the right timeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;with all these kinds of commitmentsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as we now need the prayers of Our Lady and all the saints! The candidates prostrate themselves during this part, a sign of their resolve. Then comes the essential element of ordination, the laying on of hands and the prayer of ordination, for a candidate is ordained for Church ministry by the laying on of hands and the gift of the Holy Spirit. For diaconate ordination, only the bishop lays hands, in silence. If this ministry is received kneeling, it says something about how it is sustained through dependence on

Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grace, in prayer and the sacraments. The prayer of ordination acknowledges that the Father enriches the Church of Jesus Christ with a variety of ministries through the Holy Spirit. The threefold ministry of bishops, priests and deacons, closely associated with divine worship, has been established for the glory of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name. It traces the origins of the diaconate in the Scriptures, beginning with the selection of Leviâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sons for the ministry of the tabernacle. After recalling the institution of the diaconate in the early Church, for service at table, the Holy Spirit is invoked, so that the ordinand may carry out the ministry faithfully, â&#x20AC;&#x153;excel in every virtue; in love that is sincere, in concern for the sick and the poor, in unassuming authority, in self-discipline, and in holiness of lifeâ&#x20AC;?. This prayer brings together everything expected of deacons. What follows are the explanatory rites, since they show how the minister will carry out the order just received, such as the investiture with stole and dalmatic. I asked Fr Max Salsone, who celebrated the golden jubilee of his own priestly ordination a few years ago, to vest me, since he was the one who baptised me as an infant. Then, for one who â&#x20AC;&#x153;resolved to hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, as the Apostle urges, and to proclaim this faith in word and action as it is taught by the Gospel and the Churchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s traditionâ&#x20AC;?, the presentation of the book of the Gospels is significant, not only because a deacon primarily reads the Gospel during Mass but because he is to believe what he reads, teach what he believes, and practise what he teaches. The duties of deacons include proclaiming the Gospel, preaching the homily, assisting the priest at Mass, administering baptism, and distributing Communion. As a leader of prayer, he may preside over funeral and burial services, act as the official witness at weddings, administer sacramentals, and bless articles of popular devotion. His pastoral ministry may include bringing Communion to the sick and housebound, preparing the faithful for the sacraments, and some administrative duties. Above all, charitable works, especially the works of mercy, must be part of the deaconâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. By the end of this year, 14 young men, from a number of dioceses across Southern Africa, who completed their theological studies at St John Vianney Seminary in May will have been ordained deacons. Since this is the final â&#x20AC;&#x153;stepâ&#x20AC;? to the priesthood, for these recently ordained transitory deacons, please pray that God, who has begun the good work in us, may bring it to fulfilment. Amen.

The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

LOCAL

Kimberley rocks at Catholic choir festival BY ChRISTeN TORReS

IMBERLEY and Pretoria won big at the 2018 Interdiocese Music Festival at the Sydney Choma Banquet Hall in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, this month. The annual choir festival is hosted by the Interdiocese Catholic Church Choirs Music Association (ICCCMA). The festival, which has run for over 40 years, showcased winning choirs which had passed an elimination round in their individual dioceses during September. “The intention is to get young people interested in choirs and to improve the standard of Catholic choral music in parishes,” explained Khanya Litabe of Radio Veritas. Pritchard Boyce, chair of the music subcommittee, said that this year the standard of music had improved across all categories. “This is evidenced in the high mark allocation by the adjudicators,” he said, noting that this year’s festival set a new record for platinum scores (marks above 90%). The finals included a diverse repertoire performed by the various

choirs in categories including hymns, liturgical songs, and excerpts from well-known choral works. These were adjudicated by a festival panel of four judges: Primrose Bandla, Xolani Fraser Gqasana, Peter Qwabe, and George Mohlala. Notable guests included Fr Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, a cofounder of the festival, and Bishop Giuseppe Sandri of Witbank. The bishop celebrated Mass for all participants on the festival’s last day. “After this success, we are looking forward to next year and hoping to welcome back all dioceses which didn’t participate this year. It looks very promising,” said ICCCMA council member Tula Ndlovu. Next year’s festival will be hosted in Polokwane diocese in December. Kimberley diocese came out tops this year, as the overall winner at the festival. The winners in various categories were: • Male category (singing “IsileyiSam” by M Khumalo): Kreste Modisa choir from Mafikeng, Kimberley. • Female category (singing “Plaude all’arrivo” by Verdi): St

St Peter’s Choir from Nelspruit, Witbank diocese, at the 2018 Interdiocese Music Festival. (Photo: Radio Veritas) Peter Claver choir from Mamelodi, Pretoria. • Duet category (singing “Il core vi dono” by Mozart): Moya choir from Tembisa, Pretoria. • Mezzo-soprano category (singing “Ave Maria” by Schubert): St Conrad’s choir from Ramotswa, Gaborone. • Youth category (singing “O

Boitshepo” by B Boatametse): St Bernadette’s choir from Gaborone West, Gaborone. • Youth category (singing “O Signore” by Verdi): Holy Family choir from Mafikeng, Kimberley. • Development section category (singing “Morena Re Gaugele” by S Matlakala): St John the Evangelist choir from Pampierstad, Kimberley.

• Development section category (singing “Panis Angelicus” by Franck): Sts Peter & Paul choir from Seshego, Polokwane. • Development section category (singing “Mvana kaNkulunkulu” by Q Sibisi): Holy Rosary choir from Glen Cowie, Witbank. • Standard category (singing “Konyana Ya Modimo” by M Masenya): Our Lady of Fatima choir from Galeshewe, Kimberley. • Standard category (singing “Ruri” by M Moerane): Our Lady of Fatima choir from Galeshewe, Kimberley. • Standard category (singing “Gloria from Mass in C” by Mozart): Regina Pacis choir from Seshego, Polokwane. • Large category (singing “Ucwebile” by M Masenya): Moya choir from Tembisa, Pretoria. • Large category (singing “Bawo Baxolele” by CT Ngqobe): St Martin de Porres choir from Sunnyside, Pretoria. • Large category (singing “Light as Air at Early Morning” by Gounod): St Martin de Porres choir from Sunnyside, Pretoria.

Call to step up efforts for migrants

St Martin de Porres church in Craighall Park, Johannesburg, hosted the Nativity play and Carols by Twilight of the parish’s St Teresa’s School. Afterwards, pupils, staff and parents picnicked on the school lawns. The Three Wise Men in the Nativity play are (from left) Onthatile Themba, Octavia Symondson and Riley Baker.

Continued from page 7 “Despite this, existing evidence unequivocally points to the intertwined nature of man-made and natural forces behind human migrations,” it said. Migrants or refugees are forced by circumstances to move from their homes to another place. “It is our common view that economic factors are pronounced frequently and there is less focus on cultural, religious, political and natural factors. These factors are intricately connected,” the conference found. “In some instances, state security considerations are overriding humanitarian interventions” without understanding the reasons for human mobility. “Hence, archaic values and expressions are propagated without due regard to their effects and impacts.” The conference acknowledged the resilience, autonomy, diversity and

enduring spirit of migrants and refugees, especially in the face of pervasive and persistent world hostility. It called on civil society to provide “tangible services” to migrants and refugees, and to defend their rights. “We suggest that civil society focus more on understanding human migration within countries, and emphasise movements around border areas as well as non-urban areas,” the conference said, urging that particular attention be paid to youths, children, women, persons with disabilities and LGBTI people. Churches should step up their efforts on behalf of migrants, and “strengthen and create new partnerships that mobilise individuals, families and communities for the greater good of migrants and refugees”, the statement said. The conference called for greater resources to be allocated, especially

to pastoral services at borders. “Religious groups have to facilitate dialogue, create innovative and prophetic interventions and articulate the Church’s position and understanding of human mobility within ever-changing and evolving contexts,” the statement said. It is the responsibility of governments to not use migration issues for political gain, “but rather to promote human dignity”, including applying human rights statutes. “Governments should strengthen programmes combating xenophobia, discrimination and human trafficking,” the conference said. “We encourage governments to evaluate and reformulate current domestic policies on migration, considering the changing global context,” the statement said, emphasising the importance of governments focusing on building bridges and not walls.

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The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

INTERNATIONAL

‘Sand Nativity’ brings unique style to Vatican From a beach town in Florida, Rich Varano never imagined his unique talent of sculpting sand would be displayed in the Vatican writes JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES.

ROM the beach town of New Smyrna, Florida, just a stone’s throw away from Daytona Beach, Rich Varano never imagined his unique talent of sculpting sand would take him to the heart of Christianity. Mr Varano is the artistic director of the “Sand Nativity”, a massive 16m-wide sculpture made of sand from Jesolo, an Italian seaside resort town roughly 64km north of Venice. It is the centrepiece of the Vatican’s annual Nativity scene on display in St Peter’s Square. “What does it mean for me to be here? I think, quite understandably, it’s the greatest honour there is”— and certainly the biggest client he’s ever had, Mr Varano said. The American artist and three other sculptors were charged with creating the intricate sculpture, which, along with a 13m-tall red spruce tree donated by the diocese of Concordia-Pordenone in the northern Italian region of Veneto, was unveiled at the Vatican’s annual tree-lighting ceremony. Bas-relief sand sculptures, like the one featured in St Peter’s Square, are a tradition in Jesolo,

A worker sculpts an angel on a Nativity scene (inset) made entirely of sand in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican. The 16m-wide sculpture is made of sand from Jesolo, an Italian seaside town near Venice. (Photo: Paul haring/CNS) which since 1998 has been the home of an annual sand sculpture festival. Mr Varano is an accomplished sand sculptor with over 40 years’ experience and has organised various international sand-sculpture festivals, including the annual event in Jesolo. Yet, his artistic journey in sand sculpting began many years before his artistry would hit the sands of the Venetian resort town and, subsequently, the cobblestone square in front of St Peter’s basilica. “I’ve been sculpting sand since I was 6 years old,” Mr Varano said. “My father was an amateur and the beach where I grew up had good sand.”

Mr Varano began as an amateur, too, “until I discovered that people would pay for it in my late 20s. And within a year, sand sculpting was the only thing I’ve been doing professionally ever since.” The process of creating the sculptures, however, is more than just moulding and shaping sand. Unlike the sand castles holidaymakers often see disintegrate from a single touch or the occasional passing wave, sand sculptures are made durable enough to even withstand light rain through a process of compression. The sand, which was delivered from Jesolo to St Peter’s Square in massive trucks, is mixed with water and compressed into layers of

blocks stacked on top of one another. Mr Varano said that this process allows for the sculpture to last “indefinitely as long as it wants to be left on display”. The “Sand Nativity” scene and tree will remain in St Peter’s Square until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord on January 13. “It’s like a tiered cake going upward, and when you get to the top, you’re finished,” Mr Varano said. “Then it can be sculpted immediately; it’s suitable to carve right away.” Unlike sculpting harder materials like marble, which artists can work on at any given part, sand sculpting begins from the top. The artists must ensure their artwork is finished before continuing downward. “You don’t carve something below first because if you try to go above, it affects what’s below. So, it’s a process, like a scanning, from the top down to finish.” Another important aspect, he added, is the composition of the sand, which needs to hold enough moisture to allow it to be sculpted and subsequently “stay in its shape and dry like a mud pie in the sun.” “Really, the only difference that separates us as professionals and people who play on the beach doing it is that we understand the basics of why sand sticks or, more importantly, why it doesn’t stick,” Mr Varano explained. Of the 20 artists he worked with creating sand sculptures at the annual Jesolo Sand Festival, Mr Varano selected three of his top sculptors not just for their talent but also “for their ability to work

well together, which is kind of critical”. “This piece weighs over 6 300kg but, with 15 days, it still needs to be done in a way that everyone can work productively and stay out of each other’s way and help each other,” he said. “So, this team was very well versed in that; they’re used to working with each other, not just here in Italy, but around the world. So, it’s a good fit.” Mr Varano and his team have created sand Nativity scenes for the past 17 years in Jesolo, which allowed them to flesh out different more elaborate pieces that told various stories, such as “a day in the life of Bethlehem” and ends with the “crescendo piece” of Christ’s birth. However, the sand art piece in St Peter’s Square features the “basic, iconic and traditional scene” complete with “the angel with Jesus, Joseph and Mary and then the three kings on one side, the shepherd and the sheep on the other side and, of course, the donkey and the ox”. Nevertheless, for Mr Varano, the intricate planning and subsequent labour that goes into creating one of the most unusual art pieces to feature in St Peter’s Square is worth the effort. “A lot of expense goes into it to bring joy to people. To be able to do the kind of work that we do that is joyful for us and brings joy to others, it can’t be beat,” Mr Varano said. “And to do it in a place like this, there really aren’t words to convey how special it is.”—CNS

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The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

Pope's Lamborghini up for raffle BY CAROL GLATZ

A Prince Charles speaks during an ecumenical service at London's Westminster abbey on the courage of (inset) dominican Sister Luma Khudher of Iraq. (Photo: Andrew dunsmore/CNS)

CUSTOM-built Lamborghini Huracan coupe autographed by Pope Francis is back on the blockâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;but this time with an online fundraising platform, not at an elite European auction house. The Italian luxury carmaker donated the white vehicle with gold stripesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to match the white and yellow of the Vatican City flagâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to the pope in November 2017. The pope had put his diminutive signature on the car's hood, then the vehicle was put up for auction to raise money for charity. However, it turns out the final bidder at the Sothebyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s auction in Monaco in May did not finalise the

Pope Francis autographs the Lamborghini huracan coupe at the Vatican in this 2017. (Photo: L'Osser vatore Romano/CNS) transaction and the promised R11,2 million sale fell through. In an effort to still raise funds for a good cause, Lamborghini has de-

cided it will offer people around the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not just the highest bidder â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the chance to win the unique vehicle. The winner gets airfare to Rome, accommodation in a four-star hotel, and a private ceremony of receiving the new car keys â&#x20AC;&#x153;in the presence of Pope Francis and Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicaliâ&#x20AC;? at the Vatican, according to the fundraising page. Proceeds were to go to rebuilding villages â&#x20AC;&#x153;that have been devastated by violence and war, assist victims of human trafficking, provide medical care and education to those living in povertyâ&#x20AC;? by being distributed through Charities Aid Foundation of America.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;CNS

Prince Charles: Iraqi nun Satanic statue erected for Christmas shows â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;power of faithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; BY SIMON CALdWeLL

RINCE Charles spoke of how he was deeply moved by the testimony of an Iraqi Sister who fled ISIS militants but has returned to the Ninevah Plain to help re-establish the Christian presence. The Prince of Wales described the resilience of Sr Luma Khudher, a Dominican Sister of St Catherine of Siena, and other Iraqi refugees as a testament to the â&#x20AC;&#x153;extraordinary power of faithâ&#x20AC;?. Speaking in Westminster abbey at an ecumenical service â&#x20AC;&#x153;to celebrate the contribution of Christians in the Middle Eastâ&#x20AC;?, the prince recalled his â&#x20AC;&#x153;great joyâ&#x20AC;? at meeting Sr Luma in England. He told a congregation of more than 1 000 people how, in 2014, as extremists advanced on the Chris-

tian town of Qaraqosh, Sr Luma â&#x20AC;&#x153;got behind the wheel of a minibus crammed full of her fellow Christians and drove the long and dangerous road to safetyâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Sister told me, movingly, of her return to Ninevah with her fellow Sisters three years later, and of their despair at the utter destruction they found there,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But like so many others, they put their faith in God, and today the tide has turnedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;nearly half of those displaced having gone back to rebuild their homes and their communities.â&#x20AC;? Prince Charles said the return of Christians to Iraq represented â&#x20AC;&#x153;the most wonderful testament to the resilience of humanity, and to the extraordinary power of faith to resist even the most brutal efforts to extinguish itâ&#x20AC;?.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;CNS

ETWEEN a Christmas tree and a menorah display in the state capitol of the US state of Illinois, a statue from the Satanic Temple is standing for the holiday season. The display shows an apple upheld by an arm which has been encircled by a snake. The words â&#x20AC;&#x153;Knowledge is the greatest giftâ&#x20AC;? is written across the front of the black base. The satanic tribute was erected at the statehouse rotunda in Springfield. Near the display is an explanation from the local government. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The State of Illinois is required by the First Amendment of the United States constitution to allow temporary, public displays in the state capitol...because the first floor of the Capitol Rotunda is a public place, state officials cannot

A statue placed by the Satanic Temple stands in the Illinois Capitol Rotunda over Christmas. (Photo: Youtube) legally censor the content of speech or displays.â&#x20AC;? Organisers said the goal of the display is to â&#x20AC;&#x153;no longer allow one religious perspective to dominate the discourse in the Illinois State Capitol Rotunda during the holiday seasonâ&#x20AC;?. The Satanic Temple was founded in 2012 in Salem, Massachusetts. The group describes itself

as non-theistic and does not believe in a literal Satan. On the website, the organisation said the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goal is to â&#x20AC;&#x153;exercise reasonable agnosticism in all thingsâ&#x20AC;?. In 2015, the group proposed a display on the grounds of the Oklahoma state capitol. Shortly afterwards, a court ordered the removal of a Ten Commandments monument on the capitol grounds, and the templeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s request was withdrawn. The Satanic Temple have also filed a lawsuit against the state of Missouri, challenging informational pamphlets that the state requires abortion providers to distribute. The Satanic Temple argued that the requirement violated its membersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; religious freedom, because they believe in the inviolability of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body.â&#x20AC;&#x201D;CNS

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The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

LETTERS The Editor reserves the right to shorten or edit published letters. Letters below 300 words receive preference. Pseudonyms are acceptable only under special circumstances and at the Editor’s discretion. Name and address of the writer must be supplied. No anonymous letter will be considered.

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Guest editorial by Fr Lawrence Mduduzi Ndlovu

The rough beast

HRISTMASTIDE is often characterised by light and great festivity. It is a time of abundance, families and friends feasting, and the exchange of gifts. But this feast now seems further and further away from its humble foundations. Yes, the Saviour of the world and King of Kings was born. Yes, this great incarnation must be celebrated. However, the entry of the Christ into the world was, to use the words of St Thérèse of Lisieux, done through “the little way”. In his poem “Advent Calendar”, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams speaks of the coming of Christ as “like crying in the night, like blood, like breaking, as the earth writhes to toss him free. He will come like child.” This earthy image of the birth of Christ is a stark reminder that his coming was an intended activism of the Godhead. Christ’s coming from below was precisely that those made low be forcefully seen because the Christ is among them. The Nativity story, with Christ born in a stable after Mary and Joseph going from inn to inn, draws us to the absence of safety and of home. Today there are countless families who suffer, from no fault of their own, because they are homeless, due to war and terrorism. These same families live the pain of knocking on various countries’ doors, only to be met with hostility and the threat of borders closing. Perhaps the most disheartening example is the ongoing tension between Israel and the Palestinians. There, where our Lord was born, some struggle to find a home, a place of peace. For us in South Africa, the question of land and landlessness, and a home, is one of great importance. The calls for expropriation of land without compensation are irrational to some and urgent to others. Tied to this issue is access to basic human rights, such as healthcare. The exclusion of the majority from accessing good healthcare and education and a home, is our real problem, more so than racism (though race, of course, usually determines who has access to housing, healthcare, and so on). Christmas focuses us too on the growing sense Christians have of no “home” in Western society. Irish poet William Butler Yeats, in “The Second Coming”, writes: “And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” The beast of our time is the seem-

ingly systematic eradication of the pillars of our world, such as family. The Holy Family, besides having the saving divine plan of God, had the great fortune of each other. Mary could have been a single mother, a shamed young teenager pregnant out of wedlock. Our family life has taken a turn that has become strange yet also ubiquitous. There are child-headed households, single-parent households, and many variations of families. The crisis of absent fathers is becoming a norm in society. Today, that a child can even be born is not guaranteed. Young girls are taught that the best choice is to terminate a pregnancy! The world is moving into a consequenceless reality where conception does not mean birth and where the making of children does not mean parenting them. Yeats’ rough beast slouching towards Bethlehem could also be one that threatens the rocking cradle in Bethlehem. For today, this great season of the birth of Christ, is threatened by a world celebrating a festivity but hostile to Jesus Christ. Granted, those who claim to be of Jesus Christ, the Church, have disappointed and hurt many. That reality should not be downplayed. However, there is great cause for concern about religious rights and freedom in society today. The mention of Jesus in public, the sharing of one’s faith, is seen as improper. Although democracy safeguards religious rights, religion is seen as backward, unwelcoming, and for some, downright toxic. The ease with which religion is publicly and passionately attacked in Western society indicates that religious rights are not universally understood to also be human rights. Somehow there is reason to suspect that since there is no place for Christ in public life, the words of Yeats ring true: Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Saving us is the very reason Christ came, and why he is still most needed.

Cruise ship chapel needs Mass for crew members

EING recently semi-retired, my husband and I are now privileged to be able to travel and see some of our beautiful world. A cruise is a great way to see many places in one trip, and on our most recent adventure we sailed around the western Mediterranean. To our surprise, on this particular Italian ship there was a fully consecrated Catholic chapel—a beautiful little place with only six pews. Unfortunately, upon enquiry, I was told that no services were held there and Mass hadn’t been celebrated in the chapel for over six years. The majority of the workforce on board were from the Philippines

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Youngsters need guidance–as i did!

MESSAGE from the recent Synod on Youth was “listen to young people”, and this is true, but many young people haven’t passed first base yet. Bill Gates gave a fine lecture to high school students on things they would never learn in school. One of them was this: “Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way

and Catholic. The priest who had conducted Masses, I was informed, also served as the staff’s support while being away from home for many months at a time. From our observations, the crew have little spare time to themselves. For example, our waiter serving us in the late evening was there again at 7am, bright and cheerful. Whereas we were free to go ashore on a Sunday to attend Mass, I shouldn’t think many could afford the time to do the same. I am sure they are able to pray in the chapel in between shifts but having a priest come on board to say Mass would be such a blessing

from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the cupboard in your own room.” Youth today want to march to their own drum. They want to make their own Ten Commandments. Look at sports stadium events for the young: the drink flows free, and the drugs are not far behind. Look at teenagers’ clothes: young women try to get into a dress three times too small, and youngsters spend a fortune on jeans with the knees cut out and the behind in threads. That is superbrains! Many young people talk the talk, but haven’t walked the walk. Take the so-called liberated women of today. They want more say in the Church, the workplace, and in sport. Yes, with the right looks and the right body, young women will chair discussions on professional sport, never having played any. If you want to talk about walking the Great Wall of China from start to end, you must be able to say you’ve actually done it. Take women, real women, who have done it: our mothers, and reli-

for the hard-working crew. I see in The Southern Cross there is an advert for the organisation Apostleship of the Sea. Looking on their website, there is no mention of cruise ship services. Maybe communication could be started through this organisation with cruise ships to facilitate a priest to go on board for one Sunday Mass? Cruise ship jobs are not ideal for family breadwinners and probably not what they would choose to do if there were alternatives at home. Let us remember them in our prayers. Sylvia Reed, Centurion 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.

gious nuns, for example. Such women are the mainstay of the Church. They are the cactus that greens somewhere in the desert heat, and when it blooms, spreads its perfume into the night air. After my complaints, let me be totally fair to today’s youth: we adults, now grandparents, did idiotic things too when young. We think that if we could have our lives over again, we would say, and in shame, “I would never do the stupid things I did.” Acknowledging this, our main concern now must be to protect our grandchildren, and put moral content into their lives. My own set of Commandments comes from a poem, with the last two lines being: “The earth is yours and everything that is in it, with which to make you a man, my son.” Peter Hendricks, Cape Town

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PERSPECTIVES

How I found my voice O FTEN the very people who are there to save us, cross their arms and watch us fall. Depression and suicide are both very serious issues, an important subject to speak about. Sadly we are living in a world where social media and technology (if not used for the good) can give power to abusers, cyber bullies and trolls. For many years in my youth I suffered from mild depression because of the bullying experienced at school. I felt myself being very introverted in some aspects of my life because of the hurt inflicted by some of my peers. Often rejection still doesn’t go well with me and even though I moved beyond that state of depression, I still have my “low days”—days when I creep back into my shell and am concerned about what others may think of me. I remember building up walls around myself as a means of keeping people out, and also putting up various facades in an attempt to have people accept me. Back then I would go on stage as a performer and pretend to be someone I wasn’t. I’d be “The Spanish guy” or “The Australian guy”—but never truly myself. Back in 2012, after my 21st birthday and during the Year of Faith, I toured around Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and Pretoria to give motivational talks at schools and youth groups. The talks were good, but I could see that they were not having the impact they were supposed to have on the young people. How could I be standing up on stage telling the youth to believe in themselves, to be themselves, when I was not practising what I was preaching? How hypocritical of me! During the last leg of the tour I decided to sit down and write down all the fears and pains I had experienced in my teenage

years at school. The following day I was invited to give a talk at Christ the King parish in Queenswood, Pretoria. I decided to share fully of myself by speaking in my own voice. It wasn’t easy, but I did it and I have not looked back since. This is my voice, this is me, and I have moved on beyond the pain.

ut what changed? What led to the process of me finding my voice again? The first step was understanding why people hurt people. It’s simply that people who have been hurt, hurt people, and loved people love people. So if you know and were taught only hurt and hurt inflicted on you, you may find it very difficult to love someone else. And if you knew and received only love, you might be unable to hurt someone else. This is what I needed to understand, but more importantly, I needed to begin the process of loving and accepting myself first. I stood in front of a full-length mirror and accepted what I looked like. Accepting the man in the mirror and beginning a process of getting to know myself. I needed to begin “dating” myself.

At school, Keenan Williams suffered bullying and exclusion. here he tells how he recovered from the scars of that.

Come, Lord Jesus, come C AN you remember the excitement of the arrival of a new child to the family? From the moment the expectant parents announce the news, there is a flurry of activity to prepare the room for the new baby: trying out possible names and researching their meaning, going to pre-natal classes, choosing the midwife or medical professional to assist with the birth, baby showers, joy, anxiety, longing… When was the last time we felt that way about Christmas? We are often swept away by the busyness of this time, the year-end functions, the final meetings for the year before everything closes down for the holidays, battling crowds in shopping malls and elbowing other customers to get that perfect gift or the best piece of gammon. What a contrast! I know that I have more often ended up experiencing the latter, while the longing and expectation of welcoming the Christ Child into my heart and sharing him with others is forgotten. Last year, I discovered the “O Antiphons”—the antiphons used during Vespers and daily Mass in the last seven days before Christmas. These are seven names for Christ: O Sapienta (Wisdom), O Adonai (Lord), O Radix Jesse (Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (Key of David), O Oriens (Morning Star), O Rex Gentium (King of the Nations), O Emmanuel (God is with us). Each of these seven names, all from Scripture, give us an idea of who Jesus is and how he is both divine as our Lord and King, but he is also God among us, born into a human family—a family with a his-

“Christmas is a feast of thanksgiving and celebration that God wanted to share our human condition so as to give our existence purpose and meaning. tory, a culture, with its roots in the beauty and frailty of the human condition.

eflecting on these names for God help me to prepare for Christmas and what it is really about. It is a great feast of thanksgiving and celebration that God wanted to come among us; that he wanted to share our human condition so as to give our existence purpose and meaning. God wanted to be in our midst so that he could redeem us and restore us into life and relationship with him. Praying the antiphons in the days before Christmas invites me to slow down and allows me to make my spiritual and physical space ready for Baby Jesus to be

Keenan Williams

The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

Talking Faith

It’s easy to come up with and to talk about the “hurt people and loved people” methodology, but the true healing was seeing the light and love of Christ in his people. While on my trip to various Catholic youth groups in the country I felt truly at home among the youth of the Queenswood parish. It’s not because I found my voice while touring there, but because I also found the true compassion and mercy of Christ in the hearts, smiles and tears of those amazing young people I met there. Christ had always been my friend, my comforter and my guide, especially when I felt lonely because no one wanted to be my friend. In him I could trust. But the true presence of his love I found when the youth, my peers, of that parish embraced me that day. They showed me that there were people who cared, people who had gone through similar circumstances, and together as a church community we healed one another by loving the Christ within each other. As a Catholic family we should stand up against all the wrongs in the world. In personal encounters, we must just remember that our words can make or break somebody. Depression is real; it is a discussion we need to have with our youth, a discussion we need to have with our children (and adults alike), and we need to be empathetic, showing the love and mercy of Christ and also giving a positive word of kindness to one another. As we celebrate the light and love of Christ’s birth this season, let us radiate one another with joy, peace and grace and in turn have that light shine on us too.

Sarah-Leah Pimentel

The Mustard Seeds

born into my heart, just like new parents prepare for the arrival of their child by decorating his or her room and choosing their baby’s name. Parents-to-be revel in the ultrasound scans, watching how their baby is growing inside its mother’s womb, from a hazy collection of cells and a heartbeat to a clearly recognisable baby with hands and feet, head, gender. Similarly, the antiphons offer me the experience of getting to know Jesus a little bit more each day leading up to Christmas. God is Wisdom. There is comfort that in the busy year that has been, with its often incomprehensible events, God’s ways are above our ways and his thoughts above our thoughts. He can see the big picture of our lives and uses human situations to bring about his divine and wise plan. Jesus, in your wisdom, bring order to my chaos and teach me to act with wisdom and prudence. Jesus is Lord. He is in the voice in the wind. He is hidden behind the cloud at Sinai and is the mystery of the burning bush. He is the Child whose coming was foretold by prophets, whose birth moved stars across the skies and brought forth choirs of angels. But the Lord is also a baby, born into human poverty and homelessness in a stable, a human child who feeds at his Continued on page 21

Mgr M Francis Mannion

Point of Reflection

Thank God for Emmanuel

HE story that we narrate and celebrate at Christmas needs no rehearsal. We know it by heart. The story has ancient roots in the world before Christ. He who was born in Bethlehem over 2 000 years ago had long been expected. The prophet Isaiah foretold a child who would break the yoke that bowed the people’s spirit. As at the first Christmas, the Prince of Peace comes now to join us amid the harsh realities of the present: a world torn apart, nations at war, and widespread political turmoil. And there is always the danger of World War III as terrorist nations and groups get hold of the worst and most powerful weapons of destruction ever conceived by human madness. The earth is beset by abortion, hunger, homelessness, human trafficking, terrorism, child abuse, and the suppression of women in the name of religion. In much of the world, poverty and wealth are growing further and further apart. Throughout Advent, we have sung the words, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel”. Now we give thanks that Christ, Emmanuel, has come. To call Christ “Emmanuel”— God with us— means that his love and peace penetrate the world’s darkest realities. From him we learn how to cope in the midst of adversity. He shows us who we are; what is important; and how to live. He opens our barren hearts to new possibilities. Out of the darkness of Christmas comes light: light for peace and growth, courage and strength, hope and confidence.

ut Christmas offers us not only warm consolation: it also offers us a very stern challenge. The challenge is that if God has become one with us, then God’s work is done today through you and me. If God is with us, then he is with us through our vocations in life. This is literally what the incarnation means: God taking on our flesh. Emmanuel, God with us, means giving bread to the poor and welcome to the homeless. Emmanuel, God with us, means the comfort we give to the lonely and the sorrowing. Emmanuel, God with us, means the love a neglected child feels when someone pays attention. Emmanuel, God with us, means the comfort the old feel when they are loved and cared for by their children and grandchildren. Emmanuel, God with us, means the devotion of children for parents, parents for children, and children for each other. Emmanuel, God with us, means rearranging our lives because others depend on us. And, most of all, Emmanuel, God with us, means that the Word of God, the love of God, has taken flesh in you and me. What sense does it make to say that God is with us—that he is Emmanuel—if those we are responsible for don’t feel God’s love through us? God’s light has little power except as it shines through you and me. God’s warmth must be incarnate in our good deeds for those who need that warmth—or it has little presence at all. God’s peace flows out of your heart and mine—it does not drop from the skies. God answers our prayers not by great miracles mostly, but by the love, mercy, and charity we feel and express towards each other. Christmas is about Christ coming to us, and our coming to Christ—and above all about our going out to each other. Most of all, Christmas promises us an imperishable inheritance from Christ who came once in Bethlehem and will come again in glory.

This was 2018

The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

YEAR-END REVIEW

The highlights and lowlights of the year

It was a difficult year for the Catholic Church, with the abuse scandal re-emerging and division within the Church deepening. But there were bright spots, such as the 200th anniversary of the Catholic Church’s establishment in South Africa, the synod on youth, the canonisation of Ss Oscar Romero and Paul VI. In South Africa, it was the year when the era of President Jacob Zuma ended but the disease of corruption remained. GüNTheR SIMMeRMACheR looks back at 2018. DECEMBEr 2017

Catholics from across Southern Africa take part in the second MiniWorld Youth Day, held in Durban. Burglars break into the Schoenstatt shrine in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, steal the tabernacle, with consecrated hosts inside, and break two statues. Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town, president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, points out that though the Catholic Church cannot be “an alternative political party”, the bishops could have done more to be politically engaged in the face of poor state governance. Ignoring international law, US President Donald Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The move is widely condemned by the international community, including the Vatican. The Vatican issues an instruction that only relics certified as authentic can be exposed for veneration. Cardinal Bernard Law, who was at the centre of the scandal of abuse cover-ups in Boston in 2002, dies at 86 in exile in Rome on December 20. Jesuit Father Ted Rogers, who was hugely influential in Zimbabwe, dies at 93 on December 30 in England, just week’s after the publication of his book Missionary Martyrs in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe:1976-88.

JaNUarY 2018

The Vatican reports that 23 Church workers—13 priests, two religious and eight lay persons—were violently killed in 2017; mostly in robberies. Catholic schools again outperformed the national matric pass rate, at 84,1% to 74,6%. Private Catholic schools attained a pass rate of 99%. Inkamana St Benedict’s School, Vryheid, and Springfield Dominican Convent, Cape Town, placed second and third in the rankings of South Africa’s best schools published in The Star. Masses in Zambia are cancelled due to a cholera epidemic. During a Mass in Gaza, Arch-

bishop Brislin tells parishioners not to lose hope. He was taking part in the annual Holy Land Coordination solidarity visit to the Holy Land by bishops from several countries. Fr Lerato Mokoena of Bethlehem, Free State, dies on January 15 after a collision with a bus. He had been a priest for only 15 months. Visiting Chile and Peru, Pope Francis asks for forgiveness from those who were sexually abused by priests. In his annual message for World Communications Day, Pope Francis urges Catholics to ensure that they do not share fake news. The bishops of the Democratic Republic of Congo condemn state violence against protesters in 95 parishes which left six dead and 127 injured. Addressing the bishops’ first plenary session for 2018, Archbishop Brislin apologises for the local Church’s historical failures during colonialism and apartheid, as well as for cases of sexual abuse by Church personnel.

fEBrUarY

The Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office marks and protests the 21st anniversary of abortion becoming legal in South Africa with a Mass in Cape Town’s St Mary’s cathedral. Around 4 000 Catholics participate in a Eucharistic procession through Cape Town as part of the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the Catholic Church’s establishment in South Africa. The SACBC’s Justice & Peace Commission distributes a 10-point plan of anti-racist actions for Lent. Welcoming the resignation of Jacob Zuma as South Africa’s president as “long overdue”, the SACBC expresses its hope that the government will return to the ideals of servant leadership which marked the early days of the country’s democratic dispensation. Tanzania’s bishops protested against the suppression of several constitutional freedoms within the country, saying the government is becoming responsible for threaten-

Tony Wyllie & Co. Catholic Funeral Home & Staff

ing national unity. Witbank parishioners, led by Bishop Giuseppe Sandri, march in protest against human trafficking and to pray for its victims. Bishop Willem Christiaans is appointed the first locally-born head of Keetmanshoop, Namibia. Pope Francis declares February 23 a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Africa. Eight months after ordering priests in a Nigerian diocese to pledge their obedience to the pope and accept the bishop that now-retired Pope Benedict XVI had named for them, Pope Francis accepts the resignation of Bishop Peter Ebere Okpaleke. Sr Hermenegild Makoro CPS, secretary-general of the SACBC, is reappointed by Pope Francis to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. The bishops of Germany resolve to allow Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, under certain circumstances. The decision is not binding on individual dioceses. Leading theologian Brian Gaybba, former advisor to the SACBC, dies after a long illness on February 25 in Grahamstown. Christian leaders in the Holy Land close the church of the Holy Sepulchre for three days in protest against Jerusalem municipality’s plan to tax Church property, such as hotels and convention centres.

MarCH

Pope Francis decrees that Latinrite Catholics mark the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, on the Monday after Pentecost each year. Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of Antioch denounces as biased a statement by the World Council of Churches on the situation in Syria and says most Christians in the Middle East support the Assad government. The head of the Society of St Vincent de Paul worldwide, Br Renato Lima de Oliveira of Brazil, visits South Africa, Botswana and five other African countries. Cardinal Karl Lehmann of

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Clergy and bishops on the altar at the Bellville Velodrome in Cape Town during the concluding Mass in June for the bicentenary of the Catholic Church’s establishment in South Africa. (Photo: Sydney duval) Mainz, long-time president of the German bishops’ conference, dies on March 11 at the age of 81. St David’s College in Johannesburg launches an anti-bullying app. A Vatican tribunal finds Archbishop Anthony Apuron of Agana, Guam, guilty of two of five charges of sexual abuse. Pope Francis visits the shrine of St Pio of Pietrelcina at San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. Fr John Paul Mwaniki is installed as the third—and first African–abbot of Inkamana Benedictine abbey in KwaZulu-Natal. Youths from all over the world meet at the Vatican in preparation for October’s Synod of Bishops on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment. In light of the drought in the Western Cape and other parts of Southern Africa, the SACBC issues a prayer for rain. Disgraced Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien dies on March 19 at the age of 80. Centenarian nun Sr Benedict Wurm, a King Williams Town Dominican, dies on March 26 at 105.

aPriL

Fr David Rowan SJ, the Jesuit regional superior in South Africa, is elected the new president of the Leadership Conference of Consecrated Life in Southern Africa for a two-year term. It is revealed that Pope Francis has asked Cardinal Wilfrid Napier to continue serving indefinitely as archbishop of Durban, two years after the cardinal submitted his canonically required resignation on reaching the age of 75. Pope Francis apologises for underestimating the seriousness of the sexual abuse crisis in Chile following an investigation into allegations of cover-ups by Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, whom the pope had strongly defended. In a meeting with Chilean abuse survivors the pope expresses his contrition for having doubted their allegations. At a celebration in Magaliesburg of the local Church’s bicentenary, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg warns against a revisionism that sees missionaries as having been in cahoots with colonialists, but acknowledges that their “civilising mission” was sometimes “defective”.

MaY

The three South African provinces of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate officially amalgamate, with Fr Neil Frank OMI as the united body’s first provincial. Nigeria’s bishops tell President Muhammadu Buhari to resign if he cannot stop the killing of innocent Nigerians by ethnic Fulani militias in the country’s north-east. After 17 years, Fr Emil Blaser OP hangs up the microphone on his Radio Veritas morning show “Matins”. Some 100 000 members of the Neocatechumenal Way from more than 130 countries, including a group of 180 South African pilgrims, celebrate the 50th anniversary of the movement founding with Pope Francis in Rome. The SACBC Justice & Peace Commission appoints legal counsel to demand compensation for former coalminers who contracted deadly lung diseases in the mines. Little Eden Homes celebrate the

centenary of co-founder Domitilla Rota Hyams’s birth with a Mass at St Therese church in Edenvale, Johannesburg. The electorate of the Republic of Ireland votes to overturn the country’s ban on abortion by 66,4%. The Society of Missionaries of Africa—popularly called the White Fathers due to the colour of their cloaks—marks the 150th anniversary of its foundation by Cardinal Charles Levigerie. Long-time SACBC administration employee Clifford Kgatle dies on May 6 at the age of 58. Condemning an attack on a mosque in Verulam, KwaZuluNatal, in which a man was killed and another two injured, the Catholic bishops of Southern Africa say that those who sow religious conflict must not succeed. The SACBC also condemns a mosque attack in Malmesbury, Western Cape, in June. The Vatican releases an instruction, “Cor Orans”, with new norms for contemplative orders of nuns, encouraging cooperation among their monasteries and outlining procedures for communities left with only a few members. After a meeting with Pope Francis, all 34 active bishops of Chile offer their resignation over the abuse scandal. Eventually, Pope Francis accepts seven of these resignations. Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide, Australia, is convicted of failing to inform police about child sexual abuse allegations. He later resigns. His conviction is overturned on appeal in December. Wim Wenders’ critically acclaimed documentary Pope Francis: A Man of His Word premieres at the Cannes Film Festival. Distributors don’t release the film in South Africa. Colombian Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, a longtime Vatican official, dies on May 18 in Rome at the age of 88. The Catholic Business Forum, a lay initiative to support members in their professions and foster ethics and social responsibility, is founded. Veteran Southern Cross columnist Mphuthumi Ntabeni publishes his debut novel, The Broken River Tent. Pope Francis names Polish Archbishop Henryk Hoser as apostolic visitor to Medjugorje. Cardinal Reinhard Marx, chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, visits South Africa as part of “Courageous Conversations”, convened by Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town.

JUNE

Masses are held throughout the country to celebrate the bicentenary of the Church in South Africa, with the archdiocese of Cape Town concluding the jubilee year with a closing Mass at the Bellville Velodrome on June 24. Fr Ron Rolheiser, whose weekly column appears in The Southern Cross, visits South Africa briefly to deliver a public lecture at the annual meeting of the international Association of Oblate Institutes of Higher Learning, held this year at St Joseph’s Theological Institute in Cedara, KwaZulu-Natal. Nicaraguan Cardinal Miguel Obando Bravo, retired archbishop of Managua and once hailed as his nation’s “father of peace and reconciliation”, dies on June 3 at 92.

YEAR-END REVIEW It is announced that next year’s international Taizé Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth for young adults will be held in Cape Town from September 25-29. Catholic runner Bongmusa Mthembu, clutching his rosary, wins the Comrades Marathon for a third time, after 2014 and 2017. A new law will require Catholic priests in Canberra, Australia, to break the seal of confession to report child abusers. Fr Colin Bowes, vicar-general of De Aar and its diocesan exorcist, reportedly presides over the healing of a disabled woman during a Catholic Charismatic Renewal conference in Portugal. Pope Francis creates 14 new cardinals. Bishops criticise the anti-Catholic Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte after he called God “stupid”. Pope Francis makes a one-day ecumenical pilgrimage to Geneva to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the World Council of Churches. US priest Fr Brian Massingale delivers the Winter Theology 2018 lecture series on “Racial Justice and the Demands of Discipleship”.

JULY

Bishop Frank De Gouveia of Oudtshoorn resigns for health reasons. Vicar-general Fr John Atkinson is appointed interim administrator of the diocese. The Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission publishes its first document in 13 years on how both institutions can learn from each other in the exercise of ecclesial authority. French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, former head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, dies on July 5 at 75. The Association of Catholic Tertiary Students (ACTS) celebrates the 25th anniversary of its founding with a Mass at St John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria during its annual conference. Pope Francis hosts an ecumenical prayer meeting which also includes Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, in Bari, Italy, to affirm the Church’s solidarity with persecuted Christians in the Middle East. The Society of St Pius X, a canonically irregular priestly society, elects Fr Davide Pagliarani, 47, as its superior-general to succeed Bishop Bernard Fellay. The first congress in South Africa of the Pan-African Secular Franciscan Order and Franciscan Youth is held at Padre Pio Spirituality Centre in Pretoria. The bishops of Southern Africa condemn a spate of taxi industryrelated killings, calling on the government to act. The Latin Catholic patriarchate of Jerusalem strongly criticises Israel’s new law that defines the country as the nation-state of the Jewish people for failing to provide constitutional guarantees for the rights of indigenous people and other minorities in the country.

aUGUST

Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha is elected new president of the SACBC, to succeed Archbishop Brislin in early 2019. Bishops Dabula Mpako of Queenstown and Graham Rose of Dundee will serve as first and second vice-presidents. SACBC president Archbishop Brislin calls for the development of a media strategy for the local Church, with the help of professional journalists. The bishops of Southern Africa approve the process of the sainthood cause for Benedictine Sister Reinolda May whose visions of the Virgin Mary are the source of devotion at the shrine of Ngome in Eshowe diocese. Pope Francis accepts the resignation from the College of Cardinals of disgraced US Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, 88. Pope Francis revises the Catechism of the Catholic Church to assert that capital punishment is morally never admissible. The HIV/Aids pandemic is far from over, and churches must con-

The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

Left: The banners of new saints Oscar Romero and Paul VI hang from the facade of St Peter’s basilica as Pope Francis celebrates the canonisation Mass for seven new saints on October 14. Centre: Capetonians queue to collect water from a spring in late January as severe water restrictions hit the city. Right: Newspapers in Johannesburg report on Jacob Zuma’s February 14 resignation as president after nine years in office. (Photos: Paul haring/CNS; Mike hutchings, Reuters/CNS; Marius Bosch, Reuters/CNS) tinue to play a critical role in combating the disease, the International HIV/Aids Conference in Amsterdam hears. Psychotherapist and former US priest Richard Sipe, whose research exposed the extent of clerical sex abuse and its cover-up in the US Catholic Church, dies on August 8 at the age of 85. Canadian Father James Mallon visits South Africa to present “Divine Renovation” conferences in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. The Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra performs in Soweto’s Regina Mundi church to mark the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth. Fr Thwalikhaya Innocent Mandondo of Mthatha dies in a car crash when his car overturns. He was 31. Responding to the devastating Pennsylvania grand jury report, Pope Francis issues a letter acknowledging “with shame and repentance” the Catholic Church’s failure to act on sexual abuse by clerics. An SACBC pastoral statement on the land issue says there is “no such thing as the absolute ownership of land” and in land distribution, “priority has to be given to the poor and the landless”. Thousands of people from all over the world take part in the World Meeting of Families in Dublin, Ireland. The Southern Cross hosts a pilgrimage to Ireland, led by Bishop Victor Phalana of Klerksdorp. Celebrating Mass in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, Pope Francis solemnly asks forgiveness for the thousands of cases of sexual and physical abuse perpetrated by Catholics in Ireland. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former nuncio to the US, issues a statement in which he claims that Pope Francis overturned sanctions imposed by Pope Benedict XVI on Archbishop McCarrick, and calls on the pope to resign. Archbishop Viganò later withdraws the call for a papal resignation after his claim is proven to be untrue.

SEPTEMBEr

The Union of Catholic African Press holds its conference in Cape Town. Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg condemns recent attacks on foreign nationals by “well-dressed looters”. 16-year-old peasant girl Anna Kolaserova is beatified as a martyr in Slovakia, seven decades after she was shot in front of her family for resisting rape by a Soviet soldier. The archdiocese of Johannesburg has laid the foundations for the sainthood cause of Domitilla and Daniel Hyams, founders of Little Eden. A report commissioned by the Church in Germany documents nearly 3 700 cases of alleged sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests, deacons and clergy over a 68-year period. St Joseph’s Theological Institute in Cedara celebrates the 75th anniversary of its foundation and appoints Fr Father Ewen Swartz OMI as its new president. The Catholic Bible Foundation of South Africa marks its 25th anniversary. China and the Vatican reach a provisional agreement over the appointment of bishops. Edna Molewa, minister of environmental affairs and a Catholic, dies on September 22. Her state funeral is held in Pretoria’s Sacred

Heart cathedral on October 6. Police charge Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar, India, with the rape of a nun. Pope Francis travels to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to visit important Marian shrines and places commemorating the nations’ fight for freedom, and a monument to Jewish victims of the Nazis in Vilnius. Seven robbers besiege the Stigmatine House in Pretoria, shooting Fr Sylvester Motlhokoa CSS in the thigh and through the foot, and attacking seminarian Nduduzo Jali with stones.

OCTOBEr

The Synod of Bishops on Youth takes place over three weeks in the Vatican. Representing the SACBC are Cardinal Wilfrid Napier and Bishops Stanislaw Dziuba and Siegfried Jwara. The October edition of Women Church World, published in conjunction with the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, calls on Catholic women to make their voices heard in confronting the crisis of the Church. Dr Nontando Hadebe, who lectures in theology at St Augustine College in Johannesburg, and Radio Veritas presenter Sheila Pires take prominent roles in the Catholic Women Speak symposium in Rome. A delegation of Justice & Peace activists, led by Bishop Phalana of Klerksdorp, presents its “Tavern Project” in North West province to the United Nations in New York. Pope Francis defrocks Fernando Karadima, the influential Chilean priest who gained notoriety for sexually abusing young men in his parish. Shortly after, he laicises two retired Chilean bishops over abuses. Allegations by William Segodisho of Johannesburg that as a teenager he was abused by English Jesuit Father Bill MacCurtain in the late 1980s are acknowledged to be factual. North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un asks South Korean President Moon Jae-in to pass on an invitation for a visit to Pope Francis. Pope Francis canonises Archbishop Oscar Romero and Pope Paul VI, as well as Bls Francesco Spinelli, Maria Katharina Kasper and Nazaria Ignacia. Cameroon’s bishops complain of irregularities during elections in the country’s conflict-torn Englishspeaking areas after a seminarian is killed by government troops outside a church. The Russian Orthodox Church severs ties with the Ecumenical

Patriarchate of Constantinople. The National Church Leaders’ Consultation, of which the Catholic Church is a member, condemns corruption and calls for events that will “soak the [2019] electoral season in prayer”. A judge in El Salvador orders the arrest of Alvaro Rafael Saravia, the assassin of St Oscar Romero. Pakistan’s supreme court sets aside the death sentence of Asia Bibi, a Catholic convicted of “blasphemy”, and orders her release from prison. Archbishop Tlhagale calls for the excommunication of abuser priests, saying the halo of the priesthood is broken. Fr Sylvester David OMI of Durban is appointed president of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas, to take office in 2019. Trappist Father Thomas Keating, a pioneer in Centering Prayer, dies in the US on October 25 at 95. Fr Mzingaye Moyo of KeimoesUpington dies at 42 on October 29, days after crashing into an unmarked stationary truck.

NOVEMBEr

A book of selected correspondence of Archbishop Denis Hurley titled A Life In Letters is launched. A civil court in Milan orders Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò to return 1,8 million euros plus interest and legal fees to his brother, Fr Lorenzo Viganò. It is announced that Catholic Welfare & Development, the charitable arm of the archdiocese of Cape Town, is closing down in early 2019. Fr Vitus Mjengu of Mariannhill dies at 58 in a car crash on November 6. He is the fourth priest this year to die in a car accident. The bishops of the Democratic Republic of Congo warns of a humanitarian crisis as Angola expels 500 000 Congolese in a crackdown on informal diamond mining. The world’s oldest nun, Polish Dominican Sister Cecylia Maria Roszak, dies at the age of 110 on November 16. A French court gives retired Bishop André Fort of Orléans a suspended sentence for failing to report an allegation of abuse by a priest to the police in 2010. Durban Catholic activist Paddy Kearney, biographer of Archbishop Denis Hurley, dies suddenly at 76 on November 23. At the second annual National Day of Prayer in Soccer City, Johannesburg, Archbishop Tlhagale prays for “clean...God-fearing leaders”.

in Memoriam

fr Giancarlo Mittempergher CSS, of Pretoria and Botswana, on December 11, 2017 Sr Mary aquinas O’Sullivan HC, 97, of Pretoria, on December 25 Sr Kefilwe Sejeso SC, 40, of Gaborone, on December 27 Sr flora McGlynn OP, 82, of Benoni, Newcastle & Boksburg, on January 9 fr Johannes rankel SaC, 87, of Oudtshoorn, on January 12 fr Lerato aaron Mokoena, of Bethlehem, on January 15 Sr Stephen Schneider OP, 90, of East London, Welkom, Springs & Johannesburg, on January 20 Br Val Haran CfC, 85, of Boksburg, on February 2 Br Christopher Kiernan OfM, 80, of Dundee & Pretoria, on March 13 Sr Winifred Kingstone CSN, 97, of Cape Town, on March 13 Sr Benedict Wurm OP, 105, of East London, on March 26 Deacon Johannes Tefo Phate, of Welkom, on April 6 fr Vincent Mepa, of Kroonstad, on May 13 Sr Carmen Brokamp OP, 83, of Pietermaritzburg, on May 23 Sr aelred O’Donovan OP, 80, of Johannesburg & Boksburg, on June 5 fr Dominic Hession OfM, 79, of Pretoria, on June 7 fr Shaun Carls SJ, 54, of Johannesburg, on June 11 Deacon Vic Pereira, 83, of Nelspruit, on June 10 Sr fidelis Dymound MSa, 91, of Port Alfred, on July 3 fr Phumlani Charles Ndlovu OMi, 35, of Keimoes-Upington, on July 12 fr Didacus McGrath OfM Cap, 89, of Cape Town, on July 18 fr Bill Buckley, formerly of Port Elizabeth, on July 19 fr Thwalikhaya innocent Mandondo, 31, of Mthatha, in car crash on July 20 Sr Terry Motadinyana OP, 87, of Johannesburg, on July 20 fr frans Samyn OMi, 88, of Klerksdorp, on July 21 fr Manny de Passos, of Durban, on July 28 Deacon Peter Venter, 79, of Durban North, on July 29 Sr Bernadette Dorfs OP, 79, of Durban, on August 4 fr Mafanisa Mthembu OSM, of Ingwavuma, in August fr ignatius Ou CM, 95, of Port Elizabeth, on August 27 Sr agathana Trinkl fNS, 86, of Nkandla/KZN, on September 27 fr Dick Broderick MSC, 83, of Pretorias, on October 7 fr alastair Shaw CSsr, 66, of Cape Town, on October 10 fr Gregory Brooke OP, 84, of Springs, on October 12 Sr Dietmund Walter OP, 93, of Witbank, on October 13 fr Michael Chebli, 95, former Maronite chaplain, on October 27 Br rudibert Wieser CMM, 77, of Mariannhill, on October 28 fr Mzingaye Moyo, 42, of KeimoesUpington, in car crash on October 29 fr Vitus Mjengu, 58, of Mariannhill, following car accident, on November 6 Sr Julia Kroth OP, 91, of Pretoria, on November 11 This list is not exhaustive but includes those whose deaths The Southern Cross was made aware of, or which we learnt of through other sources.

The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

YEAR-END REVIEW

MAY: A large group of South African pilgrims at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Neocatechumenal Way in front of Constantine’s Arch and the Colosseum in Rome.

JANUARY: Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town delivers the homily during Mass at holy Family parish in the Gaza Strip during a solidarity visit to the holy Land by bishops from several countries. (Photo: Marcin Mazur)

JULY: A Croatian football fan with a rosary prays inside Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium before his team lost the World Cup final by 4-2 against France. (Photo: Kai Pfaffenbach, Reuters/CNS)

MAY: Thousands gather in dublin to protest against the legalisation of abortion on demand in the May 25 referendum. The Irish electorate voted for legal abortion. (Photo: John Mcelroy/CNS)

JANUARY: A balloon bearing the German word for “coal” is seen in protest against the demolition of the St Lambert church in Immerath, central Germany. The 19th-century Catholic church, a heritage monument, was demolished alongside the whole village so that the energy company RWe can expand a brown coal mine. (Photo: Wolfgang Rattay, Reuters/CNS)

2018 in pics

OCTOBER: Prelates at the opening of the Synod of Bishops on the Youth in St Peter’s Square in a photo taken from a privileged position by Bishop Stanislaw dziuba of Umzimkulu, KwaZulu-Natal.

AUGUST: Wind blows Pope Francis’ mantle as he speaks at the Knock Shrine in Ireland. (Photo: Paul haring/CNS)

JULY: Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha, eastern Cape, preaches at a Mass in Kampala, Uganda, to launch the jubilee year of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Symposium of episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar. (Photo: Jacinta Odongo)

FEBRUARY: Mandy Collins and Pieter Lorimer from Cape Town enjoy a rare Roman snowfall in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican on February 26 while out for a morning run. (Photo: Paul haring/CNS)

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The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

COMMUNITY PICS The Most holy Redeemer church in Rustenburg, North West, celebrated the First Confessions of children in the parish. With the group, holding their certificates, are parish priest Fr Wandile dingiswayo CSsR and catechist elizabeth Jardim. (Submitted by heleen Watson)

St Francis Xavier parish in Martindale, Johannesburg, held its annual seniors’ lunch at the church premises. (Submitted by Moira McKessar)

Catholic Women’s League members celebrated the 25th jubilees of women in the CWL’s Soweto region at St Peter Claver parish in Pimville, Soweto. Among the jubilarians was Fikile Mokoena (left). The others were Barbara Modisakeng, Lulama Thobejane, Nokuthula Mazibuko, Sarah Mogaki, Virginia Maphomolo, Ray Ramagaga, Anna Phadime, Lorna Shezi, Kgomotso Mogaki, Carney Lekaba, and Nthibane Mnisi. (Photo: Sello Mokoka) Children of Regina Pacis parish in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, celebrated their First Communion. The group is seen with parish priest Fr Andrew Moyo and catechists Sandra de Franca and Celeste de Ponte.

LIFE

The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

Where Christians and Muslims live in peace Under constant threat from a vicious regime, Christians and Muslims in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains region live together in harmony, as PAUL JeFFReY explains.

HILE tense relations between religious groups contribute to violence in many parts of the world today, Christians and Muslims in the warravaged Nuba Mountains of Sudan say they are getting along just fine. For outsiders, it takes a while to comprehend. “When I first arrived in the Nuba Mountains, I was confused. Everyone dressed the same. Women would wear head coverings,” said Sr Angelina Nyakuru, head nurse at the Catholic Church-sponsored Mother of Mercy Hospital in Gidel. “But then I saw them in church receiving the sacraments,” said the Comboni Sister from Uganda. “At Christmas, the Muslims come to celebrate with the Christians. And on Eid al-Fitr and Eid alAdha, we go to their celebrations. It’s peculiar to this place,” she noted. “There is peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims, as well as with those who practise traditional religions. Muslim parents usually don’t object if their children want to become Christian. In fact, when they receive the sacraments, their parents accompany them to the church to support them.” Sr Nyakuru, who has been in the Nuba Mountains since 2008, compared the situation to that in her home country of Uganda. “Back home, people kill each other over religion, and people who convert have to run away for their lives. Here, families are all mixed, and no one has any problems,” she said. Br Isaac Kornyando was born in the Nuba Mountains and, for more than two decades, has served as a Brother of the Apostle of Jesus congregation, doing pastoral work in Kauda. “You don’t know what religion people are if they don’t tell you, because we eat together and drink together and walk together,” he said. “You have to ask them what religion they profess. Then they tell you.”

Ramadan on Catholic radio Toma Konyono is a reporter for Voice of Peace, the Catholic radio station in Gidel. She and her husband are Christians, but she said all of her in-laws are Muslims. “We are a peaceful people, and we love to celebrate Christmas and Eid with each other,” she said. “During Ramadan, I go with my recorder to the mosque in Kauda and record their celebration, and we play some of their songs on the radio. They are very happy. On their feast days, we bring their voices to our listeners.” Ms Konyono said the station’s programming is not directed at only Catholics. “When we discuss health or women’s concerns, those aren’t ‘Christian topics’ or ‘Muslim topics’. They are topics that affect everyone in the Nuba Mountains, and we want the station to be a place where everyone has a voice and to which everyone listens,” she said. Dr Tom Catena, a US physician at the hospital in Gidel, observed that interfaith tensions are few. “Once in a while, some parents will resist their child marrying someone from another religion, but there’s no harshness about it. There’s no harshness towards each other, no negativity, and you simply don’t hear Christians or Muslims talking badly about each other,” said Dr Catena, a lay missionary for the Catholic Medical Mission Board. “That’s strange in some ways, because Islamic fundamentalism is so strict in the north [of Sudan]. The government here [in the Nuba Mountains] is very strict about being secular. They don’t want any of this crap of religious people forcing their laws on others,” Dr Catena said. People of the Nuba Mountains have been at war with the central government in Khartoum for

decades. The conflict has been marked by frequent bombing of civilian targets by Sudan’s military. While a two-year-old ceasefire has stopped the aerial bombing, sporadic fighting on the ground continues between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North. Sr Pollicarp Amiyo, a nurse in Gidel and another Ugandan Comboni Sister, said years of brutal attacks by the Khartoum government have strengthened a common identity as Nuba people that’s more important than religious differences. “When the planes come overhead and begin to bomb us, everyone suffers. The bombs don’t distinguish between Christians and Muslims. That unites us even more,” she said.

The land belongs to God A leader of the mosque in Kauda agrees. “We are one family in the Nuba. The land belongs to God, and people practise the religion they want without problems,” said Issa Abrahim al-Madiza. “What is a problem for us is that a group of people in Khartoum sees us as insects, not as people. That’s why they send the Antonovs to bomb us,” he said, referring to the Russian-made cargo planes used as bombers by the Sudanese government.

Nurse Isaac Langurry interacts with a young girl with sight problems in the paediatric ward of the Mother of Mercy hospital in Gidel, a village in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. Mr Langurry is a graduate of the Catholic health Training Institute, a school in Wau, South Sudan. (Photo: Paul Jeffrey/CNS) According to John Ashworth— who serves as an adviser to the Catholic bishops in Sudan and South Sudan and previously worked for the Denis Hurley Peace Institute in Pretoria—the healthy interfaith atmosphere in the Nuba Mountains helps explain the brutality of the Khartoum government’s military response. “That they get along so well is one of the reasons why they’re seen as a threat by Khartoum. If there were only Christians in the Nuba Mountains, they would be perceived as less of a threat. But the fact that Muslims and Christians live together happily is just too

much for the rulers in Khartoum,” he said. Bishop Macram Max Gassis, the retired head of El Obeid diocese, who for years has supervised from Kenya the Church’s work in the Nuba Mountains, said religious identity has nothing to do with deciding where to provide education or health care or fresh water. “When we dug a well in a Nuba village where there was not even one Christian, and I went for the inauguration, I told the people, ‘This water is not Christian water. This is God’s water for all of us,’” he said. “That’s it. We share the same earth. Why can’t we live in peace?”—CNS

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The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

REFLECTION

What we learn from ‘School of Nazareth’ The Holy Family—the ‘School of Nazareth’— teaches us how to be a truly Christian family, writes deacon KeITh FOURNIeR.

URING the Octave—eight days—of Christmas we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family on December 30. The significance of the feast unfolds when we come to understand the deeper truths it reveals. It teaches us about Jesus, Mary, and Joseph—and about each one of us and our own families. Through our baptism, we are invited to live our lives in Christ by living them in the Church—which is the risen body of Christ. The Church is the place where we learn, as the Apostle Paul reminded the Colossian Christians, to “put on love, that is, the bond of perfection” (Col 3:14). In a beautiful address on December 28, 2011, at his Wednesday audience, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the life of the Holy Family in Nazareth. “The house of Nazareth is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to meditate, to penetrate the deepest meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our example from Mary, Joseph and Jesus,” the now retired pope said. “The Holy Family is an icon of the domestic Church, which is called to pray together. The family is the first school of prayer where, from their infancy, children learn to perceive God thanks to the teaching and example of their parents. “An authentically Christian education cannot neglect the experience of prayer. If we do not learn to pray in the family, it will be difficult to fill this gap later. I would,

then, like to invite people to rediscover the beauty of praying together as a family, following the school of the Holy Family of Nazareth.” The Christian family is the first cell of the whole Church. It is the place where we begin the journey towards holiness and become more fully human. The Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, became one of us. He was born into a human family. That was neither accidental nor incidental. There, in what Pope Paul VI called the “School of Nazareth”, we can learn the way of love. Every moment of his time among us, Jesus was saving the world, recreating it from within. To use a word from the early Church Father and bishop St Ireneaus, he was “recapitulating” the entire human experience. There, in the holy habitation of Nazareth, he forever transformed family life. Now, he teaches us how to live in his presence, if we will enrol in the “School of Nazareth.” From antiquity the Christian family has rightly been called a “domestic church”. In our life within the Christian family, Jesus Christ is truly present. We, however, need the eyes to see him at work, the ears to hear his instruction, and the hearts to make a place for him to dwell. In our family we can learn the way of selfless love by enrolling in the School of Nazareth.

Jesus in Nazareth Jesus spent almost all of his earthly years in Nazareth. Some spiritual writers have called these the “hidden years”, because there is so little written about them in

A depiction in relief of the holy Family outside St Joseph’s church in Nazareth, Israel. the Gospel narratives. However, they reveal the holiness of ordinary life and show us how it becomes extraordinary for those baptised into Christ. Every moment of his time among us, Jesus was saving, redeeming, and recreating the world. From his conception, throughout his saving life, death and resurrection, the one whom scripture calls the “New Adam” was making all things new. In the holy habitation of Nazareth, Jesus transformed family life. Already blessed as God’s plan for the whole human race and the first society, the Christian family has been elevated in Christ to a sacrament, a vehicle of grace and sign of God’s presence. The Church proclaims Christian marriage, and the family founded

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upon it, as a vocation, a response to the call of the Lord. In the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we learn the way of love in the School of Nazareth. The phrase “domestic church” was a framework for the teaching of the Second Vatican Council on Christian marriage and family. Pope John Paul II developed this teaching in his Christian Family in the Modern World and his “Letter to the Family”. In these writings he invites every Christian family to, using his pregnant phrase, “become what you are”: a domestic church. The Holy Family of Jesus, Joseph and Mary is not only our model, it is the beginning of the new family of the Church. The Gospel reading for the feast of the Holy Family tells us of a family trip which is packed with lessons for those enrolled in the School of Nazareth (Lk 2:41-52). In and through the ordinary stuff of daily life we find Jesus and in the encounter discover ourselves. Pope Paul VI wrote: “Nazareth is a kind of school where we may begin to discover what Christ’s life was like and even to understand his Gospel. Here we can learn to realise who Christ really is. Here everything speaks to us, everything has meaning.”

Where rubber hits road We live in Church. We were baptised into the Lord and now live in his risen body as members. The Church is a communion, a relationship in Christ. The Christian family is the smallest cell of that Body of Christ. The extended Church community is a family of families. This understanding is more than piety. It is sound ecclesiology, solid anthropology—it is reality. Family life is where the “rubber hits the road” for most Christians. It is here where the universal call to holiness, in all its real, earthy humanness and ordinariness, is first issued. It is here where we learn the way of discipleship. Family is where progress in the spiritual life can find its raw material. Whether we choose to respond to grace—and develop the eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to accept the hidden invitations to learn to love beneath the surface of that daily “stuff”—is all wrapped up in the mystery of human freedom. Our choices not only affect the world around us, they make us become the people we will become. St Paul exhorted the early Christians to “have this mind among yourselves which was in Christ

Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself” (Phil 2:5). The Greek word translated as “emptied” in St Paul’s letter to the Philippians is kenosis. This word refers to the voluntary pouring out—like water—of oneself in an act of sacrificial love. This “emptying” is the proper response of the love of a Christian for the one who first loved us. It is also the very heart of the vocation of Christian marriage and family. When the right choices are made in this life of “domestic kenosis”, this life of domestic emptying lived in Christian family, we change. We are converted. We cooperate with the Lord’s invitation to follow him by exercising our human freedom; we choose to give ourselves away in love to the “other”.

Family path to holiness In this life of responding to the Lord’s invitations we are gradually transformed into an image, a living icon, of Jesus Christ. This way of holiness is not easy, as anyone who has lived the vocation can attest, but make no mistake: it is a very real path to holiness. It is also a wonderful one. The challenge lies in the choices we make: daily, hourly, and even moment-by-moment. Two trees still grow in the garden of domestic life. They invite the exercise of our freedom, which is the core of the Image of God within us. There is the tree in Eden where the first Eve said, “No I will not serve.” Then, there is the Tree on Calvary where Mary, the “second Eve”, stood with the beloved disciple John and, along with him, again proclaimed her “yes”. Through those choices, presented to us from the moment we open our eyes every morning to the time we close them at night, we are invited to learn in the “School of Nazareth” and, in imitation of the Holy Family, become a domestic church. We are invited into a domestic kenosis, learning to love, pray and grow in holiness in the School of Nazareth. St Paul wrote to the early Christians: “Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection” (Col 3). The first school of prayer and practice, the place where we learn this new way of life called Christianity, is the first cell of the Church, the domestic church of the Christian family.—CNA

CLASSIFIEDS

Sr Julia Kroth OP

AKFORD Dominican Sister Julia Kroth died on November 17 at 91. Born on August 31, 1927, in Grosswallstadt in the diocese of Würzburg, Germany, and baptised Katherina, she was one of seven children. One of her sisters is still alive. Katharina entered the convent in Neustadt and made her first profession on May 21, 1953. Bishop (later Cardinal) Julius Döpfner of Munich officiated at the first-profession Mass. He had been the chaplain in her parish, her mentor, and a great inspiration to her. It was not the norm for Sisters to choose their religious names, but Sr Julia managed to do just that, naming herself after her patron saint. Soon after first profession, she travelled to South Africa on the SS Africa. She made her final profession in Oakford on July 8, 1956. Beginning in 1957, Sr Julia supervised the kitchens in various convents and hostels: Villa Assumpta, Pietermaritzburg; Mazenod Hostel, Johannesburg; Walsingham Hostel, Currie Road, Durban; St Mary’s School, Oakford; Oakford Convent (for ten years); Koinonia, Johannes-

burg; Marifont, Pretoria; and then back to Villa Assumpta from 1990 until her retirement in 2009. During her stay in Gauteng in 1984 she took a teaching course in catechetics at St John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria. At his homily during the Requiem Mass, Bishop Graham Rose of Dundee recalled first meeting Sr Julia at Koinonia when he was a seminarian and doing hospital chaplaincy in Johannesburg. Their friendship spanned 41 years.

ister Julia lived her life in serving others. Wherever she found herself, she found people who needed her help and she went out of her way to help them. Nothing was too much for her. She found people to feed and clothe, projects that helped the poor and like-minded, generous people to join her in improving people’s lives. Her prayers were always for others. At every funeral she chipped in to pray for the one who was next to die. I remember only one prayer for her own needs: when we had no telephone service a few weeks ago. She prayed in all earnestness at Mass for the

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IN MEMORIAM

phones to start working again. Some of us laughed, but I realised how important it was for her to keep contact with people if she wanted the projects close to her heart to succeed. The driving force behind all she did was her desire to show the face of God to all she met. She showed courage in the face of injustice, and her stubbornness brought justice and relief to many people, and helped her to overcome difficulty. In the last few days of her life, when she suffered so much pain, she expressed her gratitude for all that the staff and Sisters were doing for her, and she kept saying how grateful she was for God’s goodness to her. Sr Helen-Veronica Wagner OP

Prayer for FourthAdvent Father, all-powerful God, your eternal Word took flesh on our earth when the Virgin Mary placed her life at the service of your plan. Lift our minds in watchful hope to hear the voice which announces his glory and open our minds to receive the Spirit who prepares us for his coming. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

SWARDLING—Reece dex “Miyagi”. October 5, 1988 to december 20, 2012. In loving and special memories of the love of our lives. God called and you said, “Yes”, my angel, to continue the plans he had for you. We remember you with much love for the way you showed it to all, with gratitude for the time we had together, and with faith and hope in a resurrected life, when we will see you again. We miss you every single day, and you will be forever in our hearts and minds. dad, Mum, Olivia, Reagan, Tootoo and Trinity. ALL LOVED ONES CALLED TO THE LORD—GriefShare support group at Immaculate Conception parish in Pinetown. May God grant his merciful love, comfort, and the peace only he can give, to all the families of our GriefShare support group, especially over this Christmas season, as we journey from mourning to joy. We pray also for those who are grieving, and we welcome all to our family of GriefShare to experience the healing of Jesus. Grief never ends but it changes. It's a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor lack of faith...It is the price of love. Please feel free to contact Charmaine 084 5756006 or Cynthia 082 374-7033 for further information. God bless you always, with all that you pray for.

PERSONAL

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PRAYERS

SHOUT FOR JOY the whole earth, and everything within. Rejoice! For Light has come into the world. The mountains sing, the seas resound to the praise of your name. Salvation once promised is here on earth. The angels' song rings in the air, a child has been born. hallelujah! The Saviour of the world is here.

ALMIGHTY GOD, from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed, kindle in the hearts of all men the true love of peace, and guide with Your pure and peaceable wisdom those who make decisions for the nations of the earth; that in

tranquility Your kingdom may go forward, till the earth be filled with the knowledge of Your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. FATHER, you have given all peoples one common origin. It is your will that they be gathered together as one family in yourself. Fill the hearts of mankind with the fire of your love and with the desire to ensure justice for all. By sharing the good things you give us, may we secure an equality for all our brothers and sisters throughout the world. May there be an end to division, strife and war. May there be a dawning of a truly human society built on love and peace. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

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GOD BLESS AFRICA

Guard our people, guide our leaders and give us peace. Luke 11:1-13

Liturgical Calendar Year C – Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday December 23, 4th Sunday of Advent

The

Micah 5:1-4, Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19, Hebrews

Come, Lord Jesus, come Jesus, may your kingdom come. Jesus is the morning star. He is the hope of nations, the light of a new dawn. He is the light that pierces the darkness of my soul when it is most despondent. Jesus, Morning Star, light up the path before me, lead me to your manger, and guide me through the labyrinths of my own life. Jesus is the King of Nations. My kingdom is not of this world, he told Pilate. Not yet. Because we still do not know or recognise God—but one day, all the people will know him and all nations will fall prostrate before him. Jesus, guide the kings of this

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world, help them to recognise that their power is not of their own making, but is a gift from you. Help them to be good and just leaders, treating all people with fairness. Jesus is Emmanuel. He is God with us. God who lives among us. God who shares in our human suffering. God who rejoices in our triumphs and our joys. God who cares for every small detail of my life and the whole of creation. Lord Jesus, come and live in my heart, in my home, in my workplace, in my parish, in my country and in our world. Come, Lord Jesus, come.

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Continued from page 13 mother’s breast and is wrapped in swaddling clothes. Jesus, I want to kneel before your crib and worship you, but I also want to hold you in my arms. Teach me also to embrace and uplift the poor. Jesus is a descendant of Jesse, father of David. He comes from a line of kings, handpicked by God himself. Jesus, in a world of bad leaders, be our King. Rule us with justice, banish poverty and suffering, overcome all ignorance and corruption. David held the keys to an earthly kingdom, but you hold the keys to the eternal kingdom.

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the

Feast of the Holy Family: December 30 Readings: 1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28, Psalm 84:2-3, 5-6, 9-10, 1 John 3:1-2, 22-24, Luke 2:41-52

EXT Sunday, as always after Christmas Day, the Church invites us to recover from the annual encounter with our families; and the readings chosen are a happy reminder that family life is not easy—but it is good. In some ways, as we shall see, the readings redefine what is meant by “family”. The first reading is the terrible story of Samuel going off to boarding school. You remember how it goes. His childless mother Hannah prays to be given a son, and promises God that if she bears a son, she will “give him to the Lord for all the days of his life”. The son duly appears, and is named “Samuel”, “because she had asked the Lord for him”. Then comes the painful moment of presenting the boy to the temple at Shiloh; but Hannah is an independent person, and does not immediately go up when her husband does to sacrifice. Instead, she said to her husband: “When the child is weaned I shall take him, and he shall appear before the face of the Lord, and he shall stay there forever.” Mothers listening to these words want to protest; but Hannah did exactly what she had said she would do, and never looked back.

S outher n C ross

And it worked. Samuel grew up and knew about the Lord’s ways and was able to guide Israel into the monarchy (first Saul and then David); and if a family’s function is to prepare a child for later life, then that is what Hannah so generously did. So family life is not easy; but it can do God’s uncomfortable work. The psalm for next Sunday is not really about families; instead it can be seen as a sort of meditation on the life that Samuel might be expected to have in the Temple: “How lovely are your dwellings, Lord of hosts; my soul is yearning and pining for the God of life.” We imagine Samuel living with joy where his mother has left him: “Happy are those who dwell in your house; they always praise you. Happy the man who finds refuge in you.” And (perhaps a reminder of that other family that is so focused on God): “Look on the face of your Messiah (or Christ).” The second reading is taken from the first letter of John, and it redefines family: “See what great love the Father has given us, that we should be called God’s children.” That is what has happened to Samuel; and the invitation is there for us too: “Now we are

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automatically bend in his presence, a messiah tailored to our imagination, every inn door would have opened to him, not just at birth but throughout his whole life. But Christ wasn’t the messiah of our expectations. He came as an infant: powerless, hidden in anonymity, without status, uninvited, unwanted. And so the Trappist mystic Thomas Merton describes his birth this way: “Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it, because he is out of place in it, and yet he must be in it, his place is with those others for whom there is no room.” There was no room for him at the inn! Biblical scholars tell us that our homilies and imaginings about the heartlessness of the innkeepers who turned Mary and Joseph away on Christmas Eve miss the point of that narrative.

he point that the Gospels want to make here is not that the innkeepers in Bethlehem were cruel and callous and this singular, poor, peasant couple, Joseph and Mary, were treated unfairly. The motif of “no room at the inn” wants rather to make a much larger point, the one Merton just highlighted, namely, that there’s never room in our world for the real Christ, the one who doesn’t fit comfortably into our expectations and imaginings.

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Sunday Reflections

God’s children, and it has not yet appeared what we are going to be.” So in this family there is always more to comes: “We shall be like to God…we have confidence in attaining to God.” And this is indeed a family, because “whatever we ask, we shall receive from him”. All we have to do is “keep God’s commands and do what is pleasing before God”. That is our family; and all we have to do is “believe in the name of his Son, and love each other”, and then we “remain in him, and he in us”. There is our post-Christmas challenge. In the Gospel we likewise hear family redefined, and it is uncomfortable, but it works out for the best. It is the remarkable story of the annual visit to Jerusalem for Passover by Jesus’ family. Rather carelessly (you may feel) they lose Jesus in Jerusalem, and assume he is in the caravan; only when they interrogate friends and relatives do they realise what has happened. So they go back to Jerusalem, and find him only after three days; parents will readily be able to imagine what they went through, and the mixed feelings they will have had on seeing

The Christ-Child of the Year VERY year Time magazine recognises someone as “Person of the Year”. The recognition isn’t necessarily an honour; it’s given to the person whom Time judges to have been the newsmaker of the year—for good or for bad. Last year, instead of choosing an individual to recognise as newsmaker of the year, it recognised instead a category of persons, the “Silence Breakers”, namely, women who had spoken out about sexual harassment and sexual violence. For Christmas this year, I suggest we set up our own award, the “Christ-Child of the Year”, and honour refugee children with it. They bring as close to the original crib in Bethlehem as we can get within our world today because for them, as for Jesus 2 000 years ago, there is no room at the inn. Jesus’ birth, like his death, comes wrapped in paradox: He came as God’s answer to our deepest desire, badly wanted, and yet, both in birth and in death, the outsider. Notice that Jesus is born outside the city and he dies outside the city. That’s no accident. He wasn’t born a “wanted” child and he wasn’t an accepted child. Granted, his mother, Mary, and those with genuine religious hearts wanted him, but the world didn’t, at least not on the terms on which he came, as a powerless child. Had he come as a superstar, powerful, a figure so dominant that knees would

Nicholas King SJ

What makes ‘family’?

him brilliantly interrogating the teachers. Now look at how Jesus redefines family; for when his mother complains, “Your father and I have been in agony looking for you”, the young man replies, perhaps a bit sharply, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know I had to be on my Father’s business?” So Jesus has redefined who his father is, not Joseph but God, to whom he will always pray as “Father”. As so often in families, they do not really understand a word he is saying; but then we heave a sigh of relief when we hear that “he went down with them to Nazareth and was subordinated to them”. After that comes an important moment that we might reflect on when we think about our own families: “His mother was keeping all the words in her heart.” And finally we watch him growing up: “Jesus advanced in wisdom and size and favour before God and before human beings.” That is what families make possible.

Southern Crossword #842

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

The real Christ generally shocks our imagination, is a disappointment to our expectations, comes uninvited, is perennially here, but is forever on the outside, on the periphery, excluded by our imaginations and sent packing from our doors. The real Christ is forever seeking a home in a world within which there’s no room for him. So who best fits that description today? As I’ve said, I suggest the millions of refugee children. The Christ-Child can be seen most clearly today in the countless refugee children who, with their families, are being driven from their homes by violence, war, starvation, ethnic cleansing, poverty, tribalism, racism, and religious persecution. They, and their families, best fit the picture of Joseph and Mary, searching for a room: outsiders, powerless, uninvited, no home, no one to take them in, on the periphery, strangers, labelled as “aliens”. But they are the present-day Holy Family and their children are the ChristChild for us and our world. Where is the crib of Bethlehem today? Where might we find the infant Christ to worship? In many places, admittedly in every delivery room and nursery in the world, but “preferentially” in refugee camps; in boats making perilous journeys across the Mediterranean; in migrants trekking endless miles in hunger, thirst and dangerous conditions; in people waiting in endless lines to be processed in hope of being accepted somewhere; in persons arriving at various borders after a long journey only to be sent back; in mothers in detention centres holding their young and hoping; and—most especially, preferentially—in the faces of countless refugee children. The face of God at Christmas is seen more in the helplessness of children than in all the earthly and charismatic power in our world. And so today, if we want, like the shepherds and wise men, to find our way to the crib in Bethlehem, we need to look at where, in this demented inn, the most helpless of the children dwell.

ACROSS

5. It may top the cathedral (4) 7. Partner in crime (10) 8. Olive oil was needed for each one (Mt 25) (4) 10. Diana can change nationality (8) 11. They may be rhythmically liturgical (6) 12. Opportunity that’s possible (6) 14. Feudal landowner has ship in the Vaal (6) 16. Jesus’ head was on it (Mk 4) (6) 17. Great admirer of Lord Atua (8) 19. Spanish painter (4) 21. The kind of union that breaks a Commandment (10) 22. Third son from 9 down (4)

DOWN 1. Vocation (4) 2. Homes for the very sick ones (8) 3. Small spots of ham? (6) 4. Outdoor meal for parish outing (6) 5. Asleep, that’s how you are to the world (4) 6. Only Machel has that sad feeling (10) 9. They had no parents (4,3,3) 13. Legal Roy is shown to be like a parable (8) 15. Acid and alkali paper test (6) 16. Virtue of the sixth Beatitude (Mt 5) (6) 18. Jacob’s wife with interesting eyes (Gn 29) (4) 20. In addition (4)

Solutions on page 21

CHURCH CHUCKLE

Why is Jesus is better than Santa?

ANTA lives at the North Pole, but Jesus is everywhere on earth. Santa comes once a year, but Jesus is here every day. Santa brings lots of useless tat, but Jesus supplies all your needs. Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly, but Jesus has a heart full of love. All Santa can offer is “Ho-Ho-Ho”, but Jesus offers Health, Help and Hope. Santa says, “You better not cry”, but Jesus says, “Cast all your cares on me for I care for you.” Santa’s little helpers make toys but Jesus makes new life and mends wounded hearts. Santa may make you chuckle but Jesus gives you the joy that is your strength. While Santa puts gifts under your tree, Jesus became our gift and died on the tree.

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CH RIST MAS

Christ’s coming gives a remedy to Church scandal At a time of scandal in the Church—of anger, fear, despair and doubt—the coming of Christ and the ‘scandalous proposition of the Gospel’ offers a remedy, writes Jd FLYNN.

‘I

NSINCERITY was an evil which sprang up within the Church from the first,” wrote Bl John Henry Newman in 1839. “Ananias and Simon were not open opposers of the Apostles, but false brethren.” Any of us, he said, can affect a certain kind of religiosity without sincerity, any of us can be tempted to put on the trappings of faith without the interior disposition. Any of us can be tempted to give the appearance of love when, in truth, we do not love. Real faith grows when we have the humility and the honesty to profess what we really believe, to speak what we really know, and to stand before God and one another as we really are. Jesus transforms us, Newman taught, when we come before him as we are. That lesson resonates with many Catholics this year. The past six months have proven difficult. The Church faces a crisis that does not need ongoing enumeration. But it is a crisis in which sincerity has come into question, in which trust has been eroded, and in which many Catholics are no longer certain whom they can believe, and what they can trust. And, for at least some Catholics, it has occasioned a crisis of faith itself.

A spiritual remedy Advent is the spiritual remedy to that crisis. Advent, Pope Benedict XVI taught, is an invitation to return “to the heart of our faith, which is the mystery of Christ, the Messiah who was expected for long centuries and was born in poverty, in Bethlehem”. Christ came into the world because sin is real, and because he sets us free from sin. This year we need to remember that. “In coming among us, he brought us and continues to offer us the gift of his love and his salvation,” Pope Benedict said. Because Christ is present, we “may speak to him, presenting to him the suffering that afflicts us, our impatience, the questions that well up in our hearts. We may be sure that he always listens to us!” the now-retired pope said. “And if Jesus is present...we may continue to hope, even when others can no longer assure us of any support, even when the present becomes trying.” That we are marred by sin should be no surprise. Advent reminds us that sin is defeated, in the Messiah who came into the world at Christmas, and who will come again. In fact, the trying afflictions of the present moment are exactly why Jesus has come—because sin exists in the world, even among members of the Church. It is Christ in whom we can place our trust—because Christ is the one who came into the world to defeat sin and death through his own Passion.

Human and divine Advent also reminds us that the Church, the Body of Christ, is human and divine, just as Christ himself is. That the holiness of the Church does not depend on the holiness of her members or ministers. That even as she must follow a path of penance and renewal, she is more than what we can see, and especially more than the headlines of recent months. There is a danger, amid the scandal of the moment, that we might reduce our vision of the Church to the sociological, that we might see only the scandal, and not the grace. Christ is present to us in and through

his Church—even if actions undertaken in the Church’s own name, set amid the disordering chaos of sin, are the source of our pain, or even of our despair. That is the scandalous proposition of the Gospel. Advent reminds us that the Church is Christ’s Mystical Body, and that even as her fallen humanity is on full display, she is nonetheless the sacrament of our salvation. The Church, the Body of Christ, is a source of grace, even as she is in need of grace. Jesus has come into the world, and he is coming again. He is present, even in our great difficulty. He loves us as we are, and he wishes to transform us.—CNA n J D Flynn is the editor of the Catholic News Agency.

The Nativity is depicted in this 17th-century painting by the three Le Nain brothers, Antoine, Louis and Mathieu. (Photo: Bridgeman Images)

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How prisoner came to paint Vatican stamps This year’s Vatican Christmas stamps were painted by an Italian prison inmate who is serving a life sentence in a Milan jail, as JUNNO AROChO eSTeVeS explains.

OR this Christmas season, the Vatican postal service prepared a unique set of commemorative stamps designed by a talented, yet unlikely, artist: a prisoner serving a life sentence. The Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office’s 2018 Christmas stamps feature images of the Annunciation and of Mary holding baby Jesus painted by Marcello D’Agata, an inmate at Milan’s Opera prison. A brochure for the stamps from the Vatican post office said that choosing artwork painted by a prison inmate was a response to Pope Francis’ call for compassion towards the imprisoned and for efforts to help them see that prison is not just the end of a life of crime but the beginning of a new life. In a video message to inmates at the Ezeiza federal penitentiary in Argentina on August 24, 2017, Pope Francis said that punishment can be fruitful only when inmates are helped to look towards the future rather than only back at a past lived out in shame. “Let us not forget that for punishment to be fruitful it must have a horizon of hope,” the pope said.

Special delivery: this year’s Vatican Christmas stamps feature the art of prisoner Marcello d’Agata, who is serving a life-sentence in Milan for mafia-related crimes. In the centre is the cover image for the booklet containing the stamps. (Images courtesy Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office) “Otherwise, it remains closed in on itself and is just an instrument of torture; it isn’t fruitful.” The pope’s video message was addressed to inmates taking part in the prison’s university studies programme, which he said was one of many programmes that provide “a space for work, culture, progress” and are “a sign of humanity”. The Vatican post office took part in a similar programme for burgeoning artists at the Milan prison where D’Agata honed his painting skills.

A sign of hope Mauro Olivieri, head of the Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office, said that entrusting the design of the new Christmas stamps to an inmate serving a life sentence was “a sign of hope, trust and faith in one’s neighbour and in his ability to understand the evil that was committed and

to rehabilitate”. Prisoners “are precisely the least of the least who, according to Jesus’ teaching, deserve our attention the most”, Mr Olivieri told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an article in November. D’Agata’s painting of the Annunciation feature Mary looking skyward as the Archangel Gabriel, holding a small bouquet of white lilies, gazes at her. Directly above Mary is a white dove, a symbol of the Holy Spirit, with light beams emanating from its outstretched wings. The second stamp depicts Mary after the Nativity, her hands holding the infant Christ and nestling the sleeping child in a maternal embrace. A single red candle near them is lit while the star of Bethlehem radiates light from above. The bright smattering of colours that brings D’Agata’s artistic creations to life stands in stark

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Prison inmate Marcello d’Agata paints an image of the Annunciation for use as one of the Vatican’s 2018 Christmas stamps, at the Opera prison. (Photo courtesy of danilo Bogoni via CNS) contrast to the dark, colourless existence of a life of crime, he said. As a child, D’Agata said, the appearance of a plain sheet of white paper was enough to stir his creativity and inspire him to draw and colour images that appeared in his imagination. “Of course, they were just scribbles, but I liked doing it very much because on those sheets, I gave shape and colour to my emotions and, most of all, to my dreams,” D’Agata said in an interview in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper. Now serving a life sentence for mafia-related crimes, D’Agata said he realised that “wrong choices do not pay but are paid”. “When I arrived [in prison], I had stopped scribbling, giving colour to my dreams and to the future,” he said. “For almost a quarter of a century, I was restricted to environments that prevent colours from livening up my life. That isn’t a metaphor.”

Return of colour However, things changed when prison officials allowed a small group of inmates to take an art course that began after a 2013

agreement between the Italian ministry of justice and the Italian postal service, along with several Italian philatelic organisations. According to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, the group—comprising 12 inmates—gathers every Monday to sketch and paint in an art studio that prison administrators created in the facility’s maximum-security wing. Once the course began, D’Agata said, “the source of inspiration and abilities that were once dormant came back to life”. After beginning with sketches and drawings, the prisoner transitioned to painting, which he described as a new passion that spurred him into a “continuous crescendo in search of improvement, especially on a personal level”. Painting is more than just a hobby, D’Agata said. It gave him a way to escape the confines of his prison and go to a place where his imagination was the only thing that ran wild. “The love for art,” he said, “awakened a part of me that I did not know was there because it was hidden by that darkness that stole my life.”—CNS

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The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

A painting teaches the Nativity A14th-century altarpiece from Siena, Italy, tells the story of the Nativity in perfect visual terms, as JeM SULLIVAN explains.

material poverty. Below, Duccio includes two midwives who wash the infant Jesus, lending another ordinary human touch to this extraordinary heavenly moment.

The saintly guardian

‘J

ESUS was born in a humble stable, into a poor family. Simple shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven’s glory was made manifest. The Church never tires of singing the glory of this night.” These words from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (525) focus our gaze on the mystery of that holy night when Advent preparations culminate in the great Christmas feast. Inviting wonder before the Incarnation is an exquisite altarpiece panel titled “The Nativity with the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel”. This early 14th-century masterpiece, attributed to Duccio di Buoninsegna, is a stirring visual homily on the Christmas story. Duccio was born in Siena between 1255–1260 and died there around 1318–19. One of the most important Italian painters of his time, he was active in Siena, but also created artworks in government and religious buildings around Italy. Completed by Duccio between 1308 and 1311, this panel was once part of one of the most important treasures of Western painting: the impressive Maestà altarpiece that visually dominated Siena’s cathedral for two centuries. It is exhibited at the Museo dell’Opera Metropoli-

The “Maestà”, an 14th-century altarpiece depicting the Nativity by duccio, with the Prophets Isaiah and ezekiel. tana del Duomo in Siena On completing the commission in 1311, Duccio became known for his fervent prayer to the mother of God, asking Mary to be the cause of peace for Siena. He sets the birth of Jesus within salvation history by framing the sacred moment with two prophets who announce the coming Messiah. The longings of Israel for salvation, echoed in our own Advent hopes, are now fulfilled perfectly in this time of grace. For God extends definitively his hand of divine mercy by sending his own Son into the world. In the Incarnation, human history finds its deepest meaning and destiny.

Prophetic words On the right stands the prophet Ezekiel with scroll in hand, foreshadowing the future birth of a savior. On the left stands Isaiah, with his prophetic words also in hand: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel” (Is 7:14). At the centre of the composition is the virgin mother of God, with her newborn divine Son. Her scale is twice that of any figure in the scene, highlighting her unique role in the divine plan of salvation. Mary is dressed in red and blue

garments, colours that point to her Son’s divinity and humanity united in his divine person. She gathers her blue robe around her while reclining on a red cushion as she looks with motherly love at her newborn Son, Jesus. Mary’s large scale and her recumbent pose evoke traditional icons of the Nativity. Both mother and child are enclosed in a cave, an element drawn from Eastern iconography. The only hospitality that the world offers is a bare, cold cave, warmed simply by the breath of animals who watch over them. One can feel the spiritual warmth of this holy scene despite the harsh coldness of its

Sitting close to Mary is St Joseph. To this saintly guardian of the Redeemer was given the singular blessing of being in closest proximity to the mystery of Christ’s birth. So Duccio places Joseph close to Mary, deep in wonder and awe as he ponders God’s marvellous work. On the cave rooftop an exuberant host of angels gather around the virgin mother and child. Some angels raise their eyes to heaven with joyful melodies of praise to God. Other angels lean over the roof curiously, straining to catch a glimpse of the divine child. Still other angels announce to the simple shepherds the good news of salvation now at hand. God’s desire for friendship with humanity is fulfilled perfectly in the birth of Jesus. In the face of this greatest of divine gifts, the Incarnation, what is the most fitting human response? Each of Duccio’s figures in his luminous Nativity scene radiates faith, hope and love in the presence of the newborn Jesus. God takes human flesh in his Son Jesus so that, in him, we might be clothed once again with the dignity of the children of God. For this marvellous exchange made possible by the Incarnation of God our fitting response is to join the chorus of Duccio’s angels in a hymn of Christmas praise: “O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord!”—CNS

The Urrsuline Schools of Soutth Africa, Brescia House School and St Urs sula’s School,, wish the Cath holic Community a bles ssed Christmas.

Visitt www.brescia.co.za and www.stu ursulas.co.za

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PALESTINE: A nun prays in the church of the Nativity, where tradition holds Christ was born, in Bethlehem. (Photo: debbie hill/CNSl)

IRAQ: Bishops attend Christmas eve Mass at St Paul cathedral in Mosul. (Photo: Amar Salih, ePA/CNS)

Christmas around the World

USA: Light illuminates a statue of Mary and the Christchild at the Catholic SLOVENIA: Actors n a Nativity scene Pastoral Center in Nashville. (Photo: in Sloveniaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Postojna cave. (Photo: Rick Musacchio, Tennessee Register) Borut Zivulovic, Reuters/CNS)

LITHUANIA: A Christmas tree is seen illuminated in Vilnius. Pope Francis visited the city during his Baltic trip in September. (Photo: Ints Kalnins, Reuters/CNS)

JOY TO THE WOrLD!

Each time you let God love others through your Faith it is Christmas! From our family to yours, We wish you a Christmas filled with the wonder of the birth of Christ. â&#x20AC;&#x153;EMMANUELâ&#x20AC;? God With Us A Merry Christmas and Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Choicest blessings for the New Year From the team at

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VATICAN: Children carry flowers to place at a figurine of the baby Jesus as Pope Francis celebrates Christmas eve Mass in St Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basilica last year. (Photo: Paul haring/CNS)

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CZECH REPUBLIC: A Christmas tree is illuminated as people visit the traditional Christmas market in the Old Town Square in Prague. (Photo: david W Cerny, Reuters/CNS)

TAIWAN: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Santaâ&#x20AC;? Janne erkki Laine hugs a woman at the Catholic home for the Aged in New Taipei. every year, Finlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Santa Claus Foundation dispatches dozens of Santas to various countries to spread the joy of Christmas. (Photo: david Chang, ePA/CNS)

EL SALVADOR: A Nativity scene in Nahuizalco. (Photo: JosĂŠ Cabezas, Reuters/CNS)

SYRIA: A man dressed as Santa is seen in damascus, Syria, on Christmas eve last year. Syrians will again pray for peace, security and solidarity this Christmastime. (Photo: Youssef Badawi, ePA/CNS)

IRELAND: Christmas carollers sing outside a shopping centre with a festive projection illuminating the front of the building in dublin. (Photo: Clodagh Kilcoyne, Reuters/CNS)

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The Southern Cross, december 19 to december 25, 2018

Priest put the hook in candy canes A sweet that has become symbolic of Christmas treats owes its mass-produced existence to a Catholic priest who once kicked Elvis Presley out of his church hall, as MALeA hARGeTT explains.

CATHOLIC priest had a hand in creating the striped candy canes that people around the world know and love this time of year. The history of the candy cane is a little murky. Legend has it that the treat started as plain white sugar sticks, maybe in the 1600s, according to a 2015 National Geographic blog. “The stick got its cane-like hook, one unsubstantiated story claims, when a 17th-century choirmaster at Germany’s Cologne cathedral convinced a local candy maker to bend sugar sticks into the shape of shepherd’s crooks, to amuse bored and restless children during Christmas Mass,” the blog reported. Some say the hook was added to make it easier to hang on Christmas trees. By the 16th century Europeans were decorating trees with candles. Trees also were decorated with fruit, nuts, candies, cookies and paper cones. The candy cane was transformed when the idea arose to add peppermint with sugar to make

Fr Gregory Keller, seen here around 1924, served as a parish priest while inventing machines for his brother-in-law’s sweets company in Georgia. Fr Keller had a hand in creating the candy cane, a treat that is especially popular at Christmastime. (Photo: diocese of Little Rock Archives) peppermint candy. The iconic red and white stripes came later. In the United States, handmade white (not yet striped) candy canes were first recorded in 1847. In 1919 Bob McCormack started the McCormack’s Famous Candy Co. in Albany, Georgia, and started selling candy canes. The company, later known as Bobs Candies, was known as the

75 YEARS

largest manufacturer of striped candy in the world. The candy cane-shaping process was labour intensive because it was done by hand, until Mr McCormack’s brother-in-law, Fr Gregory Keller, stepped in to make the process faster and more efficient. When Fr Keller invented one machine to twist the soft candy into spirals and cut the stick candy in 1952, and another machine to put the crook in the candy cane in 1957, sales took off. His invention became known as the Keller Machine. According to Bob’s daughter Bee McCormack, “there was no such thing as the candy-cane industry. It was made by little shops that handmade candy and sold them in jars… There was no such thing as the candy-cane industry until the Keller Machine.”

round the same time as the candy company was started, Fr Keller, from Little Rock in Arkansas, was studying for the priesthood at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He was ordained by Cardinal Basilio Pompilj in the basilica of St John Lateran on March 17, 1919, soon after the end of World War I. After teaching for four years at St John Seminary in Little Rock, he had assignments as an associate pastor or pastor. The priest is infamous (or notorious) for kicking a young Elvis Presley out of St Mary church there after a show for the Catholic Club in 1955. The performer was allegedly signing the thigh of one of his young fans. Presley had performed there at least three other

times in 1954 and 1955. Fr Keller retired in 1960 at age 65. He died on September 1, 1979. With eight degrees, “Dr Keller” was known for his inventions. According to a 1960 article in The Guardian (now known as Arkansas Catholic) about his retirement, one of his hobbies was creating machines. He had patents on machines to decorate candy, package salted peanuts, and process peanut butter cracker sandwiches. The article mentioned that he was still waiting for his patent on the Keller Machine being used by the McCor-

mack company. The Keller Machine was such a hit that Fr Keller also gained national attention in 1974 as a contestant on the TV show What’s My Line?, a quiz show on which contestants had to guess the guest’s profession or claim to fame. In 1970, he received another patent on his “stick assortment gathering machine” to assist with filling an assorted box or jar of various flavours or colours of stick candy. The royalties he received from his inventions were donated to charities.—CNS

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The Big Southern Cross Christmas Quiz 25 questions to test your Christmas knowledge! Compiled by GÜNTHER SIMMERMACHER

1. In which country was the Christmas hymn “Silent Night” written 200 years ago? a) Austria b) Germany c) Hungary 2. On which date do Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas? a) December 24 b) January 7 c) January 19 3. In St Matthew’s genealogy, of whom was Joseph, the husband of Mary, begotten? a) Jacob b) Josiah c) Judah

1. Silent Night chapel; but where?

4. According to the Christmas classic movie It’s A Wonderful Life, what happens every time a bell rings? a) an angel gets his wings b) a child is born c) a soul is saved

3. Who was St Joseph’s dad?

4. A bell rings in It’s A Wonderful Life

5. At Christmas the pope delivers a blessing known as urbi et orbi. What does that mean? a) to all of faith and goodwill b) to the city and the world c) to all men and women 6. Who had a hit in 1979 with “Wonderful Christmas Time”? a) Elton John b) Freddie Mercury c) Paul McCartney

9. Which popular Christmas carol features the line “Joyful, all ye nations, rise/Join the triumph of the skies/With th’ angelic host proclaim/Christ is born in Bethlehem!” a) Angels We Have Heard On High b) Hark! The Herald Angels Sing c) O Come, All Ye Faithful 10. In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, what does the reformed Ebenezer Scrooge buy the Cratchits? a) A duck b) A goose c) A turkey 11.What does the name of the city of Bethlehem mean? a) House of Bread

12. Which country declared Christmas a public holiday following a visit by a pope? a) Cuba b) Poland c) Vietnam 13. In Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, what line did U2’s Bono sing? a) “And there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas time” b) “Here’s to them, underneath that burning sun, do they know it’s Christmas time at all?” c) “Well, tonight thank God it’s them instead of you”

16. Which is the odd one out: Prancer, Blitzen, Cupid, Rudolph, Runner, Dancer, Comet? a) Cupid b) Dancer c) Runner 17. In which century did Pope Julius I officially set the date for Christmas? a) 3rd century b) 4th century c) 5th century 18. In which country may people wish you Merry Christmas by saying: “Melikam Gena!” a) Ethiopia b) Ghana c) Mali 19. What did my true love give to me on the seventh day?

14. What bird forms part of an Irish Christmas tradition with a procession on St Stephen’s Day? a) Dunnock b) Robin c) Wren 15. According to St Luke, who called for the census that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem? a) Augustus b) Phasael c) Quirinius

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11. Manger Square in Bethlehem

20. How many animals does St Luke list as being present when Mary gave birth to Jesus? a) 0 b) 2 c) 4

23. In which century was the melody of “O Come All Ye Faithful” (or Adeste Fideles) composed? a) 14th century b) 16th century c) 18th century

21. Who had a 1950s Christmas hit with “Mary’s Boy Child”? a) Harry Belafonte b) Johnny Mathis c) Nat King Cole

24. In Syria, which animal is believed to bring Christians their presents? a) Camel b) Lamb c) Ox

22. In which country is a Julbord traditionally served for Christmas dinner? a) Belgium b) Germany c) Sweden

25. What is myrrh, one of the three gifts the magi brought the baby Jesus? a) Incense b) Oil c) Precious stone

a) Ladies dancing b) Maids a-milking c) Swans a-swimming

aNSWErS

8. What is the German name for Father Christmas? a) Sankt Klaus b) Vater Weihnachten c) Weihnachtsmann

c) House of Kings b) House of Wisdom

7. Santa Claus in Germany

NAZARETH

1. a) Austria; 2. b) January 7; 3. a) Jacob; 4. a) an angel gets his wings; 5. b) to the city and the world; 6. c) Paul McCartney; 7. b) 4 BC (Jesus was born during the reign of King Herod, who died in 4 BC); 8. c) Weihnachtsmann; 9. b) Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; 10. c) A turkey; 11. a) House of Bread; 12. a) Cuba (after Pope John Paul II visited in 1998); 13. c) “Well, tonight...”; 14. c) Wren; 15. c) Quirinius; 16. c) Runner; 17. b) 4th century (in around 336); 18. a) Ethiopia, in the Amharic language; 19. c) Swans a-swimming; 20. a) 0 (though there might have been animals present, since the birth was in a place where animals were kept, Luke mentions none); 21. a) Harry Belafonte; 22. c) Sweden (a julbord is a cold buffet); 23. c) 18th century (it was first published in 1751); 24. a) Camel; 25. b) Oil (myrrh was an embalming oil, so the gift anticipated Jesus’ violent death)

7. Which is the earliest year in which Jesus could have been born? a) 8 BC b) 4 BC c) 1 BC

5. Pope Francis: Urbi et orbi

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