190206 by The Southern Cross

The

S outher n C ross

February 6 to February 12, 2019

reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 5121

www.scross.co.za

r10 (incl VaT rSa)

Little Eden story: How Danny met Domitilla

Fr Townsend: Why we must revisit the past

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Bishop Setlalekgosi dies at 91

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Pope: Go forth and bear witness STaff rePorTer

Fourpage WY D roun d-up

ERVING God and his mission is not a passing fad, but can and should be pursued right now in the present, with one’s entire life, Pope Francis said at the closing Mass for World Youth Day in Panama City. “Brothers and sisters, the Lord and his mission are not a ‘meantime’ in our lives, something temporary; they are our lives!” the pope said. “Not tomorrow, but now, for wherever your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Jesus “wants to be our treasure, because he is not an interval in life or a passing fad; he is generous love that invites us to entrust ourselves,” he continued. “You, dear young people, are not the future but the now of God.” The previous evening, despite sweltering temperatures in Panama City, an estimated 600 000 young men and women made their way to St John Paul II Park on the penultimate day of WYD. They brought sleeping bags and tents, preparing to spend the night at the field, for a vigil, the rosary, and making new friends, before the final 8:00 morning Mass with Pope Francis.

Saying Mary’s ‘Yes’ to God The pope led that evening’s Eucharistic adoration vigil, and later pilgrims prayed the joyful mysteries of the rosary. At the vigil, young adults from Panama and the Palestinian territories gave their experiences of finding faith and hope amid doubt, sickness, and addiction. After listening to them, Pope Francis addressed the youths, saying that these reflected the risk Mary took to say “yes” to God. Although Mary would not be considered an “influencer”, like many social media personalities, she still became the most influential woman in history by trusting “in the love and promises of God, the only force capable of making all things new”, the pope said. “Are you willing to be an ‘influencer’ like Mary, who dared to say, ‘Let it be done?’” he asked. “Only love makes us more human and fulfilled; everything else is a pleasant but useless placebo.”

Enthusiastic welcome for pope The exuberance and enthusiasm of pilgrims was evident from the start of WYD as Pope Francis was welcomed by an estimated 250 000 young people waving their countries’ flags as the popemobile passed. Five young people, representing each of the five continents present at the gathering, greeted the pope. Taking those near him by the hand, the pope walked toward the main stage as young people processed, carrying the WYD cross. Interspersed with festive music and danc-

stant freshness and youth” that happens only by listening, sharing, and serving others.

Pope celebrates with prisoners The next day, the pope brought WYD to Panama’s juvenile prisoners, celebrating an emotional penitential liturgy inside the country’s main youth prison. Fulfilling his belief that no one should be separated from God’s mercy, Pope Francis also heard the confessions of five inmates at the Las Garzas de Pacora detention centre. “There are no words to describe the freedom I feel in this moment,” inmate Luis Oscar Martinez told the pope at the start of the service inside the detention centre. It was an emotional highlight of the pope’s four-day trip to Panama and a hands-on demonstration of his belief that prisoners deserve the same dignity as everyone else—as well as hope. Pope Francis also presided over the Way of the Cross procession—a rite of all WYDs that re-enacts Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. The prayers recited during the Way of the Cross reflected issues of particular concern for Central America, including the plight of indigenous peoples, women, the unborn, and the Church’s martyrs, with reference to El Salvador’s new saint, Oscar Romero. The prayers also touched on pressing political issues of migration and the upheaval in Venezuela.

‘Neighbours wonderfully inconvenience us’

The altar of the World Youth Day opening Mass at Panama City's Cinto Costera peninsula is bathed in the light of the setting sun. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher) ing, the opening ceremony celebrated the universality of the Church as young people dressed in the traditional outfits of their native countries entertained the multitude. Those from Panama presented the pope with a stole made of “mola”, a handmade textile featuring ornate designs that are part of the indigenous Guna people of Panama. In his speech, Pope Francis thanked the young people for coming to Panama and en-

couraged them to be witnesses of the Gospel. While WYD is usually marked by festive celebrations, its goal is not to “create a parallel Church that would be more ‘fun’ or ‘cool’,” the pope said. “That way of thinking,” he said, “would not respect either you or everything that the Spirit is saying through you.” Instead, the pope continued, WYD is an opportunity to reawaken “the Church’s con-

S outher n C ross Pilgrimage

On the final day of WYD, Pope Francis met with people at the Good Samaritan Home for those with HIV/Aids, reflecting on a question Jesus was asked in the Gospels: “Who is my neighbour?” When Jesus was asked to describe a neighbour, he did not respond with “theories, or give a fine, lofty speech”, the pope said at the home. “Instead he told a story—the parable of the Good Samaritan—a concrete example drawn from the real life.” He explained that a neighbour is the person who moves you to stop and “make room”, a person who “wonderfully inconveniences our lives, because this neighbour reminds us and points us towards what is really important, freeing us from all that is trite and superficial in the way we follow the Lord”. Pope Francis also met with WYD volunteers on his final day, to thank them. “Now is the moment when you are sent forth: go out and tell, go out and bear witness, go out and spread the word about everything you have seen and heard,” he told them. “Dear friends, let everyone know about what happened during these days.”

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The Southern Cross, february 6 to february 12, 2019

WORLD YOUTH DAY

The Southern Cross presence at World Youth Day was sponsored by Fowler Tours (www.fowlertours.co.za)

Bishop: SA could A Camino in every way host WYD in 2026 Having travelled to Panama City for World Youth Day, GÜNTHer SIMMerMaCHer shares his impressions of the event and the people who made it happen.

BY GÜNTHer SIMMerMaCHer

AVING witnessed World Youth Day in Panama City, a bishop who led a group of pilgrims from Johannesburg and Klerksdorp, says South Africa has the ability to host the event in the future. “We have the infrastructure; we have a supportive government. The whole of Africa is supportive of Southern Africa bidding for World Youth Day,” Bishop Victor Phalana told The Southern Cross in Panama City. “We have a dynamic Church and we see ourselves as a maturing Church after 200 years of existence in South Africa. We simply need the confidence to raise our hand and say we are ready.” Bishop Phalana said he believes it would take “five years to get our act together”. “We can make a special request to Rome for 2025 or 2028, so that we can have enough time to work towards it,” he said. Bishop Phalana said that the VIPs of the festival were not the pope and clergy, but the youths and volunteers. “The youth maintained a spirit of pilgrimage: attending daily catechesis, adoration, confession and Holy Mass. They walked long distances daily without complaining. They looked after each other and cared about those who were sick and exhausted. This is a beautiful spirit,” he observed. The bishop said highlights in what he described as “well-organised programmes” included the visit to parishes “where we could interact as a smaller group for walks, processions, Masses, sports and meals.”. He also found that “the youth are much closer to the pope than bishops and cardinals. They are the VIPs of this event”. Bishop Phalana was impressed by the spirit of the more than 20 000 volunteers, both youth and adults. “They were always smiling, available, awake, helpful and courteous.” Likewise, he noted that the government was “a true partner to the Panamanian Church”. “There is police visibility everywhere. The state released all its resources to aid the Church in hosting this magnificent event.” Bishop Phalana said being in Panama was “a wonderful experience”. “The country is peaceful and

mirrors, on shop windows, on the shirts of locals. The mint even produced a special one balboa coin featuring the WYD logo. It was a unity in spirit that called to mind the common purpose in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup. Like South Africa, Panama City will come down from that high, and face its ongoing problems. But all of that took a backseat to the festival of faith, the unity of the Church on action.

Bishop Victor Phalana at the Campo San Juan Pablo II where the WYD vigil and closing Mass were held. democracy is holding,” he said, but there is also a huge inequality gap. “The rich are very rich, but the poor live in abject poverty.” His only disappointment was getting ripped off by a taxi driver. “I was very upset, but I realise that everywhere you go, you will always find taxi drivers with criminal attitudes. I did not allow this incident to rob me of my joy and this great adventure of love and prayer,” Bishop Phalana said. Visiting Panama City’s churches was part of that adventure. “The churches here are beautiful. You enter a church and you are immediately struck by the beauty, the architecture and the art.” There was also a special highlight during the time the group spent in the port city of Colon, on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. “I was privileged to go into the canal control room and was asked to open the gates for one of the huge ships passing through. I was a bit nervous and they guided me on how to do it. It was a wonderful experience,” the bishop said. As for the whole WYD, Bishop Phalana said that it “has taught me to take my ministry towards the youth seriously. I must focus on their formation and faith development. I am going back to do something about youth ministry in my diocese”.

FTER a week of catechesis, Masses, devotions, encounters, singing, flag-waving and much fun, the Saturday vigil and the closing Mass the next morning were perhaps the biggest adventures at World Youth Day 2019 as they combined the reverence of faith with a big party and fellowship on a huge camping site—albeit one with a very distinctive agricultural scent—on which these 600 000 pilgrims (according to Vatican figures) spent the night. They had to walk a substantial distance—many three to four hours —in punishing heat to get to the field. The organisers billed it as a “pilgrims’ walk”, and not just to mask the absence of transport possibilities. It was indeed a Camino in every way, and an experience of Christian solidarity as generous residents along the route gave pilgrims refreshments, let them use their toilets, and even hosed them down with water. To get to the starting point of the pilgrims’ route, the young people had to find their own way. Some got transport from their host parishes or used public transport. A group from Namibia travelled from their host parish of Santa Cruz on the notorious diablo rojos, the brightly painted buses that are Panama City’s counterparts to South Africa's minibus taxis, right down to the pumping rap music and cavalier relationship with the rules of traffic.

A transformation Of course, there is a metaphorical journey as well. By the time these young people arrived at Metro Field, renamed Campo San Juan Pablo II for the occasion, they were transformed. Few participants return home without the WYD experience having changed them. These changes may differ from person to person, but usually they are faith-deepening, having experienced faith, its devotion and joys, and shared it with other young people from all over the world. WYD is indeed an expression of solidarity among Catholics. One could observe this as pilgrims exchanged flags, caps, rosaries and so on. The Church, it was clear in

Pope Francis and the youth

a priest blesses a World Youth Day pilgrim after hearing confession at omar Park in Panama City. (Photo: Carlos Jasso, reuters/CNS) Panama City, is not the parish, nor the diocese. The Church is the world: big nations like Mexico, tiny nations like Mauritius, remote nations like Tonga, rich nations like the USA, poor nations like Mali, long marginalised nations like Cuba, troubled nations like Venezuela, rising nations like Angola, oppressed nations like Palestine, once traditionally Catholic nations like France, and nations where the Catholic Church is tiny, like Iceland. At WYD they were one Church, the universal Church. An exuberant, lively and joyful Church. And when the situation called for it, an instantly reverent Church.

Devoutly Catholic Panama In Panama City these qualities were fed by the deep faith of the locals. Panama’s population is 85% Catholic and signs of the faith are everywhere: on the streets named after saints, in taxis which display statues of saints and rosaries, even in a pharmacy in the traditionally working-class suburb of Rio Abajo which besides its pharmaceuticals, airtime and adventurous aphrodisiacs sold a comprehensive range of statues of saints (but also the problematic Santa Muerta). The warmth of the Panamaian people provided a witness of Christian love. A society with its own problems and very visible economic inequality, there was a unifying pride in hosting the world. The WYD logo was everywhere: on welcome banners, on flags, on car

The guarantor of that universal Church is, of course, the successor of St Peter. And like his predecessors, Pope Francis was the mortal star of the show. In a Spanish-speaking country and at an event that drew most of its pilgrims from Latin America, the Argentine pope was in his linguistic element. Those who could understand him cheered often and loudly at his messages. Those who couldn’t simply revelled on his presence. Even if he was a dot on a distant stage, or an image on the screen—the pope was very present. The young people rewarded him with chants in his honour. Pope Francis has a way of working up a crowd. He is not a great orator, but he connects with the people. He had many things to say to the young people, and in many ways did so on their terms. He used the terminology of influencers (Mary wasn’t an influencer, and yet became the “most influential woman in history”), apps and clouds (life, he said, is not a “new app” to be discovered nor “a salvation up ‘in the cloud’, waiting to be downloaded”). Panama City hosted an impressive youth festival. Aside from some accreditation shambles affecting press and even bishops, the event was very well and thoughtfully organised. The papal events were beautifully staged and choreographed, with due reverence, colour and Latin American rhythms. The real heroes of WYD were, however, not the organisers nor the clergy, nor the pope, whose programme was tiring just to follow. The real heroes were the 2 245 foreign volunteers who performed a self-sacrificing service to the People of God who came to Panama to celebrate and deepen their faith—always with love and a smile. Muchas gracias, Panamá! Vemo nos em Lisboa em 2022!

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ORLD Youth Day pilgrims from Johannesburg said they were struck by the generosity shown them by the people of Panama, to the point where they are now truly inspired to change the world. “They showed us humbling love,” said Nicole from Johannesburg of her life-changing experience in the Days in the Diocese in Colon, in which she went from her home city, “where there is so much”, to “a town where they have nothing”. They have nothing, she said, “yet they gave it all to us”. Fellow Johannesburg pilgrim Marco describes this as “the most beautiful face of Jesus you’ll ever see”. It is the time he spent with this “young and most unjaded society”, he said, that made this such a once in a lifetime

experience. “I’m going to go back and change the world,” he said. Why? “Because that’s what’s necessary.” Marco might return in the hope of changing the world, but Nicole went home with every intention of changing herself: “I really am,” she insisted.

Varadzo , another Johannesburg pilgrim, said she had every intention of taking back “some of the love received here”. Because according to all three of the young pilgrims, along with joy, faith, peace and humility “all you need is love!” And to them, Panama had it all.—VaticanNews

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, february 6 to february 12, 2019

Meet SA’s only WYD volunteer Pope: My decision is ‘no to optional celibacy’ A T BY GÜNTHer SIMMerMaCHer

HE primary goal of the Vatican’s February summit on clerical sexual abuse and child protection is to help bishops understand the urgency of the crisis, Pope Francis said. During a news conference with journalists, the pope said the presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences have been called to the February 21-24 meeting at the Vatican to be “made aware of the tragedy” of those abused by members of the clergy. The pope’s international Council of Cardinals suggested the summit after realising that some bishops did not know how to address or handle the crisis on their own, he said. “We felt the responsibility of giving a ‘catechesis’ on this problem to the bishops’ conferences,” he said. “That is why we convoked the presidents” of the conferences, the heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches and representatives of the leadership groups of men’s and women’s reli-

gious orders. Asked about the expectations for the meeting, especially the expectations of Catholics who have grown frustrated with the repeated reports of abuse and cover-up by some bishops, the pope said people need to realise “the problem of abuse will continue”. “It is a human problem, a human problem (that is) everywhere,” he said. Speaking with journalists for nearly an hour, the pope was asked whether he would consider a general acceptance of married men into the Latin-rite priesthood in a way similar to the practice of the Eastern Catholic Churches. “In the Eastern rite, they can do it. They make the choice between celibacy or marriage before they’re ordained into the diaconate,” he explained. “When it comes to the Latin rite, a phrase said by St Paul VI comes to mind: ‘I would rather give my life than change the law

on celibacy.’” The pope said he personally believes that “celibacy is a gift to the Church” and that while the prospect of married priests could one day be considered in remote areas that lack priests, he did not agree “with allowing optional celibacy”. “My decision is: no optional celibacy,” the pope said. “I will not do this. I don’t feel like I could stand before God with this decision.” Speaking about women who had been through an abortion, the pope said: “People do not understand the trauma women go through after an abortion. Often those who regret their abortions “feel the need to reconcile and rejoin their child”. “I tell them, ‘Your child is in heaven, talk to him, sing them the lullaby you were never able to sing to them,’“ Pope Francis said. “There, a path of reconciliation can be found between mother and child. Forgiveness with God is already there. God always forgives.”—CNS

Panama mosque offers free water to World Youth Day pilgrims BY rHINa GuIDoS

HOUSANDS of World Youth Day pilgrims stopped by the Jumma Mosque en route to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis. “Brothers, sisters, you need water,” Hashim Bhana yelled at them from under a tent that announced a “hydration centre” outside the mosque, a place where pilgrims could pick up free water, or catch some needed shade and a smile as they struggled to stay hydrated under the blazing sun. “This is an event for the good of young people, it benefits them so how could we say no” to helping them, said Mr Bhana. While hundreds of vendors sold water to the thirsty, the Muslim community at the oldest mosque in Panama City gave it away for free near a banner that said, “Welcome

Muslims handed out complimentary cold bottles of water at the Jumma Mosque in Panama City to pilgrims as they waited to welcome Pope francis to World Youth Day. (Photo: Chaz Muth/CNS) Pilgrim Friends”. By the time Pope Francis had arrived at Santa Maria la Antigua Field, they had handed out 15 000 bottles and were looking for more because of the demand, said Mr Bhana.

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In Panama City, people of different religions get along well, he said, so the gesture was not unusual. “What’s important to us is that we’re all brothers and sisters. We don’t ask about your religion, your skin colour, age. We’re all humans and we want everyone to be well,” said Kasim Bhana, who was helping distribute water. Having the pope in Panama City is a blessing, he said, adding that the venues for many of the events were near the mosque and they did not want the pilgrims to dehydrate or suffer. The mosque’s members took turns staffing the water stations during the hottest times of the day. But on the day the pope was going to be closest to the mosque, they opened earlier. “This was the best day,” he said.— CNS

MONG the 2245 foreign volunteers at World Youth Day was one South African—and he had to fill many different functions. Denzel Swarts of Cape Town was inspired to volunteer at WYD in Panama after first participating in the event as a pilgrim in Sydney in 2008. After that experience, “I wanted to give back through the means of being of service to other pilgrims and to Christ,” Mr Swarts told The Southern Cross in Panama City. As a volunteer he was assigned various tasks, from being an information point at a metro station one hour out of the city to being assistant in first aid to the firefighters. He even served at the WYD football tournament. “We received extensive training in the task we needed to perform,” Mr Swarts said, adding that this was why volunteers were required to arrive in Panama City at least a week before WYD began. For Mr Swarts this was the fourth consecutive WYD. This year’s was, for obvious reasons, more challenging than others, but he said it was a rewarding experience. “Being a volunteer gives you very little opportunity to enjoy the cen-

Denzel Swarts, South africa’s only volunteer at WYD. tral acts and WYD events, but seeing the faces of pilgrims light up because you assisted them finding their way around and helping to give them a non-worrying faith experience was just so much more rewarding,” said the parishioner of St Timothy’s parish in Tafelsig, Mitchell’s Plain. He said that English might have been a challenge for the hosts, “but the hospitality of the Panamaians was remarkable”. In all three appearances by the pope at general WYD events, “I had close encounters, being separated from him by just a steel barrier and his bodyguards. Not enough to shake his hand, but close enough,” Mr Swart said.

Lisbon chosen for WYD 2022 as a bridge to Africa BY GÜNTHer SIMMerMaCHer

OPE Francis chose Lisbon as the host for WYD 2022 because the Portuguese capital represents a gateway to Africa, according to the city’s cardinal. At a press conference, Cardinal Manuel Clemente of Lisbon said the main events of WYD 2022 will be held on the banks of the Tagus, “in a vast land, a beautiful site, near the wide sea that resembles the Sea of Galilee”. The site is easily accessible by road and railway. The cardinal said that one of the reasons Pope Francis chose Lisbon was “the connection of Portugal with African countries”. Fr Alexandre Awi Mello, secretary of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family,

and Life, reiterated that the link between Portugal and the Portuguesespeaking countries of Africa—such as Angola, Mozambique and Cape Verde—and others around the word—such as Brazil, Timor Leste and Macau—will be of particular significance for the next WYD. Lisbon’s Mayor Fernando Medina pledged his city’s commitment and thanked the Portuguese Church and the Vatican for “the trust” placed in the city. Calling Lisbon the “capital of tolerance and peace”, Mr Medina said it is the most appropriate place to celebrate WYD 2022. The mayor told reporters that at the end of the closing Mass, Pope Francis smiled and told him: “You will have a lot of responsibility!”

The Southern Cross, february 6 to february 12, 2019

LOCAL

How to cope today without going crazy BY JuDY SToCKIll

EACE was the theme at Koinonia in Johannesburg when about 70 people, not all of them Dominicans, attended the annual Dominican Day, sharing and reflecting on the subject of coping with the stress of our times. In the opening reflection, Sr Mary Tuck and Professor Terry Sacco paid tribute to nature poet and Pulitzer Prize-winner Mary Oliver, who died this year. They recited together the apt poem “Wage Peace” by Judyth Hill, and led the community in a meditative breathing exercise—a perfect lead-in to the first talk.

Building islands of sanity Sr Ann Wigley spoke of building islands of sanity, drawing on the work of writer Margaret Wheatley in Who Do We Chose to Be? and the new book by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in Without Going Crazy. She used images of the beauty of the earth and the cosmos contrasted with pictures and manmade rubbish, of young people full of hope contrasted with children in extreme poverty. Sr Wigley drew attention to global and national problems, perpetuated by greedy and self-interested leaders, about which we can do nothing, suggesting that these are the signs of end times, of our civilisation in decline. “Our response,” she said, “should be to make what small changes we can; be and build an island of sanity; recognise, support, and share islands of sanity

Dominicans and others attended the annual Dominican Day at Koinonia in Johannesburg. The event focused on sharing and reflection on coping with stress. (from left) organisers fr Neil Mitchell and Professor Terry Sacco with speakers Nozizwe Madlala-routledge and Sr ann Wigley oP. (Photo: Judy Stockill) around us.” “In our exhausted civilisation and exhausting times we should ask ourselves,” Sr Wigley said, “What breaks my heart? What makes me feel truly alive? What is my calling? Am I living in service of compassion and justice?” The answers to these questions are to be found in community, she offered. “An example is the growth from protest by Occupy Wall Street activists to Occupy Spirituality and the movement of new monasticism among the younger generation.” Sr Wigley cited many examples

of islands of sanity in our experience—our Catholic institutions such as the Catholic Institute of Education; people like Bishop Desmond Tutu, the late Nelson Mandela and the late Archbishop Denis Hurley; as well as little people who, for example, make gardens and create art in the midst of chaos. “Become an island of sanity, find your community,” she encouraged those present. During the leisurely tea break, there was ample opportunity to greet friends not regularly seen and discuss the topic.

In her talk on peacebuilding and conflict in Africa, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge focused on South Africa and its peaceful overthrow of the apartheid regime, referring by contrast to other African countries. Her experience of Africa includes her service on the steering committee of the Pan-African Peacebuilding and Nonviolence Network. Mrs Madlala-Routledge is a former South African deputy minister of defence—a strange appointment for a pacifist, said Fr Neil Mitchell who introduced her—and a former deputy minister of health. She was dismissed by then-president Thabo Mbeki when she disagreed with his views on HIV/Aids and anti-retrovirals. Mrs Madlala-Routledge is also a former director of the Quaker Peace Centre. Her husband Jeremy Routledge, seated beside her during her talk, was a co-creator of the Pan-Africa Peacebuilding and Nonviolence Network.

Dealing creatively with conflict In her talk, Mrs Madlala-Routledge said that peace does not mean that there is no conflict, but that creative ways of dealing with conflict have been found. Creation, she said, implies peace and harmony, but humans disrupt harmony—even of creation, climate change being an example. “Even when the people of a country are peaceful, as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

and Zimbabwe, warlords and state violence are hard to resist,” Mrs Madlala-Routledge said. Moving to South Africa, she said that former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s call for a commission into state capture was a courageous non-violent act. Mrs Madlala-Routledge spoke of her disappointment that her comrades in the struggle for freedom have proved to be motivated by self-interest. During the struggle, the Routledge home was a safe haven for youths fleeing the violence of the townships. In 1988 Mrs MadlalaRoutledge spent a year in solitary confinement. “Peace can be built only if there is a desire to end violence or structural violence, for example, poverty, only if there is a determination not to use violence. Non-violence fosters trust and solidarity, and changes hearts and relationships,” she said. “Sustainable peace,” noted Mrs Madlala-Routledge, “needs sustainable economic development. My comrades need reminding of why they are in politics.”

God as non-violent God The day concluded with Mass. In his homily, Fr Neil Mitchell, a friend of the Routledges, spoke of Jesus reading from the scroll of Isaiah and telling the Israelites that there would be no day of vengeance and that God is a nonviolent God. “That may have shocked the Jewish theologians of Jesus’ time but for us today it is cause for joy,” Fr Mitchell said.

The Southern Cross, february 6 to february 12, 2019

LOCAL

Radio Veritasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Men in Christ show Papal report on women deacons promises strong lineup in 2019 BY erIN CarelSe

submitted: SA view BY erIN CarelSe

ADIO Veritasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Men in Christâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;The Essence of the Christian Manâ&#x20AC;? show ended 2018 with a bang, and members are ready, with the Holy Spirit as their guide, to continue their 2019 journey as men in the world today. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A new year, a new challenge,â&#x20AC;? said Carlos Camara, a member of the Men In Christ team. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are looking forward to another blessed year.â&#x20AC;? Billed as â&#x20AC;&#x153;a show for men by menâ&#x20AC;? but for all to listen to and participate in, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Men in Christâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;The Essence of the Christian Manâ&#x20AC;? encourages men to become more involved in the Church, in their homes, and in their communities. Last year saw the team venture out on their first trip outside of Gauteng, when they went on a road trip to Malelane in Mpumalanga for a retreat with men from the area. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was hot, both in temperature as well as the spirit moving,â&#x20AC;? said Mr Camara. Heading into the Christmas break, the team hosted a â&#x20AC;&#x153;carols by candlelightâ&#x20AC;? event at the Padre Pio centre in Pretoria. Mr Camara described the occasion as â&#x20AC;&#x153;joyous â&#x20AC;? and said all who attended had a great experience, picnic baskets and all, at a centre that is very dear to Men In Christ. Their radio show is growing from strength to strength as the team becomes more comfortable

radio Veritasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Men in Christâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;The essence of the Christian Manâ&#x20AC;? show will be running a retreat in Carletonville, western Gauteng, on the theme of prayer, among other things helping men to pray for their families, businesses, and brothers and sisters. in the studio. Among the studio guests Men in Christ had in 2018 were a team from Bibles for Africa and representatives from the Breast Cancer Awareness in Men organisation. The group ended the year off with a â&#x20AC;&#x153;live outside broadcastâ&#x20AC;? in Krugersdorp. Mr Camara said they have many plans for 2019. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our show is up and running, and in 2019 weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be sharing some exciting topics, such as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Life Coaching Through Scriptureâ&#x20AC;? and a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Men Arise Seriesâ&#x20AC;?. Men in Christ will be hosting a

retreat in Carletonville, western Gauteng, on the theme of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lord Teach Us Toâ&#x20AC;? which, among other things, will help men to pray, for their families, businesses, brothers and sisters. The retreat will take place from February 15-17 at Red Cap Lodge. The cost is R800. For more information phone Albert on 082 821-9585 or Carlos on 082 402-5319. n The Men in Christ show airs on Radio Veritas every Wednesday at 19:00 on 576AM (in Gauteng), DStv audio channel 870, or streamed on www.radioveritas.co.za

R Annemarie Paulin-Campbell of the Jesuit Institute stayed up into the early hours to tune into a live American panel discussion on the future of women deacons, following the submission to Pope Francis of a papal report on the issue. The popeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Study Commission on the Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Diaconate, which consisted of 12 members, six women and six men, was tasked with reviewing the theology and history of the office of deacon in the Catholic Church, and whether the early Church ordained women as deacons. Dr Paulin-Campbell unpacks what Pope Francis might do next with the commissionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For the first time since the pope established the commission to study the question of women deacons, two distinguished scholars and members of the commission, Phyllis Zagano and Fr Bernard Pottier SJ, spoke publicly. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The panel also included Sr Donna Ciangio OP, chancellor of Newark archdiocese, who spoke about how people in the pews in the United States feel about the possibility of women deacons. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The scholars said there is overwhelming archaeological and literary evidence that women were ordained deacons up until the end of the 12th century in the West.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The female diaconate was suppressed when the Church began to view the diaconate as a transitional role en route to the priesthood only, and not as a ministry in its own right. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Church teaching was that women couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be priests (and so, they could therefore not be deacons either). â&#x20AC;&#x153;However, during Vatican II, the Church reclaimed the diaconate as its own ministry. While it remains a step to priesthood for some, there are also many permanent male deacons (mostly married) not on a priesthood track. So that argument for not having women deacons has evaporated. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The research confirmed that ceremonies for the ordination of male and female deacons were the same. They included the laying on of hands, epiclesis (calling down of the Holy Spirit), and investiture with a stole. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If the pope approves women deacons, it is likely that individual bishopsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; conferences will decide on ordaining women deacons in their dioceses. Although we have yet to hear from the pope, there seems to be a real possibility that there could be movement coming on this issue soon. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are about 45 000 permanent deacons in the world, men who can preach, witness marriages, and perform baptisms, among other duties.â&#x20AC;?

Young St Dominicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bowler achieves a rare hat-trick

T rarely happens, especially at Under-9 level, that a bowler in cricket takes a hat-trick (bowling out three batsmen in consecutive deliveries). Playing against Port Alfredâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Under-9 cricket team, Grade 3 pupil Songezo Mtolo (pictured left) at St Dominicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Priory School came on to bowl after James Fullbrook and Deacon Meyer (both Grade 3 too) had

bowled excellently. During young Songezoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s over, he clean-bowled a batsman. In came the next batsman and he too was clean-bowled, this time by the first ball he faced. Songezo had two wickets in two balls. In came the next batsman and, lo and behold, he was also clean-bowled first ball. A very special hat-trick. Well done Songezo!

Is God calling you to ministry? Been dropped in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;at the deep endâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;? Do you want to grow your ministry skills?

amalia Snyman, 97, of Maria regina parish in Pretoria, was awarded the papal Bene Merenti medal for her many years of service to the Church. archbishop William Slattery presented her with the medal and certificate at a Mass and ceremony attended by her three children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. (Photo: luis DeNobrega)

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Bene Merenti medal for Pretoria woman

N recognition of her lifetime of service to the Church, 97year-old Amalia Snyman received from Archbishop William Slattery the Bene Merenti papal medal and certificate in her home parish of Maria Regina in Pretoria. Mrs Snyman worked tirelessly among Allied troops in Florence, Italy, during World

War II. In 1947 she married Ockert Snyman, who brought her to South Africa where she immediately immersed herself in working in military Catholic communities, including Saldanha Bay and Voortrekkerhoogte. In 1992, after her husbandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death, she joined the parish of

Maria Regina where she was instrumental in raising funds for the Holy Cross Home in Lady Selborne. Mrs Snyman continues to visit Holy Cross Home every month. She had the joy of her three children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren present at her award Mass.

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Registration for 2019 opens on 1 November 2018. Theological Education by Extension College W www.tee.co.za E admin@tee.co.za T (011) 683 3284 The Theological Education by Extension College is registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training as a Private Higher Education Institution under the Higher Education Act 101 of 1997 5HJLVWUDWLRQ &HUWLĂ&#x20AC; FDWH 1R +( 1RQ 3URĂ&#x20AC; W &RPSDQ\ 5HJLVWUDWLRQ 1R

The Southern Cross, february 6 to february 12, 2019

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

May Spirit inspire clergy to back Southern Cross ONGRATULATIONS for once ter off the Internet, I feel adequately cis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, especially C again producing a top-quality informed of the state of Catholi- after the dire warnings from the paper over the last year. The South- cism generally. United Nations’ COP24 in Poland

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

WYD in SA?

HE announcement that the next World Youth Day, in 2022, will be held in Lisbon, disappointed many Africans who are still waiting for the event to be hosted on their continent. There are indeed good reasons to have a WYD in Africa. For one thing, Pope Francis seeks to go to the peripheries. Appointing Panama to host WYD was an example of that; awarding it to Africa would be another. The continent has the fastestgrowing Catholic population in the world, and it rarely hosts the Catholic world for popular events, such as WYDs or Eucharistic Congresses. Africans state a valid case when they claim feelings of exclusion. At the same time, it is also true that cities, African or otherwise, have to bid for such events. The Church in Southern Africa—one of the more plausible candidates to host events such as WYD—is still contemplating the possibility of applying to host a WYD. Such a decision requires thorough thinking, deep research and exploratory negotiations. This year’s WYD in Panama City, and 2013’s event in Rio de Janeiro, provide our Church with valuable case studies, since South Africa shares some similarities with those host cities. Panama, Brazil and South Africa are societies in which extreme wealth and abject poverty live cheek-by-jowl. The social problems which huge inequality gaps create are not dissimilar. Unlike Panama, South Africa has already proven that it can host massive events, including the biggest of them all: the football World Cup. Panama did a marvellous job of hosting an almost flawless WYD, in which the niggles were of a bureaucratic rather than logistic nature. And in doing so, Panama had some advantages over any South African city which might have ideas of hosting a WYD. The national and civic governments were highly engaged and motivated partners in providing a logistical report for WYD (which included, as it was in South Africa in 2010, the removal of homeless people from the urban streets). Clearly, this was seen as a prestige project by politicians in a country where 85% of the pop-

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.

ulation is Catholic, and the hundreds of millions of rands it costs to stage the event were seen as worth the public investment. And in a mainly Catholic country, it is easier to justify the expenditure on what, in political terms, is a prestige project than it is in a country where the Catholic Church is a minority, as it is in South Africa. To what extent would the South African government be willing to support a Catholic event, even one that might bring in a few hundreds of thousand of people to the country? Would the host city’s metro be willing to offer hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims free transport for a week? To what extent would business be involved, in funding and providing free services to pilgrims? Would society put up with serious inconveniences like road closures? Would non-Catholic residents welcome masses of young Catholics on their streets? Would a South African WYD get the public buy-in? Would it attract the 20 000 volunteers which Panama fielded to stage a successful event? And what of the South African media, which barely registers that the Catholic Church exists outside bubbles of scandal? Would they support a venture such as WYD, especially if funds that could be used for social projects are diverted to a festival for a minority religion? And would South Africa’s faithful be motivated to muster the necessary enthusiasm to promote and aid WYD? Most importantly, could South Africa guarantee the safety of pilgrims who, by force, would do a lot of walking? There are also financial concerns for the local Church. If South Africa were to host a WYD, would foreign donors get the idea that the Church here no longer needs funding? And could the Church absorb potential shortfalls in funding for hosting WYD, with the attendant risk of assuming an oppressive burden of debt? The reasons why South Africa should and could host a WYD are obvious, but before these are tabled, the local Church will need to address all the reasons why it might not be able to. Only then would it make sense to decide whether to issue a bid to the Vatican.

ern Cross, more than any other Catholic publication, leads the drive of evangelisation with a steady weekly shot in the arm throughout the country. How you manage this year after year continues to amaze me. You must be on very good terms with the Holy Spirit! As for the Christmas issue, what a truly magnificent achievement. Between the weekly Southern Cross and the daily Vatican newslet-

Let’s look again at sacraments fees

EGARDING the cost of the sacraments and the need for the Church to survive in Fr Chris Townsend’s column “Let’s talk about money” (January 9), I believe the Church needs good souls more than money. Nevertheless, I offer some suggestions on financing parish priests: • The biggest bill, levies to the diocese, could be calculated on a tax scale of the percentage of monthly income received. • If priests took a vow of chastity and poverty, we would have no problems. Our priests would live like the Apostles. • Priests could generate income by using the presbytery as a minimonastery or hostel, with paid accommodation for Catholic single students/mature men. This would also help priests’ security problems. • If priests combined mealtimes with pastoral visits, food bills would be reduced. • A collection could be held at sacramental services, so there would be no need for individuals to pay for the sacraments. • When priests need a holiday/trip, a special collection could be held. • Supporting the poor should be done in return for work. • The presbytery could run a vegetable garden. • The Church hierarchy, which lacks the image of a humble Jesus, could look at decentralising, and giving more power to priests. Maria Joag, Cape Town

CWD collapse: damning silence

WOULD hope in all sincerity that the deafening silence on the causes of the demise of Catholic Welfare & Development (CWD) in the archdiocese of Cape Town does not mean that this catastrophe is being swept under the carpet.

Catholic news that COUNTS Print or Digital

SUBSCRIBE Digital: R420 • Print R500 • Call Michelle 021 465 5007 or email subscriptions@scross.co.za • www.scross.co.za/subscribe The Catholic Newspaper, Standard Bank, Thibault Square Branch Code:020909, Acc No: 071534342

But I would like more: without a steady output of information from the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, we laity suffer from a great shortage of meaningful episcopal news. There also needs to be far more involvement and appreciation of the thinking of the laity, particularly concerning the Church’s active participation in the urgent matter of climate change. We should promote Pope Fran-

in December on climate change. May 2019 be the year when the bishops and clergy in South Africa are imbued by the Holy Spirit to raise the necessary support for The Southern Cross. May our Church hierarchy promote such funding initiatives as the Associates Campaign, and also promote the newspaper in dioceses and parishes to ensure its ongoing success and survival. Antonio Tonin, East London

The front-page announcement in The Southern Cross late last year gave very little detail except for a comment from Cape Town archdiocese: “The financial crises that have led to the agency’s collapse can be ascribed to a combination of factors, including rapidly diminishing funding and strategic misjudgments.” Frankly, calling these “strategic misjudgments” is misleading in the extreme. Considering the fact that this once-largest and most successful NGO in the Western Cape was allowed to collapse completely, we are not dealing with mere “strategic misjudgements” but rather negligence on a massive scale. Given the thousands of poor and underprivileged who depended on the CWD for their very existence, those responsible for this debacle should not be allowed to quietly disappear in anonymity, if only because of the danger that they might wreak havoc somewhere else. No matter how little influence Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town might have had on the CWD due to its constitution, the fact is this was very much a Catholic institution and as such the buck has to be placed at the door of the bishops. Hopefully, the archbishop will not sit back and wish this tragedy away. I fear that without a full, transparent and independent investigation into all the factors and individuals contributing to this disaster, the Church might well find itself in the same situation as the ANC under the Zuma administration, swamped with accusations of cover-ups and whitewashing. It is also an extremely lame excuse to suggest that the downfall of the CWD was in part due to a lack of funding. Other charitable institutions have continued to succeed in

raising funds in spite of tough times. The paucity of funding at the CWD was quite plainly the result of lack of effort, lack of skills, and a complete lack of commitment. It is clear now that the people on the executive of the CWD these past few years lacked the management skills and aptitude to do the job. So those who appointed them should be held to account. The Catholic Church worldwide has been accused of cover-ups and obfuscation, and one hopes that here in South Africa those who administer the affairs of our Church will not succumb to the same temptation. The mass of poor people who have been deprived of help, along with the many good people who worked so hard to build the CWD into something so formidable, deserve answers on how and why the CWD carpet was swept so unceremoniously from under their feet. Unless this happens, donors will start avoiding Catholic charities like the plague. Chris Moerdyk, Cape Town

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. Letters can be sent to PO Box 2372, Cape Town 8000 or editor@scross.co.za or faxed to 021 465-3850

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McNamaras seek family information

UR family is looking for any information readers may have on or recollections of the following two family members: • Fr Henry McNamara, who studied in Rome in the 1800s, was the first priest to write articles in Afrikaans for The Southern Cross and also sent in chess problems. He was the parish priest in Knysna for 27 years, and died at Bromwell House in Woodstock, Cape Town, in 1933. • Edward McNamara (brother of Fr Henry McNamara), possibly born around 1907. His children were baptised at St Agnes’ parish in Woodstock and he was married to Alice Staton. They lived at 11 York Road, Woodstock. Please contact me at mcnamara @iway.na if you have any information. Shelagh McNamara, Swakopmund, Namibia

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PERSPECTIVES

Why we need to revisit the past Fr Chris H Townsend OLIDAYS are a great time to chill, relax and have a chance to allow your mind to wonder. I am not a New Year’s resolution type of guy, for consistency is everything and minor adjustments all the time turn Titanics. I don’t think lists do that. In the spirit of consistency, every holiday I choose one book that comes out of the blue to surprise me. This year I was confronted with the magnificent The Man Who Killed Apartheid: The life of Dimitri Tsafendas, by Harris Dousementsis with Gerry Loughran (Jacana, 2018). “Confront” truly is the right word for this very important work that presents its readers with a different view of an often glossed-over event in South African history: the assassination (Tsafendas called it the “execution” or “tyrannicide”) of Prime Minister Hendrik F Verwoerd in the House of Assembly on September 6, 1966. While I leave to you to buy the book and read the impressive research and presentation, I will say that it is, simply put, a book that asks all South Africans to continue, or begin, a process of re-looking at our history. Tsafendas is often reduced to the “tapeworm-led” parliamentary messenger who stabbed Verwoerd. Dousementsis makes a very compelling case for this to be re-examined. What stood out for me in the book, however, was the presentation of Hendrik Verwoerd, the immigrant whom Tsafendas called “Hitler’s best student”. Coming from immigrant stock myself and having heard my family’s stories of the horrors of Nazism, it amazes me that it has taken us so long to recognise that South Africa under Verwoerd and cohorts was being fashioned into a new Nazism. We still have not recovered. The privilege and the hurt still confound and dictate so much of our lives as South Africans today. I was struck by how easily a few more years of the malevolent genius of Verwoerd

could have led South Africa along the paths of a Nazi-style system that could have become Africa’s first post-colonial genocide, long before Rwanda. So there is, in a sense which nonetheless does not condone murder, some historical fortune in the “tyrannicide” of Verwoerd. Many questions remain—the what ifs, imaginations, counterfactual history and so on. But where does this leave us as Catholics?

n looking at this book and the alternative reading of history—factual and well-documented—that it presents, there are a number of things which we as Catholics must face. First, we need to realise that in South Africa’s transition, the Truth and Reconciliation process was never entirely truthful nor was the reconciliation it sought ever realised in local community living. Perhaps it’s up to us in parish communities and dioceses to take the brave steps of creating spaces for stories and healing. I’m not one for the “Healing of the Family Tree” and other such nonsense that so many get caught up in. But in terms of our South African Family Tree, the first step to healing is a recognition that we’ll remain light years away from achieving the possibility of unity, a common purpose, and a

The cover of The Man Who Killed Apartheid, and Hendrik Verwoerd in 1958.

Pastor’s Notebook

“welcome home” unless we actively strive for the telling and hearing of our stories. These are not the stories told in textbooks but in our neighbourhood groups and parishes. Maybe it’s a time for a revitalised Justice & Peace ministry? The second great project we need to embark on is a telling of our Catholic story. Not the story of an exhausted, irrelevant, ageing Church which so many see today, but of the personal choices and religiously motivated convictions of so many Catholics (and many others, of course) who stood up to the apartheid Nazi and suffered under his jackboot. There are so many untold, unheard and unremembered stories that need to be hauled out of that courageous era and rewritten into a common, democratic and human history of South Africa. And then, of course, there is the issue of the now: the election year, the stories, the Nazi-like actions of some political hotshots today and the very loose relationship that political parties have with truth (sign the Disclosure of Political Parties Funding Bill, Mr Ramaphosa!). But let’s remember that this is not a new invention. The National Party and others played enormous truth-and-propaganda games. The Verwoerds benefited from state tenders, as is contended in The Man Who Killed Apartheid. Then, when we recognise that South Africa is very good at replacing elites (or window dressing their replacement, as seen recently in the horrific Johann Rupert interview), we will realise that true power doesn’t lie in money or politics but in a common and purposeful humanity—one that tells an honest, local story.

Open the Church to celibacy debate Keenan I Williams FIND it quite strange that when there is debate about whether the Catholic Church should ease its compulsory celibacy discipline, many protest against it. But maybe it is time that the Church evolves and shifts her thinking, as in the 1960s with the implementation of the Second Vatican Council. Perhaps we should allow the Holy Spirit to direct us in guiding us towards what would be best for the people of God, and those tasked to go out and make disciples of all nations in the role of priest. Often I kneel in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament and think about what my life would be like if I had answered the call to become a priest. I opted for marriage, and I am very happy in having answered that call to be a husband and now a father to our baby girl. However, if the married priest option was available to me, I would grab it with both hands. It is something I prayed about in my youth, but God also called me to be a family man. Perhaps one day I will study theology and pray for a vocation in the diaconate. There is an inconsistency in us accepting Anglican priests and their families into our clerical fold, but when a Catholic priest decides to pack his things and leave the lonely life of being a bachelor, often he is left alone with just the clothes on his back. Sadly, the process of theological training at seminaries does not equip some priests to live and work in the secular arena.

Talking faith

May the Church allow the Holy Spirit to renew it again and ease the priestly celibacy discipline. Many congregations and orders do actually get their religious to back their ministry with something which can assist in their proclamation of the Gospel in the secular world. But often our diocesan priests, many of whom decided to join the seminary straight out of school, are not ready for the “outside world” if they ever opt to leave the priesthood. Many of these men who have sacrificed their time and their lives in building up the Church are left to struggle and suffer on their own. I know of cases where bishops and other clergy have been nasty to priests who have decided to answer God’s “other” call. It’s like we forget that St Peter, the first pope, was married. And so were many other Latin-rite Catholic priests, bishops and popes of the early Church.

One of the reasons why mandatory celibacy for Latin-rite priests was implemented was to end corruption and nepotism by married clergy. Many bishops, and even popes, were married with families of their own. They would often give Church land to their children. The corruption even extended to some popes manipulating their sons or nephews into being next in line to the papal throne. Today, regulations could be put in place to ensure that this sort of corruption is kept out of our Mother Church—and we could take a few leaves out of the books of other churches which allow married clergy. Juggling the life of being a married man, a father, and priest cannot be easy, but it is not impossible. I am not advocating that the Church be obligated to support married priests, their wives, children, and lifestyles. Rather, I ask that the Church consider relaxing its celibacy laws so that married priests go out and work in the secular arena while those who opt to remain celibate be supported by the Church (if need be). The Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic rites and Continued on Page 11

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The Southern Cross, february 6 to february 12, 2019

Cackie Upchurch

God and The Bible

Jesus reassures us repeatedly: ‘Don’t be afraid’

‘A

LWAYS be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” These words, from 1 Peter 3:15, presume that hope is an essential characteristic of God’s people. They seem particularly timely in our current world situation and in the midst of recent revelations about abusive and criminal behaviour within our Church. Are we naïve to have hope in times such as ours? Are we simply being optimistic rather than realistic? The symbol Christians often associate with hope is the anchor. Hebrews 6:19 refers to hope as “the anchor of the soul, sure and firm”. The funny thing about anchors is that as big and as heavy as they are, they do their real work below the surface, not seen until lifted from the water for the vessel to move forward. Anchors secure in place anything from a dinghy to a cruise ship, making sure the vessel is not carried away by rough tides and bitter winds. The question for us is, what is it that anchors our individual lives and the life of our faith communities? The Bible reveals that God is both the source of our hope and its goal. The Bible does not say hope is easy. It is built on trusting in God, a God who, the Bible tells us, is constant in his care of us. God’s care may come in the form of liberation (Ex 15), or a king’s anointing (2 Sam 2:1-7; 5:1-5), or the opportunity to repent of sin and return to the covenant (Joel 2:12-18). It may be demonstrated in the more personal stories of healing (Lk 5:12-26), forgiveness (Jn 8:1-11), assurance (Mt 6:25-34), and even correction (Mk 10:35-45). We trust in God not because we are optimistic but because God is faithful. Praying with the Bible’s teachings and stories helps us to recognise God’s faithfulness and abiding care in our own lives and in the lives of those we love. These are the essential building blocks of the Christian virtue of hope.

eflecting on God’s care is a way of meditating on the overarching promise of God to be with us. The ultimate promise of God’s abiding presence came in the form of a child born in Bethlehem, whose very name, Emmanuel, means “God is with us”. We are not promised health, or freedom from persecution, or an easy life. We are promised that God is with us. In the life and death of Jesus we see that God walks with us, suffers with us, rejoices with us and, in the end, shares the fullness of life with us. This is the rock-solid foundation of our hope. It orients us towards the future by grounding us in God’s goodness in the past and present, a goodness we sometimes fail to see even as it anchors us. Seen in this way, Christian hope cannot be confused with mere optimism. It is not equivalent to a cheery outlook on life, and does not depend on outside circumstances. Hope is deeply rooted in our belief in and experience of God. It is so definitely long-term that we dare not confine it to small moments or specific situations. It may begin in sacred moments, but hope pushes us towards the future; it pushes us towards a larger horizon than what we now see; it asks us to be courageous. Some would say that despair is the opposite of hope, but perhaps its true opposite is fear. When we fear change, we dare not hope for something new. When we fear intimacy, we dare not hope for authentic love. When we fear loss, we dare not invest ourselves in anything we cannot control. When we fear pain, we dare not spend ourselves on the hard work of building the kingdom. Jesus says simply, “Do not be afraid”, using words that are repeated so many times in the Bible that we could read a different passage with this phrase every day of the year. These four simple words remind us still that hope, and not fear, anchors us in Christ. In these days when our Church is suffering the effects of its own sinfulness, we still have reason to hope. The reason is not a “what” but a “who”. We join with Timothy who says: “I know him in whom I have put my trust” (2 Tim 1:12). n This is the eighth in a ten-part series of articles produced by Little Rock Scripture Study and first published in the Arkansas Catholic.

The Southern Cross, february 6 to february 12, 2019

LIFESTORY

How Danny met Domitilla In the second article in his four-part series on the lives of Little Eden founder Domitilla Rota Hyams and her husband Danny, Daluxolo MoloaNToa tells of how three POWs fell for an Italian village girl.

AST week we left the escaped prisoner of war Danny Hyams of Johannesburg as he was on his way to the northern Italian village of Albenza to see La Signora Elvira Rota about a boil that had grown below his chin. As Danny knocked on the door of the Rota household, he and his village minder were greeted by a smiling young lady, Elvira’s daughter Domitilla. She was not put off by the young soldier’s face which was wrapped in a piece of black cloth to hide the boil. The Rota family was not unfamiliar with vagrant, ailing prisoners of war. Every day for the preceding nine months Domitilla had been taking a pot of warm minestrone soup to a group of fugitive Serbian POWs hid-

ing in the forest below Bergamo. She did that notwithstanding the fact that anyone found harbouring a prisoner of war could be summarily executed by Mussolini’s fascist army. Danny later recalled: “La Signora Elvira was held in very high esteem by the villagers in Albenza. A true point for all in need, she was a nurse, the village midwife and above all, she was always ready to help anyone who knocked on her door. “I came to regard her as the greatest woman I’d ever met: courageous, self-sacrificing and deeply Christian.” After some hair-raising close shaves with Mussolini’s army, the danger of capture diminished. Danny and his close friend, fellow South African soldier Owen Fox, were rescued from their mountain hideout and sheltered in an almost derelict building provided by Elvira. They soon found themselves visiting the family home—and the Rota girls!—more and more, so much so that they were soon accepted as extended members of the family. The respectful term “La Signora” for Elvira soon turned into the endearment of “Mamma Rota”. Just before the official end of the war, Domitilla asked Danny and

Domitilla and Danny Hyams, surrounded by some of the residents from the little eden home which they founded, on Domitilla’s 90th birthday in 2008. (Photos courtesy little eden Society)

Owen for advice regarding a marriage proposal which she had received from Mirko, one of the Serb POWs. In the absence of a father or other male figure in the Rota family, Danny and his colleague assumed that the request was made on the basis that they were male, and a bit older than the Serb proposer. What followed was a twist and unpredictable series of events. Danny later explained: “Counselling had not been part of our military training. We suggested that Domitilla seek advice from Mamma or [her older sisters] Esta or Pia, or from all three.”

Suddenly in love Going “home” that night, Danny and Owen were quiet. Suddenly Owen said: “I want to marry Domitilla”. Danny immediately replied: “I think I do too”. “Were we crazy?” Danny would later ask, rhetorically. “What exactly did we find appealing in this unassuming and young Italian lass with her simple innocence, and a devotion to her daily Mass? Perhaps, like me, Owen suddenly came to the realisation that here was a pearl of great worth.” The very next day, “We gave Domitilla a hundred reasons why she should not accept Mirko’s proposal.” Although there was little possibility of the South African pair being recaptured at this late stage, they waited until mid-April, when the Allied Forces crossed into Bergamo, before showing their hand. Now that they were certain to go home, action was needed. But Owen, who had been the first to state his wish to marry Domitilla, was too shy to proceed. “I then took Domitilla aside and blurted out, ‘Owen wants to marry you,’” Danny later recalled. “She freaked out, not expecting such a bombshell. After about ten minutes of protestations of her unworthiness, and myriad other excuses, I said: “And so do I.” Poor Domitilla was speechless, and rushed off to her bedroom where she remained distraught for a week. “When Esta finally brought me

Wedding day in albenza, Italy: Danny Hyams of Johannesburg married Domitilla rota—having “seen off” two rivals and via a detour. Domitilla’s mother elvira is in the middle. The couple remained married for 64 years. her sister’s response, I realised I was now engaged. How bizarre! How unromantic. No overwhelming surge of affection or of passion— only admiration. Almost a sense of duty to cherish this precious person—who, as a young girl, had cherished an ideal to become a missionary in Africa,” Danny recalled. “In hindsight, I realised that I was predestined to be her companion, to enable her and protect her in carrying out this vision.”

The engagement On May 8, 1945, the total and unconditional surrender by Germany and its allies became effective, ending the European phase of World War II. In the last few days ahead of Danny’s repatriation, he and Domitilla paid a visit to the shrine of Our Blessed Lady of Cornibusa, and Domitilla presented Danny with a souvenir ring of the Madonna as a pledge of their betrothal. On his departure for South Africa, Danny received what he would describe as “the first peck on my cheek”, as he bade farewell to Domitilla and the others who had

looked after the escaped prisoners of war. His departing words to Mamma Elvira were: “I will be back in two years to claim your daughter in marriage.” In June 1946 Danny wrote to Mamma Rota with the suggestion that Domitilla travel to South Africa and marry him. Not unexpectedly, the formidable Elvira replied: “If she’s worth having, she’s worth coming to fetch.” So Danny waited a little longer until he could afford the return trip to Italy. In June 1947, after he had written his final exams in accounting, Danny kept his promise and travelled to Italy. Daniel George Hyams and Domitilla Maria Rota entered the state of holy matrimony on September 7, 1947, at the parish church of San Rocco in the bride’s home village of Albenza. The wedding was a typical Italian village marriage. It was extraspecial for Domitilla as it happened on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Next Week: Life in South Africa and the founding of Little Eden.

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Little Eden story: How Danny met Domitilla

Fr Townsend: Why we must revisit the past

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Bishop Setlalekgosi dies at 91

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Pope: Go forth and bear witness STA AFF REPORTER

Fo our--p age WY YD D roun d--up

ERVING God and his mission is not a passing fad, but can and should be pursued right now in the present, with one’s entire life, Pope Francis said at the closing Mass for Wo orld Youth Day in Panama City. “Brothers and sisters, the Lord and his mission are not a ‘meantime’ in our lives, something temporary; they are our lives!” the pope said. “Not tomorrow, but now, for wherever your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Jesus “wants to be our treasure, because he is not an interval in life or a passing fad; he is generous love that invites us to entrust ourselves,” he continued. “Yo ou, dear young people, are not the future but the now of God.” The previous evening, despite sweltering temperatures in Panama City, an estimated 600 000 young men and women made their way to St John Paul II Park on the penultimate day of WYD. They brought sleeping bags and tents, preparing to spend the night at the field, for a vigil, the rosary, and making new friends, before the final 8:00 morning Mass with Pope Francis.

Saying Mary’s ‘Yes’ to God The pope led that evening’s Eucharistic adoration vigil, and later pilgrims prayed the joyful mysteries of the rosary. At the vigil, young adults from Panama and the Palestinian territories gave their experiences of finding faith and hope amid doubt, sickness, and addiction. After listening to them, Pope Francis addressed the youths, saying that these reflected the risk Mary took to say “yes” to God. Although Mar y would not be considered an “influencer”, like many social media personalities, she still became the most influential woman in history by trusting “in the love and promises of God, the only force capable of making all things new”, the pope said. “Are you willing to be an ‘influencer’ like Mary, who dared to say, ‘Let it be done?’” he asked. “Only love makes us more human and fulfilled; everything else is a pleasant but useless placebo.”

stant freshness and youth” that happens only by listening, sharing, and serving others.

ope celebrates with prisoners e next day, the pope brought WYD to ma’s juvenile prisoners, celebrating an tional penitential liturgy inside the counmain youth prison. filling his belief that no one should be ated from God’s mercy, Pope Francis also rd the confessions of five inmates at the as Garzas de Pacora detention centre. “There are no words to describe the freeom I feel in this moment,” inmate Luis Oscar Martinez told the pope at the start of the service inside the detention centre. It was an emotional highlight of the pope’s four-day trip to Panama and a hands-on demonstration of his belief that prisoners deser ve the same dignity as ever yone else—as well as hope. Pope Francis also presided over the Wa ay of the Cross procession—a rite of all WYDs that re-enacts Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. The prayers recited during the Wa a y of t h e Cross reflected issues of particular concern for Central America, including the plight of indigenous peoples, women, the unborn, and the Church’s martyrs, with reference to El Salvador’s new saint, Oscar Romero. The prayers also touched on pressing political issues of migration and the upheaval in Venezuela.

‘Neighbours wonderfully inconvenience us’

The altar of the World Yo outh Day opening Mass at Panama City's Cinto Costera peninsula is bathed in the light of the setting sun. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher) ing, the opening ceremony celebrated the universality of the Church as young people dressed in the traditional outfits of their native countries entertained the multitude. Those from Panama presented the pope with a stole made of “mola”, a handmade textile featuring ornate designs that are part of the indigenous Guna people of Panama. In his speech, Pope Francis thanked the young people for coming to Panama and en-

So outher ou u t h e r n C ross ro oss s s Pilgrimage

On the final day of WYD, Pope Francis met with people at the Good Samaritan Home for those with HIV/Aids, reflecting on a question Jesus was asked in the Gospels: “Who is my neighbour?” When Jesus was asked to describe a neighbour, he did not respond with “theories, or give a fine, lofty speech”, the pope said at the home. “Instead he told a stor y the parable of the Good Samaritan—a concrete example drawn from the real life.” He explained that a neighbour is the person who moves you to stop and “make room”, a person who “wonderfully inconveniences our lives, because this neighbour reminds us and points us towards what is really important, freeing us from all that is trite and superficial in the way we follow the Lord”. Pope Francis also met with WYD volunteers on his final day, to thank them. “Now is the moment when you are sent forth: go out and tell, go out and bear witness, go out and spread the word about everything you have seen and heard,” he told them. “Dear friends, let ever yone know about what happened during these days.”

6-16 October 2019

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The Southern Cross, february 6 to february 12, 2019

Bishop Boniface Tshosa Setlalekgosi of Gaborone

ISHOP Boniface Tshosa Setlalekgosi of Gaborone diocese in Botswana died on Friday, January 25, at Gaborone Private Hospital at the age of 91. Bishop Setlalekgosi was born in Serowe in 1927 and grew up in the small village of Mmaphashala in the Central District of Botswana. He completed his primary and secondary schooling at St Joseph’s College Kgale and in 1957 he joined the seminary at the then-Southern Rhodesia in Zimbabwe. He was ordained a priest in 1963 and appointed assistant priest in Francistown in 1964. In 1972 Fr Setlalekgosi went to Gaborone, where he was appointed administrator for the cathedral parish. Pope St Paul VI appointed him a monsignor in 1974, and he was also honoured by late Botswana President Sir Seretse Khama with the presidential honour of meritorious service. After the passing of Bishop Urban Murphy CP, Fr Setlalekgosi was appointed administrator of Gaborone diocese. In 1981, he was appointed bishop of Gaborone and ordained in 1982. He received an honour from President Ian Khama in 2009, which was also the year he retired. As a priest and bishop, he was a dynamic preacher and orator who worked tirelessly to teach and strengthen the Catholic faith in Botswana. He hosted the late Pope St John Paul II on his papal visit to Botswana in 1988 and oversaw the consecration of many churches and chapels all over the country. Bishop Setlalekgosi played a pivotal role in the development of Botswana, focusing on key issues including human development, education, health, and land development. He started a study group which later transformed into a school, Setlalekgosi Community Junior Secondary School, named after him in recognition of his contribution to the education sector. Bishop Setlalekgosi also initiated a feeding scheme in primary schools, established Pabalelong Hospice, a home-based care centre in Metsimotlhabe, and enhanced operations of Catholic health centres across the country. During his tenure, he saw to the development of Gaborone city, giving the government land at Kgale to expand the Gaborone Dam. He was also instrumental in the development of Game City Mall, Kgale Mall, Commerce Park and Finance Park. Bishop Setlalekgosi, a key figure in Botswana, served as an advisor to sitting presidents and occasionally spoke on issues of politics and morality to influence legislation, having spoken strongly against the government’s intentions to enact a law

Open the Church to celibacy debate Continued from Page 7 others have existed for centuries with married and celibate clergy. The difference between us and them is that they give their clergy the option to choose. Often when I have brought up my concerns about the compulsory celibacy laws with fellow Catholics, many have told me that if I don’t like it, there’s the door, I can leave and join another church. How frustrating to seek important debate and be shrugged off by fellow Catholics! Clerical celibacy is a discipline, not a teaching. A Catholic can be critical of obligatory celibacy without being in conflict with any Church doctrines. I am a devout Catholic and I love the Church, but things need to change, things need to improve, and I will continue to fight for this; but I am not leaving, this is my spiritual home. As I continue this journey in fulfilling my role as a husband and new father, I still yearn to serve Christ a little closer, to be closer to him in ministry. I continue to pray that one day the Church will allow the Holy Spirit to renew it again and that if it be the will of God, the celibacy ruling is eased and that those incredible priests who have opted to get married be welcomed back with open arms. But right now, let us be more supportive of these men, who have made a difficult choice in leaving their ministry to answer God’s other call, and acknowledge that even though they have “left”, they are all “priests forever in the order of Melchizedek”.

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Bishop Boniface Tshosa Setlalekgosi of Gaborone diocese in Botswana died on January 25 at the age of 91. supporting abortion in the 1990s. Spiritual director Fr Stephen Tshiamo Takongwa said that Bishop Setlalekgosi taught what he believed and lived what he taught, and that his life exemplified God’s visit to his own people. “He was a bishop who got congregations involved in the life of the diocese and was there for his parishioners when they needed him. No matter which parish he would visit, people always felt he was open and available to them,” said Fr Takongwa. “Pope Francis once said about priests and bishops, that they should be shepherds with the ‘smell of sheep’. In simple terms, he wants them to be out among their people and not remote, removed and seemingly superior. Bishop Setlalekgosi was always available to visit Christian communities in every corner of this country as a witness to the Gospel. He gave his life to the Church wholeheartedly,” Fr Takongwa said. The body of Bishop Setlalekgosi lay in state in the cathedral on January 31, and a Vigil Mass on the same evening was followed by prayers. Bishop Setlalekgosi’s burial Mass was held at the National Stadium, and a private burial followed at the cathedral grounds. Submitted by Gaborone diocese

Liturgical Calendar Year C – Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday February 3, 4th Sunday of the Year Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19, Psalm 71:1-6, 15, 17, 1 Corinthians 12:31--13:13, Luke 4:21-30 Monday February 4 Hebrews 11:32-40, Psalm 31:20-24, Mark 5:1-20 Tuesday February 5, St Agatha Hebrews 12:1-4, Psalm 22:26-28, 30-32, Mark 5:21-43 Wednesday February 6, Ss Paul Miki and Companions Hebrews 12:4-7, 11-15, Psalm 103:1-2, 13-14, 17-18, Mark 6:1-6 Thursday February 7 Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24, Psalm 48:2-4, 9-11, Mark 6:7-13 Friday February 8, St Jerome Emiliani and St Josephine Bakhita Hebrews 13:1-8, Psalm 27:1, 3, 5, 8-9, Mark 6:14-29 Saturday February 9 Hebrews 13:15-17, 20-21, Psalm 23, Mark 6:30-34 Sunday February 10, 5th Sunday of the Year Isaiah 6:1-8, Psalm 138:1-5, 7-8, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Luke 5:1-11

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PARiSH NOTiCES

NEW PARiSH NOTiCES MOST WELCOME: If any parish notices listed are no longer valid, call us on 021 465-5007 or e-mail us at m.leveson@scross.co.za so that we can remove them. also, we’d welcome new notices from parishes across Southern africa to run free. CAPE TOWN: retreat day/quiet prayer last Saturday of each month except December, at Springfield Convent in Wynberg, Cape Town. Hosted by ClC, 10.00-15.30. Contact Jill on 083 282-6763 or Jane on 082 783-0331. Perpetual adoration Chapel at Good Shepherd parish, 1

Goede Hoop St, Bothasig, welcomes all visitors. open 24 hours a day. Phone 021 558-1412. Helpers of God’s Precious Infants. Mass on last Saturday of every month at 9:30 at Sacred Heart church in Somerset road, Cape Town. followed by vigil at abortion clinic. Contact Colette Thomas on 083 412-4836 or 021 593 9875 or Br Daniel SCP on 078 739-2988. DURBAN: Holy Mass and Novena to St anthony at St anthony’s parish every Tuesday at 9:00. Holy Mass and Divine Mercy Devotion at 17:30 on first friday of every month. Sunday Mass at 9:00. Phone 031309-3496 or 031 209-2536. St anthony’s rosary group. every Wednesday at 18:00 at St anthony’s church opposite Greyville racecourse. all are welcome and lifts are available. Contact Keith Chetty on 083 372-9018. NELSPRUiT: adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at St Peter’s parish every Tuesday from 8:00 to 16:45, followed by rosary, Divine Mercy prayers, then a Mass/Communion service at 17:30.

PRAYERS

HOLY ST JUDE, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron in time of need. To you I have recourse from the depths of my heart and humbly beg you to come to my assistance. Help me now in my urgent need and grant my petitions. In return I promise to make your name known and publish this prayer. amen. PvH.

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 849. ACROSS: 5 Knew, 7 Absolution, 8 Year, 10 Together, 11 Appear, 12 Nights, 14 Brayed, 16 Hallow, 17 Cellular, 19 Oast, 21 Anglophile, 22 Self. DOWN: 1 Mary, 2 Sobriety, 3 Hunter, 4 Virgin, 5 Knot, 6 Exceptions, 9 Experience, 13 Golgotha, 15 Deluge, 16 Harrow, 18 Loaf, 20 Teem.

576 AM

O MOST BEAUTiFUL FLOWER of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of heaven, blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. o Star of the Sea, help me and show me where you are, Mother of God. Queen of heaven and earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity. There is none who can withstand your power. o Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands. “Say this prayer for three consecutive days and then publish.” leon and Karen.

O GOD, OUR CREATOR, you are the source of all life. “How majestic is your name in all the earth.” We pray to you who calms the raging waters and commands the wind, to provide us with sufficient rain to meet our needs. During this time of drought, we are mindful of our dependence on you for all that sustains our body and soul. We pray for the rain that will once again bring life to the fields and crops that feed us, restore the flowers and trees. We also pray for all those who are suffering from other natural disasters. Help us to always be good stewards of your creation and care for the many resources of this earth. May your grace refresh our souls.

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The Southern Cross, february 6 to february 12, 2019

6th Sunday: February 17 Readings: Jeremiah 17:5-8, Psalm 1:1-4, 6, 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20, Luke 6:17, 2026

UR God is a God who always seeks to bring us life, while we tend to spend our time running away, foolishly fearful that God might be death-dealing. Something like this is the message of the readings for next Sunday. The first reading has us eavesdropping on Jeremiah being told where we are to put our trust: “Thus speaks the Lord: ‘Cursed is the person who puts his trust in human beings, and… whose heart turns away from the Lord.’” Then he uses an image that speaks powerfully in the dry Middle East: “like a barren bush in the desert, that does not see good coming and lives in the parched places of the wilderness, salt land where no one lives”. The key, though, is to find what God is doing: “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord.” Then, once again, comes another metaphor from a dry climate: “He shall be like a tree planted on the waters and that stretches out its root to the streams; he does not fear when heat comes…in the year of drought he has no wor-

CROSSWORD

ries, and never fails to bear fruit.” The psalm for next Sunday could only possibly be Psalm 1, where those “who delight in the Law of the Lord, and who meditate on his Torah day and night” are said to be “like a tree planted near streams of water, and give their fruit at their right time”. Then, continuing the image, the poet says “their leaves never wither, and everything they do shall prosper”. God, you see, is a God of life. Next comes the contrast with “the wicked”, who, quite differently, are “like chaff, driven by the wind”. It is not God who deals in death. In the second reading, Paul is determined to put his Corinthians right about the Resurrection; it seems that some of them have been determined to think that our God cannot possibly bring life out of death. He now demands: “If the preaching says that Christ was raised from the dead, how come some of you are saying there is no such thing as Resurrection from the dead?” Then he takes them step by step through

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wide, interreligious, ecumenical, and hopefully simple enough to be helpful. Spirituality is the attempt by an individual or a group to meet and undergo the presence of God, other persons, and the cosmic world so as to come into a community of life and celebration with them. The generic and specific disciplines and habits that develop from this become the basis for various spiritualities. Stripped to its root, spirituality can be spoken of as a “discipline” to which someone submits. For example, in Christianity we call ourselves “disciples” of Jesus Christ. The word “discipleship” takes it root from the word “discipline”. A disciple is someone who puts herself under a discipline. Hinduism and Buddhism call this a “yoga”. To be a practising Hindu or Buddhist you need to be practising a certain spiritual “discipline”, which they term a yoga. And that’s what constitutes any religious practice. All religious practice is a question of putting oneself under a certain “discipline” (which makes you a “disciple”).

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI final

reflection

But we can distinguish among various religious“disciplines”. Aristotle gave us a distinction which can be helpful here. He distinguished between a “genus” and a “species”; for example, bird is a genus, robin is a species.

hus, looking at various spiritualities we can distinguish between “generic” disciplines and “specific” disciplines: Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, and various native religions are “generic” spiritualities. But within each of these you will then find a wide range of “specific”spiritualities. For example, within the wide category of Christianity you will find Catholics, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Protestants, Evangelicals, Mormons, and Congregationalists. Each of these is a species. Then we can distinguish still further: Within each of those you will find a wide range of “sub-species”, that is, particular Christian “disciplines”. For instance, within Catholicism, we can speak of persons who have Charismatic spirituality or a Jesuit, Franciscan, Carmelite, or Salesian spirituality, to offer just a few examples. Notice the pattern here—from genus to species to sub-species. As a spirituality, Christianity is a genus, Catholicism is a species, and being a Jesuit or a Franciscan (or, in my case, being an Oblate of Mary Immaculate) is a sub-species. I apologise if this seems a bit irreverent, that is, to speak so clinically of genus, species, and sub-species in reference to cherished faith traditions wherein martyrs’ blood has

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Sunday reflections

the argument: “If the dead don’t get raised, then [it follows that] Christ was not raised. And if Christ was not raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still in your sins, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.” The argument continues: “If in this life we have put our hope in Christ alone, then we are the most wretched of all human beings.” Finally we get the triumphant conclusion: God is indeed the God of life, not death: “As it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Quod erat demonstrandum. QED. Do you believe, today, that God is the God of life? The Gospel for next Sunday is the beginning of Luke’s Sermon on the Plain. Here the life is visible in the large crowds Jesus draws from not only “all Judea and Jerusalem” but also the “sea-shore of Tyre and Sidon”, which are Gentile areas, in Lebanon; so the life here is extended to all the world. And there is life in the teaching that Jesus now gives; it is a bit uncomfortable, but not deathly. So Jesus “congratulates” “the poor”,

Spirituality and spiritualities HAT is spirituality and what makes for different spiritualities? The word spirituality is relatively new within the English-speaking world, at least in terms of how it is being used today. Prior to the 1960s you would have found very few books in English with the word “spirituality” in their title, though that wasn’t true for the Frenchspeaking world. A half-century ago spiritual writers within Catholicism wrote about spirituality but mostly under titles such as “The Spiritual Life” and “Ascetical Theology”,or under the guise of devotional treatises. Protestants and Evangelicals, for the most part, identified spirituality with Catholic devotions and steered clear of the word. What is spirituality, as generally understood, today? Definitions abound within spiritual writings of every sort, each of which defines spirituality with a particular end-goal in mind. Many of these definitions are helpful within academic discussions but are less so outside those circles. So, let me risk simplifying things with a definition that’s

Nicholas King SJ

God always brings life

been shed. But the hope is that this can help us understand more clearly a complex issue and its roots. No one serves one’s God fully, just as no one lives out one’s God-given dignity fully. We need guidance. We need trusted, God-blessed patterns of behaviour and disciplines that ultimately come from divine revelation itself. We call these religions. Then, inside of these religions, we can be further helped by models of behaviour lived out by certain saints and wisdom figures. Thus, inside Christianity, we have the time-tested example and wisdom of 2 000 years of faithful women and men who have carved out various “disciplines” which can be helpful to us in better living out our own discipleship. Jesuit, Franciscan, Carmelite, Salesian, Mazenodian, Charismatic, Opus Dei, Focolare, Catholic Worker, Sant’Egidio, Cursillo, Acts-Missions, and Catholic Christian Outreach, among others, are spiritualities. Just as the exercise and diet regimes of health experts can help us keep our bodies more healthy, so too can the discipleship practices of particular saints, spiritual giants, and wisdom figures help make our following of Jesus more faithful and generative. Which one of these spiritualities is best for you? That depends upon your individual temperament, your particular vocation and call, and your circumstances within life. One size doesn’t fit all. Just as each snowflake is different from every other snowflake, so too with us. God gives us different gifts and different callings, and life puts us in different situations. They say the book you need to read finds you at the exact time that you need to read it. That’s true too for spiritualities. The one you need will find you, and will find you at the exact time you need it.

“the hungry”, “those who weep now”. And there are also those who are hated, and excluded and reviled, and have their name blackballed as evil “for the sake of the Son of Man”. Instead of summoning our lawyers we are invited to “rejoice on that day and jump about, because your reward is great in heaven”. Then, by contrast, there are the woes against “the affluent”, “those who are filled”, “those who laugh”, “those who are well spoken of”, and that feels a little uncomfortable, it must be admitted. At the same time, though, we need to recognise that in the apparent insanity of these “beatitudes” or “congratulations” there is a life-giving sanity, because God is there looking after those who are at the bottom of the heap, and tending to all who are poor and oppressed and marginalised. God always seeks to bring life.

Southern Crossword #849

ACROSS

5. Had information that sounds up to date (4) 7. Sacramental release from sin (10) 8. It starts on January 1 (4) 10. Hand in hand at the altar (8) 11. Come into view (6) 12. Dark times for the soul of St John of the Cross (6) 14. The donkey may have happily done so at the crib (6) 16. How, with everyone inside, you make holy (6) 17. Kind of mobile phone for the monk’s room? (8) 19. Oats cooked in the kiln (4) 21. Does he love the Church of England? (10) 22. The real you (4)

DOWN

1. See 4 2. Drunk boy tries to be in state of non-drunkenness (8) 3. Nimrod was a great one (Gn 10) (6) 4 and 1. She’s full of grace (6,4) 5. Does it tie up your progress at sea? (4) 6. They are said to prove the rule (10) 9. It’s said to be the mother of wisdom (10) 13. Calvary, the place of the skull (8) 15. The Flood (6) 16. How a railway in it shows up the college (6) 18. Be idle in the bakery (4) 20. The rain will do it down in 15 (4)

Solutions on page 9

CHURCH CHUCKLE

ATHER John was looking for parking and was running late. He eventually found a free space but it was a no-parking zone. He decided to park there, and wrote a note for the traffic police. “Dear officer, ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who sin against us.’ I am a law-abiding citizen and priest, but I had no option. Sincerely, Fr John.” He left the note on his windscreen. When Fr John returned, he found a parking fine on his car window, with a note attached to it: “Dear Fr John, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ Sorry, I have to do my job as well.”

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WORLD YOUTH DAY

BY GÜNTHer SIMMerMaCHer

The Southern Cross, february 6 to february 12, 2019

Pope Francis said that bishops must follow the example of St Oscar Romero, the martyred archbishop of San Salvador who cared for his flock with the heart of a father, rather than be authoritarians who lord it over those in their care.

WYD in numbers More than 100 000 pilgrims from 156 countries registered for WYD. Of the 480 registered bishops from around the world, 380 gave catechesis sessions in 25 languages in 137 centres. WYD was made possile by some 20 000 volunteers from Panama, and 2 445 international volunteers. The countries with the greatest number of international volunteers were Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico and Poland. Around 2 500 journalists were accredited.

Lunch with pope As is customary at WYD, the pope had lunch with ten pilgrims from countries including Australia, Burkina Faso, India, Palestine, Panama, Spain and the USA at St Joseph's Major Seminary. They were served typical Panamanian dishes.

Travelling Fatima statue

WYD saints Apart from Our Lady, under whose patronage WYD was held, the festival had a list of patron saints who, according to Archbishop José Ulluoa of Panama City showed that a life of sanctity is possible in all cultures and ethnicities: Ss Martin de Porres, Oscar Romero, Rosa of Lima, Juan Diego, José Sanchez del Rio, John Bosco, and Bl Sor Maria Romero Meneses

Panama City residents hold a sign welcoming pilgrims who are making their way to the World Youth Day vigil in Panama City. (all photos: Vatican media/CNS)

The first Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima left the basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima, Portua pilgrim holds an image Pilgrims rest before Pope of St oscar romero at the francis’ celebration of Mass gal, for the first time since the Jubilee Year 2000 to travel to Panama. World Youth Day prayer for World Youth Day pilIn one of the most memorable movigil at St John Paul II grims at St John Paul II ments of WYD, Pope Francis spent field in Panama City. field. a few minutes in silent adoration before the statue during the vigil

Multiplication miracle

Confessionals from jail The 250 confessionals used in the sacrament of Reconciliation in Omar Recreation Park—dubbed “Forgiveness Park” for WYD—were made by prisoners from La Joya and Nueva Joya prisons, giving substance to Pope Francis’ wish to include those at the peripheries in the event.

Interfaith hosting Muslim and Jewish communities, both with a long tradition in Panama, contributed to WYD, with the Muslim community accommodating and feeding 500 pilgrims, and the Jewish community hosting 49 Polish pilgrims in its facilities.

Cheated out of WYD Around 400 Mexican pilgrims from 11 dioceses planning to attend World Youth Day in Panama were unable to travel because the tour packages they had purchased for the event appeared not to exist.

Climate change A statement issued on behalf of WYD pilgrims urged greater urgency in addressing climate change. “Time is running out and leaders from all sectors are showing very low ambition to embark on the rapid transformation that is needed to protect our precious common home and all its inhabitants,” the statement warned.

Dedicating a new altar, Pope francis anoints it with chrism oil during Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Santa Maria la antigua at World Youth Day.

Pope francis has lunch with a group of World Youth Day pilgrims at the San Jose seminary in Panama City.

Captain bishop

Cathedral upgrade

Bishops have many tasks during WYD, but one got a special job. During the Johannesburg group’s Days in the diocese in Colon, at the Atlantic end of the Panama Canal, Bishop Victor Phalana of Klerksdorp was invited to open the gates of the canal from the control room to enable a ship to pass. He managed not to sink the ship.

For the residents of Panama City, Pope Francis’ elevation of their recently renovated cathedral of Our Lady of Antigua to the status of basilica was a special source of joy and pride amid all the WYD excitement.

Gift from Holy Land

During WYD, the Vatican launched an app which answers young people’s questions about topics of bioethics. Young people “always have their mobile phones in their hands, on which they search for answers to any questions”, said Gabriella Gambino, under-secretary of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

Hundreds of thousands of rosaries from the Holy Land were distributed during WYD thanks to a project by the Swiss-based Association St Jean-Marie Vianney and Caritas Jerusalem aimed at fostering prayers for peace. The olive wood rosaries were made in Bethlehem by Palestinian needy families, young unemployed, refugees and families of political detainees.

Meaning of Life app

sions of five inmates and assured them that they “have a bigger purpose”. God, he said, “does not look at labels and prison terms, but at his sons and daughters”.

Special pilgrims Pilgrims came from the most unusual places, but especially remarkable was the presence of groups from places such as Cuba, Palestine and the United Arab Emirates, which the pope will visit in February. The Latin patriarchate and the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land brought together 53 Palestinian Christians from all over the occupied West Bank and Israel to attend WYD. Meanwhile, the group of 450 Cubans were sponsored by their government and had the privilege of meeting Pope Francis.

Pope’s prison visit

Be like Romero

Visiting a juvenile detention centre in Paccora, 35km outside Panama City, Pope Francis heard the confes-

Meeting with Central American bishops in Panama City’s 17th-century church of St Francis of Assisi,

Pope Francis met with the 20 000 volunteers who worked hard to make WYD a success, from organisers to those tasked with small jobs. “You have dedicated your time, and your energy and resources, to dreaming and putting together this meeting. You could have easily chosen to do other things, but you wanted to be involved. To give your best to making possible the miracle of the multiplication not only of loaves but also of hope, “the pope told the volunteers, adding: “You have shown that it is possible to set aside your own interests in order to help others.”

Worst kept secret After the final Mass, Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, announced Lisbon as the host for WYD 2022, revealing the world's worst-kept secret. The giveaway: Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had long planned the journey to Panama.

Pope’s final request In his parting words to the WYD pilgrims at the closing Mass, Pope Francis asked them: “I ask you not to let the fervour of these days grow cold. Go back to your parishes and communities, to your families and your friends, and share this experience, so that others can resonate with the strength and enthusiasm that is yours,” he said, adding: “And, please, do not forget to pray for me.”

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S outher n C ross Clerics perform before Pope francis' arrival for the WYD welcoming ceremony and gathering with young people in Santa Maria la antigua field. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS)

Pope francis embraces a volunteer at rommel fernandez Stadium. The pope thanked volunteers for making WYD a reality. (Photo: Carlos Jasso/CNS/reuters)

Confessionals in the Parque omar. The confessionals were built by prisoners.(Photo: G端nther Simmermacher)

Pilgrims carry the WYD cross at Santa Maria la antigua field. (Photo: Carlos Jasso/CNS/reuters)

World Youth Day Panama in photos

Pope francis joins WYD pilgrims at St John Paul II field for the evening vigil on the penultimate day of the event. (Photo: G端nther Simmermacher)

Pope francis makes the shape of a heart as he visits Casa Hogar el Buen Samaritano (Good Samaritan Home) in Panama City. at left is fr John oh WoongJin. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS)

a group of WYD Mexican pilgrims reflect at an observation point that connects Panama City to flamenco Island. The causeway was built with rubble excavated during the building of the Panama Canal. (Photo: G端nther Simmermacher)

Pope francis (right) attends the WYD welcoming ceremony and gathering with young people at Santa Maria la antigua field. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS)

Pope francis uses incense as he celebrates the closing Mass for WYD pilgrims at St John Paul II field. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS)

a Salesian Sister dances with pilgrims at the WYD vocations fair in Parque omar. (Photo: G端nther Simmermacher)

Women religious make their way to the WYD vigil. (Photo: Chaz Muth/CNS)