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Suicide: Time to debunk the myths

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What pope’s document on youth says By Cindy WOOden

Fr Tshepo Lekoko is seen celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at Holy Family parish in Turffontein, Johannesburg, last year. Palm Sunday falls this year on April 14, starting Holy Week. (Photo: Alexis Santana Callea)

HE life of a young person and the vocation to which God calls each one is “holy ground” that pastors and parents must respect, nurture and encourage, Pope Francis wrote in a new apostolic exhortation. Christus Vivit (“Christ Lives”), the pope’s reflections on the 2018 Synod of Bishops on young people, the faith and vocational discernment, is a combination letter to young people about their place in the Church and a plea to older members of the Church not to stifle the enthusiasm of the young, but to offer gentle guidance when needed. In the document, Pope Francis talked about how the sex abuse crisis, a history of sexism, and an overly narrow focus on just a handful of moral issues can keep young people away from the Church. But he also said many young people want to know and understand the teachings of the Church and, despite what many people think, they long for and need times of silent reflection and opportunities to serve their communities. “A Church always on the defensive, which loses her humility and stops listening to others, which leaves no room for questions, loses her youth and turns into a museum,” Pope Francis wrote. “How, then, will she be able to respond to the dreams of young people?” Young people have a natural desire to improve the life of the Church and the world around them, the pope said. If older people in the Church will let the young people try, it will keep the Church youthful too. “Let us ask the Lord to free the Church from those who would make her grow old, encase her in the past, hold her back or keep her at a standstill,” Pope Francis wrote. “But let us also ask him to free her from another temptation: that of thinking she is young because she accepts everything the world offers her, thinking that she is renewed because she sets her message aside

S outher n C ross Pilgrimage

and acts like everybody else.” The core of the pope’s message to young people was that they remember they are loved by God and saved by Jesus, who continues to live and act in the world and in their lives. “His love is so real, so true, so concrete, that it invites us to a relationship of openness and fruitful dialogue,” even when one is angry with God. “He does not get upset if you share your questions with him. He is concerned when you don’t talk to him, when you are not open to dialogue with him.”

rawing on the final documents from the synod and from a pre-synod gathering of young people in Rome, Pope Francis urged parishes and dioceses to rethink their young and young adult programmes and to make changes based on what young people themselves say they want and need. “Young people need to be approached with the grammar of love, not by being preached at,” he said. “The language that young people understand is spoken by those who radiate life, by those who are there for them and with them. And those who, for all their limitations and weaknesses, try to live their faith with integrity.” Directly addressing young people, he said: “Take risks, even if it means making mistakes. Don’t go through life anaesthetised or approach the world like tourists. Make a ruckus!” And, he told them, reach out to other young people, do not be afraid to mention Jesus and to invite friends to church or a Church-sponsored activity. “With the same love that Christ pours out on us,” the pope said, “we can love him in turn and share his love with others in the hope that they too will take their place in the community of friendship he established.” Youth ministry, he said, cannot be elitist or focused only on the teens and young adults already active in the Church’s life. It Continued on page 11

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The Southern Cross, April 10 to April 16, 2019

LOCAL

Church signs with state to support prisoners By eRin CAReLSe

N agreement between the Catholic Church in South Africa and the state prison service will ensure access by qualified spiritual directors to inmates, with a view to rehabilitating offenders. The Church and the Department of Correctional Services signed a memorandum of understanding at Sacred Heart cathedral in Pretoria. Archbishop William Slattery signed for the Church, and Chief Operations Officer Mandla Mkabela for

the department. The objective of the agreement is to promote unity and cooperation between the Church and the department regarding the care of prison inmates, who are some of the poorest of the poor of our society, Archbishop Slattery told The Southern Cross. The memorandum of understanding constitutes a statement of mutual intention and is not a legally binding obligation, he noted. “By fostering effective care, the Church wishes to encourage spiri-

tual, educational, social, moral and economic upliftment with the provision of spiritual care services and programmes,” the archbishop said. This memorandum will make the Catholic Church responsible for ensuring that trained and equipped spiritual workers are available to render needs-based spiritual care to members of the Church in prison. It also means that Catholic spiritual workers will adhere to the Department of Correctional Services’ policies and procedures. South Africa’s prison population

stands at more than 160 000. Archbishop Slattery said the Church supports the prison service in understanding that the work of prisons is not only punishment for crimes, but also rehabilitation. “Both the Catholic Church and the department have agreed to form a partnership in working together on issues of rehabilitation, moral development, and reintegration of offenders back into society,” he explained. Archbishop Slattery noted that 75% of young offenders reoffend.

Prisoners who are released from detention are more often received back into society by criminals rather than the Christian community. “In prisons, ministers sometimes experience events worthy of the prodigal son when an offender is reconciled with his or her family,” he said. “Miracles are also experienced when an offender reconciles with a victim. One of the greatest healing experiences for an offender is to receive forgiveness by a victim,” Archbishop Slattery said.

Diakonia gears up for Good Friday procession in Durban

The diakonia Council of Churches is calling people of faith in durban to its annual ecumenical Good Friday service at dawn on April 19. (From left) volunteer Sloane Goldstone, youth coordinator Mandisa Gumada, and diakonia’s Lorna Charles. (Photo: Val Adamson)

HE Diakonia Council of Churches is calling people of faith in Durban to its annual ecumenical Good Friday service at dawn on April 19. The event, a traditional highlight of Durban’s Easter weekend, begins at 5:45 at the Durban Exhibition Centre (DEC) before processing in silence to the Durban City Hall. Meditative singing will start at 5:15. The ecumenical Good Friday service is attended by thousands of people who gather to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus and his death on Golgotha. Each year, the service highlights a particular aspect of national suffering or injustice. The service this year will focus on the theme “Blessed are the peacemakers”. “We will be reflecting on whether

ST JOSEPH’S THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE

we as people of faith are truly instruments of peace,” said Nomabelu Mvambo-Dandala, executive director of the Diakonia Council of Churches. “How can we use our faith to bring peace to our homes, our communities, our country and the world? Our country is going through a turbulent period, especially with the upcoming general elections,” she said. “We pray for peace and need to ask ourselves if we are doing what God wants us to do in our land.” “Jesus Christ was a social activist,” Ms Mvambo-Dandala said, “so we as the Churches and people of faith must address issues affecting our society.” In the early 1980s she was one of the first girl-servers at St Barnabas Anglican church and later was a youth leader before serving in many structures of the church. The sermon will be delivered by Anglican Rev Thato Tsautse of Waterkloof, Pretoria. Rev Tsautse responded to her calling in 2008, started her Fellowship of

Vocation the following year, and was ordained a priest in 2015. In 2011, Rev Tsautse was the first woman to be appointed president of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Her passion for social justice has made her a close and long-standing friend of Diakonia. The Good Friday service will conclude at around 8:15 at Durban City Hall, with the flowering of the Cross as a show of commitment by all present to act for a just society and take up God’s call. Limited parking and street parking is available at the DEC, with additional off-street parking around the City Hall. Transport back to the DEC will be arranged for the elderly and the infirm. Entry to the Good Friday service is free and all are welcome, with a collection being taken during the service to support the work of Diakonia. n For more info or to be a volunteer on the day, contact the Diakonia Council of Churches on 031 310-3500 or visit www.diakonia.org.za

SIXTH ACADEMIC CONFERENCE The Mission to Save and Heal

Thursday 25 April 2019 (16h00) – 27 April 2019 (end 12 noon) SJTI Campus Road D546 Cedara

Before all else, the Gospel invites us to respond to the God of love who saves us, to see God in others and to go forth from ourselves to seek the good of others.The journey of Jesus with his disciples as recounted in the gospels is the fundamental model for the formation of those who wish to serve the Church in mission and ministry (Evangelii Gaudium 39)

SOME TOPICS • Healing Interfaith Relationships in Contemporary South Africa • The Psychology of Healing: How resilience is enhanced • Emotional Healing for the Clergy and Religious • Spiritual healing: Between Christian service and malicious abuse. An appraisal of the ‘healing’ ministry in Pentecostal churches. • Canonical Processes as an Instrument of Healing of the Sexual Abuse Crisis within the Church. • Media Education: A panacea for Healing from Social Media “Addiction” (in houses of formation) • Wangari Maathai Responds to Laudato Si’: An Ecofeminist Dialogue with Pope Francis

CONFERENCE PARTNERS: Napier Centre for Healing: After care holistic centre for recovering addicts Denis Hurley Centre: Serving the needs of the poor in Durban Each partner will present two or three papers related to their mission

Registration R200. Students with Student Card R50 Registrations at the venue, online, by email, or phone 087 353-8940 (office hours) Online: www.sjti.ac.za/conference2019 for information and downloadable registration form Email: conference2019@sjti.ac.za Telephone Fr Luigi at 063 116-1256

The youth of Umzimkulu diocese in KwaZulu-natal gathered at Sibizane, Centocow mission, to follow Jesus on his Way of the Cross for 7km to the Centocow shrine of Merciful Jesus and Mary, Our Lady of Centocow. (Photo: Bishop Stanislaw dziuba)

Uitenhage educator celebrated By eRin CAReLSe

FTER benefiting from 40 years of faithful service, a Catholic primary school bade farewell to a dedicated educator, secretary, bursar and librarian. Wenda Marsh (pictured right) retired from Uitenhage Convent Primary School, having first joined in 1978 as its secretary when her daughter started Grade 1. Uitenhage-born Ms Marsh had previously taught at Anglican mission stations across South Africa. The first principal she worked under was Dominican Sister Noreen Christian, the last religious to serve in that position at the school. During her years of service, Ms Marsh coached swimming and helped to organise galas. She and Sr Christian also produced the first Christmas play in 1978; and these have been staged every year since. Ms Marsh ran an active and lively drama club, entering members in drama festivals where many won gold and silver awards. She also started netball at the

school, again with Sr Christian, and coached the U/12 and U/14 teams. From 2006 she was school librarian, encouraging learners to read. Current principal John Dennis noted that Ms Marsh had for 40 years been integral to the convent school. “She always strove to bring out the best qualities of all our learners,” he said. Addressing Ms Marsh, Mr Dennis said: “You have left an indelible mark, and we are all going to miss you.”

The Southern Cross, April 10 to April 16, 2019

LOCAL

Good Shepherd centre a model for all By eRin CAReLSe

CENTRE run by the Good Shepherd Sisters in Madidi, North West Province, was declared the best-practice model of integration of services by the provincial department of social development’s HIV/Aids directorate. Since its inception more than 20 years ago, the Good Shepherd Community Learning Centre has been running programmes for students from 16 up to age 85. A team of ten representatives from the social development and education departments visited the centre in Madidi in the Bojanala Platinum District municipality. Sr Colleen Simpson, managing director of the centre, said the main purpose of the visit was to learn from the Good Shepherd integrated model

The Good Shepherd Community Learning Centre in north West Province has been declared a best-practice model by the provincial government. in preparation for provincial community care centres, to be adopted at six North West sites.

“Good Shepherd has been marked as one of the best models in the country, in terms of integrated

learning and self-sustenance, which the departments want to adopt provincially,” said Sr Colleen. Gerzia Ratshefola, a government senior social worker who heads the Zeerust region, said she was impressed by the quality of the centre, and the passion and commitment of Sr Simpson and her staff. Ms Ratshefola said she was amazed that throughout the centre one feels the presence of God and peace. “My experience is that Sr Colleen puts God first in everything she does at the centre. Everywhere in the building there are different signs expressing the power of God, and every item around the building expresses the importance of God at the centre,” she said. Vivian Maletlhogonolo Nickson, a social work policy developer under the directorate of partial care

and early childhood development services in North West, said that when she was told about the centre, the picture she had of it was a “little blurred”, but coming there was an eye-opener. “It is a picture-perfect painting,” she said. “As I entered the centre I experienced harmony, love, and peace. I wish all the municipalities of the province could practise the same model and have centres like this,” Ms Nickson added. She also said the centre is the best-practice model for psycho-social support, and the best-practice model for behaviour modification. Last year, higher education minister Naledi Pandor visited the Good Shepherd Centre and hailed it as one of the best of its kind, with excellent programmes.

New graduates enjoined to be ‘light of the world’ By KATLeHO MOHAnOe

newly-ordained durban priest Fr Wandile Sosibo Chagwe is pictured with Clementia Gambushe. As a seminarian, Fr Chagwe was supported throughout his studies by the Catholic Women’s League of Woodlands parish. He was ordained at emmanuel cathedral, and a Thanksgiving Mass was celebrated at KwaKristo parish. The CWL had a cream chasuble, with an image of Our Lady appliqued on the back, especially made for him. (Submitted by Jenny Parent)

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS

OUTH Africa’s bishops are depending on the country’s priests to help implement their new pastoral plan, soon to be released, according to the coadjutor archbishop of Durban. Addressing the 14th graduation ceremony of St Joseph’s Theological Institute (SJTI) at Cedara, KwaZulu-Natal, Archbishop Abel Gabuza told the graduates: “We will need your skills, we will need you to help us in implementing the pastoral plan.” Besides Archbishop Gabuza, notable guests included Archbishop Buti Tlhagale OMI of Johannesburg, who is the grand chancellor of SJTI, and Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban. In his keynote address, Archbishop Gabuza congratulated the graduates and emphasised that the bishops are counting on them and other priests to truly effect the new pastoral plan. “You know quite well that organisations have many wonderful documents; the challenge is how to implement them,” he

new graduates and lecturers at St Joseph’s Theological institute’s 14th graduation ceremony. said. The archbishop called on the graduates to serve the Church, and to remember that every Catholic, by virtue of baptism, is called to be an evangeliser; noting that this is not a role belonging only to priests and bishops. He quoted the pastoral plan document: “We, the Church, the family of God in Southern Africa,

commit ourselves to working together with others for the good of all, responding to the cries of the poor and the cry of the earth. “We will do this through worship, proclamation of the word of God, formation, advocacy, human development, marriage, family, youth, justice, peace and non-violence, healing, reconciliation, and care of creation.”

Archbishop Gabuza said his passion is to give local Catholics a sense of ownership of, and belonging to, the Church, and asked the graduates to help ensure this is realised. “I appeal to you, graduating students, to become part of this collective effort. I appeal to you to become the light of the world,” he said.

The Southern Cross, April 10 to April 16, 2019

INTERNATIONAL

Papal visit to Morocco (from left): Muslim clerics attend Pope Francisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; celebration of Mass at Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat â&#x20AC;˘ The pope greets women at the Rural Centre for Social Services at Temara, south of Rabat â&#x20AC;˘ Pope Francis meets Trappist Brother Jean-Pierre Schumacher, 95, the last survivor of the 1996 massacre in Tibhirine, Algeria, who now lives in Morocco â&#x20AC;˘ The pope at a welcoming ceremony with King Mohammed Vi of Morocco outside the Royal Palace in Rabat. (All photos: Paul Haring/CnS)

What was important in popeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Morocco trip O

N his brief visit to Morocco, a Muslim country with a Catholic population of less than 1%, Pope Francis addressed dialogue between Christianity and Islam; the Christian mission; migration; and the status of Jerusalem.

Dialogue is the only sure way â&#x20AC;&#x153;to halt the misuse of religion to incite hatred, violence, extremism and blind fanaticism, and the invocation of the name of God to justify acts of murder, exile, terrorism and oppressionâ&#x20AC;?.

Cooperation with Muslims

First blossoms, then fruits

Pope Francis described his visit as another occasion to promote interreligious dialogue as part of the celebrations of the 800th anniversary of the meeting of St Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil in Egypt. The meeting of the saint and sultan during the Crusades, he said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;shows that the courage to encounter one another and extend a hand of friendship is a pathway of peace and harmony for humanity, whereas extremism and hatred cause division and destructionâ&#x20AC;?. Too often, the pope said, Christiansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; lack of knowledge of and friendship with Muslims and vice versa has been â&#x20AC;&#x153;exploited as a cause for conflict and divisionâ&#x20AC;?.

At his press conference on the flight back to Rome, Pope Francis said his trips to Morocco and to the United Arab Emirates in February demonstrated the Catholic Churchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commitment to interreligious dialogue, adding that â&#x20AC;&#x153;now there are blossoms, the fruit will come later. But the flowers are promising. We mustnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t give up.â&#x20AC;? He noted that every religion, Catholicism included, had members who are intransigent and against dialogue, people who â&#x20AC;&#x153;live on bitter memories of past struggles and seek warâ&#x20AC;? more than peace.

Anti-extremism school Pope Francis and Moroccoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s King Mohammed VI visited an institute

for the training of imams and preachers in Rabat. The king founded the school to counter violent strains of Islam by training imams and murshid, men and women preachers and spiritual guides. Aboubakr Hmaidouch, a 25-yearold student born in France, said the terrorist attacks there inspired him to study Islam more seriously. At the institute, he said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;the training is inspired by a doctrine that takes into account practical life and culture, and that accepts diversity; a dogma based on moderation and reaching a middle ground, but also on a spirituality that unites you to God and his creatures through the bond of loveâ&#x20AC;?.

Minority Christians At the Mass in an arena at Rabatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium, the pope honoured the way that Catholics, although much less than 1% of the population, reach out to help Muslims and the thousands of migrants who pass through, hoping to reach Europe. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I encourage you to continue to let the culture of mercy grow, a culture in which no one looks at others with indifference, or averts his eyes in the face of their suffering.â&#x20AC;? More than a dozen Muslim leaders attended the Mass as a sign of friendship and were given seats near the front of the arena.

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The Christian mission is not about numbers of converts, but about changing people and the world by being witnesses of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mercy and love, Pope Francis told missionaries in Morocco. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jesus did not choose us and send us forth to become more numerous,â&#x20AC;? the pope said as he met Catholic priests and religious and leaders of other Christian churches in St Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cathedral in Rabat. The success of a Christian mission is not so much about the space Christians occupy, â&#x20AC;&#x153;but

Pope Francis talks with children during a meeting with the ecumenical Council of Churches at Rabatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cathedral. (Photo:Paul Haring/CnS) rather by our capacity to generate change and to awaken wonder and compassionâ&#x20AC;?. The problem, he said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;is not when we are few in number, but when we are insignificant, salt that has lost the flavour of the Gospelâ&#x20AC;?.

Bridges, not walls Pope Francis described Morocco as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;bridge between Africa and Europeâ&#x20AC;?, and most of the 80 migrants the pope met at a Catholic Caritas centre had set off from their homes hoping to cross that bridge and make a new life. Pope Francis called for â&#x20AC;&#x153;a change of attitude towards migrants, one that sees them as persons, not numbers, and acknowledges their rights and dignity in daily life and in political decisionsâ&#x20AC;?. At his in-flight press conference, the pope warned: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those who build walls will end up being prisoners in the walls theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve built. The builders of walls, whether they are razor wire or bricks, will end up being prisoners.â&#x20AC;? Pope Francis also insisted that countries that sell the weapons that lead to war cannot then refuse to accept the migrants and refugees fleeing the fighting, poverty and hunger that go with war.

Path to dictatorship Commenting to reporters on the consequences of politicising migration, Pope Francis observed that â&#x20AC;&#x153;many people of goodwill...are a little gripped by the fear that is the usual sermon of populismâ&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201D;and

such fear, he warned â&#x20AC;&#x153;is the beginning of dictatorshipsâ&#x20AC;?.

Keep Jerusalem open In a joint declaration, Pope Francis and King Mohammed pleaded for international recognition of â&#x20AC;&#x153;the unique and sacred character of Jerusalemâ&#x20AC;?. The pope and king said it was important to preserve the city â&#x20AC;&#x153;as the common patrimony of humanity and especially the followers of the three monotheistic religions, as a place of encounter and as a symbol of peaceful coexistence, where mutual respect and dialogue can be cultivatedâ&#x20AC;?. The Vatican consistently has called for a special status for Jerusalem, particularly its Old City, in order to protect and guarantee access to the holy sites of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Let law run its course During the press conference, Pope Francis was asked specifically about the case of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon, who was found guilty in March of covering up abuse, receiving a six-month suspended sentence. He offered his resignation to the pope, but the pope declined to accept it. Responding to a reporterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s question, the pope said while the cardinal awaits the appeal of his conviction, it would be a violation of â&#x20AC;&#x153;the presumptionâ&#x20AC;? of innocence to accept his resignation. â&#x20AC;˘ With reporting by CNS, CNA

The Southern Cross, April 10 to April 16, 2019

INTERNATIONAL

Pope issues new law on Vatican abuse By CAROL GLATZ

T Fr Mauro Gambetti, Jordan's King Abdullah ii and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a ceremony at the basilica of St Francis in Assisi, italy. King Abdullah was awarded the Lamp of Peace, a top Catholic peace prize presented by the Conventual Franciscans of the Sacred Convent of Assisi. (Photo: yara nardi, Reuters/CnS)

Franciscans give Jordan’s king award for peace talks By dALe GAVLAK

ING Abdullah II of Jordan urged greater cooperation to take on serious challenges worldwide as he was awarded a top Catholic peace prize by the Conventual Franciscans of the Sacred Convent of Assisi in central Italy. The annual award, known as the Lamp of Peace, recognises King Abdullah II’s tireless promotion of peace in the troubled Middle East, support of interreligious dialogue, welcome of refugees, and educational reforms. “To me, the Lamp of Peace of St Francis symbolises how peace lights our way forward to a better future for all people, of every faith and country and community,” said King Abdullah, receiving strong applause. “It is only by combining our efforts that humanity will meet today’s serious challenges—to solve global crises; heal our earth’s environment; and include everyone, especially our youth, in opportunity,” the king told the assembly.

Among the crowd were last year’s award recipient, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Franciscan Father Mauro Gambetti presented the Lamp of Peace to the king. King Abdullah has upheld the importance of the Christian presence in his country and the Middle East. “The principles of coexistence and interfaith harmony are deeply embedded in Jordan’s heritage,” he said. “Our country is home to a historic Christian community. All our citizens actively share in building our strong nation. Indeed, Christians have been part of Middle East societies for thousands of years and are vital to the future of our region.” King Abdullah is the custodian of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, a position held by his dynasty since 1924. The king also highlighted the need to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli crisis and safeguard Jerusalem. “I am bound by a special, personal duty to the security and future of the holy city,” he said.—CNS

Death of Amazon activist Brother investigated

ERUVIAN authorities are investigating the death of British De La Salle Brother Paul McAuley, whose burned body was found in a home he founded for indigenous students in Iquitos, in the northeastern Amazonian region. Br McAuley, 71, was an environmental activist and an advocate for indigenous students who travelled from remote Amazonian communities to attend college in Iquitos. He worked in Nigeria and Rome before moving in 1995 to Peru, where he founded a school for lowincome students in a shantytown on the north side of Lima, the capital. In 2000, he moved to Iquitos, where he worked with indigenous students and organised an environmental defence network. He was outspoken about oil pollution and deforestation in the Ama-

Peruvian authorities are investigating the death of de La Salle Brother Paul McAuley, whose body was found in a home he founded for indigenous students in iquitos, in the Amazon. (Photo: La Salle/CnS) zon. In 2010, the Peruvian government refused to renew his Peruvian residency, although the decision was reversed after public protests by Church groups and other supporters.—CNS

Pope to wash prisoners’ feet By CAROL GLATZ

OPE Francis will celebrate Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper with prisoners in Velletri, about 58km south of Rome. The pope will celebrate the Mass and the foot-washing ritual at the Velletri Correctional Facility on April 18. The late-afternoon visit will include a meeting with prisoners, prison staff, police and local leaders, as well as an exchange of gifts with the head of the facility. The pope is to wash the feet of 12 prisoners, the Vatican said. Pope Francis has made it a tradi-

tion to celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass with people who could not come to the Vatican or the basilica of St John Lateran for the celebrations. His first year as pope in 2013, he chose a juvenile detention facility to celebrate Holy Thursday. The next year, he washed the feet of people with severe physical handicaps at a rehabilitation centre. That was followed by men and women detainees at Rome’s Rebibbia prison in 2015, refugees in 2016, inmates at a jail in the Italian town of Paliano in 2017, and prisoners at Rome’s Regina Coeli jail in 2018.— CNS

O better protect minors and vulnerable adults from all forms of abuse and exploitation, Pope Francis has approved a new law and a set of safeguarding guidelines for Vatican City State and the Roman curia. The new norms and legal, criminal and safeguarding procedures, in an apostolic letter titled “On the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Persons”, goes into effect on June 1. The law and guidelines have been created, Pope Francis wrote, so that in the Vatican there will be, among other things: respect and awareness of the rights and needs of minors and vulnerable adults; greater vigilance, prevention and corrective action when abuse or mistreatment is suspected or reported; clearer procedures as well as specific offices for making claims; support services and protections for alleged victims, their families and those accused; and adequate formation for and background checks of new personnel, including volunteers. The new law further enhances a major set of criminal laws for Vatican City State which the pope approved in 2013 dealing with child sexual abuse, child pornography and the sale or prostitution of children, and specified that any Vatican employee around the world can be tried by the

Vatican court for violating those laws. While the amendments in 2013 brought Vatican law into detailed compliance with several international treaties the Vatican had signed over the past decades, the new law on child protection was meant to better comply with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocol, which the Vatican ratified in 1990 and 2001, respectively. The new law will now cover all forms of physical and emotional abuse—not just sexual violence through coercion—as well as serious forms of mistreatment, neglect, abandonment, and exploitation of minors, who are below the age of 18, and vulnerable adults. As long as they are not breaking the seal of confession, all “public officials” are required to report “without delay” to the promoter of justice at the Vatican City State’s tribunal any abuse the official learns about or is given reason to suspect while operating as a Vatican official or employee. A failure or “wrongful delay” in reporting can result in a fine of 1 000-5 000 euros for a “public official” or up to six month’s imprisonment for a police agent or official. Any individual, even someone completely unconnected with the

Vatican or Holy See, can also make a report if they are aware of behaviour harming a minor, it added. The crimes against minors are automatically prosecutable and the prosecutor’s office can proceed automatically, it said, adding that the statute of limitations on the crimes is 20 years after the alleged victim turns 18. If the suspected perpetrator is a priest or a member of a religious order, his or her superior will be notified immediately so the procedures prescribed by canon law can begin. The Vatican tribunal now has obligations in protecting the alleged victim from the suspect, from a repeat of the crime, and from “intimidation and retaliation”. The new law outlines how the investigation and trial should be conducted so that it is fair, unbiased, maintains a presumption of innocence for the accused and respects the dignity and psychological state of the alleged victim. The guidelines include prohibitions of corporal punishment; photographing, filming or contacting a minor by phone, online or through social media without written parental consent; being alone or out of sight of others when with a minor or vulnerable adult; and showing favouritism to one child with gifts.— CNS

Nun sexologist: Catholics must increase their sexual maturity By PHiLiPPe VAiLLAnCOURT

NUN with a PhD in clinical sexology said the sex abuse crisis in the Church does not mean “the end of faith” but rather “the end of a lack of formation and the end of deviance”, and a call to return to Jesus’ message of love. Canadian Immaculate Conception Sister Marie-Paul Ross told Canadian news agency Presence info that the faithful must accept that ecclesial structures might need to change. Among the often-heard options for change, she said, she does not think that simply allowing priests to marry and ordaining women will make sexual problems go away. “I’ve always said this to religious and priests who felt stuck in their vocation, under the pretext that celibacy is not liveable: The problem isn’t your celibacy, it’s your immaturity.” “It’s this immaturity that I saw

Sr Marie-Paul Ross said sexual immaturity and deviance are part of the sex abuse crisis the Church faces. (Photo: Philippe Vaillancourt, Presence/CnS) with my own eyes, up close, in our Church structure,” said the sexologist. Recently, Sr Ross said, she has been interested in the abuse of nuns. She said she sees a lot of “naïveté” among them. “I told superiors: You don’t form women that stand up. You form little

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girls looking for their father, and who fall for every man who tells them a pleasant word,” said Sr Ross. “I say that there is a lack of formation, of knowledge. When you try to name these realities, they exclude you.” The sexologist said she believes that “above all, the crisis of sexual abuse occurs in a context where society encourages paedophilia and sexual deviance”, mainly because of pornography. “Sexual deviance is created by repression and pornography. These are the two extremes. And often, the sexual formation of priests is made of both. There is a lot of repression and, in their solitude, with the internet, pornography,” Sr Ross said. One of the fruits of porn, she said, is the “inability to live human sexuality with genital, emotional, biological reactions, in love and commitment to love. It completely dissociates love and sexuality.”— CNS

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The Southern Cross, April 10 to April 16, 2019

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Why we can say: Hosanna in the highest

OSANNA! The crowds in Jerusalem afforded Jesus a euphoric entry into Jerusalem. Within five days, the blink of an eye in a lifetime, Jesus died an unheralded death on a cross. At Mass each week (or, for some, every day) we echo these crowds as we exclaim, “Hosanna in the highest”, in exultation of our Lord. And yet, not too long after we issue our resolution of praise, many of us become all too human again and, like the crowds in Jerusalem, separate ourselves from Jesus, however briefly, in thought or deed, by commission or omission. As we enter Holy Week, it is our impulse to be on Jesus’ side, seeking to ally ourselves with him. In truth, most of us are like those masses in Jerusalem who chanted their hosannas and waved their palms at Jesus, and soon abandoned him. In Holy Week, more than at any other time of the year, we must find a measure of identification with them, as well as with the disciples who fled after Jesus’ arrest, and with Peter who found that his pledges of unwavering fidelity to Christ were hopeful platitudes. Holy Week shines the spotlight on us as sinners, reminding us that our own pledges of fidelity to Jesus are as fickle as Peter’s. Holy Week calls us to take stock of our sins when we lacked love and charity, when we idly gossiped, when we wished somebody else ill, when we broke God’s Commandments.

his examination of conscience is part of our participation in the sacrament of Reconciliation, especially before Easter, when we confess our sins before God and ask for his forgiveness. Part of the deal is our commitment not to repeat these sins—or at least to try our best not to. But if our treatment of others is an indication, chances are that either we do not confess our trespasses against others, default on our commitment not to repeat our sins, or do not think that our poor treatment of others is in fact

sinful. Sinning against our neighbour is not just the terrain of obvious villains such as the abusers of women and children, conmen, drug dealers, price fixers or corrupt careerists. Sometimes, we may not think of our trespasses as sinful. For example, as Pope Francis keeps reminding us, gossip or rumour-mongering are behaviours we might not regard as sinful. But gossip, rumour, innuendo and lies have a way of affecting the lives of their targets. The result may be relatively harmless (say, a dented ego) or grave (say, the loss of a job). Either way, by acting with malicious intent, a lack of charity, or thoughtless imprudence, the offender negates Christ’s love. Such conduct is more shocking yet when set within the context of the Church—in parishes, in chanceries, in the Roman curia—and even committed in the name of serving Christ.

deally, our interior examination should reveal how our actions, behaviours and hypocrisies— whether or not we classify them as sins—affect other people and our own relationship with God. We are called to confess our sins, in the knowledge that God in his mercy forgives us, and make reparation. With our own imperfections as faithful followers of Christ revealed and acknowledged, we then humble ourselves before the cross on Good Friday, in awe and shock at the cruel death Jesus suffered for our weaknesses, and in deferential gratitude for the gift of everlasting life we may redeem because of it. The Passion of the Lord humiliates us in our fragility as followers of Christ, but our humiliation is laced with joy in anticipation of the Risen Christ whom we welcome on Easter Sunday, as he issues us an invitation to be with him forever. Even as we know that next year we will again bring our weaknesses and sinfulness to the cross, we continue to live in hope because of Christ’s promise of redemption. And that is why we can say at Mass: Hosanna in the highest!

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.

Support Church in Holy Land W ITH this letter I would like to remind readers of the importance of the Good Friday collection on behalf of our sisters and brothers in the Holy Land. The annual collection supports both the pastoral presence of the local Church, and the many pilgrims who visit the sacred shrines. Your funding also supports housing, scholarships and grants for academic students, and institutions for

We urgently need peace prayer now

OPE Francis told those gathered at World Youth Day that a neighbour is “the person who moves you to stop and be inconvenienced”, and that we are “sent forth to bear witness” to the world. Can we do this? St Francis of Assisi wrote: “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” We very much need this willingness and action today. Antony Trowbridge, in Link magazine, wrote that we have now begun a third global war, which will continue. He mentioned that many circumstances today resemble those in Europe at the close of the first millennium. After the fall of the Carolingian empire in the 9th century, Western Europe became inefficient and disorderly. This led to fighting and lawlessness—with the main victims being the poor, elderly and weak—and robbery of the rich. Then, in the late 10th century, the Church initiated the Peace of God movement to reestablish order, protect the weak, and introduce measures to reduce ongoing violence. Civil authorities later pursued the movement’s aims. Councils of Peace were formed, and the Church played an economic and social role, with education often under its auspices. We face similar challenges today with climate change, world poverty and hunger, and the need for peace in a violent world. St Francis lived in the 12th century, during the above times, and the prayer “Make me an instrument of your peace” is attributed to him. The St Francis Prayer is not only a peace prayer but teaches us to extend our mercy and love beyond our family, friends and neighbours. Southern Cross columnist Mphuthumi Ntabeni has a copy of the St Francis Prayer, and his article “Open doors to the poor” (December 5, 2018) described how his parish’s Ecclesia programme concentrated on actionable prayer,

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Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in Letters to the editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy. The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate. Letters must not be understood to necessarily reflect the teachings, disciplines or policies of the Church accurately. Letters can be sent to PO Box 2372, Cape Town 8000 or editor@scross.co.za or faxed to 021 465-3850

practical ways to extend its outreach to the poor. Perhaps we could all regularly say a decade of the Rosary, the Fatima Prayer, and the St Francis Prayer (below), alone or with others, and send copies with the guidance of the Holy Spirit across the world: O God of justice and love, bless us, the people of our country, our continent, and the world, and help us to live in your peace. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love, where there is injury, let me sow pardon; where there is discord, let me sow harmony. Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; to receive sympathy, as to give it; for it is in giving that we shall receive, in pardoning that we are pardoned, in forgetting ourselves that we shall find unending peace in others. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen. Athaly Jenkinson, East London

Ask God for election guidance

N the latter half of 2017 the people of South Africa were asked to say a special prayer for healing of the nation. I believe it played a significant part in the ANC’s election of President Cyril Ramaphosa as its head. Is it not time now to reintroduce this prayer for the May 8 elections to ask guidance in our choice of a new government, which hopefully would be free from corruption? Alfred Lord Tennyson in his poem “Morte d’Arthur” writes: “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” Denise Gordon-Brown, Johannesburg

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the sick and orphaned. Last year, at an international congress of the commissaries of the Holy Land held in Jerusalem, much appreciation was extended to the Church in South Africa for its continuing generosity. There are still numerous challenges facing our Christian sisters and brothers: demonstrations on the Gaza-Israel border, unending wars in both Syria and Iraq, and mounting

numbers of exiles and emigrants to neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan, or elsewhere in the wider world. Many still live in circumstances of conflict, poverty, homelessness, persecution and discrimination. Hence the constant need for the sincere, prayerful support of our needy fellow Christians. May this simple appeal stir you to keep these folk in your prayers and also offer them financial assistance. Fr Hyacinth Ennis OFM, Commissary of the Holy Land, Pretoria n The bishops of South Africa have asked the faithful to recite the prayer they issued with their pastoral letter. The SACBC’s Justice & Peace Commission says and publicises the prayer every Friday, using the layout The Southern Cross produced in the issue of February 20 (find it at www.scross.co.za/2019/ 02/prayer-for-the-2019-elections). The prayer reads: Almighty Father, as we approach the elections, grant us the wisdom and courage we need in order to make the right choices. Help us to carry out our duties as responsible citizens with respect for the rights of others. By voting in a spirit of humility and service, may we bring hope to the poor, unity to all our people and a more secure and peaceful future for our children. Father, do not allow us to become discouraged. Inspire us to contribute to the rebuilding of our country with vigour and generosity. Amen.—Editor.

Careful! Don’t donate junk

AYMOND Perrier’s warning to “think before you give” (March 27) is apposite. He is very gentle yet firm about what he says, but it is a very important message and needs to be taken to heart by all of us would-be donors of “stuff” to any institution. I worked at a state hospital and was detailed to unpack a donation. As Mr Perrier says so well, you end up asking yourself whether the donors ever gave a thought to what the recipients would do with the items included in the package. What do you do with boxes and boxes of fancy thermometer covers without the thermometers, or a container-load of left shoes only, or boxes of expired cough mixture? The other problem would-be donors need to keep in mind is that it costs a lot of money and time to dispose of these items. The strain on the organisation’s resources, be it time, staff or finances, is often enough to sink them or render them incapable of functioning. Surely, that is unethical and not ever to be even thought of. Jenny Knobel, Cape Town

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The Southern Cross, April 10 to April 16, 2019

PERSPECTIVES

As we prepare to vote A FEW months ago one of The Southern Cross’ followers on Facebook (facebook/thescross) asked whether South Africa’s only weekly Catholic newspaper would tell readers who to vote for in the upcoming 8 May elections. As a non-partisan Catholic newspaper, The Southern Cross cannot and should not be seen to align itself with any specific political party. Similarly, the position of the Church in South Africa is that it will not align itself, explicitly or implicitly, with a particular political party. Indeed, we have seen Pope Francis take a similar stance when commenting on international political situations. He makes a point of condemning violence, terrorism, human rights violations, human actions that harm society’s most vulnerable members, but he does not publically shame a particular leader or party. We saw this most clearly in his comments on the Venezuelan crisis, calling both rivals Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó to put personal differences aside and address the suffering of the people. So what can the Church say in times of political decision-making? Firstly, that as citizens we should work for the common good, and that means playing an active role in public life, promoting peace, defending the common good and working towards the social wellbeing and development of our societies (cf CCC 1905-1917). This active participation in civil life includes taking our hard-won right to vote seriously. It requires more than voting the way we have always voted, because of preconceived ideas we might have about what a party stands for. As Christians seeking the greater good, we must test our assumptions about each of the players in the political landscape. One way of doing this is by really thinking about and studying the various political party manifestos and what they stand for. We still have a month to take the time to carefully read what the political party leaders are saying, to listen to their promises at rallies, and to study the documenta-

tion, so that we can truly make an informed decision come election day. But we also need to reflect on their past performances. How has the party I voted for last time fared in the last five years? Have they brought improvements to the lives of the country’s citizens? Have they promoted equality, justice, peace, tolerance? Looking across the spectrum, we may be tempted to say that neither the ruling nor the opposition parties have done what we expected of them. Neglect is one thing (and by no means to be excused) but we also need to look at the culture of the party. Do they encourage their followers to uphold the laws of the land or do they engage in the destruction of property, or personal attacks on individuals?

nother aspect to consider is how the various political parties have fared on ethical and moral issues. In South Africa, it is highly improbable that we will ever backtrack on the Termination of Pregnancy Act, but we can explore whether any political party has made efforts to increase access to information for women and girls so that they can make better decisions about their unborn children. Have they improved maternal health care available in public hospitals? The reality is that no one party has got it right on all fronts. What we find is that

When we vote on May 8, we need to be prepared to cast a well-informed ballot.

Is this the Holy Grail? T HE quest for the Holy Grail, the vessel from which Our Lord drank at the Last Supper, is the stuff of legend— and the real thing might be standing in Spain (or in about 200 other places claiming to have it). The legend of King Arthur and his probably fictitious band of chivalrous sidekicks was built around the search for an item that supposedly has the powers to give eternal life on this temporal plane. More recently, on the big screen, Indiana Jones and the Nazis raced to find the Holy Grail. If you haven’t seen the film but plan to, skip the next couple of paragraphs (though if it has taken you three decades to get around to it, you probably don’t really need the courtesy of a spoiler alert). After the usual death-defying shenanigans, Indiana Jones and the Nazis arrive at a crypt filled with drinking vessels of all sorts—but only one of them is the genuine Holy Grail. Having been advised by the ancient monk guarding the collection to “choose wisely” in solving the riddle of the true grail, the Nazi bad guys pick the most ostentatious chalice, golden and bejewelled, as befits the King of Kings. As the main Nazi villain sips from the cup in the expectation of gaining immortality and world domination, his face grotesquely melts. The sage monk states the obvious: “He chose...unwisely.” Indiana Jones, the world-famous archaeologist, goes on to pick what he thinks is the cup of the Last Supper: a plain clay vessel. According to the monk, he chose...wisely. In a turbulent finale, the cup then gets irretrievably lost, thereby avoiding the fate of being displayed in a museum full of other things which Jones and his colleagues have plundered from colonialised countries and now refuse to give back. Indiana Jones might have chosen unwisely, too. The Last Supper was a Passover meal when particular care would be taken to ensure that everything would be ritually clean. Palestine’s Jews of the time did not

The chapel of the Holy Chalice in Valencia’s cathedral. A researcher claims to have proven that this is indeed the real cup Jesus drank from at the Last Supper. (Photo: diego delso/Wikipedia) use porous crockery, which even after careful washing could still be unclean, but usually implements made of stone, which were less likely to convey impurities. The Holy Chalice would most likely have been made of stone (though some fashionable Jews used fancy red terra sigillata pottery, which might be what Indiana Jones picked).

obody can know whether after the Last Supper—probably a catered event in a guesthouse—anybody cared to mark the cup Jesus used and keep it specifically identifiable, but as head of the table at the Passover supper, Jesus might have been given a special ceremonial cup—which a few days later would have become even more special. That cup might be standing now in the Santo Cáliz (Holy Chalice) chapel in the cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady in Valencia, Spain. A researcher has published her claim, with a confident 99,9% certainty, that this

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the main parties represented in parliament (and therefore with a greater voice to effect change) have done a few things right, but got it wrong on several other fronts. And there may be a smaller party that says all the right things, but has such a small representation that its voice mostly goes unheard, and therefore, has never had a chance to prove themselves. This is where we can make a difference. As Christians, we are called to vote according to our conscience and in a spirit of prayer after a careful considerations of all the facts. We hold the power to give a greater voice to the unheard voices. We have the power to tell our elected officials that corruption, continued inequality, violence, poor service delivery, and wanton waste of our tax money are not acceptable. We do this with our vote. But it must also go further than this. Our duty does not end on election day. We continue to hold them accountable every day they are in office. We hold them accountable through our engagement with local leadership structures in our wards and at local government level. We hold them accountable by participating in the public consultation process when there are proposed changes to legislation. We hold them accountable by using our robust and vibrant media to call our elected politicians out on their wrongdoings, but also to remember to publically commend them for their successes. We hold them accountable by the lives we lead. If we desire a government that will bring peace, justice, and equitable economic distribution, then we must live by those values ourselves. Only then can we exemplify the Kingdom values that we’d like to see permeating throughout our society on election day and beyond into the next five years.

Why Church cares about economics

n 1993, Pope John Paul II set up a foundation to promote dialogue between Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and the social sciences, and to promote the Church’s social doctrine. The Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice (CAPP) operates under the jurisdiction of the Vatican, and is connected to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See. Last year was the 25th anniversary of CAPP. The encyclical letter after which it is named, Centissimus Annus (1991), was written on the 100th anniversary of Pope Leo XII’s milestone Vatican document Rerum Novarum. The faith needs to be incarnated in all walks of life, including financial, economic, civil and political institutions, the medical and cultural fields, the family, and ecology. A statement by a cardinal at a CAPP meeting last year affirms that “the faith must not only be proclaimed but lived concretely, acknowledging in brothers [and sisters] the permanent prolongation of the Incarnation for each one of us”. He also refers to the timelessness of Pope Paul VI’s encyclical letter Populorum Progressio (1967), another of the Church documents that constitute the body of CST. While CST is also work in progress, in that the context is always changing, there are foundational principles of CST, such as the common good, which have been noted in The Southern Cross previously. The Church is an instrument of God and has a valuable contribution to make. A magisterial topdown approach is abandoned in favour of the bottom-up, inductive analysis, which starts with the situation or context first, and then relates it to the text (Scripture and Tradition), in the See, Judge and Act methodology. At a national convention of representatives of labour in June 2018, Pope Francis referred to the common good and contended that since Rerum Novarum, the social doctrine of the Church placed labour at the centre of questions relating to society.

Günther Simmermacher

ove is the essential motivation behind all these analyses, compassion for those steeped in poverty: “I have come to set fire to the earth and how I wish it were already kindled” (Lk 12:49), is the quotation used by the pope. Pope Francis is particularly concerned about a world economy which needs urgent attention in order that the poor are not excluded from economic development. Economic growth needs to be balanced by equity and job creation. We need only to think of some 3 million youth in our own country who are unemployed, and thus recognise the potential for criminality that this is fostering. Corruption is one of the obstacles of achieving equity, and the pope contends that it is the poor who pay the cost of corruption. It is very important to give the poor a voice in all the attempts to overcome poverty. Since they are usually under-resourced, researchers need to collect the stories of the poor by means of qualitative and quantitative analysis, and then incorporate their views into the policy-making part of any programme to alleviate poverty. Many believe that economics is a value-free science, and Marxism was at one stage deemed to be “rational”. In fact, these fields are replete with values and are far from being as value-neutral as they claim. All the social sciences are underlain by philosophical and sociological views. Economics then, cannot claim to be unassailable as a “science”. The Church thus boldly puts forward her normative teachings, her contributions to the social sciences, with its body of doctrine, and assessment of the current situation in the light of this doctrine. There are perennial values within this doctrine. The Vatican’s preoccupation is with the very important fields of economics and politics, but recent synods of bishops included the family and youth. There is much hard work needed to bring these many views down to earth, to make a real difference to the people. Theory needs to become praxis.

Point of History

polished brown agate vessel is indeed the Holy Chalice. In a doctoral thesis, art historian Ana Mafé García recites proof from the 1960s, by Spanish archaeologist Antonio Beltrán that the artefact is of Hebrew heritage, probably made in the first or second century BC. And the volume of liquid it can hold is consistent with ritual use in Palestine of the time. Dr Mafé believes an Arabic inscription at the bottom of the cup refers to Jesus, though I don’t understand how that serves as proof of anything. The grail in Valencia—which is first recorded in 1399 as part of the reliquary of King Martin of Aragon—looks rather like what the Nazis in the Indiana Jones film might unwisely choose. But the bling is just reverential decoration on the encasing of the actual stone grail. The rector of Valencia cathedral is happy with Dr Mafé’s finding, and the researcher herself is saying that she has a devotion to the grail. Except, there is that 0,1% uncertainty (I’d say that figure is a lot higher): we have no evidence that Jesus ever drank from it. It could be anybody’s mug. And then there is the subject of the doctoral thesis, which is not really the authenticity of the Holy Chalice itself but how it can be used to increase tourism to Valencia. Without claiming that this chalice is the real thing, there’s hardly a compelling thesis to write. So it is fair to maintain doubts about the authenticity of Valencia’s Holy Chalice, which has serious competitors in the grails in the basilica of San Isidoro in León, northern Spain, and in Genoa, Italy. But that should not deter its veneration. If Jesus didn’t drink from that cup when he instituted the Eucharist in the Upper Room on Mount Zion, then it was one much like the one in Valencia (or León). What is important is that he took his cup, rather than exactly which cup he took. And that, not the cup, is indeed the key to everlasting life.

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The Southern Cross, April 10 to April 16, 2019

HOLY WEEK

What Mary pondered at the Cross As Mary stood at the foot of the cross, she will have thought of how the prophecies of Scripture led up to this moment, as FR RALPH de HAHn explains.

E are deeply indebted to the four evangelists for the inspired writings of what they remembered in heart and mind of the extraordinary events in the life of Jesus over those three years of ministry. During these years, Jesus shocked and astonished thousands on the hillsides, by the lake, in synagogues, and in the very temple of Jerusalem. All Galilee and Judea resonated with these amazing memories. When Jesus was a small child, the ageing Simeon had foretold that “many secret thoughts would be revealed” (Lk 2:35). But at the same time, he made a terrible prophecy concerning Mary, his Mother. Echoing the prophet Zechariah (12:10) Simeon told the young mother: “A sword will pierce your own soul.” On Good Friday we see the truth of that prophecy. Standing for three hours at the foot of the cross of her dying son, surely her memory was awakened by all that he did, and all that was said about him—especially by the early prophets. “Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Lk 2:19). Standing helplessly before her crucified son—confused, deeply hurt—she was probably also somewhat consoled, somehow relieved to hear his dying words: “It is now accomplished” (Jn 19:30). What she once treasured from the writings of the ancient prophets now came to life. What she now witnessed in these agonising hours had been so clearly spoken by Isaiah (53) Zechariah (12:10) and the prophetic psalms of David (22). Mary might have cast her mind back to that time when the surprise

visit by the Archangel Gabriel fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah (7:14), when he asked her to be the bride of the Holy Spirit, to be the mother of God’s own son, with a promise of a kingdom “that will have no end”. Indestructible, invincible (Daniel 2:35-45). The angel said nothing of this ignominious death “as a lamb taken to the slaughter” (as foreshadowed in Leviticus 1:3 and 22:20, and in Deuteronomy 17:1). How beautiful were those traditional Passover Lamb celebrations recalling Exodus 12—but this was the ultimate Lamb of God, the unblemished sacrificial victim as foretold by the prophet John the Baptiser: “Behold the lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world” (Jn 1:29). But Mary also treasured the joyful memories: the call to Bethlehem as spoken by the prophet Micah (ch 5), the manger dwelling in a busy town (Is 1:3), the visit by the shepherds who spoke of the angel’s message. Yes, the prophets spoke of the Great Shepherd (Is 40:11; Ps 23).

Now she understood Then later, when the crowds began to dwindle, the visit of the Magi, arriving with those prophetic gifts which recalled Isaiah 60:6 and Psalm 72:10. Now she understood! But how did they know? And what a delightful visit to Elizabeth, who surely wondered how Mary could possibly know that she, who was barren, was now pregnant? And what joy as the yet unborn cousins leaped in his mothers’ womb, and the wonder of the mute father Zechariah giving John his name. How together they magnified the Lord, drawing from 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and Psalm 103:17. Of course, Mary remembered, John would be the Voice (Is 40:3) and humbly conceded that the Word was made flesh within her… made flesh to die like this! What of Simeon who had his dream fulfilled as the holy family approached him in the Temple? Alive with joy he proclaimed Jesus as “the glory of your people Israel” (echoing Isaiah 45:5-7; Deuteron-

Our Lady holds the Crown of Thorns as her executed Son is entombed, in the church of Our Lady of Carmen and St Louis in Madrid, Spain. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher) omy 18:15) before he gave Mary that gentle warning. Before that there already had been the horrible persecution of Herod and their flight into Egypt, which is foreshadowed by Hosea and Jeremiah 31:15. The prophets had spoken in God’s name. Her son was to face rejection and humiliation. As the Prophet Isaiah predicted, his humility and spiritual power, his authority in confronting the Jewish leadership, his preaching

in parables, and his miraculous healings of so many upset his enemies. He was even rejected by his own family and betrayed by one of his disciples (as foretold in Psalms 41:9 and 55:13, and in Zechariah 11:12).

Treasured memories Alongside the Sea of Galilee he proclaimed the Blessed to be the poor in spirit, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers (Is 65).

He was to be the “Prince of Peace” (Is 9:5). This exceptional peace Mary lived with all her life. Despite the angry outbursts of the enemy, the crowds hailed her son as king, riding on a donkey into the holy city, as foretold by the prophets (Zech 9; Ps 8:2). How the treasured thoughts and memories warmed her heart as the prophecies met their fulfilment in her dying son! He preached his equality with the Father, who sent him, and the Spirit of love. How well this mother recalls, that in the synagogue of Nazareth he read from Isaiah 61 and boldly declared the prophecy to be fulfilled in him, the anointed one, that very day! A new covenant was being born, a new Church—one indestructible—as declared by the Archangel Gabriel and the utterance of Daniel that her son would reign as the “everlasting King” (Dan 7:14; 2 Sam 7:13; Is 9:6). Her heart recalled their first public engagement, mother and son. It was at Cana in Galilee. The marriage ceremony needed more wine. She instructed him to do something about it. Strange, he called her “woman”. Her decision was to decide his future days (Lk 1:35). And again, from that cross, “Woman, behold your son!” She pondered these words, she needed to understand her mission. Oh, that beautiful moment—a dying thief, crucified alongside her son, asked to be remembered when he, Jesus, returned to his kingdom—and it was granted him! And his forgiveness went far beyond that, for his fading voice reached out to all her children. “Father,” he cried, “forgive them..for they do not know”, echoing Isaiah 1:18. The prophecies of old had come to pass; all is now accomplished in her son, the unblemished Lamb of God. Deep sadness and quiet consolation lingered in the deepest recesses of her heart which now spoke to her of the Father’s will and the powerful voice of his prophets. n Fr Ralph de Hahn is a priest of the archdiocese of Cape Town.

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VERY year on Good Friday at 10:00, our parish of the Holy Spirit in Arcadia, Port Elizabeth, hosts its Passion play, performed by the youth group and other young people in the parish. I’m a lover of theatre, and I have seen hundreds of plays over the years. To me, going to the theatre is better than going to the movies. With that experience of seeing theatre productions in mind, I can state that last year our youngsters exceeded themselves. The talent and performances were worthy of the Baxter or the Market Theatre. Watching the play with my two-year-old girl was even more fascinating. Other than the play giving me the shivers at each station of the cross, it was additionally intriguing to watch how my little daughter took everything in. When they initially brought Jesus out to show up before Pontius Pilot, she euphorically—even if somewhat embarrassingly for me—yelled: “There is Jesus, look, there is Jesus!” As the soldiers pushed him forward towards Pilate, beating him as they did so, she asked me with alarm: “What are they doing to Jesus? Why are they hitting him?” I tried to keep her calm. I could see that the older couple sitting in front of us was not impressed with the “noise” from our end. The play continued. At times I had to keep back my own tears. We know how the story ends, but I don’t think we always genuinely appreciate the end result for Jesus on that day. We eventually went to stand at the back of the church. At every station, my wife explained to my little girl what was happening. She was fascinated. “Look, Jesus fell,” she said loudly. Again! “Why did they push him? Jesus got a eina.” Later that evening she recalled with fascina-

The youth of Holy Spirit parish in Arcadia, Port elizabeth, at last year’s Good Friday Passion play. tion what had happened during the play. We would ask her, “What happened to Jesus?” “Jesus fell,” she said. And then? “He got back up.” And then? “They nailed him to the cross.” So far so good. Then we asked why they had nailed Jesus to the cross. “Because he was naughty” she replied. “No, baby, he wasn’t naughty. He died for our sins.” “Oh, okay.” She seemed to think about that for a while. The Holy Spirit youth did well last year. The play is a highlight on the parish’s calendar. This is evident by the fact that the church is always overflowing at 10:00 on Good Friday—despite the fact that the play is primarily aimed at the children of the parish. I look forward to seeing it again this year.

The Southern Cross, April 10 to April 16, 2019

LIFE

Suicide: Time to debunk the myths Suicide is still shrouded in myths, fallacies, misconceptions and misunderstandings—and they need to be debunked, writes dAVid CAPeL from personal experience in this tragic form of death.

IGHT years ago my girlfriend Liana left home without a word, never to be heard from again. Three agonising days later, I received a call from the police in Fish Hoek, Cape Town, to say that her cellphone had been found about 50m from Sunny Cove station. When I arrived at the police station, about 20 minutes later on that dreadful Sunday afternoon, I was taken into an office and told the awful truth: they hadn’t found a cellphone but a body: Liana’s. She had ended her own life, alone in the dead of night, on the rocks, with the tide coming in, surrounded by the ocean she loved so dearly. She was 26. This brave young woman wrote a harrowing, yet beautiful suicide letter right up to the minute she took her last breath. (I know this, because she said so in her poignant, deeply moving final communication with me). Her words echo in my mind to this day: “I know where I am going,” she wrote. “I am a beloved daughter of God, and he will never turn his back on me.” Liana had bulimia, a disease she referred to as “the monster that lives within me”. But she also had another, far more terminal disease—suicide. Suicide is indeed a terminal disease, just like cancer. Put differently, suicide will, in all likelihood, kill you in the end. In the eight years since Liana’s death I have never experienced a moment’s anger towards her. Why should I? She died from a terminal disease… What I have experienced is an overflowing of compassion, love, understanding—and a sadness and despair that know no bounds. There have, of course, been a few inevitable “What ifs?”, but I know that there was nothing in this world that I could have done to save her. I know this partly because she told me so in her final letter and partly because I know, in a place deep inside me, that, had I known what she was going to do, I would have done literally anything to try to prevent it. She died from a terminal disease... Two years ago, my best friend hanged himself from a tree right outside his front door, to be found by his wife and young daughter. I was one of the last people to see him alive. I can therefore say from personal experience that, more so than any other death, the pain of suicide leaves its own indelible mark on the souls of those left behind.

Suicide is not a choice made from a free decision, but the consequence of a disease, write david Capel.

You don’t ‘commit’ suicide

that there could be something this newspaper, victims of suicide “find themselves in a fiery, private else at work, chaos that has its roots both in their and that what to you now seems emotions and biochemistry”. dark, destructive, forlorn, Suicide victims do not “want” to might be a destiny that die. Instead, they see death as the looks different only way to end the unbearable from inside the eternal script. pain and suffering they are in. No Suicide of a priest one, trapped in a personal wilderness of pain and despair, can make Just more than a year ago virtua rational “choice” to end their own ally everyone who knew him was lives. staggered by the suicide death of Fr Says Fr Rolheiser: “Suicide is an Virgilio Elizondo, the most promiillness, not a sin. Nobody calmly nent American Hispanic theologian ‘decides’ to ‘commit suicide’ and of his times. burden his or her loved ones with Fr Elizondo was a widely beloved that death any more than anyone priest and a warm, trusted friend to calmly decides to die of cancer and countless people. His death left cause pain to those they leave be- everyone who knew him reeling in hind.” shock. Suicide! But he was such a A third misconception about sui- faith-filled, sensitive man. How cide that needs to be put to rest is could this be possible? that it is an act of cowardice. On the According to Fr Rolheiser, these contrary—and without in any way questions, “like the muddy waters wishing to glamourise it—suicide of a flood, immediately began to requires a particular kind of seep into other emocourage and strength. tional crevices, leaving It is also vital to recog- I’ve never had almost everyone who nise the unique pain and knew him with a huge, a moment’s gnawing trauma that suicide leaves question: What in its wake. anger towards does this do to his work, Everyone dies, of course, to the gift that he left to her. Why but it is the manner of the the Church and to the death of a suicide victim Hispanic community? should I? that leaves those close to Can we still honour his them so particularly She died from life and his contribution stunned, confused and anin the same way as we guished. a terminal would have had he died Perhaps the words of of a heart attack or candisease poet John O’Donohue cer? might offer some consola“Indeed, had he died tion: of a heart attack or cancer, his May the Angel of Wisdom death, though sad, would undoubtenter this ruin of absence edly have had about it an air of and guide your minds healthy closure, even of celebrato receive this bitter chalice, tion, that we were saying farewell to a great man we had had the privso that you do not damage yourselves ilege to know, as opposed to the air by attending only at the hungry altar of hush, unhealthy quiet, and unof regret and anger and guilt. clean grief that permeated the air at May you be given some inkling his funeral,” Fr Rolheiser said. Jesuit Father Russell Pollitt, director of the Jesuit Institute in Johannesburg, also has experienced the suicide death of a loved one. He, too, believes the language around suicide is misleading. in Johannesburg & beyond “Seldom do healthy people choose to end their lives. These are DStv Audio 870 people who are bruised and hurtwww.radioveritas.co.za ing. Like Fr Rolheiser says, suicide is the emotional equivalent of a streaming live heart attack or stroke. It’s not something people choose or comCatch our interviews with Southern Cross editor mit to. It’s a desperate attempt to Günther Simmermacher every Friday on 8:30am dull/end deep inner pain. People are victims to their own inner pain,” he said. SMS As for the state of mind a person 41809 MASS followed by Mass intention is in when ending his or her own 41809 VeRi followed by comments life, Fr Pollitt said: “I would say they are people who are hurting, PO Box 4599, Edenvale, 1610 (t) 011 663-4700 who are in such a dark place that info@radioveritas.co.za they can see no light or hope. They

South Africa has the eighthhighest suicide rate in the world. The Medical Research Council placed the number of suicide deaths in 2012 (the most recent statistics available) at 6 133. Four out of five victims of suicide are men. Yet mental health is still a taboo subject among South African men, which has caused many to feel that the only way out is to end their own lives. Tawanda Makombe, research analyst at the South African Institute of Race Relations, noted that South Africa has a suicide mortality rate of 10,7 per 100 000 people. Economic hardships, a lack of solutions to life problems in South Africa, and a lack of suicide prevention programmes in schools and communities contribute to the rate being high. In a country almost ravaged by this most silent of all killers, it is crucial that attitudes towards and perceptions of suicide undergo a seachange. In the process, a number of falsehoods and misconceptions need to be debunked. Firstly, no one “commits” suicide. People “commit” murder, rape and armed robbery. They do not “commit” suicide. A far more compassionate, empathetic and gentler way of describing this most tragic of human acts is to say that someone “ended their own life”. Secondly, no one “chooses” to end their own life. There is no “choice” involved. Rather, suicide victims (and, indeed, that is what they are) are caught up in a vortex of pain, hopelessness and true despair, the likes of which no one who has never been there can begin to imagine, let alone judge. In the words of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI, whose column is published in

576 AM

feel themselves in a spiralling vortex and they are emotionally desperate. They are simply unable to see any light in deep emotional pain.” Fr Pollitt believes God has a very different perspective to us when it comes to suicide. God, he said, “has an incompressible capacity to enter into the pain and the hurt of the human heart. Fr Rolheiser describes God as the only person who can break down the walls that the person who dies by suicide has built around them—emotional barriers. He says just as Jesus moves through the walls after his resurrection where the fearful disciples are, so too Jesus moves into the heart of the hurting victim of suicide and says, ‘Peace be with you’,” Fr Pollitt said He noted that the Apostles’ Creed says that before rising from the dead, Jesus descended into hell: “Literally, Jesus can go to the darkest of places and speak words of peace.” Fr Pollitt said it seems more and more young people are ending their own lives. “I hear this at a local university residence too, where three or four young people ‘committed’ suicide last year. I think it’s attributed to pressure, a society that doesn’t care anymore, social media, bullying and economic factors,” he said. “We have defined success in a way that has led us to become a society that throws those whom we deem unsuccessful away. People live in fear, and with all the other pressures they face, suicide might seem like the way to escape the pain and fear of failure.” Asked what he would say to the families and friends of suicide victims by way of giving support and consolation, Fr Pollitt said: “I would tell them that they should not worry; their loved one is in the heart of God. That they were bruised and hurting and have now found the healing and peace their hearts could not find here. That it is no reflection on them at all.” Regarding his own personal encounter with suicide, he noted: “It’s very painful and a piece of you dies too in the aftermath. It’s hard for families to recover from that, they become victims too—stigma, pain, unanswered questions.” Fr Pollitt said he is convinced that God meets suicide victims “and offers them what they just couldn’t accept from us here on earth”.

Illness needs treatment Rev Nicky Ing, a Cape Townbased Anglican minister, agreed that suicide is “an illness of the mind and the spirit, which progresses and can become terminal when it reaches the point where there seems to be no possibility of returning from the deep depression which occurs in the psyche of the victim”. The progression of the illness, she said, “may escalate when no treatment is given, or even when treatment is given by medical practitioners. The sufferer may reach a point where he or she feels the only way out of it is to leave life. It all just becomes too big to deal with, and escape is the reality sought by the victim”. Victims of suicide are, largely at least, not haughty, arrogant or, indeed, selfish. As Fr Rolheiser says, “the victim has cancerous problems precisely because he or she is wounded, raw, and too bruised to have the necessary resiliency needed to deal with life. Too often it is precisely the meek who seem to lose the battle, at least in this world”. Indeed, some things need to be said and said and said again, until they don’t need to be said any more: Suicide is a terminal disease, just like cancer. It is time to debunk the myths. n David Capel is a veteran South African journalist.

The Southern Cross, April 10 to April 16, 2019

Fr Michael Brady SMA

OCIETY of African Missionaries Father Michael Brady of Limpopo died on February 17 at the age of 76, after a long illness. Born in Castlebar in County Mayo, Ireland, in 1942, he responded to the call to become a missionary priest in September 1961, at the age of 19. He entered the SMA spiritual year programme at Cloughballymore in Kilcolgan, County Galway, and took his first oath of membership in the Society in June of 1962. Fr Brady was ordained a priest on December 18, 1967. His first appointment was to the diocese of Benin City in Nigeria, but ill health forced his return to Ireland three years later. There he worked with lay people, promoting the work of the SMA Fathers and the idea that the whole Church is a missionary, that everyone is a worker in the vineyard. He was appointed to South Africa and the diocese of Rustenburg in 1987. Fr Brady was the first resident priest at Silverkrans/Tlokweng where he worked tirelessly to build up a young church and to

train leaders and catechists in the many village communities under his pastoral care. He was later appointed to Zeerust, a vast area between the dioceses of Kimberley and Gaborone. While there, Fr Brady trained catechetical teams in every village, and built several churches with the financial support he received from his friends in Ireland.

He was also vocations director for the diocese of Rustenburg and diocesan chaplain to the men and women of the Sacred Heart Sodality. From Zeerust Fr Brady moved to Swartklip, a parish of scattered villages and mining communities. Always the missionary and pioneer, he established a new mission at Northam. He was the first resident priest, and it was there he was diagnosed with cancer. As he celebrated Mass with his SMA brothers before he returned to Ireland, he said: “I had hoped for a few more years.” But this was not to be. During those years of suffering, he never lost his sense of humour, his interest in people or his zeal for the mission of the Church. All his life he worked in areas of primary evangelisation. In those areas you plant seeds. Somebody else sees the fruit. I am sure he sees things a lot more clearly now, and that he is enjoying the fruit of a life of total dedication to God and his people. By Fr Vincent Brennan SMA

What pope’s document on youth says Continued from page 1 must be “a process that is gradual, respectful, patient, hopeful, tireless and compassionate”, as Jesus was when he walked with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Parents, pastors and spiritual guides must have “the ability to discern pathways where others only see walls, to recognise potential where others see only peril. That is how God the Father sees things; he knows how to cherish and nurture the seeds of goodness sown in the hearts of the young,” Pope Francis said in Vivit Christus. “Each young person’s heart should thus be considered ‘holy ground’, a bearer of seeds of divine life, before which we must ‘take off our shoes’ in order to draw near and enter more deeply into the mystery.” A long section of the document is focused on discerning one’s vocation, which, he said, is always a call to serve God and others, in a unique way. Discovering one’s vocation, he said, “has to do with finding

our true selves in the light of God and letting our lives flourish and bear fruit”. For most young people that will mean marrying, forming a family and working, Pope Francis said. “Within the vocation to marriage we should acknowledge and appreciate that ‘sexuality, sex, is a gift from God. It is not taboo. It is a gift from God, a gift the Lord gives us,’” he wrote. Sexuality “has two purposes: to love and to generate life. It is passion, passionate love. True love is passionate.

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“Love between a man and a woman, when it is passionate, always leads to giving life. Always. To give life with body and soul.” Pope Francis also encouraged young people not to dismiss out of hand the fact that God may be calling them to the priesthood or religious life. God’s call to each person is individual, made-to-measure just for him or her, the pope said, so discovering that call can be done only with calm, silence, prayer and the wise help of someone who truly knows how to listen and ask the right questions. A vocation, the pope said, is a gift that “will help you live to the full and become someone who benefits others, someone who leaves a mark in life; it will surely be a gift that will bring you more joy and excitement than anything else in this world. “Not because that gift will be rare or extraordinary, but because it will perfectly fit you. It will be a perfect fit for your entire life.”—CNS

Word of the Week

Monastic life: Consecrated life marked by the taking of religious vows, and living as part of a community in a monastery following the rule of a founding father, such as St Benedict for Benedictine monks and nuns. Diocese: The territory, or churches, under the authority and leadership of a bishop.

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PRAYER TO THE ViRgiN MARY (never known to fail). Oh most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruit of the vine, splendrous of Heaven, blessed mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. Oh Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein you are my mother. Oh Holy Mary, 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 are none who can withstand your power. Oh show me here, you are my Mother. Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee (three times). Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands (three times). Thank you for the mercy towards me and mine. Amen. This prayer must be said for three days

and after that the request will be granted and the prayer must be published. dolores. PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPiRiT. Holy Spirit, thou who makes us see all, shows us the way to reach our ideals, and in all aspects of our lives is with us granting the divine gift to forgive and forget, and in all aspects of our lives is with us protecting and opening ways which we thought never existed. We praise and glorify thee and hereby confirm never to be separated from thee, casting aside all material desires. We pray to be with thee and our loved ones in thy perpetual glory. Say the above for three consecutive days and without asking further, the wish will be realised, no matter how difficult it may seem. Take the obligation to advertise and make public this prayer as soon as your

wish has been granted to his glory. dolores.

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Liturgical Calendar Year C – Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday April 14, Palm Sunday Isaiah 50:4-7, Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24, Philippians 2:6-11, Luke 22:14--23:56 Monday April 15, Holy Week Isaiah 42:1-7, Psalm 27:1-3, 13-14, John 12:1-11 Tuesday April 16, Holy Week Isaiah 49:1-6, Psalm 71:1-6, 15, 17, John 13:21-33, 36-38 Wednesday April 17, Holy Week Isaiah 50:4-9, Psalm 69:8-10, 21-22, 31, 33-34, Matthew 26:14-25 Thursday April 18, Holy Thursday Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14, Psalm 116:12-13, 1518, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-15 Friday April 19, Good Friday Isaiah 52:13--53:12, Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25, Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9,

John 18:1--19:42 Saturday April 20, Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil Genesis 1:1--2:2, Psalm 104:1-2, 5-6, 10, 12-14, 24, 35 or Psalm 33:4-7, 12-13, 20, 22, Genesis 22:1-18, Psalm 16:5, 8-11, Exodus 14:15--15:1, Responsorial psalm Exodus 15:1-6, 17-18, Isaiah 54:5-14, Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13, Isaiah 55:1-11, Responsorial psalm Isaiah 12:2-6, Baruch 3:9-15, 32--4:4, Psalm 19:8-11, Ezekiel 36:16-28, Psalm 42:3, 5; 43:3-4, Romans 6:3-11, Psalm 118:1-2, 15-17, 22-23, Luke 24:1-12 Sunday April 21, Easter Sunday, Resurrection of the Lord Acts 10:34, 37-43, Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23, Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, John 20:1-9 or Luke 24:1-12

Our bishops’ anniversaries This week we congratulate: April15: Auxiliary Bishop Duncan Tsoke of Johannesburg on his 55th birthday April 18: Bishop José Ponce de León of Manzini on the 10th anniversary of his episcopal ordination April 18: Bishop João Rodrigues of Tzaneen on the 9th anniversary of his episcopal ordination

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 858. ACROSS: 1 Ambo, 3 Charcoal, 9 Stamina, 10 Attic, 11 Resurrection, 13 Canopy, 15 Repeat, 17 Brother-in-law, 20 Plumb, 21 Handier, 22 Skeleton, 23 Ages. DOWN: 1 Abstract, 2 Brass, 4 Heaven, 5 Read the signs, 6 Outcome, 7 Lucy, 8 Disreputable, 12 Stewards, 14 Nurture, 16 Jethro, 18 Lying, 19 Apes.

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The Southern Cross is published independently by the Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Company Ltd. Address: PO Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000. Tel: (021) 465 5007 Fax: (021) 465 3850 www.scross.co.za Editor: Günther Simmermacher (editor@scross.co.za), Business Manager: Pamela davids (admin@scross.co.za), Advisory Editor: Michael Shackleton, Local News: erin Carelse (e.carelse@scross.co.za) Editorial: Claire Allen (c.allen@scross.co.za), Mary Leveson (m.leveson@scross.co.za), Advertising: yolanda Timm (advertising@scross.co.za), Subscriptions: Michelle Perry (subscriptions@scross.co.za), Accounts: desirée Chanquin (accounts@scross.co.za), Directors: R Shields (Chair), Archbishop S Brislin, S duval, e Jackson, B Jordan, Sr H Makoro CPS, J Mathurine, G Stubbs

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Easter Sunday: April 21 Gospels: Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-9

EXT Sunday is Easter Sunday, the greatest feast of the Church’s year, and the climax of our Lenten journey. I hope that you will be able to attend both the Easter vigil and the morning Mass; but even if you do not, you will be able to read the Gospels for those two Masses during the coming days. If you are at the vigil service, you will hear the account in Luke’s gospel of that first Sunday morning. We listen in admiration as the brave women arrive at the tomb “in the deep dawn, bringing the spices they had prepared”. Then we look through their eyes at the place: “They found the stone rolled away from the tomb” (and we know this is God’s doing), “but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” As they scratch their heads, “Look! Two men stood over them in lightning clothing”, and we are not surprised when the women “became fearful and bent their faces to the ground”, to hear the rebuke, “Why are you looking for the Living One among the corpses?” The clear implication is that they had not been paying attention, and therefore they have to be reminded that Jesus had predicted that he would “rise on the third day”. After that we watch (admiring still) as these brave women return and tell the news

S outher n C ross

to the Eleven. This number is a signal of the woundedness of the Church from its very beginning; for it reflects the fact that, as you recall, Judas is no longer with them. Then the women become (as all the Gospels agree) “apostles to the apostles”, as they proclaim the good news about Resurrection to the not-very-brave males who were waiting for them (and who think the women are talking nonsense). But perhaps one man did believe; for the last line of this Gospel has Peter “running to the tomb; he stooped down and saw the grave-cloths on their own. And he went back home, astonished at what had happened.” And did he believe it? That is for you to answer. Certainly, later on in the same chapter we shall read that “the Lord really has risen—and he has appeared to Peter!” At Mass in the morning, the women discovering the empty tomb, and telling the male apostles about it, is from John’s gospel. Once again we observe that there is some running going on. The first is when Mary the Magdalene arrives at the tomb, “while it was still dark…and sees the stone has been taken from the tomb”; she then “runs and comes to

23, 2016 issue of the US Catholic journal Commonweal, Gutting said: “We do, however, need an ethics of sexuality, and the starting point should be the realisation that sex is not ‘fun’. “That is, it’s not an enjoyable activity that we can safely detach from things that really matter. “Sex isn’t like telling a joke, drinking good wine, or watching a basketball game. It’s not just that sex is more intense; it also taps emotional and moral depths that ordinary pleasures don’t. “Core human values such as love, respect, and self-identity are always in play. “‘Casual sex’ is a dangerous illusion. Sex is a problem for us mainly because we conflate it with fun,” he wrote. Two years later, in another issue of Commonweal (March 19, 2018), he commented on the moral outrage that sparked the #MeToo movement. Gutting wrote: “Our outrage may seems anomalous, particularly in the Hollywood context, because the entertainment industry—along with advertising, the self-help industry, and the ‘enlightened’ intellectual—is a primary source of the widely accepted idea that sex should be liberated from the seriousness of moral strictures and recognised as just another way

Conrad

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

that modern people can enjoy themselves… “I’m not a cynic, but I do think it’s worth reflecting on the tension between moral outrage over sexual harassment and the ethics of liberated sexuality. The core problem is that this ethics endorses the idea that sex should typically be just another way of having fun… “This ethics is open of course to the idea that sex can also be an expression of deep, committed, monogamous intimacy, but it till sees no problem with sex that begins and ends as just fun.”

Sunday Reflections

Simon Peter, and the other disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, and says to them, ‘They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him’.” Now there is more running, as “Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. The two ran together; and the other disciple ran ahead more quickly than Peter, and got to the tomb first.” Courteously, however, he does not go in, but “he stooped and looked at the grave-cloths lying [there].” After that, Simon Peter turns up, and does go in: “And he sees the grave-cloths lying [there] and the sweat-cloth, which had been on his head; not lying with the gravecloths, but apart, rolled up in a single-place” (so it could not have been grave-robbers; he must have been raised from the dead). But Simon is not as perceptive as the Beloved Disciple; and this one now joins the party: “Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had got first to the tomb. And he saw and he believed.” This is a very important moment; “seeing” and “believing” seem so insignificant, but they carry huge theological weight in this fourth Gospel.

What we haven’t got right about sex EVERAL years ago, in the question-and-answer period after a public lecture, a rather disgruntled young man asked me a question that carried with it a bit of attitude: “You seem to write a lot about sex,” he said, “do you have a particular problem with it?” My lecture had been on God’s mercy and had never mentioned sex, so his question obviously had its own agenda. My answer: “I write 52 columns a year and have been doing that for over 30 years. On average, I write one column on sex every second year, so that means I write on sex, on average, every 104 times I write. That’s slightly less than 1% of the time. Do you think that’s excessive?” I highlight this exchange because I’m quite aware that when a vowed celibate writes about sex, this will be problematic for some, on both ideological sides. Be that as it may, I’m going to be referring here to two insightful quotes by Gary Gutting, a philosopher at the Catholic US University of Notre Dame who died in January this year. I want to suggest that our culture would do well to courageously examine its views on sex, to see where our current ethos regarding sex might be not serving us well. Writing in the September

Nicholas King SJ

Christ is indeed risen!

an sex begin and end as just fun? Many in our culture today would say it can. It seems this is what we have evolved to. In the short space of a halfcentury, we’ve witnessed a number of paradigm shifts in how our culture evaluates sex morally. Until the 1950s, our dominant sexual ethos tied sex to both marriage and having children. Sex was considered moral when it was shared inside a marriage and was open to conception. The 1960s excised the part about sex being tied to having children as birth control became acceptable within the culture. But sex still needed to be within a marriage. Pre-marital and extra-marital sex, though prevalent, were still not seen as morally acceptable. The 1970s and ’80s changed that. Our culture came to accept sex outside of marriage, providing it was consensual and loving. Sex, in effect, became an

extension of dating. Today’s generation was born and raised inside that ethos. Finally the 1990s and the new millennium brought still a more radical shift, namely, “hook-up” sex—sex where soul, emotion and commitment are deliberately excluded from the relationship. For many people today, sex can be understood as purely recreational—and still moral—purely for fun. What’s to be said about this? Can sex be purely for fun? My answer is the same as Gutting’s. Sex purely for fun doesn’t work because, try as we might, we cannot extricate sex from soul. In the end, sex just for fun is not fun—except in fantasy, in ideology divorced from reality, and in naive novels and movies. For the sensitive, it invariably brings heartache, and to the insensitive it invariably brings hard-heartedness. To everyone it brings sexual exploitation. Most seriously, it leads to a certain loss of soul. When soulfulness is not given its rightful place within sexuality, worse still when it is deliberately excluded, we end up selling ourselves short, not properly honouring ourselves or others—and at the end of the day this results in neither happiness within ourselves nor proper respect of others. Soul is a commodity worth protecting, particularly in sex.

The evangelist then comments: “They had not yet understood the Scripture that [said] that he had to rise from the dead.” So where are you on this Easter Day? Have you joined Simon and the Beloved Disciple in recognising that the Jesus with whom they had covered ground in the Holy Land all these three years, and who had died that appalling and disgusting death on the Cross on the previous Friday, has indeed been raised by God from the dead? If it is not true about Resurrection, then our faith is absolutely pointless. If, on the other hand, it is true Jesus is indeed risen, then we must go back to the very beginning of John’s gospel, and recite to ourselves its astonishing prologue: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” If you do that after you have celebrated next Sunday, you will find that it means something utterly new, and that the world suddenly looks like a very different place. A very happy Easter to you all.

Southern Crossword #858

ACROSS

1. Pulpit found among the ham bones (4) 3. The carbon in the smoking thurible (8) 9. Disturbed man is at Christ’s endurance in suﬀering (7) 10. Greek reference to the room in the roof (5) 11. It is the essential Easter event (12) 13. The awning carried above the Eucharist in procession (6) 15. Say your prayers again (6) 17. One’s spouse’s sibling (72-3) 20. Measure the depth of the water (5) 21. Hire and ﬁnd it’s easier for us (7) 22. Secret kept in the cupboard (8) 23. The times of your life? (4)

DOWN

1. Take away the impressionist’s painting (8) 2. The tacks you get down to (5) 4. Our home with God (7) 5. Comprehend symbols of the times to discern them (4,3,5) 5. Result of Exodus? (7) 7. Virgin martyr saint (4) 8. Rebels put aid roughly. It’s not respectable (12) 12. They serve you on board (8) 14. Care for the growing child (7) 16. Moses’ father-in-law (6) 18. Prone to be telling ﬁbs (5) 19. Mimics the primates (4) Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

WO leprechauns wrapped in green blankets pounded on the gates of a convent during an icy Irish winter. Sr Patience opened the small door high on the wall but could see nothing. “‘Tis a joke some scallywags is playin’ on poor nuns?” she called out. “Nay, good Sister, we’re down here,” said Erin, the taller leprechaun. “Me wee shy friend, Shamus, is wonderin’ if a nun his size lives here.”

“Oh, heavens no. We’re the Sisters of Soaring Stature. A very tall order.” “No midget with a slight habit?” asked Erin. “No,” said Sr Patience impatiently. “Not one dwarf lady wearin’ the holy black ’n white?” “Are ye deaf? What part o’ ‘tall’ is so hard to grasp, li’l man?” “Told ye, Shamus,” Erin said. “Yer date last night was a penguin.”

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6-16 October 2019

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