191120

The

S outher n C ross

November 20 to November 26, 2019

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 5162

Priest’s new book reflects on Mass readings

Page 2

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R12 (incl VAT RSA)

Getting close to Sacred Heart of Jesus

Centenary Jubilee Year

Interview with SACBC president Bishop Sipuka

Page 10

Page 9

SA couple on the path to sainthood

BY DALUXO MOLOANTOA

I As the Church year ends on the final Sunday before Advent, we say goodbye to the past liturgical cycle which in the Sunday readings took us through the Gospel of Luke (pictured above). Next week, on the first Sunday of Advent, the liturgical Year A will begin, during which the Gospels of Matthew and John will be proclaimed at Mass, except on three weekends when we will revisit Luke. (Photo: Aaron Burden)

Pope warns of ‘devil’s game’

BY CINDY WOODEN

T

HE devil is real and is so jealous of Jesus and the salvation Jesus offers that he tries everything he can to divide people and make them attack each other, according to Pope Francis.

Celebrating Mass in the chapel of his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the pope listed ways in which the devil divides people.

“Some people say, ‘But, Father, the devil doesn’t exist’,” the pope told the small congregation. “But the word of God is clear.”

The devil’s envy, which the Book of Wisdom cites, is the root of all his efforts to get people to hate and kill one another.

But his first steps, the pope said, are to sow “jealousy, envy and competition” instead of allowing people to enjoy brotherhood and peace.

Some people, the pope noted, will say,, “’But, Father, I don’t destroy anyone.’ No? And your gossiping? When you speak ill of another? You destroy that person.”

Someone else might say, “But, Father, I’ve been baptised. I’m a practising Catholic,

how’s it possible that I could become an assassin?”

The answer to that is that “we have war inside of us”, Pope Francis said.

Pointing to the beginning of Genesis, he noted that “Cain and Abel were brothers, but out of jealousy, envy, one destroyed the other”. And even today, he said, just turn on the TV news and you see wars, destruction and people dying either because of hatred or because others are too selfish to help.

“Behind all this, there is someone who moves us to do these things. It’s what we call temptation,” he said. “Someone is touching your heart to make you follow the wrong path, someone who sows destruction in our hearts, who sows hatred.”

Pope Francis said he cannot help wondering why countries spend so much money on weapons and waging war when that money could be used to feed children at risk of dying of hunger or to bring clean water, education and health care to everyone.

What is happening in the world, he said, happens also “in my soul and in yours” because of the “devil’s seeds of envy” sown abundantly.—CNS

N a first for the Catholic Church in South Africa, a local couple has been given the status of Servants of God by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican.

Domitilla and Danny Hyams, the late founders of the Little Eden Society in Johannesburg, are now officially past the first stage towards possible canonisation for both of them.

This follows two separate applications made in 2017 by the archdiocese of Johannesburg to have both of the Hyams recognised as saints in the Catholic Church.

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints first approved the sainthood cause for Italian-born Domitilla Rota Hyams. With the approval for Mr Hyams’ cause, the couple will now progress together on the path to possible canonisation.

In modern times, only one couple has been canonised: Ss Louis and Zélie Martin, parents of St Thérèse of Lisieux, who were raised to the College of Saints by Pope Francis in 2015.

Currently, there is one couple where the husband is canonised and the wife beatified (12th-century St Isidro Merlo Quintana and Bl Maria Torribia), and one couple that has been beatified together, in 2001: Bls Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi (1880-1951) and Maria Corsini-Beltrame Quattrocchi (1884-1964).

Several other couples share the status of Venerable or Servant of God. The Hyams, who met during World War II in Italy, were known to have lived out the virtues of prudence, charity, faith and hope in their married and family life, within their parish community of Edenvale, and in their work of establishing and running Little Eden, a home for intellectually-challenged adults and children, in 1967.

Domitilla died in January 2011, Danny in December 2012.

Church Chuckles

Danny and Domitilla Hyams, whose sainthood cause is now progressing together.

Fr Deneys Williamson, vice-postulator of the Hyams’ cause, said that it was through assistance from Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg that a good motivation for presenting a case to Rome was assembled.

“They were lay people, not priests or nuns or religious. Most of the saints we know were priests or religious, but there is nothing that prevents a lay person being declared blessed or a saint,” Fr Williamson said.

He emphasised that this was a cause for sainthood that had arisen out of the local Church itself.

“Having only recently celebrated 200 years of the Catholic Church in South Africa, the cause of a local saint almost authenticates the presence and working of the Holy Spirit in South Africa through Danny and Domitilla Hyams,” Fr Williamson said.

So far, only one South African has been beatified, Bl Benedict Daswa, in 2015.

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2

The Southern Cross, November 20 to November 26 2019

LOCAL

Priest hopes new book will help homilies

BY ERIN CARELSE

D

OMINICAN Father Joseph Falkiner (pictured) priest was motivated to write a book of reflections on the Sunday readings for the coming year by positive feedback received over the years from many people, including priests who said his introductions had helped them to prepare their sermons.

Fr Falkiner’s book, An Introduction to the Sunday Readings for Year A of the Lectionary, begins with the first Sunday of Advent, this year on December 1, and ends with the feast of Christ the King next November.

The book contains introductions to a few feasts which may be celebrated on Sundays, such as the birth of John the Baptist, the Assumption of Our Lady, the Triumph of the Cross, All Saints, the Immaculate Conception, and the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed.

CORRECTION: On page 3 of the October 30 issue we mistakenly identified Bishop Vincent Zungu of Port Elizabeth as chancellor of St John Vianney Seminary. The chancellor is Archbishop Dabula Mpako of Pretoria.

We apologise for the error.

“These introductions are very short. I just looked for a common theme that could be connected to all three readings. I tried to choose a theme that would be relevant to the reader,� Fr Falkiner told The Southern Cross. “I am aware that many young people don’t find Sunday sermons very relevant to their lives. I bear that in mind as I write introductions and try not to be abstract, and not to be exegetical,� he explained.

Fr Falkiner, whose religious congregation is known as the Order of Preachers, strongly believes that a sermon should pick just one point from the readings and stay with it. A preacher should illustrate the point with stories of his own and refer, if necessary, to well-known competitors from other parts of Scripture that also deal with the point. “A sermon should begin with the preacher announcing the point that

he is going to deal with. Before developing the point, he could briefly tell his congregation how that point comes up in the readings of the day, followed by his exposition of what he wants to say,� he said. “If a preacher does this, the congregation will find it much easier to follow—and should anyone ask them afterwards what the sermon was about, they will find it easy to answer,� the Dominican noted.

In his reflections, the author can draw from half a century of priesthood: on December 13, Fr Falkiner will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination.

He traced the motivation to write the book to last year, when he was doing supplying in a parish on the edge of Soweto. “I was approached by a young woman who edited the parish weekly bulletin. She told me that the parish priest—who was away on

holiday—normally provided her with such introductions to the readings. While I was there, would I please do the same,� he explained.

Shortly after, Fr Falkiner was transferred to the Dominican community in Pietermaritzburg, which provides pastoral care for Catholic students at two universities.

“I got the idea that these students might appreciate something similar, so I continued writing weekly introductions and posting them on the Internet, and on various Facebook pages they might be following. I expanded it to make it also available to Catholic students at other universities throughout South Africa. I also sent it to Radio Veritas,� Fr Falkiner said.

That’s when the feedback started coming in from others, including priests, who said the reflections helped them prepare their sermons.

Earlier this year, Fr Falkiner’s superior said that he would like to have these readings in book form.

The priest envisages there will eventually be three volumes to cover the three-year cycle of readings. n An Introduction to the Sunday Readings for Year A of the Lectionary, sells for R150 and is available from joefalkinerop@gmail.com

Staffers use retrenchment payouts to keep early learning centre open

BY ERIN CARELSE

T Bishop Sylvester David, auxiliary in Cape Town, blesses two new classrooms at the Tafelsig Early Learning Centre in Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town.

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WO staff members of a learning centre run by the now-defunct Catholic Welfare Department (CWD) in Cape Town used their retrenchment packages to keep the centre’s doors open.

When CWD closed down last year, the retrenched staff included the teachers of the Tafelsig Early Learning Centre (ELC) in Mitchell’s Plain.

Thanks to the principal and her assistant, they were able to keep the doors open using their retrenchment packages.

The new board of CWD, which is overseeing the winding up of the organisation, and the archdiocese of Cape Town were determined to find a solution to seeing the continuation of the school, but were still short of an answer when principal Bridgette George and her assistant Shireen van Reenen stepped in.

The centre reopened its doors on January 7. “My first thought when I was told we were being retrenched, was, ‘What is going to happen to our children and the community,’� Ms George said.

So she and Ms Van Reenen decided to use their retrenchment money to fund the operations, “because we are living in bad and violent times and we don’t want our children wandering the streets�.

The Tafelsig ELC is a pre-primary school situated in the gang-ridden area of Mitchell’s Plain. Initially, the crèche was founded under CWD in 2002.

It is home to 85 children and has a soup kitchen feeding 150 people daily. Between breakfast and lunch, more than 300 meals are prepared per day. “We work with children who have no parents and are raised by grandparents and caregivers,�

Ms George said.

Recently, the school received two new classrooms through a joint effort between CWD and Breadline.

The funds were raised through a bequest from Sheila Heath, CWD UK, The Vallely Family, St Anthony’s parish in Dorset, England, and an anonymous donor.

The construction of these classrooms is the first stage of a three-year development project for the school. Funds still need

to be raised for ablution facilities, a children’s playground, perimeter walls, and an additional three classrooms.

When Bishop Sylvester David, auxiliary in Cape Town, blessed the classrooms, he emphasised the important role of parents in the formation of their children, and also said that through awareness of the needs of the centre, other role players helped carry out the mission of Christ.

Tafelsig now has its own management board. It is one of three crèches being helped to independence by CWD and the archdiocese before CWD winds up.

Under Ms George and Ms Van Reenen’s management, the dream of providing a learning foundation for the children may be a reality for these two hardworking and dedicated women. “There is nothing greater than having love and passion for what you do. To walk into our classrooms and see the looks on the children’s faces in the morning is wonderful,� Ms George said. “Our calling is to make every moment of the day a success; these children are our blessings from God.�

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The Southern Cross, November 20 to November 26, 2019

3

School issues manifesto for manhood

BY ERIN CARELSE

A

CATHOLIC boys’ school has taken a proactive stance against gender-based violence by writing its own “Manifesto on Masculinity”.

The manifesto will be included as an integral part of the school’s Grade 8 induction initiatives, said Andre Oosthuysen, executive headmaster of St Benedict’s College in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, “We will ask all new boys who join our school to commit to the principles in the manifesto, and it will also form the backdrop to continued discussions in forums at our school: including assemblies, retreats, tutor meetings, and life orientation and religious education lessons,” Mr Oosthuysen explained.

The manifesto is seen as a proactive and tangible declaration against violence against women and femicide—denouncing excuses and promoting behavioural change, and ultimately holding the greater school community to a higher standard.

As a boy’s school, St Benedict’s aims to develop the consciousness

of boys at a young age, teaching them to hold one another accountable and to call out deficient behaviour towards women.

“We take our role in developing honourable men seriously, and want to ensure we teach our boys to work against societal norms which degrade women,” Mr Oosthuysen said.

The school community feels it is important to take a stand that will live on beyond marches and calendar events such as the 16 Days of Activism, he said.

St Benedict’s advocates that change in gender attitudes must start from within the school, and so discussions were held with boys from junior preparatory to college level to explain in an age-appropriate manner what constitute acceptable and unacceptable behaviours towards women.

Mr Oosthuysen challenged Grade 10 and 11 boys and male staff to craft a manifesto which would highlight how they would choose to behave towards women.

Some of the 20 intuitive commitments made include: • Always call out other men on

Fr Thabo Mothiba and others sign the St Benedict’s Manifesto on Masculinity, an initiative of the Johannesburg boys’ school to combat violence against women. their inappropriate behaviour towards women. This includes derogatory comments about women on social media, such as in WhatsApp groups.

• Report and put a stop to any form of abuse against women.

• Never assume anything about a woman because of what she is wearing.

• Never make a woman uncom-

fortable “because of my presence”.

• Never justify any unacceptable behaviour by saying that “boys will be boys”.

Ultimately, Mr Oosthuysen hopes the manifesto will be a tool used by people throughout the community to check, shape and monitor the conduct of boys and men.

“Boys have already shared with me and other staff how they have

used the manifesto to call out their peers regarding inappropriate comments made about girls,” he said.

While Mr Oosthuysen believes it would be presumptuous to call on other schools to adopt the St Benedict’s initiative, he said he believes it is “imperative for all schools to examine and address the issue in ways that would best suit their context”.

He counselled against the risk of a tokenism which involves only once-off activities such as protests and marches.

“Although there is always a place for healthy activism, the issue of gender violence requires an intensive and sustained focus from the earliest possible age if we are going to change the behaviour of future South African men,” he said.

“At St Benedict’s we focus on developing boys holistically so they will go on to be well-equipped adults who have empathy and compassion for all human beings, irrespective of gender. We see this manifesto as a significant step in our mission to groom the loving sons, boyfriends and husbands of the future,” Mr Oosthuysen said.

Engaged Encounter couple gets papal nod

W

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier’s book The Here and Now Christian was launched at the Jesuit Institute in Johannesburg. Seen with the cardinal is Alexis Santana Callea. The book includes columns which Cardinal Napier had written in The Southern Cross, and other writings.

HEN Fr Patrick Rakeketsi CSS called a Pretoria North couple to come forward at Mass, they were surprised to receive a special blessing from Pope Francis.

Bridgette and Kabelo Senne received the papal blessing in recognition of their work as regional coordinators of the Catholic Engaged Encounter (CEE) programme.

“When Fr Rakeketsi called us to the front, I thought he was going to inform the congregation about our re-election as regional leaders of CEE Africa. I was dumbstruck when he presented us with the special blessing; I thought I was dreaming.

It’s a moment I will never forget,” Mr Senne said.

For Mrs Senne, receiving the award at St John the Baptist church felt like she was touching the Holy Father himself.

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Pretoria North couple Bridgette and Kabelo Senne, the Africa region leaders of Catholic Engaged Encounter, with their papal blessing from Pope Francis.

“This is such a great blessing, I was overwhelmed, speechless and too emotional, I couldn’t stop crying tears of joy. I felt humbled that our work and time devoted to the ‘Love Ministry’, as I fondly call it, is noticed, especially by the most high

in the Church,” she said.

The Church requires engaged couples to prepare for marriage, for example through workshops run by CEE. The programme is endorsed by the bishops as one of the effective

and relevant programmes to accompany engaged couples, and for implementing Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on marriage and family life, Amoris Laetitia.

Though developed around the Catholic faith, couples from other denominations are welcome.

CEE was established in 1981 and is presently active in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Gaborone, and in Kenya.

It is currently expanding to Tzaneen, Kokstad, Port Elizabeth, Klerksdorp, and in eSwathini.

Further expansions are planned in Oudtshoorn, Kimberley, and Francistown in Botswana.

Mr and Mrs Senne were reelected for a second three-year term as the regional coordinators for the Africa region in October, with Fr Rakeketsi as their spiritual director.

4

The Southern Cross, November 20 to November 26, 2019

INTERNATIONAL

Pope: Capital needs ethics

BY CAROL GLATz

A Liturgical musicians have the unique calling to interpret God’s will and love through song and praise, Pope Francis said during a meeting with participants at a Vatican conference on interpreting sacred music. (Photo: Tyler Orsburn/CNS)

Music, art are a gateway to God’s greatness

BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

L

ITURGICAL musicians have the unique calling to interpret God’s will and love through song and praise, Pope Francis said.

“Every Christian, in fact, is an interpreter of the will of God in his or her own life, and by his or her life sings a joyful hymn of praise and thanksgiving to God,” the pope said during a meeting with participants at a Vatican conference on interpreting sacred music.

The conference, titled “Church, Music, Interpreters: A Necessary Dialogue”, was sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Pontifical Institute for Sacred Music and the Pontifical Athenaeum of St Anselm.

Reflecting on the conference theme, the pope said most people think of interpreters as a kind of translator who conveys what “he or she has received in such a way that another person can understand it”.

Although good interpreters in the field of music essentially “translate” what a composer has written, they also should feel “great humility before a work of art that is not their

property”, and the resposibility to “bring out the beauty of the music”.

Within the context of the liturgy, he added, music is a way for Christians “to serve others through the works they perform”.

“Every interpreter is called to develop a distinctive sensibility and genius in the service of art which refreshes the human spirit and in service to the community,” the pope said. “This is especially the case if the interpreter carries out a liturgical ministry.”

Pope Francis thanked the participants for their commitment and— citing the words of Pope Paul VI—said that music ministers have the great task of “grasping treasures from the heavenly realm of the spirit and clothing them in words, colours and forms, thus making them accessible”.

“The artist, the interpreter and— in the case of music—the listener, all have the same desire,” the pope said: “To understand what beauty, music and art allow us to know of God’s grandeur. Now perhaps more than ever, men and women have need of this. Interpreting that reality is essential for today’s world.”—CNS

N economic system lacking any ethics leads to a “throwaway” culture of consumption and waste, Pope Francis said.

“An economic system that is fair, trustworthy and capable of addressing the most profound challenges facing humanity and our planet is urgently needed,” he said in a speech addressed to members of the Council for Inclusive Capitalism during an audience at the Vatican.

The council was created after the Fortune-Time Global Forum, which was held in Rome in 2016 and included a meeting with the pope.

Dozens of CEOs from major global corporations attended the forum, where they agreed to specific actions addressing different economic and social problems around the world.

The pope thanked the new council for taking up “the challenge of realising the vision of the forum by seeking ways to make

capitalism become a more inclusive instrument for integral human wellbeing”.

“This entails overcoming an economy of exclusion and reducing the gap separating the majority of people from the prosperity enjoyed by the few,” he said.

“A glance at recent history, in particular the financial crisis of 2008, shows us that a healthy economic system cannot be based on short-term profit at the expense of long-term productive, sustainable and socially responsible development and investment,” the pope said.

Business is a noble vocation as it creates jobs and prosperity and can improve the world, he said. However, “authentic development cannot be restricted to economic growth alone but must foster the growth of each person and of the whole person”.

“This means more than balancing budgets, improving infrastructures or offering a wider variety of consumer goods,” Pope Francis

said. It also includes “a renewal, purification and strengthening of solid economic models based on our own personal conversion and generosity to those in need”.

An economic system that is completely detached from ethical concerns does not create “a more just social order but leads instead to a ‘throwaway’ culture of consumption and waste”, he said.

“On the other hand,” the pope said, “when we recognise the moral dimension of economic life, which is one of the many aspects of Catholic social doctrine that must be integrally respected, we are able to act with fraternal charity, desiring, seeking and protecting the good of others and their integral development.

“In the end, it is not simply a matter of ‘having more’, but ‘being more’, which demands a fundamental renewal of hearts and minds so that the human person may always be placed at the centre of social, cultural and economic life.”—CNS

ISIS murders priest, father in Syria

I

SIS has claimed responsibility for the shooting of an Armenian Catholic priest and his father in north-eastern Syria.

Fr Hovsep Bedoyan was the head of the Armenian Catholic community in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli, near the border with Turkey.

He and his father, Abraham Bedoyan, were traveling south to the province of Deir Al-Zor when unidentified gunmen ambushed their vehicle.

Fati Sano, a deacon from the region, was also in the car, and was badly wounded and reported to be in critical condition.

The priest and his father were travelling to Deir al-Zor to inspect an Armenian Catholic church which

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had suffered damage in the Syrian civil war, according to International Christian Concern (ICC).

Pope Francis said he was praying for the priest, his father and his relatives. Fr Bedoyan, a married priest, reportedly is survived by a wife and children.

Dozens of mourners attended the funeral today in Qamishli for the victims.

The area that the victims were travelling from is largely controlled

by Kurdish forces, against whom Turkey launched an incursion last month after the US decision to move troops from the area.

The same day as the shooting, two bombings in Qamishli, one of them close to a Chaldean Catholic church, reportedly killed at least five

people and wounded 26 others.

ISIS was officially declared militarily defeated in Syria this past March, ICC reported. The death of ISIS leader Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi was reported in October.

But Kurdish leaders have warned of the threat ISIS sleeper cells still pose in the area and warn that the Turkish offensive at the border would allow a jihadist resurgence in the area.

Bishops in Syria and Iraq have called for worldwide prayer as the fighting between Turkish and Kurdish forces further destabilises northern Syria. The Armenian Catholic Church is a church sui iuris and in full communion with Rome, and constitutes approximately 600 000 members.—Vatican News

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, November 20 to November 26, 2019

5

Chilean churches looted Pope hails African Canadian scholars in anti-govt protests G

A

TTACKS on Catholic churches in Chile this month have been part of anti-government protests in the South American country.

The demonstrations began peacefully in mid-October in the capital Santiago over a now-suspended increase in subway fares.

Other regions joined in the protests, expanding their grievances to inequality and the cost of healthcare.

This month, protests spread to vandalism and looting of churches, arson, and attacks on public and private property and national heritage buildings.

Protesters broke into Santiago’s La Asuncion parish, hauling out pews, confessionals, and statues— which they defaced—to build a barricade. They set the barricade on fire before clashing with police, and sprayed anti-Catholic graffiti on the walls, pillars, and altar of the church.

Attackers in Talca forced open the doors of the Mary Help of Christians shrine, where they destroyed religious images and then carried them into the streets along with the church’s pews to set them on fire and erect barricades. Before the police arrived at the scene, the attackers desecrated the tabernacle.

The same day, a mob attacked Our Lady of the Angels parish in Viña del Mar, north-east of Valparaiso.

The attackers pulled out statues

A protester carries a statue of Christ from La Asuncion church to be added to a barricade in Santiago, Chile. (Photo: Esteban Felix/AP/CNA) of St Expeditus and St Teresa of the Andes from their exterior glass enclosures and destroyed them. They also smashed some stained-glass and other windows, sprayed graffiti, and tried to enter the church.

The cathedral of St James in Valparaiso and the church of St Teresa of the Andes in Punta Arenas were also attacked.

Bishop Galo Fernández Villaseca, auxiliary in Santiago and apostolic administrator of Talca, said he was “impacted and moved by the violence one is experiencing which is

Bishop donated bone marrow to save mom

A

US bishop has reflected on how his bone marrow donations saved the life of a mother.

As a priest, Bishop Michael Mulvey of Corpus Christi, Texas, joined Be The Match Registry, the world’s largest register for bone-marrow transplants.

After the organisation discovered a match, Bishop Mulvey, now 70, made a peripheral stem-cell donation. He matched with a mother who had been diagnosed with a type of blood cancer.

Although the bishop has never met the woman, he said he was humbled by the experience and expressed gratitude to be able to contribute to the wellbeing of this mother and her family.

“Knowing that because of the life I have been given by God—I was able to give back and make a big difference in this person’s life, in the life of her children and her family, is something I have thought of quite often,” he told the South Texas Catholic.

A bone-marrow transplant replaces unhealthy bone marrow with healthy marrow from an outside source. The procedure is used to cure cancers in the blood as well as diseases in the bones and immune system.

Among other illnesses, bone-

T

anity, northern Africa gave the Church great figures—Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine—but the spread of Islam followed by centuries of colonialism prevented a true African inculturation of the Christian message until the second half of the last century,” Pope Francis noted.

He thanked Fr Bére and other African scholars for their commitment to inculturating the faith in Africa.

Prof Taylor, Pope Francis said, has looked at the cultural phenomenon of secularisation with a “breadth of vision” few others have achieved.

“We are indebted to him for the profound manner in which he has treated the problem, carefully analysing the development of Western culture, the movements of the human mind and heart over time, identifying the characteristics of modernity in their complex relationships, in their shadows and lights.”

Prof Taylor’s work “allows us to deal with Western secularisation in a way that is neither superficial nor given to fatalistic discouragement”, Pope Francis said.

“This is needed not only for a reflection on contemporary culture, but also for an in-depth dialogue and discernment in order to adopt the spiritual attitudes suitable for living, witnessing, expressing and proclaiming the faith in our time.”—CNS

Souther n Cros s Pilgrimage

MEDJUGORJE • ROME ASSISI • LORETO

Bishop Michael Mulvey of Corpus Christi, Texas. (Photo: USCCB) marrow transplants have been used for leukaemia, aplastic anaemia, and sickle-cell disease.

Bishop Mulvey described his donor experience not only as an opportunity for charity but as a spiritual encounter.

“St Matthew says what you have received as a gift, give as a gift,” said Bishop Mulvey. “We must always remember that everyone’s life is a gift, and true gratitude is expressed when you are willing to give back and share what you have.”—CNA

French bishops to pay abuse victims with Church funds HE bishops of France have approved plans to offer financial compensation to victims of sexual abuse by clergy.

According to the Associated Press, any person recognised by their bishop as a victim will be eligible to receive money, and the Church in France will appeal for donations to cover the costs.

The French bishops also voted to allocate 5 million euros, or R82 million, to an independent commission examining Church sex

intensifying in the country and among us. These are not just material damages, it’s an attitude of discord which attacks the deepest sentiments of a person, our religious sentiments. The desecration of the Blessed Sacrament hurts us deeply.”

He encouraged the practice of “peace, dialogue, to value what is true in the different person and to walk down a path that means progress for all women and men in Chile”.

More than 20 people have been killed in the protests.—CNA

IVING the Ratzinger Prize to a Scripture scholar from Burkina Faso and a Canadian philosopher, Pope Francis said they demonstrate that “in the variety of cultures, diverse across time and space, one can and should always seek the way to God and the encounter with Christ”.

Pope Francis presented the awards to Jesuit Father Paul Bére, who is known particularly for his contributions to developing an African theology, and to Charles Taylor, a philosopher who has focused much of his work on secularism.

The prize winners were chosen by the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Foundation, which was established in 2010 to support theological research and to promote studies on the theology and teaching of the retired pope.

Theology must “be and remain in active dialogue with cultures, even as they change over time and evolve differently in various parts of the world”, Pope Francis said. That dialogue with cultures is necessary to keep the Christian faith vital and to make evangelisation effective.

He said Fr Bére has worked for a “true African inculturation of the Christian message” by, for example, “his work on the interpretation of Old Testament texts in a context of oral culture, thus bringing to fruition the experience of African culture”.

“In the first centuries of Christi-

abuse in France, and to support prevention efforts.

The bishops made the decision at their biannual assembly in Lourdes. They plan to consider additional details of the plan, including compensation amounts for victims, at their next meeting in April 2020.

An independent commission examining sexual abuse in France announced that 2 800 people have responded since June to a call for testimonies.—CNS

18-27 May 2020 With Archbishop Stephen Brislin

Pray in Medjugorje and visit Rome, with papal audience, Assisi, the town of St Francis, Loreto with Mary’s House. Plus a tour of historic Split in Croatia.

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6

The Southern Cross, November 20 to November 26, 2019

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: GĂźnther Simmermacher

Catholicism is diverse

S

OME of the protests against the recent Synod of Bishops on the Amazon seemed to insist that there can be only one valid expression of Catholicism: the Western European model.

There were several points of heated controversy surrounding the synod. Some concerned forms of ministry, such as the proposal of married viri pribati priests and women deacons; others focused on expressions of a culture that is alien to Western Catholicism.

In terms of the latter, the force of the reaction to the use of indigenous female figures from the Amazon region in events surrounding the synod, and their display in a Vatican church, pointed to intolerance by some of the use of local cultures and their symbols in the life of the Church.

The largely manufactured outrage led to the subsequent theft from the church of the wooden figures, which depict a nude pregnant woman as a sign of life, by two men who then threw them into the River Tiber.

It is legitimate, of course, to interrogate the use of symbols of non-Christian provenance in occasions of Catholic worship, especially when these cause confusion. If such use is inappropriate, then an informed argument to that effect may be articulated and stated, with civility and an openness to persuasion.

Amid the already heated rhetoric from opponents of the synod, the use of non-Catholic symbols was always going to be a point of controversy—and, indeed, a line of attack against the synod and the pope who called it.

Matters were not helped by the inadequate and at times arrogant communication by Church officials regarding the statues, now widely known as Pachamama, which is also the name of an Andean pagan symbol.

The use of the Pachamama statues was an obvious attempt by the universal Church to inculturate the synod. And not all the reaction to that attempt should be seen as a rejection of inculturation—the expressions of the Gospel within the cultural contexts of the particular churches.

Some people voiced genuine concerns about the possibility of idolatry (which the Vatican failed to address until after the theft of the statues).

Still, the aggressive opposition

to the statues may be interpreted as a form of ecclesial xenophobia.

But Western European Catholicism is not the only legitimate form of expressing the faith. Indeed, Western European Catholicism itself was shaped over many centuries by the social, political and cultural systems of that region.

Eastern Orthodox Christianity, which is as old as Roman Catholicism, has its own set of practices because it reflects the social circumstances of its regions and times, spanning centuries. The same applies to other ancient denominations, such as the Coptic, Ethiopian and Armenian Churches.

That is true even within the Catholic Church, which includes several Eastern rites, such as Maronite, Melkite, Syriac, Chaldean, Coptic, Greek, Syro-Malabar and so on.

Apart from liturgical differences, the Latin-rite discipline of obligatory clerical celibacy, for example, does not apply in the Eastern Catholic rites.

Those who claim that the celibate priesthood is the only legitimate sacerdotal model deligitimise the entire priesthood of Catholic clergy in the Eastern rites, which can trace their succession to apostolic times—an age when most of Europe was still decidedly pagan.

In short, all churches have been inculturated. Indeed, St Paul himself integrated the prevailing culture of his missionary territories into his proclamation of the Gospel.

Why shouldn’t the Pachamama—a symbol of motherhood, procreation and life— have application in proclaiming the Good News?

Conversely, what distorted message of cultural chauvinism is communicated by those who summarily deny others the right to use symbols and practices that make sense in different cultural contexts?

This is a crucial question also for the Church in Africa as it proceeds on the path of inculturation.

In the coming weeks we’ll have an opportunity to test those who rail against the Pachamama for double standards.

Will such people register strong objection to the use of the Christmas tree—which originally was a pagan symbol—in Christian life?

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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.

Beware whipped-up Amazon Synod hysteria

A

LARM bells have been set ringing hysterically in some Catholic journals overseas after the closing of the Amazon Synod.

Journalists have been doing what they do best—creating controversy and sensation. The bishops have been examining aspects of the worship of indigenous peoples of the Amazon, including an “earth-mother� figure, Pachamama (naked! pregnant!), and their “prostration� before such an image.

Self-appointed defenders of Christian Truth and Morality have rushed to denounce incipient “heresy�, on the basis of their Western cultural concepts and categories.

I am reminded of the alarm in the early Church about the baptism of Gentile converts: “What!

No circumcision? Meat from the Temple butchery?�

The reply in Acts conveys the true message (freedom from the

Time to stop rogue Vatican financiers

W

E have recently seen people around the world protesting about various “irregularities�, one being in Hong Kong where people have vehemently disagreed with the introduction of the Fugitive Offenders amendment Bill proposed by the Hong Kong government.

We have yet to see any Catholic clergy or laity protesting in unison about “rogue� elements operating within the walls of the Vatican.

As happened in the 1970s and ’80s, once again Vatican finances are being manipulated by high-up clergymen who seem to see nothing wrong in dealing with shady Italian “financiers�.

Cardinal Angelo Becciu, one of the men implicated in recent financial transactions, which involve the purchase of property in London, claims he has “done nothing wrong�. He attempts to explain his actions by referring to Pope Pius XII who evidently also “bought property in London�.

Similarly to Pope John Paul I, Pope Francis is a humble, honest and good man who understands the basis of Christianity which, as we all know, was spelt out to us in Matthew’s Gospel, in the words of Jesus: “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God� (19:24). This is verified in Luke 9:58, with Jesus saying: “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no

Law), but in order to respect cultural sensitivities, adds dietary recommendations, to prevent giving offence. Nevertheless, the Judaising party could not be reconciled.

This is also similar to the alarms and prohibitions imposed by the Church on missionaries to China, forbidding the use of the vernacular, sticking to the “safe� formularies of Latin texts, totally foreign to the thought patterns of the Chinese language(s). What an opportunity was lost—for 300 years.

We continued to impose Western patterns there, as the only valid ones. Take a look at the Catholic cathedral in Shanghai: pure Gothic, transplanted from France. No recognition of any Chinese architectural value. No wonder we were denounced as “foreign devils�.

Vatican II laid down a principle of “subsidiarity�—that most questions should (usually) be dealt with by those involved (the Amazon) without interference from central

authority (Rome) nor outsiders.

Please let the Amazon bishops deal with the Amazon. Since 1500 the Spaniards and Portuguese have presented the Gospel with a “Latin� bias—with little success in the Amazon region, it seems.

The concept of a “university� was invented by the Church. It implies that everything is open for discussion. It is through debate that truth emerges. Mistakes may occur. But remember that even Thomas Aquinas’ theology was banned in Paris for a while.

Meanwhile, a warning, based on Church history, if you’d like to check up: Whenever the Church grows or develops, in doctrine or in moral teaching, some are left behind, for example, Old Catholics or Lefebvrists.

Please let us be patient, and let the Church be the Catholic (Universal) Church, presuming the Synod bishops know their job, and above all, Pope Francis knows his.

Mgr Vincent Hill, Pretoria

place to lay his head.�

On taking over the leadership of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has been attempting to “clean up� Vatican finances, but unfortunately history is against him.

Pope Pius XII set the tone, it seems, carried on by Pope Paul VI, who had questionable friends, such as the Italian banker Roberto Calvi and Sicilian banker Michele Sindona. Calvi was murdered before he could be brought before a court and Sindona was poisoned while serving time in a US jail for conspiracy and fraud.

It appears there are certain aspects of our Church that many of our clergy do not think relevant to the teachings contained in the Gospels. If they did, surely we should hear some murmurings of discontent?

No, dead silence, and one man is left to try to stem the immoral and unethical tide, our courageous pope, Francis.

Patrick Dacey, Johannesburg

This will effectively bar him from continuing his career, and also from starting his community service internship.

The case continues with a disciplinary inquiry panel hearing on December 9.

I respectfully submit that a most serious moral obligation also rests on our bishops to publicly condemn this disgraceful and serious prejudice shown by a state department to a doctor for informing women of the tragic truth and the law of Almighty God that all abortions commit the crime of murder.

In conclusion, and on a separate issue, I appeal to our bishops to consider again my call to them three months ago which they decided not to accede to.

This was a request that a monthly Sunday bidding prayer be started in all our country’s parishes that Almighty God guide our nation to cease our murders of our unborn infants.

I keep this prayer inserted in the classified section of The Southern Cross in the hope that at least some of our parishes may decide to adopt it.

Damian McLeish, Johannesburg

Back pro-life doctor vs state

T

HE excellent letter by Henry Sylvester (October 2) drew attention to the case of the Health Professions Council of South Africa refusing to sign off medical doctor Jacques de Vos on completion of his internship in gynaecology in 2 Military Hospital where he practised as an intern two years ago.

The reason for this is that he informed certain women intending to have abortions that their unborn babies were human.

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PERSPECTIVES

Lesson in humanity from a cat Sarah-Leah I Pimentel AM cat-sitting a gorgeous, elderly ginger cat for a year while his owner is overseas on a work assignment.

Sparky has brought me a huge amount of joy. Like all cats, he has a unique personality—and it has be ome quite obvious that he is the boss, and I just his humble human slave!

Despite the joy of being able to care for another creature, I’ve had a few scares. He got into a fight and the surface scratches seemed to heal, so I missed what was festering on the inside, until his whole face swelled up. He landed up on the operating table and I held my heart in my hands.

More recently he began to have unexplained seizures, which the vet says can be indicative of anything from a parasite to cancer. The numerous trips to the vet have made me realise why people take out pet insurance.

A particularly strange moment came when I landed up at the 24-hour vet on a Sunday afternoon. The vet on call suggested that the seizures might be a brain tumour and that Sparky needed an MRI. There are no MRI machines for animals, so pets have to be taken to a human facility—at pretty much the same price as a human MRI! Needless to say, we did not take Sparky for an MRI. We started by eliminating other things and we’re still not sure what caused the seizures.

But the two human carers to this gorgeous ginger cat are clear on one thing: we love Sparky but also recognise that he is an elderly cat and that nature must take its course.

We will provide what care he needs and make sure that he does not suffer unnecessarily. But there are limits to what is financially and morally justifiable.

Ultimately, this is a moral issue. How

can we justify cutting-edge medical care for animals while thousands of people in South Africa (and across the world) do not have access to even basic medical care?

People die of preventable diseases and conditions simply because they cannot afford to pay to get the right diagnosis, much less the treatment they require.

I

n February, an army exercise on our local beach caused many residents sleepless nights as they worried about the longterm psychological effect of the gunfire on the birds and fish.

In contrast, the same Facebook community group seems to care about the group of homeless people in our neighbourhood only at Christmas time, when they want to spread some festive cheer.

Yes, we have a duty of care for creation.

We are stewards of the creation that God has given us. We are called to care for animals, protect their habitats, and speak for them because they cannot speak for themselves.

But this should not come at the neglect of our human brothers and sisters.

Sarah-Leah Pimentel asks: Can it be justified that pets receive better health care than many of our fellow South Africans?

(Photo: Simone Dalmeri)

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Lessons From Luke

St Luke on the facade of the church of All Nations in Jersalem. His Gospel begins with hope in the Saviour born, and ends with hope in the Saviour risen.

(Photo: Günther Simmermacher) In Luke’s version of the events following the death of Jesus, the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee witnessed where his remains had been laid in a tomb (23:55–24:12). When the women returned to the burial spot after the Sabbath to anoint his body, they found an empty tomb and two divine messengers who announced his Resurrection.

They even reminded the women: “Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.”

We are told that “their story seemed like nonsense” to the apostles. And of course it would have. Who could have believed that he was alive?

T

his is the question that leads us into one of the most poignant post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus in the New Testament, the story of two of Jesus’ followers leaving Jerusalem on their way to Emmaus.

The two on the road were debating, per-

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In fact, this was the subject of a lively discussion in our RCIA class a few weeks ago. One of the participants pointed out that the facilitators had spent some time speaking about the value of human life and the need to protect it from conception to natural death.

She said that we place such emphasis on human life, but what about the life of animals? Are animals also not a part of God’s creation, and therefore deserving of the same rights and protections as humans?

The stories of creation and the Great Flood in Genesis remind us of our Godgiven mission as stewards of creation. This means caring for and maintaining the balance between the natural world and human progress.

However, the human person must come first. Scripture tells us that we are created in the image of God. We are sons and daughters of God. We’re not just another animal in this great plan of creation. We have an immortal soul. We have a consciousness that is far more sophisticated than the rest of the animal kingdom. We alone have free will, and do not operate purely on instinct, like the rest of God’s created creatures.

This means that the greater emphasis must be placed on ensuring the inviolable dignity of each human person.

We need to continue to work for a society where every human being has basic Continued on page 11

Cackie Upchurch

Luke finishes in hope W HEN we read any of the Gospels, we have a clear advantage: we know the ending.

We know that the tension that takes Jesus to Jerusalem will lead to his death.

We know that his death will be misunderstood and mourned deeply—but we also know that death is not the final stanza of his song.

We know that Jesus will rise from the dead and that his Resurrection will change history. We know that the music of salvation will play on.

Such prior knowledge no doubt affects how we receive the story. Our hearing of familiar passages in the Sunday Masses at our parishes, and our more careful reading in study groups or in the privacy of our own homes, can become rather mundane.

The challenge, then, is to read and listen to the Good News with “fresh ears”, and imagine what it must have been like to live the events without that prior knowledge of the surprise ending.

The original followers of Jesus could not have known what they were getting into, and even as it became obvious that Jesus’ message was an affront to the religious powers of the region, they must have been devastated by his arrest, trial, and crucifixion.

Their hopes for a kingdom of mercy and goodness, and a spirituality founded on profound freedom, were dashed in the most damaging way possible as their leader was publicly executed next to common criminals.

His closest followers would have wanted to honour him with a proper burial even as they surely wondered if anything he preached was true, and anything they witnessed would have staying power.

And just as surely they would have been frightened by the alarming finality of his death. Maybe they even feared for their own safety.

The Mustard Seeds

haps even commiserating, about what had occurred in the previous days. When they were joined by a stranger they shared their confusion with him, giving witness to how “a prophet mighty in deed and word” had been put to death. They bemoaned, “We were hoping that he would be the one who would redeem Israel.”

They even shared that the women had found an empty tomb, which had been confirmed by some of the male apostles.

But they had left Jerusalem where their hopes seemed to have been put to death.

The Gospel of Luke began with the message of hope for those who were among the least in this world: those who were barren, the poor and outcast, and all who were hungry or sick (recall the Canticle of Mary in 1:46-55 and the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry in 4:16-21).

Here, at the close of the Gospel, even when all seems lost, hope returns in the appearance of the risen Lord who once again feeds his people with the hope of the kingdom and the nourishment they most need in teaching and sharing a meal in his presence.

The followers who left Jerusalem in sorrow are to return to the great city to spread the Good News.

Their conviction and joy are bolstered by another appearance of the risen Lord among the apostles (24:36-49), another meal shared in his presence, and another time of teaching to prepare the early believers to be ambassadors of hope for a weary world. n This concludes the series of articles on the Gospel of Luke produced by Little Rock Scripture Study and first published in the Arkansas Catholic.

1 Plein Street, Sidwell, Port elizabeth

The Southern Cross, November 20 to November 26, 2019

7

Fr Pierre Goldie

Christ in the World

Capitalism: We all have to do better

T

HERE is a disturbing observation I have read: “Competition in a ‘free’ market has led to discrepancies in productivity, income and life chances between individuals, groups, and countries and continents that dwarf those of feudalism” (my emphasis).

This was stated by Prof Klaus Nürnberger, a South African Lutheran theologian and economist.

We are clearly seeing a type of social revolution taking place in South Africa, measured by ongoing service delivery protests, looting and crime.

I am not concerned that the richest person has a huge multiple of income in relation to a poor person, but I am concerned with the diminished life chances of those at the bottom end of the economic ladder, poor access to basic amenities and schooling, poor conditions for learners to study in, ongoing cycles of debilitating poverty and frustration.

Prof Nürnberger’s observation applies to other countries as well.

“If the Lord does not labour, in vain do the builders labour,” Psalm 127 tells us.

The Spirit of the Lord is not animating the world economy, or there would not be so many people deprived of even a modest lifestyle, but they are part of a system that effectively excludes them.

This month, Pope Francis addressed a “Council for Inclusive Capitalism” in the Vatican, concerned that focus on short-term profit comes at the expense of long-term, sustainable and socially responsible development and investment (see the report on page 4).

Economics needs to be ethical and allow for the growth of each person. It needs to incorporate renewal, purification, and the strengthening of solid economic models based on our own personal conversion, and generosity to those in need.

T

he capitalist system includes a sole focus on one’s own financial progress, based on the principle that as individuals work to maximise their income, the economy, as a whole, benefits.

This is not happening.

The new council is an initiative of participants in the Fortune-Time Global Forum in 2016, calling for a more inclusive and humane economy and the eradication of poverty.

Business is more than a provider of material needs, and a creator of jobs (hopefully). Economic development should foster the growth of the whole person as well, as Pope Paul VI stressed in his 1967 encyclical Populorum Progressio (14).

Pope Francis speaks frequently about the “throwaway” culture of consumption and waste.

He offers an alternative vision to that culture: “An inclusive capitalism that leaves no one behind, that discards none of our brothers or sisters, is a noble aspiration, worthy of your best efforts.”

These are brave statements in a frenetic world economic system.

Some 20 years ago, the accumulated investment funds, mainly of the developed countries, amounted to 28 times the value of goods and services traded throughout the world.

This type of money can cause havoc with the currencies, interest rates and inflation rates of weaker economies. It may lead to investment bubbles, such as the property bubble in the United States and Britain which forced the governments there to take drastic measures to save many banks which had been caught in a massive property collapse in 2008.

Another interesting statistic, which measures the extent of futures contracts traded (where huge portfolios of shares are traded), shows investors on average hold a share for 23 seconds!

Of course, there are long-term investors who hold shares for years, but together with the futures trading and hedging activities, the average holding period reduces to less than a minute.

Pope Francis is speaking to a financial community that is thin on ethical considerations and too often bent on short-term gains.

The 2008 economic collapse caused a rise in demand for the works of Karl Marx.. This is obviously not the model endorsed by the Vatican Pope Francis remains committed to models which help the poor, to act decisively in order to build a better world.

May the Spirit of the Risen Lord enter the hearts of all economic agents…we have to do better. n Fr Pierre Goldie is a priest of the archdiocese of Cape Town.

8

The Southern Cross, November 20 to November 26, 2019

COMMUNITY Nicole Daubern of Brescia House School in Bryanston, Johannesburg, was crowned Miss Teen Charity 2019. For her efforts in raising funds for the Cotton-on Foundation, she won a R3 000 Toys R Us voucher which she donated to the Childhood Cancer Foundation. Seen are (from left) CHOC fundraising coordinator Denise-Ann Olivier, Nicole Daubern and Dingani Dube.

Our Lady Of Lebanon parish in Mulbarton, south of Johannesburg, celebrated Our Lady and Rosary Month at an evening vigil Mass led by Fr Jean Yammine and concelebrated by visiting Bishop Joseph Francis Kweku Essien of Wiawso in Ghana.

(Photo: Mark Kisogloo)

The Vaal youth deanery, in conjunction with the Association of Catholic Tertiary Students, hosted a youth revival at Vaal University of Technology. Frs Emmanuel Kanuma Kagimbangabo (youth chaplain), Lingoane Tlaile (Don Bosco LoveMatters director) and Solly Mphela (Vaal dean) led the Masses and events. (Submitted by Mashadi Makhondo)

Catholic Women’s League members of St Michael’s parish in Redhill, Durban archdiocese, celebrated the ordination of Deacon Siphiwe Mbili at St Helen’s mission.

Send your photos to

pics@scross.co.za

Nazareth Sister Bongani Ester Chuma made her final profession at the Nazareth House chapel in Cape Town. With Sr Chuma (third left) are (from left) superior-general Sr Brenda McCall, Bishop Sylvester David, Archbishop Stephen Brislin, regional superior Sr Anne Margaret Craig and Fr Peter-John Pearson.

Grade 6 students Dario Gouveia (right) and Karinah Chengalaryan at Marist Brothers Linmeyer in Johannesburg were announced as new 2020 Johannesburg MiniCouncil members.

Parishioners of St Theodore’s church in Greytown, Durban archdiocese, held a rosary rally.

(Submitted

by Rosemary Mukuka)

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Bishop Phalana: Why I rejoiced at Springbok triumph

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Seniors at St John the Baptist parish in Atlantis, Cape Town archdiocese, bade farewell to Fr Pierre Goldie, a Southern Cross columnist, who is moving to St Raphael’s church in Khayelitsha.

J&P warns govt to get waterwise

or

BY ERIN CARELSE

T Posing with a sculpture of Nelson Mandela on the balcony of Cape Town’s City Hall were members of a group of the German association of Catholic communicators. The group met with Catholic journalists and experts, and visited several Catholic projects. The balcony is where Mr Mandela held his first public speech after he was released from prison in February 1990.

Street renamed for Kearney

BY ERIN CARELSE

T

P i l gr i mag e 2020

S outhern C ross

HE late Paddy Kearney, founder of the Denis Hurley Centre and former director of the Diakonia Council of Churches, will have Cathedral Mall, a pedestrianised walkthrough in Durban, renamed in his honour.

The honour marks the first anniversary of his sudden death on November 30 last year.

Paddy Kearney Way runs alongside the Denis Hurley Centre and is next to Denis Hurley Street, named for Mr Kearney’s mentor.

“It is a fitting location since it connects Emmanuel cathedral and the Grey Street mosque—and Paddy did so much in his life to promote social cohesion and bring together people of different faiths,” said Raymond Perrier, director of the Denis Hurley Centre.

According to Mr Perrier, Mr Kearney himself had been keen to have Cathedral Mall renamed, though not after himself.

“He was frustrated that it was called a ‘mall’, since most people associate that now with a covered shopping mall,” Mr Perrier explained.

The death of Mr Kearney prompted an outpouring of tributes from across the board

in KwaZulu-Natal. He was praised not only by religious and community but also by political leaders.

One of the proposed ways of honouring him was the renaming of Cathedral Mall in his honour.

The proposal received support from all the main The late Paddy local stakeholders includKearney ing Cardinal Wilfrid Napier and Emmanuel cathedral, Juma Masjid for the Muslim community, Gandhi Development and Memorial Trusts and MK Gandhi Library for the Hindu community, and Victoria Street/Early Morning Market for the business community.

Public support for the proposal had already been expressed by Deputy-Mayor Belinda Scott, former KwaZulu-Natal Premiers Willies Mchunu and Zweli Mkhize, and local ward councilor Ntando Khuzwayo.

The unveiling of Paddy Kearney Way will take place on Saturday, November 23. All are welcome.

HE head of the bishops’ Justice & Peace Commission has called for a ten-year moratorium on mining in 22 strategic water source areas across South Africa.

The response to the water crisis in South Africa requires both behavioural and policy change. Citizens need to adopt the habit of using water sparingly—but government needs its own ecological conversion concerning water source areas, said Dominican Father Stan Muyebe.

In South Africa, there are 22 water source areas located across the various provinces where much of the country’s surface water, including water for streams, rivers and wetlands, originates from.

“There are a lot of human activities that are disrupting, depleting and polluting the water in the water source areas. The worst among them is mining, especially coal mining,” said Fr Muyebe.

“Given their value, one would have expected that the government would enact radical protective measures for the water source areas. The current legal framework is, however, limited in its ability to protect the water source areas, and there is no specific legislation dedicated to water source areas,” he pointed out.

“Therefore, mining will continue in water source areas, inflicting immense harm on the water security for the current and future generation,” he said.

He said that there is nothing to prevent the government from closing the policy gaps that allow mining to continue in watercatchment areas. However, Fr Muyebe noted, the “political will is lacking”.

He also pointed out that last year, the Water and Sanitation Department mooted the idea of including a mining ban in its “masterplan” for water management. Lack of political will and inter-departmental politics within the government prevented the escalation of the idea into a clear policy position.

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“The need to grow the economy and stimulate job creation has often been used as an excuse for government failure to protect water source areas. It has been argued that banning mining in water source areas would jeopardise the country’s investment competitiveness as well as the growth objectives associated with the mining industry,” Fr Muyebe said.

“Such argument has not been supported by strong evidence,” he added.

In March 2018, J&P joined the call by the Centre for Environmental Rights for the banning of mining in water source areas.

In its statement, it warned the government “to reconsider its pursuit of short-term economic gains and narrow outlook on energy that prevent our nation from protecting water as a scarce resource and as God’s precious gift”.

Fr Muyebe said that the root causes of the current water crisis are “complex and multifaceted”. This is why the water crisis “necessitates multiple interventions, targeting both the demand and supply side of the water-security system”.

Water-governance systems should be strengthened and investment structure for water infrastructure be reviewed, Fr Muyebe said. However, he urged, “the protection of 22 water source areas should be prioritised”.

Pray in Medjugorje and visit Rome, with papal audience, Assisi, the town of St Francis, Loreto with Mary’s House.

Plus a tour of historic Split in Croa a.

Three countries in one tour!

Feed your soul with The

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INTERVIEW

The Southern Cross, November 20 to November 26, 2019

9

Sipuka on his life, his diocese and SA Church, I would like to see us growing more and more in that Earlier this year Bishop sense of ownership.

Sithembele Sipuka of Situations have changed from Mthatha assumed the presi- missionary days, and so some of the priorities have also changed. dency of the SACBC. In a Today our task is to improve the quality of Catholics in terms of two-part interview he told faith formation and witnessing for MANDLA zIBI about his life, that faith. ministry and vision.

The Second Vatican Council’s description of the Church as the “Joy and Hope” of the world— T the bishop’s plenary ses- something that Pope Francis has sion in February this year, taken up as a guide in his papacy— Bishop Sithembele Sipuka is what I hope we shall be more took over the presidency of the and more of.

I hope that from the treasure of Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, succeeding Arch- our faith and tradition as bishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Catholics—without losing this identity—and guided by the value Town.

Sithembele Anton Sipuka was of human dignity, we will make born on April 27, 1960, at Idutywa our contribution to the solution of in the Eastern Cape—also the many challenges that face us today. birthplace of ex-President Thabo What do you think are the priorMbeki—about 35km from Gcuwa ities and challenges facing us, as (the former Butterworth). a nation?

He was ordained to the priest- Since 1994, a lot has changed for hood for the diocese of Queen- the better, but there remain some stown on December 17, 1988. challenges.

The former rector of St John The most glaring challenges are Vianney Seminary was appointed poverty, unemployment and a dysbishop of Mthatha on February 8, functional government that fails to 2008, to succeed Bishop Oswald render essential services.

Hirmer, and was ordained to the Health provision institutions episcopate on May 3 that year. are not functioning well; the quality of education and provision of You were born in Idutywa in the education infrastructure still leave Eastern Cape. Please describe much to be desired; roads in rural your journey as someone from areas are either non-existent or not the former Transkei homeland, maintained; dirt and lawlessness up to where you are now, as pres- characterise our cities, and so on. ident of the SACBC. All this leads to misery in the lives I was indeed born in Idutywa. Not of the poor.

Most worrying is the lack of being keen on working in the mines would have forced my father commitment from the powers that be, government and to leave the family bebusiness, to deal with hind, so he went around with us looking for work.

‘Civil society this problem. The ordinary people also, except That is how at one time we were in Mthatha, has to reclaim for being destructively where he was working on its power by violent and venting their anger on people of the farms.

Incidentally, it was in holding those foreign origin, appear to be paralysed and do not Mthatha that I became a in authority use their power to Catholic. the situation.

When Transkei was accountable change The time has come gearing up for independfor civil society to reence in the early 1970s, or voting claim its power by callfactories were opened in them out’ ing those in authority to Butterworth, and we came accountability—and if to Butterworth where my they continue to fail, by father worked and lived with us until he passed away in voting them out of power.

The Church needs to play a crit1994. ical part in engaging civil servants But you soon reconnected with in government and remind them your hometown... of their call to serve instead of beYes, because after matric I got a job having like feudal lords who do as a post office clerk in Idutywa what they like with impunity. where I worked for two years beYet, as we try to improve the fore joining the seminary to train material wellbeing of all South as a priest for the diocese of Queen- Africans, we must also stay awake stown. to the danger of materialism and I completed my priestly training individualism. in 1988 and was ordained to the Providing people with material priesthood in the same year. wellbeing will not fulfil them. ReI worked as a curate in Qoqo- gardless of how much you try to dala for two years, and at the end provide for people materially, if of 1991 as a parish priest in Zigudu. they hold no superior values than In June 1992 I was sent to Rome eating, drinking and entertaining for further studies and returned in themselves, they remain doomed 1994 licentiato (licensed), as the as people.

Italians would say, in dogmatic Material prosperity without the theology. value of caring relationship is only I was asked to teach at St Peter’s temporal and caters only for a few.

Seminary until the end of 1999 We see well the example of this when I took a break to complete a in North America and Europe. doctoral degree with UNISA. While they have everything, there In August 2000 I was appointed is starvation of human relationrector at St John Vianney Seminary ships, relationship with God and and began working as rector in Jan- with nature. uary 2001. And in 2008 I was sent To be human means more than to Mthatha as bishop, where I had eating, drinking and being physibecome a Catholic. cally comfortable. At the end of the That is the journey from the for- day it is not eating that defines us, mer Transkei homeland, up to but respectful and caring relationwhere I am now. ship with each other.

To paraphrase the oft-quoted As president of the SACBC, what do you hope to bring to the African maxim, “Umntu ngumntu Catholic community in the re- ngabantu”: One is, not because one eats, but one is, because one is in a gion? relationship, and this belonging I hope to facilitate a more commitextends beyond the nuclear family ted clergy, religious and laity to the to include God, the whole human ownership of the Church and its family and creation. mission.

Having grown up under mis- What other challenges do we sionaries, and with great admira- face? tion for their dedication in One other big challenge is the establishing and growing the problem of a sexualised society re-

A

Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha, president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Before he entered the seminary, he worked as a post office clerk, as he told The Southern Cross. (Photo: E R Lombard) sulting in uncommitted and irresponsible sexual behaviour, which has led to much human suffering.

The right use of sexuality is something that is less spoken about these days, even in the Church, and yet the consequences of the lack thereof are there for all of us to see.

Indications are that HIV has again begun to spread. More than 70% of children being born are born to single women, most of them young teenagers.

The willy-nilly killing of the unborn—euphemistically called termination of pregnancy—is apparently at an alarming rate.

In cases where abortion is not willy-nilly but a dilemma—as in cases of teenage pregnancy, incest and rape—we need to find alternative ways of dealing with such situations instead of leaving them to a law that allows abortion.

We need proper formation about sexuality and more humane and Christian means of handling consequences of “unwanted pregnancies” than abortion on demand.

That abortion is a law does not make it right. Furthermore, it renders commitment to justice hypocrisy, when a huge number, in the form of unborn children, are excluded.

Besides, if you have ever counselled a mother who “ended” her pregnancy, you will realise that abortion leads to two deaths: the physical death of the child and spiritual death of the mother.

Tell us a bit about your own diocese of Mthatha. What are its own peculiar characteristics, attractions and challenges?

Our diocese is a small and a rural one, with only 2% of the estimated two million citizens being Catholic.

The majority of Catholics in our diocese are Sotho-speaking, and so are most of our local priests.

The Xhosa-speaking are few.

Part of the explanation for that is that the southern part of the diocese was first evangelised by the Methodist Church.

English-speaking Catholics and

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those of foreign origin are even fewer.

The strength of the diocese lies exactly in being small. We are a community that is close to each other. We meet often, we collaborate easily, there is a great sense of family, and as bishop I get to visit the parishes very often.

Another source of joy is the growing sense of ownership of the Church, especially with regard to financial support of the Church.

Recently we completed the first part of our pastoral centre in Maclear, which is in the middle of the diocese, making it easy for both sides of the diocese to gather for diocesan events and retreats.

In national collections like Lenten Appeal we pitch in very well, considering the economic conditions of our region and levels of our numbers.

The major annual fundraising, called “the harvest”, meant for the education of seminarians and ongoing formation of priests, yields growing results in each successive year.

One happy consequent of Transkei’s independence was the establishment of the university, which attracts Catholic academics of note who make valuable contribution to the diocese with their skills and resources.

Still on education, our diocese has eight schools in addition to two which are owned by the religious. Three of these are high schools that continue to provide the best matric results in the Eastern Cape.

One other note of joy is the commitment of people to ministry.

Some years ago we stopped the practice of paid catechists, and now have what we call “sowers”, who are voluntary Christians teaching catechism, trained and supported by our diocesan animation team.

And your challenges?

We are not without challenges. The major one is the shortage of priests. Presently 55% of our priests are Fidei Donum, meaning from outside. We are not growing in numbers, at least not as much as we would like to, particularly in the southern part of the diocese.

We lack the presence of the religious; all convents but one have closed down.

In this context of unemployment and poverty, we do our best to encourage development projects, but these too are taking up slowly—because of the bad roads.

Vehicles are a big cost, both in buying and maintaining them, since we have to buy big cars with high clearance. n Part two of the interview will run next week.

10

The Southern Cross, November 20 to November 26, 2019

PILGRIMAGE

From left: Fr Lawrence Mduduzi Ndlovu preaches at Mass in the chapel of the Apparitions in Paray-le-Monial • The 12th-century basilica of Paray-le-Monial, seen from the group’s hotel • The Lazarist church in Paris with the tomb of St Vincent de Paul above the sanctuary • The tomb of St Catherine Labouré in the Miraculous Medal chapel in Paris’ rue de Bac. (All photos: Günther Simmermacher)

Getting close to the Sacred Heart In October a group of Southern Cross pilgrims travelled through Catholic France, and visited the great places of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, writes GÜNTHER SIMMERMACHER.

F

ROM a village in France’s Burgundy region, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus spread into the whole world.

In the chapel of the Visitation Sisters in Paray-le-Monial—today a small town of 9 600—young Sr Margaret-Mary Alacoque experienced apparitions of Christ between 167375, giving rise to the modern devotion to the Sacred Heart.

Sr Margaret-Mary didn’t originate anything new. The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was already established in her times.

The idea of the heart of the risen Lord Jesus Christ, pierced on the cross, representing his passionate and infinite love for mankind, goes back at the latest to St Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th century and St Bonaventure in the 13th.

In 1353 Pope Innocent VI instituted a Mass for the Sacred Heart.

Over the centuries it was championed by different orders, and it was a widespread devotion by the 17th century.

But the messages of St Margaret-

Mary’s apparitions defined the devotion in a new way, in large part due to the propagation of it by the Jesuits.

By 1693, the Holy See approved the devotions based on St MargaretMary’s account of her visions.

In the 18th century many European cities were consecrated to the Sacred Heart (including Marseilles, which our group had visited a couple of days earlier), often in response to some calamity involving public health.

In 1899, Pope Leo XIII consecrated the human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He named June as the month of the Sacred Heart and encouraged the promotion of the First Friday Devotions. Successive popes have affirmed and solidified the devotion to the Sacred Heart.

The solemnity of the Sacred Heart is celebrated on the Friday 19 days after Pentecost (next year on June 19).

Mass at the tomb Our group had Mass in the chapel of the apparitions, where the Lord appeared to St Margaret-Mary and which holds her tomb, directly opposite our delightfully old-school hotel.

It was a special moment for our spiritual director, Fr Lawrence Mduduzi Ndlovu, who serves as the chaplain to the Sacred Heart Sodality in the archdiocese of Johannesburg. Our lectors that day were from the archdiocese of Pretoria, which is dedicated to the Sacred Heart.

and sought to go into the world, rather than separating itself from it—grew rapidly under St Jane, who in turn was guided by St Vincent de Paul.

St Vincent de Paul played a central role in the spread of two hugely popular devotions that spread from France throughout the world: the devotion to the Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary through the Miraculous Medal.

Aside from advising St Jane Chantal, St Vincent also co-founded an order, with the widow St Louise de Marillac. Like the Visitation Sisters in Burgundy, the Sisters of Charity in Paris were tasked to go out into the street, especially to serve the poor.

Miracle in Paris Southern Cross pilgrims in Paris with the Sacré-Cœur basilica in the background.

The Catholic faith seems alive in Paray-le-Monial. On a Saturday evening, Mass in the Jesuit church of St Claude de la Colombière, which holds the tomb of St Margaret-Mary’s spiritual director and mentor, was packed.

The town is dominated by the huge 12th-century basilica, an imposing structure modelled on the historic cathedral of Cluny.

Next to the basilica is a large convent; to the back the lovely Park of the Chaplains with an open chapel. Of course, the park is dedicated to the Sacred Heart.

Our Lady Pilgrimage

LOURDES ROME MEDJUGORJE ASSISI • LORETO • CROATIA Led by Fr Keith Gordon-Davis

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Sacred Heart in France Generally, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a defining characteristic of French Catholicism. And it finds its most prominent expression in the grand basilica on Montmartre, the highest point of Paris, which overlooks the city.

The history of Sacré-Cœur basilica is politically sensitive. It was built as a reactionary expression of the authority of the French establishment against the revolt of the Communards.

Construction for the Sacré-Cœur began in 1875, in the aftermath of France’s defeat in the war against the Prussians. It was completed in 1914, and consecrated on October 16, 1919—after another devastating war.

Today, it is the second-most visited monument in Paris, with the faithful mingling with selfie-obsessed tourists. Some of these tourists have no idea what they are visiting. One of our group overheard a young American speculating that the imposing edifice might possibly be a church.

That it very much is, of course.

Inside, the Blessed Sacrament has been exposed non-stop since 1875.

So utmost reverence is asked for, which guards are ready to enforce with alert admonishments.

We had Mass in the basilica one day before the centenary of the consecration. Although our group was relatively small, our singing resounded through the structure, attracting a small audience.

The Sacré-Cœur was not yet completed when St Thérèse of Lisieux came there with her father and sister in 1887 and devoted herself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

In this way, the Little Flower is another saintly beneficiary of the visions of St Margaret-Mary Alacoque.

Link to St Vincent de Paul St Margaret-Mary Alacoque was a member of the congregation of Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, which had been founded in 1610 by St Francis de Sales and St Jane de Chantal. Just over 60 years after its founding, St Margaret-Mary entered the congregation.

The congregation—which took in women rejected by other orders

Almost 200 years after the Sisters of Charity were founded, 24-yearold novice Sr Catherine Labouré reported three apparitions of Our Lady, following earlier visions of Christ and the heart of St Vincent de Paul.

All that took place between July and December 1830 in the chapel at 140 rue de Bac in central Paris.

In her apparitions, Our Lady instructed Sr Catherine to have medals struck featuring the image in which the Blessed Virgin appears inside an oval frame, standing upon a globe, with her hands coming out as rays of light—and the invocation: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”

On the reverse is an image of the Sacred of Heart of Jesus; thus the hearts—the infinite love for humanity—of Jesus and Mary are brought together, two sides of the same coin.

After some investigation by the archdiocese into Sr Catherine’s claim, this was done. Shortly after, in February 1832, Paris suffered a cholera epidemic which killed 20 000 people.

The Daughters of Charity distributed the medals at that time and many survivors attributed their cure to the protection received through it. And so it became known as the Miraculous Medal.

It remains a much-loved devotion in the Catholic Church worldwide, and rue de Bac is a hugely popular place of pilgrimage, also among young people.

Our pilgrimage had its concluding Mass in the chapel, whose sanctuary is flanked by the glass tombs of St Catherine Labouré and the foundress, St Louise de Marillac.

After Mass, and before the obligatory tour of Paris’ great sights, we visited the tomb of St Vincent de Paul, just around the corner from rue de Bac. The serene Lazarist church is beautiful, with brown stained-glass windows telling the extraordinary life of St Vincent.

A staircase leads to the tomb of the saint, high above the altar. His bones are encased in a wax figure of the saint, inside a silver and glass vault made in 1830.

It was fitting to end our pilgrimage to Catholic France at the tomb of the most universal of French saints, thanks to the charitable organisation named after him in the 19th century which is active in parishes around the world.

The Southern Cross, November 20 to November 26, 2019

YOUR CLASSIFIEDS

Fr Eugene Hennessy SDB

S

ALESIAN Father Eugene Hennessy died on September 12 at the Bosco Centre in Walkerville outside Johannesburg.

He was born in Dublin, Ireland, on February 19, 1933, to Michael and Mary Hennessy during what was known as the “Big Snow”.

He grew up in the village of Castledermot, County Kildare, the youngest of five brothers and one sister. Young Eugene attended the local national school, and at age 13 went to St Vincent’s College, Castleknock, Dublin, where he was educated by the Vincentians.

He then spent one year at the Salesian Agricultural College in Warrenstown. There, his impression of the Salesians was “rather negative, to put it mildly”. This was, as Fr Eugene later noted, because “I was a proud young man and a bit too big for my boots”.

Next he spent a few years farming in the south of Kildare and found that being close to nature helped him to live in God’s presence. However, God still had “a trick up his sleeve”—that of leading him to join the congregation he was least attracted to, but for which he was forever grateful.

He loved his family and was always grateful for the good foundation they gave him, and grateful to the Salesian Congregation for building on it.

Fr Eugene joined the Salesian prenovitiate in Melchet Court, Shrigley, England, as a Son of Mary in 1957. He entered the novitiate the following year in Burwash, England, and made his first profession in 1959.

He studied philosophy and pedagogy in Beckford, England (1959-1962), returned to Burwash for two years of practical training as a novices’ assistant (1962-1964) and spent a third year of practical training as a teacher and assistant in Ballinakill, Ireland (1964-1965).

Fr Eugene made his final profession in 1965 before going to study theology at the Cremisan, Bethlehem (1965-68). He was ordained in 1968 in Jerusalem. In September 1969, he was sent to Southern Africa where he spent the rest of his life.

I

n the Irish Delegation of Southern Africa (later to become the AFM vice-province), Fr Eugene spent 50 fruitful years in the ministries of teaching, preaching, spiritual guidance, initial formation and administration.

Whatever was asked of him, he did in a spirit of religious obedience. He liked to think of himself as “God’s stopgap”, and often

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quoted Psalm 39 (40), inscribed on his ordination card: “To do your will, O God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart.”

He was vice-rector, catechist and bursar in Daleside (1969-78), and then provincial delegate while residing in the communities of Booysens and Manzini (1982-88).

Fr Hennessy was rector in Manzini for six years and was then asked to assume the office of provincial administrator, which he did for the next 17 years while in the communities of Manzini, Maputsoe, Rynfield and Booysens (1989-2005).

His spiritual gift as a confessor and spiritual guide led him to the office of novice master in Maputsoe and Rynfield (1994-2003) In his mature years, Fr Eugene continued to serve as officer and bursar in Booysens (2005-07); as confessor and spiritual director in the theologate in Utume, Nairobi (2007-10); as officer and director of the prenovitiate in Ennerdale (2010-13); as rector and assistant priest in Booysens/Johannesburg (2013-16); and as vice-rector, confessor and spiritual director in Walkerville (2016-19).

After a long illness in the final year of his life, he died peacefully in Walkerville on the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary—no doubt a special grace for his devotion to the Blessed Mother.

Fr Eugene’s funeral Mass took place at the Bosco Centre in a packed chapel in the presence of many friends, religious and clergy, including Archbishop Buti Tlhagale and Bishop Duncan Tsoke of Johannesburg.

Fr Jeffrey Johnson SDB

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IN MEMORIAM

CLOETE—Samuel. In loving memory of my husband, our father, grandfather and great-grandfather who passed away 28 years ago, on November 20, 1991.

May his soul and the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Wife Catherine, children Agnes and Martin, Bernadette and Keith, Gregory and Carol, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

SHARKEY—Brian. Left us on November 25, 2010.

Deeply missed and loved by his wife Val.

VON RUBEN—Mick. In memory of my beloved husband, who died on November 10, 2001. Daily remembered and sadly missed by Maire. May he rest in peace.

THANKS

THANK YOU to Ss Rita and Joseph for prayers answered. St John Henry Newman please pray for me. John.

PERSONAL

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FROM OUR VAULTS 56 Years Ago: November 27, 1963

Pope sad over JFK assassination Pope Paul VI has expressed his profound sadness at the assassination of US president John F Kennedy.

“We deplore this event with all our heart,” the pope said at a special Mass the day after the president’s killing in Dallas. “We remember having had the honour of a visit by him and having recognised in him a great wisdom and higher regard for the wellbeing of mankind.” Requiem Masses were said in dioceses throughout Southern Africa. In Durban, the Knights of da Gama sang the Requiem in English—the first time the Knights had sung a Mass in the vernacular.

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correct. The vision represents the heart of our Catholic social teaching.

The reality, we know, is far more complex: treasury does not have the money to foot the bill and the highly disproportionate ratio between rich and poor in South Africa means that too few will be able to pay into a service that can genuinely meets the needs of all its citizens. But that is a conversation for another day.

Ultimately, what Sparky has taught me is that there is a whole industry that caters to providing top medical care for animals.

Our pets are, undeniably, important parts of our families. But we cannot allow our love for our furkids cloud our responsibility towards our fellow man.

If world-class care for an animal is more important that basic care for our neighbour, then we have lost our sense of perspective. If we are prepared to pay for an animal to have an MRI, are we also prepared to pay for a sick person who is too poor to afford life-saving treatment?

Liturgical Calendar

Plain-spoken liturgy coming

How Kennedy will be remembered

RAFFLE ANNOUNCEMENT

Continued from page 7 rights to water, food, dignified work, housing, and access to quality health care and other services.

These necessary basics allow each person to live a life of dignity, and provide the platform for them to strive and aspire to their God-given mission based on the talents and abilities that God has given them.

This is the central thesis behind Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’. Care of creation is important, but it begins with care for the human person and protection of the resources that allow all people to live with dignity.

In this light, it simply is not right that I (and my cat) have access to some of the world’s best medical care, simply because I can afford it, but the majority of my fellow humans have to battle it out at overcrowded and under-resourced state-run facilities in the hope that they will receive some of the help they require.

The vision behind the proposed NHI plan is greater equality in medical access and treatment. The vision is

SOLUTIONS TO 890. ACROSS: 4 Harpist, 8 Loofah, 9 Control, 10 Chrism, 11 Nuncio, 12 Bigamist, 18 Fidelity, 20 Defame, 21 Delphi, 22 Remains, 23 Strata, 24 Plainly. DOWN: 1 Placebo, 2 Courage, 3 Balsam, 5 Anointed, 6 Potent, 7 Stolid, 13 Infernal, 14 Display, 15 Cynical, 16 Repeal, 17 Malawi, 19 Ejects.

Southern Cross editor Fr Louis Stubbs writes in his editorial that President Kennedy’s death was not in vain but will have strengthened support for his ideals. “An unpopular regime may end with the death of a dictator, but in a democracy the death of the popular leader may win even wider support for his ideals,” Fr Stubbs writes. “We think history will link his name with that of another murdered president, Lincoln.”

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Lesson in humanity from a cat

Southern CrossWord solutions

The Second Vatican Council has voted final approval of its first completed schema, that on liturgy, with a historic reform of Catholic worship allowing the wide use of modern languages in the Mass and sacraments.

11

Year C – Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday November 24, Christ the King 2 Samuel 5:1-3, Psalm 122:1-2, 4-5, Colossians 1:12-20, Luke 23:35-43 Monday November 25, St Catherine of Alexandria Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20, Responsorial psalm Daniel 3:29-31, 33, 32, 34 (3, 52-56), Luke 21:1-4 Tuesday November 26 Daniel 2:31-45, Responsorial psalm Daniel 3:35-39 (3, 57-61), Luke 21:5-11 Wednesday November 27 Daniel 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28, Responsorial psalm Daniel 3:40-45

(62-67), Luke 21:12-19 Thursday November 28 Daniel 6:11-27 (12-28), Responsorial psalm Daniel 3:46-52 (68-74), Luke 21:20-28 Friday November 29 Daniel 7:2-14, Responsorial psalm Daniel 3:53-59 (75-81), Luke 21:29-33 Saturday November 30, St Andrew Romans 10:9-18, Psalm 19:2-5, Matthew 4:18-22 Sunday December 1, 1st Sunday of Advent Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:37-44

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1st Sunday of Advent: December 1 Readings:Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:37-44

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N these difficult times (and all times are difficult, of course) what we long for above all, and desperately need, is vision. That is what the readings for the new season of Advent, which we are starting next Sunday, seem to be talking about.

The first reading is from Isaiah, from whom we shall be hearing a great deal in the coming weeks. The context is that the kingdom of Judah, and its capital Jerusalem, where he is prophesying, is threatened with serious war.

To the panic-stricken citizens and to their bemused king, he offers a vision: “In the latter days it will happen that the Mountain of the House of the Lord shall become the highest of the mountains” (which all visitors to Jerusalem know was never the case); not only that, but (as has been the case ever since), “All the nations shall stream to it.”

Then we are allowed to hear what all these peoples are saying to each other: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob”; and the phrase is repeated as they are invited to see the possibility of being instructed in a new vision: “Many peoples shall come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the Lord’s house, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.’”

Then we are given the explanation, in

S outher n C ross

Times call for vision terms of the vision: “For the Law shall go out from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

Hard on the heels of this comes another vision, that “he will judge between nations”, with its beautiful, peace-bringing, effect, that we long to see in our day: “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks.”

Finally the vision goes worldwide: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation; and they shall not learn war any more.”

The passage ends with a vision of how this might come about (one that we shall do well to contemplate today), and an invitation: “House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the Lord’s light.”

The vision in the psalm is that of pilgrims going up to Jerusalem on pilgrimage (and notice how the “I” with which it begins changes to “we” and moves into the sense of praying for everyone else): “Let us go up to the house of the Lord.”

There is the astonished discovery that “our feet are standing within your gates, Jerusalem”, and the vision of the “city as it is built, walled round about”, and the “tribes of the Lord go up there, to give thanks there to the Lord”.

The vision, just what is needed at this time

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cation: music, drama, art, friendship, being around children, being around beauty, and, paradoxically, being around injustice.

To this he adds two further observations.

First, that usually we see and understand all this clearly only when we’re older and looking back on life and our choices; and, second, that while the summons to a vocation is a holy thing, something mystical, the way we actually end up living it out is often messy, confusing and screwed up, and generally doesn’t feel very holy at all.

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Conrad

ell, I am older and am looking back on things. Does my vocational story fit these descriptions? Mostly, yes.

As a child growing up in the Catholic subculture of the 1950s and early 1960s, I was part of that generation of Catholics within which every Catholic boy or girl was asked to consider, with considerable gravity, the question: “Do I have a vocation?”

But back then mostly that meant: “Am I called to be a priest, a religious Brother, or a religious Sister?” Marriage and single life were, in fact, also considered vocations, but they took a backseat to what was considered the higher vocation—consecrated religious commitment.

So as a boy growing up in that milieu I did, with all gravity, ask myself that question: “Do I have a vocation to be a priest?”

And the answer came to me, not in a flashing insight, nor in some generous movement of heart, nor in an attraction to a certain way of life. None of these.

The answer came to me as a hook in my conscience, something that was being asked

“The Church Chuckle must be really good this week”

Sunday Reflections

of warfare, is turned into an invitation to prayer (with some untranslatable Hebrew puns): “Pray for peace for Jerusalem, may there be peace for those who love you, may there be peace in your ramparts, peace in your towers.”

Then the vision goes wider: “For the sake of family and friends, I shall say, ‘Peace upon you, for the sake of the house of the Lord our God I shall desire good to come upon you.’”

It is a beautiful vision, that we shall do well to relish during these days of Advent.

In the second reading, as Paul tries to persuade the Romans to stop fighting each other, the vision is that of seeing “what time it is”: “It is already the hour for you to be raised from sleep—salvation is nearer than when you we came to faith”; or, in a different metaphor, “the night is far gone, the day has drawn near—so let us throw away the works of darkness, and put on the weapons of light.”

That means seeing clearly: “No drunken revelry, no fornication or impiety, no quarrelling or jealousy.”

Instead, in a beautiful vision, we are invited to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”, just as an actor puts on the costume that enables him to become the part that he is playing.

The Gospel offers a different vision. Here, as we start reading through Matthew’s

Living out our vocation HAT does it mean to have a vocation? The term gets batted around both in religious and secular circles and everyone assumes its meaning is clear.

Is it? What’s a vocation?

The psychologist Carl Jung defined it this way: “A vocation is an irrational factor that destines a man to emancipate himself from the herd and from its well-worn paths.”

Frederick Buechner, a famed preacher, says: “A vocation is where your deep gladness meets the world’s hunger.”

Journalist David Brooks, reflecting on vocation in his recent book The Second Mountain, gives us these quotes from Jung and Buechner and then writes: “A vocation is not something you choose. It chooses you. When you sense it as a possibility in your life, you also sense that you don’t have a choice but can only ask yourself: What’s my responsibility here? It’s not a matter of what you expect from life but rather what life expects from you.”

Moreover, for Brooks, once you have a sense of your vocation it becomes unthinkable to turn away, and you realise you would be morally culpable if you did.

He quotes William Wordsworth in support of this: My heart was full; I made no vows, but vows Were then made for me; bond unknown to me Was given, that I should be, else sinning greatly.

Brooks suggests that any number of things can help awaken your soul to its vo-

Nicholas King SJ

Gospel, we are offered a glimpse of what it will be like at “the Coming of the Son of Man” (and that word “coming” refers to the Advent on which we have now started); so it will be good to be clear about it.

Jesus’ discourse on the last days takes us back to “the days of Noah”, and how “in the days before the cataclysm they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Moses went into the Ark”.

The point is that we must include in our vision a sense of “what time it is”, of the urgency of God’s demand in our present situation: for Noah’s contemporaries “did not realise until the cataclysm came and took them all”, and the point is that we might be in the same state of blindness, not noticing that “two men working in the field, one is taken and one is left; two women grinding at the mill, one is taken and one is left”.

The moral is to keep our eyes open for the vision: “Stay awake—because you do not know the hour of the Lord’s Coming.” Or, in different language: “I want you to be ready, because at the hour you are not expecting the Son of Man is coming.”

Our vision needs to be utterly clear.

Southern Crossword #890

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

of me, something I couldn’t morally or religiously turn away from. It came to me as an obligation, a responsibility.

And initially I fought against and resisted that answer. This wasn’t what I wanted.

But it was what I felt called to. This was something that was being asked of me beyond my own dreams for my life. It was a call. So at the tender age of 17 I made the decision to enter a religious order, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and train to become a priest.

I suspect that few counsellors or psychologists today would put much trust in such a decision, given my age at the time; but, looking back on it now with hindsight, more than 50 years later, I believe this is the purest and most unselfish decision I’ve ever made in my life.

And I’ve never looked back. I’ve never seriously considered leaving that commitment, even though every kind of unsettling emotion, obsession, restlessness, depression, and self-pity have at times haunted and tormented me.

I’ve never regretted the decision. I know this is what I’ve been called to do and I’m happy enough with the way it’s turned out. It’s brought me life and helped me serve others.

And given my personal idiosyncrasies, wounds, and weaknesses, I doubt I would have found as deep a path into life and community as this vocation afforded me, though that admittedly can be self-serving.

I share my personal story here only because it might be helpful in illustrating the concept of a vocation. But religious life and priesthood are merely one vocation.

There are countless others, equally as holy and important.

One’s vocation can be to be an artist, a farmer, a writer, a doctor, a parent, a wife, a teacher, a salesman, or countless other things. The vocation chooses you and makes the vows for you—and those vows put you at that place in the world where you’re best placed to serve others and to find happiness.

S outhern C ross Pilgrimage

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4. The angelic musician? (7) 8. Ah, fool comes back first with a sponge (6) 9. Efficient priest should have his parish under it (7) 10. Holy oil (6) 11. He represents the Holy See (6) 12. He’s still married despite the new union (8) 18. Loyalty to the marital partner (8) 20. Commit sin of calumny (6) 21. Where the famous Greek oracle was to be found (6) 22. Stays with the dead body (7) 23. Layers that are not hens (6) 24. How Gregorian chant is to be sung? (7)

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1. Place with old boy back for drug that humours him (7) 2. Your strength to bear pain (7) 3. The fragrant resin in the holy oils (6) 5. Used the holy oils (8) 6. Mighty (6) 7. Short saint with broken idol shows little emotion (6) 13. Rather hellish (8) 14. Put on show (7) 15. Clancy and I can be sarcastic (7) 16. Abrogate and let the bells ring out again (6) 17. Land of the bishop of Lilongwe (6) 19. Throws out and evicts (6)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

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HE young priest was a bit worried about asking the congregation for money for a new roof.

So he asked the organist to play some inspirational music to get the congregation in a generous mood after he made his pitch.

“Go ahead; I’ll come up with something,” she said.

So at Mass the priest announced: “We still need R6 000 more for the new roof. Will those who pledge at least R100 please rise.”

Just at that moment the organist began to play the national anthem.

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