191127

The Centenary Jubilee Year

S outher n C ross

November 27 to December 3, 2019

Pope: We’ll add ecological sins to Catechism

www.scross.co.za

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

R12 (incl VAT RSA)

Bishop Sipuka: What’s needed to fix SA

The Immaculate Conception explained

Page 5

No 5163

Page 9

Page 10

No Catholic objection to sex ed plan

BY ERIN CARELSE

On December 1, Christians mark the first Sunday of Advent: the penitential season of four weeks as we await the coming of the Lord at Christmas. (Photo: Waldemar Brandt)

New bishop: I’m not alone

BY ERIN CARELSE

W

Pilgrimage 2020

S outher n C ross

HEN the youngest bishop in South Africa takes office in his rural Eastern Cape diocese, he will feel the support from the people he is serving.

Uganda-born Mgr Joseph Kizito (pictured) will be ordained bishop of Aliwal North on February 15.

The 52-year-old prelate will be the sixth and first black bishop of the diocese.

The long-serving vicar-general of the diocese said he had mixed feelings about his appointment, but also feels strong support from the volume of congratulations he had received.

“All of the support gives me a feeling of belonging, and being called into a family,” Mgr Kizito told The Southern Cross.

“I trust in the Lord because he has called me, I don’t feel alone.”

The diocese had been without a bishop since the resignation of Bishop Michael Wüstenberg in September 2017.

Bishop-elect Kizito is now preparing to lead a diocese that has 15 main parishes and many outstations. He said that he will continue to build Small Christian Communities (SCC) as part of his pastoral focus.

“I want to continue on from the legacy of

Bishop Emeritus Fritz Lobinger,” he said, referring to the bishop of Aliwal from 1989 to 2004.

“I want to connect the old and new pastoral plans in the SCC, and bring Jesus Christ to these communities through Bible-sharing. That for me is where people can tell their stories and can talk, and see the presence of Jesus,” he said.

“I will also continue to nurture the young people in leadership so that each one of them feels ‘baptised and sent’ in their own communities,” Bishop-elect Kizito said, quoting the motto of the Extraordinary Mission Month in October.

One of the challenges facing the diocese is the lack of vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

“Education is something that the youth in Aliwal North need to take more seriously. A lot of the matric results are poor, and so many can’t meet the requirements to get into a seminary, should they want to,” the bishop-elect said.

Another problem is the drain of young talent to the cities. “We baptise, confirm, and educate the young people here—and then Continued on page 2

C

ATHOLIC education experts have urged caution in taking at face value social media items regarding sexuality education lessons in the 2020 curriculum, warning that certain descriptions and graphics that have been circulated are fakes.

There has been some controversy, especially on social media, with suggestions that sexuality education lessons in the 2020 curriculum for “younger grades” are inappropriate.

Some of the claims of new material being introduced are not based in fact, since no new content has been added to the Life Orientation subject in schools, said Anne Baker, deputy director of the Catholic Institute of Education.

However, she noted, the Department of Basic Education has published new scripted lessons plans which will be trialled in selected schools that have recorded high HIV-infection rates and prevalence of sexual abuse.

The scripted lesson plan for Grade 4, which is publicly available, does not include graphics that have been circulated on social media depicting parents in the coital act, nor any explicit sexual material allegedly being taught to that age group. (See the link at the end of this report) Elijah Mhlanga, head of communications at the Department of Basic Education, told The Southern Cross that comprehensive sexuality education has been part of the curriculum since 2000. The scripted plans are a guide intended to empower teachers to discuss topics which they might otherwise be uncomfortable with.

Mr Mhlanga said that the “Catholic leadership” has not objected to the curriculum, and used it in state-funded Catholic schools “as they found it useful when addressing the problems that they are dealing with daily”.

He said that if any Catholic schools had

MEDJUGORJE ROME • ASSISI • LORETO 18 - 27 May 2020 Led by Archbishop Stephen Brislin For more information or to book, please contact Gail at info@fowlertours.co.za or phone/WhatsApp 076 352-3809

www.fowlertours.co.za/medju

concerns regarding sections in the curriculum that could be amended, they have the option of giving the department input on how the section could be replaced or repackaged. The department would take that into account as it refines the material.

Ms Baker said Catholic schools would be able to opt out of sexuality education if these schools were required to teach matters that are in direct contradiction of their distinctive Catholic character.

The CIE would take such a situation directly to the director-general and minister of Basic Education.

Ms Baker said this applies only to public schools on private property, as state-funded Catholic schools are known.

Comprehensive sexuality education does not have to be taught in independent Catholic schools because these can cover the curriculum in their own way.

While the CIE does not object to comprehensive sexuality education, Ms Baker said an element that’s missing from the curriculum which would help teaching in a Catholic public school is the principle of the value of the human person.

“The curriculum does teach that you must look after yourself, but it doesn’t teach our deep belief in the dignity and sacredness of the human person,” she said.

A big problem, Ms Baker noted, is that parents do not talk about sexuality with their children.

“If parents were educating their children, then this [sexuality education in schools] would not be necessary,” she said.

“But there is a huge resistance to parents engaging with their children on matters of sexuality. Some of that could be cultural, some of it could just be discomfort with their own sexuality.”

Ms Baker said that the Church could also help by encouraging parents to take a role in Continued on page 3

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.

Three countries in one tour!

2

The Southern Cross, November 27 to December 3, 2019

LOCAL

Why J&P supports meat poison victims STAFF REPORTER

T

HE bishops’ Justice & Peace Commission (J&P) continues to work for families affected by the poisoned meat scandal, in which 216 people were killed and about 1 000 infected by listeriosis.

J&P’s engagement with the victims of listeriosis is one of the ways the Catholic Church is implementing its pastoral plan, which will be officially launched in January 2020.

“The protracted listeriosis case is an example of the immensity of corporate power and the difficulties that the poor face in their efforts to secure justice,” J&P director Fr Stan Muyebe OP said.

“In the face of this, it is important that the Church stands with the victims of unethical corporate practices to show them God’s love and keep their hope alive.”

In March 2018, the health ministry announced that the listeriosis had been traced to the meat-processing factory in Polokwane belonging to a subsidiary of Tiger Brands.

Some of the families who lost their loved ones to listeriosis between October 2017 and March 2018 have been receiving pastoral and paralegal support from J&P since 2018.

Through J&P and its work with the victims, with sick miners, and the workers in precarious employment, the Catholic Church is living its pastoral plan and its ethical vision of a society where both the public sector and private sector are equally held to account when they violate the dignity of the weak in society, Fr Muyebe said.

He said media coverage has recently focused on the legal and technical aspects of the listeriosis Wink and a smile: St Teresa’s Junior Primary School in Craighall Park, Johannesburg, had a Civvies Day to raise funds for Sizanani Outreach Programme’s Christmas Project. Sizanani is an initiative of the Franciscan Nardini Sisters who have been working in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, for more than 60 years providing medical services, skills development, education and shelter to the disadvantaged and vulnerable. Pupils Onthatile Themba (left) and Lauren McDonald joined the fun.

lawsuit, and that the human and ethical side of the lawsuit has been overshadowed, adding that one of the roles of the Church is to recover this neglected aspect.

“The real people and real lives of people are forgotten,” Fr Muyebe said. The figure of 216 human beings who lost their lives is more than the number of people who lost their lives during the Marikana tragedy and the Life Esidimeni tragedy, he said.

“They were fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. Their deaths resulted in broken lives and broken relationships,” he said.

For example, one of the affected families is a couple who had been struggling to conceive. They were later blessed with a pregnancy. The mother, however, lost the unborn child after eating listeria-infected meat, and their lives as a couple

have been adversely affected by this loss and pain.

“As Church, we are working with some of the families to recover this human and ethical aspect of the lawsuit. Some of the results of this process will be showcased in 2020,” Fr Muyebe explained.

Although Tiger Brands has cooperated in the legal process, including not opposing the certification process and making a commitment to share the costs for a countrywide communication campaign for the lawsuit, Fr Muyebe pointed out that executives have maintained that they will fight the lawsuit.

“They have consistently denied responsibility and refused to apologise. Although the health minister announced that the listeriosis had been traced to the factory owned by Tiger Brands, they have

insisted that a tangible link has not yet been established between its products and the death of 216 people,” Fr Muyebe said.

This year Tiger Brands has made two decisions which he noted have worried the affected families and others.

The company has issued subpoenas against food-testing laboratories to obtain information on the identities of those who submitted samples for listeriosis testing and the results of these tests during the outbreak period.

Some of the laboratories have opposed the subpoenas.

It is a separate action, which has the potential to delay the main litigation for years, especially if the dispute is taken all the way to the Constitutional Court.

It gives the appearance of Tiger Brands trying to escape accountability, Fr Muyebe said.

New bishop of Aliwal North: I’m not alone Continued from page 1 they take a bus to Cape Town or Durban or Johannesburg. We need to see improvements in the area so that the youth don’t leave, and if they do decide to leave and follow their vocations, we want them to come back. But what will they be coming back to?”

Born in 1967 in Rubaga-Wakaliga, Uganda, Bishop-elect Kizito has a science degree in technology from Urbaniana university in Rome.

He was ordained to the priesthood in 1997 in the diocese of Ali-

wal North.

As a young priest, he did his pastoral work in St Francis parish under the supervision of Fr Jabu Khumalo, as the assistant parish priest.

From 1998 to 2003, Mgr Kizito served Mhlanga parish, the first black priest to work there.

During this time he pursued his postgraduate studies in missiology with the University of South Africa.

He obtained masters degrees in missiology and theology there.

In 2003 he was transferred to Sterkspruit pastoral region as a

moderator and priest-in-charge. He was appointed Bishop Wüstenberg’s vicar-general in 2008.

Pope Benedict XVI conferred the title of honorary prelate, or monsignor, in 2009.

Since 2013 Mgr Kizito has served the pastoral region of Aliwal North where he has ministered in seven churches.

Mgr Kizito is in the final stages of completing his PhD in missiology, focusing on youth sexuality and behaviour-changes in areas of HIV and Aids.

How to make it a Happy Christmas for the saddest people on earth Of course the day we celebrate the birth of Christ is blessed, a happy day for Christians everywhere. But for thousands in Eastern Europe, crushed into communistic atheism, then left a legacy of poverty and misery, it could be just another sad day ... but for Operation Christmas Love.

This is a project created by Mission Without Borders, a Christian organisation that grew strong during the darkest hours of Soviet repression, offering a helping hand to believers who had no other support. Now world-wide, we continue to help the world’s poorest people. People whose homes are rotting, who have no jobs, no money to buy food, no cheer.

For Operation Christmas Love (OCL), we put together and distribute 30 000 Christmas boxes every year. Each 12 kg parcel is crammed with basic food, special treats for the kids, and Christian literature that uplifts the heart, mind and soul − and inspires hope.

To those struggling people an OCL parcel is beyond price, but to you it is only R475.00.

And for you to appreciate the power of an OCL parcel, see our video on https://youtu.be/ rzmvuXcOCeM. To make a very happy 2019 Christmas is easy. Go to our website on https://www.mwb-sa.org, and click on ‘donate now’ and find our banking details and other relevant information to make an EFT or direct payment.

For a quick reference, these are our banking details: Account name: Mission Without Borders SA Bank: First National Bank, Irene branch. Branch code: 250 655 Account number: 50360051269 When making an EFT or Direct payment, please use your cell number and the letters SC as your reference. Then please send us your details by SMS or e-mail so that we may thank you for your kind gift and send a receipt.

Now imagine a family opening your gift. Their expressions of awe at the realisation that someone, somewhere loves and cares. Many crying with joy, many falling to their knees to thank God. This is your gift of love.

MISSION WITHOUT BORDERS REACHING PEOPLE FOR CHRIST MISSION WITHOUT BORDERS SA P O Box 26343 Monument Park 0105 Tel: 012 345 1467 - Fax: 012 345 1524 e-mail: mwbsa@vibe.co.za Registration number: 029-495NPO

LOCAL

PE Catholic schools commit to strengthen religious formation C STAFF REPORTER

ATHOLIC schools in Port Elizabeth have agreed to strengthen the religious formation of their learners, after the Catholic Board of Education of the Eastern Cape South met in the wake of the recent National Schools Congress.

Dominican Sister Aloysia Zellmann said the congress had left “no doubt in the minds of all present about the important role the Catholic schools played in the past and need to play in the future, for the sake of life for all, especially where the needs are greatest”.

Inspired by that, the regional Catholic Board of Education agreed to strengthen the Catholic identity and ethos in its schools.

Members also agreed to ensure that Religious Education is timetabled at every school and that religious formation responds to the context and lived experiences of learners.

“Education in and for the 21st century requires training of educators for the skills needed in our fast-moving, changing and challenging society,” Sr Zellmann said.

“Environmental education is an essential part of it. All of us can and must contribute to caring for our common home, Earth,” she said, echoing the resolutions

The Catholic Board of Education of the Eastern Cape South region, following a national Catholic schools congress, has decided to strengthen religious formation of learners. Members agreed to ensure that Religious Education is timetabled at every school and that religious formation responds to the context and lived experiences of learners. at the meeting.

“Good practice of leadership and governance in the schools was stressed as essential, and this too may require appropriate training and formation,” Sr Zellmann said.

“Lastly, the sustainability, ownership Holy Family parish in Turffontein, Johannesburg, with La Rochelle parish, prepared 2 000 sandwiches for World Day of the Poor.

Seen are Holy Family parish priest Fr Tshepo Lekoko and catechism coordinator Mary-Ann Chetty with volunteers.

(Photo: Alexis Santana Callea)

Sandwiches for Africa!

F

OR World Day of the Poor, as assigned by Pope Francis, the St Vincent de Paul Society and parish volunteers worked together to feed the poor.

Holy Family parish in Turffontein, Johannesburg, in conjunction with La Rochelle parish, set to work to reach their target of preparing 1 000 sandwiches.

They far exceeded this—with

2 000 sandwiches being distributed among the poor in Holy Family parish and in the community.

Each sandwich bag was filled with four slices of bread with nutritious fillings. The leftover loaves of bread and rolls, which had been kindly donated by parishioners, were used in the soup kitchen which is run by the St Vincent de Paul society on Wednesdays at the parish.

The LARGEST Catholic online shop in South Africa!

"

We specialise and source an extensive variety of products, some of which include: *Personalised Rosaries *Priest Chasubles *Altar Linen *Church Items *Bells *Chalices *Thuribles *Personalised Candles, etc.

Tel: 012 460-5011 | Cell: 079 762-4691 | Fax: 0123498592 Email: info@catholicshop.co.za 2øæ­¸Ø "ı̇øߺ̋ø̋¸"¬Æß̶" "

REGISTER TO BE AN ORGAN DONOR TODAY

www.odf.org.za

Toll Free 0800 22 66 11

and growth of our Catholic schools was discussed,” she said.

“This aspect calls especially on all in leadership in the network to think creatively about sharing resources and new possibilities of collaboration and ownership models.”

School choir sings for German Advent STAFF REPORTER

A

CATHOLIC school choir will be among the performers at the annual Christmas concert hosted by the German-speaking Catholic community of the Cape Peninsula.

The choir of Holy Cross Primary School in Brooklyn, Cape Town, will provide voices and percussion at the concert, which will feature English, German and Spanish carols and choral music, under the musical directorship of keyboardist Adolf Thelen.

There will also be a section of “Classics in Jazz”.

The choirs of the Lutheran St Martini church and of the German School will be performing too.

The concert will be held on December 8 at 17:00 at Nazareth House in Vredehoek. Admission is free.

Pregnant? Need Help?

We CAre

081 418 5414 DBN 079 742 8861 JHB

We welcome prayers, volunteers and donations.

www.birthright.co.za

NAZARETH HOUSE Johannesburg

The Sisters and staff of Nazareth House express our deep gratitude and appreciation to all our generous friends, benefactors and anonymous donors for assisting us in our ministry of care and support for our children and adults who are infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.

We ask our Heavenly Father: • To look on those whose lives are touched by AIDS • To enlighten those who try to find a cure • To bring strength and courage to those who are infected • To be with doctors and nurses caring for them • To give their families loving acceptance • And to give us hearts of mercy, to do what we can to show your compassion and love. Amen Tel: 011 648 1002, Cell: 084 838 3495 srirene@nazarethcare.co.za or tenty@nazarethcare.co.za www.nazhouse.org.za

The Southern Cross, November 27 to December 3, 2019

3

Sex ed: Parents must be the first teachers Continued from page 1 giving children facts, not myths, about sexuality, and enable their children to approach them and have open conversations about sexuality.

“Parents are the first educators of their children, as the Church teaches, but they’re not doing their job very well,” Ms Baker said.

The CIE is currently reviewing the comprehensive sexuality education material piece by piece and will have a review by the end of the year. n The scripted lesson plan for Grade 4 comprehensive sexuality education is available as a PDF file at https://bit.ly/3318oUm

Tony Wyllie & Co. Catholic Funeral Home Personal and Dignified 24-hour service

469 Voortrekker Rd, Maitland, Tel: 021 593 8820

48 Main Rd, Muizenberg, Tel: 021 788 3728 carol@wylliefunerals.co.za andrew@wylliefunerals.co.za Member of the NFDA

THE SPRINGS OF CARMEL: Bible Diary for Southern Africa 2020

Ideal Gift to your family and to your friends with a Bible Diary.

Special Features:

• Daily Mass Readings from the missal version approved for the Southern African Region • Reflections on ‘The Springs of Carmel: Bible Diary for the daily Readings Southern Africa’ is suitable for anyone wishassist meditation ing to be guided daily by God and to feel His and examination consoling and supporting presence and of conscience.

Grace and Sacraments.’ – Bishop Sithem• Important bele Sipuka, Bishop of Mthatha and Presievents in Southern dent of SACBC (Foreword for 2020 edition).

African Dioceses • Full Reading from Contact for orders: the Lectionary Carmel retreat Centre, Benoni. including Psalms carmelretreathouse.sa@gmail.com and short note Cell: 061 692-4270 on Saints’ life.

4

The Southern Cross, November 27 to December 3, 2019

INTERNATIONAL

Pope, Anglican primate want to visit South Sudan

BY CINDY WOODEN

P

OPE Francis and Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, said they would travel together to South Sudan if the country’s leaders fulfil their promise to form a transitional government by late February.

The pope and Archbishop Welby met at the Vatican while the Anglican primate was in Rome to install a new director of the city’s Anglican Centre.

“During the friendly discussions, the condition of Christians in the world was mentioned, as well as certain situations of international crisis, particularly the sorrowful situation in South Sudan,” the Vatican press office said in a statement.

“At the end of the meeting,” the statement continued, “the Holy Fa-

Pope Francis embraces Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, primate of the Anglican Communion, at the Vatican. (Photo: Vatican Media/CNS) ther and the archbishop of Canterbury agreed that if the political situation in the country permits the

creation of a transitional government of national unity in the coming 100 days, according to the timing set by the recent agreement signed in Entebbe, in Uganda, it is their intention to visit South Sudan together”.

The joint trip to South Sudan has been a hope of both Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby since 2016, when South Sudanese leaders of the Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian Churches visited them to explain the ongoing tensions in South Sudan. They invited the pope and archbishop to visit to bring a message of peace and brotherly love.

South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war. But just two years after independence, political tensions erupted into violence.—CNS

Pope Francis eats lunch with the poor in the Paul VI Hall as he marks World Day of the Poor at the Vatican. After Mass in St Peter’s basilica and the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis hosted a luncheon for 1 500 poor people and volunteers who assist them, while thousands more throughout Rome enjoyed a festive meal at soup kitchens, parish halls and seminaries. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS)

Pope: Include women

Kenya bishops reject Nairobi population summit document A

BY FREDRICK NZWILI

K

ENYA’S Catholic bishops joined with international prolife groups in rejecting the final document from an international summit on health rights for women and girls because it supported practices contrary to African cultures and religious beliefs.

Their objections focused on the inclusion of abortion as vital to the sexual and reproductive rights of women, and the opening for the introduction of same-sex unions and homosexuality into communities.

The Nairobi Summit marked the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994.

Kenyan bishops earlier warned that the summit was a ploy to introduce abortion and homosexuality in Africa and the developing world.

“We are not happy with the summit. We have seen that there are a lot of lies and wrong ideologies in the conference. They are trying to recreate humanity taking the position of God,” retired Bishop Al-

fred Rotich, vice-chairman of the Family Life Commission of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops said. “We are saying we are not going to be part of any resolution that they have come up with at the summit.”

The summit included about 12 000 participants from 160 countries. It was organised by the governments of Kenya and Denmark and the United Nations Populations Fund, the world body’s sexual and reproductive health agency.— CNS

Pope blesses hands of doctors, nurses

BY JuNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

T

HE pained faces of children with serious medical conditions and the suffering of their families should inspire doctors and nurses to serve with passion and enthusiasm, Pope Francis said.

Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù children’s hospital, the pope encouraged medical professionals “never to lose the ability to see the suffering face of a child even behind a simple sample to be analysed, and to hear the cry of parents even within your laboratories”.

“I am reminded of that ques-

Pope Francis blesses a sick child as he leads a special audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. (Photo: Max Rossi, Reuters/CNS) tion, to which it is difficult to find an answer, from the great Fyodor

Dostoevsky: ‘Why do children suffer?’ Always keep this question alive: ‘Why does a child suffer?’”

Pope Francis said there is no answer to the question, but it must lead to greater care for a suffering child and more prayers to God to intervene.

“I like to bless the hands of doctors and nurses,” the pope told the group, adding that he would pause his talk to bless the hands of all the medical professionals in the audience and all those who work at the hospital.

“Lord, bless the hands of the doctors and nurses so that they can help the children throughout the course of their illness and recovery,” the pope prayed.—CNS

BY CAROL GLATZ

DDRESSING the Vatican department for laity and family, Pope Francis called for more appointments of women into leadership positions in the Church, and warned against seeing permanent deacons as “first-class altar boys or second-class priests “ More must be done to include women in roles of advising and governance, but without reducing them to having just a “functional” role, he told members and consultants of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, which was holding its first plenary assembly since its creation in 2016.

The identity and mission of the lay faithful involves being able to look upon others as a fellow brother or sister. “You are not ‘social engineers’ or ‘ecclesiastics’ who draw up strategies to apply in the whole world to spread a certain religious

ideology among laity,” the pope told the plenary.

The pope warned against the “clericalisation” of the laity, pointing specifically to problems he has seen with permanent deacons.

In Buenos Aires, he said, there was a common tendency to want to turn excellent laymen into deacons, or when someone became a permanent deacon he would end up as a “wannabe” priest.

Deacons are “custodians of service” in a diocese, not “first-class altar boys or second-class priests.

This issue of clericalisation is an important point,” Pope Francis said.

The second important point, he said, is not to be afraid to do more in putting women in advisory and governance roles.

Women can be the head of a Vatican dicastery, he said.The role of women must be more than just “functional”, he said.—CNS

Pope Francis is surrounded by the flags of Thailand and the Vatican in Bangkok during his trip to Asia. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS)

MONASTERY RETREAT HOUSE PO Box 11095, Mariannhill 3624

Christmas Quiet Time

a.m. Mass plus conference Benediction 11.15 a.m exposition of Bl. Sacrament in the evening 24 Dec-01 Jan

A CHRISTMAS GIFT TO REMEMBER

For Bookings:

Reception: 031 700 2155 Fr Sbusiso Mkhize 031 700 2890 Email: monretreat@saol.com

Cellphones: 071 757 8048 083 544 1504

Fr Sbusiso Mkhize Bro Crispin Graham

DIGITAL EDITION: R420 A YEAR, PRINT EDITION: R550 (SuRFACE MAIL) CALL uS 021 465 5007, FAx 021 465 3850, EMAIL uS SuBSCRIPTIONS@SCROSS.CO.zA

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, November 27 to December 3, 2019

5

Pope: Ecological sins to be added to Catechism

BY JuNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

F

OLLOWING through on a proposal made at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon, Pope Francis said there are plans to include a definition of ecological sins in the Church’s official teaching.

“We should be introducing—we were thinking—in the Catechism of the Catholic Church the sin against ecology, ecological sin against the common home,” he told participants at a conference on criminal justice.

Members of the International Association of Penal Law were in Rome for the conference, which centred on the theme “Criminal Justice and Corporate Business”.

Pope Francis also denounced the abuse of law and legislation to justify acts of violence and hatred.

Today’s throwaway culture, as well as other “psycho-social phenomena” pose threats to the common good while insidiously promoting a “culture of hate”, he said. These threats, he added, often take the form of “symbols and actions that are typical of Nazism”.

“I must confess,” the pope said, “that when I hear some speeches, some person in charge of order or the government, I am reminded of Hitler’s speeches in 1934 and 1936.”

“They are actions typical of

An environmental activist protests against fossil fuel outside the uN in Poland. (Photo: Agencja Gazeta/CNS) Nazism that, with its persecution of Jews, gypsies and people of homosexual orientation, represent a negative model par excellence of a throwaway culture and hate,” the pope said. “That is what happened in that time and today, these things are reappearing.”

Today’s “current of punitivism, which claims to solve social problems through the penal system”, has not worked, the pope said. Instead, an “elementary sense of justice” must be applied so that “certain conduct for which corporations are usually responsible does not go unpunished”.

Chief among those crimes, he added, are acts that “can be considered as ‘ecocide’: the massive contamination of air, land and water resources, the large-scale destruc-

tion of flora and fauna, and any action capable of producing an ecological disaster or destroying an ecosystem”.

Pope Francis also called on the international community to recognise ecocide as a “fifth category of crime against peace”.

According to the Rome Statute, which was adopted by the International Criminal Court in 1998, the four core international crimes currently established are: crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes, and crimes of aggression.

“On this occasion, and through you,” the pope told conference participants, “I would like to appeal to all the leaders and representatives in this sector to help with efforts in order to ensure the adequate legal protection of our common home.”

In the synod’s final document, bishops defined ecological sin as a sin against God and future generations that “manifests itself in acts and habits of pollution and destruction of the harmony of the environment”.

A true model of justice, the pope said, can find “its perfect incarnation in the life of Jesus” who, after being treated violently and put to death, brought “a message of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation”.—CNS

Fulton Sheen to be beatified A RCHBISHOP Fulton Sheen will be beatified on December 21.

Plans for the beatification of the popular US media pioneer are already underway, said Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Illinois. The ceremony will be at the cathedral of St Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria.

“This is the same cathedral where Archbishop Sheen was ordained a priest 100 years ago on September 20, 1919,” said Bishop Jenky. “It seems entirely fitting that the beatification will take place at the end of this 100-year anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.”

The cathedral also is the current resting place of the archbishop, who is entombed in a marble vault next to the altar where he was ordained.

In July, Bishop Jenky announced Pope Francis had approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of Archbishop Sheen, leading the way to his

Pope Francis has approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. (Photo: CNS) beatification.

The miracle concerns the healing of James Fulton Engstrom of Washington, Illinois, who was considered stillborn when he was delivered during a planned home birth on September 16, 2010.

His parents, Bonnie and Travis Engstrom, immediately invoked the prayers of Archbishop Sheen and encouraged

others to seek his intercession after the baby was taken to a Catholic hospital in Peoria for emergency treatment.

Just as doctors were preparing to declare that he was dead, James Fulton’s tiny heart started to beat at a normal rate for a healthy newborn. He had been without a pulse for 61 minutes.

Despite a dire prognoses for his future, including that he would probably be blind and never walk, talk or be able to feed himself, the child has thrived. Now a healthy 8-yearold, he likes chicken nuggets, Star Wars and riding his bicycle.

Archbishop Sheen had been placed in a crypt below the main altar of St Patrick’s cathedral in New York after his death on December 9, 1979.

After protracted legal proceedings, his remains were brought this year to Peoria at the request of his niece, and now rest in a new marble tomb in Peoria cathedral.—CNS

Energy-saving lights to shine on Vatican Christmas tree this year

BY CAROL GLATZ

T

HE Vatican’s Christmas tree will be adorned with energy-saving lights, the governing office of Vatican City said.

Vatican workers will decorate the tree and use lighting supplied by German multinational Osram, the governing office said.

The “next-generation” lights are meant to have a reduced impact on the environment and use less energy, the office said.

The 25m-tall spruce tree will come from the high plateaus of the Veneto region in north-east Italy and another 20 smaller trees will be donated by communities in the region’s province of Vicenza.

The large Nativity scene in St Peter’s Square will be made en-

Last year’s Vatican Christmas tree in St Peter’s Square.

(Photo: Paul Haring/CNS) tirely out of wood and replicate the traditional northern Trentino-style buildings with their wood shingle roofs.

At least 20 larger-than-life-

size painted wooden figures representing the Holy Family, the Magi, shepherds and animals will animate the scene, which will also include broken tree trunks salvaged from the 2018 storms.

A smaller Nativity scene, provided by the northern province of Treviso, will be set up in the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall.

It will imitate an old style, with Gothic arches, characteristic of barns and stables in the Lessinia mountain range A delegation of representatives from the region will meet with the pope on December 5, before the tree-lighting ceremony later that afternoon.

The tree and Nativity scene will remain in St Peter’s Square until the feast of the Lord’s Baptism on January 12.—CNS

Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, the day after a massive fire damaged parts of the roof and structure. (Photo: ulyssePixel/CNA)

Notre-Dame rebuilding stalled

T

ENSIONS are reportedly running high between French authorities overseeing the rebuilding of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, as they create plans to rebuild the church damaged by fire earlier this year.

Army General Jean-Louis Georgelin and the architect on the project, Philippe Villeneuve, disagree over whether the cathedral's new spire should look modern or medieval, the BBC reported.

Mr Villeneuve has said previously that the only way French President Emmanuel Macron’s ambitious fiveyear restoration deadline can be met is if the spire is a replica of the one that burned.

Mr Villenueve has expressed concern about the integrity of the structure’s stonework.

In July,

temperatures in Paris reached 42, 60 Celcius, the highest ever recorded in the city, which, combined with the water damage sustained during the firefighting effort, could weaken the joints and masonry of the stone vaults, he said.

However, Gen Georgelin, at a meeting of the French National Assembly’s cultural affairs committee, reportedly told the architect that he should “shut his mouth” over the spire’s design, adding that a final decision on the spire would be settled in 2021.

France's parliament passed a bill declaring that Notre-Dame must be rebuilt exactly the way it was prior to the fire. Supporters from around the world have pledged nearly a billion euros to date to aid in the church’s reconstruction. —CNA

www.catholic-pe.co.za/stpius Our bedrooms accommodate up to 58 - Plus 20 for dormitories - Small, medium & large conference facilities - Dining rooms with full kitchen facilities Full catering or self-catering - Very competitive rates - Situated in the suburb of Cambridge Multidenominational Chapel.

For further information, contact Faith Basson 082 679-1231 or Cyril Basson 076 665-7403 or email stpiusfaith@gmail.com

6

The Southern Cross, November 27 to December 3, 2019

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Peace amid noise

F

OR Catholics, the Advent season should create a tension in reconciling the secular and the holy elements of the weeks leading up to Christmas.

More scrupulous Catholics may even be concerned about whether it is permissible for Catholics to sing Christmas songs such as “Jingle Bells” or “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”.

Of course, there is nothing to prevent them from doing so, unless such songs—usually attempts at parody—mock the incarnation. Clearly, Christmas songs that deride the Nativity and engage in blasphemy should be avoided.

School choirs in Catholic institutions are free to perform secular songs about Christmas at their concerts, but it should be seen as necessary that the bulk of the programme celebrates the coming of the Lord, rather than that of Santa Claus amid the weather conditions of the northern hemisphere.

The question of appropriate music also has relevance to liturgy. Obviously, secular Christmas songs have no place in the Mass.

Likewise, most of the traditional Christmas carols about the birth of the Lord should not be sung during Advent, the time when we still await his birth.

Conversely, as any good liturgist knows, Advent hymns such as “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” should be sung only during the four weeks preceding the feast of the Nativity, not at Christmas or the season that follows it.

This distinction—between the seasons of Advent and Christmas—is important to keep in mind as we prepare to celebrate the Saviour’s birth.

As Catholics, we are called to regard Advent as a penitential season. Our priests wear purple at Mass, and we are called to quiet spiritual reflection, devotion and acts of charity during those four weeks.

In the frenzy of preparing for the holidays, Christmas parties, shopping for gifts, planning the festivities—what the secular world calls the “Christmas season”—it is easy to lose sight of the contemplation which the season of Advent calls us to.

For many Catholics, it may take a conscious effort to set aside quiet time for Advent. But it is

important that we do so.

There are many ways of doing so fruitfully. And with the first Sunday of Advent falling on December 1 this year, the concept of traditional Advent calendars— which always run from December 1 to 24—can be applied.

A recent meme on social media suggested reading one chapter a day of the 24 in the Gospel of Luke. In this way, one covers the incarnation, its reason, its story and its culmination during the four weeks of Advent, finishing on Christmas Eve. This is indeed a commendable idea.

Various Catholic websites offer spiritual Advent calendars by which users are spiritually guided through the season leading up to Christmas (you can find a good example at the LoyolaPress website at www.bit.ly/2CNgx4m).

During this time, we must also get our definitions right: the secular Christmas season is not our Christmas season.

The secular Christmas ends when Santa Claus has delivered his presents and takes off till next November. But for us, Christmas only begins with the feast of the Nativity and ends with the feast of the Epiphany on January 6 (and liturgically with the feast of the Baptism of Jesus the week after).

So in our greetings, we ought to wish people a “Merry Christmas” even after December 25 (and not the ghastly “Compliments of the Season” or “Season’s Greetings”). And should that confuse the recipients of our salutation, we are presented with a catechetical opportunity.

But what is truly important is not how the rest of the world marks Christmas, but the state of our own interior disposition.

Are we putting Christ back into Christmas, in our lives and in our families, amid the bustle of those four weeks in December?

Do we make time for Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem? Do we prepare a room for the Holy Family?

When we make proper time for Advent, in contemplation, devotion and charitable sacrifice, we need not be troubled by our concurrent participation in the secular Christmas season.

In other words, there’s nothing wrong with it if we dream of a white Christmas—as long as we also sing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”.

VIVA SAFARIS KRUGER PARK with

Send your overseas friends and family on an unforgettable safari with VIVA SAFARIS

www.vivasafaris.com Bookings: vivasaf@icon.co.za or 071 842 5547

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.

Saints live in Christ and Bible embedded in Mass HE letter “My concerns over glorified” (Jn 15:7-8). We do not tent of most of the Bible’s books.

T Catholic practices” (October 30) glorify the saints in place of God, Many of the standard prayers are refers. taken verbatim from Scripture, for but we glorify them in God. The writer quotes (1 Tim 2: 5) “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” and asks: “Why do we pray to Mary and other dead human beings?”

Catholic theologians suggest that, to understand this passage properly, and in a way that confirms Catholic teaching on intercessionary prayer, one needs to read the chapter from the beginning: “First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone” (1 Tim 2:1). St Paul is urging Christians to intercede for one another.

Christ is indeed the one mediator but the saints share his mediation because they share his life.

As Jesus said: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is

Church does pray for those abused

T

HE letter “When has Church prayed for those abused?” from Name Withheld (October 30) refers.

It is obvious that the writer has experienced much pain related to the abuse suffered and deserves our understanding and empathy.

However, I do not agree with the statement that Cardinal Wilfrid Napier and letter writer Adrian Collingwood are “uncharitable and unjust” in their reservations re the charges against, and conviction and jailing of Cardinal George Pell.

Mr Collingwood, an experienced advocate, asked some very pertinent questions regarding Günther Simmermacher’s opinion piece on why we should heed his advice and accept the court’s verdict.

In the court of appeal the judges were divided over whether the decision of the jury was unreasonable.

They had to decide if the jury had weighed all the evidence presented in his defence or reached the determination of guilt despite the determination of reasonable doubt that he committed the crimes with which he was charged.

Two judges were in favour of rejecting the cardinal’s appeal, but the dissent of the other judge was extensive. This begs the question, why should we heed Mr Simmermacher’s advice?

Cardinal Napier, having celebrated Mass in Melbourne’s cathedral (where the alleged abuse occurred) on more than one occasion, had reservations about the probability of such abuse occurring where it is purported to have. I did not find the cardinal’s reservations

And when the New Testament authors speak of the “saints” they mean the “holy ones”, those sanctified by baptism, which includes the faithful on earth as well as in heaven.

The saints in heaven have entered fully into life with God; they are more alive than we are. For God “is not God of the dead but of the living” (Mk 12:27). And we honour those whom he blesses: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” (Rev 14:13).

The writer further states that catechists should spend more time teaching about the Bible and less about the Mass.

Once again Catholic theologians remind us that the Mass is saturated with the Bible. Every Mass has at least three full Bible readings from the Old and New Testaments. Over a three-year cycle, those attending daily Mass will hear most of the conOpinions expressed in The Southern Cross letters page, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff, or the Catholic hierarchy.

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

uncharitable or unjust.

For having the temerity to question the fairness of the sanction imposed on one individual in the abuse saga, Mr Collingwood and the cardinal are accused of having a clericalist and a patriarchal attitude, with all the pejorative meanings attached thereto. The justification for this escapes me.

Is your correspondent suggesting we must believe the accuser and disbelieve the accused as a matter of course lest we are also labelled clericalist and patriarchal? I don’t think so. I would much rather follow a lawyer’s sage advice that “every case should be approached with an open mind and judged on its merits”.

Lastly, on the issue of prayer for the abused, I can only use my personal experience.

My community has and does pray for people who have experienced abuse. I myself with another recently read the following prayer of the faithful at Mass: “Lord, may we realise that safeguarding is a duty rooted in the message of Jesus and in the mission of the Church. May we aspire to the highest standards with regard to the care and protection of children and vulnerable adults, and actively promote justice, and provide assistance to those who have been abused. Lord hear us.”

Incidentally, the celebrant was Cardinal Napier.

Tim O’Toole, Durban

No opinion on Pell’s actual guilt

T

HE letter “When has Church prayed for those abused?” by Name Withheld (October 30) warrants a reply.

My heart goes out to victims of abuse. It is especially hurtful where clerics are the perpetrators. I admire your correspondent for not having lost his or her faith when as all too often victims, for very understandable reasons, end up rejecting the Church.

In my two letters concerning the Cardinal George Pell saga (both shortened), I have not sided with the hierarchy and I hold no position of authority within the Church. I care deeply about the fact that we have tolerated behaviour, covered it up even. Sexual assault is an awful crime.

Initially, my reason for writing was to address the opinion expressed by Günther Simmermacher where he, in my view naïvely, argued that a jury finding is necessarily going to be reliable. I did not express an opinion as to whether or not Cardinal Pell is or is not actually

example, Opening blessing (Mt 28:19), Apostolic greeting (2 Cor 13:14), Amen (1 Chr 16:36b), Lift up your hearts (Lam 3:41), the Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6:9), the Great Amen (Rev 5:14), Peace be with you (Jn 14:27), Lamb of God (Jn 1:29), Lord I am not worthy (Mt 8:8), Go in peace (Lk 7:50), This is the Lamb of God (Rev 19:9), Thanks be to God (2 Cor 9:15), Lord have mercy (Psalm 123:3), Holy, holy, holy (Rev 4:8), Eucharistic Prayer (1 Cor 11:23; Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22; Lk 22:17).

The Mass occupies a central place in the life of a Catholic. The words of Christ, “Do this in memory of me” (Lk 22:19), have not passed out of existence into a vague historical memory. They endure in the Church, above all in the Eucharistic Liturgy.

Dominic Sam, Port Elizabeth guilty of the crimes with which he was charged.

I entertain serious misgivings about how safe the conviction is.

He deserves to go to jail for the rest of his life if he did it; but to my mind there is room for doubt.

In my second letter I expressed concern that the verdict had been given by a jury where, by virtue of the very nature of a jury verdict, no reasons were proffered for the conviction. We are left to guess what evidence the jury found was so persuasive that they could find that the cardinal’s denials should be rejected and his accusers’ evidence accepted beyond a reasonable doubt.

I ask the question: “We all know how busy a sacristy is on a Sunday—sacristans are there, those looking after the collection, readers rehearsing the readings, people from the flower panel going in and out, etc: how likely is it the bishop would even have the opportunity to do what he was accused of doing?”

Perhaps the evidence was that he chased people out of the room or insisted on being alone with a young boy—which is possible and would be very suspicious if it happened.

But absent something like that, I question how someone can, 19 years later, make a reliable finding, “ beyond a reasonable doubt”, that the cardinal was lying?

I repeat, in asking this question, I am not saying that Cardinal Pell is necessarily innocent. I am simply sceptical that, applying the correct onus, he can be found guilty.

There is an onus to prove the accused’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If there is a doubt, the court has to find in favour of the accused.

When I hear people say that victims ought to be believed, it presupposes that the person is a victim to start with, and the statement itself indicates not only a bias but vitiates the presumption of innocence.

Sometimes complainants tell the truth, sometimes they lie (and it is usually obvious when they lie).

Your correspondent says my comment that “while children tend to tell the truth about the issue, adults sometimes lie [is] a deeply hurtful and totally unjust statement”. Why? We know people do sometimes make false accusations.

There is still much to be done pertaining to ecclesiastical reform.

Let us be frank: it has taken our Church far too long to initiate protocols to deal with cases involving sexual assaults.

But at last a genuine effort has been made at least insofar as sexual predation upon children is concerned. The problem is discussed openly and frequently. Victims are met by our bishops, counselled by our priests, and prayed for by our congregations.

It is astonishing to me that your correspondent says we don’t pray for the victims. We do—often.

Adrian Collingwood, Durban

PERSPECTIVES

Why we must walk with saints T HE month of November is punctuated by a number of important feast days in the Roman calendar, beginning with All Saints Day. It has long been a pious Catholic custom of naming people, places and churches after the saints.

In families, grandparents usually choose the saint names, sometimes assigning the saint on whose feast day the child was born.

Similarly, many churches in our country were named by our “grandparents in the faith”, the missionaries gone before us.

It is not necessary to make wild guesses why in the diocese of Port Elizabeth, for instance, there are a number of parishes and schools called St Patrick.

I came across an interesting “naming” story, from over a hundred years ago, in a parish I served when I was a deacon, called Maria Hilf.

The name was chosen by German Dominican Sisters who went to instruct the people of the area in the faith, on horseback, while trying to establish a mission station there.

This mountainous area, in the rural Eastern Cape, is misty on most days. One has to imagine the great difficulty these Sisters experienced navigating through the forest, in search of the scattered homesteads.

The (almost legendary) story goes that, on the occasion of one of their missionary escapades, the Sisters got terribly lost.

Right where they found themselves, they knelt down and prayed to Our Lady for assistance.

Soon one of the locals came to their

rescue and led them back to their convent.

In gratitude, the Sisters erected a grotto on the spot, and the church was dedicated, by its German name, to Our Lady, Help of Christians.

It is no vain exercise naming our children after the saints, a tradition we are slowly losing. A connection of some sort is forged with one’s patron; after all, we believe in the Communion of Saints.

Our patron saints take on the role of protector and guide. They are the role models and heroes we need in our society.

C

hurch history shows us that the Lord does not leave any generation without such saints. The world is a better place, because we have the saints.

14th-century polyptych with the Madonna and saints by Niccolò Gerini in the Santa Croce church in Florence. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher)

Fr Runaine Radine

Paths of Vocation

Even centuries later, vocations to the priesthood or religious life are fostered by the examples of the radical discipleship of the saints, like Francis of Assisi or Dominic. In this way, we imitate and live like the saints because they followed and lived like Christ (cf 1 Corinthians 11:1).

The saints inspire us to live the best kind of life we possibly can, even in the most difficult circumstances of daily life.

Perhaps we may realise just how human they were when we consider their “job descriptions” once they are canonised. Have you ever wondered how one becomes the patron saint of brewers? Well, even brewers and beer-drinkers ought to be holy!

To show that the saints are relevant for all times and for all people, I find this to be one of the most inspiring quotes about the saints, by St Augustine (one of the several patrons of brewers): “There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.”

To this we can add a phrase attributed to a number of people: “A saint is a sinner who keeps trying.”

We live up to our saint-names, and indeed, like the saints, whenever we respond to the invitation to love God above all things and to love our neighbour because of God, who is always at work among us.

Let your light illuminate Christ L IGHT is a natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible.

It is the absence of darkness, that which is more powerful than darkness.

It is a powerful religious metaphor when Jesus says that “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). You are that which stimulates sight and makes things visible.

In the Bible, light represents the presence of God. Jesus says: “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).

In Matthew, we are given a mission to be this light: To bring Christ into a dark world—a world full of corruption, a world full of hatred, a world full of bitterness and resentment.

How can we be this light?

Firstly, know that you are the light. We must allow Christ to manifest himself in us in order to bring forth this light.

Darkness is the absence of light. It cannot be measured in quantity—but light can.

Light is a more powerful natural agent than darkness. It brings what was invisible to light. We see through light but not through darkness.

God calls each one of us to look at things in the light of Christ; God calls us to be light in the world. We are being called to be agents of change everywhere we go.

Secondly, do not hide your light.

“All who are skilful among you shall come and make all that the Lord has commanded” (Exodus 35:10).

God has given us different skills and different gifts which we are meant to use to advance his kingdom.

Mthetho George Nojekwa

Point of Reflection

You are the light, Jesus told us. And with that light, we are called to proclaim him, in our deeds and words.

People around us are to encounter God through our actions and through our utterances.

The gifts which have been given to us are not there to bring us glory but they are there for God to be glorified. Therefore, we should always pray for places that will benefit from our gifts and talents, and not places that will benefit us.

It is not about us, it’s all about God.

A

nd lastly, let your light shine. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1a).

The Lord is the source of our light, the provider of our light. We cannot do anything without him.

After telling us that we are the light, Jesus gives us an instruction: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

The Gospel of Christ that people believe in their hearts is not what is pro-

claimed on the lectern but what is demonstrated by our lives. Therefore, our actions should always preach a loud and meaningful Gospel of Christ.

Christ calls us to be the light of world, to be his ambassadors.

St Francis of Assisi prayed: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.”

This should be our daily prayer as people who are called to be the light of the world.

As people of light we are called to look at the world with new eyes, the new eyes of Christ.

“Calvary is the highest point of the world where we see everything with new eyes,” Cardinal Robert Sarah writes in his book God or Nothing. Therefore, let us approach this challenge of being the light of the world with strength and endurance that comes from Calvary.

Let Calvary be our point of reference when we run out of power to be the light.

You are the light of the world, don’t put the light out! n Mthetho George Nojekwa is a seminarian for the diocese of Queenstown at St Francis Seminary in Cape Town.

The Southern Cross, November 27 to December 3, 2019

Nthabiseng Maphisa

Pop Culture Catholic

The day I learned to clean my room

I

T all started with a conversation at lunch with my fellow interns. The question on the importance of making one’s bed arose.

“I always make my bed,” said one. “Yeah, me too,” said another. I proudly and unashamedly proclaimed that I do not make my bed in the mornings.

Naturally this statement was greeted with gasps, raised eyebrows and shock amid the lunch table assembly. This was followed by judgment, shaken heads and non-negotiable instructions to make my bed from that day forward.

What then commenced was a long, philosophical discussion on the merits of making one’s bed and other forms of neatness and cleanliness.

My mother has tried with great determination to instil in me the importance of being tidy. Each morning I was greeted with her usual chorus of “Remember to make your bed”. I never saw the importance of it. “Why make your bed when it’s just going to get unmade all over again?” I would think to myself.

And so, very often, my bed was left with the duvet curled over and the pillows caved in.

To accompany this state of disarray, my shoes were left lying around the base of the bed, along with textbooks, CDs and magazines.

It was chaotic yet I was able to understand it and was secretly proud that I could navigate through the madness.

F

ast forward ten years, and not much had changed—until one weekday afternoon I found myself frantically searching for my ID. In my arrogance, I assumed it would be easy to locate, maybe lying under a particular pile of stuff (one of many such piles) on my bedside table. As it turned out, the ID book wasn’t there.

I began to poke my head into stacks of test scripts, newspapers and notebooks. I stumbled upon study notes, my motor vehicle owner certificate and even an envelope of catechism registration forms—but, alas, no ID book.

I then proceeded to tear apart my top shelf which rests above my cluttered closet. Needless to say, it was full of junk that I am too embarrassed to describe here.

Lastly, I decided to dig through every handbag that I own. There, in another dangerous corner of my room, was a pile of handbags, stacked one on top of the other. Each bag presented its own mystery but fortunately, after rummaging through old receipts and expired chocolates, I laid hands on that precious green identification document which was still intact in its plastic cover.

In the course of the search for my ID I also found batteries, old parish bulletins and even jewellery.

I paused and took a look at the room before me.

My shoes were everywhere, the laundry basket was overflowing, and I could no longer explain even to myself what lay in all the piles of paper. It was wild and unbearable. I called it organised chaos, but most people simply call it a mess.

In a painful moment of humility, I arrived at the realisation that most teenagers and young adults avoid: which is to come to know that your nagging mother was right.

You should have listened when she told you to pull the covers, tuck them into the corners and fluff the pillows. You also should have listened when she told you to pack away your shoes and throw away things that are not needed.

But in my stubborn youth, I opted for paths that would lead me to lose my notes on statistics from first year, and even my matric certificate.

I will dust away the cobwebs with a mop and a broom. Yes, I think it’s time I cleaned my room.

S outher n C ross Pilgrimage HOLY LAND & OBERAMMERGAU PASSION PLAY 21 Aug - 2 Sept. 2020 Led by Archbishop William Slattery OFM For more information or to book, please contact Gail at info@fowlertours.co.za or phone/WhatsApp 076 352-3809

www.fowlertours.co.za/passion

7

8

The Southern Cross, November 27 to December 3, 2019

COMMUNITY

De La Salle Holy Cross College in Victory Park, Johannesburg, celebrated the Springboks bringing home the Rugby World Cup trophy. Learners wore their Bok jerseys to honour the RWC victory.

St Teresa’s School in Rosebank, Johannesburg, held a valedictory Mass for matrics.

St Francis of Assisi church in Richards Bay, Eshowe diocese, celebrated the confirmation of young parishioners. Seen are (from left) parish priest Fr Bongani Xulu, Bohnam Belcher, Mpho Motaung, Nkululeko Mbhense, Dering Joyce, Ntokozo Mthetwa, Tatum Kelly, Olivia van Zyl and Bishop Xolile Thaddeus Kumalo. The confirmation teacher is Melissa Belcher.

The confirmation of young people was celebrated at Christ the King parish in Worcester, Oudtshoorn diocese. Seen are (back from left) Joshua Olivier, Ronaldo Camacho, main celebrant Fr John Atkinson, Tiara Hendricks and parish priest Fr Patrick Claassen, and (front from left) Melique Williams, Faith Stevens, Summer Joy Hendricks, Kiara Hendricks, Kenisha Davids and catechist Gisele A Velloza Kildaire.

Send your photos to

pics@ scross.co.za

Several staff members at Holy Family College in Glenmore, Durban, completed the Catholic Schools Office’s course on St Paul and the New Evangelisation.

Seen with Cardinal Wilfrid Napier are (from left) Luciana Pandarum, Julian Thompson, Bernadette Stephenson and Dorothy Macminn.

Thirty-one young men and women were confirmed at St Mary’s church in Pietermaritzburg, Durban archdiocese.

Archbishop Abel Gabuza, who conferred the sacrament, is seen with those confirmed. (Submitted by Carryn Smith)

“Here I am Lord” Cell: +27 72 769 7396, or +27 83 471 6081 e-mail: vocation.office@dehonafrica.net www.scj.org.za

St Dominic’s Catholic School for Girls in Boksburg, Johannesburg archdiocese, celebrated an Angel Mass on the feast of the Archangels Gabriel, Raphael and Michael. At the last whole-school Mass for matrics, Grade 12 girls entered walking hand-in-hand with Grade 1 girls.

Children of St Joseph’s parish in Morningside, Durban, dressed up as saints and biblical figures. Seen are (from left) Mark Rennie as St Stephen, Isabella Daniels as St Teresa of Kolkata and Oliver Rayson as Elijah.

INTERVIEW

The Southern Cross, November 27 to December 3, 2019

9

Sipuka: What’s needed to help fix SA In part two of our interview with Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha, the SACBC president talks to MANDLA ZIBI about social issues facing the nation and the Church.

T

HE first part of our interview with Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha, president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, covered his early life in the Eastern Cape, his clerical career, the challenges facing his diocese, and the state of South Africa.

Sithembele Anton Sipuka was born on April 27, 1960 at Idutywa in the Eastern Cape, and was ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Queenstown on December 17, 1988.

The former rector of St John Vianney Seminary was appointed bishop of Mthatha on February 8, 2008, to succeed Bishop Oswald Hirmer, and was ordained to the episcopate on May 3 that year.

The public outrage over the murder, rape and abuse of women and children in South Africa lately reached unprecedented highs. Some have called for a national emergency.

Do you think the Church has been caught unawares by this outpouring of anger and how do you think it should respond, especially beyond the headlines?

As Church we are confounded by the rate of violence against children, women and vulnerable people.

I do not know what the call for a national emergency entails, but certainly there is a need for a soberminded and analytical debate about the cause of this violence and murder.

As Church we are only a small percentage of the society, and have no access to most of the men committing such crimes. What we could do is to engage the small number of men we have and empower them to be a leaven against this scourge in society.

The practical initiative of the Klerksdorp diocese, which went into the shebeens, could be replicated. Statements alone are not enough—action is needed.

In your opening speech at the second bishops’ plenary in August this year, you likened our national problems as South Africans as the “mother pig in the garden”.

One of these big problems is a shrinking economy that is shedding jobs and worsening social inequality. Do you still believe President Cyril Ramaphosa could benefit from a “word or two of wisdom” from the Church on this and other related matters?

The top challenge we have in South Africa is poverty, which is built into the system of raw capitalism, or if you like unethical capitalism.

My advice to the president of the country is that we seriously need a tempered capitalism that will prevent what we see now, where a winner takes it all.

I am told that 90% of the wealth in the world is owned by 10% of the world population and the other 90% population share the remain-

Retirement Home, Rivonia, Johannesburg Tel:011 803 1451 www.lourdeshouse.org

ing 10% in varying degrees. This is a world issue, but you see its expression here in South Africa, where the gap between the rich and the poor is so huge and is reported to be growing day by day.

How do I think this can be achieved? Not by giving hand-outs, but by including all people capable of working in the creation of wealth.

This requires education, skills development and diversification of production.

I am told, for example, that the economy in South Africa is more service oriented—such as information technology, finance, retail, health, and so on—and not oriented to actual production of tangible goods, which would be relevant for us because many of our people are manual workers.

Without excluding complicated and technological sectors of the economy, attention should be given Bishop Sipuka: “We have a duty as Church to educate South Africans to to economic activities that bring be entrepreneurial. People need to learn that the purpose of the governemployment to non-technological ment is to empower and not to provide.” (Photo: Fr Paul Tatu CSS) people who constitute the majority of our people.

Furthermore, education and of them who are here illegally— entrepreneurial, but trained to deskilling for production of tangible immediately, while the middle pend on the government. classes are more or less more nuThe question that we need to ask goods is needed.

Lack of good governance and anced. In your opinion, are we is: “Why is it easy for people comcorruption is another challenge we South Africans in denial about ing from outside to open a spazahave and as Church—informed by our xenophobia and Afrophobia? shop or a hair salon while South the principle of common good—we You have used the right word: “nu- Africans are waiting to be employed need to challenge the powers that anced”. I think that it is very sim- or to get assistance from the governplistic to call this phenomenon ment? be.

We have a duty as Church to edThe commissions of enquiry that xenophobia and end there, there is ucate South Africans to be entrepreare taking place are good efforts to- a lot more to it.

What has happened has xeno- neurial. People need to learn that wards this end, and it is my hope that when they end their task, they phobic elements, but it is very nu- the purpose of the government is to will be a lesson and a guide for the anced, and if we are to succeed in empower and not to provide.

When they are empowered and future in enforcing a rule of law in dealing with it, we need to address entrepreneurial themselves, they those nuances as well. this country.

First of all, the major contribut- will not feel disadvantaged against We often focus on government alone about corruption, but uneth- ing factor to these attacks is compe- Africans of other countries.

We need to challenge our South ical behaviours also thrive in the tition among the poor of South Africa and the poor of other African African government to train people business world. in skills instead of aiming at giving For example, it has been re- countries.

Xenophobia, understood accord- them school-leaving certificates ported that big business people ing to its classic definition that do not help them to be emmake profits here in as an entrenched fear of ployed and instead become jealous South Africa but do not After and hostility towards for- of those Africans who are able to reinvest it here, but send it outside. That is uneth- apartheid we eign people, does not make a living for themselves.

Finally the other reason given for match the pattern of the ical. attack of Africans from other During his rule of the thought the behaviour of most ordi- the countries is that “they breed crime”. nary South Africans. “independent” Transkei, True as this may be for some forSince 1994 up to 2008 Chief Kaiser Matanzima struggle was when South Africa eigners, this is also true for some forbade the operation of over – and yet opened to the rest of South Africans, and we do not vent big supermarkets like Africa, ordinary South our anger on them the same way Pick n Pay, Checkers, and it is not Africans had no hard feel- that we do to perceived foreign so on, because he reaings against Africans from criminals. soned they would kill the Here I think one can see an elesmall shops in the rural areas—and other countries. he was right.

Violence started when it became ment of xenophobia, because crimNow shops have closed in rural clear that the state of paradise that inals are treated differently on the areas; people from rural areas have was hoped for in 1994 was not be- basis of their nationality, and this is to come to town to buy groceries coming a reality. Instead poverty not right. Crime is crime regardless because grocery items are cheaper— and unemployment were becoming of who commits it, and here we need to educate against xenophobut forgetting that one has to pay the order of day. travel costs to town and pay for the The anger about this failed bia. transportation of the goods bought, dream began to be directed against You have suggested that the abto say nothing about time, the in- foreign African nationals. sence of Church leaders in comconvenience and danger of travelThe lack of delivery of services is munity struggles could have ling to town, as well the crowding to a large extent the fault of the sometimes caused those struggles that comes with concentration of government which appoints ineffi- to become counterproductive. business in town. cient people on the basis of political How do you respond to those One may not agree with Matanz- patronage. The government—and who feel that the Church is too ima in accepting independence, but not innocent African expatriates— much involved in politics, that he was right about big businesses must take the brunt of the anger. the Church should look to the swallowing up small businesses, We need to educate people to di- saving of souls and leave politics which is often euphemised as the rect the problems to the right cause. to the politicians? “opening up of the market” with- Instead of pointing fingers at the After apartheid we thought the out mentioning that this opening is wrong people, the real cause of the struggle was over, and yet it is not. only for the few, and meant to ex- problem must be identified.

The thing about apartheid was clude the majority.

The other cause of tension is the that deprivation was legislated on It seems South Africans are di- advantaged position of people from the basis of colour. With the present vided on the question of foreign other African countries in terms of dispensation, deprivation is against nationals in our country, with being entrepreneurial—able to the law, and yet it still continues.

It is continued by a system of many of our poorer citizens identify business opportunities and openly in favour of getting rid of using them—and South Africans economy that in theory is for the foreign nationals—at least those who have not been trained to be people but in practice is against

Frail/assisted care in shared or single rooms.

Independent care in single/double rooms with en-suite bathrooms.

Rates include meals, laundry and 24-hour nursing.

Day Care and short stay facilities also available.

them. It is perpetuated by people who claim to be representing the people but in practice they feed themselves and those close to them while services and provisions are collapsing.

As people often say, nothing has changed; and some even say that it was better during the time of apartheid.

During apartheid people could not go around freely because of the pass laws; today people are free, but they cannot go around freely because of crime, yet there are people employed to curb crime and prosecute and they are not doing it.

During apartheid people could not get this and that service; today they have a right to those services but they are not getting them because salaried people who are supposed to deliver are not doing it.

The effects are the same, but done by different people, so aluta continua!

In Eswatini and Botswana—both part of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference— should the Church there be more outspoken with regard to government economic mismanagement and alleged undermining of democratic norms?

This is a difficult one, because in these countries, the SACBC is [seen as] a foreign body, and the bishops in both of these countries are missionaries from outside.

So, yes, in principle the Church, in the form of the SACBC, should be more outspoken about issues of economic mismanagement and human rights, but the manner and way of saying that needs prudence.

Besides the more publicised issue of abuse of minors by priests, you have also mentioned the rape of nuns; incidents of nuns being impregnated by priests, as well as same-sex relationships among priests and religious. How widespread is this in South Africa?

I repeat it again here that while I have heard about the rape of nuns being mentioned in some international meetings that I’ve attended, I have never heard of it here in South Africa.

Impregnation of nuns by priests, and homosexual/lesbian relationships is something that I have heard being mentioned here and there, but not from people directly involved or affected by it.

It is something we shall be looking at, together with the Leadership Conference of Consecrated Life (LCCL).

Where are we now in the region regarding efforts to address the abuse of minors by priests? Are we winning the fight?

I know of one case now that is in court in our own diocese, so the fight still goes on, but we are set on winning it.

I do want to add that the priest involved is maintaining his innocence.

The professional standing committee is in the process of revising our protocol for the investigation of sexual abuse of minors in the light of the recent document from Rome on this matter.

Dioceses in Southern Africa have either formulated their own childprotection policy or adopted the one of the SACBC. Thank you, Bishop Sipuka, for this interview.

Engage with us online Tweet us twitter.com/ScrosszA

instagram.com/thesoutherncross_

facebook.com/thescross

www.scross.co.za 1

2018/03/27 12:43

10

The Southern Cross, November 27 to December 3, 2019

FAITH

Why Mary was born without sin On December 8 the Church celebrates the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

PAuL DE MARCO explains.

I

T was in Lourdes on March 25, 1858, that Mary revealed to Bernadette Soubirous that she was the Immaculate Conception— and of all the days in the Church calendar, this was the feast Day of The Annunciation.

The Immaculate Conception is one of the most significant event in human history, and it demonstrates the unique position that Mary holds of all human beings. It also shows how she is an intrinsic part of God’s plan to draw us to his love.

Pope Pius IX made this an infallible teaching of the Church on December 8, 1854.

Another teaching of the Church regarding Mary is her perpetual virginity, and here there’s been some contention about the mention in the Gospels of Jesus having had brothers, but this confusion is simply due to etymology.

The majority of the Old Testament was written in Greek, and the Greek word for brother is adelphos which is a union of a for “same”, and delph for “womb”. But adelphos was also used to describe a cousin or a nephew. So the brothers mentioned were not sons of Mary, but relatives of Jesus. St Jerome taught in the 5th century that they were most probably his cousins.

The question could be asked why it was necessary for the mother of Jesus to be devoid of sin, but to answer this question we only need to look at Exodus 19, which shows that nothing imperfect can exist with God. We know this because when God was present on Mount Sinai, he

warned Moses not to allow anyone to come near his presence.

“Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it.

Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death’” (Exodus 19:12).

And in Genesis we see that Adam and Eve had to leave the presence of God because they had sinned. In other words, it’s physically impossible for God to be in the presence of anything imperfect.

Yet, despite God being perfect and man being inherently sinful, he still wanted to unite himself with his creation in the most intimate and loving way possible, which was by allowing Jesus to become man.

This shows the depth of love that God has for us, in that he was prepared to allow Jesus to assume the lowly condition of a human being, with all its inherent vulnerability.

Perfect God and man However, although Jesus became incarnate, he would always retain his divinity, which is why Mary had to be devoid of sin, as this was the only environment in which the mutually exclusive entities of a perfect God and man could co-exist.

Quite simply, the conception of Jesus would have been impossible if it were not for this unique quality of Mary.

At the Annunciation, the Angel Gabriel said to Mary: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.” It’s remarkable that the Son of God being born to a virgin was prophesied 700 years earlier by Isaiah, as was the prophecy of Micah that the Messiah would be born in the insignificant village of Bethlehem, which had a population of only several hundred people at the

that they could be enshrined there.

The patriarch reported back that there were no relics of Mary in Jerusalem! He said that Mary had died in the presence of the apostles; but that her tomb, when opened later, was found empty. So the apostles had concluded that the body had been taken up into heaven.

The tomb of Mary

A child takes a photo as firefighters place bouquets of flowers on a tall statue of Mary overlooking the Spanish Steps in Rome on last year’s feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8. Rome’s firefighters have observed the tradition every year since 1857. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS) time.

Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also?

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel,” meaning God with us (Isaiah 7:13).

As Isaiah said, this sign for mankind would be given by Almighty God himself, and so we can see here the unique position that Mary occupies of all the women who have ever lived—she was completely without sin and therefore able to carry the Christ in her womb.

Depth of love In the Gospels, we read how Jesus entrusted the apostle John to

Mary at Calvary.

“When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing near by, he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son. And to the disciple, Here is your mother’” (John 19:25).

The depth of love between mother and son was plain to see at Calvary, and the fact that Jesus entrusted Mary to John shows his great concern for her wellbeing.

But Jesus surely didn’t just give John a spiritual mother in Mary, but he also made Mary the mother of all of God’s children!

The Catholic Church has always taught that Mary was assumed into heaven, both body and soul. But at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, the Emperor Marcian asked the patriarch of Jerusalem to bring the relics of Mary to Constantinople so

The church of the Sepulchre of St Mary at the foot of the Mount of Olives has a crypt which many believe was the resting place of Mary until her assumption, and that it was this tomb, that when opened was found to be empty.

Over the centuries, various churches were built and later destroyed on this site, but the crypt has always been left undamaged.

Even in 1187, when Saladin destroyed the church that had been built by the Crusaders in 1130, he didn’t damage the crypt itself.

The actual site where Mary is thought to have died (as opposed to where she may have been buried) also became a place of pilgrimage.

Today, the Benedictine abbey of the Dormition of Mary stands on this site on Mount Zion, just outside the old city walls near Jerusalem’s Zion Gate.

So it’s clear that Our Lady played a unique role in the Son of God becoming incarnate in our world. Her womb was an inviolate sanctuary, protecting Jesus as he grew inside her, and so Mary is surely also a perfect model of motherhood for our world.

Mary is also our spiritual mother, and ever since her assumption into heaven, she has performed the vital role of intercessor for us to her Son. If we will only allow her to, Mary will draw us to a deeper devotion of Jesus, so helping us along the path to eternal life. n Paul De Marco is author of several religious books.

Mythbusting Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception

BY MARY REZAC

O Church Chuckles The Big Book of Catholic Jokes

Contact us: Tel 041 373-0039 / Mobile 074 376-5833 / Email retreat@catholic-pe.co.za

The biggest collection of Catholic jokes yet!

500 jokes ordered by themes, with 60 cartoons by Conrad!

ONLY R180 (plus R30 p&p)

and receive a surprise gift!

ORDER NOW!

Order from books@scross.co.za

or call 021 465-5007 or buy at 10 Tuin Plein, Cape Town

Southern Cross BOOKS

N December 8, the Church celebrates the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

There are three common misconceptions about this feast day in particular that we should bust wide open.

And even if you know all this, there’ll be somebody near you who doesn’t, so feel free to share this article.

Myth #1: This is about Jesus’ conception Nope. The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception celebrates Mary’s Immaculate Conception—the fact that from her conception in the womb of her mother, St Anne, Mary was spared from original sin and received the gift of salvation in Christ.

Mary was given this extraordinary privilege because of her unique role in salvation history as the Mother of God. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God’s grace” (490).

Myth #2: No one believed in it until 1854 While 1854 is when Pope Pius IX infallibly declared the Immaculate Conception as a dogma of the Church, this was not the first time it was believed

by many of the faithful.

Pope Paul IX said in his papal bull Ineffabilis: “We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which asserts that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin is a doctrine revealed

by God and, for this reason, must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful.”

In a catechesis given in 1996, Pope John Paul II noted that while this was the first time that the Immaculate Conception was articulated as the official belief of the Church, it was a longheld belief for hundreds of years.

“Down the centuries, the conviction that Mary was preserved from every stain of sin from her conception, so that she is to be called all holy, gradually gained ground in the liturgy and theology,” Pope John Paul II said.

The Eastern Fathers of the Church “call the Mother of God ‘the All-Holy’ (Panagia), and celebrate her as free from any stain of sin.

Myth #3: It has no Scriptural basis False. There are numerous places in Scripture that support the idea that Mary was conceived without sin.

For example, in Luke’s account of the Annunciation, there is an indication of this

truth: “And [the angel Gabriel] came to [Mary] and said, ‘Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!’ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God’” (1:28-30) Tim Staples of the “Catholic Answers” website explained in a 2007 article that many biblical scholars believe Mary was actually granted a new name or title in this passage.

“In Greek, the greeting was kaire, kekaritomene, or ‘Hail, full of grace.’ Generally speaking, when one greeted another with kaire, a name or title would be found in the immediate context.”

Examples of that are “Hail, king of the Jews” in John 19:3 and “Claudias Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greeting” (Acts 23:26).

“The fact that the angel replaces Mary’s name in the greeting with ‘full of grace’ was anything but common,” Mr Staples noted.

In this context as well as throughout the Bible, “names reveal something permanent about the one named,” he said.

Furthermore, the title “full of grace” means that there would have been no room for sin in Mary’s soul There are numerous other examples in Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments, of biblical support for the Immaculate Conception.—CNA

The Southern Cross, November 27 to December 3, 2019

YOUr CLASSIFIeDS

Anniversaries • Milestones • Prayers • Accommodation • Holiday accommodation Personal • Services • Employment • Property • Parish notices • Thanks • Others Please include payment (R1,90 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

Pope Francis greets Fr Guillermo Marco, Muslim leader Omar Abboud and Rabbi Daniel Goldman, co-presidents of the Argentine Institute for Interreligious Dialogue, in the apostolic palace of the Vatican. (Photo: Vatican Media/CNS)

PerSONAL

ABOrTION WArNING: The truth will convict a silent Church. See www.valuelifeabortion isevil.co.za ABOrTION: Monthly Sunday Mass bidding prayer: “That Almighty God guide our nation to cease our murders of our unborn infants.”

Pope Francis: ‘Religious fundamentalism a plague’

BY JuNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

I

11

NTERRELIGIOUS dialogue is an important way to counter fundamentalist groups as well as the unjust accusation that religions sow division, Pope Francis said.

Meeting with members of the Argentine Institute for Interreligious Dialogue in Rome, the pope said that in “today’s precarious world, dialogue among religions is not a weakness. It finds its reason for being in the dialogue of God with humanity.”

Recalling a scene from the 11th-century poem “The Song of Roland”, in which Christians threatened Muslims “to choose between baptism or death”, Pope Francis denounced the fundamentalist mentality which “we cannot accept nor understand and cannot function anymore”.

“We must beware of fundamentalist groups; each [religion] has their own. In Argentina, there are some fundamentalist corners there,” he said. “Fundamentalism is a plague, and all religions have some fundamentalist first cousin,” he said.

According to its website, the In-

stitute for Interreligious Dialogue was founded in Buenos Aires in 2002 and was inspired by the pope, then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as a way “to promote understanding among men and women of different religious traditions in our city and the world”.

Pope Francis, welcoming the visiting members of the institute, drew attention to the document on “human fraternity” and improving Christian-Muslim relations signed earlier this year by himself and Sheikh Ahmad elTayeb, the grand imam of al-Azhar and a leading religious authority for many Sunni Muslims.

The intention of the document, the pope explained, was a way to adopt a “culture of dialogue” while respecting each other’s unique identity.

“This is key: Identity cannot be negotiated because if you negotiate your identity, there is no dialogue, there is submission. Each [religion] with its own identity are on the path of dialogue,” he said.

The “complex human reality” of brotherhood, Pope Francis continued, can be seen in scripture when God asks Cain about the whereabouts of his brother.

That same question must be

asked today and lead members of all religions to reflect on ways of becoming “channels of brotherhood instead of walls of division”, he said.

To see the dangers of fundamentalism, Christians must also reflect on their own history, he said, including the Thirty Years’ War, which began in 1618 as a conflict between Catholic and Protestant states, and the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre of 1572, which saw the targeted assassinations of Huguenots by Catholic mobs in France.

“A bit of history should frighten us,” the pope said.

“Whoever doesn’t feel frightened from within should ask themselves why.”

Pope Francis said he hoped the document on “human fraternity” would be “welcomed by the international community, for the good of the human family who must pass from simple tolerance to true and peaceful coexistence”.

“It is important to show that we believers are a factor of peace for human societies and in doing so, we will respond to those who unjustly accuse religions of inciting hatred and causing violence,” the pope said.—CNS

FROM OUR VAULTS

PrAYerS

O MOST beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of heaven, blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity.

O Star of the Sea, help me and show me where you are. Mother of God, Queen of heaven and earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity. There is none who can withstand your power.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands.” Say this prayer for three consecutive days and then publish.

Leon and Karen.

O HOLY VIrGIN, in the midst of your days of glory, do not forget the sorrows of this earth. Cast a merciful glance upon those who are suffering, struggling against difficulties. Have pity on those who love

each other and are separated. Have pity on our rebellious hearts. Have pity on our weak faith. Have pity on those we love.

Have pity on those who weep, on those who pray, on those who fear. Grant hope and peace to all.

Amen.

HOLY ST JUDe, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron in time of need. I humbly begged you to answer my special requests and grant satisfactory solutions. With grateful thanks for those special prayers answered by yourself and Mother Mary. I promised to make your name known and publish this notice of thanks. With so much gratitude. MB.

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

CAPe TOWN: Looking for reasonably priced accommodation over the December/January holiday period? Come to Kolbe House, set in beautiful, spacious gardens in Rondebosch, nestled just under Devil’s Peak. Selfcatering, clean and peaceful, with spacious gardens.

Safe parking. Close to all shops and public transport. Contact Pat 021 6857370, 073 263-2105 or

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 890. ACROSS: 5 Many, 7 Botticelli, 8 Emir, 10 Envelope, 11 Aghast, 12 Stable, 14 Ushers, 16 Pleats, 17 Original, 19 Anna, 21 Eton collar, 22 Well. DOWN: 1 Able, 2 Stargaze, 3 Accept, 4 Slaves, 5 Mill, 6 Neapolitan, 9 Magistrate, 13 Amenable, 15 Senior, 16 Palace, 18 Gael, 20 Aura.

96 Years Ago: December 5, 1923

E

very week for the duration of our 100th year, we dig an old issue of The Southern Cross out of our vaults.

Italian friar “Padre Pio” makes news Considerable interest has centred lately on a stigmatised Capuchin friar of Foggia, Italy. Padre Pio Pietrelcina has been credited with having interceded in miracles. But the Vatican’s Holy Office has declared that insufficient evidence exists to attribute the works of the friar to the supernatural.

Angelus bell stops work Reporting on his visit to Rietpoort mission near Mariannhill, Fr Leeson found that the “apparent Catholic atmosphere of the whole place [took me] back again to Ireland”. When the Angelus bell rang, the workers in the fields paused to devoutly recite the noon prayer.

kolbe.house@telkomsa. net Visit our website www.kolbehouse.org.za CAPe TOWN: Strandfontein. Fully equipped self-catering, two-bedroom apartment with parking.

R700 min or R175 p/p (4-6 persons) per night .

Phone/WhatsApp Paul 061 446-9665, vivilla@ telkomsa.net

MArIANeLLA Guest House, Simon’s Town: “Come experience the peace and beauty of God with us.” Fully equipped, with amazing sea views.

Secure parking, ideal for rest and relaxation. Special rates for pensioners and clergy. Malcolm Salida 082 784-5675, mjsalida@ gmail.com

PrOPerTY TO reNT

UNIT AVAILABLe: unfurnished, modern, open-plan ground-floor unit, including undercover parking. Ideal for retired couple or single person. Situated in retirement village Zevenwacht Wine Estate, Kuils River, Western Cape. All luxury amenities on offer. Available January 15, 2020.

Rental R12 500 pm neg.

Excluding electricity and water. For more details kindly contact Ingrid at 082 453-2400 or ingrid2303 @gmail.com or Jackie at 076 188-0309.

To advertise call Yolanda Timm on 021 465-5007 or e-mail advertising @scross.co.za

Liturgical Calendar Year A – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday December 1, 1st Sunday of Advent Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9, Romans 13:11-14, Matthew 24:37-44 Monday December 2 Isaiah 4:2-6, Psalm 122:1-9, Matthew 8:5-11 Tuesday December 3, St Francis Xavier Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72:1-2, 7-9, 1213, Luke 10:21-24 Wednesday December 4, St John Damascene Isaiah 25:6-10, Psalm 23, Matthew

15:29-37 Thursday December 5 Isaiah 26:1-6, Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27, Matthew 7:21, 24-27 Friday December 6, St Nicholas Isaiah 29:17-24, Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14, Matthew 9:27-31 Saturday December 7, St Ambrose Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26, Psalm 147:1-6, Matthew 9:35--10:1, 5-8 Sunday December 8, 2nd Sunday of Advent Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 1213, 17, Romans 15:4-9, Matthew 3:1-12

Bid to discredit Pope Pius XI In his Catholic Notebook, Fr C McCarthy bemoans attempts by “what remains of Protestantism” and freemasons to discredit Pope Pius XI as a friend of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

NOAH and the staff of The Trestle Table would like to thank all the donors of second hand goods for supporting our initiative over the past year. We are truly grateful for your support.

Infallibility an old belief In his editorial, Mgr John Morris writes that “belief in papal infallibility was deeply rooted before the actual definition in 1870, and the same is true of belief in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary”.

021447 6334 ian@noah.org.za

The Southern Cross is published independently by the Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Company Ltd.

Address: 10 Tuin Plein, Cape Town Postal Address: PO Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000 Tel: (021) 465 5007 Fax: (021) 465 3850

Website: www.scross.co.za Facebook: www.facebook.com/thescross Twitter: twitter.com/ScrossZA Instagram: instagram.com/thesoutherncross_ Digital edition: www.digital.scross.co.za Subscription rates: Digital R420 pa and Print by Mail R550 pa

editor: Günther Simmermacher (editor@scross.co.za), Business Manager: Pamela Davids (admin@scross.co.za), Advisory editor: Michael Shackleton, Local News: Erin Carelse (e.carelse@scross.co.za) editorial: Claire Allen (c.allen@scross.co.za), Mary Leveson (m.leveson@scross.co.za), Advertising: Yolanda Timm (advertising@scross.co.za), Subscriptions: Michelle Perry (subscriptions@scross.co.za), Accounts: Desirée Chanquin (accounts@scross.co.za), Directors: R Shields (Chair), Bishop S Sipuka, S Duval, E Jackson, B Jordan, Sr H Makoro CPS, C Mathieson*, G Stubbs

Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect those of the editor, staff or directors of The Southern Cross.

The Southern Cross is a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa.

Printed by Paarl Coldset (Pty) Ltd, 10 Freedom Way, Milnerton. Published by the proprietors, The Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Co Ltd, at the company’s registered office, 10 Tuin Plein, Cape Town, 8001.

the

2nd Sunday of Advent: December 8 Readings: Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72: 1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17, Romans 15:4-9, Matthew 3:1-12

T

HE essential thing at this time of year, as we prepare for the great feast that lies at the end of Advent, is to keep our eyes on what the Lord is doing.

That comes out powerfully in the first reading for next Sunday, with its multiple references to “the Spirit of the Lord”, including four to “spirit” in the first two verses, and then three mentions of “the Lord”, so that “the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him”.

All this has to do with what God is doing, and the abilities of humans to observe God’s action, variously described as “wisdom”, “perception”, “understanding”, “counsel”, “strength”, “knowledge and fear of the Lord”.

The result of all this will be, as always in the Old Testament, that “he will judge the poor with justice and decide with uprightness for the poor of the land…and strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth”.

Then we have another reference to “spirit”: “With the spirit of his lips he will put the wicked to death.”

All this is followed by a vision of what it will be like when the Lord establishes his kingdom: “Justice shall be the girdle of his loins and integrity a belt on his hips.”

Then comes a spellbinding vision of God’s kingdom all at peace: “The wolf shall be a guest

S outher n C ross

of the lamb, the leopard lie down with the kid, the calf and the young lion shall browse together, and a little child shall guide them.”

This is followed by a vision to make sensitive parents blench: “The baby shall play by the den of the cobra”; but it turns out that all is going to be well, because God is in charge: “They shall do no harm and they shall not do ruin on all my holy mountain, for the land shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

It is a wonderful vision, this, of what happens when the Lord is active.

The psalm likewise offers a picture of what things will be like when God is in charge: “God—give your judgement to the king, and your justice to the king’s son.”

This is not the kind of thing that you expect to find in the coronation-song of a newly enthroned monarch, but that is what is happening here: “He is going to judge your people with justice and your oppressed with right judgment.”

There are, of course, prayers for a long and successful reign: “May abundance flourish in his days and a great peace, until the moon is no more.”

Then, naturally, there is a petition for a wide-ranging rule: “From the Mediterranean

practically what it means to live out the Gospel in a context of affluence and secularism. Why this?

One of the lessons of history is that often genuine religious renewal—the type that actually reshapes the religious imagination—does not come from think-tanks, conferences and Church synods, but from graced individuals: saints, wild men and women who, like St Augustine, St Francis, St Clare, St Dominic, St Ignatius, or other such religious figures, can reshape our religious imagination.

They show us that the new lies elsewhere, that what needs fixing in the Church will not be mended simply by patching the old. What’s needed is a new religious and ecclesial imagination.

T

Classic Conrad

he philosopher Charles Taylor, in his highly-respected study of secularism, suggests that what we’re undergoing today is not so much a crisis of faith as a crisis of imagination. No Christians before us have ever lived within this kind of world.

What will this new kind of saint, this new St Francis, look like? I honestly don’t know. Neither, it seems, does anyone else.

We have no answer yet, at least not one that’s been able to bear much fruit in the mainstream culture.

That’s not surprising. The type of imagination that reshapes history isn’t easily found. In the meantime we’ve come about as far as we can along the road that used to take us there, but which for many of our children no longer does.

Here’s our quandary: We’re better at

576 AM

Sunday Reflections

to the Red Sea, from the Nile to the ends of the earth”; but it comes back, as always, to attentiveness to God’s beloved poor: “He will rescue the poor when they cry out, the oppressed who have no one to help.”

Only then do we hear the prayer that the new king might have been expecting: “May his name be for ever, may they bless him, all the nations, and regard him as happy.”

This is the kind of thing that happens when God is in charge.

Our second reading comes from almost the end of the letter to the Romans, where Paul is still trying to make sure they don’t squabble in that slightly tense Church, with unease between Jewish and Gentile Christians.

The basic rule is: “Keep your eyes on God, keep your eyes on Jesus Christ.”

He reminds them, for a start, of the importance of Holy Writ: “It was written for teaching us, in order that we might have hope through our endurance, and through the comfort of the Scriptures.”

Then those two ideas are picked up: “May the God of endurance and comfort give you the gift of thinking the same as each other according to Christ Jesus”; and he goes deeper: “That unanimously with a single voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord

New saints will save Church Fr Ron E Rolheiser OMI VERYWHERE in Church circles today you hear a lament: Our churches are emptying. We’ve lost our youth. This generation no longer knows or understands the classical theological language.

We need to announce Jesus again, as if for the first time, but how? The Church is becoming ever-more marginalised.

That’s the situation pretty much everywhere within the secularised world today.

Why is this happening? Faith as a spent project? Secularism’s adolescent grandiosity before the parent who gave it birth, JudeoChristianity? The “buffered self”? Affluence?

Or is the problem mainly with the Churches themselves? Sexual abuse?

Cover-ups? Poor liturgies? Poor preaching? Churches too liberal? Churches too conservative?

I suspect it’s some combination of all of these, but I’ll single out one issue here to highlight: Western affluence.

Jesus told us that it’s difficult (impossible, he says) for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. No doubt, that’s a huge part of our present struggle.

We’re good at being Christians when we’re poor, less-educated, and on the margins of mainstream society. We’ve had centuries of practice at this. What we haven’t had any practice at, and aren’t any good at, is how to be Christians when we’re affluent, sophisticated, and constitute the cultural mainstream.

So, I’m suggesting that what we need today is not so much a new pastoral approach as a new kind of saint, an individual man or woman who can model for us

Nicholas King SJ

All eyes on God’s actions

Jesus Christ.”

The result will be mutual acceptance: “So welcome each other, just as Christ welcomed you, to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Then he refers to both warring factions in the Roman Church: “Christ became a servant of the circumcised, for the sake of God’s Truth, to confirm the promises to our ancestors; and the Gentiles are to glorify God because of his mercy.” He ends with an invitation, from the psalms, to “praise God and sing to God’s name”.

Now the Gospel does the same, inviting us to “repent—for the Kingdom of the Heavens has drawn near”; Matthew comments that John the Baptist was “the one spoken of by Isaiah the prophet: ‘the voice of one shouting in the desert’.”

We watch as they all turn back to God, except for “Pharisees and Sadducees”, who are dismissed as “viper’s offspring”, and told to pay attention to “the One who is coming after me”, who “will baptise you in the Holy Spirit and with fire”.

Where are your eyes directed this week?

Southern Crossword #891

Final Reflection

knowing what to do once we get people into a church than we are at knowing how to get them there.

Why? Our weakness, I believe, lies not in our theological imagination, where we have rich theological and biblical insights aplenty.

What we lack are saints on the ground, men and women who, in a passion and fidelity that’s at once radically faithful to God and fiercely empathic to our secular world, can incarnate their faith in a way of living that can show us, practically, how we can be poor and humble disciples of Jesus even as we walk in an affluent and highly secularised world.

And such new persons will appear.

We’ve been at this spot before in history and have always found our way forward.

Every time the world believes it has buried Christ, the stone rolls back from the tomb; every time the cultural ethos declares that the Churches are on an irrevocable downward slide, the Spirit intervenes and there’s soon an about-face; every time we despair, thinking that our age can no longer produce saints and prophets, some Augustine or Francis comes along and shows that our age, like times of old, can produce its saints too; and every time our imaginations run dry, as they have now, we find that our scriptures are still full of fresh insights.

We may lack imagination, but we don’t lack hope.

Christ promised we will not be orphaned, and that promise is sure. God is still with us and our age will produce its own prophets and saints.

What’s asked of us in the moment is biblical patience, to wait on God. Christianity may look tired, tried, and spent to a culture within which affluence and sophistication are its current gods, but hope is already beginning to show its face.

As secularisation, with its affluence and sophistication, marches unswervingly forward, we’re already beginning to see men and women who have found ways to become post-affluent and post-sophisticated.

These will be the new religious leaders who will teach us, and our children, how to live as Christians in this new situation.

ACROSS

5. For you and for … (liturgy) (4) 7. Little cob I find out is a Renaissance artist (10) 8. Muslim ruler (4) 10. It contains a letter (8) 11. Gash at moment when you show horror (6) 12. Place where Jesus was born is firmly fixed (6) 14. They can help you find a seat and swear in court (6) 16. Folds in the vestments (6) 17. Same old sin (8) 19. The daughter of Phanuel (Lk 2) (4) 21. Control ale for the neck (4,6) 22. Get water from it, being in good health (4) Solutions on page 11

DOWN

1. You are competent to get the bale out (4) 2. Do what the Magi do at night (8) 3. Lord, … the Gifts We Offer (hymn) (6) 4. We have never been … of anyone (Jn 8) (6) 5. It may need the wind to produce the flour (4) 6. Kind of ice cream to cool Vesuvius? (10) 9. I get a smart exchange from the law (10) 13. At the end of the prayer can be compliant (8) 15. Elder (6) 16. Sovereign residence (6) 18. Celtic speaker (4) 20. Atmosphere from a bureau rascal (4)

CHURCH CHUCKLE

I

T’S the Advent season and a mother and father talk with their six-year-old daughter and five-yearold son about Christmas presents.

Since the parents should also receive a gift, the girl asks: “Mom, what do you want for Christmas?”

Mom replies: “For Christmas I want two very good and well-behaved children!”

The children are excited. “Yay, that means there’ll be four of us!”

Buy the new book of Church Chuckles.

Only r180. For details, see ad on page 10

in Johannesburg & beyond

DStv Audio 870

www.radioveritas.co.za streaming live

Catch our interviews with Southern Cross editor Günther Simmermacher every Friday on 8:30am 41809 MASS followed by Mass Intention • 41809 VERI followed by comments

011 663-4700 info@radioveritas.co.za

For all your Sand and Stone requirements in Piet Retief, Southern Mpumalanga

Tel: 017 826 0054/5 Cell: 082 904 7840 Email: sales@eskaycrushers.co.za