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What the new pastoral plan is all about By eriN CArelSe

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HEN the new pastoral plan is launched on January 26, the Southern African Church will begin a new chapter in its history.

The theme of the new pastoral plan, which has taken many years of reflection and consultation, is “Evangelising Community, Serving God, Humanity and All Creation”.

It will be launched on January 26 at Regina Mundi Church in Moroka, Soweto.

A pastoral plan helps and guides the Church on every level to listen and respond to the leading of the Spirit, to enter into the Father’s plan for our Church and our world to be missionary disciples of Jesus in the present and to let the Spirit guide us into the future, according to Fr Patrick Rakeketsi CSS, SACBC associate secretary-general, “To be pastoral is to look after others rather than self; look out for them before looking at your own wants; to look for the lost, bandage the wounded, carry the weak, assist the wayward, ensure food for the journey, avoid what is harmful, deal with danger, and provide for the future,” Fr Rakeketsi said.

“A pastoral plan for the Church does all this and more—within the Church community, and for the people, society and world around us,” he explained.

The new pastoral plan looks at three broad fields, which are then further divided into eight focal areas: • Evangelisation • Laity formation and empowerment • Life and ministry of priests and deacons • Marriage and family • Youth • Justice, peace and non-violence • Healing and reconciliation • Care of creation and the environment The new pastoral plan replaces the one which the SACBC adopted and began to implement in 1989, titled “Community Serving Humanity”.

In 2010 the bishops decided that the

Fr limpho Gabriel Maoela of St Paul of the Cross parish in Bekkersdal, Johannesburg, was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Buti Tlhagale. He was one of several priests around the country to receive Holy Orders in december. (Photo: lerato Mohone)

Christians’ gift for Muslims

By FredriCk Nzwili

C The cover of Southern Africa’s new pastoral plan, which will be launched on January 26.

Catholic Church in Southern Africa needed to create a new pastoral plan. They asked the then Department of Evangelisation of the SACBC (now the Council of Evangelisation) to lead the process.

Before doing this, the bishops had identified eight priorities for the life and mission of the Church in Southern Africa.

Through a process of consultation in parishes and other organisations, there were two widespread consultations conducted by a team coordinated by Mgr Barney McAleer.

These consultations gathered the concerns of all who responded. Six areas of mission emerged.

Continued on page 3

ATHOLIC leaders in northeastern Kenya have been collecting donations for Muslims over the Christmas season, despite attempts by al-Shabab Islamist militants to ignite a rift between the two faiths.

Priests in the region near the border with Somalia said that Muslim leaders have in the past delivered gifts to the Church during religious celebrations such as Eid al-Fitr.

“It’s the Church’s turn to give this time.

There are families in the cold due to the current heavy rains. Some are trapped in the floods. We want to give them the gifts so that they can feel the warmth of the season,” said Fr Nicholas Mutua, Justice & Peace coordinator in the diocese of Garissa.

Fr Mutua said the “gifts tradition” has continued for several years, helping boost coexistence and interfaith relations.

“We will move to prisons and children’s homes. We will also deliver some of the donations to needy families,” depending on how much has been collected, he said.

Al-Shabab, the Somalia-based al-Qaeda affiliate in East Africa, recently crossed into Kenya, attacking churches, Christian institutions and public transport. The incidents appeared to threaten Christian-Muslim relations, but Fr Mutua condemned the at-

A Catholic woman and nun exchange holy books with Muslim women leaders in Garissa. (Photo courtesy Fr Nicholas Mutua) tackers, calling them criminals pretending to be Muslims.

“I am convinced these are a few bad elements,” he said. “Contrary to perceptions, the Muslims have been with us and know we are both facing threats from the militant group.”

In some of the attacks, Muslims stepped in to save the lives of Christians. In 2015, Muslim teacher Sarah Farah was shot as he shielded Christians during a bus attack in Mandera. He died weeks later, but his actions inspired a short film, Watu Wote (“All of Us”) which received an Oscar nomination in 2017.—CNS

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The Southern Cross, January 1 to January 7, 2020

LOCAL

Home nurtures women in crisis pregnancies By eriN CArelSe

M

ATER Domini Home in Cape Town is in need of donations and funding to continue to provide a safe and nurturing environment to women in crisis pregnancies and to protect unborn children.

“A restructuring process and working on a turnaround strategy over the past year have proven to be very challenging, due to the lack of funds to continue to provide relevant services,” said Bernadette Ross, chair of Mater Domini.

The home has still been able to fulfil its mission, with no paid staff and a few volunteers.

Situated in Claremont, Mater Domini, a registered non-profit organisation and public benefit organisation, operates within Cape Town archdiocese, with Archbishop Stephen Brislin as their patron.

The home embraces a Catholic ethos and encourages mothers to give birth to their babies, and aims to provide hope and opportunity for mothers to continue to care for their

Cape Town’s Mater domini Home, which offers pregnant women in crisis a safe place to have their babies, urgently needs funds and volunteers. babies, and offers support and help when mothers decide on adoption.

Ms Ross said Mater Domini Home does not discriminate against residents and will help any woman regardless of race, creed, and marital or economic status.

“Most of the women who find themselves under our care have been

through turbulent times. They suffer not only financial poverty but by and large emotional and spiritual poverty as well. We try to respond as Jesus calls us to when he says: ‘Whatever you do unto the least of these, you do unto me,’” Ms Ross said.

The philosophy is based on victim support theories and offers

women the opportunity to escape violence and brutality; live in a socially acceptable and family context, with the opportunity to recover from their trauma; empower themselves; grow their resilience and confidence; and build skills to enable them to reestablish independent living.

“Many of the women we assist do not have the basic skills required to advance in a career or even care for their babies adequately, and we run various programmes at Mater Domini so they leave with the relevant competence to work on improving their prospects and those of their children,” Ms Ross explained.

These include cooking and cleaning, CV-writing skills, ante- and postnatal care, spiritual development, individual and group counselling sessions, nutrition education, life skills, daycare, safe accommodation, and birth support through a dedicated doula or care worker.

Mater Domini is, however, in need of donations both in cash and in kind, and volunteers who can help with things like fundraising, ac-

counts, cleaning and maintenance.

Another venture the home is hoping to start up is its own branded linen range, which will help bring in much-needed funds.

Mater Domini is urgently looking for someone with embroidery experience who can work on an embroidery machine donated to the home, and offer their services and time to help get this project off the ground.

Mater Domini Home has been operating since September 2007.

The original premises in Pinelands could accommodate eight women but was generally filled with as many as 19 women and children residents at one time.

The home’s first baby was born in November 2007, and Mater Domini has assisted a multitude of women and children at the home.

“With more countries legalising abortion, it may seem that we are losing the battle in fighting for the sanctity of human life, but we are not giving up,” Ms Ross said. n To help, contact Mater Domini Home on 021 671-6008 or 079 891-6749.

DHC hosts Reconciliation meal Bishop Stanley dziuba of Umzimkulu diocese (centre) ordained Frs Siyabonga Nombika (left) and Mehluleli dzanibe to the priesthood at Gamalakhe Ugu Sport Centre.

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HE Meal of Reconciliation is now an annual ritual at the Denis Hurley Centre in Durban on South Africa’s national Day of Reconciliation.

Members of the general public joined 300 homeless people and refugees to sit down and share a meal, breaking down barriers of class, colour and nationality.

David Young, a visiting US

Methodist minister who had come down from the US embassy in Pretoria, described the event as “truly one of the most moving love feasts—‘Eucharists’—I have ever experienced”.

Being Durban, the food served was breyani, and being the DHC, there was an interfaith dimension.

Breyanis were donated by the Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Jewish communities.

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durban’s denis Hurley Centre hosted its annual day of reconciliation meal for the homeless. representatives of various faiths donated breyanis for the event. with samples of their breyanis are (from left) devesh Arulappan (from Bl liberat Catholic parish in Newlands west), Pundit Bharat from the Hindu Society, and evelyn Cohen from the Union of Jewish women. The fourth donor (not pictured) was Saffura khan from the SA National zakah Fund. Behind them are portraits of Mahatma Gandhi and Chief Albert luthuli. (Photo: raymond Perrier)

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LOCAL

Historic mission needs help By eriN CArelSe

C

ENTOCOW mission in Umzimkulu diocese urgently needs donations and help to repair its church.

The church is one of the 22 Trappist missions built by Abbot Francis Pfanner, the founder of Mariannhill, in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

To date, the community has managed to raise R200 000 over a period of three years, and with those funds has bought most of the material needed for repairs.

There is still, however, a shortfall of around R145 000 needed to pay the contractor, and an additional R200 000 needed to repair the main roof.

“The roof tower and main roof of the church are in desperate need of repairs.

When it rains, the roof leaks really badly, which means we are unable to use the building for Mass because we can’t sit inside. Some of the beams inside also need to be replaced,” parish priest Fr Ignatius Stankiewicz OSPPE, who has been there for the past 30 years, told The Southern Cross.

He explained that so far, the structure of the three big bells has been repaired; the rotten planks of the tower roof have been removed, replaced, and covered with new iron sheets; and the roof has been fixed in certain areas.

“We are looking for any kind of help we can get,” Fr Stankiewicz said.

Centocow was founded in 1888, when Abbot Pfanner purchased a small farm on

Centocow mission in Umzimkulu diocese needs ideas and funds to finalise a major repair project. the western bank of the Umzimkulu River, in the Creighton district. The abbot named the new station after the famous Polish shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa. The name of the mission was phonetically simplified into Centocow.

In 1954 the mission was assigned to the diocese of Umzimkulu, and as a result, the Mariannhill Fathers and Brothers as well as the Sisters (except for the hospital) gradually left.

In 1991, the late Bishop Gerard Ndlovu investigated the history of the mission and could see it wasn’t as it used to be. He called on the Pauline Fathers and Brothers

from Czestochowa monastery in Poland, begging them to come back and work in this African Centocow.

That’s when it was decided that Fr Stankiewicz would be sent.

Today Centocow mission has become a place of pilgrimage, where members of the Sodality meet regularly to draw spiritual nourishment from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, supported by prayers of Our Lady of Centocow, the Mother of Mercy, and the Mother of Africa. n For more information, or to donate, contact Fr Ignatius Stankiewicz on dziecioly@ gmail.com

New Jesuit docu turns light on Joburg migrants STAFF rePOrTer

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HE Jesuit Institute has made publicly available a short documentary it produced in collaboration with the Jesuit Refugee Service.

In Another Prison? Migrants in Johannesburg, directed by the Jesuit Institute’s Sr Katleho Khang SNJM, “shows how migrants struggle materially and psychologically to make sense of their lives in Johannesburg”, the institute said in a statement.

“The documentary tries to give accurate information about the migrant population in Johannesburg. You will notice that this information is not the narrative that populist and manipulative leaders often use,” it said.

The premiere of the 21-minute documentary at a screening in the institute’s Auckland Park premises was well-attended.

In the film, several migrants tell their stories of struggling to survive in the inner city of Johannesburg while facing rejection, discrimination and violence.

Diego Iturralde, chief demographer at Stats SA, says in the documentary that migration is not a problem to be solved but

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Sr katleho khang SNJM, director of In Another Prison? Migrants in Johannesburg, at the screening of the short documentary, which is now online. (Photo: Jesuit institute SA) an opportunity that needs to be managed.

There are currently fewer than 750 000 migrants in the City of Johannesburg, and 3,6 million in South Africa as a whole.

“This is far less than what some of the political rhetoric would have us believe, and at only 6,5% of the entire population, they cannot be held responsible for the

problems facing the country at large,” said Fr Matthew Charlesworth of the Jesuit Institute in an article on Spotlight.Africa.

In the documentary, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg, chair of the Department for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, says migrants and refugees bring a diversity that enriches the local African Church. He says that this gift is marred by xenophobia.

Archbishop Tlhagale says that the Church must offer migrants material and spiritual support. He expresses the hope that every Catholic parish has a desk for migrants and refugees.

At the premiere, Jesuit Institute director Fr Russell Pollitt SJ said that walking with the poor is inherent to accompanying migrants, many of whom are young and are fleeing their homes because of conflict or climate-related disasters, and that these migrants and refugees turn to the Church, and to God, for help and protection. n The documentary can be found at www. jesuitinstitute.org.za/media/in-anotherprison/

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The Southern Cross, January 1 to January 7, 2020

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Local Church gets ready for new pastoral plan Continued from page 1 This consultation period was conducted in three phases: from 2011-12, from 2012-13, and from 2014-15.

After much input, reflection, discussion and prayer, the bishops approved vision and mission statements for the pastoral plan.

At a meeting of the Council for Evangelisation in May 2017, a task team was appointed to study all the material and compose a first draft of the proposed new pastoral plan to be presented at the bishops’ August 2017 plenary session.

“This concept pastoral plan is the work of the drafting committee after considering the input of the bishops in their plenary of August 2017, and the comments of the Council for Evangelisation in the November 2017 and January 2018 meetings,” said Fr Rakeketsi.

“It was authorised by the bishops in their January 2018 plenary to be released for study and comment by priests, religious and laity through the different organs of the dioceses,” he said.

With the new pastoral plan, “The intention of the bishops is that dioceses should look at their own programmes and pastoral plans in the light of this pastoral plan,” he said.

“Each Catholic and all Catholic communities within our conference area are, in their own context, invited to study, discuss and decide how to implement the pastoral plan,” Fr Rakeketsi said.

He suggested that study sessions be arranged in all parishes, groups and movements.

“Implementation of the plan will be ongoing, monitored and evaluated. The Council for Evangelisation will regularly review and evaluate how our pastoral plan is being received and implemented,” he said.

Fr Rakeketsi said the SACBC has developed an implementation manual, to be distributed to all dioceses.

“It is expected that each diocese will align its own pastoral activities with this new pastoral plan,” he said.

The Council for Evangelisation, which comprises the SACBC administrative board and all coordinating secretaries of the departments, “is the custodian of the pastoral plan”, Fr Rakeketsi said.

“They are the think-tank and umbrella body of the conference and a direct response to the call for a new evangelisation. They promote and coordinate the vision of evangelisation within the conference region,” he said.

All are welcome to attend the January 26 launch at Regina Mundi church at 8:30.

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The Southern Cross, January 1 to January 7, 2020

INTERNATIONAL

New book highlights John Priests, laity rise up Paul II’s devotion to rosary over new archbishop A I

By MArk PATTiSON

F the use of the rosary as a devotion fell off at some point in the past, that’s not the case now, according to Gretchen Crowe, editorial director for the US publishing house Our Sunday Visitor.

Under Pope John Paul II, “we saw a real resurgence in praying the rosary”, said Ms Crowe, author of Praying the Rosary With St John Paul II. “He had such a great devotion to this Marian prayer that he inspired an entire generation of Catholics to come back to the rosary.”

Ms Crowe added: “I think there’s a great power to the rosary, a great devotion to the rosary. I think John Paul exemplified that. I want to do, and try, everything I can, to help people reclaim that great gift of the rosary.”

The book includes chapters for each set of mysteries—Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous, the last developed by the Polish-born pope—and each mystery contains a biographical note about St John Paul as well as words from his writings or speeches.

It’s Ms Crowe's second book on the rosary. Her first—Why the Rosary, Why Now?—came out in 2017.

She said her intent with the first book was to “make the case for peo-

Praying the Rosary With St John Paul II, by Gretchen Crowe.

(Cover: CNS) ple to have a devotion to the rosary ...to face a lot of the trouble we’re facing in the world: increased secularity, troubles in the Church, the need for sanctity, our call to holiness”.

Ms Crowe still remembers the rosary she got when she made her First Communion. “It was in a white packet, it said ‘My Rosary’ on it. I got it from my parents,” she said.

“I would keep it with me at my bedside, and if I had trouble sleeping, I knew the rosary was there for

me to turn to. I was 7, 8 years old, I didn’t quite know what the rosary was. I didn’t know the history of the saints using the rosary to grow closer to Christ.”

Ms Crowe added: “I would keep the rosary under my pillow at night when I was a kid and pray a decade or two to lull me to sleep. I heard somebody say, later on in life, that if I didn’t finish the rosary before I went to sleep, my guardian angel would finish it for me. That’s a beautiful thought.”

Today, Ms Crowe and a rosary are like most people and their cellphones: always within reach. “I have a rosary pretty much everywhere. I have rosaries in my handbag, on my nightstand, in my car. I have a little rosary keychain that’s on my keys. I try to keep them wherever I go,” she said.

That provides opportunities for her to pray the rosary.

“For people like me who are busy and trying to find time to pray the rosary, I think the best thing to do is to start small. If you can’t work in a full rosary, start with a decade or two decades,” she added. For those who haven’t memorised each and every prayer of the rosary, Praying the Rosary With St John Paul II includes all of them. “We want people to pray it. The prayers can be learned.”— CNS

GROUP of three priests and five laymen from the archdiocese of Juba in South Sudan has protested to the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples against the appointment of their new archbishop.

The group says they represent “the majority of concerned people of the archdiocese”.

In December, the Vatican announced the resignation of Archbishop Paulino Lukudu Loro, 79, and the appointment of Bishop Stephen Ameyu as his successor.

Bishop Ameyu, 55, was ordained a priest of the diocese of Torit in 1991, and had been appointed bishop of the same see earlier this year.

The concerned people of Juba gave three reasons for opposing the appointment, charging that government officials and some Juba priests had conspired to promote Bishop Ameyu as archbishop for personal interests, and had influenced a Vatican diplomat to that end; that a local priest could have been appointed; and alleging that Bishop Ameyu has fathered at least six children, which they said was “common knowledge”.

They wrote that Bishop Ameyu “will not be accepted to serve as archbishop of Juba under any circumstances”.

C

ATHOLIC campaigners have voiced frustration over a lack of progress at December’s UN climate talks in Spain, but vowed to step up demands for firmer international action.

“It’s disappointing there’s still a huge gap between what people on the streets are demanding and how governments are acting,” said Chiara Martinelli, senior adviser to CIDSE, a network of 17 Catholic development agencies in Europe and North America.

Encouraged by great youth mobilisation in recent months, the network came to the talks with hope, but found that “everyone was just negotiating for their own interests. It’s not encouraging to see the obstacles presented by big players such as the US, China, Australia and Japan,” Ms Martinelli said.

The 25th UN Climate Change Conference, or COP25, called for

participating countries to make progress in climate targets but postponed key decisions.

Ms Martinelli said Catholic groups had stood alongside the world’s “most vulnerable countries”, and ensured “human rights language” was included in negotiations. However, she added that CIDSE and other organisations would also re-examine their campaigning approach in light of COP25’s failure to secure firmer action.

She noted that during the conference, Catholic organisations had had to compete with commercial companies and other “very strong players speaking a completely different language”. The “great challenge” for 2020 would be to persuade governments “to listen to the people, not the interest groups”.

“Of course, we can never be sure how much the governments are really hearing us anyway, but things would be much worse if we

weren’t here,” she said. “Our work has now restarted to maintain pressure and raise ambitions before the next summit. We need the institutional Church to help push governments into making the right policy choices.”

Neil Thorns, a director of the CAFOD, the Catholic development agency for England and Wales, said that Pope Francis’ message to COP25, urging greater political will in line with climate science, had “set the tone for Catholic engagement”. But, he added, it was “depressing and indefensible” that world leaders had “got lost in technical details”.

“While some countries act very positively, seeking alliances for the common good, others behave like saints in the plenaries when setting out their long-term goals, but quickly lose their halos when it comes to concrete action,” he said.— CNS

The letter to the congregation was written to ask for “dialogue over the serious allegations raised against Bishop Stephen Ameyu”.

They maintained that their opposition “should not be misinterpreted as tribalism”, saying they have “no objection in having a bishop from outside the archdiocese”.

The protesters added that they are “not questioning or interfering with the prerogative of the Holy Father to appoint bishops”, but are only against the manipulation and the buying of the process by politicians and other interest groups. They said the Vatican diplomats should have known “that the era of Roma locuta est, causa finita est is over”.—CNA

Netflix satire about gay Jesus infuriates thousands

Catholic groups vow to keep pressure on after COP25 failures A

By JONATHAN lUxMOOre

Bishop Stephen Ameyu, who has been appointed bishop of Juba in South Sudan. (Photo: CNA)

By liSe AlVeS

N episode of Brazil’s comedy group Porta dos Fundos on Netflix created a storm of protest in Brazil and internationally.

The group’s Christmas special, A Primeira Tentacao de Cristo (“The First Temptation of Christ”) is a satire about a gay Jesus bringing his boyfriend home to meet Mary and Joseph.

Brazilians took to social media and the Internet, calling for a boycott of Netflix and the cancellation of the parody. The episode, say many, ridicules the Christian faith.

The Brazilian bishops’ conference criticised the 40-minute film and said there is a limit to freedom of expression.

The conference “repudiates recent facts that, in the name of freedom of expression and artistic creativity, profoundly assault the Christian faith. Ridiculing the belief of a group, whatever it may be, in addition to

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constituting an offence under criminal law, means disrespecting all people, hurting the search for an effectively democratic society that values all its citizens,” said the statement.

Many Brazilians, including Catholic religious, said they would be cancelling their subscription to the streaming service.

Brazil’s National Association of Islamic Jurists expressed solidarity: “We are against any disrespect and solidarity with our Christian brothers.”

While tens of thousands people signed the petition asking that the film be withdrawn from the streaming service, another 20 000 signed another petition supporting the group and opposing what they called “religious impositions”.

Last year’s Porta dos Fundos special, The Last Hangover, depicted Jesus Christ as a drunk. It won an International Emmy for best comedy.—CNS

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INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, January 1 to January 7, 2020

5

Pope lifts pontifical secret from abuse trials of clerics

By HANNAH BrOCkHAUS

P

OPE Francis has declared that the pontifical secret will no longer apply in cases of accusations and trials involving abuse of minors or vulnerable persons, and in cases of possession of child pornography by clerics.

With the instruction “On the Confidentiality of Legal Proceedings”, Pope Francis intends “to cancel in these cases the subjection to what is called the ‘pontifical secret’ bringing back instead the ‘level’ of confidentiality, dutifully required to protect the good reputation of the people involved,” according to Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts.

The pontifical secret, also sometimes called papal secrecy, is a rule of confidentiality protecting sensitive information regarding the governance of the universal Church. It is similar to the “classified” or “confidential” status common in companies or civil governments.

In the new instruction, Pope Francis said the pontifical secret will also no longer bind those working in offices of the Roman Curia to

confidentiality on other offences if committed in conjunction with child abuse or child pornography.

Witnesses, alleged victims, and the person who files the report are also not bound to obligations of silence, the instruction states.

The norms cover “delicts against the sixth commandment” as defined in article one of Pope Francis’ May 2019 letter, Vos estis lux mundi, which is sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable person by a cleric or consecrated person.

It also regards the delict defined in article six of the Normae de gravioribus delictis, which is the possession, distribution, or acquisition of pornography by a cleric.

The instruction notes, however, that information related to cases of abuse of minors or vulnerable persons, and of child pornography, should still be treated with “security, integrity and confidentiality” in accordance with canon 471 of the Code of Canon Law, “for the sake of protecting the good name, image and privacy of all persons involved”.

It was published together with another rescript, that one modifies several articles in Pope John Paul

II’s apostolic letter, Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, which lays out the Church’s norms on those delicts considered “more grave” and reserved to the judgment of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The rescript changes the definition of child pornography as a “more grave delict” from age 14 and under to age 18 and under.

The pope granted the rescript at the request of Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the CDF, and Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

The new document, Bishop Arrieta said, “wants to give certainty about the way to behave in these situations that, in some cases, particularly for sacred ministers, can touch indispensable moral duties of secrecy”.

Bishop Arrieta also explained that lifting the obligation to pontifical secrecy in cases of clerical sexual abuse of minors or vulnerable persons, and the possession or distribution of child pornography by clerics, is always apart from the duty to the seal of confession and the “confidentiality that a positive law is not able to be dissolved”.— CNA

Cardinal Tagle: Evangelisation happens in shopping malls!

I

T might be “unbelievable” to people in other countries, but a Catholic chapel inside a shopping mall and thousands of people attending Mass there have become a new norm among Filipinos.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila, the incoming prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, said evangelisation can happen even in shopping centres, ucanews.org reported.

“Many at the Vatican cannot believe that in the Philippines there is a chapel in a mall,” he said during the celebration of the second of nine days of early-morning Christmas Masses in the Philippines.

“They cannot believe that evangelisation can happen in commercial centres,” added the prelate, who celebrated a Mass at the Chapel of the Eucharistic Lord in a shopping mall in Manila.

“They cannot believe that every first Friday there is a Mass in offices, banks,” he said.

“People at the Vatican probably

Cardinal Tagle celebrated Mass in a shopping mall in Manila with hundreds of people in attendance.

(Photo: Tyler Orsburn/CNS) want to understand why this is so,” added the cardinal. Speaking of his appointment to one the Vatican’s most influential offices, he joked saying: “This is your fault,” drawing laughter from the faithful. He then appealed for prayers for his new Church assignment.

“I ask for your prayers,” he said, adding that “everything is still unclear. But when is life clear? It is

not always clear.”

As head of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, Cardinal Tagle will direct mission work in most areas of Africa, Asia and Oceania. The congregation is also tasked with “re-evangelising” the old Christian world.

Church leaders across Asia have welcomed Cardinal Tagle’s appointment, describing it as a “blessing” not only for the Philippines but for the region.

“He can bring his wisdom to the work of evangelisation,” said Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo.

Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the outgoing papal nuncio to the Philippines, said Cardinal Tagle is “in a position to take care...of the evangelisation of people.”

Bishop Salvador Lobo of Baruipur, India, said the appointment comes at the right time when the “propagation of faith... is taking place much more effectively” compared to other areas.— CNS

deacon elmer Herrera-Guzman, a fourth-year theology student, alongside his artwork at Theological College in washington. (Photo: Bob roller/CNS)

Seminarian prays and preaches with paint

By ANNA CAPizzi GAlVez

F

OR Deacon Elmer Herrera-Guzman, painting is an act of prayer.

On his easel, a peacock bursts into colour. It fans out its feathers in bold green and blue strokes.

Rev Herrera-Guzman points to a completed piece, a pelican with a white pelican chick nested at its feet.

Pelicans are ancient symbols of martyrdom, he explained, since it was thought that pelicans pecked their chests to feed their own blood to their young. Christians later connected the analogy to Christ’s sacrifice.

A transitional deacon for the diocese of Dallas, Rev Herrera-Guzman is in his final year of studies at Theological College in Washington where he is completing a masters in divinity and bachelor in sacred theology. In 2011, when he first entered Holy Trinity Seminary in Texas, his spiritual director encouraged him to incorporate his artwork into his prayer life.

“I get distracted during prayer easily,” he admitted, but “to be able to sit down and pray for hours and use my skills, the gift that God has given me, the talent, really helps out my prayer because I am focused.”

The 30-year-old is working on a series of animals with Christian motifs, inspired by his sacraments of initiation class where he learned that a rooster signifies a “Christian preaching the Gospel before the dawn, before the coming of Christ”.

“I thought, what a revelation!”

Former chaplain to the queen converts to Catholicism

A

FORMER honorary chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II has been received into the Catholic Church.

Gavin Ashenden, a former bishop of the Christian Episcopal Church, and former Anglican priest, was received into the Catholic church in Shrewsbury cathedral.

The diocese of Shrewsbury said Mr Ashenden’s Anglican orders will be suspended and he has become a lay Catholic theologian.

“The claims and expression of the Catholic faith are the most profound and potent expression of apostolic and patristic belief,” Mr Ashenden told Catholic News Service. He now accepts the primacy of the pope.

Mr Ashenden said he is grateful to Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury and the Catholics of his diocese for the

Gavin Ashendon, former Christian episcopal bishop and Anglican priest, has been received into the Catholic Church in Shrewsbury, england. opportunity to “be reconciled to the Church that gave birth to my earlier [Anglican] tradition”.

“I am especially grateful for the example and the prayers of St John Henry Newman,” he said, referring to the famous

19th-century convert from Anglicanism who was canonised in October.

Bishop Davies said it was “very humbling to be able to receive a bishop of the Anglican tradition into full communion in the year of

canonisation of St John Henry Newman”.

Mr Ashenden was a wellknown figure in the Church of England and served as an honorary chaplain to the queen from 2008-17.

He resigned from his post, however, so he could publicly speak out against the reading of a chapter from the Quran at an interfaith service at St Mary’s Anglican cathedral in Glasgow, Scotland. The passage explicitly denied the divinity of Jesus.

Soon afterward, he was ordained as missionary bishop for Britain and Europe by the Christian Episcopal Church, a traditionalist “continuing” Anglican jurisdiction founded in the US in 1992.

Helen, his wife of 23 years, became a Catholic about two years ago.—CNS

Rev Herrera-Guzman said.

He hopes to spur others to preach through art. “My plan one day is to take the art around Catholic schools and make contests for the kids to also do their research the way I do, and come up with a painting or drawing,” he said. “That will be using what God has given me to teach the Gospel.”

For now, he has encouraged his local community to showcase their artistic skills. Rev Herrera-Guzman founded an annual art exhibit at Theological College, which seminarians and local religious orders participate in and which features their work.

Building up others and preaching is a family trait. In El Salvador, where Rev Herrera-Guzman was born, his father began a radio station in his town, Santa Rosa de Lima, to give faith-filled sermons and talks.

His grandfather acted as a kind of delegate for the Church, travelling to the areas where the priest couldn’t often visit. “Like the arms of the priest where he can’t go,” his grandfather would go, visiting people, taking Communion, he said.

“I saw the priesthood in my grandfather. Everyone called him ‘Papa Yaco’,” an endearing title for his name, Ciriaco, Rev Herrera-Guzman explained. “So I thought everyone was related to me because everyone called him Papa Yaco. It was later that I found out that he wasn’t everyone’s father,” he said, laughing.

“But that left a great impression,” he added. “He was part of the life of the community.”—CNS

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The Southern Cross, January 1 to January 7, 2020

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Jesus the refugee

T

HE feast of the Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of the divine nature of the human Jesus, the newborn King.

But as we celebrate the visit of the magi, and with them pay homage to the Saviour, we also note that dark clouds are gathering.

On their way to locate the child, the guileless wise men let it slip to King Herod that there was a new king. What we know, and the magi didn’t, is that Herod will unleash murderous terror on infant boys.

The Holy Family eludes the fate of infanticide by escaping, on a hazardous route, to Egypt. By that act, Mary, Joseph and Jesus became refugees and migrants.

Tradition suggests that the Holy Family was pursued by agents of the Roman army, working in the service of King Herod.

They had to move from place to place—according to Egyptian tradition, 18 sites of refuge—to avoid being caught.

In all these places they will have had help from locals who offered safe shelter and food, and perhaps jobs for Joseph by which to earn sustenance for his family.

When the danger was over, the Holy Family left their exile in Egypt to return to Palestine.

We may not forget that Mary, Joseph and Our Lord once were migrants, escaping their own land in the face of grave danger.

That story has played itself out over and over again, throughout history. Today, migrants and refugees are at the centre of political crises in many traditionally Christian countries.

Migrants and refugees—Mary, Joseph and Our Lord—are attacked in South Africa, put into detention camps in the United States, left to drown in the Mediterranean.

To be sure, there are Middle Eastern countries which have embraced refugees from wars. Countries such as Lebanon and Jordan have given refuge to those crying out for it, at a scale no European country has matched.

But accepting refugees and migrants is not a popular political policy in countries that have forgotten the suffering caused by political upheaval.

Germany’s governing coalition of conservative and social-democratic parties are paying the price for giving refuge to those in need

of it, as Egypt once did to the Holy Family. Populist parties thrive on anti-migrant rhetoric.

Rejection of the refugee is not a new phenomenon, of course.

While Nazi Germany persecuted Europe’s Jews, many Western countries—including the US, Britain and Switzerland—refused to provide open ports of refuge.

The repugnant policies of those countries were rationalised by reference to proper bureaucratic processes and the difficulties of absorbing refugees. But at the heart of it was anti-semitism.

Today we hear the same set of justifications. And at the heart of it is bigotry.

The resistance to accepting political refugees is indefensible. But so is the callousness with which economic migrants are treated— to the point of interning them and letting them drown in perilous waters.

But most economic migrants are not uprooting themselves because they want a better television set. They leave because they are desperate, even at the risk of crossing dangerous waters in unseaworthy vessels or using unscrupulous traffickers who might let them die an agonising death in the back of a truck.

To reduce such people to the status of “illegal immigrants” is to put cold man made laws before the demands of mercy. How can otherwise decent people not be filled with compassion?

It should give us cause for humility when victims of xenophobic attacks in South Africa say that even being subjected to violence here is better than returning to their homes.

For Christians in particular, hostility or even indifference to the fate of migrants cannot be an option.

Would we turn on the North African migrant Simon of Cyrene—whose name locates his origin to present-day Shahhat in Libya, and who became a leader in the early Church—and burn his shop?

Would we turn Mary, Joseph and their baby away at the border of Egypt as “illegal immigrants” who are claiming to be refugees on the basis of a dream?

Would we separate the Holy Family and lock them up in internment camps? Would we let them starve in the desert?

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.

Cardinal Pell case ‘experts’ not necessarily right I REFER to the recent letters of Adrian Collingwood (September 25 and November 27), Cardinal Wilfrid Napier (September 25) and Tim O’Toole (November 27) on the conviction of Cardinal George Pell.

The golden thread of Mr O’Toole’s letter appears to be that because ranking “experts” (the advocate and the cardinal) question Cardinal Pell’s conviction, who are we to gainsay such sage pontifications? This is dangerous and appears to illustrate that the flock should unquestionably give way to experts.

Adv Collingwood should be aware that the majority of complainants in criminal matters are in fact victims of crime.

I do agree that each case must be judged on its merits. As to the truth or otherwise, that is for presiding officers or juries to rule on the basis of the evidence presented in court.

This is what happened with Cardinal Pell. A court of law judged him and found him guilty. The cardinal has rights to appeal under the Australian justice system, but the present fact is that he has been found guilty.

It is worth noting that when an accused is found not guilty, it does not necessarily mean they did not perpetrate the deed; or that the complainant is not a victim who suffered abuse. It simply means that the legal standard for a conviction was not met to warrant such conviction.

Are such victims not worthy of Christian care, and to be believed in what they have suffered? That would be most uncaring.

Referring to the US Supreme Court hearings of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of having raped a woman, Adv Collingwood

Paedophile priests vs divorce

O

NCE again I have been embarrassed as a Catholic watching a CNN reporter confront a paedophile priest sent to Africa to get him away from the press by his superiors in Belgium. There he was working among impoverished black children.

Within days of the scandal breaking, he was back in Belgium sheltered by his order. Perhaps they’ll send him to another place where kids are not valued in this world.

That happened shortly after Cardinal George Pell was convicted in Australia of sexual abuse of a minor.

The Church knew of allegations against him from early in his priesthood, but they rewarded him by making him a Prince of the Church, second in rank only to the pope, and

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o be clear, I consider myself a practising Catholic raised on a Franciscan Irish brand of Catholicism. I was raised in a household and by parents with a healthy respect for the Church leadership.

However, they, as well as the Irish priest who has had an influence on my view of the Church, taught me to not simply follow things blindly or unquestionably.

In this regard I must, respectfully, question the wisdom of Cardinal Napier in his letter “Pell verdict: My key reservations”.

The cardinal, as the highestranking Church official in South Africa, should know better than to write letters of this nature, especially at a time in history when the Church finds itself with many scandals of abuse levelled at its priests Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in letters to the editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy.

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

Vatican Chief Financial Officer.

And yet I read in Matthew 19:14 that Jesus famously said: “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” In Matthew I8:6 he also said that “whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea”.

My eldest daughter, in good faith, married a man who divorced her after writing me a letter stating he

and the Church hierarchy.

It is a fact that the hierarchy was complicit in this abuse, either as perpetrators or in covering it up.

While Cardinal Napier, of course, has a right to express his view as an individual on these matters, as a cardinal he has a far more important responsibility and duty towards the Church and its flock.

Coming out so vehemently in defence of Cardinal Pell can be seen as downplaying the seriousness of the abuse. It’s a message the Church can ill-afford to have taking root.

Cardinal Napier’s assertion that the sacristy of Melbourne cathedral resembles a railway station—busy, and therefore “it” could not have occurred—is, with respect, reckless.

I invite the cardinal to interview some of the people commuting to work on our trains. They will tell him stories about sexual harassment on busy trains packed to capacity, as well as at train stations.

Cardinal Napier’s second reason for his serious reservation is his memory of a visit to an Australian prison with several native Australian inmates, which raised doubts in his mind about Australian justice.

Yet Australia is rated number 11 in the World Justice Project 2019 report at 0,8. The highest score a country can attain is 1. This is indicative at least of a healthy respect for the rule of law.

Church leaders should be far more concerned about the welfare of abuse victims, and must be seen to be sympathetic to their suffering.

I cannot see that this is the case in Cardinal Napier’s letter.

Vincent Botto, Cape Town • This letter has been shortened.

never meant to marry her, but was afraid of offending those who had given the couple wedding presents.

Her reward was to be virtually excommunicated as a remarried divorcee, though the divorce was no fault of her own. She attempted to apply officially for her first marriage to be annulled, but the process was too complicated and demanding.

So now she is no longer a Catholic, by fiat of the Church. And none of my other children are practising Catholics; we are a very united family.

And the pompous Catholic Church talks loudly of Justice and Peace. I wish it would practise what it preaches. The whole hierarchy is complicit as it protects practising paedophile clergy but condemns ordinary Catholics to a spiritual death for being divorced.

Peter Blaine, Cape Town

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states that nobody else corroborated the complainant’s version; that it was levelled some 20 years after the alleged event occurred, and only after her memory was jogged while undergoing therapy.

What he failed to note is that a number of matters have been tried in courts many years after the occurrence of the event. One such local example is the conviction in 2015 of tennis player and coach Bob Hewitt for rape and sexual assault of minors more than 30 years previously.

An accused can be convicted and found guilty on the evidence of a single credible witness, without the need for corroboration—a legal principle Adv Collingwood should be well acquainted with. I am willing to wager that, as a prosecutor, he would have argued this legal principle himself on many occasions.

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PERSPECTIVES

25 years in one place O NCE upon a time, The Southern Cross didn’t want me. In September 1994, I responded to an advertisement in this newspaper for the vacant position of journalist. I was duly invited for an interview—and didn’t get the job.

Perhaps it wasn’t my wisest move to tell the editor, Fr Bernard Connor OP, that I wanted to jazz up what I called a “staid” newspaper. Apparently honesty isn’t always the best policy.

Soon after my failed application, our son was born. I was still unemployed since the publication I had worked for folded. I remember vividly praying one day that I might find employment.

A few days after that prayer, I received a call from Noel Bruyns, the business manager of The Southern Cross at the time. The young woman who had been employed in my stead hadn’t worked out (she went on to have an accomplished career in journalism), would I still be interested? I was.

And so it happened that 25 years ago, on January 3, 1995, I stepped into the editorial newsroom of The Southern Cross. As the alert reader will have deduced, I’m yet to leave.

Eugene Donnelly, the long-serving managing editor (and father of now Vatican-based Fr Simon), tasked me with laying out the children’s and photo pages.

Fr Connor seemed to have forgiven me for calling his newspaper “staid”, but he soon left and was replaced as editor by Michael Shackleton, an exceptional man of immense erudition, kindness, humour and faith.

Mike turned out to be a great mentor to me, especially in all areas of Catholicism.

He recognised in me a journalist of some talent, and was open to my ideas of jazzing up the newspaper.

I’ve been trying to keep it jazzy ever since.

Of course, there were times when I felt ready to move on. Circumstances always intervened: an unexpected pay rise, a promotion to managing editor in 1998, and then my entirely unexpected appointment to serve as the editor of this estimable newspaper.

By the turn of the millennium it seemed obvious that even a Catholic

newspaper should be edited by a professional journalist. That was the view taken

by Michael Shackleton, who was plotting his retirement, and the board of directors, led by chairman John Robertson and Bernard Pothier, that great champion of the laity.

They decided that this journalist should be me.

It was an unexpected vote of confidence—signed off by the bishops’ conference—and an intimidating challenge. I hope that over the past 19 years (as it will be in February), I have met the confidence invested in me. And I do hope that in the course of my editorship, I have gained in wisdom what I have lost in hair.

D

espite all the challenges The Southern Cross has faced, the frustrations these have created and sacrifices they have demanded, I am incalculably grateful for the past 25 years with the newspaper.

There is, of course, the joy of working for the Lord and serving the People of God. Being a Catholic journalist is a vocation.

It’s not one I had sought. When I applied for the job in 1994, I wanted employment; serving God was a welcome bonus. But the Holy Spirit has a hand in such things. The job is still a job, but it’s also a vocation.

And in this grace-filled vocation, I have

Gained in wisdom what he has lost in hair? Günther Simmermacher at The Southern Cross in early 1997.

New year, new budget!

I T’S January. You are feeling the aftermath of the excesses of Christmas, New Year, gift-buying, partying and summer holidays. Your pocket and bank account are probably feeling rather depleted. You are not the only one.

The shops—in an attempt to keep us buying things we don’t need with money we haven’t got—are having sales, trying to lure us back with the promise of discounts and offers and special deals.

And these days we cannot avoid this commercial onslaught by staying at home since Internet shopping means that we are never more than a few clicks away from spending money.

For many, it is even rougher since there are still new school uniforms and supplies to buy, and fees to pay.

January is clearly not a good time to be talking about money.

But for those of us running NGOs and parishes, it is a time when we have to think about money. Many of us who create formal budgets start them with the new year.

We look at what we are likely to spend money on in the 12 months ahead and where the income is going to come from to cover those expenses.

At the Denis Hurley Centre, we have just been through that budget-planning cycle. Each year we start with the basic question: What services will we be offering and at what level?

Our core activities—feeding the homeless and providing healthcare—continue because that is what we know we are good at and where there is urgent need.

In fact, the need gets bigger each year ,and so does our response. In 2018, we served over 100 000 meals to the homeless, a figure which has increased each year since we started. In 2019, we will have seen almost 30 000 poor patients in our clinic, an increase of 11% on the previous year.

We then look at our other activities (like training, rehab, skills development) and assess what we can afford and importantly what we can implement cost-effectively.

An important test that we apply—and

in January nobody likes to think about money, but budgets usually start in the new year. (Photo: Steve Buissinne) we would encourage all NGOs to do so—is not to duplicate what others are doing, especially if they do it well and efficiently.

Our approach instead is to partner with other organisations from across the faith and NGO communities.

But even if every year we just did the same things and at the same level, our costs would still go up. That is for the same reasons that each us will see our domestic costs go up in the new year.

W

ith inflation at 5%, all suppliers are seeking to increase prices. That of course becomes self-fulfilling: their suppliers increase prices and so they in turn have to increase theirs.

And some prices increase by more than that: in eThekwini, we are looking at a planned increase of 15% in utility bills this year.

One of the clearest ways of seeing this is in the price of fuel which has gone up 60% since we opened the DHC five years ago. That affects not just transportation costs but the costs of everything else.

Among the reasons for the increase in fuel prices is the decline in the value of the rand (7% in 2019). That in turn has a knock-on effect on the prices of anything which has an imported component.

I suspect I am not telling you anything you do not already know and which you already feel in the rands in your pocket. But just as you have to find more money to sim-

The Southern Cross, January 1 to January 7, 2020

Günther Simmermacher

7

Point of reflection

been blessed in many ways.

Unlike many of my colleagues in the field (or, indeed, my father, who also was a newspaper editor), I have been able to work normal working hours. That meant that I was always present for my family.

You can’t put a value on that.

Unlike many of my colleagues, I haven’t had to look out for controversy and bad news to boost circulation.

To be sure, The Southern Cross must forthrightly face controversy and bad news as they occur, and we mustn’t engage in sunshine journalism. I’m a journalist, not a cheerleader.

But the nature of our field encourages so many good news stories. The extent of goodness, kindness, service and sacrifice I witnessed over the past 25 years have given me great hope.

I have got to know so many outstanding people who continue to inspire me.

Some are well-known, some are not. How do you fail to be in awe, for example, of a young Benedictine who offers his kidney to a complete stranger about whom he read in The Southern Cross?

I could try and mention all the people I have encountered through The Southern Cross who in some ways have made an impression on me. I will not yield to that temptation, for the very practical reason that invariably I would commit unpardonable omissions.

I shall, however, mention my compadre in the trenches of running this newspaper for more than two decades: business manager Pamela Davids. She is the engineer who keeps this train running.

And I must mention our loyal readers and friends, whose kindness, generosity and support sustain me.

In October The Southern Cross will turn 100 years old. I pray that the newspaper will run for many, many years yet.

Perhaps in the future, somebody will write a history about The Southern Cross, and include a paragraph about the editor who once was this newspaper’s afterthought.

Raymond Perrier

Faith and Society

ply cover your basic costs, so do the NGOs you support and your local parish have the same pressure from increased costs.

At the DHC, we work really hard to keep our costs low. We have no choice but to absorb cost increases from utilities and other suppliers; we also increase staff rates each year at least in line with inflation (knowing that already they are paid less than what they’d earn in the private or public sector).

But I am proud to say that in 2019 we increased our services without increasing our overall costs; and that for 2020 we are again budgeting no overall increase in expenses. Each year we have found cost-savings and efficiencies to offset the cost increases that we cannot avoid.

But that still means we need to find almost R5 million in 2020—or R13 000 per day. And, like most NGOs and all churches, we get no cash help from government to provide these services. While most of us in the Church world benefit from lots of volunteers and donations of goods to help reduce the amount of cash we need, we still need to pay bills in real money—and that has to come from somewhere.

So even though this is a terrible time to raise this, can I on behalf of your parish and the NGOs you support, ask that you to think about increasing the amount that you give them?

If you believe that we are providing valuable services and doing God’s work— and we hope that you do—we need not just your continued support, but each year an increase in your financial commitment to what we do.

So now is a good time to look at the amount you give to your parish or chosen NGOs and ask yourself when you last increased that.

I may suggest that you get through the pain of January and set up the increase in your EFT to start in February. (And if you Continued on page 11

Michael Shackleton

Open door

What cloth must go on the altar?

A sacristan recently told me about a priest who refuses to cover the altar with a full-sized cloth because he doesn’t like “fancy decorations”. I was brought up to believe that the altar must be covered with a cloth. What are the rules?

L Carney

B

EFORE the reforms of Vatican II, it was the general rule that the high altar in the church was to be covered by three cloths.

The uppermost of these was to be white, as wide as the altar and long enough to reach the ground on either side.

In early times, the altar table was consecrated by the bishop who used to anoint it liberally with sacred chrism. This left it sticky and quite greasy.

In order to protect the altar linen cloths from the oil, a grease-proof cloth was first laid over the altar.

On top of that it was common to have a second cloth of a thick material whose purpose was to act as a cushion so that the altar top would not be damaged by the heavy metal vessels placed on it during the liturgy.

The stone of the altar was often easy to chip, and the older chalices, patens and ciboriums used to be rather weighty, often embellished with jewellery and lots of ornamentation.

Since Vatican II, much has been simplified and at least one white altar cloth is required during the eucharistic celebration.

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says the shape, size and decoration of the cloth should be in keeping with the altar’s structure (304). This implies that there is some leeway in deciding whether the cloth should drape all the way to the floor or only part of the way.

Sometimes an undercloth of some heavy material may be required to give some stability to the white altar cloth and prevent it from crinkling, which is quite common when the linen is of a light fabric.

During the day the altar may be draped with a dust cover of some suitable material.

The reforms in altar linen were intended to highlight the symbolism of the altar not only as a place of sacrifice but also as the table of the Lord’s Supper to which we are invited, a prelude to the final joyful reunion with Christ in his kingdom.

n Send your queries to Open Door, Box 2372, Cape Town,

8000; or e-mail: opendoor@scross.co.za; or fax (021) 465 3850. Anonymity can be preserved by arrangement, but questions must be signed, and may be edited for clarity. Only published questions will be answered.

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The Southern Cross, January 1 to January 7, 2020

COMMUNITY St Joseph’s parish in Germiston, Johannesburg archdiocese, held a First Communion and first confession retreat. At Sunday Mass, candidates got to show their craft work to parishioners.

(Submitted by karen Biassoni)

The archdiocese of durban’s Justice & Peace Commission held its 23rd annual Archbishop denis Hurley lecture at St Joseph’s parish in Morningside. The guest speaker was dr Siphiwe Mkhize, who spoke about the role of natural law in Catholic Social Teaching in the future. Coadjutor Archbishop Abel Gabuza is seen with attendants.

young pupils at Marist Brothers linmeyer in Johannesburg enjoyed a dress-up day at school.

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Ten New Year’s resolutions to keep faith fit

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Centenary Jubilee Year

This was Pope Francis’ year 2019

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What S. Africa faces in 2020

BY ERIN CARELSE

I

T looks like 2020 will be a generally tough and difficult year with Eskom’s crisis, the ongoing state capture investigations, and South Africa’s economic challenges, but there are also signs for hope, according to a Catholic political analyst.

South Africa’s economic problems are becoming more serious and more important than the governance and political problems, said Mike Pothier, senior researcher for the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office.

“At the height of the Zuma era, the corruption of the democratic process and democratic institutions was the real danger. While that was happening we missed that many state-owned enterprises were being slowly captured and corrupted,” he said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, and finance minister Tito Mboweni understand how serious things are, but can’t admit that publically, Mr Pothier said.

“They’re still in this phase of pretending that they are managing the crisis really cleverly, with lots of foresight and with plans in place—but they aren’t. They actually don’t know what to do about it,” he said.

We can’t afford to have things getting any worse with Eskom, Mr Pothier warned. “If Eskom goes down, factories, mines, farms and the country go down, [and] people will starve to death.”

I

n its endeavour to mitigate the country’s water shortages, the Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation introduced a national water plan that hopes to combat the water crisis by 2030.

“The plan has been well received by a lot of experts, but there is little faith that the plan is easily translated into real action as the budget for it is R900 billion. Where is that money coming from?” Mr Pothier asked.

“In the short term, if agriculture underperforms again in this coming rain season, particularly in the northern provinces where maize is planted, it’s going to have a hugely negative effect on the economic growth, unemployment, food prices and so on.

“We could find ourselves in that terrible situation that happens to countries, where you get hit from all sides. In our case that

would be drought, climate change, Eskom’s crisis, high unemployment and possible downgrading of our international credit ratings,” he said.

But, Mr Pothier said, it’s important to note that South Africa is also at the mercy of the international community.

“It’s not all about our government getting things wrong historically and now still. We must also realise we’re in a vulnerable global position—and everyone in Africa is.”

The trade war between the United States and China is affecting us negatively, he said.

“The rand weakens and therefore our petrol price goes up. If international economic growth falters, all of those things also have a huge negative impact on us,” he said.

Mr Pothier does see several positive signs for this year though.

D

espite being slow-moving, the commissions of inquiry are a very important way of uncovering corruption at all levels, and we need to be a bit more patient.

The Zondo commission, which sat through the whole of last year, will probably continue for at least the first half of 2020.

“Hopefully we’ll get some indications from Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo about who the guilty parties were in state capture, and some recommendations be made about what government should do,” Mr Pothier said.

“I understand that people want to see charges being laid, and we do need to see people going to court. The National Prosecution Authority has been giving hints recently that they will be doing this soon,” he explained.

Mr Pothier said that we can expect to see ex-President Jacob Zuma in and out of court in 2020. “He is still going to be caught up in the process of trying to appeal against the decision which said no to putting aside his prosecution—but it’s 15 years overdue,” he said.

However, “the mere fact that we have commissions of inquiry is positive because it shows that there are certain procedures, constitutional and legal, which are taken seriously, and we are also seeing the NPA and the Hawks slowly rebuilding themselves”.

Municipal government coalitions which were formed after the 2016 local elections— specifically in the Johannesburg, Tshwane, Continued on page 3

A scene in the domestic life of the Holy Family, with Jesus as a toddler, is depicted in a relief near St Joseph’s church in Nazareth, which commemorates the home of Jesus’ family. December 29 marks the feast of the Holy Family. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher)

Pope: Youths must be activists

BY CAROL GLATZ

Y

OUNG people need training in how to be active citizens focused on the care of the human person and the environment, Pope Francis said.

“Technological innovation is also needed to achieve these goals, and young people, if well motivated, will in fact be able to attain them, since they have been born and raised in today’s fast-paced technological world,” he added.

The pope’s remarks came in his address to members of the “A Chance in Life” foundation, formerly known as Boys and Girls Towns of Italy, which helps at-risk youth in many countries.

Church Chuckles

Pope Francis praised the organisation’s initiatives that have benefited thousands of boys and girls and “offer children and adolescents in situations of particular hardship a chance to surmount their difficulties and to realise fully God’s plan for each of them.”

To be more effective in carrying out its mission in today’s world, the foundation is also looking for ways to promote recommendations made in the pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si’.

“It is essential to train new generations in the exercise of an active and participatory citizenship centred on the human person and care for the environment,” Pope Francis told them.

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Christ the king church in Heidedal, Bloemfontein, celebrated its 50th anniversary. Mass which was said by Archbishop Jabulani Nxumalo with parish priest Fr Gracious lombe and visiting priests Frs Stephen ilechukwu and S kgamadi concelebrating. during Mass a number of congregants received the sacrament of confirmation. Archbishop Nxumalo also blessed and opened the new Marian grotto. Seen at the event are (from left) richard and Martie khuduga, Balala elias Mckenzie, Paul Mogale Chabalala, and Clive Solomon.

Grade 10s at Assumption Convent in Malvern east, Johannesburg, received the sacrament of confirmation. Bishop duncan Tsoke administered the sacrament, and many current and past pupils attended the Mass.

Students at Holy Family College in Glenmore, durban, are working with word of life durban to run holiday Bible clubs, do outreach in local communities and minister in various ways to share the Gospel with those they meet.

St Theresa’s church in welcome estate, Cape Town, celebrated the First Communion of children in the parish.

They are seen with Frs Anstey kay and longinus kharjia, deacon Bernard Hermanus and catechists Austin Owies and Mercia Sauls.

(Submitted

by Stephen Selbourne)

The Southern Cross, January 1 to January 7, 2020

FAITH

9

Newman’s song of praise of Mary One of the five litanies approved by the Church for public recitation is the Litany of Loreto. For St John Henry Newman, the great English theologian, the litany was a summary of Mary’s personality.

that Mary loved her Divine Son with an unutterable love; and consider too she had him all to herself for 30 years.

“Do we not see that, as she was full of grace before she conceived him in her womb, she must have had a vast incomprehensible sanctity when she had lived close to God for 30 years?”

Morning Star

M

ORNING Star. Mystical Rose. Tower of Ivory. House of Gold.

For centuries, Catholics have recited these titles of Mary in the Litany of Loreto prayer, one of the five litanies approved for public recitation by the Church.

Also known as the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it was originally approved in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V. Many classical composers, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart have written Litaniae lauretanae (Litanies of Loreto).

A litany is “a long series of invocations of Our Lady, which follow in a uniform rhythm, thereby creating a stream of prayer characterised by insistent praise and supplication”, according to the Directory on Popular Piety.

St John Henry Newman, wrote a series of meditations in 1874 reflecting on the meaning behind each Marian title in the litany.

In the current jubilee year of the shrine of Loreto in Italy, proclaimed

by Pope Francis to celebrate the centenary of Our Lady of Loreto being named patron of aviators and air travellers, it is good to reflect on St Newman’s insights.

The jubilee year at Loreto— which holds the reputed house of the Holy Family, brought to Italy from Nazareth—ends on December 10, 2020.

For Newman, many of these titles of Mary link back to her integral identity as the Immaculate Conception, conceived without the stain of original sin. Thus, the British saint connected a dogma declared 20 years prior by Pope Pius IX to a litany prayer approved by Pope Sixtus V in 1587.

“We must recollect that there is a vast difference between the state of a soul such as that of the Blessed Virgin, which has never sinned, and a soul, however holy, which has once had upon it Adam’s sin; for, even after baptism and repentance, it suffers necessarily from the spiritual wounds which are the consequence of that sin,” Newman wrote.

“She never committed even a venial sin, and this special privilege is not known to belong to anyone but Mary.”

The Marian title “Mater Amabilis”, today translated as “Mother Most Amiable”, is connected to Mary’s sinlessness, Newman explained: “Sin is something odious in its very nature, and grace is something bright, beautiful, attractive.”

Mary as divine music Newman heard a song in Mary: “There was a divine music in all she said and did—in her mien, her air, her deportment, that charmed every true heart that came near her.

Her innocence, her humility and modesty, her simplicity, sincerity, and truthfulness, her unselfishness, her unaffected interest in everyone who came to her, her purity—it was these qualities which made her so lovable.”

Mary is particularly lovable “to the children of the Church, not to those outside of it, who know nothing about her”, Newman said.

A convert himself, Newman’s own thoughts on Mary developed from praising the holiness of the Mother of Christ as an Anglican preacher to defending Mary’s role as

St John Henry Newman in an 1865 photo. (Photo: Fathers of the Birmingham Oratory) intercessor in “Certain Difficulties Felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching Considered”, as his two-volume work is titled.

Newman was a 19th-century theologian, poet, Catholic priest and cardinal. Before his conversion a well-known and well-respected Oxford academic, Anglican preacher, and public intellectual.

In October, Pope Francis declared Cardinal John Henry Newman a saint. That same month, the pope elevated the December 10 feast of Our Lady of Loreto to the Church’s universal Roman calendar.

In his Loreto meditations, Newman sheds light on titles of Mary whose meaning may not be immediately evident to a modern reader.

Tower of Ivory While an ivory tower is colloquially understood today as a privileged shelter from the practicalities of the real world, Newman connect’s Mary’s title “Tower of Ivory” to her courageous presence at the execution of her son.

“When we say a man ‘towers’ over his fellows, we mean to signify that they look small in comparison of him,” he wrote.

“This quality of greatness is instanced in the Blessed Virgin.

Though she suffered more keen and intimate anguish at our Lord’s Passion and Crucifixion than any of the apostles by reason of her being his Mother, yet consider how much more noble she was amid her deep distress than they were,” Newman wrote.

“It is expressly noted of her that she stood by the Cross. She did not grovel in the dust, but stood upright to receive the blows, the stabs, which the long Passion of her Son inflicted upon her every moment.

“In this magnanimity and generosity in suffering she is, as compared with the apostles, fitly imaged as a tower.”

Mirror of Justice Newman explained that the Marian title “Mirror of Justice” needs clarification to fully understand how Mary reflected Christ.

“Here first we must consider what is meant by justice, for the word as used by the Church has not that sense which it bears in ordinary English,” Newman wrote.

“By ‘justice’ is not meant the virtue of fairness, equity, uprightness in our dealings; but it is a word denoting all virtues at once, a perfect, virtuous state of soul—righteousness, or moral perfection; so that it answers very nearly to what is meant by sanctity,” he continued.

“Therefore when our Lady is called the ‘Mirror of Justice’, it is meant to say that she is the mirror of sanctity, holiness, supernatural goodness.”

Newman further posited: “Do we ask how she came to reflect his sanctity? It was by living with him.

“We see every day how like people get to each other who live with those they love… Now, consider

Newman divided the titles of Mary in the Litany of Loreto into four categories: Immaculate Conception, the Annunciation, Our Lady of Sorrows, and the Assumption.

For example, Newman compares the “Morning Star” to Mary’s Assumption into heaven: “Mary, like the stars, abides for ever, as lustrous now as she was on the day of her Assumption; as pure and perfect, when her Son comes to judgment, as she is now.”

He continued: “It is Mary’s prerogative to be the Morning Star, which heralds in the sun. She does not shine for herself, or from herself, but she is the reflection of her and our Redeemer, and she glorifies him. When she appears in the darkness, we know that he is close at hand,” he wrote.

By papal decree, the feast of Our Lady of Loreto will be celebrated for the first time as an optional memorial in the Roman calendar this year on December 10.—CNA

A depiction of Our lady of loreto by Annibale Carracci in circa1605, with angels transporting the house of the Holy Family from Nazareth to loreto in italy. The tradition of the angels likely refers to the Angeli family, which brought the house to italy in the 13th century.

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10

The Southern Cross, January 1 to January 7, 2020

PERSONALITY

The amazing life of Pauline Jaricot In 19th-century France, a lay woman made a big difference in evangelisation and missionary work. In a two-part series, COlleeN CONSTABle looks at the life of Pauline Jaricot.

T

HE remarkable life of Pauline Marie Jaricot, founder of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith and the Association of the Living Rosary, came to an end at the age of 62 on January 9, 1862.

It was a life that saw this lay woman—a friend of both St John Vianney and Pope Gregory XVI— be miraculously healed through the intercession of St Philomena, and then exhaust all her wealth in an effort to mission to the poor.

Pauline Jaricot, who was declared venerable in 1963, was born in Lyon a decade after the French Revolution, on July 22, 1799. She was the youngest of seven children of Antoine and Jeanne Jaricot.

Antoine was the owner of a silk factory, so Pauline was expected to live her life in the bourgeoisie. So at 15 she was made her debut in Lyon’s social life of the city.

A sermon on vanity made her question that scene. More about

that later.

At the age of 18, while at prayer, she had a vision of two lamps—one had no oil; the other was overflowing, and from its abundance, the full lamp poured oil into the empty one. She understood that it was her call to work for missionaries.

Her vocation took shape in France at a time when workers were subjected to social injustice and society experienced spiritual decay.

Today Pauline is known as the founder, at only 23 years old, of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith as well as of the Association of the Living Rosary.

A century after the founding of the former, Pope Pius XI elevated its status to a pontifical society, and thus a universal mission under the direction of the Holy Father.

Pauline founded the Association of the Living Rosary in 1826 because she wanted to evangelise through prayer, reaching all classes in society and spreading the Gospel through meditation on the mysteries of the rosary.

Pauline saw the groups of the Living Rosary as a large spiritual family.

“What a blessing to be joined to such good souls. How beautiful is this charity that makes [with] a great number of persons different by their age and social conditions a single family whose mother is

Pauline Jaricot’s bedroom in lorette, the house in lyon she founded. it can still be visited today. (Photo: la Maison de lorette)

Mary,” she said.

In 1832 Pauline bought an exceptional property and gardens on the hillsides of Lyon. She named it Lorette House—in memory of her pilgrimage to Loreto in Italy—and built the St Philomena chapel and a staircase for pilgrims to reach the top of the hill easily.

She continued to spread the Living Rosary from Lorette House, and managed a repository selling religious items, books and crucifixes. She opened the doors of Lorette House to the poor, provided for their needs, and also welcomed clergy and missionaries.

Today Lorette House is the property of the French Oeuvres Pontificates Missionaries.

Internal spiritual struggles While Pauline’s call to mission was authentic, her initial life was characterised by internal struggles.

It is said that she turned from God in her adolescence. She was inconsistent in her devotion. She was torn between moments of intense prayer and her participation in the “dashing social life of the silk world”.

Her desire to spend long periods in church before the Blessed Sacrament, praying through the intercession of Mary, was equally challenged by her participation in social events.

Pauline was popular and dressed elegantly. She was admired and courted by young men. She fantasised about the romantic possibility of an idyllic marriage.

In today’s world one would describe her as a young upcoming socialite.

At age 15 Pauline encountered her first challenge in life: she fell and damaged her nervous system.

The fall left her semi-paralysed, and her speech affected.

Doctors were unsuccessful in their attempts to treat her.

At the unexpected death of her eldest brother, Narcisse, her condition worsened. Then her mother became ill and died. Out of concern for Pauline’s health, the family initially didn’t inform Pauline about her mother’s death.

Pauline’s local parish priest encouraged her to resume her devotion. She asked for the sacrament of reconciliation and received the Eucharist. From that moment she recovered the use of her limbs.

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The remarkable Pauline Jaricot (1799-1862) was born to live in high society but gave all that up to evangelise, founding organisations that have survived to this day. in the portrait she was still a young woman. which became a worldwide brand.

Call to conversion All the time, Pauline’s spiritual As mentioned above, at the age of 17 Pauline was deeply touched life grew: she was a daily commuby a homily about vanity. After nicant and prayed for the converof sinners and the hearing it, she made a general con- sion fession, went home and burned evangelisation of the world. She her romantic novels and songs, had a devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and meditated before and set her jewellery aside.

She pledged never to look into the tabernacle.

She became a spiritual writer the mirror again or to wear beautiful clothes. She decided to devote and anonymously published the her life to serving the sick and the insightful treatise Infinite Love in poor, especially those of her city in the Divine Eucharist.

Pauline embraced forgiveness the Hospital of Incurables.

Pauline’s desire was to love and peace as key pillars of her spirwithout measure, without end, ituality. She entered a phase of and to serve the Lord. She visited spiritual renewal. At a large family the Virgin Mary shrine on Lyon’s gathering she asked forgiveness for Mount Fourvière and made a vow the worldly inclinations she had of chastity, while remaining a lay- often shown.

She closed the book on her past, woman.

She also understood that she felt liberated and renewed and undid not have a calling to the reli- dertook more works of charity. gious vocation.

Dressed like the poor Pauline struggled with anger Pauline visited the poor and and pride throughout her life. She dressed like them. She treated felt that anger caused her rage.

To combat these weaknesses, she them with dignity and respect— they were important said: “In order to keep siguests. lence, I had to put in my She assisted young mouth whatever was Pauline girls who were needy and close at hand. My passions weakened to the de- struggled with those who were at risk.

She found employment gree I combated them.” anger and for them in her brother’s About her struggles silk factory, while enwith vanity, she said: “I pride couraging their piety. would never have been In response to the throughout able to cure myself of spiritual decay caused by vanity if I had not her life. She the French Revolution, guarded myself careshe founded the Women fully.” felt that anger of Reparation, or RèparaAt age 19 her prayerTheir reparation life and devotion intensicaused her trices. was to promote devotion fied. She became part of to the Blessed Sacrament rage the Association of the Saand to the Sacred Heart cred Hearts of Jesus and of Jesus.

Mary.

In 1831 Pauline founded the She also embraced St Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to the Daughters of Mary, a group of prayerful lay women who lived and Blessed Virgin Mary. prayed together at Lorette House.

By the time of Pauline’s death Missionary fundraiser During this time her brother in 1862, only three members of Phileas, who was studying at a the Daughters of Mary remained seminary in Paris, asked Pauline to with her.

When Pauline’s financial forraise funds for the Paris Foreign Missions Society, which wanted to tunes had changed later in her life, send priests to Asia. Pauline’s cre- some of her companions left to ative mind changed the history of join other congregations.

After her death, the three loyal fundraising in the Church.

Her innovative idea of groups members of the Daughters of Mary and group leadership aligned to a had to leave Lorette House and setdecimal system of 10s, 100s and tle in a small flat while still help1 000s took shape. The strategy was ing the poor and promoting the simple: prayer and an individual Living Rosary until they died. network of personal relationships. n Colleen Constable writes from PreThe group leaders of each system toria. In part 2 next week, she excollected funds from the groups plains how Pauline Jaricot defied a every week. Pauline also managed pope’s expectation by being miracuher own group of 100s. lously cured, how Pauline handled beThe idea gave birth to the Soci- trayal and poverty, and what lessons ety of the Propagation of the Faith her life holds for us today.

The Southern Cross, January 1 to January 7, 2020

YOUr CLASSIFIeDS

Br Peter Cheesman CFC

C

HRISTIAN Brother Peter Cheesman died in Boksburg on November 24, aged 87.

Born into a family of eight children, four boys and four girls, Joe (as he was known at home) grew up in Woodstock, Cape Town, attending St Agnes Primary School and then Christian Brothers College in Green Point.

After school he worked briefly for the Lion Match Company before deciding to become a Christian Brother. When he announced this, he found his younger brother David also wanted to join. They did so together early in 1951, at the Brothers’ two-year-old training centre in Stellenbosch, where they completed their studies and did their novitiate.

And two Cheesman girls joined the Cabra Dominican Sisters.

Br Peter did his professional training at the Bloemfontein Teachers’ Training College where he struggled with Afrikaans but excelled at practical teaching.

He and his brother had their first teaching experience at CBC Kimberley, the train-ride being the longest journey they’d ever made.

Intermittently, Br Peter was to spend 14 years there, starting as an apprentice to the Standard 1 teacher, and in 1968 becoming principal of the primary school.

In 1965, he was sent to CBC Boksburg where he was greatly impressed by the energetic fundraising efforts of parent committees.

The following year he started commuting to the new CBC in Springs, which was starting to extend from primary to secondary classes. Here he witnessed the

transformation of the buildings of the old Springs mine into a school and residence, and helped establish sportsfields. But before the Brothers could move into their house there, he was transferred back to Kimberley.

Following a tertianship in Rome—a half-year renewal opportunity provided internationally in the 1970s—Br Peter moved back to his home town to teach at his old school, St Agnes.

He taught there from 1972-86, the first time he taught boys and girls together.

I

n 1988, he moved to Flagstaff in the Transkei, to the Sacred Heart School started by the Holy Cross Sisters.

Here Br Peter encountered great poverty among the people, and played his part in making limited resources and facilities stretch to meet people’s needs.

The Brothers undertook to take on the school for three years but stayed for eight. When they left to move to Kokstad, Br Peter reported stopping the car on the

way and crying for half an hour.

In late 1995 he had the opportunity to do a retreat programme at St Beuno’s in North Wales. On his return he was asked to take charge of a Brothers’ retirement community in Green Point, which he did for ten years with the help of a wonderful house doctor, Dr Sonnenberg, and very willing housekeeping staff.

The house,within walking distance of the seafront, attracted many visitors, especially Brothers, and Br Peter was appreciated as a generous and thoughtful host.

After a year in Stellenbosch, during which plans for a retirement home had to be shelved, he moved to the Brothers’ house in Boksburg which again served both as a retirement home and a house of hospitality, being close to the Johannesburg airport.

Here Br Peter pursued his hobbies of cooking, gardening, and making rosaries from marshland seeds. Retiring at the end of 2010, he stayed on in Boksburg as a resident.

In August 2016, following a fall in which he broke bones, he was welcomed into nearby Marian House, the Newcastle Dominican Sisters’ frail-care community, where he became increasingly immobilised and deaf, and had to be hospitalised frequently.

Some months after his closest sister, Norah, died in Cape Town, Br Peter died peacefully in his own room.

After a funeral Mass at Marian House Chapel on December 2, he was buried in the Sisters’ cemetery behind the house.

Br Michael Burke CFC

With the new year, new budgets Continued from page 7 do not have these regular donations set up as an EFT, let me recommend it; it is much less painful than taking cash out of your wallet).

Of course, if you have not

spent all your bonus, perhaps you can make a one-off donation before you do spend it.

Let me offer two extra motivations. If you are giving to an NGO and you do so before the end of February, you can reduce

your tax bill for 2019-20.

The other motivation is a bit more spiritual.

Remember Proverbs: “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed” (17:9).

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FROM OUR VAULTS 9 Years Ago: January 5, 2011

Pope decries Christmas terror

January 5 to January 11, 2011

D-Day for South Sudan

www.scross.co.za

Bringing the Gospel home

Pages 4 & 6

Page 2

As a new country is born

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 896. ACROSS: 1 Phoebe, 4 Temple, 9 Reconcilement, 10 Trussed, 11 Abbot, 12 Forms, 14 Plate, 18 Train, 19 Papyrus, 21 Prince of Peace, 22 Deemed, 23 Erased. DOWN: 1 Parity, 2 Once upon a time, 3 Banns, 5 Eyeball, 6 Presbyterians, 7 Estate, 8 Windy, 13 Manacle, 15 Stupid, 16 Spoon, 17 Ascend, 20 Paper

No 4711

ABUSE: How to answer the big questions

Page 9

This week we congratulate: January 6: Bishop Edward Risi OMI of Keimoes-Upington on his 71st birthday January 7: Bishop Jan de Groef M. Afr of Bethlehem on his 72nd birthday January 11: Bishop Peter Holiday of Kroonstad on his 68th birthday

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

T

Wikileaks shows Vatican is a big player

In his editorial, Günther Simmermacher writes that as the people of South Sudan prepare to vote for the independence of their region in a January 9 referendum, “the international community must provide South Sudan’s democratic institutions with the necessary support and tools to maintain the new country’s integrity”.

PrAYerS

O VIrGIN Mother, in the depths of your heart you pondered the life of the Son you brought into the world.

Give us your vision of Jesus and ask the Father to open our hearts, that we may always see His presence in our lives, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, bring us into the joy and peace of the kingdom, where Jesus is lord forever and ever. Amen.

R5,50 (incl VAT RSA)

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New bishops on their challenges

Pope Benedict XVI has deplored a series of deadly attacks against Christian churches and other targets during the Christmas season in Pakistan, Nigeria and the Philippines.

Vatican-related Wikileaks disclosures show that the United States and other countries take the Vatican and its diplomatic activity very seriously. The Wikileaks cables have described Vatican diplomats as generally well-informed and as influential lobbyists behind the scenes.

PArISH NOtICeS

558-1412.

Helpers of God’s Precious infants. Mass on last Saturday of every month at 9:30 at Sacred Heart church in Somerset road, Cape Town. Followed by vigil at abortion clinic. Contact Colette Thomas on 083 4124836 or 021 593 9875 or Br daniel SCP on 078 7392988.

DUrBAN: Holy Mass and Novena to St Anthony at St Anthony’s parish every Tuesday at 9:00. Holy Mass and divine Mercy devotion at 17:30 on first Friday of every month. Sunday Mass at 9:00. Phone 0313093496 or 031 209-2536.

St Anthony’s rosary group. every wednesday at 18:00 at St Anthony’s church opposite Greyville racecourse.

All are welcome and lifts are available. Contact keith Chetty on 083 372-9018.

NeLSPrUIt: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at St Peter’s parish every Tuesday from 8:00 to 16:45, followed by rosary, divine Mercy prayers, then a Mass/Communion service at 17:30.

Our bishops’ anniversaries

New bishops for Pretoria, Kimberley Bishop William Slattery, a 67-year-old Franciscan who has headed the diocese of Kokstad since 1994, has been transferred to head the archdiocese of Pretoria, while Pretoria’s vicar-general Mgr Abel Gabuza has been appointed bishop of Kimberley.

11

An Iraqi boy prays with a rosary during Mass at a Chaldean Catholic church in Amman, Jordan.

Thousands of Iraqi Christians have fled to nearby Jordan following a spate of bombings that targeted churches in Iraqi cities in the past few years. Pope Benedict has condemned a series of attacks on Christians around Christmas in Africa and Asia. (Photo: Ali Jarekji, Reuters/CNS)

Christmas attacks against Christians condemned

BY JOHN THAVIS

P

OPE Benedict has deplored a series of deadly attacks against Christian churches and other targets around the world at Christmas time.

The pope appealed for peace after bombs went off in churches in the Philippines and Nigeria, killing or wounding several worshippers. In Pakistan, a suicide bombing against a World Food Programme depot left at least 40 dead.

“At this time of holy Christmas, the desire and the pleas for peace have become still more intense. But our world continues to be marked by violence, especially against the disciples of Christ,” the pope said at his noon blessing at the Vatican.

The pope said he had learned with “great sadness” of the bombing during Christmas Mass at a Catholic chapel on the Filipino island of Jolo, where Muslim extremist groups have been active. The blast injured the local priest and eight others.

He also condemned the violence on Christmas Eve against Christian churches in Nigeria, where petrol bombs against three places of worship left at least six people dead, including a Baptist pastor.

Authorities said they suspected an Islamist sect in the violence.

“The earth has also been stained with blood in other parts of the world, like Pakistan,” the pope said.

“I wish to express my heartfelt condolences for the victims of this absurd violence. Once again I make an appeal to abandon the path of hatred in order to find peaceful solutions to conflicts and bring security and tranquility to these dear populations,” he said.

“Let us remember all those, in particular families, who are forced to abandon their homes because of war, violence and intolerance,” he said.

He asked for prayers so that “the Lord may touch people’s hearts and bring hope, reconciliation and peace”.—CNS

HE newly appointed archbishop of Pretoria has said that he will first focus on evangelisation, ongoing formation and family and marriage life.

Bishop William Slattery, a 67-year-old Franciscan who has headed the diocese of Kokstad since 1994, said that in the long term he hopes to focus on the priests of the diocese, who lead “very demanding lives today and need more support”.

He also said it was necessary to find and encourage good will in the “fine people of Pretoria” and to ensure that education through various means including homebased care was available.

He plans to give special attention to the youth. “There is no Catholic culture in South Africa today,” he said, pointing out that the number of Catholic children in Catholic schools had decreased.

Bishop Slattery said while it will be a long time before any big changes could be made, what he most wants to encourage was the concept of “belonging”.

“The people of Pretoria need to belong to the Church and belong to each other. God wants us to belong to him and each other.

We need to embrace each other and encourage belonging.”

The archbishop-designate is no stranger to Pretoria: he served as rector of St John Vianney Seminary in Waterkloof from 1984-91.

While Pretoria, which had been vacant for a year following the sudden resignation of Archbishop Paul Mandla Khumalo in December 2009, gains a new archbishop, it is losing one of its most senior priests to the diocese of Kimberley.

Mgr Abel Gabuza, apostolic administrator of the archdiocese since Archbishop Khumalo’s resignation, has been appointed bishop of the Kimberley diocese, which covers parts of the Northern Cape and the North West, including Mafikeng.

Bishop-designate Gabuza said the announcement of his elevation came as a surprise. When the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop James Patrick Green told him that Bishop Slattery had been appointed archbishop, Mgr Gabuza said he was relieved that a replacement had been found. Thinking that he would now be placed in a parish, the former vicar-general of Pretoria said he was “stunned and humbled” by his appointment as bishop of Kimberley.

He was “humbled by the fact the Church has confidence in me”, and dedicated the appointment to his late mother who he said was instrumental in his faith journey.

The 55-year-old bishop-elect has served the Church in several functions since his ordination in December 1984. Apart from serving as pastor in several parishes and as vicar-general since 1999, he also lectured at three seminaries, and served South Africa’s orientation seminaries in Pretoria and Cape Town as rector from 1991-94.

Pope had a lunch of lasagna and veal with Rome’s poor

BY JOHN THAVIS

P

OPE Benedict hosted more than 350 poor people at a post-Christmas luncheon at the Vatican, an event that marked the year-long 100th anniversary celebrations of the birth of Bl Mother Teresa of Calcutta in August 2010.

The pope passed among the guests in the crowded atrium of the Vatican audience hall then sat down at a table with 14

others for a three-course meal that featured lasagna, roast veal with potatoes and the classic Italian pandoro Christmas cake—this one with melted chocolate and Chantilly cream.

W h en t h e p o pe a rr i v e d , t h e g u es t s placed a garland of white and yellow flowers around his neck, a tradition of India that was adopted by Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity.

Most of the guests were poor people

served at soup kitchens run by the Missionaries of Charity in Rome and the surrounding area. Also in attendance were more than 100 sisters and brothers of the religious order.

In a talk after the meal, the pope told the guests that he loved them and prayed for them. He said Mother Teresa’s life was an example of charity in action, with a preference for the poorest and those abandoned by the rest of society.

Liturgical Calendar

Bishop William Slattery (left) has been appointed archbishop of Pretoria, and Mgr Abel Gabuza bishop of Kimberley.

Speaking of his first priority as bishop of Kimberley, Mgr Gabuza said: “It seems logical and respectable to say that I wish to spend more time with the clergy, religious and laity, introducing myself and listening to them so that together we can draw a plan for the diocese,” Mgr Gabuza said.

“We should be able to work together inspired by the vision of our Lord and our particular needs as a Church in South Africa so that we have the strength to critically examine our pastoral and apostolic methods.”

Mgr Gabuza will continue to serve as Pretoria’s apostolic administrator until Archbishop-designate Slattery is installed in the first half of February. He will then be installed in Kimberley.

Archbishop-designate Slattery said his transfer would be difficult, having been “connected to the people and priests of Kokstad for 18 years”, but added that he was looking forward to making a difference in such an “important archdiocese”.

Archbishop designate Slattery said he had hoped a South African-born archbishop would be installed. However, he said, his 40 years in the country would help him resolve the difficulties in Pretoria.

“It’s a bigger diocese with more people and far more urban than Kokstad, however there have been many successful projects over the years in Kokstad that Pretoria can benefit from,” he said.

Bishop Slattery will also assume the position of Military Ordinary for the South African Defence Force, where he hopes to encourage a spirit of service among the police, soldiers and prison wardens who, in turn, can “inspire and enrich others through their acts of service”.

Both leaders stated the importance of developing a relationship with those already in the dioceses. Mgr Gabuza said he will “honour the reality [of] coming to an area that has a long history”. He said he was willing to sit and learn at the feet of the “many great men and women” in the diocese.

He succeeds Bishop Erwin Hecht, who was Southern Africa’s longest-serving bishop when he retired in early 2010, having headed Kimberley diocese since 1972.

“To so many men and women living in situations of poverty and suffering, she offered the consolation and the certainty that God does not abandon anyone, ever!” he said.

The pope thanked the Missionaries of Charity for carrying on her work, and said their actions demonstrated that true joy is found in sharing, giving and loving in a way that “breaks the logic of human selfishness”.—CNS

Year A – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday January 5, Epiphany of the Lord Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13, Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6, Matthew 2:1-12 Monday January 6 1 John 3:22--4:6, Psalm 2:7-8, 10-11, Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25 Tuesday January 7, St Raymond of Penyafort 1 John 4:7-10, Psalm 72:1-4, 7-8, Mark 6:34-44 Wednesday January 8 1 John 4:11-18, Psalm 72:1-2, 10-13, Mark 6:45-52

Thursday January 9, St Adrian of Canterbury 1 John 4:19--5:4, Psalm 72:1-2, 14-15, 17, Luke 4:14-22 Friday January 10 1 John 5:5-13, Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20, Luke 5:12-16 Saturday January 11 1 John 5:14-21, Psalm 149:1-6, 9, John 3:22-30 Sunday January 12, Baptism of the Lord Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7, Psalm 29:1-4, 9-10, Acts 10:34-38, Matthew 3:13-17

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the

The Baptism of the Lord: January 12 Readings: Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7, Psalm 29: 1-4, 9-10, Acts 10:34-38, Matthew 3:13-17

N

EXT Sunday, we bring Christmas to an end by celebrating Jesus’ baptism, and hence the start of his ministry.

The first reading is the first of the “Songs of the Suffering Servant”, and we may feel ourselves entitled to “squeeze” this great poem, to see what it might tell us about the hero; we do not know whom the poet originally had in mind, but you can see why Christians from the earliest times readily applied it to Jesus: “Look! My servant, whom I uphold, my Chosen One, in whom my soul delights. I shall put my Spirit upon him; and he will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.”

You can feel Jesus’ humility here: “He does not cry out or shout aloud, or make his voice heard in the street.”

Then we hear God’s summons to his servant: “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; and I have grasped your hand in strength, and made you…a light to the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind and bring out prisoners from the prison, from the dungeon those who live in darkness.”

You can just imagine the first Christians hearing those words and exclaiming: “But that’s Jesus to the life!”

Well, it is indeed so; and we shall see something of that as we follow Jesus’ ministry through the coming year—but it is also an invitation to us to continue that ministry.

S outher n C ross Nicholas King SJ

Baptism takes us forward The psalm carries a summons to worship this great God (which is certainly what Jesus did): “Give to the Lord, you sons of the gods, give to the Lord the glory of his name; worship the Lord in holy array.”

Then we are invited to listen to the Lord’s voice, an invitation that will be repeated in today’s Gospel: “The voice of the Lord on the waters, the God of glory thunders; the Lord is over the mighty waters; the voice of the Lord is power; the voice of the Lord is splendour.”

Then the poet raises the tone: “In his Temple they all cry ‘Glory’; the Lord is enthroned upon the flood, he is enthroned as king forever.”

This is the God whom Jesus followed all the way through his ministry.

In the second reading, Peter is continuing that ministry of Jesus to the Gentiles, and roundly declares that “in truth I understand that God is no snob—but in every nation, those who fear God and act for justice are acceptable to God”.

And he tells his hearers about “the word which God sends to the children of Israel, giving the Gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of all”.

Then he reminds them of that ministry of Jesus “through the whole of Judea, beginning from the Galilee, after the baptism which

What would Jesus do?

W

HAT would Jesus do? For some Christians, that’s the easy answer to every question. In every situation all we need to ask is: “What would Jesus do?”

At a deep level, that’s actually true.

Jesus is the ultimate criterion. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and anything that contradicts him is not a way to God. Yet, I suspect, many of us find ourselves irritated at how “What would Jesus do?” is often used in simplistic ways, as a fundamentalism difficult to digest.

Sometimes, in our irritation, we spontaneously want to say: “Jesus has nothing to do with this!” But, of course, that’s not so.

Jesus has a lot to do with every theological, ecclesial, or liturgical question, no matter its complexity. Granted, there’s the danger of fundamentalism; but it’s equally as dangerous to answer theological, ecclesial, and liturgical questions without considering what Jesus might actually do. He’s still, and forever, a non-negotiable criterion.

But while Jesus is a non-negotiable criterion, he’s not a simplistic one.

Looking at his life we see that sometimes he did things one way, sometimes another way, and sometimes he started out one way and ended up in a different way, as we see in his interaction with the Syro-Phoenician woman.

That’s why, I suspect, within Christianity there are so many different ways of worship, each with its own interpretation of Jesus. Jesus is complex.

Given Jesus’ complexity, it’s no accident theologians, preachers, and spiritu-

alities often find in his person and his teachings ways that reflect more how they would handle a situation than how he would.

We see this in our Churches and spiritualities everywhere, and I say this with sympathy, not with judgment. None of us gets Jesus fully right.

So where does this leave us? Do we simply rely on our private interpretation?

Do we give ourselves over uncritically to some ecclesial or academic authority and trust that it will tell us what Jesus would do in every situation? Is there a “third” way?

W

ell, there is a “third” way, the way of most Christian denominations, wherein we submit our private interpretation to the canonical tradition of our particular Church and accept—though not in blind, uncritical, obedience—the interpretation of that larger community, humbly accepting that it can be naïve (and arrogant) to bracket 2 000 years of Christian experience so as to believe that our insight into Jesus is a needed corrective to a vision that has inspired so many millions of people through so many centuries.

Still, we’re not meant to park the dictates of our private conscience, our critical questions, our unease, and the wounds we carry, at our Church’s door either.

In the end, we all must be true to our own consciences, faithful to the particular insights that God graces us with, and mindful of the wounds we carry.

Both our graces and our wounds are

Classic Conrad

The

Sunday reflections

John proclaimed”, and finally we discover the start of the ministry of “Jesus, the one from Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went through, doing good and healing all those who were under the dominion of the Slanderer—because God was with him”.

That, of course, is to be our mission, as it unfolds in the course of this year.

Finally, the Gospel presents us with Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism. It starts with Jesus “coming from the Galilee”.

We have previously been introduced to John the Baptist, and told about his successful ministry, while we eavesdropped on his vituperations about the Pharisees and Sadducees (“offspring of vipers”!), and his hint about Jesus as “the One who is coming after me, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”.

Only now does Jesus finally appear in the Gospel; we are told that he came “to the Jordan, to John, in order to be baptised by him”.

Now this must have been something of an embarrassment for the early Christians, for there were undoubtedly still disciples of John in existence, who will have made the most of the fact that “our man baptised your man, so we must be superior to you”.

What follows is Matthew’s way of dealing

with this difficulty; for we are witnesses as John tries to refuse to baptise Jesus: “John tried to stop him, saying, ‘I have need to be baptised by you—and are you coming to me…?’”

Jesus, however, insists on going through with the baptism, to emphasise his solidarity with the human race: “Leave it for now; for in this way it is appropriate for us to fulfil all righteousness.”

And that word “righteousness” is one of immense importance in Matthew’s Gospel; we shall hear it often in the coming year. So the Baptist gives way graciously: “Then he left him; and when Jesus had been baptised, immediately he came up out of the water.”

Now, finally, God takes a hand in the story: “And behold the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove, and coming upon him.”

Then we watch as the tone is set for Jesus’ ministry, with a clear reference to our first reading: “And behold! A voice from the heavens, saying, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved. I am well pleased in him.’”

That is the key to Jesus’ ministry in Matthew’s Gospel. And it is the key also to our ministry.

Southern Crossword #896

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final reflection

meant to be listened to and they, along with the deepest voices within our conscience, need to be taken into account when ask ourselves: “What would Jesus do?”

We need to answer that for ourselves by faithfully holding the tension between being obedient to our Churches and not betraying the critical voices within our own conscience. If we do that honestly, one thing will eventually constellate inside us as an absolute: God is good!

Everything Jesus taught and incarnated was predicated on that truth. Anything that jeopardises or belies that, be it a Church, a theology, a liturgical practice, or a spirituality, is wrong. And any voice within dogma or private conscience that betrays that is also wrong.

How we conceive of God colours for good or for bad everything within our religious practice. And above all else, Jesus revealed this about God: God is good. That truth needs to ground our Churches, our theologies, our spiritualities, our liturgies, and our understanding of everyone else.

Sadly, often it doesn’t. The fear that God is not good disguises itself in subtle ways but is always manifest whenever our religious teachings or practices somehow make God in heaven not as understanding, merciful and indiscriminate and unconditional in love as Jesus was on earth.

It’s also manifest whenever we fear that we’re dispensing grace too cheaply and making God too accessible.

Sadly, the God met in our Churches today is often too-merciless, too-tribal, too-petty, and too-untrustworthy to be worthy of Jesus…or the surrender of our soul.

What would Jesus do? Admittedly the question is complex. However, we know we have the wrong answer whenever we make God anything less than fully good, whenever we set conditions for unconditional love, and whenever, however subtly, we block access to God and God’s mercy.

ACROSS

1. Deaconess of the church (Rm 16) (6) 4. Your body is one of the Holy Spirit (6) 9. Reconnect mile to state you’re in after confession (13) 10. Tied up tightly like Christmas turkey? (7) 11. He may head the monks (5) 12. Fill them in before marriage (5) 14. Dish holding motor licence number (5) 18. Coach altar servers on the railway (5) 19. Ancient Egyptians wrote on it (7) 21. A child is given to us, the...

(Is 9) (6,2,5) 22. Considered me indeed (6) 23. Wiped out (6)

DOWN

1. In the party I find equivalence (6) 2. Start of single fairy tale (4,4,1,4) 3. They may be called before marriage (5) 5. Optical sphere (7) 6. Protestants (13) 7. Kind of agency for property (6) 8. Did the Pentecost breeze makes the apostles this afraid?

(5) 13. It fastens the hands (7) 15. Lacking intelligence (6) 16. In the nursery, the dish ran away with it (5) 17. Go up, like Jesus (6) 20. Modern version of 19 ac (5)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

T

HE three boys were playing the Three Wise Men in the parish’s Nativity play.

All was going well, with the lads coming on the stage at the proper time.

The first magi said: “I bring gold!”

The second magi said: “I bring myrrh!”

The third magi said: “And Frank sent this!”

Buy the Church Chuckles book.

Only r180. For details, see ad on page 6

S outher n C ross

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