200205

The

S outher n C ross

February 5 to February 11, 2020

Reg no. 1920/002058/06

no 5173

www.scross.co.za

What bishops and Ramaphosa talked about

Page 3

The colour problem in religious art

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R12 (incl VAT RSA)

Centenary Jubilee Year

Where the demonic is at work

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Three top speakers set for SA STAFF REPORTER

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Pilgrimage 2020

S outher n C ross

HE Jesuit Institute will bring three top speakers to South Africa this year, including one who will speak on the theme of “Suffering, Resistance and Hope in an Era of Violence”.

This will be the theme of this year’s Winter Living Theology, to be delivered by Dominican Father Carlos Mendoza Álvarez, a professor and researcher in the Department of Religious Studies at Iberoamericana University in Mexico City.

Fr Mendoza has published widely in specialised journals and has authored seven books.

He will be in South Africa from May 25 to June 30.

“In the last few years, Fr Mendoza had been accompanying people whose loved ones have disappeared in kidnappings in Mexico. This has led him to work and reflect on the question of suffering, resistance and hope in a time of global violence,” said Fr Russell Pollitt SJ, director of the Jesuit Institute.

“We thought that the question of how a good God can allow suffering and how those who suffer can hold on to hope is an important and relevant theological question for South Africa today.”

Fr Mendoza will present the Winter Living Theology in Johannesburg (June 9-11), Pretoria (June 8), Durban (June 2-4), Cape Town (June 16-18), Port Elizabeth (May 26-28), Manzini in eSwatini (June 6) and Gaborone: in Botswana (June 25).

Meanwhile, Fr Bryan Massingale will return to South Africa in July 2020. He will guest lecture at St Augustine College and will offer some public lectures during this time.

Fr Massingale delivered the Winter Living Theology in 2018 on the theme of “Racial Justice”, and returned to South Africa last year for further lectures.

Coming to South Africa this year: (from left) Fr Carlos Mendoza Álvarez OP, Fr Bryan Massingale, and Prof Massimo Faggioli.

He is a professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University in New York, and the author of Racial Justice and the Catholic Church (2010).

More details of Fr Massingale’s visit will be announced at a later stage.

The Jesuit Institute will host Italian-born and US-based Prof Massimo Faggioli from Villanova University in Philadelphia from August 9-16.

Prof Faggioli is professor of Church history, administration and the papacy. A prolific writer, he is a regular columnist for the US Catholic journal Commonweal and La Croix International in France, as well as a contributor to the Italian Catholic magazine Jesus and the Huffington Post website.

He will deliver some lectures and do dayworkshops during his time in South Africa on the subject of Vatican II and the pontificate of Pope Francis.

The Jesuit Institute hopes that Prof Faggioli will be able to offer lectures in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

Dates and venues are to be confirmed.

“We hope that these scholars will make a valuable contribution to the Southern African Church and help us reflect on the pertinent theological issues we face in the country and in the Church,” Fr Pollitt said.

A man holds up a banner with one of the eight themes of the newly-launched Pastoral Plan, “Evangelising Community, Serving God, Humanity and all Creation”. See page 2 for more.

(Photo: Seldon Reddiar)

Giant of SA Church dies at 90

By ERin CARElSE

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BLATE Father Albert Danker, one of Durban’s most revered priests, died on January 28. He was 90.

In the last few weeks before his death, Fr Danker (pictured right) had been in hospital after having suffered a stroke. He returned to Sabon House, the Oblates’ retirement home, just two days before he died.

According to the Oblate of Mary Immaculate provincial Fr Neil Frank, the late priest was loved by many.

“Fr Danker was exceptional in his preparation of liturgies and his pastoral ministry touched the lives of many. There have been many tributes while he was still alive and there will be many more to come,” Fr Frank said.

“We affectionately called him ‘Daddy Danker’ or ‘Albert the Great’ and he affectionately called us ‘savages’ or ‘animals’, always with a naughty chuckle,” said Fr Frank.

Fr Danker was born on December 8, 1929, to Henry and Lillian Danker (née Thomas), the oldest of four children in a family of Mauritian and French descent.

He attended St Augustine’s School, an institution for coloured children, which stood

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at the place now occupied by the Denis Hurley Centre, next to Emmanuel cathedral.

In a 2015 Southern Cross article, Fr Danker recalled that at a very early age, even before he went to school, he was interested in the things of the Church.

“My mother would take me to Mass and we would kneel there in the church, and I’d be listening to bells ringing and the incense would be burning. In those days the altar servers would strike the gong when the bells Continued on page 11

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

Plus a tour of historic Split in Croatia.

Three countries in one tour!

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The Southern Cross, February 5 to February 11, 2020

LOCAL

Pastoral Plan: Let’s turn on the light

By DAluxOlO MOlOAnTOA

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HE core message of the new Pastoral Plan is a call to action.

“We are called to be disciples of goodwill and at the same time live out our faith in action,” according to Bishop Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg.

Bishop Dowling addressed crowds taking part in a 2km pilgrimage procession in Soweto from Mshenguville Park to Regina Mundi church in Moroka, where the Pastoral Plan was launched.

The bishops used the march to highlight the significance of the Pastoral Plan, titled “Evangelising Community, Serving God, Humanity and all Creation”.

“Never doubt that you cannot contribute to our Pastoral Plan,” Bishop Dowling told the faithful.

“Each of us has gifts, talents and time. We are all needed if this new Pastoral Plan is to make a difference to our Church, our societies, and the environment.”

The mood changed into high gear with the arrival of the marchers at Regina Mundi.

The Mass, attended by thousands from the archdiocese of Johannesburg and beyond, started with a word of welcome from the archdiocese’s pastoral council chair, Dr Naomi Mokoena-Machumela.

She urged the faithful to receive with open hearts the contents of the Pastoral Plan, which she described as “a new dawn in pursuing the mission of the Church in the Southern African region”.

In his homily, on the theme of “Overcoming the darkness prevalent in the world today”, Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Confer-

Bishop Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg addresses the faithful on the new Pastoral Plan before the procession in Soweto as bishops listen. (All photos: Sheldon Reddiar) ence president Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha retraced the advent of a new dispensation in South African society in 1994.

He recalled that transition from apartheid into a new democratic society had been characterised by “a great enthusiasm and promise of a prosperous future for all of South Africa’s citizens”.

Today, however, the world, and South Africa in particular, is suffering from a “period of darkness which has enveloped society”, he noted.

“State-sponsored corruption, high levels of unemployment, violence against women and children, and the seemingly endless blackouts due to loadshedding are ways in which this darkness is manifesting itself in our society.”

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Referring to a cultural darkness, Bishop Sipuka noted that the culture of individualism is increasingly taking root in South African society, with its worst effects on the poor and socially marginalised.

“We are becoming a materially polarised society, based on the flawed premise of ‘winner-takesall’,” the bishop said.

A

s an example of cultural darkness, he referred to the lack of racial cohesion in South African society.

“We need to foster a more racially consorted reality in the Church and society at large, and encourage those who have stayed away from an occasion such as today to be present in future,” he appealed.

Bishop Sipuka emphasised that the Church must reaffirm its role of missionary discipleship in society.

“The symbol of the hand for the Pastoral Plan is there to remind us that we are all called upon to make a contribution to the transformation of our world from darkness into light. The Pastoral Plan calls upon us to get our hands dirty in spreading its message, and in achieving its objectives,” he said.

“Through this Pastoral Plan we are united in our clarion call to say: ‘Let’s end the darkness in our society.’ Let’s be active participants in safeguarding the interests of the poor, the vulnerable, the downtrodden, the unemployed, the elderly, as well as the sick,” Bishop Sipuka said.

Bishop Edward Risi of Keimoes-

Upington outlined the development of the Pastoral Plan, its intended outcomes, and the chief agents for implementation.

Speaking to The Southern Cross after the Mass, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban said that in contrast to the 1989 Pastoral Plan, “Community Serving Humanity”, this document focuses not so much on untangling the effects of apartheid on society but on implementing a response to challenges brought on by far-reaching economic and social changes in the world and Southern Africa in particular.

“This time we are saying that each one of us is a living exponent of the Good News, the Gospel. Each one of us must take the Gospel into the circumstances of our own lives, and communities,” the cardinal said.

Archbishop Dabula Mpako of Pretoria said that the essence of the Plan is to transform Catholics to be agents of change.

“The Pastoral Plan asks us to define and redefine the vision, mission and ministry of our Church in relation to our current living conditions,” he said.

SACBC spokesman Archbishop William Slattery noted that the impact of the Pastoral Plan is in the hands of the entire Catholic community of the region.

“The Pastoral Plan is a vehicle with which we Catholics are urged to go out into the world and spread a message of hope across our communities,” he said.

“It is an excellent start, and a necessary start. Now the real work begins.” n With additional reporting by Selby Makgotho.

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Copies of the bishops’ new Pastoral Plan.

Papal nuncio Archbishop Peter Wells with bishops and other dignitaries on the bus to the launch of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference’s new Pastoral Plan.

Aerial view of the procession from Mshenguville Park to Regina Mundi church in Soweto before the launch.

Churchmen and laity, including altar servers, walked in the 2km procession.

SACBC president Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha celebrates the Eucharist at the launch of the Pastoral Plan.

Fr lawrence Mduduzi ndlovu of Roodepoort greets congregants in Soweto’s Regina Mundi church at the launch.

The Southern Cross, February 5 to February 11, 2020

LOCAL

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What SA bishops and Ramaphosa discussed

By ERin CARElSE

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RESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has agreed with Catholic Church leaders that things need to improve in South Africa, and has asked that the Church work with him to resolve them.

A delegation representing the Southern Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) met with the president and several government ministers at Mahlamba Ndlopfa, the official presidential residence.

They included SACBC president Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha, first vice-president Archbishop Dabula Mpako of Pretoria, SACBC secretary-general Sr Hermenegild Makoro CPS, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town, and Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg.

“Both the president and the Church realise that at this moment South Africa faces a nationwide challenge. While there is a crisis in the economy it is also clear that the

President Cyril Ramaphosa (front, from left) Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha, Cardinal Wilfrid napier of Durban, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg and (back) SACBC secretary-general Sr Hermenegild Makoro CPS and Archbishop Dabula Mpako of Pretoria. citizens need to be offered by the Church a foundation in spiritual values such as an awareness of the priority of the common good rather than seeking personal entitlement,” Bishop Sipuka explained.

“We informed the president of the Church’s new national Pastoral Plan, engaging all committed Catholics to exercise their faith and competencies at the service of the whole national community,” he said.

The president and the bishops shared their concerns regarding unemployment, homelessness, migration, youth, and integrity and honesty in all areas of public administration and delivery.

According to Bishop Sipuka, the meeting, which was requested by the bishops, was warm and friendly.

“We assured [the president] that the Church is committed to working with all people of goodwill towards the renewal of South African society,” the bishop said.

Mr Ramaphosa expressed his appreciation for the Church’s work. He was very aware of the efforts of the Catholic Church over the centuries to serve the nation, especially the poor, in worship, social care, and education, and also in its huge contribution in the face of HIV/Aids.

According to SACBC spokesman Archbishop William Slattery, the Church is, after the government, the greatest contributor in addressing the HIV/Aids crisis.

“There are 8 million people in the country who are suffering from

HIV/Aids, and the Catholic Church at one stage was doing 25-27% of the response to that,” the archbishop explained.

“The president also expressed his appreciation for what the Church is doing in the area of education, as we have 380 Catholic schools,” he said.

Archbishop Slattery also noted that the Catholic Church “opened all of the first rural clinics, and many of the great hospitals were started once by the Church”.

Another important concern for the Church was homelessness.

“Homelessness is a huge problem because of the number of people coming into the country. We have such high unemployment ourselves, so how can we deal with that. The Church is worried about it but appreciates the difficulty of the government in responding to that,” Archbishop Slattery noted.

“There was also some conversation about unemployment and especially the youth, and also ways in which we can strengthen marriage and family in the country,” he said.

‘Where does it hurt?’ is a key theological question STAFF REPORTER

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HERE does it hurt? That is the key theological question of the day, a priest told the annual Dominican Day at Koinonia in Johannesburg.

The day, themed “Decolonising Church and Society”, attracted about 70 people.

Speakers included Fr Peter-John Pearson, and St Augustine College academics Prof Terry Sacco, Tebogo Moroe-Maphosa and (in absentia) Dr Nontando Hadebe.

Fr Pearson, director of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office, spoke on “What really matters?

Re-aligning with the Mission of Jesus,” and also celebrated the closing Mass.

He used the story of the beggar Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16, and the work of theologian Ruby Sales, an African-American civil rights activist, to issue a call for

fundamental change.

“Pope Francis makes the same appeal for a radical ‘new lifestyle’,” Fr Pearson said.

He referred to Ms Sales’ campaign for social justice through the Spirit House Project she founded.

Once, the priest said, Ms Sales asked a young and angry prostitute: “Honey, where does it hurt?” According to Fr Pearson, Ms Sales has come to believe that is the key theological question of the day.

“Unless society—and the faith communities—begins to name its ills, there can be no hope of healing them,” he said.

Fr Pearson pointed out that of all the characters in the parables of Jesus, only Lazarus got a name.

“Colonialism takes away people’s names and history, creating anonymity. There is no anonymity in religion. God knows us by name.

What are we naming? We need a ro-

Keen cook Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David OMi of Cape Town was presented by Grazia Barletta, of Our lady of Good Hope parish in Sea Point, with her book of selected italian recipes.

CT bishop keen to cook up a storm

By DAViD STROnG

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ESIDES being an ardent devotee of Our Lady and an accomplished biblical scholar, Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David OMI of Cape Town is also a keen cook, and those in-the-know speak highly of “Sylvester’s kitchen”.

So the bishop was pleasantly surprised to receive a copy of Our Lady of Good Hope parishioner Grazia Barletta’s recent cookbook of Italian recipes.

Ms Barletta, a dame of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, handed the book to Bishop David, who was the guest speaker, at a morning of recollection held under the auspices of the Order hosted at Our Lady of Good Hope.

bust and potent spirituality for our day,” he said.

“Colonialism and imperialism make people anonymous, and also engineered the destruction of agency. With noteworthy resilience, Lazarus sat at the rich man’s gate day in, day out. The poor and the marginalised will not go away, they will not be anonymous. This is one of the ‘signs of the times’ that the Church should be heeding,” the priest said.

“The elite cannot continue to talk about the poor and marginalised but must talk to them. Unless the Church includes the poor in the dialogue about poverty and change, we cannot move forward,” urged Fr Pearson.

After leading the assembly in the opening prayer and the Xhosa hymn “Masibuleleku Yesu”, Prof Sacco and Mr Moroe-Maphosa spoke.

Mr Moroe-Maphosa, although born in 1994, said he had experi-

(From left) Tebogo Moroe-Maphosa, Fr Peter-John Pearson, Fabian Oliver and Prof Terry Sacco at the Dominican Day in Johannesburg. enced a life oppressed by having his language and culture deemed to be not good enough.

As a musician, he was lauded for singing in German, while his own language was considered “foreign”.

Prof Sacco reflected on growing up in a context of white privilege.

“It is imperative, in the context of post-colonial and post-apartheid South Africa, that we interrogate white privilege. Ask yourself, ‘How do I decolonise my white mind?’

Maybe by asking, ‘Where does it hurt?’ The Church cannot be silent,” Prof Sacco said.

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The Southern Cross, February 5 to February 11, 2020

INTERNATIONAL

Pope meets Iraqi president to discuss Christian future

By CAROl GlATz

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OPE Francis met with Iraq’s president for private talks underlining the need for promoting stability, reconstruction, national sovereignty, and dialogue in the country as well as guaranteeing security for Christians.

The closed-door meeting between the pope and President Barham Salih at the Vatican lasted about 30 minutes.

“During the cordial discussions, the good bilateral relations” between the two countries were discussed as well as the challenges Iraq currently faces, according to a Vatican statement.

The topics included “the importance of promoting stability and the reconstruction process, encouraging the path of dialogue and the search for suitable solutions in favour of citizens and with respect for national sovereignty”, the Vatican said.

In fact, their meeting came after tensions had escalated between Iraq, Iran and the United States.

Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases housing US troops in retaliation for the US targeted killing of Iran’s top militia commander, Qassem Soleimani, in Baghdad.

The strikes have also likely complicated the pope’s plans to visit Iraq this year.

According to the Vatican, the pope and the Iraqi president also discussed “the importance of preserving the historical presence of Christians in the country, of

Retired basketball player Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, 13, were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. The two Catholics are pictured during a game in las Vegas. (Photo: Stephen Sylvanie/Reuters/CnS) Pope Francis greets iraqi President Barham Salih at the Vatican. The two leaders discussed guaranteeing the safety of Christians and the need for promoting stability, reconstruction, national sovereignty, and dialogue in the country. (Photo: Vatican Media/CnS) which they are an integral part, and the significant contribution they bring to the reconstruction of the social fabric, highlighting the need to guarantee their security and a place in the future of Iraq”.

“Finally, the parties discussed the various conflicts and grave humanitarian crises that afflict the region, underlining the importance of the efforts made with the support of the international community to re-establish trust and peaceful coexistence,” the Vatican statement said.

During an exchange of gifts after the private talks, Pope Francis made what some observers took as a reference to identity cards being

issued in Iraq only to individuals who self-identify as being Muslim, Yazidi, Sabean-Mandean or Christian.

The pope was heard telling President Salih that he would like to have an identity card that says, “Bergoglio, son of...son of...son of... until it reaches Abraham”, who was born in what today is Iraq and is recognised by Muslims, Jews, Christians and Baha’i.

The president, meanwhile, gave the pope what the president called “a symbol of peace”: a silver, reduced-sized replica of the Code of Hammurabi, one of the first forms of law in the world, dating from about 1750 BC.—CNS

Late basketball legend bounced back with faith

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ASKETBALL superstar Kobe Bryant who died at 41 in a January helicopter crash along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others, was a Catholic.

Mr Bryant is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He retired in 2016 after a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Beyond basketball, Mr Bryant was a husband and a father of four who in 2015 credited his Catholic faith with helping him move past a challenging period in his own life and the life of his family.

Mr Bryant was raised in a Catholic family, and spent much of his childhood living in Italy. He married in 2001 in a California parish.

In 2003, Mr Bryant was arrested after he was accused of raping a woman in a Colorado hotel room.

Mr Bryant admitted a sexual encounter with the woman, but denied that he had committed sexual assault. When the allegation became public, Mr Bryant lost sponsors and faced criminal charges, which were eventually dropped.

Mr Bryant issued an apology to his accuser, with whom he also reached a settlement in a civil lawsuit.

“Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognise now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter,” Mr Bryant said in his

2004 apology.

In 2015, the basketball player told GQ magazine that it was a priest who helped him to make some important personal realisations during the ordeal.

Describing his fear of being sent to prison for a crime he believed he had not committed, Mr Bryant said: “The one thing that really helped me during that process—I’m Catholic, I grew up Catholic, my kids are Catholic—was talking to a priest.”

“It was actually kind of funny: He looks at me and says, ‘Did you do it?’

And I say, ‘Of course not.’ Then he asks, ‘Do you have a good lawyer?’

And I’m like, ‘Uh, yeah, he’s phenomenal.’ So then he just said, ‘Let it go. Move on. God’s not going to give you anything you can’t handle, and it’s in his hands now. This is something you can’t control. So let it go.’ And that was the turning point,” Mr Bryant said.

A 2004 decision to place deeper trust in God did not mean the basketball star’s life was thereafter without difficulties, or defined by virtue.

In 2011, Vanessa Bryant filed for divorce from Kobe, citing irreconcilable differences. But Mr Bryant said he decided not to give up on his marriage, and two years later, his wife withdrew her divorce petition.

Mr Bryant and his wife have been reported to be regular parishioners at an Orange County, California parish.

After his death, some on social media said that he had been seen at Mass before the helicopter ride that ended his life.

Some also reported seeing him at weekday Mass in California.—CNS

Pope’s new book on JP II

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OPE Francis has co-authored a book of reflections on the life of Pope John Paul II to be published in Italian.

The book, entitled St John Paul the Great, is the product of a series of conversations between Pope Francis and Fr Luigi Maria Epicoco which took place from June 2019 to January 2020, according to its preface.

The book is expected to be published sometime ahead of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Karol Wojtyla on May 18.

When Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II in 1978, a 41-year-old Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio was serving as the provincial superior of the Jesuits in Argentina.

Pope John Paul II appointed Fr Bergoglio to be an auxiliary bishop in 1992, elevating him to become archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, and creating him a cardinal in 2001.

Pope Francis canonised Pope John Paul II in 2014.

The book’s co-author, Fr Epicoco, 39, has written two dozen books on spirituality since his ordination in 2005, including John Paul II: Memories of a Holy Pope, which he wrote

Pope John Paul ii embraces Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio the future Pope Francis, in 2001. (Photo: Reuters/CnS) with Archbishop Piero Marini in 2014. Fr Epicoco is a professor of philosophy at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, and offers numerous lectures and spiritual retreats throughout Italy.

The pope is known to admire Fr Epicoco’s writing. Before Christmas, he gave each member of the Roman curia a copy of the Italian priest’s book, Someone to Look Up To: A Spirituality of Witness.—CNA

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, February 5 to February 11, 2020

5

Research details Catholic inmates at Auschwitz

By JOnATHAn luxMOORE

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POLISH researcher has published the first study of religious practices among Christian prisoners at AuschwitzBirkenau, as the 75th anniversary of the Nazi-run death camp's liberation was marked in Israel and Poland. “Although most deportees to Auschwitz from occupied Europe were Jews, the camp was originally opened for Polish prisoners and also took in Catholic resistance fighters from France, Germany, Belgium and other countries,� said Teresa Wontor-Cichy, a historian at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. “This aspect of its history has been studied only randomly up to now. But it’s important the world knows more and takes it into account.�

The historian spoke after her study, Religious Life of Christian Prisoners in KL Auschwitz, was published by the state museum’s research centre.

In an interview, she said the fate of some Catholics at AuschwitzBirkenau, notably Fr Maximilian Kolbe and Sr Edith Stein, had been extensively documented.

However, she said thousands of lay Catholics also had kept their faith at the camp, where 1,2 million inmates were killed by the Nazis during World War II. “Up to now, their religious devotions have been known about only through occasional memoirs and articles—it’s now possible to document them more completely,� Ms Wontor-Cichy said. “Since 95% of the camp’s archives were destroyed, it’s impossible to state how many Christians were here. But religious affiliations were recorded when prisoners were registered and died, and we know Catholics made up the largest number—mostly from Poland, but also from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovakia and the Soviet Union.�

Besides Jewish inmates, who made up 90% of the victims, around

A child kisses Pope Francis during his general audience in Paul Vi hall at the Vatican. (Photo: yara nardi/ Reuters)

Pope: Gospel is spread by joy, not bitterness

St Maximilian Kolbe and St Edith Stein are extensively documented in a new study of religious practices among Christian prisoners at AuschwitzBirkenau, as the 75th anniversary of the nazi-run death camp’s liberation was marked in israel and Poland. (Photo: CnS files) 100 000 Poles were killed by German occupiers in Auschwitz’s gas chambers and execution sites. The Nazis also killed Russians, Roma and prisoners of other nationalities.

In her study, Ms Wontor-Cichy said dispensing sacraments had been “strictly forbidden� on pain of death

by Nazi commanders at AuschwitzBirkenau, but priests still secretly administered them, providing “a form of spiritual and psychological support� and a “sense of community�.

Several Catholic clergy detailed their pastoral work after surviving the camp, including Fr Adam Zieba, a priest from Nowy Sacz, Poland; and Cardinal Adam Kozlowiecki, who later became archbishop of Lusaka, Zambia.

Many previously non-believing prisoners had turned to prayer while incarcerated, the researcher said, “instinctively seeking contact� with Catholic priests and nuns who were known derisively as Pfaffen (parsons) by camp guards and assigned the harshest workloads. “Catholics were deported here throughout the war for political crimes, as well as when other prisons were overloaded,� Ms Wontor-Cichy said.

Many Catholic prisoners had shown “great determination� in concealing liturgical and devotional objects at the camp, such as rosaries made of dried bread.

Auschwitz-Birkenau’s Nazi administrators had attempted to deter Christmas observances in 1944 by installing a decorated Christmas tree surrounded by dead bodies in the camp’s assembly yard, but one priest, Fr Wladyslaw Grohs, celebrated Mass and heard confessions in his cell.

While many inmates “doubted God’s providence� in a state of “permanent brokenness�, Ms WontorCichy said, some also turned to God during incarceration. “So many people were deported here, all with a will to survive, that it’s easy to see why emotions and conflicts have sometimes flared. But our task is to research the camp’s history—the good and noble alongside the bad and wicked—and we should accept that academic research and politics follow separate paths.�—CNS

By CAROl GlATz

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ITTER or boring evangelisers will not help the Gospel or the Church, Pope Francis said.

The Church and the Gospel will only “move forward with evangelisers who are joyful, full of life�, the pope said.

Christians must not be afraid or embarrassed to express the true joy that comes from having received the Word of God, Pope Francis said at Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

The pope focused his homily on the day’s reading from the Second Book of Samuel, which describes the

joyous atmosphere that comes with the return of the ark of God. The people celebrate, the pope said, because God is with them and even King David dances “before the Lord with abandon�.

David loves the Lord and “expresses his joy without shame. It is the spiritual joy of the encounter with the Lord�. But David’s wife Michal was angered and embarrassed by his dancing and criticised him for behaving like “a commoner� and not as a king should,.

She represents the disdain some feel against genuine religious sentiments, “the spontaneity of joy with the Lord�, he said.—CNS

Priests fight Australian blazes

By MARilyn RODRiGuES

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HREE Sydney priests have swapped clericals for camouflage to join the 3 000 Australian Defence Force reservists providing support to firefighters and communities in the grip of the bushfire crisis.

Fr Kene Onwukwe, assistant priest of Sacred Heart parish in Mosman, New South Wales, and Fr Andrew Feng, parish administrator of St Christopher parish, Holsworthy, are chaplains with the army reserve currently working full time alongside soldiers supporting exhausted firefighters in the bushfire relief efforts.

They signed up for a full-time deployment to help firefighters and communities battling the fires and their immediate aftermath.

Fr Kene Onwukwe prepares to cut down a tree damaged by a bushfire in Wonboyn, new South Wales. (Photo from Fr Onwukwe/CnS) They’ve been pitching in to help mend fences, clear roads and set up campsites, but most of all their role is providing a “ministry of presence�, said Fr Onwukwe.

“We lead a daily prayer service, talk to them, pray with them and for them, and visit families who have been affected by these bushfires,� said Fr Onwukwe, who has been providing pastoral support to the Rural Fire Service, soldiers and military officers and their families, as well as the local communities in south-eastern New South Wales state. “What has stood out for me is the amount of appreciation for us from the local community members, those who have been most affected. “We are not out here to stop the fires, the RFS is doing a great job at that, but we support them in any way we can, often in little ways, and people are enormously appreciative of our support,� Fr Onwukwe said.—CNS

Church slams pastor’s execution

B

ISHOP Stephen Dami Mamza of Yola in Nigeria has condemned the execution of a Christian pastor who had pleaded for his life in a video just days earlier.

The church could not afford the $2,2 million demanded by Islamic militants before the beheading of Rev Lawan Andimi, Bishop Mamza told a news conference in Yola.

Rev Andimi was abducted in early January when insurgents attacked the Michika local government area, where he was the

chairman of a local chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria. “The insurgents established contact with the church, and there was a conversation. And then they stopped and went ahead to kill him,� said Bishop Mamza, who Chairs the association in northeastern Nigeria’s Adamawa state. “I think they already had intentions to execute him. That was the plan and nothing would have stopped that,� the bishop said.

Bishop Mamza said Christian leaders are being targeted, noting that another church leader was killed on the same day as Rev Andimi.

Rev Dennis Bagauri was shot and killed when insurgents tried to abduct him at his home on the Lutheran church site in Adamawa state, the bishop said.

Bishop Mamza urged Nigeria’s federal and state governments to increase their efforts to bring an end to terrorism in the country.—CNS

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6

The Southern Cross, February 5 to February 11, 2020

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

God’s open door

T

HE deaths of young and talented celebrities invariably shock us, more so when their lives are taken in tragic events.

So it was recently when legendary US basketball star Kobe Bryant perished at the age of 41 in a helicopter crash, which also killed his teenage daughter GiGi and seven others. May their souls rest in peace.

Mr Bryant’s fame extended around the world, and well beyond the world of basketball. So the public grief that met his tragic demise was extensive.

Catholics, too, found cause to mourn the star, since he was a practising Catholic who talked openly about his faith. According to reports, he and his daughter had attended Mass just a few hours before their deaths.

Amid the widespread grieving, questions arose about credible rape allegations levelled against Mr Bryant in 2003.

These allegations never went to trial, and Mr Bryant and his accuser reached an out-of-court settlement (after a year of the young woman being subjected to systematic character assassinations by Mr Bryant’s lawyers).

At the same time of the settlement, Mr Bryant acknowledged that, after due reflection, he could see how his sexual encounter with the 19-year-old woman might not have met the requirements for consensual sex.

In doing so, he went as far to incriminate himself as his lawyers would allow.

He deserves some respect for that. Very few men in his position have taken such a measure of responsibility for their commission of sexual violence.

Still, after his death, many people saw it as disrespectful that Mr Bryant’s rape case should be mentioned. The Washington Post even suspended a journalist for linking it to a 2016 story about the case on her personal Twitter account (she also received death threats from admirers of the late star).

Many secular newspapers omitted or downplayed the rape allegations—one newspaper, The Los Angeles Times, framed it within an alpha-male feud between Mr Bryant and fellow basketball star Shaquille O’Neal.

In the show of misplaced hagiographic respect, Mr Bryant’s transgression and his victim were made invisible by a deliber-

ate amnesia.

Of course it is difficult to be confronted by the moments of darkness in the life of somebody beloved who has died.

Few of us have life stories that are either all good or all bad— most people have the capacity for both virtue and sin. And, importantly, we all have the facility for redemption.

This is why Catholic media, unlike their secular counterparts, gave Mr Bryant’s rape case due prominence.

As they did so, these Catholic media had no intent to scandalise or to condemn Mr Bryant for his contemptible actions.

Rather, the focus was on how the basketball star had turned his life around by drawing inspiration from the Catholic faith with which he had grown up.

In that way, the rape case was not a story of infinite disgrace— though every act of sexual violence is, of course, entirely loathsome—but a nadir that became a story of metanoia: the beginning of a change of heart, of repentance and conversion through faith.

By shining a light on Mr Bryant’s most despicable moment, we observe how a man who committed a sickening act evidently transformed himself through Christ.

This is a teaching moment, an affirmation that with God’s grace, nobody needs to remain trapped in the vices of wickedness. Even from the lowest acts of iniquity—and sexual violence belongs in that category—there is a way back, with faith in God’s grace and through conversion, repentance and reparation.

With God, everybody who genuinely seeks and works for it deserves a second chance for repentance and transformation, millionaire celebrity or prison inmate alike. God closes the door on nobody who approaches him with authentic repentance.

Like the dissolute behaviour of St Augustine or the persecution of Christians by Saul before he became Paul are an important part of their stories of repentance and conversion, so will the rape case and the metanoia that followed it be the story of Kobe Bryant’s life—a life which gives a salutary example that with Christ, there is always a way back from even the worst of sins.

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.

Write your own Gospel reflections

W

E are able to read without really absorbing what is being read; the bottom of the page is reached and suddenly the realisation comes that there is no understanding of what has just been read.

And I’m afraid this could apply to much of our scriptural reading as well, and homilies too.

There are excellent commentaries on the daily scriptural readings, and they contribute hugely to the spiritual exercises of many—but the same trap as outlined above applies; it is possible to skim through without absorbing the message,

Pell trial jury score is secret

C

ARDINAL Wilfrid Napier’s letter (January 15) in support of his friend Cardinal George Pell raises concerns.

Cardinal Napier, while admitting that Cardinal Pell has been found guilty of sexual assault of a choirboy, then writes of “the incredible swing from ten jurors for acquittal against two jurors for a guilty verdict in the first trial, to a 12-0 guilty verdict in the second. Even for a totally non-legal person, that’s a phenomenal swing, especially if exactly the same ‘facts’ were being considered!”

I am keenly interested to know Cardinal Napier’s sources for his “facts” concerning the mistrial.

The Guardian journalist Melissa Davey sat through the entire process, and provided answers to common questions (shorturl.at/jrJX9).

Among the questions was: “It has been rumoured that the jurors in the mistrial were split 10-2 in favour of Pell. Is this right?”

Davey answered: “This is an unverified rumour with no credible source. There have been plenty of other rumours about the split in the mistrial, including that it was more even. The weight of the split makes no difference. The law requires a unanimous or 11-to-one verdict, and anything else results in a mistrial. The chief judge is not told of the split and he made it clear he did not want to know. Any juror who reveals the split breaks the law.”

Similarly, Christopher Lamb, in his article “Church grapples to come to terms with Pell conviction”, in The Tablet (shorturl.at/ksF07), reports: “Some in Catholic circles had raised questions about [Pell’s] guilt by reporting that the hung jury in the cardinal’s first trial had come to a 10-2 decision to acquit the prelate.

This claim has been strenuously disputed both by a legal expert and journalists in the courtroom. Uni-

even when this is not done deliberately.

Perhaps a slightly different approach to the daily scriptural passages might be of benefit.

Recall that in school or university, one was asked to write a precis of a particular passage or chapter.

This was done to ensure the correct meaning was understood.

Could we not apply this thinking to our daily exercises? Rather than piggyback on another’s inspiration, why not develop our own?

Read the relevant passage carefully and then write a brief descripOpinions expressed in The Southern Cross 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

versity of Melbourne law professor Jeremy Gans said there was ‘very little reason to think it is true’, pointing out that it was illegal for jurors to reveal details about their deliberations.”

Has Cardinal Napier been taken in by fake news, or does he have an alternative, unimpeachable source for his “facts”? We readers have a right to know where the truth lies.

Vincent Couling, Pietermaritzburg

Encounters in strange times

T

HE attitude of one survivor of the Nazis’ Buchenwald concentration camp, as we recently commemorated the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, is surprising and worth noting.

Buchenwald was a place of extreme cruelty; one guard used to hang inmates by the wrists and leave them to die in what became known as the singing forest on account of the wailing his victims made as they died in agony.

The survivor, though, despite having seen so much horror, did not seek vengeance or even justice regarding his tormentors. He felt broken-hearted about the poor German youths who could be so cruel; and thinking about the state of their souls was what troubled him most, not the suffering of victims, whom he saw as “on the side of Christ”.

I was on the Mount of Olives a couple of months ago at a chapel commemorating the place where Jesus wept over Jerusalem and I imagine this as analogous, he was heartbroken at the refusal of his people to recognise him, and accept his offer of mercy and the life in its full-

tion of what it meant to you.

This would be your own meditation, not someone else’s. What’s more, were you to repeat the exercise for the same passage some time later, you might very well find you’d received a completely different inspiration—that’s the way the Bible works!

There’s no reason why your effort should not be as good as anyone else’s! Try it; what could you lose?

Cecil Cullen, Alberton

ness that the Gospel offers.

On my way home, in Manchester we were met with the revelry of the Gay Pride festival, men with beards in dresses celebrating their rights; it was quite a contrast having been in Bethlehem the morning before.

We live in strange days. I read an article the other day where a woman who had recently given birth now decided that she “identified herself as a man” and was demanding the right to change her birth certificate to have herself recognised as the father of her baby.

The undermining of the family, and validation and forced acceptance of all and any manner of “alternative lifestyles”, coupled with the continued genocide against the unborn, shows that society has reached a peak of decadence beyond which there can only be ruin. This contains within it the seeds of society’s own destruction.

The ancient Greeks and Romans went down a similar (though much less extreme) descent into the effeminate and it was the end of their civilisations; it’s heartbreaking to watch people destroy their own lives, though.

Only prayer can really make the difference; at least for some. As a Facebook posting I saw said: “Jesus told the story of the prodigal son to make a simple point: never mind what you’ve done, just come home.”

Stephen Clark, Manila, Philippines

Unlovely images

I

WAS appalled to read two of the sentences contained in Fr Chris Townsend’s column “Should churches pay tax?” (January 8).

Paragraph seven stated: “This will leave the Church with her pants down.” Paragraph 12 topped this unlovely imagery with these words: “Our flat flabby bums are exposed and the smack we will receive is massive.”

How did this flawed imagery elude the editor’s gimlet eye?

Luky Whittle, Kroonstad

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PERSPECTIVES

To bring Heaven to earth, by brush Nthabiseng I Maphisa HAVE recently begun to study the different periods in art history. None have brought me to as much awe and admiration as the works seen in the Baroque period.

Most notably, I have grown to appreciate the works of the Italian painter Caravaggio (1571-1610).

His paintings are dramatic and display a mastery of creating colour and a contrast between light and dark.

Caravaggio’s depiction of the conversion of St Paul shows so powerfully the saint’s momentary frailty. In this way, St Paul’s humanity and impending sanctification is tangible.

Caravaggio, therefore, has done what most sacred artists hope to do: to help ordinary people like ourselves understand the movements within us and to contemplate the mystery of God. This, of course, puts each artist on an uphill climb in which they hope to see a glimpse of the majesty of God at the summit. When the artist succeeds in this, he or she will then invite others to gaze upon this devotion to the divine.

It is my hope, for many of my future works, that even a dim light of the glory of God comes through. I want every viewer to be drawn in by the symphony of colours on the canvas. And when they hear the echoes of rouge, amber and emerald, they will be able to respond to the invitation of God. Therein lies the pain of the pursuit. As artists, we are challenged to bring Heaven down to earth with paint and pencils.We are called to bring order to the chaos of

oils, acrylics and pastels.

To aid us in this, it would do us creative people well to reflect on the Creation story in the book of Genesis. It is here that we learn how God separates light from dark, and overall how God brings order to chaos.

T

o know that our work will decorate homes—and in some cases chapels and cathedrals—adds an extra dose of pressure.

How does one show the infinite, the endless and the immaculate? How can

“Artists are challenged to bring Heaven down to earth with paint and pencils.We are called to bring order to the chaos of oils, acrylics and pastels,” writes nthabiseng Maphisa. (Photo: Mike Petrucci/unsplash)

To love is to give life I N response to two current social issues that need serious attention we came up with the 2020 theme for MARFAM: “Our World, A Family Of Families”.

Everyone knows that family life is undergoing changes and difficult times, and, of course, the environment is under severe stress too.

As a Catholic community of families we have been provided by Pope Francis with very helpful tools in the form of his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), which focuses on marriage and family matters, as well as the 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, which has much to say about the need for ecological conversion.

The pope continues to address these two matters constantly in whatever ways possible: when speaking in ecumenical, interfaith, social justice and family settings (where he often addresses young couples, the elderly, the sick as well as married couples).

My idea of combining them got incorporated into MARFAM’s 2020 Family Year Planner, and developing the idea more deeply and incorporating it, mainly into the digital writings, has so far been an interesting exercise.

It is built around the idea that creation is about relationships, which are necessary for evolution and reproduction.

Human society is built of families, so is the animal world, and relationships are part of plant species/families.

But what of the nature of the relationships? February is the month of love and the theme, “Love Gives Life”, could be seen as more human than animal.

But why not, as a family activity, explore the family relationships of animals, such as in books about elephants or even the film The Lion King? Culturally, too,

The

Films like The Lion King could teach us something about human and family relationships, suggests Toni Rowland.

(Photo: Disney) there are many folk-tales about animal relationships.

W

hen it comes to human love relationships, it is important and necessary to bring in marriage, seen by some theologians as a primary and foundation sacrament of the Church.

As such marriage is not only for couples, but for the whole Church. As the late Fr Chuck Gallagher of Marriage Encounter would have said: “You are our couples.”

Apart from that, those of us who are widowed, divorced, or not yet married can and should still value marriage, which is unfortunately no longer the case to the same degree as in the past.

Again as Fr Chuck, speaking as God, says: “You are the closest to how we live and love.”

The second Sunday of February is World Marriage Day. It was originally a Marriage Encounter celebration but it has

Pop Culture Catholic

we create art that summons the hearts of earth’s creatures to contemplate divine truths? Perhaps, only by the grace of God. Those gifted with the ability to create beauty fear creating that which isn’t beautiful enough. There are long nights and long days. There are sketches made and sketches discarded. There is the feeling of inadequacy and the fear of failing to reach the heights of the old masters.

But it would be a shame to let this bar us from attempting anything.

The Church’s eventful art history shows us just how impactful our art can be and why it is worth pursuing in spite of our fears.

St Peter’s basilica is a fitting example.

Though the funding of this basilica was controversial, its sculptures and paintings draw thousands of visitors from around the world.

And what a moment it is when each tourist who came only to see fine art, contemplates very briefly the agony of Jesus in the garden, the scourging at the pillar, the crowning of thorns, the carrying of the cross, the crucifixion, the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus into Heaven.

Art, then, has done what holy words always tell: it has proclaimed the Gospel.

Toni Rowland

Family Friendly

been recognised more widely, also by the Vatican.

The US Catholic bishops’ foryour marriage.org website has many references and liturgical suggestions for celebrations.

MARFAM too has a range of resources and some will be available through a search on www.marfam.org.za.

The theme “Love Gives Life” has broader applications too. For the World Day of Prayer for the Sick on February 11—the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes— Pope Francis has issued a special message which highlights the universal need for care.

With the theme “Come to me all ye who labour and are burdened and I will give you rest”, he writes: “It is my hope that, by joining the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, efforts will be made to cooperate in ensuring that everyone has access to suitable treatments for preserving and restoring their health.”

And in Amoris Laetitia he gives a little nod to celebrating Valentine’s Day, which need not be just a commercial moneyspinner.

The pope and the Church in many ways do have much to offer, as missionary evangelisers, to build up society which is made up of families of all kinds.

Evangelisation is for everyone, by everyone, to everyone, as is expressed in the new Pastoral Plan, “Evangelising Community, Serving God, Humanity and All Creation”, which was launched in late January.

Everyone means each of us, especially in our families, is called to create a family-friendly and eco-friendly world.

The Southern Cross, February 5 to February 11, 2020

Michael Shackleton

Open Door

Why do some reject papal primacy?

Browsing through the Internet, I am surprised at the number of Christian websites that contradict the Catholic Church’s understanding of the intent of Matthew 16:18, “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church”.

Christ made Peter the first pope, so that he and his successors were to be the rock-solid foundation of the unity of the Church through the ages. Why is there no agreement on this clear text?

Angie

A

t Pentecost the Holy Spirit galvanised the Apostles to go out and preach the Gospel (Acts 2).

Their hearers were from a mixed bag of cultural and language groups (Parthians, Medes, Mesopotamians, Greeks, Jews, and so on). Although the Apostles presumably preached in Aramaic, each listener understood (“in our own language”) what they were saying.

In this, the Holy Spirit seems to have provided a sort of epiphany of his presence. He would always be with the People of God amid their divisions of beliefs, cultures and languages. The Church has had a rough ride due to these divisions.

The rupture between Catholics and Orthodox in the 11th century and the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century have resulted in a kind of stalemate.

Catholics have the testimony of Scripture and Tradition to support the doctrine of papal authority over the Church.

The Orthodox assert that the bishop of Rome had no authoritative voice at the early ecumenical councils and they dismiss his claim to be head of the Church. Protestants recognise Christ as the only head of the Church.

These standpoints have deep roots.

Pope John Paul II discussed this in his 1995 encyclical Ut unum sint (“May they all be one”) and explained that the differences are not only doctrinal. There are also long-standing misgivings inherited from the past, mutual misunderstandings and prejudices, which impede Christians from seeing eye to eye amicably. This is made worse by suspicion of one another’s Christian sincerity.

Fr Thomas Reese SJ, who has researched relations between Catholics and Orthodox, found that this distrust is deep-seated. He concluded that Orthodox bishops are not interested in reunion with the Catholic Church.

High-level ecumenical approaches to finding common ground are ongoing among Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and others. There is goodwill, but the ordinary Christian seems to be quite happy to tolerate a divided Christendom. This is not what Christ prayed for to his Father (Jn 17:21).

In the encyclical, John Paul II upholds the office of the Bishop of Rome as corresponding to the will of Christ, and he asks that Catholics and all others pray that the Holy Spirit may enlighten us all to appreciate this more deeply.

In our confusing Christian world, we must believe that the Holy Spirit can again do what he did at Pentecost, making us again hear the message of our common redemption.

ST ANTHONYS CHILD and YOUTH CARE CENTRE Keeping Children safe within families

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The Southern Cross, February 5 to February 11, 2020

COMMUNITY new Grade 1s at St Dominic’s Catholic School for Girls in Boksburg, Johannesburg archdiocese, celebrate their first day of school. Pictured are (from left) Ava Meeser, Tamia Meintjies and Eve Meyer.

Send your photos to

pics@scross.co.za

Fr Paul Taylor of Somerset West parish blesses the vines with an olive branch on nagenoeg farm near Stellenbosch. The annual Blessing of the Vines was preceeded by a Mass in the farm’s St Anthony in the Valley chapel. Fr Taylor was assisted by six other priests, two of whom were visiting from Britain. (Photo: Audrey Carswell)

The Catholic Women’s league of Our lady of loreto church in Kempton Park, Johannesburg diocese, celebrated “Christmas in January” with a lunch for members. (Submitted by lorraine Cowling)

St Matthew’s parish in Bonteheuwel, Cape Town, celebrated the First Communion of 20 boys and girls. With the group are (from left) catechist Denise Martin, parish priest Fr Peter ziegler, and catechist Shawn Samuels.

St Henry’s Marist College in Glenwood, Durban, started the 2020 school year with a Mass in their amphitheatre.

Fr Sean Mullin CSSP, the college chaplain, celebrated the Mass with pupils.

Holy Rosary School in Edenvale, Johannesburg archdiocese, eased young Grade 0s into their first day with fun games, one being “The Office”.

Grade 11 students at CBC St John’s in Parklands, Cape Town, were confirmed at a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Stephen Brislin with Fr Chris Ovies OSFS and parish priest Fr Carlo Adams OSFS at the parish of the Resurrection in Table View. The students were Tyron Clarke, luis de Andrade, Tyron van der Merwe, Kylah irvine, Ashleigh Muller, Fabienne D’Elboux, nonhlanhla lamola, Thomas Sterland, Carla da Costa and Fabio de Gouveia.

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St Joseph the Worker parish in Pretoria West celebrated the First Communion of young members. The group is seen with catechists and Fr isaac Hlaledi Ramakgolo.

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The Southern Cross, February 5 to February 11, 2020

FAITH

9

Where the demonic is at work Demonic possession doesn’t look as it does in the movies, and we must beware of passing moral judgment on people who are afflicted, according to an Italy-based exorcist.

T

HOUGH dramatic representations of demonic possessions, as seen in Hollywood, can make them appear to be the primary method of the devil, a Dominican priest and exorcist has warned that the greater and more common threat to a person’s salvation is the temptation to sin.

“The most common manifestation of the demonic is temptation, which is much more significant than possession,” said Fr François Dermine OP. Fr Dermine, who is French Canadian, has lived in Italy since shortly before his priestly ordination in 1979. An exorcist since 1994, he serves in the Italian archdiocese of Ancona-Osimo.

An exorcist for over 25 years, he explained that possession is not a spiritual threat in the same way temptation is, and that a person who has been possessed by the devil may still make “extraordinary spiritual progress”, and could even one day be a saint.

An image from the 1973 film The Exorcist, in which a Jesuit priest does battle with demons that possess a child. in real life, exorcists say, demonic possessions may not be quite as dramatic as depicted in the film, but they do exist.

This is because demonic possession of a person’s body occurs without that person’s knowledge or consent. The possession in and of itself does not make the victim morally blameworthy.

“We must not undervalue the significance of temptation. It’s not as spectacular as possession, but it’s far more dangerous [to the soul],” Fr Dermine said.

“To resist temptation is simple,” although it might not always be

easy: “You must avoid the occasions of temptation, of course, and you must have a Christian and spiritual life. You must pray, you must try to behave correctly, and to love the people you meet every day and the people with whom you live.”

Demonic oppression Fr Dermine said the next most common form of demonic activity is oppression. Sometimes, people can have many problems—often of

a health, business, or family nature—which cannot be explained by natural causes.

If the cause is deemed to be demonic oppression, these problems are called “preternatural” and may require the assistance of an exorcist.

“This is the most common extraordinary action of the devil,” Fr Dermine said, while temptation is considered an “ordinary” demonic action.

The priest warned that people should not immediately conclude that physical problems or suffering are a result of demonic oppression, because they are most often explainable by natural causes.

If someone has visited a doctor, or a psychologist, if applicable, and no natural explanation could be found, then they may visit an exorcist.

“When a person comes and asks for a blessing for a specific problem, the first thing an exorcist must ask is: ‘Did you see the doctor?’” the priest said.

Some exorcists confuse preternatural (demonic) manifestations for supernatural charisms, which come from God, he said.

“It’s a very important difference.

We have a human nature and cannot know things without learning through our senses,” the priest explained.

“God created us to operate in a certain way. If you have extra-sensorial perceptions, and things like

How can you tell someone is demon-possessed?

R

ECOGNISING the difference between a person who is possessed and a person struggling with a mental illness or other infirmity is a vital part of the ministry of exorcism, according to a longtime exorcist and priest.

Fr Cipriano de Meo, who has been an exorcist since 1952, told the Italian ACI Stampa news agency that typically, a person is not possessed but is struggling with some or other illness.

The key to telling the difference, he said, is through discernment in prayer on the part of the exorcist and the possessed—and in the potentially possessed person’s reaction to the exorcist himself and the prayers being said.

The exorcist will typically say a “prolonged prayer to the point where if the Adversary is present, there’s a reaction”, he said.

“A possessed person has various general attitudes towards an exorcist, who is seen by the Adversary as an enemy ready to fight him.”

Fr de Meo described the unsettling reaction that a possessed person usually has, detailing a common response to the exorcist’s prayer.

“There’s no lack of frightening facial expressions, threatening words or gestures and other things,” he said, “but especially blasphemies against God and Our Lady.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasises the importance of distinguishing between demonic activity and mental illness.

“Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church. Illness, especially psychological illness, is a very different matter; treating this is the concern of medical science.

Therefore, before an exorcism is performed, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the Evil One, and not an illness” (1673).

Fr de Meo emphasised that not all cases of possession are going to look the same, which is why it is so important for exorcists to go through rigorous training.

“It’s up to the priest serving in this ministry to know how to deal with the case, by the will of God, with love and humility,” he said.

For this reason, with his bishop’s authorisation Fr de Meo has led a school for

Fr François Dermine OP has been an exorcist for more than 25 years.

He says that demonic manifestations come in various forms—most commonly in temptation to sin. this, and they are not meant to help or to provoke a spiritual result, then they cannot come from God,” he warned.

People with these perceptions are often described as “mediums” in secular culture.

These types of preternatural sensations or manifestations can be “a cause of many problems” for people, so they will need some help from an exorcist, Fr Dermine said.— CNA

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The Catechism says that anything that involves recourse to Satan or demons must be rejected, including horoscopes, astrology, palm-reading, interpretation of omens and lots, and recourse to mediums. exorcists since 2003.

“I’ve tried to especially prepare those who are beginning this ministry,” he said.

However, even though cases of demonic possession are not as common as cases of psychological illness, most people are too unaware and unfamiliar with spiritual realities, he said.

In 2014, the International Association of Exorcists (AIE) called the rise of occult activity a “pastoral emergency”.

“It usually starts out of ignorance, superficiality, stupidity or proselytising, actively participating or just watching,” AIE spokesperson Dr Valter Cascioli said at the time.

“The consequences are always disastrous.”

Fr de Meo said that people often turn to “the chatter of magicians and illusionists” for answers, rather than “the weapons the Lord has put at our disposal”.

W

hile people often seek radical answers or signs, the best defence against demonic possession is a simple and sacramental life of prayer, the priest said.

“It’s absolutely fundamental to get rid of sin and live in the grace of God,” he said.

“The Church, in fact, wants a life of prayer—not just on the part of the priest but also the [member of] the faithful asking for the intervention of the exorcist, who benefits from the help of family members as well,” Fr de Meo explained.

The Catechism offers further guidance on how to avoid demonic activity: anything that involves recourse to Satan or demons, or that attempts to conjure the dead or reveal future events, is to be rejected.

“Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honour, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone” (2116).

As for the exorcists themselves, it is important to remain humble and to remember that their power comes from Christ, Fr de Meo said.

“Regarding spiritual preparation, humility and the conviction that we exorcists aren’t the ones who are going to cast out the demon that’s fighting Christ.

We’re called to fight on behalf of Christ.”—CNA

Contact Vocation Coordinator on 072 989 2286 nardvocprom1855@gmail.com Facebook: Franciscan nardini Sisters of the Holy Family

10

The Southern Cross, February 5 to February 11, 2020

CHURCH

Overbearing whiteness of religious art Religious art in many African parishes depicts religious figures as white.

FiKilE-nTSiKElElO MOyA argues that religious art in the African Church needs to be liberated.

I

AM a parishioner in a church in Soweto. It is a 100% black church.

The social divisions in the parish are the same as those that have appeared since the end of apartheid. There are huge gaps in wealth and education, and in the use of and access to technology.

Other than that, it is as black as One of the Magi is depicted as a black man in a nativity scene. But, Soweto.

As with many parishes started asks Fikile-ntsikelelo Moya, how often do we see religious figures in art

by European missionaries, its reli- depicted as blacks, but are likely to see even the Palestinian carpenter gious art retains many elements of as a blue-eyed European? (Photo: Ben White/unsplash) whiteness. It is normal to see a blond, blue-eyed icon of the Holy Family or of St Anne and St view, where the divine is beyond it bears directly on the effectiveall earthly forms and its depiction ness of catechesis.

Joachim.

With regard to blackness and The Stations of the Cross reflect using earthly representations is whiteness, and maleness and fea scene more likely to have ap- profane.

In the first cen- maleness, the image of God being peared in ancient Europe turies of Christianity, an elderly gentleman has been part than Palestine. Everyone Some might the Church debated of the Western motif for so long there is white. whether depicting the that it is not difficult for some peoIt gets worse. The regard divine was permissi- ple to regard Michelangelo’s “The parish has an image of its Creation of Adam” as a photopatron saint, Peter Michelangelo’s ble.

Sacred art and its graphic depiction of what God Claver, standing and baptising and praying over ‘The Creation of use in the Church and looks like.

The opposite view—again in for private devotion kneeling black people.

Adam’ as a was important enough broad strokes—holds that the fact Peter Claver saw himconstitute one of that the second person of the Holy self as a “slave of the photographic to the talking points at Trinity became incarnate in the slaves”. His sainthood is ecumenical coun- form of Jesus meant that the proinextricably connected to depiction of the cils of 769 and 787. It scription on depicting the divine his mission of affirming God’s likeness concluded with very in earthly forms had been lifted. the humanity of the If God could manifest himself in specific guidelines African slaves sent to governing what was the form of a Nazarene carpenter, Colombia, and dedicatwhat would stop an artist from foling his life’s ministry to minister- permissible in sacred art.

During the Reformation and be- lowing suit and using art to reflect ing to people whom the New World colonialists saw merely as a yond, the Calvinist and several the divine in art?

Traditionalists who hide their other Protestant traditions also source of labour.

But unless we know the story of prohibited any form of visual rep- racism towards Muslims, black Peter Claver, the image looks like resentations of God and the saints. Africans, and South American imThey were highly suspicious and migrants into Europe and the yet another depiction of a white man lording it over hapless blacks. concerned that reverence for a United States are behind arguSacred art has a long history of holy image would draw worship ments of saving these spaces for “Christian civilisation”. They don’t away from God. controversy. care as much for the preservation On the one hand, religious art Purpose of religious art of religious art forms as they do the has been the source of theological In contrast, one of the greatest preservation their view of what it debate for centuries.

For another, blackness and Church thinkers, St Thomas means to be church. whiteness are more than just Aquinas, saw that religious art Does God’s ‘colour’ matter? colour, especially in the South served a threefold purpose.

Black adults who have grown up According to Aquinas, the purAfrican context where white (and male) equalled superiority, while poses are to instruct the unedu- under white supremacy, including black (and female) was shorthand cated in place of books, to illustrate in matters of faith, have a responand remember the mystery of the sibility to younger black Christians for inferiority.

Religious art is not just a South incarnation, and to awaken the to not perpetuate the archetype of African or a Catholic-specific issue. passion of devotion especially be- divinity equalling whiteness.

It should be as normal to depict It is a historically hot theological cause viewing is more often effecGod as black or even female as it is debating point. Islam, for example, tive than hearing.

Based on this, one can easily see for Michelangelo to paint God as prohibits the depiction of the natwhy—in a world where ignorance he imagines God to be. ural world and the divine.

Naturally, the question—espeIn Christianity, religious art is and levels of literacy unfortunately divided into at least two camps. tend to track race and class—reli- cially among those who are always The first is similar to the Islamic gious art merits serious attention as uncomfortable with discussing

An African Madonna and Child from the “life of Jesus Mafa” series of art from Cameroon. matters of race and always (and wrongly) feel personally attacked by such topics—is this: does it really matter whether God is depicted as black or white?

If it does not matter how God and the divine are depicted, then it should also not matter that they are depicted in a way that those who historically have found themselves to be the lepers in the Christian story, see themselves as part of the inner group.

Given Christianity’s collaboration in the colonisation and dehumanising of black Africans, consciously depicting the divine in archetypes that Africans and other former colonised and enslaved peoples can relate to, is critical.

It is also for Christianity’s own good.

The faith needs to be liberated from the clutches of those who still

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hanker after its imperialistic past when “heathens” were colonised and conquered for their “own good”—so that they could be introduced to Christ and saved from eternal damnation.

Allowing religious art to represent the cultures and people among which the Church lives today is not a matter of ecclesiastical rules, artistic style, or personal preference.

It is a necessary movement for the Christian message and the lives of the Church’s holy men and women to resonate with the People of God today who, for the most part, are no longer European. n Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya is a former editor of the Sowetan, The Witness, The Mercury and Pretoria News Weekend. This article first appeared on Spotlight.Africa and is reproduced with permission.

The Southern Cross, February 5 to February 11, 2020

YoUR CLASSIFIEDS

Pope’s new secretary known for street children ministry

By COuRTnEy MARES

Pope Francis acknowledges uruguayan Fr Gonzalo Aemilius, his future personal secretary, during a Mass in the Vatican.

(Photo: Vatican Media)

P

OPE Francis’ new personal secretary, Fr Gonzalo Aemilius, is a priest from Uruguay known for his ministry with children on the streets.

Pope Francis first met Fr Aemilius in 2006 when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires.

In one of his first Masses after becoming pope, Pope Francis recognised Fr Aemilius in the crowd at the Vatican’s church of Santa Anna and said: “I want to introduce you to a priest from afar, who has been working with street children for a long time, with drug addicts. He opened a school for them, he did many things to make Jesus known.”

Born in Montevideo in 1979 into a family without faith, Fr Aemilius converted to Catholicism in high school, inspired by the witness of joy in the priests he encountered who served the poor, according to Vatican News.

He felt called to the priesthood to dedicate his life to poor and abandoned children, and was ordained a priest in 2006.

Fr Aemilius studied theology in Rome, and directed Jubilar John Paul II High School in Uruguay.

He told L’Osservatore Romano in 2013 that Pope Francis’ witness as archbishop of Buenos Aires was “decisive in my life”.

“It struck me greatly when, during Holy Thursday Mass celebrated in a neighbourhood where a lot of drugs circulated, he did the washing of the feet for drug addicts and sick people of Aids with a shocking tenderness,” the priest said.

“He taught me to get the best out of each individual, however different he may be from all the others,” Fr Aemilius said.—CNA

Durban’s Fr Albert Danker dead at 90 Continued from page 1 rang, and I thought that I was hearing birds singing at the same time as the church bell ringing,” Fr Danker recalled.

As a child, he created an “altar” from tomato boxes and would pretend to celebrate Mass.

After leaving St Augustine’s, he attended Umbilo Road High School and in 1949, he entered the Oblate novitiate in Germiston.

On February 27, 1951, he took his first vows, and on December 10, 1955, he was ordained to the priesthood.

The following year Archbishop Denis Hurley sent Fr Danker to Belgium to study the Young Christian Workers (YCW), a movement of young workingclass people.

Fr Danker was then appointed

the YCW’s national chaplain for South Africa.

In the 2015 Southern Cross article, he recalled: “The YCW was a wonderful movement which really formed hundreds of young people. There were no racial barriers. We were hounded by the Special Branch.”

One day a stressed member approached Fr Danker; the security police had demanded that he give them a copy of the YCW’s constitution.

“I said, ‘We’ve got no constitution. Here is the Bible, give them the Bible.’ So he did. They were furious,” the priest recalled.

In 1972 he resigned his position and was appointed to lead Assumption parish in Umbilo, where he served for four years.

This was followed by Fr

Danker’s appointment as superior of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and during the following six years he took leadership in initiatives such as starting the Red Acres retreat house and inviting members of other congregations to teach at the Oblates’ St Joseph’s Scholasticate in Cedara.

In 1983 Fr Danker was appointed to St Anne’s in Sydenham, where he remained until his retirement in 2005, at the age of 75. He then took up residence at Sabon House.

“He had served the Lord and God’s people with all his heart, and we celebrate his life with thanksgiving,” Fr Frank said on behalf of the Oblates.

Fr Danker’s Requiem Mass was to be held at St Anne’s church in Sydenham on February 7.

FROM OUR VAULTS 61 Years Ago: February 4, 1959

New Vatican Council will be great Cardinal Giovanni Montini of Milan has forecast that the forthcoming ecumenical council will be the greatest which the Church has ever celebrated in its 20 centuries of history. (As Pope Paul VI, he will preside over most of the Second Vatican Council as of 1963).

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

PRAYERS

NoVENA To HoLY ST JUDE, Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron in time of need. To you i have recourse from the depths of my heart and humbly beg you to come to my assistance. Please help me now in my urgent need and grant my request. in return i promise to make your name known in distribution of this prayer that never fails. Holy Mary Mother of God, Pray for me (name your request). Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be. Jen Swanepoel.

o GREAT ST JoSEPH oF CUPERTINo, who by your prayer obtained from God the grace of being asked at your examinations only the questions which you knew, obtain for me a like success in the examinations for which i am preparing and in return i promise to make your name and cause be invoked in prayers. St Joseph of Cupertino, Pray for us. Amen.

PARISH NoTICES

NEW PARISH NoTICES WELCoME: if any parish notices listed are no longer valid, call us on 021 4655007 or e-mail us at m.leveson@scross.co.za so that we can remove

Jo’burg focus on Catholic Action Successful Catholic Action movements such as the Legion of Mary, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, and Young Christian Workers will be the theme of lectures to be given at the national clergy conference on Catholic Action in Johannesburg.

How world will remember Pius XII In his editorial, Fr Louis Stubbs notes that the rarity of ecumenical councils in modern times—the last one, held from 1869-70 under Pope Pius IX, was the first for 300 years—is “reason enough to make us realise that the new Church council called by Pope John XXIII may prove to be one of the most important events of our age”.

them. Also, we’d welcome new notices from parishes across Southern Africa to run free in the classifieds.

CAPE ToWN: Holy Hour Prayer for Priests on the second Saturday of every month at the Villa Maria shrine from 16:00 to 17:00.

The shrine is at 1 Kloof nek Road in Tamboerskloof. The group prays for priests in the archdiocese, and elsewhere by request.

Retreat day/quiet prayer last Saturday of each month except December, at Springfield Convent in Wynberg, Cape Town.

Hosted by ClC, 10.0015.30. Contact Jill on 083 282-6763 or Jane on 082 783-0331.

Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Good Shepherd parish, 1 Goede Hoop St, Bothasig, welcomes all visitors. Open 24 hours a day. Phone 021 558-1412.

Helpers of God’s Precious infants. Mass on last Saturday of month at 9:30 at Sacred Heart church, Somerset Road. Followed by vigil at abortion clinic.

Contact Colette Thomas on 083 412-4836 or 021 593 9875 or Br Daniel SCP on 078 739-2988.

DURBAN: Holy Mass and novena to St Anthony at St Anthony’s parish every Tuesday at 9:00. Holy Mass and Divine Mercy Devotion at 17:30 on first Friday of every month.

Sunday Mass at 9:00.

Phone 031309-3496 or

031 209-2536.

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.

THANKS

THANK YoU St Jude.

Thank you with all heart for my prayers answered in the past year. Marcel.

With thanks for prayers answered. Pamela Martin.

PERSoNAL

ABoRTIoN WARNING: The truth will convict a silent Church. See www.valuelifeabortion isevil.co.za

HoLIDAY ACCoMMoDATIoN

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

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

CoRRECTIoN

The incorrect bank account details were provided to The Southern Cross in the January 15 letter on rebuilding the fire-damaged church in Betty’s Bay, Western Cape.

The correct details regarding donations to rebuild the church are: Account: Building Fund, Standard Bank, Thibault Square; Account No: 070413320; Ref: Betty’s Bay + Donor’s Name; Proof of payment to: jenny.cadman@mweb.co.za

Our bishops’ anniversaries This week we congratulate: February 14: Bishop Kevin Dowling CSsR of Rustenburg on his 76th birthday

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 901. ACROSS: 1 Cash, 3 Backache, 9 Ireland, 10 Nears, 11 Frankincense, 13 Regina, 15 Eggcup, 17 Waiting-rooms, 20 Thing, 21 Ezekiel, 22 Paradise, 23 Plus. DOWN: 1 Coiffure, 2 Sheba, 4 Adding, 5 Kindergarten, 6 Classic, 7 Ease, 8 Talking to God, 12 Apostles, 14 Glacier, 16 Angels, 18 Oriel, 19 Step.

Liturgical Calendar

Non-Catholics helped build new church An outstanding feature of the new church of St Christopher at Waterval-Boven was that nonCatholics had contributed so much to its building, said Bishop Anton Reiterer of Lydenburg at the opening ceremony.

11

Year A – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sun February 9, 5th Sunday of the Year Isaiah 58:7-10, Psalm 112:4-9, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Matthew 5:13-16 Mon February 10, St Scholastica 1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13, Psalm 132:6-10, Mark 6:53-56 Tue February 11, Our Lady of Lourdes 1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30, Psalm 84:3-5, 10-11, Mark 7:1-13 Wed February 12 1 Kings10:1-10, Psalm 37:5-6, 30-31, 39-40, Mark7:14-23 ThuFebruary 13 1 Kings11:4-13, Psalm 106:3-4, 35-37, 40, Mark 7:24-30 Fri February 14, Ss Cyril & Methodius

St Scholastica 1 Kings 11:29-32; 12:19, Psalm 81:1015, Mark7:31-37 Sat February 15 1 Kings 12:26-32; 13:33-34, Psalm 106:6-7, 19-22, Mark 8:1-10 Sun February 16, 6th Sunday of the Year Sirach 15:15-20 (16-21), Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34, 1 Corinthians 2:6-10, Matthew5:17-37

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

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

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

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

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

the

6th Sunday: February 16 Readings: Ecclesiasticus 15:15-20, Psalm 119: 1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34, 1 Corinthians 2:6-10, Matthew 5:17-37

T

HE readings for next Sunday invite us to keep God’s commandments. We mutter, “Well, of course”, and uneasily wonder how comfortable this is going to be.

The first reading is a firm reminder that it is possible for us to do what God asks of us: “If you want to, you will keep the commandments, and it is in your power to do acts of faith.” Then he gives a lively illustration: “He has put fire and water in front of you; you can stretch out your hand wherever you wish.”

It all comes back, of course, to God: “Great is the Lord’s wisdom; he is strong in power and looks upon everything.”

Then the Lord’s attention to us becomes a bit more intimate: “God’s eyes are on those who revere him, and God will know every act of a human being.” At the same time, we are not permitted to blame God for our failures to do what we are told: “God has not commanded anyone to act impiously—he has given no one permission to sin.”

We must keep our eyes on God. The psalm is a hymn of praise for God’s law.

It begins with the word “happy”: “Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of God.” So there is no sense here

S outher n C ross

that God’s commandments are a miserable burden; they are a way to happiness.

There is a precious awareness that the only thing that matters is to find the God for whom we are searching.

And there is a powerful sense that God is simply wanting what is best for us: “Bless your servant—and I shall live, and I shall keep your word.” And the Law is seen as a gift: “Open my eyes, and I shall see the wonders of your Law… Teach me, O Lord, the way of your commandments, and I shall keep them carefully.”

Here all that matters is to grapple with what the Lord might be asking of us.

In the second reading, Paul offers something of a refinement on this, in that God’s wisdom is not necessarily the same as ours: “I am speaking of wisdom among the initiates, which is not the wisdom of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are being abolished; no—we are speaking of God’s hidden wisdom, which God laid down in advance, before the ages, for our glory.”

And he makes the point that the “chattering classes” (“the rulers of this age”) did not grasp this wisdom—“otherwise they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory”.

R

plex, especially since we see it playing out in people of every kind of religious background as well as those with no religious background at all.

The struggle with self-hatred and guilt is not a particularly Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Jewish, or Muslim phenomenon; it’s a universal phenomenon that makes itself felt in almost every sensitive person.

Moreover, that struggle is not always unhealthy.

A

Conrad

ny morally sensitive person—unlike someone who’s morally calloused—will be self-assessing, often anxious as to whether she’s being selfish rather than good, and perennially worrying that some of her words and actions may have hurt others and damaged her relationship with God. To experience this anxiety is precisely to be struggling with feelings of self-hatred and guilt; but, at one level, this is in fact healthy.

When we’re self-assessing, there’s far less danger that we will take others, the gift of life, or the goodness of God for granted.

Moral sensitivity is a virtue and, like aesthetic sensitivity, it keeps you healthily fearful lest in ignorance and insensitivity you paint a moustache on the Mona Lisa.

Some of this, of course, is unhealthy. As Freud taught us, our conscience doesn’t tell us what’s right and what’s wrong, it tells us only how we feel about our actions.

And when we have guilt feelings about what we have done or left undone, those feelings are no doubt often powerfully influenced by the social and moral standards put

Sunday Reflections

Instead, the wisdom on offer in God’s commands is “things that eye has not seen and ear not heard, and have not come up into the human heart”. It is something that only the Spirit can grasp: “the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God”.

There is an invitation to us here, today.

Next Sunday’s Gospel continues our journey through the Sermon on the Mount; and it emphasises that Jesus has no intention of “abolishing the Law or the Prophets”. Then he employs a very powerful image to make this point: “Amen I’m telling you: until Heaven and Earth pass away, not a single ‘iota’ nor a single ‘serif’ will pass away from the Law, until everything is accomplished.”

The “iota” and “serif” are, respectively, the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet and the smallest stroke of the pen.

So Christians are not given licence to go sniping at God’s Law: “Whoever performs and teaches (these commandments) will be called great in the Kingdom of the Heavens.”

Then it becomes trickier: “I am telling you, that unless your righteousness overflows more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, no way will you enter the Kingdom of the Heavens.”

Why do we hate ourselves?

ECENTLY on the popular US television programme Saturday Night Live, a comedian made a rather colourful wisecrack in response to an answer that Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the US House of Congress, had given to a journalist who had accused her of “hating” President Donald Trump.

Ms Pelosi had stated that, as a Catholic, she hates no one. This prompted the comedian to quip: “As a Catholic, I know there’s always one person you hate—yourself.”

I’m not someone who’s easily upset by religious jokes. Humour is supposed to have an edge and comedians play an important archetypal role here, that of the “court jester” whose task it is to deflate whatever’s pompous.

Religion is often fair game. Indeed, I appreciated the wit in this wisecrack. Still, something bothers me because this plays into a certain stereotype that’s, unfortunately, very common today: that people from all kinds of religious backgrounds (this is not specific to Catholics) blame their religious upbringing for the struggles they have with self-hatred and guilt feelings.

How true is this? Is our religious upbringing the root cause of our struggles with self-hatred and guilt feelings?

Obviously our religious upbringing does play some role here, but it’s far too simplistic (and not helpful) to blame all of this, or even most of it, on our religious upbringing.

Psychologists and anthropologists assure us that the issue of self-hatred and free-floating guilt is infinitely more com-

Nicholas King SJ

First keep God’s law

At that you will hear a sharp intake of breath, since Jesus’ hearers could not imagine anyone more righteous than the “scribes and Pharisees”, the real authorities on the Law. So then Jesus explains what he meant, in a series of what are called “antitheses”: “You have heard it said…but I say to you.”

Reading these, you will notice that Jesus is going deeper into the Law, suggesting it is not just a matter of literal obedience but obedience of the heart: not just “Thou shalt not kill” but “Don’t get annoyed with your brother or sister”, “Don’t call them ‘Raka’ or ‘Fool’”.

Similarly, it is not just a matter of “Thou shalt not commit adultery” but “Don’t look lustfully at a woman”; and not just a matter of “Give your wife a certificate of divorce” but “Don’t divorce your wife at all (except in the matter of sexual immorality)”.

Nor is it “Thou shalt not bear false witness” but “You are not to swear oaths at all”.

Our task is to notice what is going on inside us; and be aware that God has his eyes lovingly upon us.

Southern Crossword #901

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

into us as children by our parents, teachers, culture, and religious upbringing. Our religious and moral upbringing does leave us struggling with some false guilt.

But, that being admitted, there are deeper causes as to why we struggle with self-hatred and free-floating guilt, and why we just never quite feel good enough.

If we could review our lives in a video, we would see the countless times we were told that we’re not good, not adequate, not loveable, not valued, not precious.

We would see the countless times we were shamed in our enthusiasm; and this, I submit, more than any other factor, lies at the root of our self-hatred, our free-floating feelings of guilt, and the bitterness we so frequently feel towards others.

I

t starts in the highchair when we, as toddlers in our blind energy, eat too enthusiastically and are told not to “eat like a pig”.

Likewise, as toddlers, full of food and zest, we shout and throw some food on the floor and are told to stop it, to shut up, that our natural energies aren’t healthy.

Then, as a preschooler, we are often further shamed in our enthusiasm. Eventually things move on to the playground, the classroom, and into our family circles where our uniqueness and preciousness are not often sufficiently recognised or valued, where we’re frequently ignored, put down, treated unfairly, bullied, made aware of our inferiorities and failures, and, in ways subtle and not-so-subtle, told that we’re not good enough.

This sets us up for the rejections we absorb in adulthood, for the jealousies we feel when the lives of others look so much richer than our own, for the unexpressed bitterness we nurse because of our own inadequacies, and for the guilt we feel because of our own betrayals.

It isn’t primarily because of our religious training that we hate ourselves and are haunted by a lot of free-floating guilt.

Yes, most of us Catholics do hate ourselves. Sadly—would it were otherwise—so too does everyone else.

ACROSS

1. Coins in the poor box (4) 3. Cake Bach made with pain (8) 9. St Patrick made it snakeless (7) 10. Comes close to broken snare (5) 11. Aromatic gift at Christmas (12) 13. Salve … (Marian hymn) (6) 15. Curate may need it for breakfast with the bishop (6) 17. Places to sit expectantly (7-5) 20. Object about night (5) 21. One of the major prophets (7) 22. Garden of Eden (8) 23. Sign of the adder? (4)

DOWN

1. Samson’s hairstyle? (8) 2. Its queen visited King Solomon (5) 4. Summing up dad with mixed gin (6) 5. Infant school (12) 6. Traditionally hallowed sort of church music (6) 7. Move very gradually without difficulty (4) 8. Praying (7,2,3) 12. Jesus called and sent them (8) 14. Girl ace in the Arctic (7) 16. They were heard on high (6) 18. Kind of window in the church (5) 19. Child on the staircase? (4) Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

O

NE day in old Egypt, God called down to Moses: “My son Moses, I have good news and bad news for you. Which do you want first?

Moses replied: “O most merciful Lord, please give me the good news first.”

“The good news is that I’ve chosen you to deliver my people from bondage,” God answered. “I will force Pharaoh to release my children by causing years of pestilence in Egypt. Pharaoh’s armies will chase you as you try to leave, but do not fear because I will part the waters of the Red Sea to aid in your escape.”

“That’s good news indeed, Lord,” Moses said.

“And the bad news?”

God answered: “You will have to prepare the environmental impact study.”

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