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He Is Risen
S outher n C ross www.scross.co.za
April 8 to April 14, 2020
A parish’s response to lockdown
Reg No. 1920/002058/06
Centenary Jubilee Year
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The editor and staff of The Southern Cross wish all readers, advertisers, Associates, pilgrims, supporters, contributors, bishops, clergy, religious, and all our friends a blessed Easter filled with the hope and joy of our Risen Lord.
R12 (incl VAT RSA)
A message to you from Pope Francis
Jesus dies; and Christ rises from the dead
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No 5182
Bloem’s new archbishop has ‘mixed feelings’ BY ERIN CARELSE
T
Easter eggs, including one depicting the risen Christ, are seen in the courtyard of St Gabriel’s church in Nazareth, Israel, the site where pilgrims draw water from Mary’s Well. The Easter egg is symbolic of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Photo: Günther Simmermacher)
HE newly-named archbishop of Bloemfontein says he has some “mixed feelings” about his appointment. Bishop Zolile Peter Mpambani has headed the diocese of Kokstad since 2013. After his appointed as the seventh archbishop of Bloemfontein, he will succeed Archbishop Jabulani Adatus Nxumalo, who has retired as of April 1 at the age of 76. “The appointment brought mixed feelings for me,” Archbishop-elect Mpambani told The Southern Cross. “I’ve been busy with a lot of work in Kokstad, and was still developing a few things, so being told I’ll have to be in Bloemfontein in two months leaves very little time to finish things off—and more so because of the lockdown.” On the other hand, he said: “I know that the same work that I’ve been doing here in Kokstad I could also do in the archdiocese of Bloemfontein, which tells me that I should look forward to the future.” He is the third successive bishop of Kokstad to become an archbishop, following Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, who headed the diocese from 1980-92, before transferring to Durban, and Archbishop William Slattery (from 1993, moved in 2010 to Pretoria). Appointed bishop of Kokstad on April 6, 2013, Bishop Mpambani said that one of his highlights in the diocese was getting to know all of the faithful. “In 2015 I visited every parish and every outstation, to know where they are worshipping and to know where and which parishes and outstations my priests work in. Even the outstations where there were four to five people, I went there to visit and to celebrate Mass with them, just to get to know the situation in the diocese,” he said. Before he became a bishop, the member of the congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus served in his home diocese of Aliwal North, in the Eastern Cape. “I worked under [now retired] Bishop Fritz
Archbishop-elect Zolile Mpambani of Bloemfontein. (Photo: Fr Paul Tatu CSS) Lobinger, who was very big on empowering the faithful. This is what I’ve been driving in Kokstad: that they know their faith and that they know the teachings of the Catholic Church.” Of his move to the archdiocese of Bloemfontein, Archbishop-elect Mpambani said: “I’m not fearful.” He believes his experience of leading the diocese of Kokstad for seven years has prepared him. “When I was appointed as the bishop of Kokstad, being in charge of a diocese after having been a priest, I didn’t know where I was going to begin and go forward, but it has taught me a lot and given me so much experience. This is what I’ll take with me to Bloemfontein,” he said. “I know what is expected of a bishop, and what to expect of the faithful, the priests and everybody.” Archbishop-elect Mpambani hopes to draw from the experience of his predecessor, who had headed the archdiocese since 2005, after three years as auxiliary bishop in Durban. “Having Archbishop Nxumalo there, being able to have some sort of orientation, really Continued on page 3
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