The
S outher n C ross
April 15 to April 21, 2020
Reg No. 1920/002058/06
No 5182
New bishop: How I became a priest
Page 3
www.scross.co.za
R12 (incl VAT RSA)
Saints to call on during plagues
Page 12
Centenary Jubilee Year
Pope Francis’ very unusual Easter in text and photos
Pages 6-7
J&P backs pope on lockdown rescue plan STAFF REPORTER
I
N an Easter letter to members of popular movements, Pope Francis has suggested that the coronavirus crisis may be an occasion to consider a universal basic wage—and the director of the region’s bishops’ Justice & Peace Commission agrees. “Many of you live from day to day, without any type of legal guarantee to protect you. Street vendors, recyclers, small farmers, construction workers, dressmakers, the different kinds of caregivers: you who are informal, working on your own or in the grassroots economy, you have no steady income to get you through this hard time...and the lockdowns are becoming unbearable,” the pope said. “This may be the time to consider a universal basic wage [or basic income grant] which would acknowledge and dignify the noble, essential tasks you carry out. It would ensure and concretely achieve the ideal, at once so human and so Christian, of no worker without rights.” Pope Francis added: “My hope is that governments understand that technocratic paradigms are not enough to address this crisis or the other great problems affecting humankind.” A basic income grant would guarantee every adult citizen a minimum income to cover the basic cost of living. “Other than Pope Francis, a group of economists have recently called for the basic income grant as a response to the coronavirus crisis,” noted Fr Stan Muyebe OP, who coordinates the Justice & Peace Commission of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference. “Other economists have also proposed the fiscal mechanisms to finance the grant. I think the government should consider their appeal for the basic income grant.” A basic income grant was backed by the SACBC in the 1990s. In 2002, the govern-
ment dismissed the basic income grant as fiscally unsustainable and liable to generate a dependency syndrome. “In a country which is marked by extreme economic inequalities, government response to the economic impacts of the coronavirus should give highest priority to the most vulnerable in the society, especially the unemployed, the victims of massive job loss, those in the informal business sector, and so on,” Fr Muyebe said. “Most of these vulnerable categories are not covered by the current mitigation measures recently announced by the government,” he noted. “A basic income grant should be considered as one of the measures to mitigate the economic impacts of the lockdown on the poor and the struggling middle-class.” With a basic income grant, those whose businesses have collapsed due to the lockdown “would have a safety net to ensure survival and basic necessities while finding ways to rebuild their businesses”, Fr Muyebe said. “Those who have lost their jobs would have a buffer to cover the expenses incurred when searching for a job, such as the cost of transport,” he added. “It would also help the unemployed youth—who are not yet in the job market— with financial support for accommodation and expenses incurred in searching for jobs.” He said the basic income grant could be time-limited to cover the period necessary for the economic recovery of the poor from the coronavirus crisis. Fr Muyebe noted that in some informal settlements and rural areas, J&P has observed that the food relief programme “is politicised and used as a mobilisation campaign in relation to the forthcoming municipal elections”. “A basic income grant could circumvent such risks since it is a relief package that is accessible to all citizens, irrespective of political affiliation,” he said.
Frs Brett Williams and Mtshengiseni Dlamini of Morningside in Durban prepare for a livestream from the parish’s St Joseph’s church. During the lookdown, many parishes throughout South Africa have livestreamed their liturgies. (Photo: Shelly Kjonstad/Independent on Saturday)
SACBC backs Southern Cross
T
HE Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has called on all parishes and the faithful to support The Southern Cross. In a message signed by its president Bishop Sithembele Sipuka, the SACBC asked that its “special heartfelt message” be relayed to the faithful “through your parish priests and parish organisations”. “An invisible cordon has been thrown across the world causing isolation, lockdown and anxiety,” the message noted, saying that the Covid-19 pandemic “is a wake-up call to the whole of society to revalue the way we live as neighbours and communities—and for decisive action to improve health services, especially for the poor and vulnerable”. The pandemic and the lockdown serve as “a call, too, for us to be Good Samaritans to one another”. Bishop Sipuka noted that “Pope Francis has emphasised the crucial role of the media in keeping us informed and living with hope
in this time of distress and isolation”. “In thanking journalists and TV, radio and online social networks for helping people to cope with loneliness, Pope Francis was affirming the importance of social communications in sustaining human solidarity and compassion,” the bishop said. In South Africa, he noted, “The Southern Cross has kept us connected in faith for 100 years. As partners in this valued publishing enterprise, we support the special centenary gift” of free access to the newspaper’s online digital issue for one month. All parishioners need to do is visit www.scross.co.za. “In this way readers will answer the call to discipleship, the call to follow Jesus in his healing ministry at Galilee,” Bishop Sipuka said. “And they can continue to read and be inspired by the Good News that The Southern Cross shares as a lighthouse that keeps the Word shining,” the message said.
How can you help The Southern Cross D
iD you know that The Southern Cross is entirely independent and unsubsidised, surviving on revenue from sales and advertising — and the kind support of our readers? The Southern Cross has survived for nearly 100 years on strength of tight financial management and the great sacrifices by its small, loyal staff. But now the survival of our only national Catholic weekly is in great danger. The closure of our churches in the national lockdown has robbed us of our main source of income: sales at the church door.
We have made the weekly edition available for FREE on our website, going online every Friday at 11:00. That way, all Catholics will have access to the Catholic weekly. Subscribers get their edition on Wednesdays, with premium content for the duration of the lockdown. We are asking those who take up our offer of the free newspaper to make a donation, or to subscribe. An encouraging number of people have already done so. We remain positive that by God’s grace we can survive this crisis. But that also requires YOUR help.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
• Subscribe and encourage people to subscribe to The Southern Cross. Go to digital.scross.co.za/subscribe (or click HERE) or subscriptions@scross.co.za • if you run a business, advertising in The Southern Cross is a great way of supporting us. it could turn out to be a great commercial decision, as many advertisers have found. Contact Yolanda at advertising@scross.co.za • Support our Associates’ Campaign which helps us build up reserves and undertake important outreach work. Go to digital.scross.co.za/associates-
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