200826

Page 1

The Centenary Jubilee Year

S outher n C ross www.scross.co.za

August 26 to September 1, 2020

Interview with SACBC’s new ‘No. 2 leader’

Page 9

Reg no. 1920/002058/06

no 5200

R12 (incl VAT RSA)

How a priest found out he was no priest

The people behind new Fatima film

Page 5

Page 8

Bishop: Let women lead in the Church By AgneS AineAH

A

Archbishop Dabula Mpako of Pretoria ordained Frs Johannes Sibanyoni (inset top left) and Harry Bopape (right) to the priesthood and Rev Jason Lottering to the transitory diaconate at Sacred Heart cathedral. (Photos: Mathibela Sebothoma)

BISHOP has lauded women who assume ministerial roles in the absence of clergy, and urged the local Church to find ways of encouraging more women to take up leadership positions in the Church, including enrolling for theology classes. “We must ensure that women are included in the heart of the Church so that we can enjoy the fullness of human reflection, male and female, in the formation of our moral, doctoral and pastoral life,” Bishop Victor Phalana of Klerksdorp said in a video. “Women must also be encouraged to be trained in theology and in other Church disciplines. This is our weakest point in Southern Africa.” According to Bishop Phalana, other countries in Africa perform better than South Africa when it comes to encouraging lay and religious women to train in canon law, scripture and theology. “We still have a lot of work towards encouraging women in South Africa to follow this path, and it is perhaps time for the Church in Southern Africa to create a special scholarship for women and girls who would like to go and pursue those studies, so that we can have this kind of resources in our Church,” the bishop said, adding that “we need more Catholic women writers”. The message to commemorate South Africa’s Women’s Month, Bishop Phalana said, is a call for everyone to celebrate the role of women in the country’s liberation. “I am proud to say that in our diocese, women play a very significant role. They are

part of our leadership structures in our diocese,” he said. “We have opted for a collaborative type of leadership where the laity and particularly women play a significant role.” Women also lead funerals services which, according to Bishop Phalana, is a very important ministry. “During funerals they [women] are there comforting the bereaved, ministering to them and preaching the Word of God and leading burial rites,” he said. “They are the ones who are there with the dying, giving them the bread of life especially in cases where the priest is not present,” he says. The bishop noted that texts, prayers and hymns—especially English ones—sometimes are sexist. “We cannot tolerate the liturgy of males. It must be a liturgy of men and women who are equal members of the Body of Christ. We are a Church that speaks of justice and must first be just in our actions,” said Bishop Phalana. “Let us check sexist language and perhaps work at eradicating it.” According to the 59-year-old bishop, the traditional role of women in the Church has been to pray, to pay, to obey, to clean the Church, to arrange flowers and wash vestments, and to go home. “Today, however, the Church has roles open for women and, thank God, they are exercising those roles in our diocese,” he said, referring to positions such as proclaimers of the Word of God, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, altar servers, catechists, and parish finance committee members as some of the roles women can participate in.— ACI Africa

How parishes can earn with us!

As you will have seen by now, The Southern Cross will relaunch as a magazine in late September — in print and digitally.

We are very excited about the magazine, which will sell for only R30, and we are certain that many Catholics will be interested in this new publication with a proud history.

And for parishes and sodalities and organisations who sell The Southern Cross magazine in their communities we have more good news:

For every magazine sold, we give a commission of R5,00.

Of course we are aware that nobody knows when parishes can return to holding their full schedule of Masses. But we could not delay the launch of The Southern Cross magazine any further — the alternative was to close the

publication down altogether.

So we need help in the parishes and sodalities to make sure the printed magazine gets into people’s hands. This is a matter of keeping The Southern Cross alive!

We are asking parishes to stock The Southern Cross magazine, and make it known to parishioners through your various channels of communication, like Facebook and WhatsApp: to spread the word about the magazine and to encourage parishioners to order theirs.

They could fetch it from your parish office while we wait for Masses to resume, or maybe a kind parishioner might drop copies off at the homes of those who can’t or shouldn’t come out.

Or parishes could appoint one of their ministries (like the ushers) or sodalities or the SVP to take charge of making sure that all parishioners who would like the magazine will get it.

Maybe even YOU might volunteer to get together a group of people from your parish to make sure there’ll be a Catholic magazine in as many Catholic homes as possible.

The possibilities to help keep The Southern Cross alive are endless!

Is the magazine the end of Catholic news? Of course not: our website and Facebook page will continue to bring the latest news. And what will feature in the magazine? Well, an array of articles relating to all things

Catholic: faith and society, interviews, personalities, burning questions, travel, prayer, millennials, family, education, spiritual reflections, a pull-out poster of a Saint of the Month, as well as fun stuff like the popular crossword, wordsearch, trivia quiz, and much more...

We are taking orders already so that we can get the magazine to you by the beginning of October. Parishes and sodalities/organisations/shops can order copies for sale by emailing admin@scross.co.za or calling Pamela on 083 233-1956. Remember, the cover price is R30, including VAT and we are offering R5 to the parish as commission for every copy sold. You will not be charged for any unsold copies!

The future of our Southern Cross is in your hands! PLEASE help us get the new magazine out there.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.