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Covid-19 shuts Radio Veritas for a week

BY ERIN CARELSE

Radio Veritas station manager and morning show presenter Khanya Litabe, masked up in the studio before it closed.

R Ora et Labora in action. Due to Covid-19 lockdown regulations, Brothers of the Congregation of Missionaries of Mariannhill remained at Abbot Francis House in Merrivale, KwaZulu-Natal, instead of going for their winter break. Instead of resting at home, they renovated the formation house and undertook other chores. This included making stools from trees they chopped as these blocked Internet reception for their online classes. (Photo: Fr Bheki Shabalala CMM)

Notre-Dame will be as it was

P

RESIDENT Emmanuel Macron of France has announced that the Notre-Dame cathedral spire will be rebuilt as a replica of the one destroyed in last year’s fire.

Mr Macron’s government had previously initiated an architectural competition to submit a variety of suggestions for the restoration. The president has also called for “an inventive reconstruction” of the cathedral with a more contemporary design.

The possibility of a new design for the spire of the historic building had been controversial. The designs proposed included a rooftop swimming pool and a greenhouse atop the 850-year-old cathedral.

Last year, the French senate passed a bill mandating that Notre-Dame be rebuilt as it was before the fire.

Mr Macron’s change of mind on the spire construction is due to a desire to finish the project quickly, the BBC reported. Paris is scheduled to host the Olympics in 2024, and choosing a new design for the spire would have delayed the construction.

Since the adoption of the 1905 law on separation of Church and state, which formalised

Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris before the fire, seen from the left bank of the Seine. laïcité (a strict form of public secularism), religious buildings in France have been property of the state.

A major fire broke out in Notre-Dame cathedral on the evening of April 15, 2019.

The roof and the spire were destroyed.

Its original spire was constructed in the 13th century, but was replaced in the 19th century due to damage.—CNA

The

ADIO VERITAS had to close its studios and offices this week after the station recorded its first coronavirus case.

Station manager Khanya Litabe, who also presents the weekday breakfast programme “Matins” with former SABC broadcaster Colin Yorke, started displaying flu-like symptoms last week and decided to stay home.

“I was at work when I felt my body getting tired—as if something heavy had been placed on my shoulders. I had no temperature, no fever, but my throat was scratchy and my nose was blocked,” Mr Litabe recalled about the first indications of the infection.

“This was followed by the loss of smell and taste. When I went to see my doctor, she immediately recommended a Covid-19 test.”

He received a positive results over the weekend.

“As it stands now, I feel much better,” Mr Litabe told The Southern Cross on Monday.

“The headaches, pain and exhaustion are not as bad as they were when it all began.

I’m self-quarantining at home with my family and taking all the necessary medication.”

Mr Yorke has gone into quarantine and is self-isolating for two weeks as a precautionary measure, since he was Mr Litabe’s only close contact in the studio.

The Radio Veritas studios and offices in Edenvale, Johannesburg, were closed with immediate effect for deep cleaning and to sanitise to ensure that it is safe when the rest of the staff returns to work on July 20.

Due to the offices being closed this week, Radio Veritas could not schedule normal programming from July 13-19.

During this period, local programming includes the daily Zulu rosary at 5:00, and the Angelus and English rosary at 6:00. Other than that, the station is streaming content from the US Catholic broadcaster EWTN until normal programming resumes on July 20.

Olinda Orlando, the producer of Mr Litabe’s morning show, said the staff of Radio Veritas are grateful “for all the wonderful messages” since the news of the Covid crisis was made public.

“There has been a really tremendous outpouring of love and care for Khanya, and for all of the staff at Radio Veritas, and we are extremely grateful,” she said.

“We ask everyone to pray for Khanya and his family, and also for Radio Veritas because this is not a good time for us to be unavailable to our listeners. People really want and need their daily Mass and enjoy the programmes,” Ms Orlando said.

Mr Litabe echoed the sentiment: “We are truly grateful to the Catholic family for all the prayers and words of encouragement and the general ‘We Care’ spirit. Radio Veritas is, because you are.”

Radio Veritas is South Africa’s only Catholic radio station, broadcasting on 576AM in Gauteng, on DStv audio channel 870, and livestreams audio through its website at www.radioveritas.co.za.

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the Southern cross, July 15 to July 21, 2020

TRIBUTE

Bishop Zithulele Patrick Mvemve remembered

By BIShop VIctoR phAlANA

B

ISHOP Emeritus Zithulele Patrick Mvemve of Klerksdorp, who died on July 6 (as reported last week) was born on May 31, 1941, in Evaton, and ordained a priest for the diocese of Johannesburg in 1969.

In 1986, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Johannesburg, and in 1994 bishop of Klerksdorp.

Bishop Mvemve resigned in 2013 and settled in Soweto, in his home diocese, courtesy of Archbishop Buti Tlhagale.

As bishop of Klerksdorp, he was passionate about building the local Church. He made Justice & Peace a priority and also the base of evangelisation.

His approach to pastoral work was not simply the conversion of individuals and baptising them, but to evangelise people’s culture in a deep way.

A main concern was the fate of farm workers and mineworkers, and the problems of poverty and racism.

During the scourge of HIV/Aids, Bishop Mvemve ensured that the diocese responded to it through education, prayer services, awareness, and the distribution of food and medicine. He also ensured that the youth were introduced to the Education for Life programme, into which significant diocesan resources were invested, because he could see many lives being saved, good values being passed on and the youth changing behaviour.

He promoted the 1989 Pastoral Plan of the bishops’ conference, with an emphasis on Small Christian Communities. His aim was to move people from being “Sunday

Christians” towards Christians practising their faith on a daily basis in their own neighbourhoods.

Bishop Mvemve spoke about moving from a clerical monopoly of ministry by priests, to a shared ministry with married deacons and lay people, thus giving more responsibility and participation to Christians.

He tried also to move the diocese from a passive assembly of hearers of the Word preached by the priest towards an interest in sharing the Word of God in small groups and relating it to the lives of the people.

For this, he spent diocesan resources sending people for formation, preferring the courses offered

by Lumko and the Bible College.

While he supported sodalities and even founded one for young adults, called Ss Agnes and Aloysius, Bishop Mvemve’s desire was to move them from a purely devotional spirituality—exclusively centred on prayer, devotions and liturgical celebrations—towards an apostolic spirituality-oriented love and service of others.

Coming to this diocese five years ago, I appreciated the ministry of this sodality as it is based on the Works of Mercy and the Works of Charity.

Leader of men Bishop Mvemve was a good leader. He was active and creative.

He spent most of his time and energy putting up structures in his new diocese and renewing institutions. He was a servant leader who was influential, humble and a community-builder.

The clergy and laity of Klerksdorp remember him as a leader of faith, who trusted God and who insisted on the love of God and the

Bishop Mvemve is seen here celebrating Mass in the basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth during a Southern Cross pligrimage in 2010. love of neighbour.

He was an enabler, a teambuilder, a team-worker, and someone who always tried to bring out the best in people.

Bishop Mvemve was known as the bishop of second chances. He knew that a person must never be cast aside simply because of a defect. According to the bishop, erring members of the Body of Christ, who acknowledge their sin, should be treated like the prodigal son who was welcomed back with music, a new robe, ring and shoes, and a great banquet (cf. Luke 15:11-32).

Bishop Mvemve knew that he was called to holiness and through his commitment to prayer, the rosary and the Holy Eucharist, he had a strong spirituality. He also spoke openly to people about

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human weakness, including his own.

If we can think of weakness as only a bad thing in this world, something that we have to overcome, something we need to stand strong and fight against, something we need to be victorious over, we will not understand the Christian faith. The very heart of God’s work in Jesus Christ is that God’s power is seen in what looks like weakness to the world.

Focus on catechesis Bishop Mvemve believed in the role of catechesis. Jesus the Good News is proclaimed through the kerygma; deepened in catechesis, celebrated in the liturgy, and lived by the witness of our lives.

With this understanding, he

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opted for the catechetical content and formation offered by the late Stigmatine Father Angelo Dusi. He invited the priest several times, from Pretoria, to come and address both the clergy and catechists in Klerksdorp.

Bishop Mvemve had the concept of catechesis as a journey and he tried to implant in the minds of the clergy and the faithful of Klerksdorp that for the post-Vatican II Church, catechesis is an ongoing formation.

For he struggled to do away with sacramental catechesis and tried, with some limited success, to replace it with a continuous catechetical formation of children and youth from age five to 17.

As auxiliary bishop of Johannesburg, Bishop Mvemve attended my priestly ordination in Medunsa, Pretoria archdiocese, in 1994. He was the preacher of the day and gave an inspiring message, ending by calling me to be strong and courageous.

We are mere mortals. On Ash Wednesday, we use ashes. Ashes symbolise mourning and also our mortality. They symbolise our frailty.

After all, our bodies are from the dust, and the particles of the earth are held up together by the finger of God, and when God lets go of his grip upon us, we go back to the dust again. Bishop Mvemve has gone back to dust, and also back to his Creator.

The successor of the Apostles is going back home: a man who was an authentic teacher of the faith and a wise pastor of the flock.

Bishop Mvemve was buried on July 14, where he wanted to be buried: in Johannesburg, his home diocese.

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The Southern Cross, July 15 to July 21, 2020

LOCAL

3

Migrants hit hard by coronavirus pandemic

BY ERIN CARELSE

T

HOSE who were already in vulnerable situations before the coronavirus pandemic are the ones hit hardest by it.

This observation was a key in a policy briefing on the pandemic by United Nations secretary-general António Guterres, who reminded countries of their obligation to protect people on the move.

This is particularly true for many people such as migrants in irregular situations, migrant workers with precarious livelihoods, victims of human trafficking, as well as people fleeing their homes because of persecution, war, violence, human rights violations or disaster, noted Fr Peter-John Pearson, director of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office.

The statistics of people on the move, he said, are bewildering: 26 million refugees, 45,7 million internally displaced persons, 4,2 million asylum-seekers, 4,2 million stateless persons, and 272 million migrants.

A record 50 million people were displaced in 2019 alone. Some 68% of all displaced persons came from five countries: Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar.

At the same time the pandemic is likely to cause a 5,2% contraction in global GDP, despite efforts by governments to counter this.

“The situation is dire, and much more so for people on the move. It is also sure to create an even greater number of mobile people as they seek to sustain themselves,” said Fr Pearson.

Three linked crises In the brief, Dr Guterres said that the disproportionate impact on mobile people was due to three interlocking crises.

Firstly, a health crisis—people on the move lack resources to protect themselves, they have limited access to health provisions, and their living conditions do not allow them to keep physical distancing.

He underlined the situation of undocumented people vulnerable to detention and deportation.

“In South Africa, it has been noted that most undocumented people do not avail of public testing and therefore are at great risk to any containment practices. The reason they do not go is that proof of identity is required for the test, and they fear the consequences of the discovery of their status,” Fr Pearson explained.

The second crisis is socioeconomic. People on the move rely mostly on unstable jobs and survive on precarious livelihoods.

They are also least likely to qualify for access to socioeconomic support during the pandemic.

Dr Guterres observed that loss of employment and wages during the pandemic is also a leading cause of the decline in migrant remittances, with devastating effects for the 300 million people who live off them.

The other pandemic Fr Pearson noted that the pandemic has spawned greater violence against women and children, and that many understand this as part of the cycle of gendered inequality that plays out simultaneously on several levels.

become entrenched as part of an accommodation of xenophobic and racist sentiments.

“In South Africa, truck drivers have threatened to close down highways in protest against the employment of foreign nationals in the trucking and other industries.

Posters on social media calling for the shutting down of foreignowned shops and the deportation of foreigners have raised the fear of new xenophobic attacks,” he said.

Four basic challenges

A man holds a placard during a demonstration outside the Greek parliament in Athens on June 26. Fr Peter-John Pearson of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office has echoed an observation by the UN secretary-general that those who were already in vulnerable situations before the coronavirus pandemic are the ones hit hardest by it, including refugees and other displaced people. (Photo: Alkis Konstantinidis, Reuters/CNS) “President Ramaphosa has aptly called this the ‘other pandemic’,” the priest said.

Statistics indicate that a third of all women in South Africa have been either sexually or physically assaulted, and about 50% of all women have been emotionally or economically abused, and somewhere from 12%-28% have been raped, Fr Pearson said.

The third crisis Dr Guterres names is the protection crisis.

The closure of borders and other

restrictions on movement, designed to curb the spread of the virus, have also had the effect of trapping people in dangerous situations, often as they were en route to a safer destination.

Some migrants are forced to return to their countries of origin that often have fragile health systems and social support, and where extra persons pose a threat to frail systems.

According to Fr Pearson, there is also the growing fear that temporary rules against free movement in an attempt to curb the virus may

Dr Guterres proposed four basic challenges “to guide the collective response”.

First, he says that exclusion is costly in the long run whereas inclusion pays off for everyone.

Secondly, the response to Covid19 and protecting the human rights of people on the move are not mutually exclusive.

Thirdly, no one is safe until everyone is safe.

Finally, people on the move are part of the solution.

Fr Pearson pointed out that these four pillars offer an opportunity to construct policies based on human rights, respect, and cognisant of the protection every human being is entitled to, regardless of status.

“When we are able to flesh these tenets out with new policies and practices, we would have allowed this profoundly difficult moment to at least bear some positive fruit for people on the move,” Fr Pearson said.

“This is a tremendous challenge and the nations of the world must not be found wanting.”

Junior school pupils welcomed back with sanitiser and soft toys for comfort

BY ERIN CARELSE

A Grade 2 learner Bulelwa Moyana has her bag and soft toy sanitised by principal Lynne Elfick as St Teresa’s Junior Primary School in Craighall Park, Johannesburg, welcomed pupils back.

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MID bubbles and colourful decorations, St Teresa’s Junior Primary School in Craighall Park, Johannesburg, welcomed all its girls back to school last week Principal Lynne Elfick was on hand to welcome them and sterilise their bags, shoes and soft toys, together with administrative staff Dale Marsh and Meredith Heinzelmann, who collected the girls’ health-check slips, recorded their temperatures and sterilised their hands.

All the learners arrived at school wearing their masks and had the op-

tion to wear school uniforms or civvies.

“As they need to come to school each day with a clean set of clothes, both options were given to make it easier for parents. The girls were also allowed to bring a soft toy, which will stay at school, to ease any anxiety,” Ms Elfick explained.

The teachers were excited to welcome the pupils to their classrooms which had been rearranged to meet all the necessary Covid-19 health and safety regulations.

Fun activities centred around the core subjects were the order of the day, to settle the girls back into a

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Breaks were staggered throughout the morning and all playgrounds and the field were used to allow for social distancing.

Breaks included playtime with games and outdoor equipment, with strict sanitisation in place.

“The sound of laughter, singing and dancing were a joy to hear,” Ms Elfick said.

Term 2 will continue with the older girls attending school three days a week and the younger girls attending twice a week. Online learning will continue on the other days.

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the Southern cross, July 15 to July 21, 2020

INTERNATIONAL

Pope sad as iconic Hagia ‘Epicentre’ hospital free Sophia becomes mosque of intensive care patients S P

By Junno Arocho EStEvES & StAFF rEPortEr

OPE Francis said he was saddened after a Turkish court ruled to revert the iconic Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque, while Muslim leaders in Cape Town also condemned the move.

While commemorating the International Day of the Sea during his Sunday Angelus address, the pope told pilgrims in St Peter’s Square that “the sea carries me a little farther away in my thoughts: to Istanbul”.

“I think of Hagia Sophia, and I am very saddened,” he said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree to hand over control of Hagia Sophia to the country’s Directorate of Religious Affairs after Turkey’s highest court revoked its status as a museum on July 10.

The iconic former church will be open for Muslim prayers from July 24.

The cathedral, founded by Emperor Justinian I on the site of two earlier churches, was the world’s largest at its dedication in 537.

Hagia Sophia remained a cathedral for the Byzantine Empire until 1453, when it served as a mosque following the Ottoman capture of Constantinople, today’s Istanbul, for nearly five centuries.

Under Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, it then became a museum in 1935. It was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1985.

In a video message after the court ruling, Mr Erdogan said that Hagia Sophia will remain “open to all locals, foreigners, Muslims and non-Muslims”.

The pope’s comments on the decision were the latest from world and religious leaders who criticised the ruling, including Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.

In a homily the patriarch warned that the decision “will push millions of Christians around the world against Islam”.

It is “absurd and harmful that Hagia Sophia, from a place that now allows the two peoples to meet us and admire its greatness, can again become a reason for contrast and confrontation”, he said.

Echoing the patriarch’s words, Ioan Sauca, interim general secretary of the World Council of Churches, expressed his concern

TAFF at the Pope John XXIII hospital in Bergamo—once the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy—announced they had no more patients with coronavirus in their intensive care unit.

After 137 days of trying to keep critically ill patients alive, staff gathered for a moment of silence to remember those who had passed away in their wards, followed by applause for the more than 400 hospital workers in the department.

Maria Beatrice Stasi, directorgeneral of the hospital, told reporters they had discharged the last patient to recover from Covid-19, marking “a moment of great emotion” and relief as the intensive care unit can now accommodate other patients and staff can return to their regular uniforms.

At the worst point of the crisis, which began with their first patient being admitted on February 23, the ICU had more than 100 patients intubated.

the hagia Sophia in Istanbul, which once was christendom's greatest church, then a mosque and since 1935 a neutral museum, will revert to being a mosque by decree of turkey’s president. the decision has been criticised by Pope Francis, other christian leaders, and many Muslims around the world. (Photo: K Boonnitrod/cnA) that the decision will “inevitably create uncertainties, suspicions and mistrust, undermining all our efforts to bring people of different faiths together at the table of dialogue and cooperation”.

I

n Cape Town, the influential Claremont Main Road Masjid (CMRM) criticised the Hagia Sophia’s reversion to a mosque.

In the 85 years since it was turned into a museum, “the story of Hagia Sofia has been foregrounded as a symbol of religious coexistence in modern Turkey”, the CMRM said in a statement issued by its governors.

“The history of violent conquest and conversion of the Hagia Sofia from church to mosque has never been forgotten, but the greater spirit of a shared humanity and heritage in the form of this awe-inspiring architectural wonder has magnanimously been invoked across generations,” it said.

The CMRM called the reversion of Hagia Sophia to a mosque “a deliberate provocation to orthodox Christian communities in Turkey and elsewhere and a betrayal of the sublime Islamic teachings of benevolence and interreligious harmony”.

“Such an inspirational teaching of interreligious peacebuilding and magnanimity is strikingly articulated in Surah al-Hajj, chapter

22 verse 40, where Allah, the Lord of Compassionate Justice, exhorts Muslims to safeguard and protect all sacred places of worship, including churches, monasteries and synagogues,” the CMRM said.

Noting that Istanbul “is dotted with magnificent masajid both ancient and new, including the great Sultan Ahmad Masjid or “Blue Mosque” situated less than 100m from the Hagia Sofia...there is certainly no space problem in accommodating the large numbers of Muslim worshippers in Istanbul’s masajid”.

“The decision to now repurpose the Hagia Sofia does not serve a religious purpose,” the Muslim leaders said.

“A masjid is a house of reverence, reflection and worship but this political move constitutes a hegemonic display of power and Muslim religious dominance by Turkey’s ruling party and its populist president,” the CMRM statement said.

“Further, it is injurious to an ethos of religious plurality and interfaith harmony that we, as conscientious Muslims, should seek to uphold.”

Calling for the decision to be overturned, the CMRM said: “The Hagia Sophia could continue to serve as a great monument to interfaith harmony and peaceful coexistence.”

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Luca Lorini, head of the intensive care and reanimation department, told reporters that the exceptional effort and teamwork by staff led them to the “great result” of having no more Covid-19 patients in their unit.

“We had the courage to tell the truth” about the numbers of critically ill people they were treating, he said, and “what we did during this early phase saved a piece of the world”, he said.

“We showed we could do it with the little information and resources we had at the start of the outbreak, but now we must not be unprepared, we must prepare for a future that no scientist can foresee, but we must be ready for another return of Covid,” Dr Lorini said.

“People must maintain an attitude of caution; it will do no harm to keep washing hands or wear a facemask until we get to zero infections, zero patients and zero dead from the coronavirus,” he said.— CNS

Once demon-possessed, now set for sainthood

By Junno Arocho EStEvES

P

OPE Francis advanced the sainthood causes of an Italian laywoman who was once believed to be demonically possessed because of her violent convulsions after drinking unsafe water.

In a meeting with Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, the pope recognised a miracle attributed to Mariantonia Samà, which clears the way for her beatification. She now bears the title “Venerable”.

Ven Samà was born into a poor family in the Italian region of Calabria in 1875. At 11, while returning home from washing clothes, she drank from a water puddle.

At home, Mariantonia became immobile and subsequently experienced convulsions, which led many during that time to believe she was possessed by evil spirits, according to the official website of Ven Samà’s sainthood cause.

After an unsuccessful exorcism at a Carthusian monastery, she could stand and showed signs of healing only after a reliquary containing the remains of St Bruno, founder of the Carthusian order, was placed before her.

Mariantonia Samà, believed to have been demon-possessed after drinking water from a puddle, was bedridden for most of her life.

However, her healing was shortlived as she was afflicted with arthritis, causing her to be bedridden for the next 60 years. During those years, the people of her town rallied to take care of her after the death of her mother.

The Congregation of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart then took care of Ven Samà until her death in 1953 at the age of 78.

Ven Samà, unable to walk from the age of 22, came to be regarded as holy by the neighbouring villages who came to see her especially during times of trouble, such as World War II and the earthquake of 1947 in Italy.—CNS

Iraqi Christians face extinction

By DorEEn ABI rAAD

W

ITHOUT immediate action from the international community, Christians in northern Iraq could be endangered with extinction, warns a new report from the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

The report, “Life after ISIS: New Challenges for Christianity in Iraq”, is based on a survey of Christians in the liberated Nineveh Plains.

With anticipated emigration, ACN says the region’s Christian population could plummet to 23 000 within four years. That is a reduction of 80% from the months before the 2014 ISIS invasion.

This would move the Christian community from the category of “vulnerable” to the critical category of “endangered with extinction”, the report states.

“The international community must take immediate and decisive action to tackle the problems which are threatening the continuing Christian

A priest carries a crucifix during a procession of christians in Qaraqosh, Iraq. A report by Aid to the church in need warns that christians in northern Iraq face extinction through emigration. (Photo: Acn) presence in Iraq,” said Edward Clancy, director of outreach for ACN-USA. “It is more important than ever that world leaders work together to prevent Christian numbers falling further in Iraq.”

ACN’s survey indicates that security and political reasons

remain the primary driver of emigration.

According to the report, 87% of the Christians feel “unsafe or absolutely unsafe”, and 67% believe it is likely or very likely that ISIS or a similar group will return in the next five years. Of those wishing to emigrate, 69% cite political and security reasons as the primary reason.

The region also suffers from a poor economy.

“The primary driver of the poor economy is the state of Iraq as a whole, which is burdened by sanctions, poor security, extreme corruption, and an unpredictable political system,” the report states.

In its report, ACN suggests nongovernmental organisations, Churches and governments seeking to improve the condition of Christians in Iraq should emphasise advocacy leading to the restoration of security in the Ninevah Plains.

Foreign governments should exert pressure on the governments in Baghdad and Irbil, the report says.—CNS

The Southern Cross, July 15 to July 21, 2020

INTERNATIONAL

5

Bishop: Catholics stop tearing each other apart online now

B

ISHOP Robert Barron, a wellknown communicator and evangeliser, has called on Catholics online to cut out personal attacks on social media and better represent their Christian faith through their engagement.

Bishop Barron, an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, issued a “pastoral cry of the heart” to encourage Catholics to stop tearing each other apart online and instead provide well-structured and charitable arguments.

“I understand that people are passionate, especially about religious matters, but when it comes to this commentary we always must keep truth and love in the forefront,” he said.

Speaking of social media, Bishop Barron said: “I must admit, the vitriol, negativity, personal attacks, and outright calumny that come regularly from self-professed Catholics is dismaying and disedifying in the extreme.”

The video message followed an article Barron had written, which he said drew unhealthy criticism from mobs of right-wing Catholics who responded not with arguments but vicious insults.

For four days, the bishop had to assign coworkers to assess and remove disturbing comments from his different social media pages,

Bishop Robert Barron. (Photo: CNA) he said.

“In the wake of my article, armies of commenters, encouraged by certain Internet provocateurs, inundated my Twitter and all my social media sites with wave upon wave of the most hateful, vituperative, venomous words that you can imagine,” the bishop said.

“I was called spineless, gutless, cowardly—and that’s just to mention the most benign and unobscene remarks.”

As a public figure on social media, Bishop Barron said in his video, he expects vocal opposition and even welcomes well-formed criticism. He said even the most finely articulated demonstration is susceptible to objections and

new suggestions.

But the comments he received last week were a “moral outrage”, he said. Rather than challenges offered in love and truth, the comments were “calumny”—mean-spirited accusations that violate both charity and justice.

“There is a sharp distinction between legitimate argument and calumny. A real argument, involving the marshalling of evidence, the citation of authorities, the fair and careful reporting of one’s opponent’s position, etc, is morally praiseworthy,” the bishop said.

“For real argument fosters both truth and love. It seeks to shed light on what is really the case—truth— and to invite others to see more clearly—it’s a type of love,” he said.

“Calumny, on the other hand, is indifferent to truth and inimical to love.”

Bishop Barron said that online mob comments and abusive reviews do not help promote change but are, instead, anti-evangelical.

If non-Catholics who are curious about the faith were to observe such behaviour, he said, they would be repelled by the insidious comments of Catholics toward their pastors.

Catholics should be examples of charity, and model respectful disagreement within the Catholic community.—CNA

‘High command’ gave order to kill Jesuits in ‘89’

BY DAVID AGREN

A

FORMER Salvadoran army officer has testified that the “high command” gave orders to eliminate Jesuit priests in 1989 during the country’s civil war. He also said the Central American country’s right-wing president would have known of the crimes to be committed and did not intervene.

The testimony was offered at the trial of Inocente Orlando Montano, a former colonel in the army of El Salvador, who is on trial in Spain for the murders of six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter on the campus of a Catholic university.

“The entire operation was or-

dered by the high command,” testified Yusshy Rene Mendoza, a former lieutenant in the Salvadoran army and a cooperating witness.

Mr Mendoza said his superior, Guillermo Benavides, a former colonel and then-director of the army academy, told troops the night before the crime that an order had come to move against Spanish Jesuit Father Ignacio Ellacuria, rector of Central American University in San Salvador.

“Benavides told me that he had to execute the order that had been received and Montano was one of the persons that gave the order to eliminate Fr Ellacuria. He told me that several times,” Mr Mendoza, who worked as an assistant to Colonel Benavides, told the court.

Mr Mendoza testified that “according to Benavides’ order, if there wasn’t a reversal of the order, it’s because the president had to have approved it.”

Mr Montano, 76, faces charges of murder and a sentence of up to 150 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors allege he participated in “the decision, design or execution of the killings”. He has pleaded not guilty.

Fr Ellacuria was a prominent figure in the peace talks to end the civil war, in which right-wing death squads and left-wing rebels fought and 75 000 lives were lost. Mr Mendoza testified that the perception in the military was that Fr Ellacuria supported the guerrilla cause.— CNS

Online tourism breathes new life into industry

BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES

A

S museums and historical sites in Italy slowly begin opening their doors after several months of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, technology may prove to be the “renaissance” the country’s tourism industry desperately needs.

Recently, countries within the European Union have opened their borders following months of lockdowns and restrictions. However, nonessential travel from countries still reeling from the increasing number of infections—including the United States, Brazil and Russia—is still barred.

The travel restrictions, consequently, have caused oncebustling tourist hotspots in Rome

Online virtual tours have become a way for would-be tourists to take in the breathtaking masterpieces on display in the museums’ hallowed halls. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS) during the summer months to be practically empty.

Nevertheless, as the saying goes, necessity is truly the mother of invention.

The pandemic dramatically

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changed the way in which people communicate, buy and sell goods and services, as well as engaging in activities, like visiting museums, all with a click of a mouse or a swipe on a tablet.

Already in 2018, the Vatican Museums worked on developing seamless virtual walkthroughs of its vast collections with a 360-degree, high-definition view available through its website, www.museivaticani.va.

Originally conceived as a way of temporarily resolving accessibility issues, particularly for visitors using wheelchairs, the virtual tours have become a way for would-be tourists unable to travel to take in the breathtaking masterpieces on display in the museums’ hallowed halls.—CNS

Twin sisters Ervina and Prefina, who had been joined at the back of the head since birth, with their mother, Ermine, at the Bambino Gesu hospital in Rome. (Photo: Bambino Gesu Hospital/Reuters/CNS)

Twins conjoined at head separated at Vatican hospital

BY CAROL GLATZ

A

FTER more than a year of preliminary studies and three difficult operations, a medical team at the Vatican-owned paediatric hospital successfully separated conjoined twin girls.

Born with an extremely rare condition of being totally joined at the back of the cranium, the 2-year-old girls, Ervina and Prefina, had recovered well from their last procedure on June 5 and were expected to continue thriving, staff at the Bambino Gesu pediatric hospital said.

The girls were born on the feast of Ss Peter and Paul, on June 29, 2018, in Mbaiki, Central African Republic, then taken to the capital, Bangui, to the children’s hospital Pope Francis had visited in 2015 and continued to support with donations and assistance afterward.

Mariella Enoc, president of Bambino Gesu in Rome, was in the Bangui hospital to oversee some of their ongoing support and, after seeing the infant twins, she proposed they go to Rome, with their mother, to see if they could be separated.

The girls’ mother, Ermine, said at the news conference: “Now they can run, laugh, study and even be-

Man arrested after crashing car into church and setting it on fire

A

MAN has been arrested after he reportedly admitted to crashing a minivan into a church in Florida, US, and then setting it on fire.

Stephen Anthony Shields, 24, has been charged with attempted murder, arson, burglary, and evading arrest, after he was apprehended by police on July 11.

The Sheriff’s Office reported that deputies were called at about 7:30 to Queen of Peace church in Ocala, which was set aflame while parishioners inside prepared for morning Mass.

Mr Shields poured petrol in the church’s foyer and ignited it, after crashing his minivan through the parish’s front door. He then drove away in the minivan, leading officers on a short chase before he was stopped.

According to local media, Mr Shields told police he has been diag-

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come doctors to save the lives of others.”

She thanked everyone for their help, particularly Pope Francis for what he has been doing for children in Bangui. She said her one wish now was for the pope to baptise the girls.

Twins conjoined at the head occurs in one out of 2,5 million live births and in five cases out of every 100 000 sets of twins.

Ervina and Prefina had an even rarer condition of being completely joined in the back of their heads, sharing not just the skull, but also a critical network of veins directing blood from the brain to the heart to be reoxygenated.

After extensive studies, including utilising advanced 3-D imaging and simulated surgeries, the girls underwent three operations, the first in May 2019 and the last in June; which took 18 hours and involved a team of more than 30 doctors and nurses.

Hospital staff helped prepare the girls for their eventual separation by giving them each a mirror so they could see and explore each other’s faces and build on their relationship through sharing their facial expressions.—CNS

nosed with schizophrenia but is not currently taking prescribed medication. He said that he awoke that morning with a “mission”, and that he purchased the petrol at a nearby filling station, according to OcalaNews.

Mr Shields also quoted scripture, especially the Book of Revelation, to officers, and telling them his objections to the Catholic Church. He told officers that he understood the consequences of his action, nevertheless saying the arson was “awesome” and referring to himself as “king”.

The diocese of Orlando said that Masses would resume in a nearby parish hall as ordinarily scheduled.

“We praise God that no one was injured. We join in prayer for Fr O’Doherty, the parishioners of Queen of Peace, our first responders and the gentleman who caused this damage,” the diocese said.—CNA

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6

The Southern Cross, July 15 to July 21, 2020

The

LEADER PAGE

S outher n C ross Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Let’s all be decent

A

CHILLING four-panel post is at present making the rounds on social media. They show Facebook updates by a 37-year-old American named Richard Rose III of Port Clinton, Ohio.

In the first message, dated April 28, Rose writes, verbatim: “Let make this clear. I’m not buying a [expletive] mask. I’ve made it this far by not buying into that damn hype.”

In the second panel, dated July 1, Rose writes: “Well. I’m officially under quarantine for the next 14 days. I just tested positive for Covid-19. Sucks because I had just started a new job!”

The third panel, dated a day later, says: “This covid [expletive] sucks! I’m so out of breath just sitting here.”

The fourth panel is his obituary, posted by a local funeral home, noting Rose’s death on July 4.

The tragedy of Richard Rose will have been replicated many times, in the United States—where the wearing of facemasks has become politicised by conspiracy theorists, ideologues and the bad example of political leaders—and around the world.

In South Africa we too have a mix of mask-objectors who invoke conspiracy theories and lunaticfringe ideology, as well as many who simply are irresponsible towards others.

The evidence of people going about life without facemasks—in dusty townships and on leafy seaside promenades alike—suggests a widespread contempt for others.

In this crisis, it is from the experts that we must take guidance, not from our own intuition, imprudent social media posts, or foolish politicians.

Globally, credible scientists almost unanimously counsel that wearing facemasks reduces the chances of being infected by Covid-19 and of infecting others.

This simple knowledge, even if one wishes to treat it with the illqualified caution of lay opinion, should be enough to persuade all of us that the most civil option is to wear facemasks.

After all, if we were on an operating table, we would be shocked and strongly object if our surgeon turned up to cut us open without wearing a facemask and other protective clothing.

Only the most mindless of those who believe that being mandated to wear a facemask is an inhibition of the freedom to breathe would tell the unprotected sur-

geon to start cutting.

Christians especially should be concerned about non-compliance in regulations that are intended to protect others, especially those most vulnerable to the devastating effects of Covid-19.

Facemasks and other preventative measures are a pro-life matter.

One cannot be pro-life when one is prepared to risk the lives of others, whether this is due to points of ideology, economic benefits or just personal indifference.

When lives are in danger, we have no other options than to adopt those measures that minimise these risks. It is the Christian way.

Of course, Covid-19 is imposing behaviour modifications on us which are becoming increasingly difficult to tolerate.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is at the receiving end of public frustration with the crisis.

For the many mistakes the government has made—and Mr Ramaphosa has conceded missteps—for the most part the government has acted with integrity.

Some of the criticism directed at the president after Sunday’s address to the nation confused valid and universal recommendations, such as the call to avoid family visits, with directives that have legal weight, such as the mandatory wearing of masks in public.

But there are problem areas that must be addressed: the government’s incomprehensible decision to allow for the opening of casinos but not of other industries sits uncomfortably. The permission of 100% occupancy in local taxis suggests that the government has caved to the pressure from an increasingly lawless industry.

And while he rightly reprimanded South Africans for noncompliance and took our booze away (as The Southern Cross warned a month ago), President Ramaphosa might also have told the public about what uncompromising steps would be taken, in this time of national emergency, to hold to account the looters of public funds and thieves of food that were intended to give relief to the poor and struggling.

An address to the nation on this, and other areas of incompetence and corruption, is overdue.

However, none of these criticisms, and others, dispense us from compliance. Put on those facemasks, cancel the parties, and let’s all just be decent people who look out for one another.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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.

Nationwide fasting and prayer for South Africa P EACE to all fellow believers from our Lord Jesus Christ. You are hereby invited to join us in a nationwide three-day fasting and prayer event from Saturday, August 29 to Monday, August 31.

This will be for: 1. Crying before God for all abortions and asking him to forgive South Africa for killing innocent babies in the womb;

‘No masks’ not wholly correct

I

N a letter in your July 1 issue, a fellow reader noted that in the photo of various bishops at the installation of Archbishop Zolile Mpambani that there was “not a mask in sight”.

I am not trying to defend our bishops, but looking closely at the photo, I see that at least Archbishop Dabula Mpako and Bishops Peter Holiday and Edward Risi have masks in one form or another.

Oratile E Kumang, Mangaung/Bloemfontein

Our Lady pleads with us to change

I

N a TV cop show I watched the other day, as they were about to introduce a new character they used the phrase “He’s Old Testament” to let us know this muscled giant would dispense justice swiftly and squarely without compromise or any faffing around.

And so he did.

The God of the Old Testament, the one who flooded the earth in Noah’s day, poured fire from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah, rescued his people from Egypt and gave us the Ten Commandments, has not taken early retirement.

It is said that the Father, in this post-Resurrection era, views the world through the wounds of his Son. It is no less horrifying to him but he sees that the price of our iniquity has been paid by the sacrifice of the Son.

2. Asking for favour and prosperity for every pregnant woman and her baby in the womb; 3. Calling for the Church’s eyes to be opened and to rise up from the dust; 4. Praying for a true revival that changes us from being slaves of sin into slaves of God and his righteousness; 5. Asking God to pour out love Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy. The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate.

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

And even though the state of the world is far worse now than ever in human history, his anger is held back by the merit of Jesus’ sacrifice. The purpose of that sacrifice was to cancel the debt, to make mercy and forgiveness available. For humanity’s part, we are required to seek mercy and accept forgiveness and turn back to God. What happens when humanity stops turning back to him, when a tipping point is reached where the sin is so great and the desire to repent or change is almost entirely absent? He sends a warning.

I was reading about the approved apparitions in Akita in Japan in the 1970s where Our Lady spoke to a Japanese nun about what would happen.

One message reads: “As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before.

Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the

for every unborn child into the hearts of all our political leaders; 6. Calling on government to proclaim a date for a referendum to abolish abortion and new laws that will protect all pregnant women and unborn babies; 7. Asking God to turn his wrath away from South Africa and to pour out prosperity over our land.

Barend Titus, Kimberley

dead. The only arms which will remain for you will be the rosary and the sign left by my Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary.

With the rosary, pray for the pope, the bishops and priests.”

It’s hard to imagine what “envy the dead” might look like, but surely it’s better to avoid it by heeding this and the many other heavenly warnings received.

The local bishop called it an update on Fatima, and if we pay attention to this and the more recent apparitions which point to the same end (although in our day with greater urgency perhaps), disaster can be averted or lessened.

Some people wonder why there are so many apparitions of Mary now. It’s because she is pleading with us to change, to pay attention, to see how precious human souls are and how tragic when lost for lack of prayer or vigilance.

Stephen Clark, Manila, Philippines

Of widowers and the unmarried

D

URING the lockdown I spoke to my neighbour (by phone, of course) to ask how she was managing: “Quite well, thank you, but I am missing my daughter and grandson. Please pray for a poor widow!”

I promised to do so, but remembered that the Bible mentions widows and orphans—but not widowers and the unmarried.

Is this the forgotten quadrant?

Theologians, over to you!

Adrian Kettle, Cape Town

The Southern Cross, July 15 to July 21, 2020

PERSPECTIVES

How naive, Mr Justice!

I T is unfortunate when great men reveal too many secrets about themselves until they dissolve what maintains of their prestige.

This is the feeling I had as I watched the video of our chief justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng, was he tried to convince us that as a Christian, he has a moral obligation to love and support the state of Israel.

To make his point Mr Mogoeng quoted Psalm 122:6—”Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.”

Like most people who interpret the Bible literally, he quoted the Book of Genesis to prove that the land of Palestine was promised and given to the Jewish people

by God. It is rather tiring to have to argue, in 2020, against the conflation of Zionism with a Jewish nation, as if all Jews are Zionists.

Forget the fact that Yeshua, the son of Miriam and the Christ of our faith, was also born in the Palestinian strip of land.

Forget that the indigenous Christians of the land are the victims of Israel’s policies.

Sadly this conflation, proposed by most American-influenced evangelists, is also discernible in Justice Mogoeng, who is also an Evangelical pastor.

As expected, the Israel/US block is using his video to bolster their illegal West Bank land annexation proposal.

The Vatican has sternly warned the US and Israel that these plans will jeopardise all efforts at bringing peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, and further fuel conflicts.

I assume the good judge stands with Is-

rael on this, for fear of what he calls “attracting unprecedented curse”.

This blackmail of a “curse” usually leads to an unthinking faith which serves the greed or agenda of charlatan preachers, fanatics and false prophets.

Benefit of doubt vanished Some of us were willing to give the good judge the benefit of the doubt, because it seemed, from the video, that he was initially concerned with what he sees as a selective harsh censoring of the state of Israel by our government.

He laments, for instance, that our government maintains good diplomatic relations with countries, like Britain, who colonised us and plundered our resources with impunity.

He makes a case about the landless majority of our people whose seeds of poverty were sown by the British’s colonial land dispossession which was har-

A demonstrator holds a Palestinian flag in front of Israeli forces during a protest against Israel’s plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, near Nablus.

(Photo: Raneen Sawafta, Reuters/CNS)

Listen to the youth L AST month we commemorated 20 000 students taking to the streets in protest to apartheid laws.

June 16, 1976 and the protests that followed shows us that young people are not passive recipients of established policy, but are active critics of it, and can unselfishly mobilise in support of meaningful change should the occasion arise.

Who is a youth? The South African National Youth Commission Act of 1996 defines a youth as anyone between the ages of 14-35 years, that’s from secondary school right through to senior positions in industry, in which case they represents a significant 40% of our population.

Young people continue, as before, to strive to emancipate themselves from oppressive social policies which inhibit them from realising their full potential, though to little success.

Apart from the #FeesMustFall campaign of October 2015 which gained successful applicants admittance to free education at the beginning of this academic year, very few of the youth movements received any serious attention, though not for a lack of trying.

The steady manifestation of student protests at universities and institutions of higher learning, as well as youth demonstrations prevailing within urban and rural communities across the country, show that young people are still fighting to be heard.

The question is: Are we listening? Are we, as a country, dialoguing with the youth as they bring forth their concerns, or are we dismissing them because the impetus is not as dramatic as the 1976/2015 campaigns?

Why do we have to make noise and de-

Young people and clergy are seen at the Bosco Centre in Johannesburg. In his column, Lionel Fynn urges that the concerns of the youth be engaged with. stroy things before our concerns be taken seriously? Why do we have to participate in this culture of destruction which has crept into the fabric of our society?

Instead, young people are finding themselves with a steady increase in socio-economic challenges, like the youth unemployment rate which exceeds 50%; like the increased awareness of violence in schools between students themselves, and between students and teachers; like the high HIV/Aids infection rate among youth; like the increased drug and alcohol abuse among youth; like the increase in criminal behaviour among young people.

These few examples speak to the fact that as a society, in our schools, hospitals, libraries, homes, churches, businesses, and other institutions, we need to pay more attention to the concerns of young people.

A Christian response As Christians we need to stand up to the scourge currently facing our young people

Mphuthumi Ntabeni

The Public Square

vested by the apartheid regime (and, paradoxically, he reconciles that with the dispossession of the land of the indigenous people of Palestine).

But Justice Mogoeng has since made it clear, by manner and tone, that he refuses to apologise or explicate his meaning, and that he actually is a Zionist apologist. He sees the position of loving the political entity Israel, despite its human rights violations, as being principled.

This self-induced naivety by the good judge is flabbergasting. For one thing, Israel is currently committing human rights atrocities that are bordering on the genocidal against the Palestinians. And the occupation of the West Bank (never mind annexation of that land) is, as a judge should know, in violation of international law Yet he wants us to forgive their murder and plunder because it is done in the name of God, to fulfil an interpretation of scripture that serves the greed and cruelty of rapacious theocratic nationalism.

History, from Troy to Pretoria, is replete with this religious fanaticism of a people implicating God to justify their crimes against other peoples or nations.

Lest we forget, apartheid was founded on the discriminational notion of volkekunde.

Zionism is a political land-grabbing ruse, with tenuous roots in the biblical Jewish strain of messianic movements.

It is not, nor has it ever been, the precept of God towards the reconfiguration of the Jewish nation.

Lionel Fynn

Point of Reflection

by being more attentive not only to their concerns, but to them as human beings who need love, care and compassion.

Whether they are right or wrong, we need to establish an environment in which we are able to dialogue with them wherein they feel free to express themselves without being judged. And what better place to start this attention and dialogue than in our very own homes—in the domestic Church.

The final document of the Synod of Bishops on Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment reminds us that ‘the family continues to be the principal point of reference for young people’.

Pope Francis reminds us about a key point regarding young people, one that we often overlook every time we hear of student protests and demonstrations: “Young people demand change.”

Being flexible and fragile and teachable, young people are not as accustomed to certain policies and behaviours as we are. If something doesn’t make sense, they don’t find reasons for its implementation, they simply change it.

They aren’t afraid of change, as those settled in their ways are. We would do well not to resist their change, but to dialogue with it, to enhance its paradigms, to broaden its horizon to incorporate us— this is what will make us truly adults.

And when we feel drained, when we feel like we cannot cope with the stresses and challenges of the youth, we don’t push them away, but rather we invite God to help us get through.

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7

Fr Pierre Goldie

Christ in the World

See, judge and act with Christ

I

THINK it is relevant to repeat how Christ has been marginalised—how he has been constrained, reduced to Lord of the poor and of the sick—without asking why there are poor people, and without the risk of being dismissed as a socialist or communist.

We recall how early theologians were mostly monks. They seldom theologised about politics, or the world of business, beyond some admonitions not to make a false god of money.

In African tradition, all life is holy: work, politics, nature, leisure, family, clan, religion.

There is greater emphasis on life in the present world than on our eventual escape to the afterlife. There is no special word for religion; it is best described as a way of life which in most cases includes the invisible world of ancestors and God, who is seen as real but distant.

Perhaps the end of life is underestimated in African tradition, but at least there is a realistic focus on the present experience of life.

There are so many Biblical admonitions to escape the world, to live in a type of secluded spiritual realm which ignores real life around us. But Jesus did come to make all things new, and surely this incorporates all areas of life.

Pope Paul VI spoke of the drama of our times, namely the split between faith and life. Our theology is expressed in ways which seldom take into account the changes in ways things are perceived.

Theology does not change, but the way it is expressed can change. It needs to be expressed in a way that is familiar to the culture or context of the people to whom the message is being proclaimed.

Paul, the Apostle, in his discourse to the people of Athens, started were they were, their familiar ground—namely their notion of the unseen god—and then attempted to lead them across to the unknown, the resurrected Lord.

A new way of teaching faith If we were to catechise children about the saints, it would be wise to start with their context, say Justin Bieber. Ask them why this person is famous, and then record the answers on the board.

Then move from their familiar context to a particular saint, and how he or she contrasts with the pop star.

Start with real life, and then evaluate it in the light of Scripture and Tradition.

This is, of course, a type of See, Judge and Act methodology. We look at real life (See), assess it in the light of Scripture and Tradition (Judge) and recommend action (Act).

We can easily talk past young people. We need to be constantly aware that our catechetics, theology, homilies, are already expressed in terms that may be dated, vague to outsiders of the culture or context, or of little relevance to their life experience. We are not getting important messages across efficaciously.

So I expect to find the Risen Lord, Christ Jesus, in politics, business, government, science, entertainment, education, medical care, research, and sport.

Don’t we need to make Jesus relevant to daily life, rather than unpack him only on Sundays and then forget about him for the rest of the week? If so, have we truly found Jesus, or only a smaller part of him, and surrender him to a very limited role in our lives?

Paul referred to the Lord as “Christ Jesus” when he pointed to the risen Lord, and “Jesus Christ” when he referred to the historical Jesus.

We need to incarnate the Risen Lord in all realms of life.

Vatican comments and documents cover a far wider range of topics than we imagine (for example the media, advertising, sport).

Some may recall that the Vatican Congregation for Culture has a Department of Culture and Sport, which has made interesting comments on sport, in a type of See/Judge/Act methodology.

Our 70 years (or 80, for those who are strong) are far more meaningful when we find the Risen Jesus in all the ingredients of our lives.

Jesus still needs to be incarnated in our modern world, to render it more meaningful to us and to let him make all things new.

8

The Southern Cross, July 15 to July 21, 2020

REFLECTION

What lockup taught me for lockdown Back in 1986, FR LARRY KAUFMANN CSsR was detained by the apartheid security police. That experience of lockup found echoes 34 years later in the Covid-19 lockdown.

these days too!

“Late that night Paul and Silas were praying…”

Praying was difficult, until one learned to pray in context. Not business-as-usual prayer, but one more grounded in reality, leading to prayer of abandonment to God, prayer of surrender to the Spirit praying within, and prayer of intercession for one’s fellow inmates and wider.

OMETIMES these days of lockMost of all, praying the Psalms, down remind me of lockup, in like these verses: 1986 to be precise, when with I thank you for your faithfulness 20 000 other anti-apartheid and love… thinkers and activists I was, like On the day I called, you anPaul and Silas “thrown into swered… prison” (Acts 16).

You stretch out your hand…

The emotional and psychologiYou increase the strength of my cal responses of lockup and the soul. lockdown of the coronavirus panOne day, for me personally, demic are strikingly similar. prayer actually demanded someIndefinite detention left one thing more honest. with a sense of wallowing in The group was made up of limbo, not knowing the date of re- Christians, Muslims, Hindus, a lease.

Jew and agnostics.

One of the warders even said— One afternoon, just before lockperhaps in a moment of indiscre- ing of cells, they asked me, as a tion, or perhaps primed Catholic priest. to lead a by the security branch prayer service next day. to feed into our cloud ‘I felt a Unthinkingly I agreed, of unknowing—”It’s priestly identity and all harder for you guys. At terrible sense that jazz. least the criminals I had a long time to of the absence prepare, know the date for their from 4pm when release.” of God and the last of the day’s keys The current panclanged in the metal cell all sorts of door to when they were demic puts us all into a kind of indefinite deopened again the next tention, not knowing doubts were morning at 8. when this will all end.

After ablutions and the imposing Then there is the daily tin bowl of mealiethemselves’ meal sense of grief—grief at porridge—eaten the loss of so many seated on the corridor things. floor—we gathered in the During hard lockdown and for one general space available to us. many beyond that, there was no It was not really a courtyard, just human contact with loved ones, an area at the end of the corridor no freedom of movement, no Eu- for hanging out washing. Over to charist, no outdoors, no comfort you, Larry! food.

I did a Scripture reading (I forThere is a real feeling of grief get which, this was 34 years ago). these days, not only for the thou- And then I was supposed to give a sands killed, but for all our losses. good old encouraging and enlightI still find myself drawing com- ening talk followed by a prayer. parisons, inviting my detention But I told the group that I was experience of 1986 to inform pres- lost for words, that I found if difent realities—not least the self-iso- ficult to pray, that I felt a terrible lation we over-60s are encouraged sense of the absence of God, that to continue, whatever the lock- all sorts of doubts of faith were down level. imposing themselves on me.

I said I would be a hypocrite if I Empathy in detention just let rip with some superficial There were 27 of us in deten- thoughts and a one-size-fits-all tion in the ‘80s. Each one had his prayer. Instead, I asked, would they down-days, leading others imme- join me in a moment of silence. diately to carry, support and enThere was an awkward pause, courage him. and then one of my companions, Grief and self-pity gave way to A S Chetty, a Hindu, said: “I never empathy. Long live empathy for thought I would hear a Catholic

S

The experience of lockdown has reminded Fr Larry Kaufmann CSsR (inset) of being locked up as a political detainee in 1986.In two parts, he reflects on how these experiences have spiritual application (Photo: Matthew Ansley/Unsplash) priest have the honesty and humility to admit his doubts. This is the best prayer he could have prayed. I feel the same. He’s right, let’s just keep silence, and let our honest silence be the best prayer we can make to God.”

The fruits of mindfulness Providentially not long before I was detained, I had done a nineday’s silence at the Buddhist retreat near Ixopo.

A central teaching of this tradition is mindfulness, which has a lot of currency these days. At the heart of it, for me at least, is that we give everything we say, think and do its due dignity.

Mostly we do things reflexively and unthinkingly. We spend much of our lives on autopilot.

Consider, for example, how you wash dishes. Tell me you don’t rush through the cutlery.

“Well, it’s so small and there’s so much of it. No ways am I going to wash one spoon, one fork, one knife at a time—least of all lovingly and mindfully!” Similar atti-

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tudes creep into preparing food and a hundred and one other things we do.

The discipline and the spirit of mindfulness breaks that mould.

Back to my prison cell, where we spent 14 hours a day locked up. But even when the doors were opened, there were duties to be performed, mainly cleaning it.

The floor space was 3x3m, made of beige linoleum tiles, each about 30x30cm. I remember there were 95 complete tiles, the five missing ones taken by our en suite seatless stainless-steel toilet.

When it was my turn to do the floor, I would mindfully put a little Handy Andy into the basin, mindfully pour water in, and— yes, you guessed it—mindfully wash one tile at a time, giving it the attention and the dignity that was its due.

No, I’m not dof. Mindfulness is a discipline, a concerted effort at being present in where you are, and what you are doing there and then.

And so that floor became holy

ground, the sort of ground where Moses removed his shoes respectfully.

If this time of coronavirus can teach us anything, it would be to slow down, to cultivate more focused conscious awareness, to be more mindful.

There’s no end to the reminder of the need to wash hands for 20 seconds. Mindfulness would demand that we go further: that we focus on each part of the hand as we do it, giving it the dignity that is its due: thumb and each finger, palm, wrist and the back of the hand.

If you’re a Catholic used to this sort of thing, and even if you’re not, why not bless yourself afterwards, using hands to make the sign of the cross, thereby extending mindfulness of hands to your whole body?

God knows our vulnerable bodies need blessings and protection in this dangerous time! n Part 2 of Fr Kaufmann’s reflection will run next week.

PERSONALITY

The Southern Cross, July 15 to July 21, 2020

9

Actor on his craft and faith One of South Africa’s bestknown actors is a practising Catholic. Sello Motloung spoke to DALUXOLO MOLOANTOA about acting and his faith.

E

IGHT years ago he contaminated the water reservoir of a small mining town called Horizon Deep in the Free State to get even with two former colleagues after a deal went sour.

While the town’s community was under quarantine, he was hunted down and eventually given an early pass to the pearly gates by one of his colleagues.

If you are wondering why you did not catch a drift of this news, The poster for the 2017 film An it’s because it did not happen. If Act of Defiance, in which Sello you do know about it, it’s because you caught it in the recent reruns Motloung played Nelson Mandela of the 2012 “quarantine episodes” (seen in the bottom left panel). of the popular South African teleand its fulfilling resources?” the vision series Isidingo.

“If the producers of Isidingo actor recalls.

His visit to the Nelson Mandela knew then where we would be today [with the coronavirus lock- Foundation, which also took in a down], they would have gone to tour of the archive and the permatown with that storyline,” says nent exhibition, introduced him Sello Motloung, the actor who to information he did not know played the vengeful poisoner of existed.

“It felt like I had visited Manwater.

The popular Catholic actor is dela himself,” Motloung says.

“I had to suit the images and the only performer to have played two different major characters in my dialogue with the life and enthe series before it made its last ergy that oozed through the recordings. Clearly, the man was call in April this year.

But his first-ever television ap- way bigger than what one encounpearance was back in 1983, as a ters in the media.” participant in a SABC religious Fascinated by French priest talk-show called Ukholo Lunje.

Some of Motloung’s earliest Apart from his turns on Isidingo, Motloung has played childhood memories include other memorable characters, both being fascinated by his parish priest Fr Marina, originally from on TV and the big screen.

He became a familiar face on France, speaking in Sesotho.

“I could not fathom that lanlocal TV screens in the 1990s through appearances in local TV guage could transcend race at the productions such as Backstage (he time,” he explains.

His memories also include enplayed Mpumi), Madam and Eve, Generations, Schoop Schoombie and countering the distinct smell of inmany more since then, including cense at his home church of St Matatiele and, last year, Rhythm Michael’s in Meadowlands, Soweto.

The youngest of three children City.

He also appeared in Human of a domestic worker single-parCargo, a Canadian television ent, Motloung did all his schoolminiseries shot in Cape Town, ing in his hometown, and began based on the Canadian refugee acting attending Saturday acting system operating in the face of in- lessons while in high school at the ternational terrorism and one of Fuba Arts Academy in downtown Johannesburg.

Africa’s most vicious civil wars.

Like most other township In 2009 Motloung appeared in youngsters, he watched American an episode of the acclaimed series action movies at the local cinema.

The No. 1 Ladies’ DetecHe also went to watch tive Agency. theatre proHe has also featured ‘Everything township ductions whenever they in major South African came to his part of about a film productions such as Soweto.

A Zulu Love Letter, It is in the theatre person Skillpope, Jerusalema, and where he revelled, and Faith’s Corner. depends on sought to learn from Global audiences saw such township theatre him in the 2006 Rugby their faith in doyens as Gibson Kente, World Cup epic Invictus, John Kani, Nomhle directed by Clint East- God, and how Nkoyeni, Fats Bokholwood and starring Matt they treat oane and others.

Damon as Francois PienIt was in theatre that those they Motloung aar. Motloung played the first made his doctor of Nelson Manforays into being a proencounter’ dela. fessional actor.

And in 2017 MotIn 1996 he acted in loung portrayed Mandela—his for- The Good Woman of Sharkville, an mer patient, so to speak—in the adapted parable-play set in the film An Act of Defiance, a biopic on 1940s, by theatre veterans Janet the life of lawyer Bram Fischer, fo- Suzman and Gcina Mhlope. cusing on his role in the Rivonia He followed it up with a 1997 Treason Trial. appearance in the Market Theatre production of The Free State—anPrepping to be Mandela other adaptation by Suzman, this To prepare for his role as Man- time set on an estate in the cherrydela, Motloung immersed himself growing Eastern Free State. in historical audio and video In 1998 he appeared in a rerecordings provided by the Nelson working of the Athol Fugard clasMandela Foundation. sic Master Harold and the Boys.

These included the famous He has since appeared in many “Speech from the Dock”, Man- other theatre productions, in bedela’s 176-minute address which tween his TV and film appearopened the defence case in the ances. These include plays such as Rivonia Trial on April 20, 1964 Milestone, The Necklace, Cadre and (with the immortal words, “...but Cold Stone Jug. With some of them if needs be, it is an ideal for which he toured overseas.

I am prepared to die”).

For a Catholic, it seems suitable “I wanted a source where I that one of Motloung’s favourite would immerse myself completely television series should have a in the man’s journey. And what Church angle: the 1980s saga The better place than the foundation Thorn Birds, a sweeping love story

set in the Australian Outback.

Forced between the woman he loves, and the Church he is sworn to—SPOILER ALERT—Fr Ralph (played by Richard Chamberlain) lets his clerical ambitions win and stays with the Church, eventually becoming a cardinal in Rome.

Pandemic’s impact on film Motloung believes that the film industry, like most industries, is going to have to assess its model of operation in light of the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

“The culture of cinema has been totally affected by the Covid19 pandemic. It is going to take some time before things get back to normal,” he says.

“One of the ways to adapt to this new world is to go back to the drive-in movie theatres. There’s going to have to be more than just the one still in existence in Johannesburg.”

Motloung practises his faith together with his long-term partner, Nthabiseng Grant. “She is a very committed Catholic. We do everything together, including prayer.

I’m very grateful for her, including spiritually,” he says.

Motloung is a staunch believer in how one’s faith and character ultimately have a bearing on one’s legacy. “I think that everything about a particular person depends on their faith in God, and how they treat those they encounter and interact with in the journey of their lives,” he reflects.

“One’s conduct with others is highly important,” he says. “What would make me happy is to be remembered for telling great stories.”

The

Actor Sello Motloung, a Catholic, believes that the coronavirus pandemic has had a big impact on the film industry, saying that it will take some time before things will get back to normal.

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10

The Southern Cross, July 15 to July 21, 2020

HOLY LAND

From left: Lots of rubble, but these are the remains of the palace of Ahab and Jezebel in Samaria from the 9th century BC • The interior of the Orthodox church which holds Jacob’s Well in its crypt in present-day Nablus • The “Parable House” in Taybeh. (All photos: Günther Simmermacher)

Jesus met the woman at the well In part 8 of our virtual pilgrimage to the Holy Land, we go with GüNTHer SimmermACHer to Jacob’s Well, the place where the Apostle Philip preached, and Palestine’s last Christian village.

and Samaria, is Taybeh, the last entirely Christian village in Palestine.

All of Taybeh’s inhabitants are either Roman or Melkite Catholics and Greek Orthodox.

Taybeh’s Roman Catholic Holy Redeemer parish runs a school for 400 children as well as a medical centre, youth programmes and a hostel for pilgrims.

The hostel is named after Charles de Foucauld, the mystic who was murdered in Algeria in 1916. He came to Taybeh in 1889 HEN we think of Samariand again in 1898, the second tans today, we take a time for an eight-day retreat rather kindly view of which was recorded in a spiritual them on account of the parable in tract. which Jesus presents one of their The spirit in Taybeh is adnumber as the good guy (Luke mirably ecumenical. Christians 10:29-37). regularly come together for the We know the story well: a man important liturgical feasts. In a has been robbed and left for dead show of mutual respect, the vilon the side of the busy road that lage celebrates Easter twice: acconnected Jerusalem and Jericho. cording to the Latin calendar, and Jacob’s Well, the only water point in ancient Schechem and therefore First a priest passes, ignoring the again according to the Orthodox the place where Jesus had the noon encounter with the Samarian prostrate, battered man. So does a schedule. woman.

The well is located in the crypt of a Greek Orthodox church Levite, a descendant of the HeJesus knew the village as in Nablus in the West Bank. brew tribe of Levi, who one would Ephraim (the Ophrah of Joshua expect to be more virtuous.

18:23), and it is here that he went Then a Samaritan happens Greek Orthodox church dedicated wife of Herod’s steward (or admin- into hiding after the raising of upon the pitiful scene and selfThe meeting at the well to the woman at the well whose istrator) Chuza and later one of Lazarus attracted the hostile attenlessly helps the victim.

One day at noon Jesus sends his name tradition recalls as Photina Jesus’ band of travelling disciples tion of the Jewish authorities To Jesus’ listeners, the story was companions out to buy provisions (meaning “the luminous one”; the and possibly one of the first wit- (John 11:54). shocking. Samaritans weren’t sup- while he remains at the well of popular Russian name Svetlana is nesses to the Resurrection—reAccording to a local tradition, posed to be nice guys; they were Schechem. As he waits for the dis- derived from it). trieved John’s head and had it Jesus illustrated his impending Pasthe hateful Other. The audience ciples’ return, a woman comes to The church’s exterior looks old buried on the Mount of Olives in sion and Resurrection with a parawas expecting to hear a story of draw water, setting the scene for but is a very recent construction, Jerusalem from where it was peri- ble involving the pomegranate. As the Bad Samaritan. one of the great exchanges in the having been completed in 2007, odically moved until it disap- the seed of the fruit are sweet, but If Jesus delivered the parable Gospels (John 4:4-26). peared (several places as a replica of a Crusader church. the membrane around today, perhaps set in an American In a quite amusing dialogue, Christian veneration here can claim to have these them is bitter, so would context, he might use as his Jesus reveals that he knows about be traced back to 333 at the latest, relics).

Samaritans the Son of Man have to passers-by the characters of a the woman’s five ex-husbands and when the Bordeaux Pilgrim reChristian reverence of suffer the bitterness of bishop, a born-again Christian that she is now cohabitating out ported seeing what most likely the headless remains at were the the crucifixion before and, finally, a militant Muslim. of wedlock. In return, she recog- was a baptismal pool which took Sebastia goes back to at tasting the sweetness of The Jews of Galilee and Judea nises Jesus as “a prophet”. least the 4th century, but hated Other. the Resurrection. water straight from the well. feared the people of Samaria, the the bones were partially The setting is significant: it is at The pomegranate is a People John the Baptist’s head region that separated those two a well, a place of life-sustaining burned in 362 in an atsymbol of Taybeh, and lands. They would avoid travelling water. And it is in conversation expected to there is a house in the Church tradition has it that tack on the shrine of through it, rather making a detour with a sinner that Jesus announces John the Baptist was buried in John’s tomb. courtyard of the Latin along the Jordan to reach their God’s plan of salvation which Samaria, in the town of the same The remaining relics hear a story Holy Redeemer church destination, thereby taking the bridges sectarian divisions: “Be- name which King Herod had re- were then taken to which is named after the of the Bad story: dangerous road that provided the lieve me, woman, the hour is com- named Sebastia. John was be- Jerusalem for burial, and Parable House. transferred to backdrop for Jesus’ parable. ing when you will worship the headed at the order of Herod’s later The building is only Samaritan The ethno-religious antago- Father neither on this mountain son, King Herod Antipas, ruler of Alexandria in Egypt.

250 years old, and it was The ruins of Sebastia nism was deeply ingrained. In- [Gerizim] nor in Jerusalem.” occupied by local resiGalilee.

Remarkably, the Samaritans of deed, it can be said that the Jews According to tradition, John’s cover a period of 10 000 years. It is dents until 1974, but its door is of Judea and the Samaritans prac- Schechem promptly accept the followers buried the Baptist’s here that Herod had his wife Mari- said to be 2 000 years old, going tised a mutually accepted form of testimony of this woman of dubi- headless body in Sebastia, which amne and two of his sons killed. back to the time of Jesus. The inapartheid, with both sides frown- ous virtue—the first non-Jewish as a Samarian town was out of And it is that Roman city in which terior of the three-level house rethe Apostle Philip went to preach flects the set-up that used to be Herod Antipas’ reach. ing upon contact with members apostle—and embrace Jesus.

The spot of this remarkable enBut the vengeful Herodias, no so successfully that Peter and John common, with living quarters for from the other group.

The conflict was mostly reli- counter was Jacob’s Well. It was doubt stung by John’s objections were sent there to join him in humans and room for animals. It gious (though in that time, the re- the only well in town, so we to her marriage to the king, had evangelising the people (Acts 8:5, would not appear alien to Jesus.

The village is home to a Palesligious and the political were know that this is its actual loca- the severed head buried in a dung 14).

They would have seen a tinian brewery, also called Taybeh, heap. inseparable): Samaritans histori- tion.

Jacob’s Well is in the crypt of a The story goes that St Joanna— wealthy city, where King Herod whose brewmaster is Madees cally did not recognise the authorbuilt a pagan temple adjacent to Khoury—unusually for the profesthe ancient palace of Ahab and sion a woman. She uses only natural ingredients in its excellent Jezebel.

The ruins of both, as well as range (another Palestinian brewthose of the Roman city—the ery in nearby Bierzeit brews Shepforum (where the apostles herd’s beer).

Opened in 1995 by returning preached), colonnades, amphitheatre, shops—still exist. The Roman expatriates, the brothers Nadim Let us arrange your spiritual hippodrome is still waiting to be and David Khoury, Taybeh even hosts an annual Oktoberfest excavated. journey as a community! where the sounds of the tradiThe last Christian village tional darbuka drum mingle with Contact Gail at 076 352 3809 About 30km south of Nablus, those of a German oompah band. info@fowlertours.co.za admin@schreuderattorneys.co.za near the Palestinian capital of Ra- n These are edited extracts from www.fowlertours.co.za mallah (which has a huge statue Günther Simmermacher’s The Holy of Nelson Mandela, donated by Land Trek, available from the City of Johannesburg) and books@scross.co.za. Next week: overlooking both biblical Judah Bethany and Jericho.

W

ity of the Temple in Jerusalem, and were even accused of having desecrated the holiest place in Judaism by placing human bones in it.

The Samaritans had their own Temple on Mount Gerizim (today some 300 Samaritans still live there), and tempers ran high about which temple was the authentic sanctuary and who were the true guardians of sacred texts.

When Jews and Samaritans met, often acts of violence would follow.

So it was quite audacious for Jesus to stop over in the Samarian town of Schechem (or Sychar)— the place near Mount Gerizim where the patriarch Jacob bought “the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent [and] erected an altar which he called El, God of Israel” (Genesis 33:19-20), and where the Ark of the Covenant was said to have been kept before it was moved, first to Shiloh and then to Jerusalem.

Today Schechem is the West Bank city of Nablus, with a population of more than 125 000.

Have a parish pilgrimage?

The Southern Cross, July 15 to July 21, 2020

YOUR CLASSIFIEDS

Tom Manthata

T

HOMAS Madikwe Manthata, the Soweto Catholic social justice giant, died on July 10 at the age of 80, reportedly of Covid-19 complications.

Tom Manthata was born on November 29, 1939, in Soekmekaar in what was then Northern Transvaal.

After matriculating at St Francis College in Mariannhill, Tom spent some years at St Paul’s Minor Seminary, Hammanskraal, where he began developing his lifelong teaching skills.

Back in Soweto, he was employed by the department of education at Sekantoane High School from 1967 to 1973.

Among his former students was Cyril Ramaphosa, now president of South Africa.

In the late 1960s be became a seminal figure, with Black Peoples Convention co-founder Drake Koka, in the formation of the political consciousness of lay white and black Catholics in Johannesburg.

Tom was extremely active in black politics, both as an adult and student, in the early 1970s, as his secret police file (with considerable distortion) reveals.

This led to his arrest in 1974 Your prayer to cut out and collect

and detention for more than 12 months. Further periods of detention followed in 1975 and 1976 after the Soweto uprising.

He became a founding member of the Soweto Committee of Ten, with Ellen Kuzwayo and Nthato Motlana in 1977, and helped found the Azanian People’s Organisation.

In 1978 Tom met Barbara Mathews while they were both working at the South African Council of Churches (SACC).

They had three children: Khumo, Fenyi and Goitse.

Tom’s ecumenical spirit found fertile soil at the SACC where he worked at different times over three decades.

In the 1980s Tom’s political activism in the Vaal Triangle led to his arrest and trial, along with Mosiuoa Lekota, Popo Molefe and Moss Chikane. Tom’s conviction in the Delmas Treason Trial from 1985-88 led to his imprisonment on Robben Island until December 1989.

After his release Tom completed a master’s degree at Coventry University in England.

In the 1990s, Tom served on the committee on reparation and rehabilitation of the Truth & Rec-

11

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DEATHS

Tom Manthata (Photo: via Twiiter @Lesufi) onciliation Commission and did other work behind the scenes.

At the age of 60 Tom was appointed a commissioner at the South African Human Rights Commission and served his full term until 2009.

In 2014 the Dr Abu Asvat Institute awarded him its “Stalwarts of the Liberation Struggle” award.

Words he once wrote may help to capture his incorruptible spirit: “People have to discover each other in all their cultural complexities and richness in order to create a solid Christian culture of a colourless people.”

By Paul Goller

PRAYER FOR STRENGTH

O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and

GALLAGHER—Ann. Passed away suddenly on July 7. Devoted mother to Matthew and Jaime, daughter of the late Jim and Margaret, and wonderful sister to Sean, James, Paul and Laurence (RIP).

She was kindness itself.

Deeply grieved by her aunts, uncles and many cousins who loved and admired her. May she rest in peace and watch over her loved ones forever.

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

MARIANELLA Guest House, Simon’s Town: “Come experience the

thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

FROM OUR VAULTS 48 Years Ago: July 19, 1972

Prayers for the banned Those in power in South Africa cannot see the gulf between Christian civilisation and what their apartheid policies actually achieved, Archbishop Denis Hurley of Durban told a service at Emmanuel cathedral, held to commemorate the banning of Fr Cosmas Desmond OFM. Archbishop Hurley prayed for “those who suffer banning and imprisonment” and for “those who exercise power who are beginning to doubt” the system.

He hoped that such doubt was behind the recent resignation of minister Theo Gerdener and the call

by Rev Danie Malan, son of the late prime minister, for a reduction in the wage gap between white and “non-white” people.

PERSONAL

ABORTION WARNING: The truth will convict a silent Church. See www. valuelifeabortionisevil.co.za

PRAYERS

O MOST beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of heaven, blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity.

O Star of the Sea, help me and show me where you are. Mother of God, Queen of heaven and earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity. There is none who can withstand your power. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands. “Say this prayer for three consecutive days and then publish.”

Leon and Karen.

Our bishops’ anniversaries

CrossWord solutions

This week we congratulate: July 16: Bishop Edward Adams, retired of Oudtshoorn, on the 37th anniversary of his episcopal ordination July 17: Bishop Frank de Gouveia, retired of Oudtshoorn, on the 10th anniversary of his episcopal ordination July 19: Bishop Michael Wüstenberg, retired of Aliwal, on his 66th birthday

SOLUTIONS TO 924.

ACROSS: 4 Pontiff, 8 Evoked, 9 Reclaim, 10 Elixir, 11 Innate, 12 Inhumane, 18 Peter Pan, 20 Agatha, 21 Office, 22 Matched, 23 Agreed, 24 Falsity. DOWN: 1 Genesis, 2 Tonight, 3 Tedium, 5 Obedient, 6 Talent, 7 Faints, 13 Apparent, 14 Spoiled, 15 Unready, 16 Iguana, 17 Stocks, 19 Effigy.

rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall

be our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray

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Liturgical Calendar Year A – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday July 19, 16th Sunday of the Year Wisdom 12:13, 16-19, Psalm 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16, Romans 8:26-27, Matthew 13:24-43 Monday July 20, St Apollinaris Micah 6:1-4, 6-8, Psalm 50:5-6, 8-9, 16-17, 21, 23, Matthew 12:38-42 Tuesday July 21, St Lawrence of Brindisi Micah 7:14-15, 18-20, Psalm 85:2-8, Matthew 12:46-50 Wednesday July 22, St Mary Magdalene Song of Solomon 3:1-4 or 2 Corinthians 5:14-17, Psalm 63:2-6, 8-9, John 20:1-2, 11-18

Thursday July 23, St Bridget Jeremiah 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13, Psalm 36: 6-11, Matthew 13:10-17 Friday July 24, St Sharbel Maklouf Jeremiah 3:14-17, Responsorial psalm Jeremiah 31:10-13, Matthew 13:18-23 Saturday July 25, St James 2 Corinthians 4:7-15, Psalm 126, Matthew 20:20-28 Sunday July 26, 17th Sunday of the Year 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12, Psalm 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-130, Romans 8:28-30, Matthew 13:44-52

St Mary Magdalene

St Sharbel Maklouf

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Editorial: Unity against abortion In his editorial, acting editor Michael Shackleton commends the Catholic Women’s League for recognising that there is “a marked climate being created in South Africa to legalise abortion”. With modifications to the present abortion laws looming, he writes, Catholics “must be prepared to throw our whole weight into any anti-abortion campaign”.

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17th Sunday: July 26 Readings: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12, Psalm 119: 57, 72, 76-77, 127-130, Romans 8:28-30, Matthew 13:44-52

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HAT do you really want out of life?

That is an important question, perhaps especially in this alarming time of the Covid-19 virus. It is a question put to us by the readings for next Sunday; and the answer appears to be that what we really want is “a listening heart”, to understand the oldand-ever-new story of God and his people.

In the first reading, Solomon is invited in a dream by God to “ask me for what I am to give you”, and takes as his cue the fact that “you have made your servant king, in the place of David my father”, and his felt inadequacy for the task: “And I am a little lad, ignorant of how to come and go.”

So instead of asking for “long life or wealth or glory”, he requests of God “that you give your servant a listening heart, to judge your people, to distinguish good from evil”.

God is delighted that the new king is so attuned to what really matters: “I am going to give you a wise and perceptive heart, that there was no one like you before you, and after you no one will arise like you.”

We might pray, this week, to share Solomon’s attitude.

Our psalm echoes this attitude: “My portion

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is the Lord—I promise to keep your words…the Law from your lips is more precious to me than piles of gold and silver.”

At the heart of what God offers is “your steadfast love to comfort me”, rather than a bank balance to make me purr.

So he sings: “I love your commands more than gold and refined gold”, and he concludes that “the opening of your words sheds light, gives understanding to the simple.”

Especially at this time we need this sense of what really matters.

The second reading reinforces this idea: “To those who love God, everything works for good.”

There is thus no point in plotting to make vast sums of money, for God is running the show: “Those whom God called in advance, he knew them in advance, and predestined them in the likeness of his Son, that he might be the first-born of many brothers and sisters.”

And he continues in this vein: “Those whom he marked out in advance are the ones whom he called; and the ones whom he called are the ones whom he justified; and the ones whom he justified are the ones whom he also glorified.”

M

Conrad

the flow of your energy and mood or to lean on entertainment and whatever distractions can be found to get you through your days and nights.

• Wash and dress your body each day as if you were going out into the world and meeting people.

Resist the temptation to cheat on hygiene, dress, and makeup. Don’t spend the morning in your pyjamas: wash and dress.

When you don’t do this, what are you saying to your family? They aren’t worth the effort? And what are you saying to yourself? I’m not worth the effort?

Slovenliness invariably becomes lethargy and acedia.

• Look beyond yourself and your needs.

Do that each day to see others and their hurts and frustrations. You’re not in this alone; the others are enduring exactly what you are. Nothing will make your day harder to endure than excessive self-focus and self-pity.

• Find a place to be alone for some time every day.

Offer others that same courtesy. Don’t apologise that you need time away, to be by yourself. That’s an imperative for mental health, not a selfish claim.

Give others that space. Sometimes you need to be apart, not just for your own sake but for the sake of the others.

Monks live an intense community life, but each also has a private cell within which to retreat.

• Have a contemplative practice each

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Sunday Reflections

You see, God has an utterly different view about what are the important things in life, and we shall do well to pray, like Solomon, and the psalmist and St Paul, to see things as God sees them.

Then the Gospel for next Sunday brings us to the end of Matthew’s parables; and these three likewise have to do with the question of the things that really matter in life.

The first is the parable of the treasure hidden in the field, which prompts its finder to devote all his resources to buying the field.

Now it is no good your saying that “he should have handed it in”. The point is simply that he has realised what really matters in life.

The second is a similar story, about an entrepreneur who is on the lookout for good pearls; and when he finds one of immense value, once again he “sold all he had and bought it”. As before, he is not commended for his sharp practice but held up an example of someone who knows what his priorities are.

That leads us to the third parable: here the Kingdom of Heaven is like “a fishing-net”, such, no doubt, as some of Jesus’ disciples must have used. Here the point seems to be that God’s kingdom embraces not just the vir-

Ten tips for lockdown life ONKS have secrets worth knowing, and these can be invaluable when a coronavirus pandemic is forcing millions of us to live like monks.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been forced to stay at home, work from home, practise social distancing from everyone except those in our own houses, and have minimal contact with the outside.

In a manner of speaking, this has turned many of us into monks, like it or not.

What’s the secret to thrive there?

Well, I’m not a monk, nor a mental health expert, so this isn’t exactly the rule of St Benedict or professional mental health tips. It’s the fruit of what I’ve learned from monks and from living in the give-and-take of a religious community for 50 years.

Here are ten counsels for living when we are, in effect, housebound, that is, living in a situation where we don’t have a lot of privacy, have to do a lot of living within a very small circle, face long hours wherein we have to struggle to find things that energise us, and wherein we find ourselves often frustrated, bored, impatient, and lethargic.

• Create a routine.

That’s the key. It’s what monks do.

Create a detailed routine for the hours of your day as you would a financial budget. Make this very practical: list the things you need to do each day and slot them into a concrete timetable and then stick to that as a discipline, even when it seems rigid and oppressive.

Resist the temptation to simply go with

Nicholas King SJ

What really matters?

tuous, but everybody. That is not the way you and I expect God to behave.

And there is more; for as Jesus comes to the end of his discourse, he asks the disciples: “Have you understood all this?” Like schoolboys down the ages, they wag their tails and say, “Yes”, even if they have not.

But notice what happens next: Matthew is explaining what he is doing as an evangelist.

On the face of it, we have here a fourth parable, about “every scribe discipled in the Kingdom of Heaven”. Now that word “discipled” is very much a favourite of Matthew’s, as is the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven”, so I think it is Matthew reflecting on what he is up to; the “discipled scribe” is the one who “brings new things and old out of his treasure-chest”.

In other words, what an evangelist does is to tell the old, old story of God and the People of God, but in a completely new way—or, if you prefer, to tell the new story of Jesus and the Resurrection, in the old familiar way. Either way, what he is doing is to show us what are the things that really matter in life.

Southern Crossword #924

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

day that includes prayer.

On the schedule you create for yourself, mark in at least a half hour or an hour each day for some contemplative practice: pray, read scripture, read from a serious book, write a journal, paint a picture, paint a fence, create an artifact, fix something, garden, write poetry, write a song, begin a memoir, write a long letter to someone you haven’t seen for years, whatever—but do some something that’s freeing for your soul and have it include some prayer.

• Practise “Sabbath” daily.

Sabbath need not be a day; it can be an hour.

Give yourself something very particular to look forward to each day, something enjoyable and sensual: a hot bath, a glass of wine (when the government allows you to buy wine again), a cigar on the stoep, a rerun of a favourite old sitcom, a nap— anything, as long as it’s done purely for enjoyment. Make this a discipline.

• Practise “Sabbath” weekly.

Make sure that only six days of the week are locked into your set routine. Break the routine once a week.

Set one day apart for enjoyment, one day when you may eat pancakes for breakfast in your pyjamas.

• Challenge yourself with something new. Stretch yourself by trying something new. Learn a new language, take up a new hobby, learn to play an instrument. This is an opportunity you’ve never had.

• Talk through the tensions that arise within your house.

Do this carefully though.

Tensions will arise when living in a fishbowl. Monks have community meetings to sort out those tensions. Talk tensions through honestly with each other, but carefully; hurtful remarks sometimes never quite heal.

• Take care of your body.

We aren’t disembodied spirits. Be attentive to your body.

Get enough exercise each day to keep your body energised. Be careful not to use food as a compensation for your enforced monasticism.

Monks are careful about their diet—except on feast days.

Monks do have secrets worth knowing!

ACROSS

4. The pope is the supreme one (7) 8. Brought to mind (6) 9. Miracle to retrieve (7) 10. Magical potion (6) 11. Inborn (6) 12. Cruel and without compassion (8) 18. J M Barrie’s ever-young boy (5,3) 20. Virgin and martyr of Sicily (6) 21. Business room for the breviary? (6) 22. Corresponded to an eligible couple? (7) 23. Had the same opinion as you (6) 24. It’s a fly that presents what’s untruthful (7)

DOWN

1. The first book (7) 2. When it turns dark this day (7) 3. I muted this dull condition (6) 5. How the compliant religious will be (8) 6. Gift in a parable (6) 7. Loses consciousness in fast (6) 13. It’s clear pa comes back to be a father (8) 14. Invalidated ballot paper (7) 15. Unprepared like King Ethelred (7) 16. Antiguan adds a large hidden lizard 6) 17. These were used for public punishment (6) 19. A model of a person who Solutions on page 11 may be worshipped (6)

CHURCH CHUCKLE

A

MAN visited the priest who was known for his empathy and charity.

“Father,” he began in a cracking voice, “a poor family in this parish is in a terrible situation. The father is deceased, the mother is too ill to work, and the nine children have hardly enough to eat.”

With tears in his eyes, the man continued: “And now they are about to be evicted unless someone pays their rent, which amounts to R3 000.”

“That is awful!” the priest said. “And may I ask who you are to the family?”

As he wiped the tears from his eyes, the man sobbed: “I am the landlord.”

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