200729

The

S outher n C ross

Centenary Jubilee Year July 29 to August 4, 2020

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

www.scross.co.za

No 5196

Find the Kingdom in daily things

Atomic bombs still a threat to us today

In lockdown, port chaplains get creative

Page 7

Page 8

Page 9

R12 (incl VAT RSA)

Priest: Stop lockdown – it has failed STAFF REPORTER

L Brides wearing wedding dresses hold a flash mob near Rome’s Trevi Fountain to protest against the postponement of their weddings due to the coronavirus pandemic. Italian bishops are being asked to consider ways to reach parishioners for programmes during phase three of pandemic reopening. (Photo: Yara Nardi, Reuters/CNS)

New bishop on August 8 STAFF REPORTER

T

HE episcopal ordination of Bishopelect Noel Rucastle as the ordinary of Oudtshoorn diocese will take place on August 8.

Due to Covid-19 compliance regulations, his ordination will be attended by 50 people only. These will include SACBC president Bishop Sithembele Sipuka, bishops from Cape Town metropolitan region, SACBC secretary-general Sr Hermenegild Makoro CPS, all priests of Oudtshoorn diocese, and invited guests.

Archbishop Stephen Brislin, as the head of the metropolitan region which includes Oudtshoorn, is set to be the principal consecrator.

Bishop-elect Rucastle, a priest of the archdiocese of Cape Town since his ordination in July 2000, was appointed bishop of Oudtshoorn on May 4.

Born in Upington, Northern Cape, the

Bishop-elect Noel Rucastle 52-year-old bishop-elect succeeds Bishop Frank de Gouveia, who headed the diocese from 2010-18.

The

OCKDOWN has failed because of years of corruption, and it is “time to try something else”, according to a Jesuit priest.

Acknowledging that “many won’t like what I have to say”, Fr Anthony Egan, a theologian and commentator, noted that the purpose of a lockdown is “to give the health services time to prepare for the surge of patients manifesting Covid-19”.

Its purpose, he said, “is not to prevent infection until we get a vaccine”, which may still take a long time to come.

“By that time under lockdown, there will be no functioning economy, hence no means to create and distribute a vaccine.

And many will have died from starvation, anyway,” Fr Egan warned in an article published on the website of the Jesuit Institute SA (www.jesuitinstitute.org.za).

The priest blamed corruption for the failing public health sector.

“Unfortunately, our health services have been so looted by criminals that even such a stalling tactic [as lockdown] is a bit like trying to bail water out of the Titanic with a tablespoon,” Fr Egan wrote.

“Lack of government will or public outrage gave thieves impunity” to destroy the health service, he said.

“So: what we have, we have. It isn’t much and is not likely to get any more even if we stay on lockdown for years,” he warned.

Fr Egan suggested that many South Africans have lost faith in lockdown, and government promises have been unfulfilled.

“Promises of care for those unemployed during lockdown have substantially not manifested. In some cases...state support has been unevenly distributed...or simply disappeared,” the priest said.

Lockdown has failed, and it is time to end it, Fr Anthony Egan SJ has argued. (Photo: Matt Seymour) Noting that the lockdown has accelerated unemployment and that “countless small and medium businesses” are facing bankruptcy, South Africa is facing the prospect of becoming “even more of a ‘state on welfare’ than we already are—with even less income tax to provide benefits”, Fr Egan said.

“Keeping lockdown going is now pointless,” the priest said.

The alternative is to “return to a new normal, where we get on with our lives—with masks and sanitisers and as much reasonable social distancing as possible”, Fr Egan said.

“We must face the fact that many, perhaps most, of us will eventually get Covid19—and some of us will die,” he said, noting that this is the case even in lockdown.

Fr Egan argued that “we are out of options and must make the best of things”.

“Ethics is not always what’s best, but what is (a) possible, (b) workable, and (c) the lesser of two evils,” he said.

“It’s time to grow up, unlock ourselves of delusions, and live responsibly.”

S outher n C ross

Jubilee Year Camino to Santiagode Compostela

Bookings open: Official 7-Day Camino September 2021 • Led by Fr Chris Townsend

To book or for info contact Gail at info@fowlertours.co.za or call 076 352-3809

www.fowlertours.co.za/camino

2

The Southern Cross, July 29 to August 4, 2020

LOCAL

Cardinal Napier celebrates his golden jubilee

BY DAWN HAYNES

O

N July 26, 1970, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban celebrated his first Mass as a newly-ordained priest at his home parish our Lady of Lourdes parish, in Franklin, East Griqualand, and 2020 marks his 50th jubilee.

Having trained in Ireland and Louvain, Belgium, he was ordained by his fellow Franciscan, Bishop John Evangelist McBride of Kokstad.

Young Fr Napier immediately threw himself into learning isiXhosa, first at Hardenberg mission, then at Lumko in Queenstown diocese.

Wherever he was assigned he spent a great deal of time getting to know the area and the people.

Cardinal Napier said his focus has always been the importance of family life and this bears testimony to his own family, especially his father.

He remembers clearly the weekend of his first Mass: “At the end of June 1970 I returned to South Africa from a week’s retreat at the [Franciscan] friary at Rossnowlagh in the west of Ireland, and was met at Durban airport by my parents.

“Due to a delayed arrival of the

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier celebrated the 50th jubilee of his priesthood this month. He was ordained bishop of Kokstad by Archbishop Denis Hurley of Durban, whom he succeeded in 1992, and made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001. (Photo: Fr Paul Tatu CSS) plane from Heathrow, I arrived too late to connect with the scheduled flight from Johannesburg to Durban. This meant that the plan for me to baptise Sean and Seamus, the twin babies of my eldest brother Peter, at Franklin en route to my home on the farm became rather complicated,” the cardinal added.

“No problem to my dad, Tom. For him it was a simple matter.

Whatever the hour of arrival at Franklin, the baptism would take place at once. So I found myself doing my first baptism back home at 19:30 the night I arrived from Europe after a long and tiring flight.

“For Tom Napier the matter was

very simple: his twin grandsons were not going to spend another day in the state of Original Sin! Thus Sean and Seamus joined the Christian family at the earliest possible moment after my arrival home, he said.

“The lesson to be learned: even if he is to be ordained a priest, a son must always listen to his father!”

The cardinal said this is one of his guiding rules, and he has always tried to apply this to his ministry and listen to God the Father.

Having been ordained on the feast of St James is hugely significant to him. Lying between the feast days of Mary Magdalene and Martha, this means he entered the priesthood surrounded by three of Jesus’ good friends. He is thus constantly reminded that as a priest, he is also a friend of Jesus, Cardinal Napier said.

He sees his service as thus twofold, professional and homely, and bases this on Jesus’ family.

“At the wedding feast in Cana, his mother Mary came to him and told him that the wine had run out.

He listened to her and performed his first miracle by changing the water into wine. Jesus respected and listened to his mother.”

The influence of St Joseph is not well recorded in the Bible, but he was obviously a good husband and a good father, the cardinal observed. He cared for Mary and kept her safe. He protected his baby son by moving from Bethlehem to Egypt and then to Nazareth.

He taught Jesus the skills of his carpenter’s trade as any father teaches his son. Although he was in the background, St Joseph was a positive influence on Jesus as he grew to manhood, Cardinal Napier said.

“St Joseph reminds me of my own father who was a very practical man.

Nowadays, being a father is really challenging. With the problems of domestic abuse, loss of masculinity and confused roles, men need to turn more to St Joseph to get inspiration and guidance,” he said.

Cardinal Napier sees his 50-year jubilee as a new start.

“As all our lives are changing dramatically during 2020, we need to take a new look at what to do now. As a priest, I see the need to keep the example of St Joseph in my background and the servant/leadership example of Jesus in the foreground.”

East London parish keeps those hot meals coming despite lockdown

BY ERIN CARELSE

D Hazel Mopp of Eucharistic Heart of Jesus church in East London dishing food to distribute to those in need. The parish has continued to provide help through the lockdown.

ESPITE the national lockdown, a church in East London has continued to reach out to local communities.

These last few months have been difficult for all parishes, including Eucharistic Heart of Jesus church.

Parish priest Fr Varghese Kannanaickal CMI has been livestreaming Mass every day on the parish’s Facebook page and it has been busy with projects to help where it can.

One of these is the “Christmas in July” project which was started by Fr Kannanaickal and Sr Aloysia Zellmann some years back.

The usual practice is to ask for do-

nations of toiletries, socks, scarves and the like as well as cash. Sr Zellmann then contacts homes which the parish would like to assist, and assesses their needs. “Goodie bags” are made up for each person.

This year, donations totalling R30 000 were received from parishioners which allowed the parish to donate R13 200 to DJ Sobey Old Age Home, R10 000 to The Haven Wellness Centre. The balance was used to buy much-needed toiletries.

“We knew that we could not go into the retirement homes, so we did not prepare individual goodie bags but packed all the things in boxes,” said Sr Zellmann.

The Southern Cross is our region’s only Catholic weekly, and so it is crucial in bringing Catholic news and thought to the People of God. Without it an important Catholic voice will be lost.

WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL FOR ANY SUPPORT WE RECEIVE. YOUR GIFT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE.

Direct Payments/EFT Banking Details: Name: The Catholic Newspaper

or faxed to 021 465 3850 – please let us know if you have donated!

& Publishing Co Ltd

*Cash payments to be made at ATMs only due to huge deposit fees.

Bank: Standard Bank, Thibault

Snapscan

Square branch code 02 09 09

Scan to snap, or if you’re on your phone click the link https://pos.snapscan.io/qr/19 K6EebY

Account No: 07 153 43 42 Proof of payment can be emailed to admin@scross.co.za

“We were able to buy soap, petroleum jelly, body lotion and socks for 102 people, also deo roll-ons for ladies and shavers for men,” she said.

People knitted or crocheted over 100 warm scarves, and these were very welcome.

“Because of parishioners’ generous donations, we were able to bring some joy to 14 men and 16 women at The Haven Wellness Centre, and to 26 men and 46 women at DJ Sobey,” Sr Zellmann said.

Now the parish is working on its “Lockdown Covid-19 Project”.

Before the pandemic Fr Kannanaickal and helpers made up food parcels every month from donations

for distribution to the needy.

Due to the lockdown, they needed to think outside the box on how to still provide help, and now have a relief programme. So far R37 000 has been collected.

After a recent fire in Windyridge Road, East London, which destroyed almost 40 temporary dwellings and three brick homes, the parish sponsored 100 meals for the people who lost everything.

Parishioners Hazel Mopp and her daughter, Liesl Frans, cooked and packed the meals and distributed them together with donations of knitted scarves, beanies, socks and leg blankets to those in need.

SACBC pays tribute to Catholic Rivonia Trialist STAFF REPORTER

S

OUTHERN Africa’s bishops paid tribute to Andrew Mokete Mlangeni, the last survivor of those sentenced alongside Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Denis Goldberg and others in the Rivonia Trial.

Mr Mlangeni, reportedly a Catholic, died on July 21 aged 95.

In a statement signed by its president, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka, the bishops’ conference conveyed its condolences to the Mlangeni family and to the people of South Africa.

“As a Catholic Church, we applaud him for his contribution in bringing about a democratic South Africa in which all people are equal,” Bishop Sipuka said.

“We acknowledge with appreciation the sacrifice he made in his personal life to realise the ideal of an equal society. We thank God for gifting him with long life and thus affording South Africa the benefit of his wisdom as an elder in helping to establish a mature democracy in our country,” the bishop said.

“As the last Rivonia Trialist to leave this world, we acknowledge the contribution of his generation to the freedom enjoyed by all today.”

Mr Mlangeni’s life represents “a challenge to all our people and our leaders to take our country forward in the spirit of sacrifice and service”, Bishop Sipuka said.

Born on a farm near Bethlehem in the Free State on June 6, 1925, the ninth child in a family of 14, Mr Mlangeni grew up in Bethlehem and

South Africa’s bishops paid tribute to Catholic Rivonia Trialist Andrew Mlangeni, imprisoned for decades, who died on July 21. (Photo: Reuters/CNS) later in Pimville, Soweto.

He joined the African National Congress in the early 1950s.

Sent to China for military training in 1961, he was arrested on his return to South Africa in 1963.

He was found guilty during the Rivonia Trial and sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island.

Released in October 1989, Mr Mlangeni served as a member of parliament for the ANC from 1994-99 and again from 2009-14.

He was critical of ANC corruption, calling on President Jacob Zuma to resign. He reportedly said Zuma should be sent “back to Robben Island” if found guilty.

Mr Mlangeni was married to June Mlangeni (née Ledwaba) from 1950 until her death in 2001. The couple had four children.

The Southern Cross, July 29 to August 4, 2020

LOCAL

3

SACC calls for Covid-19 funeral compliance

BY ERIN CARELSE

A

CCORDING to a statement released by the South African Council of Churches (SACC), funerals continue to be a major source of Covid-19, accelerating the numbers infected and leading to deaths and more infectious funerals.

This was based on feedback received from across the country. The SACC therefore appeals to Churches to exercise responsibility.

“We consider it a part of our commitment to ‘Drive Down the Rate’ of Covid-19 infections, to draw the attention of Church leaders to the obligations of the local minister in regard to Covid-compliant funerals,” the SACC said.

The council referred to two publications of regulations.

Firstly, Church ministers must inform families on the regulation requirements.

“In the regulations, there is a form to be attested under oath by the family organiser of the funeral

Family members and funeral workers carry the coffin of a 51-year-old Covid-19 victim at a cemetery in Cape Town. The South African Council of Churches has warned that funerals are a major source of Covid-19 infections, accelerating the numbers and leading to deaths and more infectious funerals. (Photo: Sumaya Hisham, Reuters/CNS) to say that the minister did inform the family appropriately on the regulations,” the statement said.

This is in the Government Gazette No 43148 dated March 25, 2020, titled “Undertaking by Organisers of the Funeral”.

“This means that if anyone should be charged for a non-compliant funeral, it should be the minister in charge of the funeral,” the council said. They believe this will be more directly enforced going forward.

The statement also noted that in

many cases, Church ministers do not exercise their responsibility to ensure coronavirus-compliant funerals.

Those who fail in their responsibility are therefore responsible for the deaths of people who die after an infection from a funeral they were conducting, the SACC warned.

It is the responsibility of Church leadership to ensure that this understanding is clear to their ministers.

The SACC is providing pastoral information on funerals through the website churchinaction.org.za, and urges Churches to visit the website for information.

The council is also considering offering Covid-19 funeral-management training sessions for ministers, in batches of provinces and districts, to ensure that no local minister has to face the prospect of a Covid funeral without knowledge and preparation.

Secondly, according to Level 3 provisions, there is to be no communal singing at all at worship services, including funerals.

Every religious leader in charge

of a place of worship must ensure: • There is no physical contact between persons at the place of worship; • There is a minimum of 1,5m between persons: • All social distancing measures and health protocols are adhered to at all times; and • Singing of hymns is limited to solo performances, or prerecorded performances during the religious service or activity, • The distance between persons must be increased to 2,5m where the religious activity, such as preaching or leading worship, cannot be performed with facemasks.

To this end, the SACC stated that Church leaders are advised that funerals are considered one of the foremost mass-infection vehicles for the coronavirus.

“Our concern is that the finger is pointing to the inability or unwillingness of church pastors to manage funerals in accordance with the regulations, opening them to prosecution,” the council said.

Medjugorje international youth fest goes online for 2020

BY ERIN CARELSE

E

VERY August, youth from all over the world flock to Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina to joyfully pray, witness, and partake in the sacraments together at the Medjugorje Youth Festival or Mladfest.

This year, however, due to Covid-19 it’s not possible to gather physically—but everyone is invited to join in online.

The Mladfest officially began in 1989 and usually sees more than 50 000 youths and 500 priests from all over the world attend.

Last year, the Medjugorje Youth Prayer Group (MYPG) from St Therese’s parish in Edenvale, Johannesburg, attended the 30th Mladfest with the theme “Follow Me”. It was the first Vatican-sanctioned pilgrimage.

The MYPG was established in 2013 by Catherine and Melanie Matthee with their parish priest, the late Fr Joseph Leathem OMI. “The aim of the group is to help one another grow in holiness and strive to lead not only ourselves but others to Jesus through Our Blessed Mother’s guidance and messages from Medjugorje,” Ms Matthee said.

Presently the MYPG is led by adult leader Simone Liang.

Ms Matthee attended the festival in 2014. From that time discussions were held to arrange a trip for MYPG members.

In 2016 it was decided that the MYPG would attend the 2019 Mladfest, and fundraising toward this ambitious goal began from this date.

“It would have been great for the entire group to attend the Mladfest, but only five youth members were able to attend, together with seven adults,” Ms Matthee said.

Daily events at the festival entailed prayer, catechesis, testimonies, recitation of the rosary and the celebration of Mass.

Evenings included various events such as adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, meditation with candles before the cross, a procession with the statue of Our Lady of Medjugorje, and a special mission for the youth to carry out upon their return home.

Additionally, special events consisted of reciting the rosary while climbing Apparition Hill and Mass on Cross Mountain.

Trista Ndetah an MYPG member, said going to Medjugorje was an

Bishops laud late Lesotho archbishop’s care for exiles

This year’s international Medjugorje Youth Festival will be held online due to Covid-19. Last year members of a youth group at St Therese’s parish in Edenvale, Johannesburg, took the trip to Medjugorje itself. The group were (from left) Bernard Laferla, Jean-René Macquet, Jacqueline Macquet, Charmaine Donald, Michele Michael, Marilyn Boerdacorte, Catherine Matthee, Trista Ndetah, Sibusiso Sikhakhane, Yasmine Macquet, Miranda le Roux and Cassandra Mostert.

Tony Wyllie & Co. Catholic Funeral Home Personal and Dignified 24-hour service

469 Voortrekker Rd, Maitland, Tel: 021 593 8820

T

HE Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) has conveyed its condolences to the president of the Lesotho Catholic Bishops’ Conference on the death of Archbishop Bernard Mohlalisi of Maseru (pictured).

Archbishop Mohlalisi, a member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, died on July 24 at the age of 87.

The SACBC in its statement recalled with appreciation the late archbishop’s pastoral service to the people of God in Lesotho and offering “hospitality and spiritual care” to exiled South Africans during apartheid.

It also acknowledged Archbishop Mohlalisi’s “outstanding service to the people of God”.

“We remember with gratitude how he, as leader of the Church in Lesotho, received our exiles from the apartheid regime and offered them hospitality and spiritual care,” said the SACBC message, signed by its president, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha.

The bishops expressed their thanks to the Catholic Church of Lesotho “for being there for our people in a time of need”.

amazing experience.

“The opening ceremony was full of energy. You could see how happy everyone was to be there. It was so amazing to see since not many youths here in SA show their love for Mother Mary that much,” she recalled.

MYPG leader Yasmine Macquet described her experience as one to which no words could do justice.

“I have learned the importance of prayer beyond what I have ever been taught. I had been taught that it is our greatest weapon and that, through the rosary, wars could be avoided,” Ms Macquet said.

“During this trip, I felt the power of prayer grow in me, and now I wake up and find myself doing a decade while I make tea. I’m doing a decade at school. I’m doing a decade while I make dinner.

“This is what I want to implement in our youth group. To teach the kids to do everything with Jesus and in turn, their hearts will know no bounds,” Ms Macquet said.

The Mladfest youth festival will be held this year from August 1-6 on the theme “Come and you will see” (John 1:39). Anybody can join in online at www.marytv.tv

48 Main Rd, Muizenberg, Tel: 021 788 3728 carol@wylliefunerals.co.za andrew@wylliefunerals.co.za Member of the NFDA

“We thank God for the gift he gave us in the life and example of the archbishop. We join with you in finding solace and comfort in the mercy of God and in remembering a good and faithful servant who lived at the service of the Lord and his people,” the statement concluded.

Born on March 16, 1933, in Lesotho, Archbishop Mohlalisi was ordained a priest in July 1963 and appointed archbishop of Maseru in June 1990. He retired at the age of 76 in June 2009 after 19 years.

The

S outher n C ross

Engage with us online facebook.com/thescross twitter.com/ScrossZA

instagram.com/thesoutherncross_

www.scross.co.za

4

The Southern Cross, July 29 to August 4, 2020

INTERNATIONAL

Mozambican bishop seeks help following attacks

BY FRANCIS NJUGUNA

A

CATHOLIC bishop in Mozambique has appealed for humanitarian assistance to feed hundreds of thousands of displaced people, following late-June attacks in the country’s northern province of Cabo Delgado.

He said that people were receiving help from the World Food Program and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, but he estimated that more than 250 000 people were displaced.

In a statement the previous day, Bishop Luiz Lisboa of Pemba said that, in late June, a group of extremists had attacked the area, killing more than 1 000 people, burning local structures—including a Catholic school and church—and displacing hundreds of thousands of people, mostly women and children.

“We really need help,” he said.

“First, we need prayers to stop the war and, secondly, humanitarian aid because the needs are many.

“We need all possible solidarity

Children wait for Pope Francis’ arrival to visit the Zimpeto Hospital outside Maputo, Mozambique, in 2019. Hundreds of thousands of Mozambicans remain displaced following late-June attacks. (Photo: Paul Haring/CNS) from inside Mozambique, outside Mozambique, so that we can provide a minimum response to at least the primary needs of our brothers and sisters,” he said.

Bishop Lisboa said those displaced from their homes were scattered, because insurgents attacked about nine of the 17 districts in Cabo Delgado.

“The rest of the districts are hosting the displaced in a special way, the city of Pemba is very crowded...each family welcomes one or two or three more families,” he said.

“And because of overcrowding in the provincial towns, displaced people are already starting to go to neighbouring provinces,” he said.

The bishop said the displaced are in very difficult situations: They either must depend on the host families, or those in the camps are totally dependent on the humanitarian aid that is given.

“The minimum conditions are lacking so that they can have assistance with the dignity that every human being deserves,” Bishop Lisboa said.

The region has witnessed growing instability since October 2017, when Islamists attacked a military base and a police station in the coastal city of Mocimboa da Praia, where foreign companies are undertaking a gas oil project.—CNS

German abbess faces possible landmark trial on church asylum

A

BENEDICTINE abbess who granted refuge to female asylum-seekers faces trial for refusing to pay a fine, reported the German Catholic news agency KNA. It could become a landmark case by determining whether granting church asylum amounts to the punishable offense of “aiding and abetting illegal residents”, as state prosecutors often interpret it. There is no constitutional court ruling on this issue yet.

Mother Mechthild Thurmer granted refuge to female asylumseekers in her monastery in the Bavarian town of Kirchschletten more than 30 times. The main hearing at the Bamberg district court was cancelled in mid-July because the judge wanted to wait for

A sleeping bag is seen lying between two pews in a German church. A Benedictine abbess who granted refuge to female asylumseekers in Germany faces trial for refusing to pay a fine. (Photo: Harald Oppitz, KNA) possible further charges against her, a court spokesman said.

“I acted out of Christian spirit,” the 62-year-old abbess said. “To

give concrete help to a person in need can’t be a crime.”

Up to now, authorities in Bavaria have mostly dropped proceedings against people granting church asylum and imposed no penalties. In a few cases, they offered to close cases in exchange for a fine. If the accused agreed, the matter was over, although this did not amount to an acquittal.

The hearing in Bamberg would not be just about Mother Mechthild. It’s also about whether the 2015 agreement between the Churches and the government on church asylum still stands. Under that agreement, authorities tolerate asylum while the asylumseeker’s individual application is examined, provided that he or she is not hidden.—CNS

The cathedral of Ss Peter and Paul of Nantes in western France in flames on July 18. A church volunteer has been charged with arson in connection with the fire. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images/CNA)

Nantes cathedral fire: Altar server charged

BY COURTNEY MARES

A

CHURCH volunteer has admitted to starting the fire at Nantes cathedral in France, and was charged with arson on Saturday.

The 39-year-old Rwandan refugee—who had been detained and released by the police immediately following the July 18 fire at the cathedral—was arrested again and indicted on July 25 on “charges of destruction and damage by fire”, according to the Nantes public prosecutor.

Prosecutor Pierre Sennes said in a statement that the volunteer had confessed to the examining magistrate to lighting three fires in the cathedral, Le Figaro reported.

“My client is today consumed with remorse and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the events,” Quentin Chabert, the lawyer of the accused, told Presse-Océan.

Agence France-Presse reported that the unnamed volunteer, who had been an altar server, was responsible for closing the cathedral of Ss Peter and Paul on the night of the fire, which arson investigators said appeared to have started at three different points in the building.

The volunteer had been detained by French police on the day of the suspected arson and ques-

tioned about alleged inconsistencies in his schedule, but was released without charge the following day.

However, developments in the arson investigation led the volunteer to be rearrested, indicted, and detained in pretrial custody, according to the prosecutor.

The fire at the 15th-century cathedral destroyed the Gothic church’s great organ and 16th-century rose window. Scheduled Masses and a series of summer organ concerts at the cathedral have been moved to other churches in the diocese.

“For the Catholic community, this disaster is greeted with great sadness. The vocation of the mother church of the diocese is to bring it together in unity around its bishop. Everyone is at home here. How can we not think of our future bishop, who cannot be installed in his cathedral?” Fr Francois Renaud, administrator of the currently vacant diocese of Nantes, said in a statement.

He said that much of the cost of the damage to the cathedral will be assumed by the French government, which owns the building.

However the diocese will be responsible for replacing the cathedral’s damaged pews and is seeking donations for the construction of a new organ.—CNA

Ex-nuncio to France to face trial in Paris on sexual assault charges

BY HANNAH BROCKHAUS

SUBSCRIBE 3 months R105 6 months R210 12 months R420

• Never miss an issue • Get the latest issue on Wednesday morning • Full access to our digital 10-year archive • Option of a weekly email with link to the latest issue www.digital.scross.co.za • subscriptions@scross.co.za

A

RETIRED Vatican diplomat accused of sexual assault while in office is due to appear before the Paris Criminal Court in November.

Archbishop Luigi Ventura resigned as nuncio to France in December 2019 at the age of 75.

Archbishop Ventura was accused of inappropriately touching a young male staffer of Paris City Hall in January 2019.

It was confirmed by Vincent Plumas, deputy prosecutor and

press manager of the office of the public prosecutor of Paris, that the archbishop “should appear before the Paris Criminal Court for acts of sexual assault on November 10”.

The Vatican revoked the archbishop’s diplomatic immunity in July 2019, paving the way for a trial in French courts.

He has been living in Rome since September last year, according to French news agency I. Media.

Archbishop Ventura was first

accused in early 2019 of inappropriately touching a staffer at a January 17, 2019, reception for the New Year address of Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo. The accusation was then investigated by Parisian authorities for several months.

After the initial allegation was made against the archbishop, he faced a second accusation of sexual misconduct from an adult male relating to his previous nunciature in Canada in 2008. He has denied the allegations.—CNA

INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, July 29 to August 4, 2020

5

At least 9 bishops have died from coronavirus

BY COURTNEY MARES

A

T least nine Catholic bishops, including two African bishops, have died from coronavirus as the pandemic continues to spread worldwide.

Bishop Henrique Soares da Costa of Palmares, Brazil, became the latest bishop to die of Covid-19 on July 18. He died at the age of 57.

Bishop Da Costa is the third bishop in Brazil to die after contracting coronavirus. A total of five Brazilian bishops are believed to have contracted the virus.

Archbishop Emeritus Pedro Ercílio Simon of Passo Fundo died at the age of 78 on June 1 and Archbishop Emeritus Aldo Pagotto of Paraiba, who was already suffering from cancer, died of respiratory failure on April 14 aged 70.

Sixty-six-year-old Bishop Eugenio Scarpellini of El Alto, Bolivia,

died on July 15 after contracting the virus. A native of Italy, Bishop Scarpellini had served in the Bolivian diocese for 10 years.

In the United States, Boston auxiliary Bishop Emilio Allue died on April 26 at the age of 85 of complications from Covid-19.

Bishop Vincent Malone, 88, an auxiliary bishop of England’s Liverpool archdiocese, died on May 18 after testing positive for the coronavirus a week prior.

At least two African bishops have died from the coronavirus.

Bishop emeritus Gérard Mulumba Kalemba of Mweka, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, died on April 15 at the age of 82 in a clinic in Kinshasa.

Bishop emeritus of Kenya’s Meru diocese, Silas Silvius Njiru, died in Turin, Italy, on April 28 at the age of 91, according to the

Consolata Missionaries.

The first bishop to die amid the coronavirus pandemic was Bishop Angelo Moreschi, the Italian head of a missionary region of Ethiopia’s apostolic vicariate of Gambella, who died aged 67 in Brescia, Italy.

In addition, two bishops have died after recovering from coronavirus. Chinese Bishop Joseph Zhu Baoyu died on May 7, months after recovering from the virus. The 98year-old bishop of Nanyang diocese in Henan province was thought to have been the oldest person to survive the disease when he left hospital on February 14, according to UCAN News.

In Bangladesh Archbishop Moses Costa of Chittagong died in hospital on July 13 from a series of strokes two weeks after recovering from Covid-19. Bishop Costa died at the age of 69.—CNA

Pope writes to disabled Camino teen

P

OPE Francis has sent a letter of gratitude to a Spanish teenager with an intellectual disability after the 15-year-old travelled more than 100km along the famed Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

In a letter signed on July 21 and published on the website of the diocese of Malaga, Spain, the pope said he learned of Alvaro Calvante’s journey after receiving a letter from the pilgrim’s father.

“Thank you, Alvaro, for being inspired to walk and inviting many others to walk with you,” the pope wrote. “Amid the pandemic we are experiencing, with your simplicity, joy and humility, you were able to put in motion the hope of many of the people you met on the road or through social networks.”

Pope Francis continued: “You went on pilgrimage and made many

Alvaro Calvante, 15, with his father, walked 100km on the Camino in Spain. people go on pilgrimage, encouraging them not to be afraid and to recover their joy because, on the road, we never go alone. The Lord always walks beside us. Thank you for your testimony and prayers.”

According to the diocese, Alvaro is the seventh of ten brothers and is

a member of the Neocatechumenal Way in a parish in Malaga.

“His intellectual disability is not an impediment to participating very actively in parish life, and his joyful experience of faith is a witness to all who know him,” the diocese said.

The young pilgrim and his father chronicled their 100km trek, which began in the north-western Spanish city of Sarria, covering the final leg of a journey that many begin nearly 800km earlier, through the mountains in France.

The youth’s Twitter account, @CaminodeAlvaro, gained 3 500 followers after opening in early July; many people sent him their prayer intentions.

Alvaro’s father tweeted a picture of the letter on July 21 and thanked the pope for his words, received “with true love”.—CNS

New Vatican Library website aims to entice curious

BY CAROL GLATZ

T

HE Vatican Library has revamped its website to serve scholars better and facilitate navigation for the curious.

“Because of the pandemic, physical presence has become more difficult and, therefore, the website aims to be a place for welcoming, collaboration and openness,” said Mgr Cesare Pasini, the library’s prefect.

With a fresh look, easier and more intuitive navigation, and greater online services for researchers, the updated site, www.vaticanlibrary.va,

went live in mid-July, right when the library closed for the northern summer months.

Along with many other Vatican institutions open to the public, the library had shut down during Italy’s nationwide lockdown, then reopened on June 1 to limited numbers of scholars and with the required restrictions and safety measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Plans for the “restyling” ended up being especially opportune given the continued restrictions and that the pandemic in other parts of the world

The world is grounded But we know that we will come out of our lockdown again. And then we will travel again, for holidays or on business.

FOWLER TRAVEL will be there to make all individual or group arrangements you need, with personalised service and expert advise!

may be preventing other scholars from travelling to Italy to do research at the library.

Some of the new features, Mgr Pasini said, include more powerful and expanded search functions, and registered researchers can now easily ask staff questions and order digital reproductions of manuscripts, texts and other materials from the library’scollections.

“We are the pope’s librarians,” Mgr Pasini said, adding that every pope over the centuries has wanted the library to be open to the world.”

—CNS

admin@schreuderattorneys.co.za

Flashback: Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa with President Nelson Mandela in Dar es Salaam in 1998. The former Tanzanian president, a Catholic, died on July 24 at 81. (Photo: Reuters/CNS)

Tanzania mourns former leader who worked towards peace

BY FREDRICK NZWILI

F

ORMER Tanzanian President Benjamin William Mkapa, a Catholic who led several regional peace mediation efforts, died on July 24. He was 81.

Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli said Mr Mkapa had been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, where he died.

President Magufuli urged the people to remain calm, united and peaceful as they mourned their former president, who served from 1995 to 2005.

Mr Mkapa was Tanzania’s third president. He was born in Ndanda in 1938, and he was educated in Catholic schools, graduating from St Francis College in 1956.

After he graduated from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, with a degree in English in 1962, he earned a masters degree in international studies at Columbia University in New York. He held

several cabinet posts—including foreign minister and information minister—and also served as Tanzania’s ambassador to the United States for three months in 1983.

“Our retired president, rest in peace,” said Auxiliary Bishop Method Kilaini of Bukoba. “You have fought a good fight and you have won the race.”

Mr Mkapa is credited with introducing economic reforms after opening the country to foreign investors. He boosted tax collection and introduced strict measures to curb corruption, measures that led the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to cancel Tanzania’s debt.

In retirement, Mr Mkapa become a key peace mediator in the East Africa region. His latest effort was an attempt to mediate peace in Burundi, where a controversial election triggered a crisis in 2015.

Mr Mkapa is survived by his wife, Anna, and two sons.—CNS

Pope: Send elderly a hug

P

OPE Francis called on young people to reach out to their grandparents or the elderly who may be lonely or on their own.

“Do not leave them by themselves,” he said after praying the Angelus with visitors in St Peter’s Square on Sunday.

“Use the inventiveness of love, make phone calls, video calls, send messages, listen to them and, where possible, in compliance with health care regulations, go to visit them, too. Send them a hug,” he said before leading visitors in giving a big round of applause for all grandparents.

The pope made his remarks on the memorial of Ss Joachim and

Anne—Mary’s parents, Jesus’ grandparents and the patron saints of grandparents.

Pope Francis said he wanted to mark the day by inviting all young people to make a concrete “gesture of tenderness toward the elderly, especially the loneliest, in their homes and residences, those who have not seen their loved ones for many months” because of rules in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Grandparents and the elderly are “your roots” and having a strong bond or connection with one’s roots is important, the pope said, because “an uprooted tree cannot grow, it does not blossom or bear fruit”.— CNS

Church Chuckles THE BIG BOOK OF CATHOLIC JOKES The biggest collection of Catholic jokes yet!

Almost 500 jokes ordered by themes, with 60 cartoons by Conrad!

ONLY R180 (plus R30 p&p)

ORDER NOW!

Call Michael at 083 704-5063 or michael@fowlertravel.co.za

Order from books@scross.co.za or CLICK HERE

6

The Southern Cross, July 29 to August 4, 2020

The

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

S outher n C ross

Let’s launch nationwide fund to save SC!

Guest editorial by Rosanne Shields

In changing times

I

T is a sad day when an institution like The Southern Cross newspaper, as a print publication, has to close—just a few weeks short of turning 100 years old.

This has been a time of deep reflection for all of us involved, difficult discussions with the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, crisis management by the board, and great sacrifice on the part of the loyal staff, culminating in their retrenchment since we cannot go on as normal when all of our parish points of sale are closed.

Even though our digital subscriptions will have doubled in number by the time the churches reopen, this is not enough to replace the income from the printed weekly edition.

A pandemic such as Covid-19 and the resultant lockdown has a way of focusing one’s thoughts and cutting through the fluff that so often surrounds us within the Catholic Church, with its complex hierarchical structure that in many ways is at odds with how we function as modern people in the 21st century, and in particular as Catholic media.

One hears two consistent views from many, not all, in the institutional hierarchy.

Firstly, that the Church operates largely apart from the norms and standards shaped by society, a constant in the face of changing morality.

Secondly, that Catholic media should reflect the Church’s unchanging and unbending position, as dictated by those in authority. Translated: Do not “air dirty laundry”, keep problems and disagreements “within the family”.

Every so often you read a story, such as one carried by The Southern Cross’s website this week, that rocks your foundations and haunts your thoughts.

In this case it is the story of the Church-run home for unmarried mothers and babies in Tuam, Ireland.

In 2017 excavations at the site of the home revealed human remains in a mass grave, a 20chamber underground structure near an unused sewerage tank.

These remains were of 796 infants and children, some lost in the final trimester of pregnancy, mostly buried in the 1950s.

They were buried in unconsecrated ground, with no dignity, because they were born to unmarried mothers.

I

AM very saddened by the news that The Southern Cross, which my late husband and I have been readers of our entire adult lives, has also succumbed to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the weekly printed version will no longer be available, resulting in retrenchments of its loyal staff.

Adding to the measures one can take to support The Southern Cross, mentioned in the issue of July 22, the Catholic Church, which has been served so well by this weekly paper, should launch a special countrywide fund towards creating the fi-

Would this be tolerated by society now? No. Would the Church condone such un-Christian and shocking behaviour by those running a similar home now? No. So, society changes and, however slowly, the Church changes too because it is a living, breathing body made up of all of us.

How does Catholic media and its role come into this? We need to ask ourselves whether we would have known all the details of this story and many others had it not been reported, had journalists not engaged with the researchers and the campaigners who took it on themselves to rectify this travesty.

What would have happened had the many instances of clerical abuse of power and sexual abuse not been brought to light by media, including Catholic media, around the world? Would we have the commissions, the apologies, the protocols and help given to survivors if this scourge had been allowed to thrive in the darkness?

Of course the role of Catholic media is not just about waiting to pounce on the failures within Church and society. A very important task is to bring hope, to share the good news stories, the supreme sacrifices made by people serving God, holding them up so that we can see the way and emulate them.

Our role is also to analyse how the economic, political and social behaviour of those in power in our country compares with the values Christ has given us.

Our contribution should be part of ending poverty of mind, body and spirit, telling the story of the underdog and juxtaposing different viewpoints.

Because we believe we have such a role to play, three outgoing senior staff of The Southern Cross have agreed to work on a freelance basis to maintain our growing presence online and to launch a monthly printed magazine for sale through the parishes and via print and digital subscription.

Moving forward there is much that The Southern Cross can do differently and do better. We need to reach a greater and more diverse audience, to be more things to more people, but keep our focus.

This is a delicate balancing act and we invite you with open arms to journey with us as we write the next chapters of our history. n Rosanne Shields chairs the board of directors of The Southern Cross.

The LARGEST Catholic online shop in South Africa!

We specialise and source an extensive variety of products, some of which include: *Personalised Rosaries *Priest Chasubles *Altar Linen *Church Items *Bells *Chalices *Thuribles *Personalised Candles, etc.

Tel: 012 460-5011 | Cell: 079 762-4691 | Fax: 0123498592 Email: info@catholicshop.co.za

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.

Napier: I back reformed SC

T

HE letter by G Samuels (July 22) had me scurrying to Letters to the Editor to discover where I declare that I do not support The Southern Cross.

What I discovered was this comment in my letter of April 15 on the discussions between the SACBC admin board and The Southern Cross’ representatives: “I held my peace and never uttered a word! I reckoned it was better to say nothing than to fake an interest in something that I didn’t and indeed don’t have a passion for in its present form.”

Having said that, I immediately went on to suggest what would make The Southern Cross something that one could support with a passion.

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier OFM, Durban

Cardinal fails in role as shepherd

T

HE saddest news at this time, besides the Covid-19 pandemic, is not the change of format of The Southern Cross, as explained in your editorial “This is our future” (July 8), but the retrenchment of staff.

For a hundred years, these folk and their predecessors have produced the newspaper in South Africa which supported and promoted the Catholic Church.

In the present circumstances, the reasons given are understandable.

However, what was shameful was the recent condemnation of the publication by Cardinal Wilfrid Napier.

As the most “senior” Catholic in the country, the cardinal showed vilification instead of the mercy that Pope Francis expects from his clergy.

Unfortunately, he has diminished his credibility with frequent embarrassing statements.

In 2018 he was obliged to apologise for suggesting that paedophilia

nancial security which would enable it to reemploy the retrenched staff.

I feel sure loyal longtime readers would support it.

Regarding your editorial “Falling for lies” of July 28 (https://www. scross.co.za/2020/07/falling-forlies/), it is true that one does not know what to believe nowadays as lying has apparently become acceptable behaviour.

It is unfortunate that some have decided to target something like the funeral of Zindzi Mandela with such lies, as you raised by way of example in the editorial.

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.

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

is not a crime.

In 2014, Cardinal Napier’s vituperative attack on the integrity of The Southern Cross and its editor, was unfortunate.

He sadly ignored the constitutional right of “freedom of expression”; or the role of a newspaper and its editor and the ethics thereof, all of which could have saved the editor and other readers from the cardinal’s unnecessary abuse.

More recently, he displayed a racist attitude by accusing We Are All Church SA of having a white leadership and therefore concluding that this was a group reintroducing the apartheid system.

However, the most-serious situation, presently, is that the staff of The Southern Cross are about to lose their livelihoods, and a so-called “shepherd” gets to continue a relatively luxurious lifestyle in his phylacteries and tassels.

In a world of little or no accountability, responsibility or integrity, the staff will be let go. How ironic it is that a Church, which has spent millions on so many victims of abuse by its priests, cannot afford to support such stalwart Catholic workers or save South Africa’s only weekly Catholic newspaper.

As is the national culture, it will retain incompetent leaders and show none of the Christian mercy required by the Church.

Tony Meehan, Cape Town

Korean priest saw God’s inner view

I

T’S not often that the Lord “tips his hand” and allows us to see things from his perspective and what he has in mind.

A wonderful story about a semi-

Neighbourhood Old Age Homes

Zindzi assisted me in running an employment agency for the SA Institute of Race Relations in the 1980s when people of colour were not permitted by the apartheid government to go to employment agencies.

She was a very beautiful, lovely young woman, and very committed to assisting people to find jobs.

We were quite successful, even managing to get people who had been in detention without trial find positions with firms that had signed the Sullivan Agreement.

RIP Zindzi.

June Boyer, Johannesburg

narian, Mang Eui-Soon from Seoul in South Korea (SK), at the beginning of the Korean War in the early 1950s gives an insight into this.

The invasion of SK by North Korea (NK) was fast; the North’s army overwhelming the South by sheer numbers, and in days many found themselves behind the lines.

Mang Eui-Soon and others hid and tried to make their way south through the countryside to safety.

They were captured by the invading army and tortured for days as suspected spies. After being released they continued their journey only to be captured again and pressed into service carrying munitions and cooking for the NK army.

They escaped and pushed south where they eventually met with the SK and US forces who arrested them and sent them to a prisoner of war camp, assuming they were NK spies.

So he was placed with atheist captured NK soldiers and their Chinese allies.

Mang Eui-Soon, in prayer, began to see God’s purpose. As he put it: “They are not enemies invading our country with rifles, but sheep that God has driven along.”

He realised that “God had started the work of salvation on billions of Chinese... we have to sow the seed of the Gospel in their hearts”.

For years then he worked tirelessly in the camp and its hospital to reach out to the NK and Chinese prisoners and brought the Gospel to them.

Mang Eui-Soon had to dodge his own release after the allies sought to set him free so he could remain with those he was evangelising.

Before the end of the war, after which the POWs were to be repatriated to NK and China, he died in the camp. Most attended his funeral.

Mang Eui-Soon brought so many to God by his persistence and kindness, and then they returned to NK and China as evangelists, sowing the seed in their home countries where it continues to grow in secret.

Stephen Clark, Manila, Philippines

ST ANTHONYS CHILD and YOUTH CARE CENTRE

We can use your old clothing, furniture and books for our secondhand shop in Woodstock, Cape Town, to generate funds for our work with the elderly.

Keeping Children safe within families

Contact Ian Veary on 021 447-6334 www.noah.org.za

576 AM in Johannesburg & beyond

DStv Audio 870

www.radioveritas.co.za streaming live

Catch our interviews with Southern Cross editor Günther Simmermacher every Friday on 8:30am 41809 MASS followed by Mass Intention • 41809 VERI followed by comments Contact us: Tel 041 373-0039 / Mobile 074 376-5833 / Email retreat@catholic-pe.co.za

011 663-4700 info@radioveritas.co.za

admin@stanthonyshome.org www.stanthonyshome.org

PERSPECTIVES

Where I can see God’s fingerprint Nthabiseng N Maphisa EWS networks around the globe seem determined to swallow up the horrors of the world and to vomit it out in thirty-minute reports on their channels.

It seems there is much to be afraid of and much to drive us to melancholy.

I could ride along with them, dear reader. I could journey with them on that train of despair and take you with me.

Only God knows where that train would lead, and I don’t wish to discover it.

Instead I will dare to be a voice in the wilderness that cries out to the world to behold all things bright and beautiful.

An unfortunate consequence of being locked in the house is the inevitable overeating, with the resulting expansion of my waistline.

In a fierce attempt to combat this, I have begun to take short walks in my neighbourhood.

Before you question the efficacy of this, I must state that there are steep hills

that challenge my short, stout figure.

When I begin my cardiovascular exercise, something happens. I notice, unintentionally, the elaborate patterns on the bark of trees and I see the spider web of leaves clinging to branches.

I am in the glory of the sun and the sky sings to me.

All of this, I am aware, is the most cliché of clichés and the cheesiest of cheesy realisations. But on the plain streets of plainest suburbia, there is something, dare I say, beautiful.

Many of my friends who were fortunate enough to keep their jobs have complained of long days behind the computer and the ensuing weariness. In some twisted way, my lack of employment has given me time to myself that I otherwise would not have experienced.

Maybe I’m crazy or maybe for the first time I have climbed out of my self-centred world to see the print God left when creation was being formed.

Being out of work has opened Nthabiseng Maphisa’s eyes to all kinds of things bright and beautiful: the bark of trees, spiderwebs, and music. (Image: Spencer Imbrock/Unsplash)

Pop Culture Catholic

The genius of music And when this toil is over, I wander into the misty forest of music. There was a time when I indulged in bubblegum pop tunes that were as light as candyfloss.

Out of habit, I still do this, but there is now a curiosity for the strumming of vintage rock.

In addition to this, I now find I want to swim in the restless ocean of classical music and be carried to the shore on the lonely vessel of jazz.

In some ways, the pandemic has been a crucible for the industry. Those who are talentless can no longer rely on previous gimmicks to captivate their audiences. In this time of emptiness, who would want music that is itself hollow?

In a different light, musicians who have long been masters of their craft continue to remind us of their gift. They are like skilful chemists who bring together angelic voices, colourful instrumentals and poetry.

The best music tells a story. At times, there are tales of victory in battles fought. At other times, there are tales of romance in a lively city.

All of this pumping through my cheap headphones is a sound that is as deep as a water well, as luxurious as gold, and simply beautiful.

Many of us are trying to remember life before the chaos of the virus. We want to forget the ugliness that existed and go back to the beauty that it was.

But I implore thee, dear reader, to ponder the beauty that is before us now and is to come.

How can we live without it? Where can we hope to find it? Perhaps search amidst the light in the trees or in the humming of Nina Simone.

And I hope in this time that you may find all things bright and beautiful.

Look for the Kingdom moments Sarah-Leah T Pimentel HE cycle of Sunday readings is currently focusing on the Kingdom of Heaven.

In a series of parables, Jesus gives us images of what the Kingdom of Heaven is like: a precious pearl that a man will sell his entire fortune just so that he can buy it. Or a house with many rooms in which everyone will feel welcome.

At a time when we are missing our spiritual home inside the familiar buildings of our parish churches, where we were used to experiencing a little bit of the Kingdom of Heaven in the sacrament of the Mass and in communion with one another, these parables are both a comfort and a challenge.

On the one hand, we draw solace in remembering that our passage through this life with its many challenges is temporary and that our real hope lies in spending eternity in the presence of God, as Jesus promised in his parables.

On the other hand, it’s been really hard to muster up that Kingdom feeling.

The Kingdom of Heaven we envisage is a place of unity and togetherness. I haven’t seen any of my fellow parishioners in over three months. I chat to a few of them over WhatsApp or Zoom, but it’s not quite the same thing.

Online Mass has been wonderful because I can attend Mass with priests who’ve played an important role in my life, and it allows me to connect with what is going on in their parishes—but as a result, I lose touch with what is happening in my parish community.

The lack of unity in our society also breaks down that Kingdom feeling. People are divided over the wearing of masks, the authorities’ handling of the pandemic, the growing #BlackLivesMatter movement, international politics, and any other range of issues.

In our pandemic-enforced isolation in our own personal kingdoms, it seems that we have lost tolerance for alternative viewpoints that do not match our own.

This is precisely the challenge. The Kingdom of Heaven is so much more than

The Mustard Seeds

A woman applies hand-sanitiser: This, too, is a daily “Kingdom moment” for which to look out for, writes Sarah-Leah Pimentel.(Photo: Nathana Reboucas) a final destination once our earthly lives are past. The Kingdom of Heaven is something that we build here on earth. In the words of the Our Father—thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven— we learn that prayer is more than heartfelt words. Prayer becomes action.

Find daily ‘Kingdom moments’ While we ask God to make our earthly kingdoms a little more like God’s Kingdom, the prayer is not really one of supplication. It is one of mission. It is the desire of the Christian to find Kingdom moments in every day.

This is important, now more than ever.

We are isolated in our homes, far from our loved ones. Our work and social lives are lived online. In this context it becomes so

easy to miss those Kingdom moments.

It might be as simple as a deep appreciation for God’s creation.

After a really stormy week in Cape Town, I took a walk along the beach on the first sunny day that I was free. Often I’m walking for exercise and my focus is on time or distance. On this day, I had no plan. I simply wanted to wander around outdoors.

I didn’t venture very far, but soon found myself on some rocks looking for shells. As I picked up each shell, I marvelled at its beauty and the detail of the patterns. I did this for about two hours.

This was a Kingdom moment.

Kingdom moments exist with every human interaction—greeting the cashier in the supermarket or thanking the security guard for sanitising our hands.

Many people are volunteering food, money, and time to feed the hungry.

Wearing a mask in public to protect ourselves and others is a sign of respect.

These are Kingdom moments too.

We are not going to change the world overnight. There will still be wars, hunger, and pestilence. But when we look for Kingdom moments amidst the daily hardships, we begin to see the joy and the beauty of the world that, although imperfect, is the one that God has ordained for us to live in.

When we find the beauty, our attitude changes too. Suddenly the bad news is not quite so terrible, our worries are not as great, and everything somehow becomes manageable.

We’ve shared the Kingdom of Heaven with others, but the Kingdom of Heaven within ourselves has also grown.

What is your Kingdom moment this week?

The Southern Cross, July 29 to August 4, 2020

7

Julia Beacroft

Point of Reflection

Be thankful for feeling...sheepish

T

ELEVISION commercials are so much a part of our daily lives that we hardly notice them most of the time. But just occasionally there is one that tickles our fancy, so to speak.

Personally, I quite liked a recent advert that promotes a brand of sleeping tablets. The distraught man in the ad is surrounded by advisers who tell him that his time to sleep is rapidly running out—only four hours and fifty-something minutes left to go. So as a last resort, they cry “Release the sheep!”

And with this we are on familiar territory— the notion of counting sheep as they jump over a fence as a remedy for said sleeplessness, the idea being that you eventually drift off into oblivion through sheer boredom. Although this therapy doesn’t work for me, the ad makes me smile.

Bing Crosby, in the 1954 iconic film White Christmas took the idea a stage further when he suggested that, as we lie awake hoping for sleep, we count our blessings instead of sheep.

“And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings,” Bing advised.

I really like this concept as it combines another tool to combat wakefulness, but more importantly touches upon an area in our lives which is sometimes sadly overlooked.

Most of us have much to be thankful for— even our lives themselves—and as such it is good to celebrate this and give thanks to the Lord for it.

After all, everything comes from God: our gifts and talents, personalities, personal appearance and life circumstances. All is pure gift and in our busy, frenetic lives we are sometimes in danger of forgetting this simple fact.

Counting sheep for Christians Conversely, if you do prefer the age-old idea of counting sheep at night, this initiative also resonates for Christians.

The Gospels are full of references of Jesus being the Good Shepherd and we, his sheep.

Contrary to the once-held opinion that sheep have tiny brains and are extremely stupid, it has now been proved that the opposite is true.

So we, as the children of God, created in the image and likeness of him, are intelligent creatures who are nurtured by the loving Lord. And Jesus knows his sheep and his own know him, we are further informed.

Moreover, in John’s Gospel, it is written that the Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. If we needed any further proof of how much we are loved by the Lord, surely this statement illustrates that beyond all doubt.

Additionally, we know too that even if we go astray, the Lord seeks to bring us back into the fold.

Jesus told this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.

Doesn’t he leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep’” (Lk 15:1-7). So not a single one of us is ever lost.

Whether we count our blessings or count our sheep, we can always be assured of the one constant in our lives which we can truly count on— the Lord. n Julia Beacroft’s book Sanctifying The Spirit is published by Sancio Books and available on Amazon.

Catholic Link SUBSCRIBE TO THE /'/ͳ>/E<

Get the ĂƚŚŽůŝĐ >ŝŶŬ delivered directly to your inbox each month.

You can read it on your phone, computer, tablet or simply print it. ^ƵďƐĐƌŝƉƟŽŶ ĐŽƐƚƐ͗ Trial 3 months – R65.00 6 months – R120.00 12 months – R200.00 ŶƋƵŝƌŝĞƐ͗ ϬϴϮ ϲϲϳ ϯϴϱϳ ŵĂŝů͗ ƐƵďƐΛƌƉƉ͘ŽƌŐ͘njĂ

i

Extra for Subscribers: The Southern Cross, July 29 to August 4, 2020

SPIRITUALITY

A good time to begin the Beguines again For more than a thousand years, a spiritual movement gave lay women a life of freedom and simplicity.

COLLEEN CONSTABLE looks at the history of the Beguine movement, and how it provides a model for women’s spirituality today.

T

HERE were medieval sisters who combined monastic mysticism and apostolic life, spiritual contemplation and works of mercy. They lived a life of freedom and simplicity when they established a spontaneous religious lay movement for women.

They were called the Beguines.

Their emphasis was love: love of God and love of neighbour.

The Beguines’ devotion to the Eucharist and their fierce promotion of the institution of a special feast to honour the Eucharist led Pope Urban IV in 1264 to officially establish the feast of Corpus Christi.

In the 21st century the role of the 13th-century Beguines was brought to the fore with the death of the world’s last Beguine in 2013 in Belgium. Marcella Pattyn died at the age of 92. She had become a Beguine at age 20 after being rejected by religious houses due to her blindness.

The Beguines leave behind a rich history of almost 1 000 years of following a spirituality of personal development centred in the person of Jesus Christ. Theirs was a commitment without religious vows, a spiritual life of deep prayer and love of neighbour.

The latter they executed through active involvement in various forms of community outreach, including a preaching ministry.

They were the first to write in the vernacular. And they had a strong work ethic of manual labour: those without any means worked in the community to support themselves.

Their approach to spirituality at the time came at a great cost. They were praised and resented, tolerated and tormented by Church authorities.

As their lay religious movement flourished with thousands of women, they became branded as “heretics”, their properties were seized, they faced imprisonment, were burnt at the stake, forced into other religious institutions. Some went underground.

This heavy-handed approach by Church authorities and town councils—which activated discriminatory legislation that curtailed the economic activities of the women’s movement, causing them to lose their economic power base—diminished the alternative option to women’s spirituality at the time.

By the 15th century they were left as destitute women, homeless, with their movement in decline.

A women’s spirituality The Middle Ages was a period of marginalisation of women. Yet it was in the midst of turmoil that some of the world’s most influential voices in women’s spirituality emerged.

Mechtild of Magdeburg in Germany, although never canonised, is one of the 12th century Beguine mystics who left behind rich spiritual writings. She is particularly known for her mystical writings titled Flowing Light of the Godhead.

Other 12th century Beguine mystics include Hadewijch of Antwerp (or of Brabant), Beatrice of Nazareth and Marguerite Porete, whose works are considered to be masterpieces.

Marguerite is known for her “love mysticism” and was the first Beguine burned at the stake in 1310 for heresy. It is said that she faced her death courageously with forgiveness towards her tormentors, bringing bystanders to tears.

To appreciate the contribution of the Beguines towards women’s spirituality requires an understanding of what they stood for at the time.

The Beguines started some time around the 9th or 10th century and became more visible around the 13th century. They began in Belgium and operated in France, Germany and the Netherlands, with their movement spreading throughout Europe.

They comprised married women, widows and single women who lived celibate lifestyles, but were free to leave for marriage if they wished, or to return to their spouses.

They lived alone, with family, as a community and later in what was called beguinages—houses grouped together, bought collectively, with each community operating autonomously.

This strategy developed into what became known as “ladies’ towns” or “cities within cities” as their residential areas were situated around churches in close proximity of schools, hospitals, cemeteries and economic activity.

These women came from various backgrounds and occupations. They wore black dresses with white caps, but they were neither nuns nor hermits nor vowed religious women. It is said that their devotion and spiritual discipline surpassed that of their monastic sisters.

They were simply lay women committed to follow Christ without vows, restrictions and bureaucracy, and dedicated to serve humanity in various ways. They had no rules to govern their association and their relationship with Mother Church—and that proved to be their downfall.

They were not accountable to any male hierarchy or authority.

They acted independently, while keeping excellent relations with the Dominicans and Franciscans.

They supported themselves either through their own earnings, inheritances and economic activities such as weaving, milling, spinning and providing medical care

A beguinage and St Martin’s church in Kortrijk, Belgium. (Photo: LimoWreck)

A drawing of a Beguine from a 1489 print made in Lübeck, Germany. to the rich (they treated the poor free of charge) and participation in teaching.

They lived their spirituality without any strings attached. In general, the Beguine spirituality focused on the person of Jesus throughout his lifetime, with special emphasis on his Passion and an essential devotion to the Eucharist.

It is said that Beguines preferred to receive the Eucharist two or more times a week, in contrast with the trend in religious communities at the time to receive once or twice a year.

Beguines made history The Beguines made history. Not only did they provide women with an alternative option other than marriage and monastic life, but they also empowered them to exercise their agency differently. This contributed to the economic emancipation of women and it challenged male supremacy.

These women were active in their society: they were the first to embark on outreach ministries at the time. Their movement had much credibility.

They were considered pious, holy women with supernatural gifts. They were healers, prophetesses and oracles and they were involved in healthcare and education throughout Europe.

Some of them travelled to preach sections of the Bible to society.

This and their spiritual writings seemed to have prompted Church authorities to turn against them.

Today we reflect upon the bold and courageous steps these women took to redefine women’s spirituality in the Middle Ages.

They gave birth to a spirituality that does not require vows or that women seek exclusion from the world There is nothing that stops 21st century women following this informal spirituality without vows.

In fact, there may be many women living a holy life for decades, following voluntarily celibacy, prayer and active community involvement. But while they practise their spirituality in secrecy, the Beguines did it openly: it was not a private spirituality.

Beguine reboot today?

It would be good if the many 21st-century, modern-day “Beguines”, who go about their spirituality privately, became an informal network of women who live a dedicated life without vows, serving humanity for all to see, under the auspices of Mother Church.

First, such an approach would create a spiritual movement for women in a contemporary world.

It creates a space where single, widowed and divorced women unite to grow spiritually and share their development, talents and skills.

It would offers a powerful communication and evangelisation network opportunity as the group

would have an inward and outward focus, communicating horizontally and vertically.

Second, it would provide opportunity to discover the beauty of women’s spirituality. Women would share their experiences of spirituality in a safe space and offer advice to each other.

There are many pious women sitting silently in the pews of the Church with many spiritual gifts.

Similarly there are many women with awesome life experiences who go about parish life without an opportunity to share their phenomenal testimonies of faith and love.

And there are women who silently prefer a contemplative setup, long to be in a monastery, but life took a different turn and they became intercessors par excellence in the midst of a busy world, in the silence of their own homes.

They represent the 21st-century Teresa of Avilas who can tell that you actually do not have to go through all the steps the renowned saint declared for effective prayer life, but that you can go from the bottom to the top in a split second.

Third, these women can play a massive role in evangelisation.

They could offer a fresh focus: being bold enough to step outside the parameters of the parish into the broader community. They could break the current tendency where parishes offer evangelisation courses targeting dedicated parishioners and rather take evangelisation initiatives into society, a different audience.

Fourth, they could become a women’s empowerment movement helping unemployed and abused women find a new space.

There are many opportunities in how a group of women with specific talents and skills can contribute creatively towards eradication of poverty and genderbased violence.

As a collective the women could directly contribute towards societal and economic change in the communities where they live.

Fifth, they can become a powerful intercessory prayer movement.

We are to “pray unceasingly” and they can become the contemplatives in the midst of turmoil.

They could be women of deep prayer, with an apostolic touch as they reach out to those around them.

Women with a mission in the Church: women of Vita Apostolica.

Souther n Cros s Pilgrimage

MEDJUGORJE • ROME ASSISI • LORETO W NE S! E DAT

NEW DATES: May 2021

Led by Archbishop Stephen Brislin

Pray in Medjugorje and visit Rome, with papal audience, Assisi, the town of St Francis, Loreto with Mary’s House. Plus a tour of historic Split in Croatia.

ThRee counTRieS in one TouR!

For more information or to book contact Gail at

info@fowlertours.co.za or phone 076 352-3809

www.fowlertours/medju

SPIRITUALITY

Extra for Subscribers: The Southern Cross, July 29 to August 4, 2020

ii

Fatima, Hiroshima and the glare of miracles The miracle of the dancing sun in Fatima in 1917 can be seen to have a supernatural relationship with a miracle amid the atomic devastation of Hiroshima in 1945, FR RALPH DE HAHN suggests.

S

TARTING in May 1917 three Portuguese children—Lucia dos Santos, and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto—in the small town of Fatima, Portugal, reported six apparitions of the Blessed Virgin to them.

It was at Fatima that Mary promised world peace only if her request was heeded by the Church.

There were unbelievers and sceptics even among the officials and the faithful. It was then that Mary gave visible evidence of her presence: on October 13, 1917 more than 70 000 people gathered to witness an announced apparition of Mary to the three children.

Some came in the expectation that their doubts would be confirmed, among them several reporters.

The crowd, and even people 18km away, witnessed the “Miracle of the Sun”—O Milagre do Sol, as the Portuguese call it.

Writing in the newspaper Ordem, one Dr Domingos Pinto Coelho described what thousands of others saw: “The sun, at one moment surrounded with scarlet flame, at another aureoled in yellow and deep purple, seemed to be in an exceedingly swift and whirling movement, at times appearing to be loosened from the sky and to be approaching the earth, strongly radiating heat.”

There was no denying Mary’s presence. The secular press produced pictures and articles on this incredible event, the news of which swept through Europe and the Catholic world.

Mary, in answer to the children’s request, named herself “Lady of the Rosary”.

We see the significance of this as we prepare for the 70th anniversary in August of a miracle amidst unspeakable tragedy and suffering.

It took place in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, towards the end of World War II. Early on the morning of August 6—the feast of the Transfiguration

of our Lord—a lone American B-29 Superfortress bomber circled above the city. It seemed so normal in this time of war with America. Nobody suspected that the deadly load to be unleashed on them would usher in the atomic age, with unimaginable death and unbelievable devastation as it became the first unfortunate city ever to be attacked with an atomic bomb.

Fr Hubert Schiffer was one of a company of eight German Jesuit priests who had just completed the Divine Office and the celebration of Holy Mass, and were now at the breakfast table. Suddenly a terrific explosion filled the air with a huge flash of light and the priests were flung through the air like leaves in the wind.

They initially thought that perhaps the fuel tanks in the harbour had been hit.

The atomic explosion levelled a whole city within a radius of two kilometres; huge buildings and multitudes of innocent people simply evaporated in the immense ball of fire and the super-heated gas that bulged out of ground zero. The famous railway station and trains were no more! Those further afield who were exposed to the fierce radiation died within days. The death toll was beyond counting.

Jesuit mission survived

The statue of Our Lady of Fatima is carried during a nightly procession at the Portuguese shrine. A page from Ilustração Portuguesa of October 29, 1917, showing the people looking at the Sun during the Fatima apparitions

The small Jesuit community survived the blast. Their home and chapel was intact. This was beyond belief as their house was situated only eight blocks from the centre of the atomic blast.

The priests were practically unscathed except for the falls and the bruises. Most of them lived for another 30 years, to the astonishment of the army (who classified this as secret) and also to that of the many doctors and atomic scientists who declared that the eight Jesuits would inevitably experience the effects of radiation in time.

The scientists had to accept the fact that the members of this community defied the laws of physics, and that their intact survival following the blast was unexplainable in scientific terms.

No human being and no structure could possibly stand against the 235-uranium atomic bomb releasing a temperature in excess of

Hiroshima’s church of the Assumption, in which eight German Jesuits survived the atomic bomb and the desolate area around it after the blast.

6 000°C and a heatwave with a hit at sonic velocity with pressures on buildings greater than 600 PSi. The priests were examined about 200 times and left the scientists utterly baffled. Surely another, more powerful force was at work.

Fr Schiffer, who died in 1982 at the age of 67, offered a possible explanation by referring to Scripture: Did something much like this not happen to Sidrach, Misach and Abdenago in the furiously burning furnace in defiance of the unbelieving king (Daniel 3:19-24)?

Then there was the present-day explanation: the Jesuits were fully aware of the Fatima promise made by the Mother of God. The rosary was devoutly said every day in that house by the community; they prayed it for Mary’s intentions.

They felt they were always under her protective mantle, especially during the war years. The priests were ardent enthusiasts of the Fatima message. There was no other explanation.

This the scientists could not accept; and we do not blame them.

For those who do not believe no explanation is possible.

Three days after Hiroshima, a second atomic bomb was dropped, this one on the city of Nagasaki.

The city’s Franciscan friary, es-

tablished by the Polish martyr to Nazism St Maximilian Kolbe, was untouched by the mighty blast which levelled the city.

They too were under the protection of the heavenly mother, and their church of the Assumption of Mary rejoiced when the United States ordered a ceasefire following Japan’s surrender on August 15 (Japan time)—the feast day of the Assumption.

For those who truly believe, no explanation is necessary.

View these three episodes together: the Miracle of the Sun, the survival of the Jesuits in Hiroshima on the feast of the Transfiguration, and the outbreak of peace on the feast of the Assumption. Can you discern a relationship?

The Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke describe Jesus’ face during the transfiguration as shining brilliantly like the sun. The enormous Fatima gathering witnessed the superpower of the brilliant descending and ascending sun, and the atomic blast was seen as the explosion of the sun with its overpowering heat.

The 75th anniversaries of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are also a good time to ponder again the message of the Lady of Fatima.

BE A SOUTHERN CROSS ASSOCIATE! Your contribution makes a difference

The Associates Campaign is an integral support to The Southern Cross ensuring that it continues its apostolic outreach, developing the means of transmitting our Catholic values in the new forms of media and safeguarding its future.

Safeguard the future of The Southern Cross!

The Associates Campaign is a bedrock in which the existence of The Southern Cross is rooted.

Without The Associates Campaign there’d be no more Southern Cross, as a newspaper or in its new incarnation as a magazine in late September.

EFT • Credit Card • Snapscan options available at

www.scross.co.za/associates-campaign/

8

The Southern Cross, July 29 to August 4, 2020

WORLD

Atomic bombs sound warning today August 6 will mark the 75th anniversary of the US dropping the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, with the second on Nagasaki following three days later.

DENNIS SADOWSKI spoke to an archbishop who survived the bombing in the womb of his mother.

A

S the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of two Japanese cities approaches, the president of the county’s Catholic bishops’ conference called on the United States—”as a Christian nation” which dropped those nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki—to witness the Gospel of peace as lived by Jesus.

“I have the impression that most Americans believe that arms are necessary to protect oneself, one’s families and the nation. The history, however, demonstrates how arms brought about tragedies.

I want the Americans to work for peace without the possession and use of weapons,” said Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki.

He also reiterated his longstanding call that the time is long past for the world to abolish nuclear weapons.

Nagasaki—the hub of Catholicism in Japan where just a few

years earlier St Maximilian Kolbe served as a missionary—was the second city over which an atomic bomb was dropped by a US warplane, on August 9, 1945. Hiroshima suffered a similar fate three days earlier.

Japan surrendered six days after the second detonation, ending World War II. Archbishop Takami, 74, is a survivor of the bombing of Nagasaki, his hometown. He was in his mother’s womb when the bomb known as “Fat Man” detonated over the city, ultimately claiming between 39 000 and 80 000 lives.

Historians and analysts estimate overall that between 129 000 and 226 000 people, most of them civilians, died in the two bombings.

The archbishop has been a vocal proponent of nuclear disarmament throughout his 48 years as a priest.

This year in particular he has travelled the world and to the United Nations with what remains of a wooden statue of Mary that had been in Nagasaki’s destroyed Urakami cathedral.

He shows the scorched head of Mary to demonstrate the utterly devastating effects of the blast and ensuing inferno, telling anyone who will listen how absurd war is.

Hear the pope’s voice The current state of affairs regarding nuclear weapons concerns the archbishop.

He said he views the collapse of arms control treaties between the US and Russia, plans by both

countries to spend billions of dollars to upgrade stockpiles, and efforts by other nations to acquire such weapons as troubling.

“I fully agree with Pope Francis that the world has not learned anything from the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” he said.

The pope, during a visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki last November, said it was “perverse” to think the threat of nuclear weapons makes the world safer. He urged a renewed commitment to nuclear disarmament and to the international treaties developed to limit or eliminate nuclear weapons.

Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis has appealed to the world’s nine nuclear weapons-possessing nations to dismantle their arsenals for the good of humanity.

In January, while giving his annual address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican, he reiterated his call for a world without nuclear weapons, saying “true peace cannot be built on the threat of a possible total annihilation of humanity”.

“These weapons do not only foster a climate of fear, suspicion and hostility,” he said. “They also destroy hope. Their use is immoral, a crime not only against the dignity of human beings but against any possible future for our common home.”

His words echoed the message of his 2015 encyclical on care for the earth, Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home).

Advocates have suggested it is time for the world to heed the pope’s words. They also urged bishops’ conferences worldwide to become more vocal in supporting his stance.

Marie Dennis, senior adviser to the secretary general of Pax Christi International, based in Brussels, Belgium, said the pope’s consistent instruction has made an impression on a slowly growing contingent of people worldwide.

She said she is inspired by the work of young people who are tying the existence of nuclear weapons to other threats to the planet including climate change, famine and extreme poverty.

Where are the protests?

Nagasaki showed scant signs of recovery in this colorised photo taken four years after the United States detonated an atomic bomb over the city on August 9, 1945. (Photo: Reuters/CNS)

Archbishop Takami also lamented the disinterest shown by much of the world to the threat nuclear weapons pose.

“It’s a fact of life that people who are not involved are not interested in the question. Most of the people in the world are not involved, so it may not be surprising that they are indifferent,” he said.

However, the US government

Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki, Japan, who survived the atomic bombing of his home city in the womb of his mother. (Photo: Gregory Shemitz/ CNS) and the military were the perpetrators of the attack [on Japan]. They were fully involved and responsible,” he said.

“Modern nuclear weapons are hundreds of times more destructive than the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” the archbishop noted.

“Moreover, President [Donald] Trump has talked about developing new nuclear weapons that are lighter and more destructive,” he added.

“The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has been neutralised. The world is spending an astronomical amount of money to make the threat of nuclear weapons more real.”

There is a need, Archbishop Takami continued, to join Pope Francis “to raise our voice and make it louder. We need to make all the politicians and the people of the world understand that the existence of nuclear weapons is a problem.”

The archbishop emphasised: “Politicians are responsible for listening to our voices and denuclearising the world. The only thing we can do is to make a strong appeal to their conscience.

In this sense, I want Christian politicians to be aware that they have a grave responsibility.”

Archbishop Takami also appealed to people of faith, and Catholics in particular, to know

and understand “the peace that Christ teaches” so that they can see that a world without violence is possible.

He recalled the words of the risen Jesus, as recorded in the Gospel of John, when he greeted the apostles by giving them his peace as a sign for the world to emulate.

“Christ was victimised by human violence,” Archbishop Takami said. “He, however, overcame violence by the love that was stronger than death. The peace of Christ is brought by his love stronger than death.

“We have to be convinced of the peace of Christ and continue our efforts to extend peace by working with people of the world to enable a world without nuclear weapons.”

Fear of new Cold War Archbishop Takami is not alone in his call. The Japanese bishops’ conference issued a statement in advance of the bombing anniversary.

The bishops expressed concern about the development of a new Cold War between the US and Russia, instability in East Asia, the nuclear threat and the global environmental climate. They said all are inextricably linked and pose a danger to all of humanity.

The statement also pointed to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons approved in 2017 by a majority of member states of the United Nations as key to denuclearising the world. The Holy See became one of the first entities to ratify and sign the treaty in September 2017.

In the final vote, 122 nations approved the treaty, while 69 countries did not vote, including all the nuclear weapons states and all NATO members except the Netherlands, which voted against.

Archbishop Takami called for new commitments to introduce “sustainable peace education for all the generations, from children to adults” throughout the Church.

“Peace first of all, is a question of one’s soul. However, peace is about our faith in God and interpersonal relationships of trust and forgiveness that do not discriminate and hate anybody,” he said.

“Peace is about the necessary conditions that guarantee life in society—health, education, security— and the environment, our common home,” he explained.—CNS

PO Box 11095, Mariannhill 3624 MONASTERY RETREAT HOUSE Individual, directed or private retreats can be arranged for periods of 2-8 days throughout the year.

Diocesan, Parish and Church meetings and workshops should be booked well in advance

For Bookings:

Reception: 031 700 2155 Fr Sbusiso Mkhize 031 700 2890 Fax 031 700 2738 Email: monretreat@saol.com

Cellphones: 071 757 8048 Fr Sbusiso Mkhize 083 544 1504 Bro Crispin Graham

People carry the remains of a statue of Mary that survived the atomic blast over Nagasaki. (Photo: Kyodo, Reuters/CNS)

MINISTRY

The Southern Cross, July 29 to August 4, 2020

9

Taking Christ to those at sea In August, Pope Francis asks us to pray for the world’s seafarers. ERIN CARELSE spoke to a port chaplain in Cape Town about his ministry, especially in the time of Covid-19 restrictions.

C

for seafarers—especially for the fishermen in providing food on special occasions and events—Fr Talisic was able to deliver jackets, scarves, medicines, hand sanitisers, masks, and toiletries to the fishermen at Quay 702.

This programme consists of a network of Scalabrini Fathers who are port chaplains in five ports: Cape Town, Montevideo in Uruguay, Kaohsiung and Taipei in Taiwan, and Manila in the Philippines.

It is funded through Scalabrini International Migration Network and Ace Foundation.

Since December, when they started the programme, about 1 500 seafarers and fishers have benefited.

OVID-19 restrictions have forced port chaplains to come up with creative ways to exercise their ministry of supporting seafarers.

During these unprecedented times and with the national lockdown still in place, the two main ministries—ship and hospital vis- Message from Pope Francis its—of the Catholic seafarers’ charIn a video message released on ity Apostleship of the Sea (Stella June 17, Pope Francis acknowlMaris) remain suspended. edged the seafarers’ contribution This restriction on his ministry in feeding humanity at this time of saddens port chaplain Fr Rico Tal- pandemic despite the risk inisic CS because he knows that volved. ships are continuing to enter Cape The pope said he felt their physTown’s port. ical, emotional, and psychological Worse yet, there are two fishing difficulties. And so, he assured: vessels inside the port that cannot “Know that you are not alone and leave because their two Chinese that you are not forgotten... You captains went home for a month are close to me in my thoughts of holiday but cannot travel back and prayers and those of your to Cape Town because of the lock- chaplains and the volunteers of down.

Stella Maris.”

“My biggest concerns is that the He reminded them that Jesus’ seafarers stay in contact with their first disciples were fishfamilies at home, and ermen and prayed for also that they keep asking the inter‘An important them, their spirits up and cession of Blessed Virdreams alive during the gin Mary, Star of the image of the Sea lockdown,” said Fr Tal(or Stella Maris). isic, a Scalabrinian This August, the Church is a priest from the Philippope’s universal prayer boat. We are all intention is for seafarpines.

Luckily, he has the ers: “We pray for all in this boat, contact numbers of those who work and some of the seafarers in live from the sea, sailing and his address book and among them sailors, provides them with air- growing in faith’ fishermen and their time or data vouchers families” (see last to ensure that they reweek’s “Pray With the main in communication with their Pope” column by Fr Chris Chatfamilies. teris SJ).

Since the start of lockdown, Fr Besides the airtime and delivery Talisic has provided R100 of air- of essential items, Fr Talisic felt he time each month to 43 Chinese needed to do more to keep their and Filipino crewmembers of two spirits up. So he started inviting fishing vessels, the Pan Ocean and some of the Filipino fishermen to Hung Chuan No. 232. write stories about their life at sea.

He also regularly checks the ma“I was very surprised that in rine traffic apps to see whether any April and May, 27 of them sent me new ships have arrived in the port. beautiful, encouraging and revealTo reach more seafarers and ing stories of their experiences fishermen, Fr Talisic asked for help working at sea,” the priest said. from diverse sources. With the “But I wanted to see the other help of the Indonesian consulate, side of their stories, so I asked a Chinese agent of a shipping those who are married if their company, and a ship’s chandler he wives could also write their stories. was able to reach six more fishing Three wives responded,” he said. vessels.

With such an encouraging reAs a part of a special Apostle- sponse, Fr Talisic challenged them ship of the Sea (AoS) programme to write a poem on themes related

to the sea, boats, fish and their experiences at sea.

To his delight, 23 fishermen sent their poems to him. Of those, five had written two or three poems.

“They are wonderfully and skilfully written in Tagalog,” the Austronesian language spoken by the ethnic Tagalog people, who make up a quarter of the population of the Philippines.

Fr Talisic then decided to create a competition inviting all seafarers and fishermen of various nationalities to submit their poems, but only Filipinos wrote in.

He invited two Filipina living in Cape Town to judge the contest, with him as the third judge. The winner was announced on June 12 on the celebration of the 122nd Philippine Independence Day. “The Filipinos raised the Philippine flag and sang the Philippine national anthem at our port. For prizes, I ask five Filipino families in Cape Town to donate airtime for the winners, and I ordered Filipino food and delivered it to them.”

Celebrations in pandemic This year also marked the tenth year of Seafarers’ Day, celebrated on June 25 which was established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to acknowledge the great contribution of seafarers in the world economy by transporting food, goods, services around the world.

On this occasion, the IMO launched a webinar conference.

The Catholic faithful around the world also celebrated Sea Sunday on July 12. That is the Sunday in which the Catholic Church encourages the faithful to support her mission to seafarers.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, urged Catholics to exercise a “preferential option for the poor” for seafarers serving on the frontline of the corona crisis.

The cardinal described how the Covid-19 pandemic has left hundreds of thousands of maritime workers stranded on the seas, or in hotels and dormitories around the globe.

He spoke of the extended period of employment, absence of shore leave or being prevented from going home because of lockdown, and closure of seaports and airports as causes for increases in

Fr Rico Talisic, port chaplain in Cape Town, on board a ship before Covid-19 restrictions forced him and his fellow workers in the ministry to seafarers to adopt creative ways to exercise their apostolate.

(Photos: Apostleship of the Sea) personal fatigue, isolation, homesickness, severe physical and mental stress to the verge of desperation, even driving some to suicide.

Cardinal Turkson also noted the postponement of the centenary celebration of Stella Maris that was due to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, where the apostolate was founded in 1920.

Since public worship for seafarers is not possible, Fr Talisic, as the port chaplain, celebrated the Sea Sunday Mass quietly and alone at St Agnes’ church in Woodstock, and offered the Holy Eucharist for the intentions of seafarers and fishermen.

Despite the AoS ministry being

excitingly active, it has few active members.

Fr Talisic says Catholics in the pews have a part to play.

“I am inviting the lay faithful to volunteer and to donate to this important ministry of the Church,” he said.

“Remember that one important image of the Church is a boat. We are all in this boat, sailing and growing in faith towards our Father in heaven,” Fr Talisic said. n The Apostleship of the Sea (Stella Maris) is active in South Africa in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Richards Bay. For more information, including on how to volunteer or making a donation, go to www. apostleshipofthesea.org.za

www.catholic-pe.co.za/stpius Our bedrooms accommodate up to 58 - Plus 20 for dormitories - Small, medium & large conference facilities - Dining rooms with full kitchen facilities Full catering or self-catering - Very competitive rates - Situated in the suburb of Cambridge Multidenominational Chapel.

For further information, contact Faith Basson 082 679-1231 or Cyril Basson 076 665-7403 or email stpiusfaith@gmail.com

Change of number

A ship in port. In a video message in June, Pope Francis hailed seafarers’ contribution in feeding humanity at this time of pandemic despite the risk involved.The pope said he felt their physical, emotional, and psychological difficulties.

Please note that The Southern Cross’ office landline telephone number will not be in use any longer. Please call 083 233-1956 and Pamela will assist you.

10

The Southern Cross, July 29 to August 4, 2020

HOLY LAND

From left: Paternoster church and its cloister, where tradition says Jesus taught the disciples the Lord’s Prayer • The Lord’s Prayer is represented in hundreds of languages at Paternoster, including isiNdebele and SiSwati • The Jewish graveyard on the Mount of Olives, with a view of Jerusalem’s Old City. (All photos: Günther Simmermacher)

Where Jesus prayed and wept In part 10 of our virtual pilgrimage to the Holy Land, we go with GüNTHer SiMMerMACHer down the Mount of Olives.

L

AST week we left off where Jesus left us: on top of the Mount of Olives, where the mosque-chapel of the Ascension commemorates the Lord’s last moment in this realm.

Just around the corner and a short skip down the road from the Ascension Chapel is Paternoster church, marking the place where Jesus reputedly taught the disciples the Our Father.

The walls of the church and its large cloister yard are covered with ceramic plaques reciting the Lord’s Prayer in hundreds of different languages and dialects, including Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke and presumably delivered the prayer in.

Some of South Africa’s official languages are also represented: Sesotho, isiXhosa, isiZulu, SiSwati, isiNdebele and Afrikaans, as well, of course, as English The church and cloister, run by French Carmelite nuns, were built in 1868.

The first church built on the spot, under Queen Helena’s patronage in about 330, was initially not dedicated to the Our Father, but to the Ascension.

There was, however, a long tradition associating the site with the Lord’s Prayer. If, as seems plausible, this was one of Jesus’ regular meeting places on the Mount of Olives, then both events could have taken place here or thereabouts.

Or at neither of these places, since Luke has Jesus ascending near Bethany, 2km away from the Mount of Olives (24:50), and Matthew locates his teaching of the Lord’s Prayer in Galilee (6:5-15).

Luke, however, places Jesus’ instruction in the Lord’s Prayer on the route from Jericho to

Jerusalem (11:1-4), and not just at any random spot, but “in a certain place”, a description that in Lucan code always implies that it was important, and presumably known to his original audience.

The Jerusalem-Jericho road leads along the western foot of the Mount of Olives even today; from there it is a short walk to the cave at Paternoster church. So this might well be the “certain place”.

Testimony from 390 AD The fourth-century church is said to be the third which Queen Helena built in the Holy Land, after the churches of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Nativity in Bethlehem. It was first known as the Eleona (meaning “of olives”), a name still used by some today.

The late 4th-century pilgrim Egeria tells of a Palm Sunday vigil and procession from the church of Eleona to the first church of the Holy Sepulchre: “At the seventh hour all the people ascend Mount of Olives to the church of the Eleona (where the Lord taught the disciples to pray). When the bishop takes his seat, they recite hymns and antiphonies suitable for the day and the place, and read passages of Scripture,” Egeria wrote.

“At the beginning of the ninth hour, with great singing of hymns, they climb to the Imbomon, the place from which the Lord ascended to heaven, and sit down there, because the people have to sit in the presence of the bishop, and only the deacons always stand. There too they recite hymns.

“At the beginning of the eleventh hour, they read the story of the place where the children received the Lord with branches and palm-fronds, calling: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Then the bishop rises and leaves the summit of the Mount of Olives, and the people follow him with hymns and antiphonies, calling, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’,” she wrote.

“And all the people and their children, even those who cannot

Have a parish pilgrimage?

Let us arrange your spiritual journey as a community!

Contact Gail at 076 352 3809 info@fowlertours.co.za www.fowlertours.co.za

Catholic Holy Land guide Gaby Makhlouf with some Southern Cross pilgrims in the gardens of Dominus Flevit church on the Mount of Olives last year. Inset left: The cover of The Holy Land Trek, with Schalk Visser’s photo taken from Dominus Flevit church. walk and need to be carried by their parents, carry palm branches and olive branches, and lead the bishop as the Lord himself was once led. They go slowly by foot from the summit of the mountain to the city, even the nobles, leading the bishop with song.

“They reach the Anastasis [in the Holy Sepulchre] by evening, and despite the late hour say Vespers and a prayer by the cross, and send the people home.”

More than 1600 years after Egeria’s testimony, the local Christians still make a Palm Sunday procession down the Mount of Olives every year.

The grotto in which Jesus gathered with his disciples was discovered in 1911 by the White Fathers, or Missionaries of Africa, who had been appointed guardians of the Paternoster complex by the French government.

As pilgrims leave Paternoster church and descend the mount, they will spot on their right the gleaming golden onion-shaped domes of the Russian Orthodox church of Mary Magdalene, built in 1886 with funding from Tsar Alexander III. It contains the remains of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, the German-born Russian royal who was killed in 1918 by the Bolsheviks, and of her niece

P O Box 379 Cape Town 8000 Tel 021 465 5904 Fax 086 671 7917

Books, repository, vestments, gifts, and much more.

Mail orders accepted.

www.catholicbookshop.co.za • custserv.cbs@mweb.co.za

Street address: The Grimley, 14 Tuin Plein (off Hope Street) Cape Town

Princess Alice of Battenberg, the mother of Britain’s Prince Philip who was an Orthodox nun.

Here the Lord wept The Mount of Olives merits frequent mention in the Old Testament. One passage documents David, on the run from Absalom, coming to the mount: “David then made his way up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, his head covered and his feet bare.

And all the people with him had their heads covered and made their way up, weeping as they went” (2 Samuel 15:30).

The New Testament also records Our Lord shedding tears on the Mount of Olives.

Halfway down the mount, the small Dominus Flevit church recalls these tears—the name means “The Lord Wept”. Built by the master architect Antonio Barluzzi in 1955, Dominus Flevit is appropriately shaped like a tear.

Apart from its ingenious form, there is something else quite unusual about the church: while most churches in the Holy Land face east, Dominus Flevit faces west, towards the Old City.

And the view from the ornate window, which depicts a chalice, the crown of thorns and a cross, is quite marvellous (the image on the front cover of The Holy Land Trek, from which this article is excerpted, was taken by Schalk Visser from that window).

Dominus Flevit was built on the site of a 5th-century Byzantine church that was dedicated to the prophetess St Anna, the mosaics of which can still be viewed.

At the foot of the altar is a curious mosaic of a hen gathering her chicks together; it is an allusion to Luke 13:34. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you!

How often have I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,

and you refused.”

And so it was in this place, which was then uninhabited, because Jewish law precluded settlements in the vicinity of burial grounds—and the Mount of Olives is full of them—that Jesus looked at the Holy City on his final visit there, and wept.

He would have seen the enormous temple which King Herod had built, the temple in which Jesus would very soon lose his temper with the moneychangers (in the synoptics’ timeline).

Luke tells the story of Jesus addressing the Pharisees: “As he drew near and came in sight of the city, he shed tears over it and said, ‘If you too had only recognised on this day the way to peace! But in fact it is hidden from your eyes! “‘Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise fortifications all round you, when they will encircle you and hem you in on every side; they will dash you and the children inside your walls to the ground; they will leave not one stone standing on another within you, because you did not recognise the moment of your visitation’” (19:41-44).

Just 40 years later, the Messiah’s tearful prophecy was fulfilled.

Waiting for the Messiah Jews are, of course, still awaiting the appearance of the Messiah.

And when he arrives, the belief goes, he will enter on the final day through the bricked-up Golden (or Eastern) Gate, which faces the Mount of Olives, to redeem the Jewish nation (Zechariah 14:4).

That is why many Jews across the diaspora and generations have arranged for their remains to be brought to Jerusalem, so that they could be buried in the vast, ancient graveyard on the slope of the Mount of Olives, the world’s oldest continuously used cemetery.

That way, the reasoning goes, they will be among the first to rise when the Messiah comes through the Eastern Gate.

This assumption has hit a snag, however. In an extravagant display of religious spite, Suleiman the Magnificent built a Muslim graveyard in front of the bricked-up Golden Gate. If a rabbi is not allowed to go through a graveyard, the reasoning went, then neither is a Jewish Messiah.

But the end times might not have been indefinitely delayed by Suleiman’s ruse: the Messiah will simply create a bridge on which to walk above the cemetery and across the Kidron.

Jewish tradition has it that there will be the appearance of two bridges, one made of iron and the other of paper. Those of faith will choose the paper bridge and navigate it safely to the other side for their judgment.

But those of worldly attitudes will apply reason and choose the iron bridge, which will collapse! n This is an edited extract from Günther Simmermacher’s The Holy Land Trek. Next week: The Garden of Gethsemane

The Southern Cross, July 29 to August 4, 2020

Sr Rosella Langer OP

D

OMINICAN Sister Rosella Langer died at the age of 82 on July 14 in East London after a short illness.

The eldest of eight children, born in Osnabrück, Germany, Sr Rosella faced many difficult situations in her childhood through which she developed strength, reliability and perseverance.

Adversity in the family connected to her father’s business saw her respond, using her gifts and talents, so that the family survived. As the eldest, Sr Rosella had to care for a younger brother who was born with severe disability. This experience led her to desire for a nursing career.

In 1961 she entered the Dominican convent in Schledorf to begin her journey in religious life. September 1964 saw her and six companions leave Europe for South Africa.

Sr Rosella spent the first few years in study till she obtained her BSc degree in nursing, and was assigned to Mater Dei Hospital in East London.

The years following the Second Vatican Council were a time of change in community-living and faith-sharing. Sr Rosella embraced these new ways of spirituality and so grew; at the same time being a formator of new Sisters entering the congregation.

The door became a strong symbol for her. As Sr Rosella put it, she “dared, often with great fear and trepidation, to open a door to something new”.

She was called to leadership in the Cape Region; she had three terms, in all 13 years, in leadership. During these years she developed her own spirituality while outwardly coping with the closure and diminishment of communities and Sisters.

At the congregational chapter in 2015 she was nominated and accepted as part of the leadership team.

In that role, Sr Rosella had the portfolio of retirement homes; she was assisting the management team at Emmaus Home, East London, when lockdown come into place.

She chose to stay and continue her work with the team until July 9 when she was infected by Covid-19. On July 14, after a short illness, Sr Rosella died in the early morning from complications of the virus.

Your prayer to cut out and collect

PRAYER OF ST JOHN VIANNEY I love you, O my God, and my only desire is to love you until the last breath of my life.

I love you, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving you, than live without loving you.

I love you, Lord, and the only grace I ask is to love you eternally.

My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love you, I want my heart to repeat it to you as often as I draw breath.

FROM OUR VAULTS 22 Years Ago: August 2, 1998

Catholic Church in KZN killing fields Following political assassinations in the Richmond area in KwaZulu-Natal’s Midlands that have claimed 30 lives, many rural people go to town to sleep safely at night, Fr Dominic Mulheim CMM tells The Southern Cross. But his parish of St Joseph’s remains a place of unity. “Politically the community is very divided—people are afraid to through each others’ territory—but all of them are still coming to church.”

Mandela visits ill youth President Nelson Mandela visited a 15-year-old parishioner of Sunnyside in Pretoria in hospital.

Mr Mandela encouraged Nelson Olival, a talented cartoonist who is putting up a brave fight against cancer, to keep faith in God. The two football-loving Nelsons discussed the recent World Cup in France. [Nelson Olival died in October 1998.]

Oblates pass the baton Fr Jabulani Nxumalo has become the new provincial superior of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, succeeding Fr Barry Wood. [Fr Nxumalo would become auxiliary bishop of Durban in 2002 and archbishop of Bloemfontein in 2005; Fr Wood would become Durban’s auxiliary bishop in 2005.]

Editorial: Everybody’s a missionary In his editorial, Michael Shackleton writes that every Catholic can be a missionary by being wellinformed about their faith and “by the way we deal with others”.

YOUR CLASSIFIEDS

11

Milestones • Prayers • Personal • Services • Employment • Parish notices • Thanks • Others Please include payment (R2.00 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

PERSONAL

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

HOLIDAY| ACCOMMODATION

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

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

PRAYERS

dreams and hopes within my soul, revive my tired spirit: be with me today.

May all I do today continue with your help, O Lord. Be at my side and walk with me: be my support today.

May all I do today reach far and wide, O Lord. My thoughts, my work, my life: make them blessings for your kingdom; let them go beyond today. O God, today is new unlike any

other day, for God makes each day different. Today God's everyday grace falls on my soul like abundant seed, though I may hardly see it. Today is one of those days Jesus promised to be with me, a companion on my journey, and my life today, if I trust him, has consequences unseen. My life has a purpose. I have a mission. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. God has not created me for naught.

Therefore I will trust him.

Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away.

God does nothing in vain.

He knows what he is about.

John Henry Newman LORD, inspire those men and women who bear the titles “husband” and “wife”.

Help them to look to You, to themselves, to one another to rediscover the fullness and mystery they once felt in their union. Let them be honest enough to ask: “Where have we been together and where are we going?” Let them be brave enough to question: “How have we failed?” Let each be foolhardy enough to say: “For me, we come first.”

Help them, together, to re-

Our bishops’ anniversaries This week we congratulate: July 31: Bishop Daniel Verstraete OMI, retired of Klerksdorp, on his 96th birthday August 3: Archbishop George Daniel, retired of Pretoria, on the 45th anniversary of his episcopal ordination as archbishop August 3: Archbishop Xolile Peter Mpambani of Bloemfontein on the 7th anniversary of his ordination as bishop of Kokstad

examine their commitment in the light of Your love, willingly, openly, compassionately.

O HOLY VIRGIN, in the midst of your days of glory, do not forget the sorrows of this earth. Cast a merciful glance upon those who are suffering, struggling against difficulties, with their lips constant pressed against life’s bitter cup. Have pity on those who love each other and are separated.

Have pity on our rebellious hearts. Have pity on our weak faith. Have pity on those we love. Have pity on those who weep, on those who pray, on those who fear. Grant hope and peace to all. Amen.

CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 926.

ACROSS: 1 Steams, 4 Affair, 9 Indoctrinated, 10 Curtail, 11 Tacks, 12 Anger, 14 Acorn, 18 Reeve, 19 Refusal, 21 Prevaricating, 22 Retidy, 23 Change.

DOWN: 1 Stitch, 2 Endurance test, 3 Mecca, 5 Fanatic, 6 Antichristian, 7 Radish, 8 Drill, 13 Emerald, 15 Proper, 16 Grail, 17 Plague, 20 Flash.

Liturgical Calendar Year A – Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday August 2, 18th Sunday of the Year Isaiah 55:1-3, Psalm 145:8-9, 15-18, Romans 8:35, 37-39, Matthew 14:13-21 Monday August 3 Jeremiah 28:1-17, Psalm 119:29, 43, 79-80, 95, 102, Matthew 14:22-36 Tuesday August 4, St John Vianney Jeremiah 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22, Psalm 102:16-21, 29, 22-23, Matthew 14: 1-2, 10-14 Wednesday August 5, Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major Jeremiah 31:1-7, Responsorial psalm Jeremiah 31:10-13, Matthew 15:21-28 or Revelation 21: 1-5, Responsorial psalm Judith 13:18-19, Luke 11:27-28

Pregnant?

Need Help?

WE CARE

079 742-8861 JHB

www.birthright.co.za

The Southern Cross is published independently by the Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Company Ltd. Address: 10 Tuin Plein, Cape Town Postal Address: PO Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000 Tel: (021) 465 5007 Fax: (021) 465 3850 Website: www.scross.co.za Facebook: www.facebook.com/thescross Twitter: twitter.com/ScrossZA Instagram: instagram.com/thesoutherncross_ Digital Edition: www.digital.scross.co.za Subscription Rates: Digital R420 pa Directors: R Shields (Chair), Bishop S Sipuka, S Duval, E Jackson, B Jordan, Sr H Makoro CPS, C Mathieson, G Stubbs

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

Thursday August 6, Transfiguration of the Lord Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 or 2 Peter 1: 16-19, Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 9, Matthew 17:1-9 Friday August 7, Ss Sixtus II and Companions, St Cajetan Nahum 1:15; 2, 2; 3, 1-3, 6-7 (2, 1, 3; 3, 1-3, 6-7), Responsorial psalm Deuteronomy 32:35-36, 39-41, Matthew 16:24-28 Saturday August 8, St Dominic Habakkuk 112-2, 4, Psalm 9:8-13, Matthew 17:14-20 Sunday August 9, 19th Sunday of the Year 1 Kings 19:9, 11-13, Psalm 85:9-14, Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14:22-33

Advertisement

SEXUAL DEMONS AND CHILD ABUSE

Google: Sine-glossa. blogspot.com

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

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

the

19th Sunday: August 9 Readings: 1 Kings 19: 9, 11-13, Psalm 85:914, Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14:22-33

G

OD never operates in quite the way that we should expect.

In the first reading for next Sunday, Elijah is on the run, having butchered the prophets of Baal. This has gone down extremely badly with Jezebel, the wife of King Ahaz, who had quite a devotion to Baal, and she has stated that it is her policy to put Elijah to death.

God then feeds Elijah, and prepares him for an interview: “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” The story continues: “And look! The Lord passing by.”

To our astonishment, there is a series of apparently dramatic events, any of which might be the sign of God’s coming: “a great and mighty wind, tearing the mountains and shattering rocks before the Lord”; “after the wind, an earthquake”; “after the earthquake, a fire”.

But none of them was, after all, the medium of God’s presence.

Then, least probable of all: “a light sound of silence”; but when Elijah hears this [lack of] noise, he recognises it as the real thing, and “hid his face in his cloak, and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave”.

The point of ending the reading just here is the sheer unexpectedness of a God who does not come marching in with a brass band.

We may need, this week, to sit with the “light sound of silence”.

S outher n C ross

Expect the unexpected Now what is that “light sound of silence”?

Perhaps it is what the psalm for next Sunday speaks of: “I shall hear what the Lord God says; for he speaks peace.” Better still: “Salvation is close to those who fear him, glory fills our land.”

Then in a lovely (and unexpected) turn of phrase, the poet goes on: “Steadfast love and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss.”

And suddenly we glimpse God wherever we look: “Truth shall spring from the earth; and justice shall look down from heaven.”

This is a very unexpected God, but “the Lord shall also provide prosperity, and our land shall yield its peace”; and “justice” now turns into a kind of pageboy: “Justice shall march before him and guide his steps on the way.”

The second reading is the opening line of a long section in Romans where Paul is explaining how important the Jews are in God’s plan.

Christians have not always realised this; and so this too may be unexpected. Solemnly he makes his opening bid: “I am telling the truth in Christ; I am not lying—my conscience testifies along with me in the Holy Spirit.”

And he has not finished the introduction: “It is a great pain to me, and unceasing agony in my heart.”

There is more to come: “I prayed to be ac-

Conrad

N his book The Secret, René Fumoleau has a poem entitled “Sins”.

Fumoleau, who was a missionary priest with the Dené people in northern Canada, once asked a group of elders to name what they considered the worst sin of all. The missionary writes: “The ten Dené discussed together, and after a while Radisca explained to me: ‘We talked it over, and we all agree: The worst sin people can make is to lock their door.’”

Perhaps at the time this incident took place and in that particular Dené village, you could still safely leave your door unlocked, but that’s hardly sound advice for most of us who are safe only when we have double locks and electronic security systems.

Still, these Dené elders are right because at the end of the day, they’re speaking of something deeper than a security bolt on our outside door. What does it really mean to lock your door?

As we know, there are many kinds of doors we lock and unlock to let others in and out. Jean-Paul Sartre, the famed French existentialist, once wrote: “Hell is the other person.” While this may feel very true emotionally on a given day, it is the antithesis of any religious truth, particularly Christian truth.

In all the great religions of the world, in the end being with others is heaven; ending up eternally alone is hell.

That’s a truth built into our very nature.

As human persons we are constitutively social; meaning we’re built in such a way that while we’re always individual, private, and idiosyncratic, at the same time we’re always social, communitarian, and interdependent.

We’re built to be with others and there’s

Video or Podcast Click Link

Click Link

Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office Interview Series

no ultimate meaning or fulfilment to be found alone.

Indeed, we need each other simply to survive and remain sane. Still more, we need each other for love and meaning because without these there’s no purpose to us. To end up alone is death of the worst kind.

This needs to be highlighted today because both in society and in our Churches too many of us are locking a select number of our doors in ways that are both destructive and genuinely un-Christian. What’s our issue?

Twenty years ago, Robert Putnam looked at the breakdown of community within our culture and named it with a catchy phrase, “Bowling Alone”.

For Putnam, our families, neighbourhoods, and wider communities are breaking down because of an excessive individualism within the culture.

More and more, we’re doing things alone, walking within our own idiosyncratic rhythms rather than within community rhythms. Few would dispute this assessment.

H

owever, what we’re struggling with today goes further than the individualism Putnam so playfully names. In the excessive individualism Putnam describes, we end up bowling alone but mostly still inside the same bowling alley, separate from each other but not locked out.

Our problem goes deeper. Metaphorically, we’re locking each other out of our common bowling alley. What’s meant here?

Beyond an isolating individualism, we’re struggling today in our families, communities, countries, and Churches

Sunday Reflections

cursed and away from Christ, for the sake of my brothers-and-sisters, my kinsfolk according to the flesh.”

And we still have not quite got what he is saying, except that he is talking about his fellow-Jews: “They are Israelites, they have been adopted-as-sons-and-daughters; theirs is the glory and the covenants and the law-giving and the religious cult and the promises; theirs are the ancestors; and from them comes Christ according to the flesh.”

Only now do we begin to discern that God has not changed his mind; the Jews are still the chosen race. This is perhaps a thoroughly unexpected point of view; but the slow buildup means Paul is absolutely serious in what he is saying, and we must listen carefully indeed. For it is all about God and about Christ, “who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen”.

The unexpectedness is rich in the Gospel for next Sunday, the story of walking on water.

This takes place immediately after the feeding of the 5 000; Jesus retires to pray, after dismissing the crowds “on the mountain, alone”, and comes to them “tormented by the waves, for the wind was against them”, at just that time of the night when you know that the dawn will never come.

The disciples, being, as so often, neither

Don’t lock the doors

I

Nicholas King SJ

very bright nor particularly courageous, decide that it must be a ghost “and cried out for fear”. In response, Jesus sounds like the presence of God: “Don’t be afraid—I AM.” Peter makes a hopelessly confused response: “Lord” [sort-of-getting-it-right], “if it is you” [he can’t quite believe it], “order me to come to you on the waters [the kind of thing the God of the Old Testament could do].” Jesus takes him at his word, and simply says: “Come.”

Obediently, Peter does what he is told: “He walked on the waters and came to Jesus.”

Then, however, he realises what he has done, and cries out, “Lord, save me”, which is absolutely correct. And, of course, Jesus responds, not without some gentle teasing, “You little-faith-one—why did you doubt?”, as he stretches out a saving hand, and rescues Peter.

There is a further unexpected step, however, as they get into the boat and the wind dies down, for “those in the boat worshipped him” (a gesture reserved for God in Matthew’s Gospel); and now we realise that the boat is the Church, beaten by the waves, where you can be safe as long as you worship Jesus.

Were you expecting that?

Southern Crossword #926

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

with a demon of a different sort, that is, with doors locked in bitterness.

Politically, in many of our countries we’re now so polarised that the various sides are unable to even have a respectful, civil conversation. The other is “hell”.

This is true too inside our families where conversation at Christmas dinner has to carefully avoid all references to what’s going on in the country and we can only be at the same table with each other if we keep our political views locked away.

Sadly, this is now mirrored in our Churches where different visions of theology, ecclesiology, and morality have led to a polarisation of such intensity that each theological and ecclesial group now stays behind its own solidly locked door.

There’s no openness to what’s other and all real dialogue has been replaced by mutual demonisation.

This lack of openness is ultimately what the Dené refer to as the worst sin of all, “our locked doors”. Hell then really is the other person. Sartre must be smiling.

It’s interesting how evil works. The Gospels give us two separate words for the evil one. Sometimes the evil one is called “the devil” (Diabolos) and sometimes the evil one is called “satan” (Satanas).

Both describe the evil power that works against God, goodness, and love within a community.

The “devil” works by dividing us, one from another, breaking down community through jealousy, pride, and false freedom.

“Satan” works in the reverse way. Satan unites us in sick ways so as to have us, as groups, demonise each other, carry out crucifixions, and cling to each other feverishly through sick kinds of hysteria and ideologies that make for scapegoating, racism, sexism, and group-hatred of every kind.

Either way, whether it’s satan or the devil, we end up behind locked doors where those outside ourselves are seen as hell.

So it’s true: “The worst sin we can make is to lock our doors.”

ACROSS

1. Gets the vapours (6) 4. A matter of your own concern (6) 9. Forced the dogma on you (13) 10. Cut liar to restrict him (7) 11. I hear it’s to be paid using nails (5) 12. It’s in range of capital sin (5) 14. Fruit of the oak (5) 18. Thread the rope for the old magistrate (5) 19. Unwillingness to accept the offer (7) 21. Acting evasively about private caring (13) 22. Arrange neatly again (6) 23. In the collection plate it may be small (6)

DOWN

1. Sharp pain from sewing?

(6) 2. Examination of your patience in suffering (9,4) 3. Muslim attraction (5) 5. He is overenthusiastic about religion (7) 6. Opposition against our faith (13) 7. Vegetable that is hard to scramble (6) 8. Implement for scouts on parade? (5) 13. The stone of Ireland? (7) 15. Part of the Mass that is seasonal (6) 16. Holy quest of knights (5) 17. One that struck the Egyptians (6) 20. Burst of a bright idea (5) Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

T

HE young priest was exasperated: “When you prepare you sermons on paper, they say that you are just reading it off and they’re not hearing from God. But when you don’t have a paper, they say that you were not prepared!”

Buy the Church Chuckles book of Catholic jokes. email books@scross.co.za or CLICK HERE

LATEST VIDEO:

Mike Pothier interviews BRIDGET MASANGO Democratic Alliance shadow minister for Social Development speaks on social grants, gender-based violence and social cohesion Video: www.cplo.org.za/videos/ Podcast: www.cplo.org.za/podcasts/

For all your Sand and Stone requirements in Piet Retief, Southern Mpumalanga

Tel: 017 826 0054/5 Cell: 082 904 7840 Email: sales@eskaycrushers.co.za