200513

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The

S outher n C ross

May 13 to May 19, 2020

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

No 5186

www.scross.co.za

Bishop Dowling: Now is a chance for change

R12 (incl VAT RSA)

How to deal with our grief in Covid times

Cardinal and soccer ultras work together

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Page 10

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St John Paul II at 100 His life and influence in text & pics

Centenary Jubilee Year

SA youth day postponed BY ERIN CARELSE

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Pope St John Paul II in 1978, the year he was elected the 263rd successor to St Peter, with coat of arms and signature. Over four pages this week we explore the life and legacy of the Polish pope who would have turned 100 on May 18. (Photo: Arturo Mari, L’Osservatore Romano)

OUTHERN Africa’s third Mini World Youth Day has been postponed indefinitely due to the implications of Covid-19 and for the safety of the young people. The event was set to be held in the archdiocese of Pretoria from December 9-13, preceded by four “Days in the Parishes”. At their virtual May meeting, the administrative board of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) approved the postponement. The postponement had been proposed by the MWYD presidium committee, chaired by Bishop Stanislaw Dziuba of Umzimkulu and Sr Hermenegild Makoro CPS, secretarygeneral of the SACBC. “When we sent out the initial e-mail concerning the plans to host another MWYD we narrated the plans of the conference and what the MWYD Teams, the youth and young adults of the SACBC and beyond were working on and looking forward to,” said a statement signed by Bishop Dziuba, as the SACBC liaison bishop for youth, and national youth chaplain Fr Mthembeni Dlamini CMM But, it continued, “little did we know that we might end up having things like the lockdown, quarantine, sanitising, washing of hands, self-distancing, walking around in masks, working from home, closure of schools and universities as early as March”. The organisation of MWYD had already made much progress, they said. The MWYD logo, theme, poster, official prayer, bookmarks, budgets, main venue, registration packages, website, and so on were already in place. The organisers were also in the process of finalising deals with bus companies, accommodation venues, catechetical venues, catering companies, and so on. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, all public gatherings were suspended from March, including schooling, academics and religious gatherings. With schools and universities closed for

The logo for Mini World Youth Day 2020. Set to be held in Pretoria in December, the event has been postponed indefinitely. this long, there is a possibility that the academic year may run up to late December or even spill over into 2021. This would have made it impossible for students to attend MWYD in early December. Many people are also facing employment and financial challenges which might take a long time to recover from, the statement noted. Bishop Dziuba and Fr Dlamini also noted that “we might have this virus around for some time into 2021, and continuing with plans [for MWYD] will result in a huge financial loss which the SACBC cannot manage”. Besides, it would be “extremely difficult to organise anything” at this stage since most service providers are closed during lockdown. There were also concerns that staging a youth event at this stage would have health implications. “The Church, as a loving parent, would not wish to have anyone put in danger,” the statement said. Continued on page 2

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iD you know that The Southern Cross is entirely independent and unsubsidised, surviving on revenue from sales and advertising — and the kind support of our readers? The Southern Cross has survived for nearly 100 years on strength of tight financial management and the great sacrifices by its small, loyal staff. But now the survival of our only national Catholic weekly is in great danger. The closure of our churches in the national lockdown has robbed us of our main source of income: sales at the church door.

We have made the weekly edition available for FREE on our website, going online every Friday at 11:00. That way, all Catholics will have access to the Catholic weekly. Subscribers get their edition on Wednesdays, with premium content for the duration of the lockdown. We are asking those who take up our offer of the free newspaper to make a donation, or to subscribe. An encouraging number of people have already done so. We remain positive that by God’s grace we can survive this crisis. But that also requires YOUR help.

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