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SOUTHERN AFRICA’S NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY SINCE 1920
Pope on Lent: Strength in Christ by conversion
Inside Church to handle funds The bishops’ Aids Office has been given direct management of a large US grant to treat 60 000 patients.—Page 3
Call to canonise Romero
BY CINDY WOODEN
As the 30th anniversary of the murder of Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero approaches, El Salvador’s bishops have agreed to write a letter to the Vatican supporting his canonisation.—Page 3
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Religious orders in ‘crisis’ A leading Vatican official has said religious orders today are in a “crisis” caused in part by the adoption of a secularist mentality and the abandonment of traditional practices.— Page 4
That ‘clumsy’ word in creed In his Open Door column, Michael Shackleton explains why what a reader calls a “clumsy” word now forms part of the Nicene Creed.—Page 9
What do you think? In their Letters to the Editor this week, readers discuss Our Lady’s patronage of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, parish volunteers, Vatican II and Chris Moerdyk’s column.—Page 8
This week’s editorial: Truth in the fruits
Vatican decries defamation BY JOHN THAVIS
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Let your heart be broken
www.scross.co.za
February 17 to February 23, 2010 No 4663
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SA bishops The mystery of Turin speak on Shroud Lent
Lenten reflections for our MPs
Reg No. 1920/002058/06
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SMALL but annoyingly persistent scandal over trumped-up accusations against a Catholic editor in Italy has underlined how much attention the Vatican pays to Italian affairs. The Vatican issued a statement deploring what it described as a “campaign of defamation against the Holy See”—a campaign, it said, aimed in part at Pope Benedict. The statement was designed to put to rest an incident that has played out like a soap opera in Italy for several months. But in fact, it only seemed to elevate the dispute to a higher level. The “poison” in this case was the insinuation that the character assassination against Dino Boffo, the former editor of the Catholic paper Avvenire and critic of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s womanising, was an inside job instigated by the Vatican and not the Church’s political critics. Il Giornale, owned by Mr Berlusconi’s family, had published a front-page attack on Mr Boffo, publishing allegations its editor, Vittorio Feltri, later admitted to be false, but claimed that the original documentation against Boffo had been given to him by “a very authoritative source in the Holy See”. The Vatican statement, issued by the Secretariat of State, said these insinuations were baseless. In addition to exceptionally strong language, the statement was unusual in underlining Pope Benedict’s direct interest in the case. The decision to involve the German pope in what was essentially an Italian political and media dispute prompted different reactions inside the Roman curia. Several Italians said it was a necessary move and perhaps should have been done earlier; some non-Italians were puzzled that the Vatican had to take such a high-profile step.—CNS
The clergy of Cape Town lines up to greet their new ordinary, Archbishop Stephen Brislin, and pledge their loyalty to him. Archbishop Brislin was installed as archbishop of Cape Town before 6 000 people at a Mass in the Bellville Velodrome. More photos of the installation at www.scross.co.za/brislin PHOTO: SYDNEY DUVAL
New chapter for Mother Church BY MICHAIL RASSOOL
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HE fourth archbishop (and tenth bishop) of Cape Town, Archbishop Stephen Brislin, told the 6 000-strong crowd attending his installation how pleased he was to have moved to “the most beautiful city in the world” and was looking forward to working with the people of the archdiocese, through “a common ministerial baptism, feeding people through Word and Eucharist”. The ceremony, held at the Bellville Velodrome, was described by apostolic nuncio Archbishop James P Green as “a new chapter in the long and illustrious history of the Mother City of South Africa”. It was attended by 22 bishops of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference territory and of Windhoek, Namibia, as well as priests, religious, deacons and laity from across South Africa. Among the guests of honour were Western Cape premier Helen Zille, Cape Town mayor Dan Plato, public works minister Geoff Doidge, a Catholic, and members of the diplomatic corps. It was also attended by representatives of other churches, including Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop Sergios Kykkotis of the Greek Orthodox Church, Rev Rod Botsis of the Presbyterian Church and Bishop Wilfred Messiah of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Addressing the gathering towards the ceremony’s end, Archbishop Brislin said he recognised that proclaiming the Gospel “in season and out of season” is a huge responsibility. He spoke also of the need to be faithful to the stewardship entrusted to each Catholic, which takes into account the qualities of discipleship and self-sacrifice. These, he pointed out, often go against the grain of the prevailing societal culture, with its emphasis on uncontrolled greed, materialism and self-gratification. The archbishop also spoke of difficult times the Church has been through, referring especially to sex abuse scandals involving priests.
Archbishop Brislin said the essence of living out one’s ministry consists in the ability to live and teach in an honest way. He told the faithful it was important to ask what they should do to become “an authentic Church”, whether it is to serve their own interests or those of everyone. This quest, to deepen one’s understanding of what it means to share Christ’s priesthood as “People of God”, often involves being taken out of one’s comfort zone. The archbishop entreated his flock to pray for priests, for the strength to live up to their specially consecrated role. Archbishop Brislin said he looked forward to working in inter-faith and ecumenical structures in Cape Town. The former bishop of Kroonstad—where he was born, grew up and always ministered, “mostly in the townships”—paid tribute to its people, many of whom had travelled to Cape Town to witness the installation ceremony of their former bishop. He also paid tribute to his family, some of whom attended the installation, including his wheelchairbound elderly mother. In his introduction, Archbishop Green mentioned the extensive consultation process involved in choosing “the right man in the right place, at the right time” as new bishop of a diocese. He also thanked Archbishop Lawrence Henry, the new incumbent’s predecessor, for his long service—including as priest and auxiliary bishop—to the local Church. The crowd responded by giving the retiring archbishop a standing ovation. In his homily, Archbishop Henry, who had headed the archdiocese of Cape Town since 1989, spoke of the history of the Cape Town Church, from its illegality at the time of Dutch colonisation in the 17th century, through the arrival of the first legitimate bishops, Irish Dominicans, after Catholic emancipation throughout British territory in the early 19th century, to the establishment of the archiepiscopal hierarchy in the mid20th century. Continued on page 2
ONVERSION to Christ gives people the strength to break the bonds of selfishness and work for justice in the world, Pope Benedict has said in his message for Lent 2010. “The Christian is moved to contribute to creating just societies where all receive what is necessary to live according to the dignity proper to the human person and where justice is enlivened by love,” the pope said in his message. The theme of the pope’s message was, “The Justice of God Has Been Manifested through Faith in Jesus Christ”. The common understanding of “justice”, he said, is to give each person his or her due. But because people are created in God’s image, they not only need food, water, shelter and jobs; they need God and they need love. The greatest sign of God’s love is the gift of salvation in Christ. When people accept that gift, the pope said, they recognise that they are dependent on God. “Conversion to Christ, believing in the Gospel, ultimately means this: to exit the illusion of self-sufficiency in order to discover and accept one’s own need—the need of others and God, the need of his forgiveness and his friendship,” the pope wrote. The Vatican invited Hans-Gert Pottering, the former president of the European Parliament and president of Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation, to present the pope’s message to the press. Mr Pottering said the basic call of the pope’s message is “to work in union with our creator on our responsibility in the world”. “In these words—charity, solidarity, fraternity—lie the key to a true understanding of the responsibility of Christians in the world,” Mr Pottering said. “Solidarity or charity implies the responsibility to defend and protect the universal dignity of any human being anywhere in the world under any circumstances.” Mr Pottering said unfortunately modern politics has placed so much emphasis on promoting freedom and equality that it has almost ignored the obligation to promote solidarity and fraternity. For example, “whereas Europe and the world have already invested unimaginable sums for the fight against the financial crisis, the implementation of charity leaves much to be desired, especially in the fight against hunger in the world,” he said. More than a billion people live on less than $1,50 (about R11) a day, he said. Aids, malaria and tuberculosis are devastating the world’s poorest nations, and pollution is destroying the air, water and farmable land. The international reaction to the financial crisis demonstrates that “international cooperation can overcome huge challenges. A similar firmness is equally necessary in the fight against worldwide poverty”, Mr Pottering said. On a concrete level, he called on all countries and all airlines to join the UNITAID project, which works with the World Health Organization to buy bulk quantities of anti-Aids, malaria and TB drugs using funding from a $1 or $2 surcharge on airline tickets. The minor increase in the cost of a plane ticket “could help ease the misery in the world”.—CNS