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Parish of the Month from Eastern Cape
Church in the midst of drug wars
Five years of Pope Benedict
Did Christ condemn paedophiles?
www.scross.co.za
April 14 to April 20, 2010 Reg No. 1920/002058/06
No 4671
SOUTHERN AFRICA’S NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY SINCE 1920
Priests slam ‘intimidation’ of Zambian bishops
Don’t miss our special Vocations Sunday Issue! Out on April 21!
Inside
BY MWANSA PINTU
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Nun professor honoured Dr Edith Raidt, a Schoenstatt Sister and former head of South Africa’s Catholic university, has been awarded Germany’s highest civilian honour.—Page 3
Saint’s husband dies at 97 The widower of St Gianna Beretta Molla, who was canonised in 2004, has died at the age of 97.—Page 5
Helicopters of Christ In his monthly column, Henry Makori looks at a new church in Nairobi called the Helicopter of Christ Ministry.—Page 9
A pompous prime minster In his weekly column, Chris Moerdyk recalls a run-in with a pompous British prime minister.—Page 12
What do you think? In their Letters to the Editor this week, readers discuss a the humiliation of the Church, the Divine Mercy devotion, wearing a veil to church, why people go to Mass, the reformation, abuse in schools, clerical celibacy, and the editor’s output.—Page 8
This week’s editorial: Pope Benedict’s legacy
TV show dumps Catholic actor over sex scenes
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R5,00 (incl VAT RSA)
MERICAN actor Neal McDonough, a former cast member of shows such as Desperate Housewives and Band of Brothers, has allegedly been replaced in a new TV series over his refusal to act in “heated love scenes”. The Catholic News Agency reported that M c D o n o u g h (pictured), a Catholic, was dumped from ABC’s new series Scoundrels officially because of a “casting change”, but Hollywood sources say it was because of the actor’s refusal to do what he called “inappropriate” love scenes with his co-star Virginia Madsen. McDonough’s position is well-known in the industry, according to the report, which adds that he previously refused to do sex scenes with Nicolette Sheridan on Desperate Housewives when he played her villain husband during the show’s fifth season. He also did not do love scenes in his previous roles in Boomtown and Medical Investigation. “You can’t help but admire McDonough for sticking to his beliefs, even if he’s poised to lose as much as $1 million in paydays for Scoundrels,” wrote Nikki Finke, editor of the movie news site Deadline Hollywood.—cathnews
SCORE: Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town receives a souvenir football from Sabine Schwab of the Catholic funding agency Missio Munich. The football bears the logo for the Club of Good Hope, the name of the football tournament organised by Missio and the Bavarian state government which was held in Munich. Three teams from Cape Town and one from Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, were sponsored to play in the finals. With Youth Unlimited, Missio and Bavaria are promoting football as a socialising and developmental experience for young boys and girls playing side by side in tournaments. Ms Schwab met Archbishop Brislin to share plans for a “Bavaria Meets Western Cape Expo 2010” at the Artscape theate centre. PHOTO: SYDNEY DUVAL
RIESTS in Zambia have pledged to step up efforts to defend the country’s bishops from increased intimidation by government officials for speaking out against bad governance and tolerance of corruption. The priests offered their support to the bishops following separate pastoral council meetings in Mpika and Kasama Zambian bishops have criticised the government for corrupt practices and for not addressing broad concerns such as safety issues in the mining industry, everrising food prices, regular power outages, finalising the draft of a new constitution and continuous voter registration. In a joint statement, the priests said the insults from Catholic and non-Catholic politicians to the Zambian Church’s leadership were saddening and insulting to the entire Catholic population. “The role of the Catholic Church is to speak for the voiceless by bringing out issues of injustice and ensure fair play to liberate the captives,” the statement said.—CNS
Tlhagale: Church’s image is ‘in ruins’ BY MICHAIL RASSOOL
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RCHBISHOP Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg has said that all priests must take collective responsibility for the hurt, scandals, pain and suffering inflicted by their clerical brothers in Europe and America on those placed in their care. In his homily at the annual Chrism Mass at Christ the King cathedral, Johannesburg, the president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) said the Church’s current crisis has meant that priests in modern times have betrayed the very Gospel they preach. “The Good News we claim to announce sounds so hollow, so devoid of any meaning when matched with our much publicised negative moral behaviour. Many who looked up to priests as their model feel betrayed, ashamed and disappointed,” the archbishop said. “They feel that some priests have ‘slipped away from the footprints of the Apostles’. Trust has been compromised. The halo has been tilted, if not broken. What happens in Ireland or in Germany or America affects us all.” While the misbehaviour of priests in Africa has not been exposed to the same extent as it has in other parts of the world, priests on the continent must nevertheless also face responsibility for the hurt, the scandals, the pain and the suffering caused by themselves, who claim to be models of good behaviour. “I wish I could say that there are only a
few bad apples. But the outrage around us suggests that there are more than just a few bad apples.” The Church’s image is virtually in ruins because of the bad behaviour of some priests, Archbishop Tlhagale said, referring to them as “wolves wearing sheep’s skin, preying on unsuspecting victims, inflicting irreparable harm, and continuing to do so with impunity”. “We are slowly but surely bent on destroying the Church of God by undermining and tearing apart the faith of lay believers,” Archbishop Tlhagale said. “Ironically, priests have become a stumbling block to the promotion of vocations.” He said each time priests compromise their vows, they break their fidelity and betray Christ himself. The archbishop said that because of the scandal the authoritative voice of the Church has been weakened. Church leaders, he said, become incapable of criticising the corrupt and immoral behaviour of members of communities, and are hesitant to criticise the greed and malpractices of civic authorities. They are paralysed and automatically become reluctant to guide young people in the many moral dilemmas they face. At such moments, he added, Church leaders probably feel much closer to Judas Iscariot and his 30 pieces of silver or Simon Peter deeply buried in denial. Archbishop Tlhagale said a time of crisis is also a time of opportunity, to experience the redeeming power of the grace of Christ crucified on the Cross. He said it is a time
for priests to strive to become the examples of the remarkable stories contained the Gospel. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, archbishop of Durban, in his Easter message also alluded to the sex abuse scandal. “The current crisis facing the Catholic Church internationally—the crisis of child abuse and a lack of appropriate response— helps us realise that the Church is always in need of reformation and a return to basics. “The primary message of the Church must be the fundamental dignity of all people from conception to natural death. Any action by the Church that compromises this dignity is an offence against the common good and against God. Any loss of focus on the holiness of God and the call to holiness for all people leads to hurt, pain and anger—a betrayal of all that Jesus is,” Cardinal Napier said. “Facing up to this means facing up to a failure to lead all to the holiness of God and their own holy dignity.” Meanwhile, the SACBC has revealed that since the introduction in 1996 of the Professional Conduct Committee, which deals with abuse cases involving Church personnel, 40 cases had been registered. “All have been investigated or are in the process of investigation or are suspended due to civil/criminal action. Most of these cases deal with historical abuse—some as old as 40 years ago—and over 50% are complaints of sexual abuse of teenage girls,” said SACBC information officer Fr Chris Townsend.