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Catholic gifts for Christmas
Spring inspires green focus
New books reviewed
Pilgrimage: Showtime in the Jordan
November 10 to November 16, 2010 Reg No. 1920/002058/06
No 4701
www.scross.co.za
R5,50 (incl VAT RSA)
SOUTHERN AFRICA’S NATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY SINCE 1920
Church praise for Zuma’s cabinet reshuffle
Inside Review of 1989 pastoral plan The bishops of Southern Africa have called for an interdiocesan consultation to review the 1989 pastoral plan.—Page 3
Jo’burg headmaster retires
STAFF REPORTER
After 25 years as headmaster of St Benedict’s School in Johannesburg, Anthony Dobson is retiring next month.—Page 3
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Bishops pledge peacemaking Bishops from Africa’s Great Lakes region have agreed to work more closely together to promote peace, justice and reconciliation in the often troubled areas of their countries.— Page 4
Baghdad attack condemned Pope Benedict has described the deadly militant siege of a cathedral in Baghdad as a “savage” act of “absurd violence”.—Page 4
Nuptial headhunting
Pope Benedict arrives for a gathering with youths from the Italian Azione Cattolica (Catholic Action) movement in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican. PHOTO: PAUL HARING,CNS
In his monthly column, Mphuthumi Ntabeni discusses marriage and the missing head of a Xhosa chief.—Page 7
Chinese Mass dilemma The Open Door column addresses the question of going to Mass celebrated by priests not in full communion with Rome.—Page 7
What do you think? In their Letters to the Editor this week, readers discuss the beginning of the universe, the title “pontiff”, the tour of St Thérèse’s relics, a history of same-sex ceremonies, and a disappointing celebration.—Page 8
This week’s editorial: A relevant Church
Catholic clothes are cool
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SCOTTISH clothing company that markets its products at young Catholics has experienced such growth that it is now opening a shop in the United States, the British Catholic Herald has reported. The Catholics with Attitude company, which was founded in 2006, has doubled its sales, thanks to Pope Benedict’s visit to Britain in September. The company’s T-shirts and hoodies feature slogans such as “Team Benedict”, “Vatican All Stars”, and “I Love Papa Benny”. Spokesman Elliot Bohannon told the Catholic Herald: “I think there’s been a cultural shift. People have discovered they can wear a T-shirt that says what they believe in.” Sales from January to September this year doubled over the same period in 2009, Mr Bohannon said, and have gone “far beyond our wildest expectations”. The most popular slogans, he said, had been “Team Benedict”, “God Bless the Pope” and “Cor Ad Cor Loquitur” (meaning “Heart speaks to heart”), the motto of the papal visit and of Bl John Henry Newman, whom the pope beatified in Birmingham. The company, based in Paisley, near Glasgow, is preparing to open a second distributor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to cater for the American market. In recent months hoodies and T-shirts have been delivered to customers in the US, France, Germany, Cyprus and Spain.
Church honours Indian jubilee BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
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O celebrate 150 years of the Indian community in South Africa, the archdiocese of Durban will host lectures, book launches and a “Grand Finale Celebration” on November 21 at Moses Mabhida Stadium, which is expected to attract 70 000 people. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban said the Christian community in South Africa will “give thanks for the men and women from India who came here as ‘indentured labourers’ contracted to work on the sugar and tea plantations of Natal”. The cardinal said it was important to note that the celebrations were not just for Indians by Indians, but a celebration “by the whole Christian community to give thanks to God for what he enabled those Indian pioneers and their descendents to contribute to the growth and development of the entire South African community”. Historian Dr Joy Brian said the Indian community in South Africa began when white farmers in Natal were struggling to grow crops due to the lack of labour and the highly vegetated area. The first ship, The Truro, brought 342 indentured labourers from Madras on November 16, 1860. Between 1860 and 1911, some 152 184 indentured labourers from across India came to South Africa. Dr Brain said the Catholic Church and French missionary priest Fr Sabon of Durban were very supportive of the indentured workers. The Catholic Church started schools and it was not long before the community had its own churches, which still exist today. “The Indian community is one of the most active in the Catholic Church,” Dr Brain said. According to South Africa’s last census, there are now 20 670 Indian Catholics in South Africa. 2010 has been an important year for the
Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban with Gabrielle and Priscilla Naidoo. A coffee table book on the history of Christian Indians in South Africa, written by Dr Gabrielle Naidoo and Dr G K Nair, will be launched on November 21. Indian community. Lectures and events have been held throughout the year, including a “cultural exchange” held at the end of October at the Parish of Our Lady of Good Help in Verulam, Durban. Parishioner Indrani Naidoo said the event was a way to look at India and South Africa’s shared history, describing it as a “colourful, vibrant and joyous journey”. The jubilee celebrations include the launch of an illustrated coffee table book, Celebrate Indian Christians in South Africa 1860-2010, written by Drs Gabrielle Naidoo and GK Nair, which sells for R100. Cardinal Napier said the Grand Finale will be a “fun event as well as a religious one”. He said the event will be a “great Jubilee of thanksgiving” with gospel artists, sermons, food stalls and various kinds of religious and cultural items on sale. Tickets are available at R70 and R90. For more information contact the Durban archdiocese 031 303 1417. More on the history of South Africa’s Indian community next week
HE reshuffle of President Jacob Zuma’s cabinet is important not so much for who replaced whom, but that it took place at all, according to the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO), a body of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference. “Given that he came to power at the behest of a disparate and divergent group of politicians on the periphery of power, whose only uniting factor was their disdain for President Mbeki; and given that that very group has now diverged to the point where they spend most of their time attacking each other, it is only to be expected that Mr Zuma’s purposes and motives will be minutely dissected,” said CPLO research coordinator Mike Pothier in a briefing paper. However, “the mere fact of this cabinet reshuffle is considerably more important than the details of who has been fired, and who has stepped into their shoes”, he said. “In his nine years at the helm of government, [ex-President Thabo] Mbeki did not fire a single cabinet minister. One or two died or retired, a couple were transferred between portfolios, and a small number fell out with him and were not reappointed when he formed his second government in 2004. “But Mr Mbeki’s unspoken message was effectively that all of his 25-odd ministers performed perfectly well for nine years; there was simply no need for changes. The sub-text was that, since he had chosen them in the first place, and since he was not given to making mistakes, they must have been, and remained, the best people for the job,” Mr Pothier said. For example, he said, the late Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was retained as minister of health “despite her notorious incompetence and her absurd approach to the HIV/Aids crisis”. Mr Pothier therefore welcomed the reshuffle which saw some long-serving ministers, such as Makhenkesi Stofile (Sport and Recreation), Membathisi Mdladlana (Labour) and Buyelwa Sonjica (Water and Environmental Affairs) dropped. “This must indicate to the rest that, no matter how senior you may be in cabinet, your position is not guaranteed,” Mr Pothier said. He noted that none of the dismissed ministers were re-appointed to another portfolio, saying that this might be “intended to send a different message: if the president thinks you’ve failed you will not be given a second chance.” Mr Pothier acknowledged that Mr Zuma so far had “not won much praise for his leadership”. “Indeed, while important office-bearers in the alliance tear into each other, and while rival ideologues contest for power and influence in a manner that makes the African National Congress look more like a political bazaar than a political party, Mr Zuma has done almost nothing to set limits and enforce discipline,” Mr Pothier said. “Therefore, the fact that he has realised the need to get rid of some of his cabinet ministers—whether or not one agrees with his particular choices—is a good thing; that he has had the courage to translate the realisation into action is an excellent thing.”