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the Southern Cross, June 1 to June 7, 2011
LOCAL
The Catholic Church plays a ‘critical role’ in local elections By MathiBela SeBothoMa
P
RAYER and Christian participation made the May 18 local elections successful, said Sy Mamabolo (pictured), provincial electoral officer for Gauteng. Mr Mamabolo was responsible for leading the IEC team in the province with more registered voters than any other in the country. A staunch Catholic, he serves as extraordinary minister of Communion at the parish of Our Lady of the Wayside in Maryvale, Johannesburg, under Fr Peter Holiday, bishop-elect of Kroonstad.
He is in the final year of completing a three-year theology programme at the Jesuit Institute of Theology in Johannesburg. Born and bred a Catholic at St Vincent Catholic church in Tembisa, he temporarily left the community during the struggle against apartheid. “Two special moments re-evangelised my faith commitment and active participation in my home parish,” said Mr Mamabolo. “Firstly, it was my marriage to my wife Butsi in 1998. The parish was warm and spiritually uplifting when I was preparing for the sacra-
ment of matrimony. In addition the community supported me in a lively celebration of the nuptial Mass.” He said the deciding moment
was when he experienced the ordination of a fellow parishioner Fr Vincent Sello MSC. “The ordination rite moved me to tears; the liturgy preached to me…I decided I am following Jesus all the way.” The provincial IEC “has a cordial relationship” with the Gauteng Council of Churches, he said. “I am glad that Catholic leaders like Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane and Fr Smangaliso Mkhatshwa were part of the prayer services for successful elections in Johannesburg and Tshwane.” The IEC had organised six assemblies in the province. “We
needed the Holy Spirit to guide the electoral process.” He was pleased when he saw the defence force’s Catholic chaplain, Fr Mike Phillips, and Soweto priest Fr Victor Ngwenya as part of the conflict management panel created by the IEC. Their role was to intervene if election related conflicts arose. He is grateful the Catholic Church played a critical role in mobilising communities to participate in the polls through the issuing of the pastoral letter by the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Bishop heads to rural parish outside Kimberley StaFF RePoRteR
M
AKING his first pastoral visit outside Kimberley since his episcopal ordination in March, Bishop Abel Gabuza surprised parishioners by arriving in a big procession, carried by a donkey. Bishop Gabuza visited St Gertrude’s parish in the Northern Cape district of Coe-Heuningvlei, the most remote community in the diocese. “This parish is in a rural area, and it is poverty-stricken, with many unemployed people,” said Fr Reginald Tarimo, an Apostles of Jesus priest. “On the way to our parish, the bishop got lost, and saw only bushes, donkeys, cows and the dust from the rough road on which he was driving,” Fr Tarimo said. Bishop Gabuza celebrated Mass on both Saturday evening and
Sunday morning. At the Saturday Mass, he paid tribute to his retired predecessor, Bishop Erwin Hecht, for putting up houses of prayer in the area, and for training lay people as ministers of the word to keep the faith alive. For Sunday Mass, Catholics and non-Catholics came to St Gertrude’s church to see the new bishop. Arriving for Mass, Bishop Gabuza was welcomed by Fr Tarimo and the community’s elders at the door.
During Mass, the bishop preached in seTswana. His homily was met with loud applause. Fr Tarimo said he saw things at the Mass he hadn’t seen before. “All the out-stations presented gifts. Elders brought up live goats and sheep, and children brought up live chickens. And all people came forward to shake hands with the bishop,” he said. “They gave all what they had out of excitement and joy, just like that woman in the gospel,” Fr Tarimo said, referring to Luke 21:1-4. “This parish is in a povertystricken area,” he said, “but that Sunday I saw no poverty. I saw only the joy of people and their excitement,” the priest said. “I can confirm what The Southern Cross wrote recently; that with Bishop Gabuza, Kimberley diocese has received a diamond,” Fr Tarimo said. (See also front-page picture)
St Dominic’s Priory Junior School in Port elizabeth will raise the curtain on June 13 for the staging of the well-loved musical The Pirates of Penzance Jr. tickets go on sale at R25 from May 30 and can be bought by calling Mrs Raubenheimer on 041 396 2819. there will be five shows of Rogers and hammerstein’s tale of misunderstanding and misfortune running from June 13-15.