The
S outher n C ross www.scross.co.za
April 17 to April 23, 2013
A hug that went around the world
no 4820
Interview with Sr Joan Chittister
St Francis of Assisi: More than a pet lover
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SA Church impresses English bishop By CLAiRe MATHieSon
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ATHOLICS in Britain “have so much to learn from the South African Church,” said an English bishop after studying the work of four local Catholic organisations. Bishop Declan Lang of Clifton, England, and David Ryall, associate general-secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, met with four Catholic organisations based in Cape Town. The British visitors described their visits to the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO), the Goedgedacht Forum, Cape Town’s archdiocesan prison ministry, and the Scalabrini Centre for refugees as “eye opening” and “an inspiration”. “This was a way for us to strengthen the ties between the bishops’ conference in the UK and the bishops in Southern Africa, offering a sense of solidarity and support to the country and to find out how the Church can contribute to society,” said Bishop Lang, who serves as chairman of the funding agency Missio England and Wales. “Civil society has a responsibility and a role in democracy,” said Felicity Harrison, project director of the Goedgedacht Forum, which provides a space for talking. “There is a demand not just for formal dialogue but also for informal dialogue where government can be affirmed but also criticised in a constructive way.” As a version of the Chatham House rules—the principle that governs confidentiality—is used, participants in the forum are not confined by party laws or their organisations’ mandates. “In this way, we see people build relationships which we have seen to be very positive. These spaces are built on respect and are not confrontational, allowing people to interact differently to the past,” Ms Harrison explained. In the face of many NGOs closing down, Ms Harrison said the Goedgedacht Forum is even more important to ensure there is a forum in which people can talk freely and build working relationships.
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he Scalabrini Centre for refugees sees 1 000 people per week in its offices. The centre offers programmes assisting with employment and education, welfare, outreach as well as advocacy work. Notably, the office recently won an appeal against the Department of Home Affairs which had illegally closed a reception office in Cape Town. Centre director Miranda Madikane said the biggest challenge it faces is dealing with a Home Affairs department which “is not properly managed”. “The government claims that 98% of those that come into the country are economic migrants. That’s not what we are seeing,” Ms Madikane said. “While the number may be high, there are people fleeing wars across the continent,” she said, pointing out that the asylum-seeking process was complicated, can be costly, and is time consuming—especially for those that have fled their countries with very little. Ms Madikane said while migrants are given health care and children given an education, real refugees are being refused visas and cannot apply for work visas which causes further problems. Crime affects all South Africans, said Cape Town’s archdiocesan prison chaplain Fr Babychan Arackathara. “The biggest problem facing the prison system is the lack of resources and support for released offenders, who struggle to find employment, have no structures of assistance and usually find the temptation to return to a life of crime too big,” he said.
A dominican sister embraces a novice. in this week’s edition we mark Vocations Sunday over six pages, from pages 9-14, in which Catholics who have responded to the call to the consecrated life speak about their experiences. (Photo: Sid Hastings, CnS)
WYD will focus on green themes At around 80%, reoffending numbers are extremely high, especially among the youth, said Fr Arackathara. “There is no structure to help those that are released, no sense of belonging and no work. These people fall into the same patterns that took them to prison in the first place.” Inside, prisons are overcrowded and programmes instituted within the prison simply cannot cope with the numbers, the priest told the English delegation. There is also a significant gang problem inside the prison system. “We find that offenders go into prison reasonably well behaved but tend to come out worse.” Fr Arackathara said lots of money was being spent on keeping prisoners inside prison, but only 2-3% on helping them stay out of prison once they are released.
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ishop Lang and Dr Ryall had previously worked with CPLO director Fr Peter-John Pearson, including during a recent solidarity visit to Palestine. The CPLO presentation focused on the environmental and family life advocacy work being done by the office. “We are grateful for people who are committed to listen, to visit and to see. We need to listen to those that don’t have a voice,” said Fr Pearson. Dr Ryall said the bishops had great admiration for the work of the CPLO. “The Continued on page 3
By Cindy Wooden
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HEN hundreds of thousands of young Catholics gather with Pope Francis in Rio de Janeiro in July, reflections on safeguarding the environment will be part of the programme. Like earlier editions of World Youth Day (WYD), the Rio celebration will include morning catechetical sessions and afternoon cultural events. “From the beginning of planning—under Pope Benedict XVI—we thought that a major theme in Brazil, known as ‘the lungs of the world’, would have to be the environment,” said Marcello Bedeschi, president of the John Paul II Foundation for Youth, a Rome-based organisation that assists with WYD planning. “We did not know that there would be a new pope and that in his first three major addresses, he would speak about safeguarding creation, not in political or ideological terms, but as a Christian obligation,” he said. Corrado Clini, Italy’s environment minister, has been working with the foundation, the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Brazilian government and the Rio Church’s WYD organising team to promote the reflection of young people on the importance of biodiversity and protecting the environment. He also is working to encourage cooperation between several Italian and Brazilian companies to reduce the energy and water used at WYD and to recycle as much of the refuse they produce as possible.
At a news conference at the Vatican, Mr Clini said the fact that the youth gathering will take place one year after the international community gathered for Rio +20—a UN- sponsored conference on sustainable development—is a great opportunity to rally the passion Catholic youths have for protecting the world God created. “World Youth Day is the best context for expanding this vision of global solidarity,” which includes a commitment by industrialised nations to moderate their consumption habits, promote development in poor countries and share with them the knowledge and technology they need to build their economies without threatening the environment. At the end of WYD, the youths are expected to issue a “manifesto for safeguarding creation”, which will be drafted with assistance from Conventual Franciscan friars from Assisi, Italy.—CNS