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June 5 to June 11, 2013

Bishop’s parish visit on donkey cart

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Southern Cross pilgrimage in pictures

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No 4826

Why life is like a marathon

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Shock as priest is killed by truck

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

T

HE death of a young priest who was killed in an early morning traffic accident has shocked the Catholic community in Cape Town.

Fr Anthony Mutetwa, 34, was killed on Cape Town’s N2 while trying to push his broken-down car to the side of the road.

According to his friend and co-worker, Fr Kizito Gugah of Our Lady Queen of Africa in Lower Crossroads, Fr Mutetwa was returning to Cape Town at around 5am on the morning of May 28. He was travelling on the N2 when he had car trouble.

The priest pushed his car to the side of the road to avoid creating a traffic jam.

“A truck hit his car from behind. He was between the car and the truck. He died shortly after, on the spot,” Fr Gugah told The Southern Cross.

Investigations were underway but no charges had been laid at the time of going to print.

“The people here loved him. They were very upset and are going to miss him a lot,” Fr Gugah said.

Zimbabwe-born Fr Mutetwa started his ministry at St Paul’s parish in Somerset West where he assisted parish priest Fr John Bartmann from 2006-08.

An affable man, he was “liked by the parishioners and considered to be a people’s priest,” said Fr Bartmann. “He related particularly well to the elderly.”

Fr Mutetwa was also active in neighbouring communities in Sir Lowry’s and Macassar, which fall under St Paul’s.

He served Atlantis and Kraaifontein parishes before becoming involved in prison ministry.

Archdiocesan prison chaplain Fr Babychan Arackathara MSFS said Fr Mutetwa was “most certainly important” to the ministry.

“He was good in sharing sessions with the inmates and worked very well with volunteer leaders,” Fr Arackathara said.

“I was shocked when I was called and told

Fr Anthony Mutetwa (left), who died in a horrific traffic accident, with his friend Fr Kizito Gugah and Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town. that he had died on the spot” in the accident.

Fr Mutetwa, who was born in Zimbabwe, had initially trained with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, but during his studies decided to become a diocesan priest. He was ordained on June 16, 2006.

“He was a very calm and collected guy. He was fun-loving and always looked for the good in every person. He had a lots of friends,” said Fr Gugah, who met his priest friend in 1994 when they studied together.

In addition to serving the prison ministry, Fr Mutetwa was also an assistant to the five parishes in Lower Crossroads and Khayelitsha, where Fr Gugah is parish priest.

“During his time at Our Lady Queen of Africa people came to love his frank, simple and lively sermons, and the youth always said he challenged them in his homilies. His best subject in his homilies was family life, parenting, youth issues, and he always encouraged young people to come to church and dress appropriately when coming to Mass,” said Fr Gugah.

Fr Mutetwa also took part in anti-abortion vigils outside Cape Town’s Marie Stopes clinic.

Fr Mutetwa’s body has been returned to Zimbabwe where he will be buried.

Gugu Mbambo was among the youth of Durban’s cathedral parish who had great fun painting graffiti of thanks on the walls of the old parish centre hall before it is demolished to make way for the Denis Hurley Centre. (Photo: Illa Thompson)

Graffiti sprayed, with permission STAFF REPORTER

T

HE Emmanuel Cathedral Youth Association in Durban bade a fond farewell to the old parish centre as members painted messages of praise, thanks and appreciation on the walls of the old upstairs meeting room in the now derelict building ahead of its demolition to make way for the new Denis Hurley Centre.

The parish centre, built in 1904, was at one time the St Augustine’s Primary School, prior to the school being moved to its present location in 1956. Since then it has been the parish centre for the myriad social justice, church, educational and outreach programmes of the Emmanuel cathedral, said Paddy Kearney, coordinator of the Denis Hurley Centre project.

At the beginning of the year, the operations moved to the nearby Hindu Surat Build-

ing where they will be housed until the Denis Hurley Centre is completed.

“The Denis Hurley Centre will provide an enabling environment for care, education and community building in one of the most diverse and challenging neighbourhoods of downtown Durban, alongside Emmanuel cathedral,” Mr Kearney said.

The plans for the Denis Hurley Centre were officially approved by the eThekwini municipality on April 26. Potential contractors are in the process of being adjudicated and the site will be handed over to the contractor and the demolition of the old building and construction of the new centre will commence in June.

Funding is still needed for the project, Mr Kearney said. n For more information visit www.denishurley centre.org or contact Paddy Kearney at pkearney@saol.com or on 031 201 3832

SA’s Catholic university opened its doors to prospective students STAFF REPORTER

S

Student volunteers from St Augustine College in Johannesburg show their enthusiasm as they prepare to show visitors around their campus during the Catholic university’s Open Day.

OUTH Africa’s only Catholic university, welcomed visitors to its campus on its annual Open Day, with the help of volunteer students.

Visiting the campus of St Augustine College in Victory Park, Johannesburg, the volunteers were kitted out in bright yellow T-shirts and caps with the college logo as they took visitors on tours of the campus.

The students were able to offer their input on what it is like to study at St Augustine and what aspects of this university they liked the best.

Lecturers were on hand to offer advice on their particular subjects and help young people make decisions on what subjects would best suit their aspirations.

During the day there was a series of lectures given by the staff on a variety of subjects. Some of the topics were serious, while others were humorous takes on a subject on

which the speakers are in fact passionate.

The 20-minute talks were followed by a short question time from the floor. A number of guests requested further lectures in a similar vein.

The university has decided to have a special lecture which will be open to the public on the August 29 feast day of St Augustine of Hippo, patron saint of the college. This will be more in-depth than those given on the Open Day. St Augustine opened in July 1999 and is structured into three schools: the School of Theology, the School of Humanities and Education, and the School of Commerce, Philosophy and Applied Ethics.

It also offers a range of short courses in ethics, politics, philosophy, and theology, certificate programmes, and various other postgraduate qualifications.

All programmes are fully accredited and registered by the National Department of Education.

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The Southern Cross, June 5 to June 11, 2013

Nyanga goes green STAFF REPORTER

S

Members of Vodacom, Etafeni, Greenpop and St Mary’s parish are pictured with Fr Terry Mutashe (far right) under the cross at St Mary’s church in Nyanga, Cape Town.

IXTY-six trees were planted throughout Nyanga, a Cape Town township, as part of the vision of the late Sr Aine Hardiman OP. In late May, accompanied by soft Cape rain, the trees were planted throughout the township—at Linge Primary School, on the verges of the Etafeni Centre and in the parking lot of St Mary’s church.

“The Greening of Nyanga was the idea of Sr Aine Hardiman OP who died in April this year. Sr Hardiman was a founding member of a small ecumenical eco-theology group, which agreed to take as its practical project the planting of trees, grass and household food gardens in Nyanga,” said

Stephanie Kilroe of Etafeni, part of the Catholic Institute of Education’s Thabiso Skills Institute. The centre works with, amongst others, unemployed matriculants.

“The aim is to provide stipended employment and training for Nyanga’s unemployed young people and, at the same time, to create a beautiful and healthy environment,” said Ms Kilroe.

“Sr Hardiman worked in Nyanga for many years, first with the Etafeni Playgroup Project and then with the Etafeni Trust and was known to many of Nyanga’s children as MaTswele, Mother Onion.

“In her last few years she became avidly green, caring for a food garden and wormery at her convent in Wittebome. Had she

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been alive, she would have been wielding a spade with the Greening team, her veil knotted under her chin.”

Ms Kilroe said the Greening of Nyanga is an on-going partnership between the Etafeni Trust, Greenpop, Abalimi Bezekhaya, the City of Cape Town and Sr Hardiman’s eco-theology group.

“The children and staff of Linge Primary School joined in the planting, as did Fr Terry Mutashe, altar servers and parishioners at St Mary’s Church. Vodacom provided the trees and a group of hardworking volunteers for the day.”

One of the young eco-theologians wrote afterwards, “It was the kind of day that makes one feel truly alive and a part of this amazing and mysterious human race.”

HE outreach programme of the Christian Brothers Association, the Edmund Rice Camps (ERC), based in the Western Cape has been providing funfilled, educational and safe getaways for young underprivileged children as well as opportunities for youth to become leaders and learn professional skills and gain spiritual development.

The camps are full of success stories and one graduate, Rowen Thamsanqa Maqhiza, is praising the ERC for his new lease on life.

The 23-year-old from Nyanga in Cape Town was faced with poverty, HIV/Aids and drug abuse in his youth, which he faced alone after losing his two brothers at an early age.

He attended primary and secondary school in Langa while living in Nyanga and when his parents separated, he moved in with his cousin in Delft. “That is where he met Mama Mildred Manini an agent of ERC from Delft Symphony,” said ERC field worker Mbuyi Jongqo.

“Mama Mildred noticed the passion Rowen had while mobilising children to attend a local church camp. Realising his potential she introduced him to ERC. Since he joined the camps his mindset changed and he challenged his way of thinking, leading to a boost in self esteem and confidence.”

“I was shy and could not express myself in front of a crowd,”

said Mr Maqhiza. He has since attended various ERC training and leadership development programmes.

“The Christian Brother Centre where ERC run camps provide a tranquil yet entertaining and safe environment where exciting weekend, holiday, life skills and family camps are run. In addition, the camps provide opportunities for personal growth and development for young adults who volunteer as leaders and positive role models to the buddies on camps,” said Ms Jongqo. The buddies come from marginalised and disadvantaged backgrounds and are paired one-on-one with the leaders.

ERC provides opportunities for the leaders to be challenged in their leadership growth as well as their personal, spiritual and professional development.

Since gaining experience from the camps, Rowen has volunteered with different schools in the Cape Town townships and is currently working as a skills coach for grassroots soccer.

“The various training programmes offered by ERC taught me how to present myself for interviews, I conducted myself with confidence” he says.

He believes he scooped the two year contract at his job because he excelled in expressing himself, winning the hearts of the interviewing panel. “After a long day at work, walking home he is greeted by children and adults

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Rowen Maqhiza’s life has changed since he joined the Edmund Rice Centre’s camps. from his neighbourhood telling him how proud they are of him while youth look up to him as a role model. This keeps him motivated and he promises to serve ERC as long as he is alive,” said Ms Jongqo.

ERC is currently looking to recruit new volunteers to run their camps. Volunteers need to be 17 years and older. “They need to be, but not restricted to, fun-loving, sociable, energetic, creative, dynamic, responsible, flexible, and committed and goal-orientated individuals,” said Ms Jongqo.

The camps are also calling on individuals and businesses to sponsor a child or to offer their services to the camps whether it be donations in kind or of monetary value as the camps cannot operate without support. n Anyone interested can contact the ERC Office on 021 434 6731 or email info@ed mundricecamps.org.za

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The Southern Cross, June 5 to June 11, 2013

CRS stalwart retires

D

OCTOR Ruth Stark is retiring from Catholic Relief Services (CRS) after ten years of service in South Africa, first as country director and subsequently as senior technical advisor to the PEPFAR-funded treatment programme of the SACBC Aids Office. Dr Stark’s contribution to the SACBC programme was noted at the final meeting of the Aids Office/CRS team at Khanya House in Pretoria. On behalf of the bishops, SACBC secretary-general Sr Hermenegild Makoro and Bishop José Luis de Ponce Léon, thanked Dr Stark for her commitment to various SACBC agencies, in particular the Aids Office.

CRS has been present in South Africa since 2000, and has supported the Church’s response to Aids in South Africa, Swaziland and Botswana through its small project grant.

It has partnered the SACBC office since 2004 in the PEPFAR programme which saw more than 45 000 people initiated on ARV treatment and the support of over 30 000 children made vulnerable by Aids.

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Stranded bishop left alone with cows and donkeys STAFF REPORTER

B

ISHOP Abel Gabuza of Kimberley was travelling to the Kalahari communities to celebrate the Year of Faith with them. But instead of being surrounded by local Catholics, the bishop found himself stranded after a tyre burst completely amid bush, surrounded by animals.

“Looking around he could not see either shops or people passing by like they do in Kimberley,” said local priest Fr Reginald Tarimo AJ. The bishop was instead surrounded by cows, donkeys, goats and sheep because “in the Kalahari people do not move with those animals during the day; the dogs do the work of the shepherds”.

The cars in the area also tend to travel either in the early morning or evening time—finding a car during the day is by chance.

Fr Tarimo said the bishop was left with few options and was about to climb a tree to find better cellphone service, when his cellphone suddenly worked and he was able to put a call through to the office in Kimberley. He was provided with the contact details for Fr Tarimo, who made plans to rescue him.

Fr Tarimo said when the bishop

Bishop Abel Gabuza was left stranded after a tyre burst on a trip to the Kalahari. Parishioners welcomed him with a donkey-cart ride to Mass. finally arrived at his destination he was consoled not only by the parishioners but also by a Setswana dance in his honour, and completely forgot what he had been through earlier.

“He was even happier the next day, a Sunday, as he celebrated two Holy Masses during which he confirmed 22 candidates,” Fr Tarimo

said.

The candidates promised the bishop their cooperation and prayers so that he may be able to unite the diocese and live a true faith realised on the Holy Trinity, and that he may also be even happier in his mission.”

The main aim of Bishop Gabuza’s visit had been to celebrate the Year

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Sr Marian Moriarty, general-superior of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto Sisters), met with Pope Francis in the Vatican this month. Sr Moriarty served in South Africa for many years. At left is Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life.

Two new priests were ordained by Bishop José Luis Ponce de Léon of Ingawavuma at Riverview in Mtubatuba. Bishop Ponce de Léon (centre) is pictured with Fr Dominic Mhlongo (left), a diocesan priest of the vicariate of Ingwavuma from Hlabisa parish in Esibayeni, and Fr Sfiso Mchunu OSM (right), from Mtubatuba parish in Somkhele, a member of the Order of Servants of Mary.

of Faith with the communities in the Kalahari. In preparation for his visit, the communities performed wonders through providing a donkey-cart to carry the bishop a few kilometres to the church entrance.

The liturgy which followed was filled with singing and celebration.

“He was happy with all that was going on in this far end of his diocese,” said Fr Tarimo. The bishop told the priest that although he was challenged in his mission, he was a true missionary.

Bishop Gabuza also thanked the people, both locally and internationally, who supported the priests in this part of his diocese.”

Before leaving, Bishop Gabuza joined in the morning prayers and Holy Mass, after which he participated in the morning duties of feeding the chickens and cleaning out the henhouse while waiting for breakfast to be served. “It was a good surprise to me,” said Fr Tarimo, not used to seeing a bishop doing chores.

Fr Tarimo said the journey back was precarious due to the bishop having no spare tyre, but when he arrived at his metropolitan meeting, he was “happy, appreciative but innately challenged”.

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The Southern Cross, June 5 to June 11, 2013

INTERNATIONAL

Spokesman: Pope Francis will complete Benedict XVI’s unfinished encyclical

BY CINDY WOODEN

C

ONTINUING a papal tradition of finishing a predecessor’s work in progress, Pope Francis intends to complete an encyclical— on the virtue of faith—begun during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. “I can confirm that the plan for an encyclical on faith, begun by Benedict XVI, has been taken up by the new pope,” Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said in an email response to questions. He said it would “be premature” to guess when the encyclical would be completed.

The statement followed reports in Italian media claiming that the retired pope would be completing the encyclical himself.

In an article for his diocesan bulletin, Bishop Luigi Martella of

Molfetta, Italy, had said that when he met Pope Francis in mid-May with other bishops from Italy’s Puglia region, the pope told them that he had been worried about Pope Benedict’s health, “but now he is much better”.

Bishop Martella said Pope Francis “wanted to share a confidence, almost a revelation with us: Benedict XVI is finishing writing the encyclical on faith that will be signed by Pope Francis”.

Responding to questions, Fr Lombardi said: “I can absolutely deny that Benedict XVI is working on the planned encyclical.”

In December, Fr Lombardi had said Pope Benedict’s encyclical on faith would be released in the first half of 2013. The encyclical would

complete a trilogy on the three “theological virtues”, following Deus Caritas Est (2005) on charity, and Spe Salvi (2007) on hope.

A pope picking up work begun under his predecessor, adding his own thoughts and style to it, is common practice. For example, a document about the Church’s charitable activity begun under Pope John Paul II became the framework for the second section of Pope Benedict’s encyclical, Deus Caritas Est. Bishop Martella said Pope Francis also told the Puglia bishops that he was planning an encyclical on poverty, “understood not in an ideological and political sense, but in an evangelical sense.” It will be called Beati pauperes—“Blessed Are the Poor,” the bishop said.—CNS

Fr Michael Perry, 58, was elected the new minister general of the Order of Friars Minor, or Franciscans, by Franciscans representing different parts of the world. The order’s former vicar-general, an American, was chosen to serve until 2015, completing the six-year term of Spanish-born Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo, who was appointed secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life. (Photo: Paul Haring, CNS)

Bishop mediates in world’s murder capital A

BY DAVID AGREN

HONDURAN bishop has been brokering talks between rival gangs in an attempt to calm a country with the highest homicide rate in the world.

Auxiliary Bishop Rómulo Emiliani Sánchez of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, told local media that Mara Salvatrucha (or MS-13) and 18th Street gangs would honour a truce and enter into dialogue, which he hopes would allow the Central American country to recover from recent years of crime, corruption and political strife.

“There will be many obstacles.

We cannot believe that this is going

to resolve things now, but any step will be helpful,” Bishop Emiliani said in comments carried by the newspaper La Prensa.

“Each gang has lost thousands of members and [leaders] are conscious of that. I feel that there’s spiritual process as well, that they are searching for a way of dialogue,” the bishop said, adding that the gangs are looking to reconcile with society.

The truce may appear unlikely, although Bishop Emiliani noted: “Everything can be negotiated, except faith and morality.”

The Honduran truce follows a truce reached, with Church sup-

port, in 2012 between gangs in neighbouring El Salvador.

The homicide rate in El Salvador plunged by 45%, although crimes such as extortion—which the gangs euphemistically call collecting a “war tax”—continue, according to the InSight Crime consultancy.

Bishop Emiliani told La Prensa that government assistance was necessary for the extortion to end in Honduras.

The proposed Honduran truce so far is between gangs, while the El Salvador agreement also involved the government and security services. Honduran President Porfirio Lobo Sosa told the Associated Press

he backed the gang negotiations.

Fr German Calix, national director of Caritas, told Catholic News Service that the Church leadership, including Cardinal Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, would back a truce.

Bishop Emiliani, Fr Calix said, “has been working with gang members in prisons [for a decade]. As an interlocutor, he’s trustworthy to the gangs.”

Crime in Honduras has hit hard with a murder rate of 85,5 per 100 000 people, according to Violence Observatory at the National Autonomous University of Honduras. The gangs extorting busi-

nesses are common, and Bishop Emiliani said the practice would have to end “as a sign they’re searching for peace”.

The violence in Honduras has forced some to flee the country, according to the operators of Catholic-run migrant shelters in Mexico—even though the road north is rife with danger.

Most of the Honduran migrants say they are heading to the United States in search of economic opportunities, said Alberto Xicotencatl, director of the migrant shelter in Saltillo, Mexico. But upon deeper questioning, 95% will admit to fleeing violence, he said.—CNS

The Southern Cross, June 5 to June 11, 2013

INTERNATIONAL

5

Bishop: Tanzania terror part of Islamisation of Africa T HE head of the Tanzanian bishops’ conference has warned of a growing threat from militant Islamists and urged police and government to act more forcefully against violence and intimidation.

“The recent campaigns [of terror in Tanzania] can’t be seen as isolated or separate,” said Bishop Tarcisius Ngalalekumtwa of Iringa.

“Christian-Muslim relations have always been cordial here, which is why we’re astonished by the latest violence. We conclude it must reflect interference from outside,” he said.

The bishop said that Catholics are confident they can “get through the time of trouble” and are “united

in prayer and conversation” with other threatened Christian denominations.

He said he believed recent violence was intended to “put into effect” a 1989 Islamist “Abuja Declaration”, which called for making all of Africa Muslim.

“Ordinary Muslims have nothing against the Christian religion and Catholic faith—the only ones who do are fundamentalists, pressed and influenced from outside,” said Bishop Ngalalekumtwa, who has headed Iringa diocese since 1992.

“We’re all affected by the intimidation. But we’re also very united, meeting and praying together regularly to encourage each other,” he said.

A 20-year-old Tanzanian taxi driver was charged with the May 5 bombing of Arusha’s St Joseph Catholic church, which left three people dead and dozens injured and was branded an “act of terrorism”

by President Jakaya Kikwete.

The papal nuncio, Archbishop Francisco Padilla, who was attending the church’s inaugural Mass, narrowly escaped injury in the blast, for which four Arabs were arrested but later freed.

Christians and Muslims are each estimated at around a third of Tanzania’s population of 46 million, although religious affiliations are not included in government census data.

In February, Fr Evarist Mushi, was

shot dead on the predominantly Muslim island of Zanzibar during a spate of attacks on churches.

In April, police used tear gas to prevent Christian rioters from torching a mosque in southern Tanzania, while in October, 120 people were arrested after Muslim protesters attacked five churches in the main city, Dar es Salaam.

In early May, preaching at a funeral in Arusha, Bishop Ngalalekumtwa criticised “violent propaganda” by Muslim leaders and said church leaders had faced intimidation via extremist Muslim magazines and radio broadcasts, which had been followed by “the burning of churches, attacks and assassinations”.

“Their goal, according to their statements and publications, is to eradicate Christianity,” said the bishop, whose Swahili sermon was excerpted by the Rome-based Fides news agency.

In his interview, Bishop Ngalalekumtwa said there had been “no reactions” from the Tanzanian government and Muslim councils to recent appeals by Catholic leaders, who had decided to speak out “for the sake of peace and harmony”.

“We just want the authorities to act when these groups create unrest in our country. We’re counting on the government to be outspoken and take a strong stand,” he said.— CNS

Catholics called to teach kids the faith

S

PAIN’S bishops have urged Catholics to be more proactive in passing on the faith to children.

Raising children “has always been a difficult but rewarding task. It demands common efforts by all those engaged in passing on the faith, to adapt and apply it in each diocese, parish, school and family,” the bishops said in “pastoral guidelines”.

“The culture of our time has acquired important values, humanising many aspects of personal, communal and social life, but we are also witnessing a crisis in transmitting these values with their specifically religious elements,” the bishops said.

They said Spain’s current education system had fuelled an “educational emergency” by failing to

provide “training in moral and ethical values”, or encourage “endeavour, memory, dedication and a sense of life”.

To preserve the faith, Catholics should “join forces, share experiences and people, and prioritise spending resources,” they added.

“Given today’s cultural circumstances, where everything changes at dizzying speed, believers are harassed and tested in their faith by many issues,” they said. “Despite Church efforts over recent decades to uphold the right and duty of parents and pupils to obtain a Catholic religious education and to prepare teachers with appropriate programmes, religious teaching has faced legislative and administrative difficulties, indifference, undervaluation and contempt.”

About 82% of Spain’s 40 million inhabitants are Catholic, although only one in five attends Mass regularly, according to 2011 data.

From 2004 to 2011, Church leaders clashed repeatedly with the Socialist government over its secularising reforms, which included restricting religious education, introducing same-sex marriage, and relaxing divorce and abortion laws in the country.

The bishops said Spain had witnessed a “radical change of mind about the value of what was received by inheritance and tradition” which had significantly affected families, schools and “ecclesial groups.”

“We are aware the future is at stake for the transmission and realisation of faith,” the bishops said.— CNS

Austrian tightrope walker Christian Waldner makes his way along a wire above the roof of St Stephen’s cathedral in Vienna. The wire was fixed between the cathedral's south towers about 60m off the ground. (Photo: Leonhard Foeger, Reuters/CNS)

100 000 Christians killed yearly because of their faith

M

ORE than 100 000 Christians are killed each year because of their faith, and millions more face bigotry, intolerance and marginalisation because of their beliefs.

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s permanent observer to United Nations agencies in Geneva, told the Human Rights Council that “credible research” by Massimo Introvigne, a former representative of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe on combating intolerance and discrimination against Christians, “has reached the shocking conclu-

sion that an estimate of more than 100 000 Christians are violently killed because of some relation to their faith every year”.

In addition, he said, “in some Western countries, where historically the Christian presence has been an integral part of society, a trend emerges that tends to marginalise Christianity in public life, ignore historic and social contributions and even restrict the ability of faith communities to carry out social charitable services”.

But, in fact, Archbishop Tomasi said, the Christian religion, as other faith communities, serves the true

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good of humanity by educating members in their human dignity, their rights and responsibilities towards others and in serving their communities and the poor with schools, hospitals, homes for the aged, work in refugee camps and other acts of charity.

During a meeting in Tirana, Albania, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace said, “examples of intolerance and discrimination against Christians have not diminished, but rather increased” in member-states of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which in-

cludes 57 countries in Europe, Central Asia and North America.

Bishop Mario Toso, addressing the OSCE’s high-level conference on tolerance and non-discrimination, said that across the 57 nations “a sharp dividing line has been drawn between religious belief and religious practice”, in a way that tells Christians they can believe whatever they want and worship however they’d like inside the walls of their churches, “but they simply cannot act on those beliefs in public”.

The bishop said there has been a “deliberate twisting and limiting of

what religious freedom actually means”, an interpretation which claims to promote tolerance for all people, but in fact tells Christians that they cannot wear symbols of their faith, publicly uphold traditional teachings on sexual morality and marriage and conscientiously object at work to procedures that violate the tenets of their faith.

“Intolerance in the name of ‘tolerance’ must be named for what it is and publically condemned,” Bishop Toso said. “To deny religiously informed moral argument a place in the public square is intolerant and anti-democratic.”—CNS

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HoLY LAND: Jerusalem (with Via Dolorosa, church of the Holy Sepulchre, Mary’s tomb). Bethlehem. Nazareth. Cana (with an opportunity to renew marriage vows). Mount of Beatitudes. CaperHoLY LAND: Jerusalem (with Via Dolorosa, church of the Holy naum. Boatride on the Sea of Galilee. Mount Tabor. Jordan River Sepulchre, Mary’s tomb). Bethlehem. Nazareth (with visit to a Baptismal Site. Ein Kerem. Dead Sea. And much more. recreation of 1st century life). Cana. Mount of Beatitudes.

Capernaum. Boatride on the Sea of Galilee. Mount Tabor. Jordan ITALY: Rome with PAPAL AuDIENCE, the River Baptismal Site. Armageddon. Caesarea. Mt Carmel. Dead four major basilicas (including Mass in St Sea. And much more.

Peter’s), catacombs, ancient sites. Monte Cassino. San Giovanni Rotondo (where Padre CAIro: as a bonus, enjoy a visit to Cairo with the pyramids, Pio spent almost all of his life). Lanciano (site sphinx and a Nile Cruise. of the first Eucharistic Miracle recognised by the Catholic Church).

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The Southern Cross, June 5 to June 11, 2013

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Politics and the Church

W

HEN the Justice & Peace Department issued a strong statement recently in protest against etolling—even calling for resistance to it—the secular media perked up. The statement received wide coverage.

This is most welcome, especially since it enhanced the public profile of Justice & Peace (J&P) which had been diminished over the past couple of decades.

However, some of the coverage revealed another problem the Church faces in secular media coverage: unless there is a scandal in the Church or a leading Catholic makes controversial statements, some otherwise very good journalists seem to feel compelled to trivialise the Church’s influence on society.

So it was with the J&P statement when a local news website mirthfully invoked the image of incense and a God who intervenes in domestic policy affairs in its report on the J&P statement. The website’s journalist seemed to be amused at the notion of the Catholic Church taking a position on a political matter, even questioning to what extent the Catholic Church had spoken out against apartheid.

Catholics with a longer memory might be perplexed to learn that the Church is being suspected of inaction when it was the Catholic schools, with the backing of the bishops, that smashed school segregation, and when it was the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference that financed the foundation of the vital anti-apartheid newspaper New Nation.

At the heart of the snide sarcasm is the notion that the Catholic Church should not presume to comment on matters of politics—even if such an intervention is an important and thoughtful contribution to public discourse, as the J&P statement was.

Of course, the Catholic Church engages itself in politics all the time, albeit out of the spotlight of the news. In South Africa, the bishops’ Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO) is in constant dialogue with lawmakers, issues detailed research papers on legislative matters and provides a forum for dialogue.

At a time when many similar institutes of civil society are disappearing, the role of the CPLO

is becoming increasingly important.

The Church must be vocal on political matters. It must speak out on issues of social justice, as demanded by its social teachings, and on matters where legislation compromises the morals of society.

The latter engagement—on issues such as abortion, euthanasia and same-sex marriage—seems to be the sticking point in those societies that are rapidly secularising. The Catholic Church often takes positions which challenge a growing political consensus, so its increasing marginalisation in public discourse is being encouraged, with the Christian churches being told to concern themselves only with spiritual and sacramental matters.

However, as Bishop Mario Toso, secretary for the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, told the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe: “To deny religiously informed moral argument a place in the public square is intolerant and anti-democratic.”

The Church must not be intimidated by this. Those speaking on behalf of the Church in the Public Square must be advised, of course, to be cautious in formulating temperate political statements so as not to cause embarrassment to the Catholic community or to avoid misrepresenting the positions of the Church. But the Catholic Church must speak out, forthrightly and confidently, on issues of concern.

The Church must criticise where criticism is due, and advocate where advocacy is necessary.

It must stand up for justice and engage itself on behalf of the poor. And the Church must hold those to account who fail to exercise authority as a service, as demanded by the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2235) The Church must not be partisan in democratic politics—on this count it has failed in many countries—but it must provide prophetic witness as part of a pastoral responsibility to voice concerns on points of policy.

This is the demand of Vatican II’s Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes: “To pass moral judgments even in matters related to politics, whenever the fundamental rights of man or the salvation of souls requires it” (76).

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The Editor reserves the right to shorten or edit published letters. Letters below 300 words receive preference. Pseudonyms are acceptable only under special circumstances and at the Editor’s discretion.

Name and address of the writer must be supplied. No anonymous letter will be considered.

Raising the youth of today well N June 16, 1976, the brave the township.

O But we can also observe youths youth of Soweto woke up in an usual spirit to get their voices heard who are striving to make a differthrough a peaceful demonstration.

Little did they know that some could not return home.

This Class of 1976 ushered in a revival of greater black resistance to the oppression and segregation of the apartheid era.

Yesterday’s youths had a sense of belonging, fearlessly acting against all odds. Todays’ generation can learn invaluable lessons from them.

The age of computers and new media technologies has given rise to a new dimension in raising youth.

In 1976 these technologies were not available, and therefore society relied on word of mouth, letters, pamphlets and the ubuntu concept of working and sharing together in

Celibacy biblical

F

ATHER Ron Rolheiser’s article “The hell and beauty of celibacy” (May 22) has deeply distressed me.

Fr Rolheiser on the basis of one text—“God said: It is not good for man to be alone” (Gen 2:18)—quoting Thomas Merton with approval (though he does not give a reference to where it can be found), and then repeating the same thing in his own words at the end, concludes that celibacy is against the will of God. He thus condemns the teaching and practice of the Catholic Church from the beginning.

As against a fundamentalist arguing from one statement of the Bible taken out of context, Vatican II has given us the clear guideline that “[t]he interpreter of Sacred Scripture in order to see clearly what God wanted to communicate to us, should carefully investigate what meaning the sacred writers really intended, and what God wanted to manifest by their words” (Dei Verbum 12).

The Council goes on to say that “serious attention must be given to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture” and “the living tradition of the Church must be taken into account” (12).

“The books of both the Old and New Testament have God for their author and have been handed on as such to the Church” (11).

Now the same God who worked through the human author of Genesis 2, in the person of Jesus Christ, while upholding the goodness, integrity, and dignity of marriage (Mt 5:31-32; Mk 10:1-12), indicates that celibacy is the preferable state, to which God calls some people (Mt 19:10-12).

The apostle Paul teaches the same truth (1 Cor 7:9-11). The New Jerusalem Bible says in a footnote about this: This does not contradict

ence in their communities. This must be encouraged.

Unemployment remains an obstacle to many school leavers, even those with matric. Such youths must be encouraged to engage themselves in voluntary work—in hospitals, schools, community centres, old people’s homes and so on.

The spirit this engenders leads not only to a better moral grooming, but might also be attractive to potential employers.

Youths must also be encouraged to participate in government initiatives such as the National Youth Development Agency, whose mandate is to reduce unemployment by creating business training.

Genesis 2:18, “for the Christian united to Christ and to his brothers [and sisters, the solitude of Adam is an impossibility”. St Paul says expressly: “he who marries his fiancée is doing well, and he who does not, better still” (1 Cor 7:38).

How then can a Christian who understands the Old Testament in terms of the New (Dei Verbum16) state that celibacy is contrary to God’s will for human beings?

As for the somewhat romantic arguments in favour of married life which the author gives, marriage is not necessarily a remedy for loneliness. Any priest or law counsellor knows how many married people are lonely in marriage with a spouse with whom they turn out to have little in common.

If people’s need for companionship is fulfilled in marriage, why so many extra-marital relationships and divorces?

If you are the surviving spouse in a marriage, your spouse may perhaps have died in your arms, but you will not die in the arms of a spouse.

Fr Bonaventure Hinwood OFM, Pretoria

Sex and our faith

M

ARIO Compagnoni (May 29) writes that he reneged on his vow of abstinence, because he feared to become emotionally stunted.

To become sexually active is of course no safeguard against Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in Letters to the Editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy. The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate.

Letters must not be understood to necessarily reflect the teachings, disciplines or policies of the Church accurately.

Letters can be sent to Po box 2372, Cape Town 8000 or editor@scross.co.za or faxed to 021 465-3850

Parents must be urged to step up their roles in bringing up their children, and communities should provide direct care to the many child-headed households.

We are living in a dynamic world where communications must not be left only to gadgets. Parents need to talk o their children daily, and not only at the dinner table.

Parents must motivate their children and protect them against the challenges they encounter in the world.

On the other hand churches and community leaders must continue spearheading programmes that teach the youths skills and what is expected of them to become responsible true citizens.

The African proverb, “lt takes a village to raise a child”, offers a moral lesson to yesterday’s, today’s and tomorrows’ youth and adults.

James Matondo, Johannesburg emotional stuntedness, but I guess such a priest could do more harm. So Mr Compagnoni took the right decision when he dropped the cassock.

Mr Compagnoni hopes that Pope Francis “will bring some sense of reality to the realm of beliefs”. Forget it. Our beliefs are already more than real, they are supra real.

Also, in his letter “Back to the roots” (May 22), Vincent Couling states that he searched the New Testament, but did not find a single passage relating marriage to reproduction.

Well, the reason for this is simple: the New Testament did not find it necessary to repeat what was clearly said in the Old Testament: Be fruitful and multiply.

But some statements of the Old Testament needed to be repeated in the New Testament, because some people did not seem to understand them, for example the statements about homosexuality. Notwithstanding that repetition, some people still do not understand.

Fortunately the teaching ministry of the Church reminds us again and again of the contents of the Holy Scriptures and Tradition.

J H Goosens, Dundee

German Mass

I

T is a pity that the English-speaking bishops did not have the courage of the German-speaking bishops, when the Vatican imposed the new Mass translations on us all.

The German-speaking have resisted a “Latinised” revision of the Mass, saying, in the words of Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne, “how we express ourselves in German is up to us German bishops”.

They also refused to change “for all” (“für alle”) to “many” (“für viele”).

I believe the Italians also say “tutti”.

Bridget Stephens, Cape Town

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The Southern Cross, June 5 to June 11, 2013

PERSPECTIVES

Careless with words ‘B

AD money drives out good.” Even though that saying is 500 years old, it strikes me that it is a useful mantra to bear in mind in the modern age: we seem to have too much of everything and thus have less and less respect for what is truly valuable.

The saying is called Gresham’s Law and it dates from England at the time of Henry VIII when the coins were still made of pure silver.

In order to produce more money—but without having the mineral resources to support it—King Henry gave permission for coins to be produced which had a lower silver content.

The English public soon got wind of this and were reluctant to accept the new coins. But the new coins looked like the old coins so that also meant they were reluctant to accept any silver coin, even the pure ones: the bad money (the coins with lower silver value) drove out the good money (the ones with the full silver value).

While the origins of this might sound a bit obscure it is a tenet that has application in almost every area of life.

The flood of e-mail or Facebook communication is a modern-day example.

Whether from our colleagues, or from friends, or from organisations to which we belong, we all receive more messages than we could possibly read. After a while, instead of spending time to filter through and work out which ones are worth read-

ing and which ones are not, we just ignore everything from that source.

Bad communications drive out good. (I just hope that there aren’t too many of you on the Jesuit Institute e-mail list who feel that we send you too much!).

We devalue words in general by using them too freely (and I write this conscious of the red pen of my editor!).

It took the European Union over 65 000 words to articulate its Constitution—and famously “God” is not among them. The founding fathers of the United States, on the other hand, used only 4 500 words.

Meanwhile, the Sermon on the Mount was only 1 000 words—and God gave Moses the 10 Commandments in barely 300 words. But then I suppose chiselling Hebrew on tablets of stone was a lot harder than using a word processor!

We also devalue specific words by using them too freely or too lightly. Do people on Facebook really have 2 000 “friends”.

A

recent example of Gresham’s Law was in the context of the controversial visit

by President Jacob Zuma and other ANC officials to the visibly ailing President Mandela. The press attacked Zuma and co for exploiting Madiba and trying to make political capital from being associated with him, especially when it seemed that he had little idea of what was going on around him.

The ANC’s response, predictably, was to claim African high ground. This was, we

Running for our lives L AST month I took part in an annual half marathon in the beautiful town of Wellington in the Western Cape.

Thousands of people enter this race every year. Some compete for prize money and others take part just for the fun of it.

Whatever the reason to enter, marathons remind us of the race we are in—our pilgrim journey.

In a marathon, there are people around us, as they are in life. And one thing we know for sure: there will always be people ahead of us and there will always be people behind us, in every aspect of our lives.

When we look at the people with whom we interact, we subconsciously assess them, where and how they are in relation to us. The people who are ahead of us, at least in our perception, may be older than us, more advanced in their profession, physically fitter and healthier, more spiritual, and so on.

In a marathon it is the same, The people ahead of us are fitter than us, they have more passion, they are more experienced in running, they may be more motivated by the prize money, and so on. There are always people ahead of us, and we tend to admire them and draw strength from them.

The people who we think are behind us are usually younger, less experienced in their careers or perhaps less experienced in

OR FOR D

CoNSTruCTIoN

life in general, and so on. There are always people behind us, and we give strength to these people.

In a race there are also people alongside us who run at the same pace as we do. In life these people are our peers. They are probably roughly in the same age category, they might have the same experiences as we have, they are dealing with the same issues we are dealing with—we can relate to them. From these people we draw strength and we give strength to them.

And we rejoice with all of these people at the end of the race when we collect our medals.

Raymond Perrier

Faith and Society

were told, an example of ubuntu: visiting the elderly and showing the world that we care for them is apparently the African way of doing things, in implicit contrast to the European way.

As an aside, I would be fascinated to know how many of the office bearers who rushed to be seen with Madiba go regularly to visit their own aging relatives.

It is possible of course that the ANC’s motives were well-intentioned and were not political. The problem is that when the public and the media have lost so much trust in the ruling party that they suspect bad motives for everything that is done (“bad money”), the occasions when they might be using the “good money” of integrity and noble intentions get driven out.

And when the term ubuntu is used to justify or to name anything at all which even brushes past an African tradition, we devalue the term so much that good examples of ubuntu are driven out by bad examples ubuntu.

So perhaps we can set an example as a Church by using our words intentionally.

Let’s start with words like sin, forgiveness, love, community.

What would it be like if we used these less easily and instead reserved them for when they were really true?

Judith Turner

Faith and Life

I like how St Paul compares our pilgrim journey through life with a battle to fight and a race to finish, because that is exactly how it feels. But we are never in our battles alone.

I love the words of the Servant Song: “We are pilgrims on a journey. We are brothers on the road. We are here to help each other. Walk the mile and bear the load.”

While I was running the race I noticed a grandmother walking with her grandson who was about 11 or 12 years old. I was so touched by this young boy who could have finished the race long ago, but had the patience to walk and talk with his grandmother.

He ran ahead to get water for her at the waterstands. When she took off her jacket, he took it and put it in his backpack and continued walking and chatting with her.

It was so beautiful to observe that scene.

As the boy helped his gran, so let us help each other on our pilgrim journey.

Let us bear the load for one another so that with St Paul we can one day say: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim 4:7).

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HENEVER you see them in their black skirts, white blouses, black headgears, and blue overcoats with a red lining, you definitely know who they are and where they belong.

You know that they are Catholics and that they belong to the sodality of the Sacred Heart. But you may never know what they are up to until you get a chance to interact with them.

I may not know what they do in other parishes, but I know what they do at Our Lady of Ingwavuma parish in Zululand.

People join various sodalities for different reasons and motives but these women became members of the Sacred Heart at Our Lady of Ingwavuma parish so as to keep the faith alive.

We live in a world where people have no time for church anymore. We are so much preoccupied with our daily activities that we have no more time left for parish activities. Even on Sundays, when we go to church, we keep checking our watches wondering when the celebration will end.

The Sacred Heart women at Ingwavuma have freely chosen to live their faith and to share that lived faith with others. They have heeded the call of Jesus to go out and touch the lives of others by their works.

While many of us might rather spend our free time chatting with friends on social networks, going to the malls to do shopping or spending time at home watching soapies, these women go out of their way to do something for others.

This does not mean that they have nothing to do; like all of us, they are busy too, but in their business, they have managed to create time for God and for others.

During my two months stay at Our Lady of Ingwavuma parish, I had an opportunity to chat with them, to watch what they do and to accompany them in their ministry.

What I experienced was not only an inspiration but a great challenge too. Apart from their weekly duty of cleaning the church, the liturgical vessels and linen, and arranging for the liturgy, they also have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on the Catholic faith, tradition, teachings and practices.

Thus, they organise workshops where they are assisted by the parish priest, Fr Vusi Mthembu, and Deacon Mhlongo to learn more about the Catholic faith, tradition, teachings and practices after which they in turn go out to share what they have learnt with others.

In addition, they teach catechism, visit the sick and the elderly in hospitals and at home, visit and console bereaved families and visit prisons. They have no big money to offer, but they have faith to share with others.

The most amazing thing is that this group is not made up of vibrant and energetic people in their teens, but of mothers and grandmothers who, though advanced in age, are so young and vibrant in spirit.

Their ministry definitely takes the Word of Jesus far and wide.

Evangelisation is every Christian’s mission, and these women of the Sacred Heart have known how to share their faith with others and as it is always said, faith is strengthened when shared.

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The Southern Cross, June 5 to June 11, 2013

TRAVEL Archbishop Slattery poses in front of the great pyramid of Giza in Cairo with Paulus Chabalala (left) and Sekoati Makweta, both of Bloemfontein.

Behind them is Nditsheni Martha Ramavhuya.

Dr Brett Craig of Kokstad surveys the beautiful Rieti valley in Italy’s Lazio region. It was here that St Francis staged the first Nativity scene, in Greccio, and wrote the Rule for the Franciscan order, at Fonte Colombo, where the group had Mass celebrated by the Franciscan archbishop.

Pilgrims cheer and cameras and smartphones go up as Pope Francis passes the Southern Cross pilgrims in St Peter’s Sqare before his general audience.

Snapshots of a pilgrimage I

Pilgrims sit down for lunch at a restaurant close to the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

N May, some 43 pilgrims set off for a Southern Cross pilgrimage that took them to the Holy Land, Rome, Assisi and Cairo.

Led by Archbishop William Slattery OFM of Pretoria, they prayed at the sites where Our Lord walked in Galilee and Jerusalem, had Mass in holy places such as the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and St Peter’s basilica in the Vatican (impressing all with their singing!), attended a papal audience in St Peter’s Square, visited Assisi and other places associated with St Francis, saw the great pyramids of Giza in Cairo, and danced on a boat on the Sea of Galilee.

Carrying with them their copies of the Holy Land Trek, presented to them by The Southern Cross, led by a Franciscan archbishop, and guided in the Holy Land by Rimon Makhlouf, a lecturer in tourism from Bethlehem University, the pilgrims grew in their faith and got to know the Holy Land well. Many said they will want to return.

In late September a second group of Southern Cross pilgrims will travel with Bishop Joe Sandri of Witbank on the same itinerary.

Photos courtesy of Fowler Tours.

Mosetsanagape Mathe of Centurion and Elias Ramaheshane of Bloemfontein fill bottles with water from the Sea of Galilee. Pilgrims also took home water from the river Jordan, collected at the Qasr elYahoud baptismal site which for many years was closed to the public.

Led by Archbishop Slattery, couples renew their nuptial vows in Cana, site of the miracle at the wedding feast.

The Southern Cross pilgrims at the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Archbishop Slattery, in his Franciscan robe, is on the left halfway up the stairs.

Southern Cross pilgrims, including Dawn Rees and Mandisa Mokwena of Pretoria (in front), on their way to the papal audience in the Vatican. In the yellow caps is an Italian Padre Pio group.

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The Southern Cross, June 5 to June 11, 2013

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The Southern Cross, June 5 to June 11, 2013

CHURCH

Reconciling faith and modern culture The annual Winter Living Theology series of lectures is about to kick off.

CLAIRE MATHIESON learns more about the man behind this year’s mission.

‘T

HE more Christians, clergy or lay, who can take responsibility for their faith, by understanding where it comes from and by facing the challenges raised by the clash of traditional language and modern cultures, the better for the Church as a whole.”

These are the words of Jesuit Father John Moffatt, who will be leading this year’s Winter Living Theology (WLT) lectures across the country.

The three-day course, held annually in cities throughout South Africa between June and August, is for priests, religious and interested lay people. This year it will explore areas where faith and reason intertwine and occasionally conflict.

“I want to help people see that faith and reason have always worked together in the faith history of the Jewish and Christian peoples,” Fr Moffatt explained, “and I want to give them a chance to get a sense of what it feels like to engage with some of the tough intellectual challenges, ancient and modern, from the inside.”

The London-based Jesuit priest has worked predominantly in high schools.

“There are two Jesuit government-funded secondary schools in

London, and my job in each of them was part teacher, part chaplain. I’ve always tried to have a connection with local parishes as well, though I’ve never formally been a parish priest,” he said.

In addition to education, Fr Moffatt has a wide variety of interests ranging from theatre, “the fortunes of Arsenal FC”, and ancient Greek. But when it comes to theology, Fr Moffatt said he is really more interested in the philosophical end of theology.

“I was trained in a very rigorous, logical sort of philosophy, which dovetails quite neatly in style with some of the most intellectually interesting bits of Christian theology,” Fr Moffatt told The Southern Cross.

“I began with a particular interest in ethics and have become more and more interested in a thorough-going reconciliation between the standard modern scientific world view and belief in the Christian God.” The WLT talks will focus on precisely this this conundrum.

“I become more and more convinced that the possibilities of such reconciliation are greater now than they were when I was growing up in the 1970s. I find this quite exciting,” said Fr Moffatt, who has also been working on a book over the

past ten years which will bring a lot of these ideas together.

Internationally, the Society of Jesus has been encouraged to look and work beyond one’s borders.

“My provincial in the UK is encouraging us to try working in different environments, and so he assigned me to help out at the Jesuit Institute in Johannesburg, where a place had just become vacant in January.”

His wide experience of explaining faith in schools and universities made him an ideal candidate to present this year’s courses which will start in Port Elizabeth on July 9.

The course has been divided into two sections: one is a three-day course which is designed for priests, religious and interested laity; the other comprises three evening workshops for lay leaders, catechists and active parishioners.

Fr Moffatt believes it is important to offer something for all levels of theology “scholars”.

“You don't have to be a great thinker to be a good Christian—in fact, sometimes too much thinking can get in the way of the most important thing, which is building a relationship with Christ and trying to live as a decent human being.”

However, Fr Moffatt added,

The Prayer of Parents to St Joseph for the Children O Glorious St Joseph,

to you God committed the care of His only begotten Son amid the many dangers of this world.

We come to you and ask you to take under your special protection the children God has given us born and unborn.

Through holy baptism they become children of God and members of His Holy Church.

We consecrate them to you today, that through this consecration they may become your foster children.

Guard them, guide their steps in life, form their hearts after the hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Fr John Moffatt SJ, who will lead this year’s Winter LIving Theology, which will kick off in Port Elizabeth and then move to Johannesburg, Bloemfontein, Cape Town and Durban. sometimes if our thinking is shallow, or too dependent on what we're told, this can actually get in the way of being a good thinker or being a good Christian.

“One reality we have to take on board is that over the next ten, twenty years, the Church will become even more dependent than it already is on lay people to do basic catechesis and religious instruction.

“If those lay people and those who support them have a rich, thought-through understanding of their faith, they will be far better able to pass on the faith to the rising and questioning generation,” he said.

“There is also the question of

how we engage with the world around us, which has a lot of people who don't believe the same things as we do but they are the people we live and work with,” said Fr Moffatt.

These are just some of the topics the English Jesuit will discuss in the WLT lectures.

This year’s WLT will take place St Luke’s Retreat Centre in Port Elizabeth, the Paulines Centre in Johannesburg, Donovan Hall in Bloemfontein, Schoenstatt in Cape Town, and Glenmore Pastoral Centre in Durban. n For more information or to register, contact admin@jesuitinstitute.org. za or phone 011 482-4237, or look out in The Southern Cross for details.

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St Joseph, who felt the tribulation and worry of a parent when the

Child Jesus was lost, protect our dear children for time and eternity.

May you be their father and counsellor. Let them, like Jesus, grow in age as well as in wisdom and grace before God and men.

Preserve them from the corruption of this world and give us the grace one day to be united with them in heaven forever.

Amen.

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The Southern Cross, June 5 to June 11, 2013

CLASSIFIEDS

Manuel Ribeiro

M

ANUEL Ribeiro, also known as Manny or “Mnr Cannari” died on May 22, at the age of 77. Mr Reibeiro was born on the island of Madeira in 1936 and arrived at the age of 14 with his mother in Cape Town.

Many a school child, student or resident of Stellenbosch will remember him from his various cafés and businesses.

In Cape Town he met his father for the first time and seven years later he headed for Stellenbosch where he started his own business.

It was the first of many businesses that he had over the years. To mention just a few, he owned Cannaris, Sintra, Suikerbossie Coffee Shop in Plein Street and the building called Ponta do Pargo on the corner of Bird and Bell Street.

Eventually, he owned a supermarket in Unie Park.

In his young days he was an amateur boxer. Later he became a well-known boxing promoter.

For him, the customer was always king and those customers be-

came his friends. In his shorts and t-shirts, driving the famous yellow bakkie, he was a well-known figure in Stellenbosch, especially when he started to do industrial developments.

He was a big man, not only in heart or stature but also in his generosity towards others. He was a loyal friend, great listener, dedicated Church member and helper for those who needed help.

Mr Reibeiro and his wife Rosa

Community Calendar

To place your event, call Claire Allen at 021 465 5007 or e-mail c.allen@scross.co.za (publication subject to space) Redeemer parish in CAPE ToWN: Bergvliet.

Mimosa Shrine, bellville Helpers of God’s Precious (Place of pilgrimage for the Infants meet the last SaturYear of Faith) Tel: 076 323 day of the month except in 8043. July 13: 9:00amDecember, starting with 10:00am. Holy Hour and Mass at 9:30 am at the SaBenediction. Confessions cred Heart church in Someravailable during Holy Hour. set Road, Cape Town. Mass July 25: Feast of St James, is followed by a vigil and 7:00pm Rosary, 7:30pm procession to Marie Stopes Holy Mass. August 1: abortion clinic in Bree 7:30pm Rosary August 10: Street. For information conFeast of St Lawrence, tact Colette Thomas on 083 9:00am-10:00am Holy hour 412 4836 or 021 593 9875 and benediction. Confesor Br Daniel Manuel on 083 sions available during Holy 544 3375 hour. August 15: The Assumption of our Lady KWAZuLu-NATAL 7:00pm Rosary, 7:30pm Youth of Marianhill diocese Holy Mass will have a youth day on 17 Padre Pio: Holy hour 15:30 June at St Timothy Hamarspm every 3rd Sunday of the dale, near Pinetown. Tel: month at Holy 031 700 2704

Word of the Week

SOLA SCRIPTURA—or the “Bible only,”—is a Protestant doctrine developed in the 16th century, which says that the Bible is the sole source of infallible teaching and is the only and final judge in all matters of the Christian faith. It was developed and “institutionalised” by Martin Luther, though he had precursors who began to espouse the idea a century or so earlier as a reaction to the historic teachings of the Catholic Church and the Church Fathers of the first centuries.

were married for 54 years and lived for the last few years in Somerset West and on his beloved Madeira island.

He returned three weeks before his death from a four-month, around the world cruise on the Queen Mary. It was a dream for him to treat himself and Rosa to such a trip. They disembarked and spent two weeks with their son Manny in Australia and when the boat arrived in Madeira, he spent the stopover at his house in Funchal, overlooking the harbour.

Stellenbosch has lost an icon, a big tree has fallen, the Portuguese community lost a forest of memories, Rosa lost her soul-mate and his family lost their father. He leaves behind his wife, three sons, Manny, Antoni and Philip, a daughter, Celeste, and six grandchildren.

His funeral was held at Immaculate Conception parish in Parow and he was laid to rest in Durbanville Memorial Park.

By Schalk Visser

Liturgical Calendar Year C Weekdays Cycle Year 1 Sunday, June 9, 10th Sunday 1 Kings 17:17-24, Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13, Galatians 1:11-19, Luke 7:11-17 Monday, June 10 2 Corinthians 1:1-7, Psalm 34:2-9, Matthew 5:1-12 Tuesday, June 11, St Barnabas Acts 11:21-26; 13:1-3, Psalm 98:1-6, Matthew 10:7-13 Wednesday, June 12 2 Corinthians 3:4-11, Psalm 99:5-9, Mathew 5:17-19 Thursday, June 13, St Anthony of Padua Wisdom 7:7-14 or Ephesians 4:7, 11-15, Psalm 40:34, 10-11, 17, Mark 16:15-20 Friday, June 14 2 Corinthians 4:7-15, Psalm 116:10-11, 15-18, Matthew 5:27-32 Saturday, June 15 2 Corinthians 5:14-21, Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12, Matthew 5:33-37 Sunday, June 16, 11th Sunday 2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13, Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 7, 11, Galatians 2:16, 19-21, Luke 7:36

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 553. ACROSS: 4 and 8 Feed the hungry, 9 Blessed, 10 Lordly, 11 Grapes, 12 Confetti, 18 Easterly, 20 Pathos, 21 Loggia, 22 Ramadan, 23 Garden, 24 Sinless. DOWN: 1 Chalice, 2 Entrant, 3 Tralee, 5 Eulogies, 6 Dismas, 7 Heeded, 13 Trespass, 14 Brigade, 15 Tyranny, 16 Safari, 17 Thrall, 19 Thomas.

Births • First Communion • Confirmation • Engagement/Marriage • Wedding anniversary • Ordination jubilee • Congratulations • Deaths • In memoriam • Thanks • Prayers • Accommodation • Holiday Accommodation • Personal • Services • Employment • Property • Others Please include payment (R1,25 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

DEATH

WINDVoGEL (née Ackerman)—Magdalene 5/06/1929. My only sister left me peacefully 24/05/2013 to be with God her maker. The years we shared together have left memories that will last forever. Time may pass and fade away, but in my heart you will always remain. May her dear soul rest in peace.

Always in my thoughts, your sister Catherine (Cathy) and children.

PErSoNAL

AborTIoN WArNING: The pill can abort (chemical abortion) Catholics must be told, for their eternal welfare and the survival of their unborn infants.

NoTHING is politically right if it is morally wrong.

Abortion is evil. Value life! rEbINDING of Altar Missals and other books.

Visit www.langeberg -bookbinding.com or phone 084 530 5234.

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The Post office will deliver and return tapes without charge. Should you know of any interested blind or otherwise reading-impaired person, please inform them of this service.

FeAST oF ouR MoTHeR oF PeRPeTuAl HelP: June 27th

(Please leave your contact details in case of donations)

novena Prayer (begins 19th June): Mother of Perpetual Help, You comforted Jesus your Son as He faced His passion. Comfort us too and help us to discover the power of His Spirit, that we may build up His kingdom among us. When He comes again in glory, May we celebrate with joy the fullness of life With all God’s family. For ever and ever. Amen Solemn Triduum:Tues 25th - Thurs 27th June 19h30, St MARy’S Church, Retreat Road, Retreat, Cape Town 7945 Post petitions and Thanksgivings and order novena Booklets at R30: above or olphretreat@telkomsa.net

St Catherine of Siena.

HoLY SPIrIT, you who make me see everything and who shows me the way to reach my ideal.

You have given me the divine gift to forgive and forget all that is done to me, and you are in all the instincts of my life with me. I want to thank you for everything and confirm once more that I never want to be separated from you, no matter how great the material desire may be. I want to be with you and my loved ones in your perpetual glory. Amen. Say this prayer for three consecutive days and without continuing to ask; no matter how difficult it may be and you promise to publish this dialogue as soon as your favour has been granted. D.S.

PrAYErS

HoLY ST JuDE, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke you, special patron in time of need. To you I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you to come to my assistance. Help me now in my urgent need and grant my petitions. In return I promise to make your name known and publish this prayer. Amen.

RCP You, O eternal Trinity, are a deep sea into which, the more I enter, the more I find. And the more I find, the more I seek. O abyss, O eternal Godhead, O sea profound, what more could you give me than yourself? Prayer of Awe—

ON TAPE

Anyone wanting to receive tapes as part of this service, available for an annual subscription fee of only R50, may contact Mr len Pothier, 8 The Spinney Retirement village, Main Rd, Hout Bay, 7806 or phone 021-790 1317.

11

o MoST beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of Heaven, blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me where you are, Mother of God. Queen of heaven and earth I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity. There is none who can withstand your power, O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands. Say this prayer for 3 consecutive days and then publish.

For You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of

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the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139 ST MICHAEL the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

HoLIDAY ACCoMMoDATIoN

LoNDoN, Protea House: Single per/night R300, twin R480. Self-catering, busses and underground nearby. Phone Peter 0044 208 748 4834. bALLITo: Up-market penthouse on beach, selfcatering, 084 790 6562 FISH HoEK: Self-catering accommodation, sleeps 4.

Secure parking. Tel: 021 785 1247.

KNYSNA: Self-catering accommodation for 2 in Old Belvidere with wonderful lagoon views. 044 387 1052.

MArIANELLA: Guest House, Simon’s Town: “Come experience the peace and beauty of God with us.” Fully equipped with amazing sea views.

Secure parking, ideal for rest and relaxation. Special rates for pensioners and clergy. Tel: Malcolm Salida 082 784 5675 or mjsalida@mweb.co.za SEDGEFIELD: Beautiful self-catering garden holiday flat, sleeps four, two bedrooms, open-plan lounge, kitchen, fully equipped. 5min walk to lagoon. Out of season specials. Contact Les or Bernadette 044 343 3242, 082 900 6282.

STELLENboSCH: Five simple private suites (2 beds, fridge, micro-wave).

Countryside vineyard/forest/mountain walks; beach 20 minute drive. Affordable. Christian Brothers Tel 021 880 0242, cbcs tel@gmail.com STrAND: Beachfront flat to let. Stunning views, fully equipped. One bedroom, sleeps 3. Seasonal rates.

From R525 p/night for 2 people—low season.

Garage. Ph Brenda 082 822 0607.

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11th Sunday: June 16 Readings: 2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13, Psalm 32:13, 5, 7, 11, Galatians 2:16, 19-21, Luke 7:368:3

Rejoice, your sins are forgiven!

O

Nicholas King SJ

NE of the things that we have to do if we are to grow towards God is to recognise how badly we have got things wrong. That is the message of next Sunday’s readings.

The first reading offers us one of the most spectacular examples of repentance in the entire Bible, when the prophet Nathan confronts David (by way of the parable of the poor man’s ewe-lamb) with what he has done in committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering Uriah; and, as prophets should, he speaks God’s word to David: “I anointed you to be King over Israel, and rescued you from the hand of Saul; I gave you your lord’s house and wives to be your own...why have you despised the word of the Lord and done evil in my sight?”

In response, and knowing that he is going to be punished (“the sword shall not depart from your house”), David simply says, what all of us have eventually to say: “I have sinned against the Lord”, and then encounters God’s mercy: “the Lord has forgiven your sin; you shall not die”.

The psalm for next Sunday is the second of the seven penitential psalms; we should notice above all the joy that is there: “Happy

Sunday Reflections

are those whose sins are forgiven...those to whom the Lord has imputed no guilt”.

The poet recalls what brought about his joy: “I confessed my sin to you; I did not conceal my iniquity.” And the psalm ends with a thrill of joy: “Rejoice in the Lord, and exult you just, be glad, all you upright of heart.”

In the second reading, Paul is continuing his argument with the Galatians, who have given in to the regular human temptation of thinking that we have to deserve the love of God by our deeds.

In response Paul has to insist that “a human being is not justified by deeds of the law, but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ; and we have come to faith in Christ Jesus...no one at all is justified by deeds of the law”.

And here again there is joy, as we hear Paul proclaim: “It is no longer I who live; but Christ lives in me; the life that I am at the moment living in the flesh I am living by

faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself over for me”.

We should pray to experience the excitement of that proclamation. It is only if we are truly aware of how much we have got things wrong and therefore need Christ’s love that we can find the happiness for which we seek.

The gospel is one of the loveliest among the many stories that make up Luke’s gospel.

Luke has taken it from where he found it in Mark, at the beginning of the Passion; here it is no longer a story about the anointing of Jesus’ body for his death, but a story about repentance and forgiveness, two great themes of this gospel.

It starts, somewhat unexpectedly, with an invitation to dinner offered to Jesus by a Pharisee; and then there comes a woman, where no woman should be, in the male dining-place. Not only that, but she performs an act of astonishing intimacy: “She stood behind, at his feet, and weeping began to wash his feet, and wiped them with her hair, and kissed his feet and anointed them with oil.”

The experts on rubrics start to mutter that “you can’t do that sort of thing here”, and that “if this fellow were [really] a prophet he would know what kind of a woman it is who is touching him—because she is a sinner”.

Living in Ordinary Time I

N a marvellous little book entitled The Music of Silence, David Steindl-Rast highlights how each hour of the day has its own special light and its own particular mood and how we are more attentive to the present moment when we recognise and honour these “special angels” lurking inside each hour.

He’s right. Every hour of the day and every season of the year have something special to give us, but often we cannot make ourselves present to meet that gift.

We grasp this more easily for special seasons of the year. Even though we are sometimes unable to be very attentive to a season like Christmas or Easter because of various pressures and distractions, we know that these seasons are special and that there are “angels” inside them that are asking to be met.

We know what it means when someone says: “This year I was just too tired and pressured to get into the Christmas spirit. I just missed Christmas this year!”

And this isn’t just true for special seasons such as Christmas and Easter. It’s true too—perhaps especially true—for the season we call Ordinary Time.

Each year the Church calendar sets aside more than 30 weeks for what it calls “Ordinary Time”, a season within which we are supposed to meet the angels of routine, regularity, domesticity, predictability, and ordinariness. Like seasons of high feast, this season too is meant to bring a special richness into our lives.

But it’s easy to miss both that season and its intent. The term “Ordinary Time” sounds bland to us, even as we uncon-

Conrad

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

sciously long for precisely what it is meant to bring.

We have precious little “ordinary time” in our lives. As our lives grow more pressured, more tired, and more restless, perhaps more than anything else we long for “ordinary time”, quiet, routine, solitude, and space away from the hectic pace of life.

For many of us the very expression, “ordinary time”, draws forth a sigh along with the question: “What’s that? When did I last have ‘ordinary time’ in my life?”

For many of us “ordinary time” means mostly hurry and pressure, “the rat race”, “the treadmill”.

Many things in our lives conspire against “ordinary time”; not just the busyness that robs us of leisure, but also the heartaches, the obsessions, the loss of health, or the other interruptions to the ordinary that make a mockery of normal routine and rhythm and rob us of even the sense of “ordinary time”. That’s the bane of adulthood.

Many of us, I suspect, remember the opposite as being true for us when we were children. I remember as a child often being bored. I longed almost always

for a distraction, for someone to visit our home, for special seasons to celebrate (birthdays, Christmas, New Year’s, Easter), for almost anything to shake up the normal routine of “ordinary time”.

But that’s because time moves so slowly for a child. When you’re seven years old, one year constitutes one-seventh of your life. That’s a long time. In mid-life and beyond, one year is a tiny fraction of your life and so time speeds up—so much so, in fact, that at a point you also sometimes begin to long for special occasions to be over with, for visitors to go home, and for distractions to disappear so that you can return to a more ordinary rhythm in your life.

Routine might be boring, but we sleep a lot better when our lives are being visited by the angels of routine and the ordinary.

Today there’s a rich literature in both secular and religious circles that speaks of the difficulties of being attentive to the present moment, of meeting, as Fr Richard Rohr OFM puts it, “the naked now”, or what David Steindl-Rast calls, “the angels of the hour”.

The literature varies greatly in content and intent, but it agrees on one point: It’s extremely difficult to be attentive to the present moment, to be truly inside the present. It’s not easy to live inside “ordinary time”.

There’s a Chinese expression that functions both as a blessing and a curse. You make this wish for someone: May you live in interesting times! As children, had someone wished that on us, it would have meant a blessing; our lives then were replete with routine and the ordinary. Most children have enough of ordinary time.

However, as adults, for most of us, that wish is probably more curse than blessing: the pressures, heartaches, illnesses, losses, demands, and seemly perpetual interruptions that beset our lives, though perhaps not normally recognised as “interesting times”, are indeed the antithesis of routine, regularity, domesticity, predictability, and ordinariness. And they deprive us of “ordinary time”.

The Church challenges us to be attentive to the various seasons of the year: Advent, Lent, Christmas, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. Today, I submit, it needs to challenge us particularly to be attentive to “ordinary time”.

Our failure to be attentive here is perhaps our greatest liturgical shortcoming.

Jesus’ response is very telling; he offers his host the parable about two debtors, then turns it on Simon, and makes the contrast between her passionate love and Simon’s lack of even the basic courtesies: Simon had not given him water to wash his feet, while she had kissed Jesus’ feet; Simon had not given him oil, whereas she had anointed Jesus’ feet.

He turns to her, with those words that we all long to hear: “Your sins are forgiven you”, which annoys his fellow diners “Who is this that he even forgives sins?” Then he utters those lovely words: “Your faith has saved you —go in peace.”

Nor does it stop there, for the gospel goes on to give us a picture of Jesus’ mendicant ministry, “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and the Twelve with him”; but they cannot manage without the women: “Mary, known as the Magdalen...Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many other women, who served them from their own resources.”

These women have all been forgiven, and when you know that you are forgiven the inevitable and quite proper instinct is to respond in generosity as they have done.

How are you going to respond, this week, to the forgiving love of God?

Southern Crossword #553

ACROSS 4 and 8. Do it as a corporate work of mercy (4,3,6) 9. One not yet canonised (7) 10. God’s noble characteristic? (6) 11. Fruit of the vine (6) 12. They could be all over the bride and groom (8) 18. Wind in the Oriental Church? (8) 20. Hot spa can evoke pity (6) 21. Gallery with a horse in the middle (6) 22. Fast time in Islam (7) 23. Danger in Eden, for example (6) 24. Pure, like the Blessed Virgin (7)

DOWN 1. Sacred goblet (7) 2. One going into the competition (7) 3. Home of the Irish rose (6) 5. So glue, i e for the tributes (8) 6. Traditional name of the Penitent Thief (6) 7. Paid attention (6) 13. We pray for forgiveness for those that do it (8) 14. Firemen’s company (7) 15. Despotic rule (7) 16. Was he on this when Stanley met Livingstone? (6) 17. In this, you are in another's power (6) 19. Dubious saint (6) Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

A

N American tourist was walking around the cathedral admiring the architecture.

“Are you enjoying your visit to Ireland?” asked a young priest.

“Very much, Father, but I can’t get on with the whiskey, it’s far too strong for me,” said the tourist. '”Why so?” asked the priest.

“Well, I got drunk on it on Saturday night and crashed out unconscious. On Sunday morning I woke at 5 am, bright as a button. I went to 6 o’clock Mass, 7 o’clock Mass, 8 o’clock, nine, ten and eleven o’clock Mass. Then I went to afternoon Rosary, Stations of the Cross and Benediction!'

“So what’s wrong with that?” asked the priest, overjoyed.

“I’m a Protestant!” said the tourist.

Send us your favourite Catholic joke, preferably clean and brief, to The Southern Cross, Church Chuckle, PO Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000.