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November 6 to November 12, 2013

JP2 miracle woman visits Our Lady shrine

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Big decision time? Look to the Psalms

Fr Rolheiser on living the single life

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Priests break away to rebel church

BY MATHIBELA SEBOTHOMA

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Archbishop Stephen Brislin (right) of Cape Town shares a joyful moment with his predecessor, Archbishop Lawrence Henry, as they listen to live music during a fundraising festival at Holy Cross School in Bellville. (Photo: Sydney Duval)

Leather-clad bikers rev up festival’s excitement

BY SYDNEY DUVAL

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COSMOPOLITAN mix of some 2 000 Catholics gathered for a festival to raise funds for the construction of two new churches in the archdiocese of Cape Town— and the events was revved to greater heights when a convoy of motorbikes entered the grounds of Holy Cross School, Bellville.

The funds were raised towards the Year of Faith project to build two churches at St Josephine Bakhita in Old Crossroads, and St Elizabeth in Wallacedene.

One of the highlights of the festival was the big rev from some 25 motorcyclists, comprising the Knights of St Christopher, a motorcycle ministry under the patronage of Archbishop Stephen Brislin, and the Portuguese Harley Davidson Club from Parow.

The archbishop blessed two cement statues which pillion riders Marion Botman and Elmari Burger had presented as gifts for the new churches.

“Once the statues have been beautifully painted they will be greatly treasured by the two parish communities,” Archbishop Brislin said. “After some discussion of an appropriate title for the statues it was decided to name them Our Lady of Faith, for the Blessed Virgin—the first disciple of the Lord—was above

all a woman of faith. The local Church is so fortunate to have Our Lady as our patronness.”

He expressed the hope that in future years those who prayed before the statues would remember this Year of Faith.

Archbishop Brislin gave a warm welcome to his predecessor, Archbishop Lawrence Henry, and said of the joyful occasion: “We are here to get two churches built out of love of God and out of love of our neighbour. And we will get them built!”

Archbishop Brislin said the tender for the new St Josephine Bakhita church at Old Crossroads had been awarded to a contractor and it was hoped to start building soon. However, concerning St Elizabeth at Wallacedene, the archdiocese was still waiting to hear whether the municipality had granted it permission to acquire the plot of land adjoining the existing church site.

He also noted that in the meantime St Catherine of Siena church in Kleinvlei had been beautifully renovated. The blessing and opening of the reconstructed church will take place on November 17 at 15:00.

The Mass preceding the festival was concelebrated by Frs Roger Hickley and Kizito Gugah.

PRETORIA canon lawyer has advised bishops to issue a public declaration to explain the status of four South African priests who have joined the Ecumenical Catholic Church of Christ (ECCC), which operates outside the authority of the Catholic Church.

Mgr Marc de Mûelenaere was responding to the news that Frs Bateng Motshwane and Gregory Nkosi of Johannesburg and Fr Patrick Molise of Bethlehem had joined Cape Town’s Fano Ngcobo in affiliating with the ECCC. None of the four are listed in the 2013-14 edition of the Catholic Directory for Southern Africa, which was published this year; only Fr Molise appeared in the previous edition, published in 2011, with the notation that he was “on study leave”.

Bethlehem’s vicar-general, Fr Mosebetsi Mokoena, said that Fr Molise had asked to be released from pastoral duties. The diocese is waiting from the canonical response from Rome.

Fr Ngcobo left the clergy of the archdiocese of Cape Town several years ago.

The ECCC was founded by Dr Karl Rodig, the primate archbishop who left the Catholic priesthood after three years in 1989 because he was convinced that the priestly vocation “should not be dependent on celibacy, rather it should be optional”.

The church’s website claims that “for over a thousand years there were married clergy, including 39 married popes”.

The group claims to be committed to the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church, including the seven sacraments (baptism, confirmation, Holy Eucharist, reconciliation, anointing of the sick, ordination, and matrimony).

The ECCC’s leader in Africa, Kenyan Archbishop Godfrey Siundu Wasike, visited South Africa in late October and conferred the sacrament of confirmation in Langa, Cape Town.

According to the Facebook page of the group, Archbishop Wasike, who is married to a former nun, came to Cape Town to launch the ECCC for the Province of South Africa.

The South African hierarchy of the group comprises Fr Ngcobo as apostolic administrator, Fr Molise as vicar-general, Fr Nkosi as financial administrator, and Fr Motshwane as communications officer.

Fr Motshwane said the four priests will issue a statement before the end of the year about the future of the ECCC in South Africa after a series of consultations.

Fr Molewe Machingoane, rector of the St John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria, warned that the status of the priests will confuse many lay Catholics, especially in terms of the validity of the sacraments administered by the breakaway priests.

Hurley Centre receives Polish award

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URBAN’S Denis Hurley Centre has been presented with a prestigious international humanitarian award.

The centre was presented with the Polish Sergio Vieira de Mello Prize in Krakow, Poland.

The award is made in memory of Sergio Vieira de Mello, a high-ranking United Nations Brazilian-born diplomat who was killed in 2003, with 20 colleagues, in a hotel bombing in Iraq.

The Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation was established in 2007 to honour his vision, memory and ideals. The award draws attention to the unnoticed efforts made by an individual, group or organisation having done something special and unique to reconcile people and parties in conflict.

“We are thrilled that the Denis Hurley Centre has been awarded this immense honour,” said the centre’s project coordinator, Paddy Kearney.

The Denis Hurley Centre is currently being built on the site of the old parish centre in the heart of the city. The new building will pro-

Some of the Denis Hurley Centre leaders with the Polish award. (From left) Daphne Goad, Sr Collette Holmes HF, Fr Stephen Tully (holding the certificate), Francis Mbina, Ben Potgieter, Mgr Paul Nadal (holding the award), JeanMarie Ntamubano and Paddy Kearney. (Photo: Illa Thompson). vide an enabling environment for care, education and community in one of the most diverse and challenging neighbourhoods of central Durban.

CANONISATION PILGRIMAGE Join The Southern Cross and Radio Veritas on a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi to witness the canonisation of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII in the Vatican

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The Southern Cross, November 6 to November 12, 2013

LOCAL

Bishop speaks on peace

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

‘T

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O embrace non-violence as a global ethic will require a very long-term commitment, a rebuilding of the foundation on which international relationships are built,” according to Bishop Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg.

“Rather than defining security in terms of higher walls and stronger fighting forces—rather than orchestrating fear—we will have to develop the concept of security in terms of community, access to food, water, decent jobs, education, health care, recreation…for all people everywhere, as Pope John XXIII so eloquently did in [his 1963 encyclical] Pacem in Terris.”

Bishop Dowling addressed the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in his capacity as co-president of Pax Christi International. The address was part of the celebration and reflection of the 50th anniversary of Pacem in Terris.

Pax Christi, a non-profit, non-governmental Catholic peace movement, works on five continents in 60 countries on a wide variety of issues in the fields of human rights, reconciliation and security.

The movement was founded after World War II. Bishop Dowling said the movement had been “deeply inspired by the Holy Father’s powerful leadership of the world towards a non-violent, diplomatic resolution to the crisis in Syria. His clear opposition to the use of military force touched our members deeply, giving them courage to continue their difficult work in situations where violence threatens to overwhelm.”

The bishop said Pax Christi considered

Pacem in Terris “the ‘Magna Carta’” and “we strongly affirm its relevance today”.

“Pacem in Terris clearly described the kind of political, social, economic and cultural conditions that could yet generate peace on earth,” Bishop Dowling the bishop told the council, headed by Cardinal Peter Turkson.

The bishop said the encyclical was an optimistic document, stating that “soon no nation will rule over another and none will be subject to an alien power”.

“Unfortunately, Pax Christi and others working for peace, social justice and respect for the integrity of creation see now that the optimism of Pacem in Terris was somewhat premature. Many of the rights and duties held up by the document as universal and inviolable remain in dire need of urgent attention these many years later. And war is hardly a thing of the past,” he said.

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ishop Dowling spoke of local communities flooded with small arms. “Nations continue to produce, store and sell immensely destructive weapons. The recent use of chemical weapons in Syria was horrific evidence of that fact. Nuclear weapons are also an ongoing threat.

“Furthermore, the possibility of nuclear

terrorism is very real, and we are entering into an era of new lethal technologies, including armed drones that are shifting the very concept of battlefield boundaries and undermining international law.”

The bishop, along with co-president Marie Dennis, said for too many people and nations, a major component of the fabric of life is war—preparing for war, struggling to survive in the context of war, and dealing with its consequences.

“The human and environmental cost of this is enormous: millions of refugees roam the earth. Despite treaties outlawing antipersonnel landmines and cluster bombs, a sea of these weapons still makes many communities uninhabitable. The psychological trauma resulting from war is destroying families and communities. The environmental impact of war is tremendous. And the economic cost is a huge burden on the backs of the poor,” Bishop Dowling said.

They also called on Catholic moral theologians and people of faith to stop referring to the ethical criteria designed to limit war as the “just war theory”.

“The expression itself, ‘just war theory’, seems to suggest that war can be readily justified, rather than that war is virtually indefensible in our times.”

Bishop Dowling said Pax Christi envisions a Catholic Church universally committed to sustainable and just peace and promoting non-violence in a world where destructive violence perpetuates poverty and threatens ecological sustainability.

“May we have the courage and prophetic imagination necessary to make that possibility real.”

Requiem Mass held after 26 years

BY MATHIBELA SEBOTHOMA

S

MICASA TOURS

Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of St Paul to greece and Turkey led by Mgr Barnard McAleer 9-22 June 2014 Pilgrimage to Fatima and Italy led by Fr Thulani Gubula 1-12 Sep 2014 Pilgrimage to Israel led by Fr Jerome Nyathi 29 June -9 July 2014 Pilgrimage to Israel led by Fr Jerome Nyathi 29 June-9 July 2014 Pilgrimage to Italy & Medjugorje led by Fr Sammy Mabusela 31 Aug-13 Sep 2014 Pilgrimage of Thanksgiving to Italy & Medjugorje led by Fr Maselwane 7-20 Sep 2014 Pilgrimage to Medjugorje led by Fr Donovan Wheatley 21 Sep-9 Oct 2014 Pilgrimage to Fatima, Santiago de Compostela and Lourdes, Paris & Nevers 28 Sep-11 Oct 2014 Pilgrimage of Healing to Lourdes led by Fr Emil Blaser 11-19 Oct 2014 Contact: Tel: 012 342 0179/072637 0508 (Michelle) E-Mail: info@micasatours.co.za

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OME 26 years after he went missing, a Requiem Mass has finally been celebrated for anti-apartheid activist Moss Morudu.

“We thank Moss Morudu because today our dignity as Africans has been restored,” said Fr Andries Kimane at the Requiem Mass in the church of St Raphael in Mamelodi, Pretoria, the parish Mr Morudu belonged to.

Mr Morudu, whose body was blown up by the apartheid forces when he was 22, was symbolically buried at Freedom Park in the archdiocese of Pretoria.

He was a member of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the African National Congress, in Mamelodi.

The missing persons task team of the National Prosecuting Authority concluded that Mr Morudu had been abducted, tortured and killed by the Northern Transvaal Security Police in Bophuthatswana in October 1987. Thirty young people from Mamelodi were murdered by the same police unit.

Mr Morudu’s remains were never found. According to amnesty applications, the policemen pretended to be taking him into exile, but he was taken into police custody instead.

Advocate George Bizos assisted the family after the weaknesses shown in testimony to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Amnesty applicants from the Northern Transvaal Security Police had stated to the commission that they had abducted Mr Morudu and had held him at a farm near Hammanskraal where they had interrogated and tortured him.

“I knew at the commission that they killed my son,” said the activist’s mother, Ellen Morudu. “I just wanted closure, to know how and where my beloved son

Members of the Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans’ Association honour Moss Morudu, a Catholic who was abducted and killed by the security forces in 1987. (Photo: Mathibela Sebothoma) was killed and buried.

“I know that my flesh and blood was strangled to death by the Northern Transvaal apartheid police. They tied his body to a pole and blew it up with a large amount of explosives, and his bones will never be found.”

Mrs Morudu said she would be eternally grateful to the young people of Mamelodi who “lit a candle that can never be extinguished”.

Mr Morudu’s contribution to the struggle was celebrated for two days by the City of Tshwane, the Department of Justice, the Department of Defence’s Military Veterans Unit, the African National Congress and St Raphael parish in Mamelodi.

“He was 22 and his life was full of promise when he was taken from us by

the sins of our past. His mother always wanted to know where her son was,” said John Jeffrey, deputy minister of Justice and Constitutional Development.

“We want to give him a proper and dignified burial. If he were alive, he would find a country where people enjoy the fruits of democracy,” said Mr Jeffrey.

After over two decades of thorough investigations, including searches with metal detectors, it was concluded that Mr Morudu’s remains could not be recovered.

“My mother can now say where her son is,” said his sister, Palesa. “She can now say he was abducted, interrogated and killed by explosives, and is now buried at Freedom Park.

“This is a form of closure for us. We are very proud of Moss,” she said.

Renowned abstinence advocate to visit SA

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MERICAN abstinence advocate Pam Stenzel, founder of Enlighten Communications, will return to South Africa in December to speak to young people about sexuality.

Ms Stenzel has travelled worldwide, addressing more than 500 000 young people each year about issues of sexuality and the importance of abstinence.

Her videos are viewed by millions worldwide. She also holds seminars with parents and educators regarding issues of teen sex and how vital character-building is in a child’s upbringing.

She will be speaking in Johannesburg

and Cape Town and also address the controversies of the forthcoming nationwide immunisation of teenagers for the human papilloma virus vaccine in South African schools next year.

Ms Stenzel will also address the recent lowering of statutory rape from the age of 16 to 12 years, and share her experiences of working at pregnancy crisis centres for many years.

She will visit the crisis pregnancy homes Divine Mercy House in Brakpan on the East Rand, Ruimsig on the West Rand, and Mater Domini in Cape Town.

On December 7 she will take part in

prayers outside the Marie Stopes abortion clinic in Johannesburg (from 10:0011:00), followed by holy hour at 13:00 and Mass at 14:00 at the cathedral of Christ the King.

She will deliver her presentation “Sex has a price tag” during the Love Matters programme at the Bosco Youth Centre in Walkerville, Johannesburg, on December 10.

Plans are also being made for her to address the Cape Town-based Parliamentary Liaison Office to share her experience at the United Nations and the new global ethic.

LOCAL

The Southern Cross, November 6 to November 12, 2013

3

Centre brings new hope

BY PORTIA MTHEMBU

B Mgr Brendan Deenihan (left) blesses the new grotto of Our Lady at St Patrick’s in Sydenham.

PE parish’s joy as new Marian grotto opens

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PORT Elizabeth parish is feeling spiritually enriched after the opening of its grotto, built in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The new grotto was blessed at St Patrick’s parish in Sydenham by the diocese’s apostolic administrator, Mgr Brendan Deenihan.

The parish sees the grotto as a testimony of leadership and the will of the parishioners working as a team, the fruit of a community project. Parishioners credited their pastor, Fr Henry Ezenwanne of the Oratory, for the inspiring leadership which made their dream come true.

The blessing was preceded by a concelebrated Mass, led by Fr Johnny Johnson, provost of the Port Elizabeth Oratory. In his homily to a packed church, Fr Johnson spoke about the importance of

“thanksgiving” and used the strong working relationship between the priest, Fr Ezenwanne, and the parishioners, to illustrate the importance of showing gratitude to God through our talents.

Fr Johnson also lamented the fact that we all prayed as a nation for the overcoming of the apartheid government, but since 1994, as a nation, have yet to give praise to God in the form of “thanksgiving” for what he has done for South Africa.

Parishioners who had been part of the working team received a certificate of appreciation from the parish pastoral council, chaired by Graham Fisher, for their selfless contributions made during the building of the grotto.

EFORE his murder almost four years ago, Fr Louis Blondel had a dream for the Soweto township of Diepsloot: to have a new youth centre. This wish became a reality with the opening of the Father Louis Blondel Centre.

The centre was built in honour of the missionary priest who devoted his life to the upliftment of the poorest and loneliest. Its aim is to help the unemployed youth and school-leavers of Diepsloot to develop the necessary skills for finding employment.

The centre is also intended to become “a beacon of reconciliation” in the violent and divided society of Diepsloot.

The centre was Fr Blondel’s “aim and vision”, his sister, Francoise Dellepier, told The Star daily. “It is a living legacy of his life and work in Diepsloot before his death,” she said.

The French missionary came to South Africa in 1987. He was part of numerous supportive projects in Soweto, Zondi and Orange Farm. In 2008 he decided on permanent residency in Diepsloot where he started working on the development of the youth centre.

His life was cut short when he was murdered on the night of December 6, 2009.

Funds to build the centre were provided mainly by Fr Blondel’s family and the French business community.

The centre’s opening ceremony took place at Diepsloot’s Sacred Heart parish and was celebrated by Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria. Among the guests were French ambassador Elisabeth Bar-

French ambassador Elisabeth Barbier (left), Alphonse Dellepier and his wife Francoise Dellepier, the sister of Fr Louis Blondel, at the opening of the centre named for the murdered priest. Mr and Mrs Dellepier travelled from France to attend the opening of the centre in Diepsloot, Soweto. (Photo: Timothy Bernard) bier, Mrs Dellepier and her husband Alphonse, Diepsloot parish priest Fr Cosmas Matooane SCP, and members of Missionaries of Africa, the order Fr Blondel belonged to.

The centre will be managed by the Bryanston conference of the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP), who work with the poor of Diepsloot, providing basic necessities to about 80 families in the area.

The Wot-If? Foundation will also be involved in the management of the centre.

Through socio-economic and enterprise development, the organisation helps in the upliftment of the Diepsloot community and, in support of the centre, will provide a technology hub for technological skills and capabilities development.

Other activities envisaged for the centre include Internet access, a

business hub where the young will have opportunities to liaise with potential employers, assistance in turning business ideas into business opportunities, life-skills training, courses such as Alpha Youth, arts training programmes, and nutrition and health concepts.

“Fr Louis would be very happy to see his dream come true and that the youth of Diepsloot have been given the opportunity to achieve a better life,” John Shelly, a member of the Bryanston SVP, told The Southern Cross. “He would also hope that those helped by the centre would in turn help others, multiplying the effect of what he was working for,” he said.

The SVP relies on donations to fund their work and encourages additional support as they will require more funds to sustain the centre.

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The Southern Cross, November 6 to November 12, 2013

INTERNATIONAL

Pope Francis to couples: I understand your problems

BY CINDY WOODEN

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CATHOLIC wedding is not simply a beautiful ceremony; through the sacrament of marriage a couple receives from God the grace they will need to fulfill their mission in the world, Pope Francis said.

Addressing an estimated 100 000 people who came to St Peter’s Square for a Year of Faith celebration of family life, Pope Francis said Catholic spouses are not naive; they know difficult moments will come.

But vowing to love one another in sickness and health, joy and sorrow all the days of their lives, Catholic couples put their lives in the hands of God and rely on him for strength.

“They do not run away; they do not hide; they do not shirk the mission of forming a family and bringing children into the world,” the pope said.

For hours before the pope arrived, singers and storytellers took

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the stage in St Peter’s Square, recounting the greatness of love and family life and the importance of forgiveness.

Volunteers went through the crowd handing out red, green, orange, yellow, blue and violet balloons. Despite the master of ceremonies’ plea to hang on to the helium-filled balloons until everyone was told to release them, throughout the evening balloons dotted the skies over St Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis, who was given a balloon in the atrium of St Peter’s Basilica, entertained the little ones who were to escort him to the stage by letting his go, too.

The evening’s formal programme began with a little girl identified only as Federica showing the pope a drawing she made of her mother teaching her to cook cutlets. She said it is her favourite food and that “I could eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack time.”

Federica said her mom also

taught her to make the sign of the cross, and Pope Francis asked all the children, if they knew how, to join him in beginning their encounter “in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit”.

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ozens of people—from children to grandparents—were invited to speak to the pope and the crowd, sharing the story of their family lives.

Wassim and Karol Maqdissi, a couple from Syria, talked about fleeing their home and finding refuge in Jordan. The people gathered in the square offered special prayers for peace in Syria and offered money to help Caritas care for the victims of the war.

Other stories came from residents of Lampedusa, the island off Italy’s southern coast, and from two African migrants who made dangerous sea crossings to get to the island.

In his talk at the gathering, Pope Francis said that at the heart of everyone’s vocation is the call to love and be loved.

“Life is often wearisome. Work is tiring.

Frail/assisted care in shared or Looking for work is exhausting,” he said. “But single rooms. what is most burdensome in life is a lack of love.”

Independent care in single/double Pope Francis said he knows many families are rooms with en-suite bathrooms. struggling financially and emotionally, others are Rates include meals, laundry and threatened by war or split apart by migration, and 24-hour nursing. many young people Day Care and short stay facilities would like to marry but they don’t see how they also available. can without a home and good job.

“The Lord knows our struggles and the burdens we have in our lives,” he said. “But he also knows our great desire to find joy

Pope Francis reacts to children as he spoke to pilgrims in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican. He addressed an estimated 100 000 people taking part in a Year of Faith celebration of family life. Pope Francis told the crowd that three phrases are essential for a peaceful family life: "May I?", "Thank you", and "I’m sorry”. (Photo: Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters/CNS) and rest.”

Through the sacrament of marriage, a couple receives the grace they need, he said: “The sacraments are not decorations in life; the sacrament of marriage is not just a pretty ceremony. Christians celebrate the sacrament of marriage because they know they need it.”

Pope Francis urged Catholic couples to go against the cultural trend of seeing everything, including relationships, as fleeting. Marriage is a life-long journey, he said, “a long journey, not little pieces”.

Family life is filled with beautiful moments like shared meals, walks in the park and visits to the grandparents, Pope Francis said. “But if love is missing, joy is missing; nothing is fun.”

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or families, as for all Christians, he said, Jesus is the source of endless love. Couples, he said, must pray together “because they need to for the long journey they are making together”.

Pope Francis also told the crowd that three phrases are essential for a peaceful family life: “‘May I?’ to

make sure you aren’t being intrusive, ‘Thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry’.”

The next morning, Pope Francis was back in St Peter’s Square celebrating Mass with the families. And, again, he spoke of the importance of praying as a family.

He said he knew many of them were thinking that it sounds like a nice thing to do, but they can’t imagine finding the time.

“We need simplicity to pray as a family,” he said. “Praying the Our Father together around the table is not something extraordinary; it’s easy. Praying the rosary together, as a family, is very beautiful and a source of great strength.”

Through family prayer, going to church together and even the simple task of teaching children to make the sign of the cross, he said, the family also is the place where the Christian faith is kept alive and passed on.

The faith, he said, is not “a personal treasure like a bank account” or something to be kept “in a strong box”, he said. A faith that is not shared with others might as well be “embalmed”, he added.—CNS

At Vatican, restoring art is a ‘big responsibility’

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HOSE in charge of the restoration of various types of artwork in the Vatican Museums stress that the preservation of such treasures is necessary on both a historical and an educational level.

“I really feel that I remove the old varnish, and I can see what is the state of engraving, the original state of engraving—but I do it really step by step because we need to think what we do exactly... it is a big responsibility,” restorer Chiara Fornaciari said.

Ms Fornaciari is the director of the Paper Restoration Laboratory, which facilitates the care of all paper works conserved in the Vatican Museums, with a particular emphasis on works of paper with colour.

“I can feel the responsibility to do my work and I try day by day to think about this,” Ms Fornaciari said of a current project she is working on, “I like to see my work renew.”

The Vatican Museums, founded by Pope Julius II, are an immense collection of different pieces of art located within Vatican City which have come into the Catholic Church’s possession throughout the centuries.

Among the vast works within the museums are many of the most renowned classical sculptures and most significant masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world.

Arnold Nesselrath, deputy to the director of the Vatican Mu-

Vatican restorer Chiara Fornaciari cleans an art piece in the Vatican Museums. (Photo: Andreas Dueren/CNA) seums for the Scholarly and Conservational Departments, stressed that without a restoration department, the Museums could not continue to exist in decent way.

“We have a restoration department for centuries,” he noted. “First artists were trying to keep the works of art in a reasonable condition [but] when the approach became more scholarly” the Museums funded the opening of several different departments in order to adhere to “modern standards” of restoration.

“Works of art always deteriorate by their nature, like everything deteriorates,” Mr Nesselrath noted, “so we need restoration departments to preserve the works.

“But restoration is not the only issue. What is important is of course the presentation of the works.”

Because the art in the Museums is seen by so many— roughly 5 million people per year—Mr Nesselrath said that if one wants to present the different pieces of art, “you have to present them in the best condition you can”.

“All restoration is done in view of presentation because museums are an educational institution,” he said.

“Restoration,” he said, “is only done on works that are damaged, that need maintenance, that have suffered from environmental influence”.

Mr Nesselrath is currently assisting in the restoration of the Borgia apartment, wall paintings done by the artist Pinturicchio for Pope Alexander VI, and various other projects concerning historic buildings within the Papal Palace.

Currently there are about 80 permanent employees working in the restoration labs, with close to 20 temporary employees. The number fluctuates, depending on the projects undergoing restoration.

Both Ms Fornaciari and Mr Nesselrath gave special thanks the “Patrons of the Arts”, who fund the restoration of the various historical and artistic pieces within the Museums by adopting certain projects, either individually or collectively as a chapter for a specific region.

“We are lucky to do this work,” Ms Fornaciari said of her job in the paper restoration lab, “we like this work.”—CNA

INTERNATIONAL

Egypt strife ‘not religious’

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PRIEST of the Coptic patriarchate of Alexandria in Egypt has rejected claims that attacks on Egyptian Christians are a religious conflict, noting that terrorists in the country are attacking many groups.

“The idea that this involves a conflict between Muslims and Christians simply isn’t borne out by reality. Not only Christians are being attacked, but state institutions as well,” said Fr Hani Bakhoum Kiroulos, secretary of the patriarchate.

While police are stationed at many churches, terrorists “strike completely unexpectedly”.

Fr Kiroulos told Aid to the Church in Need that “this is a problem that affects all Egyptians equally, not only the Christians”.

“Egypt,” he added, “is conducting a war on terrorism.”

Fr Kiroulos’ comments followed an attack on a Coptic wedding in Cairo when unidentified gunmen killed a Christian family of four and wounded several others, both Christian and Muslim.

It was the latest in a series of attacks since the military removed the Muslim Brotherhood government on July 3. In August, some 80

churches were attacked, and both Muslims and Christians were killed.

The priest said that such attackers “want to provoke Christians into calling for Western intervention, from the US or European countries”.

He said this would “internationalise” the conflict and “disrupt national unity”.

“The extremists’ goal is also to embroil the Christians in a civil war.

But this tactic won’t work—Christians have shown that they are genuine Egyptians.”

Fr Kiroulos said extremist elements are trying to block the majority of Egyptians, who desire a democratic state that guarantees civil liberties and religious freedom.

In his view, Egypt needs a new constitution, and elections for president and parliament. He also called for “genuine reconciliation between all groups in Egypt”.

Christians, who make up 10% of the country’s population of 90 million, tended to oppose the rule of former president Mohammed Morsi, who was elected with backing from the Muslim Brotherhood in June 2012. The Egyptian military removed Mr Morsi following massive protests against his rule throughout Egypt.—CNA

The Southern Cross, November 6 to November 12, 2013

5

New evolution theory ‘compatible with faith’ A

BY CAROL GLATz

GROUP of scientists has proposed that human beings emerged from one single evolving human species rather than branching from a tree of multiple, early ancestral species.

The new hypothesis, while still disputed, fits even better with the Catholic Church’s position that humans came from one source, in that they were freely created by God, said two experts in science and faith.

“Certainly, confirmation of humanity’s origin in one single lineage, just like modern humanity belonging to one species [as is proposed by the recent study], fits better with the understandings of the faith,” said Mgr Fiorenzo Facchini, an expert palaeontologist and anthropologist.

Legionaries of Christ Father Rafael Pascual also said the new theory “is close to what one finds in the teaching of the Church: the origins of the human being from one single ‘source’”.

A new study published last month in Science magazine said there is “direct evidence” that the many physical differences displayed by the fossil remains of early humans do not represent different species, but rather represent simple

“morphological variation within and among” early hominids of the same lineage.

The seven-author scientific study compared the skull remains—found in Dmanisi, Georgia—of five individuals who lived about 1,8 million years ago.

The study said the five skulls showed varying features, which, had they been discovered in different locations, would probably have been catalogued as belonging to different species. Like today’s humans, there could have been a range of physical variations that do not indicate a difference of species, supporting experts have said.

Mgr Facchini told Catholic News Service that the study does call into discussion “the tendency to readily identify a species on the basis of morphological differences”.

“Besides [the problem of] the scarcity of remains, identifying species...in human fossils is very problematic,” he said.

Significant physical differences can emerge over time because of “environmental factors”, such as diet or climate, or other factors, the priest said.

While he said he could not give an opinion on whether there were many or just one human species in prehistoric times, he said when it

comes to one single “human lineage with its roots in an African population, I have no doubt”.

Mgr Facchini, and other experts, said the Dmanisi skulls represent the earliest evidence of primitive humans beyond Africa and “the expansion of mankind into Eurasia” and the Caucases, which connected three continents.

The Italian monsignor also said he believes the common thread of culture in the human species “is a factor that goes against” theories of multiple human species.

Fr Pascual, director of the Institute of Science and Faith at Rome’s Pontifical Regina Apostolorum University, told Vatican Radio that the Church is open to science and any findings that are not in conflict with the faith.

While the Church does not support creationism or intelligent design, which are not considered sound scientific theories, he said scientific interpretations that exclude the divine “obviously are not compatible with what the faith teaches”, Fr Pascual said.

“To maintain that God has a plan and he wanted to create mankind and that God could also have used the process of evolution is not a contradiction,” he said.— CNS

JP2 miracle woman visits Mary

T Men carry a replica of Peru’s most revered religious icon, the “Lord of Miracles”, during a procession in Lima. The procession, which draws the largest gathering of believers in South America, can be traced to the colonial era.

(Photo: Mariana Bazo, Reuters/CNS)

Zambia to get Catholic TV

C

ATHOLIC television is coming to Zambia after 18 years of effort by the bishops’ conference.

Zambia’s broadcasting authority announced it had granted a television broadcast permit to the Zambian Episcopal Conference. The conference had first applied for the permit in 2002.

The new Catholic television station aims to serve all Zambians and will “promote the best of Zambian

values and become the preferred television channel of wholesome family viewing, on account of appropriate programming,” according to the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa.

The Zambian bishops also committed to three radio projects in development.

Around 87% of Zambians are Christian, and 21% of the population is Catholic.—CNA

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HE Costa Rican woman healed of a brain aneurism by the intercession of John Paul II has visited Mexico City to pray before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, giving thanks for a second chance at life with her family.

According to the archdiocese of Mexico City’s news service, Floribeth Mora Diaz was invited to attend a Mass at the basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe to share the testimony of her miraculous healing, which paved the way for his canonisation, scheduled for April 27 of next year.

Accompanied by her husband Edwin Arce and two of her daughters for the 2 100km-trip, the 50 year-old was visibly moved as she prayed before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and toured the shrine.

“I am very thankful to God for the privilege of being near Our Lady of Guadalupe,” Ms Mora said.

“I bring so many petitions with me from my country, which is very devoted to her.”

The story of her healing began in April, 2011, when she was diagnosed with a serious brain

Floribeth Mora Diaz whose inexplicable cure has been attributed to the intercession of Bl John Paul II. (Photo: Juan Carlos Ulate, Reuters/CNS) aneurism and given a month to live.

“It was something horrible to see my children and my family suffer, and I was suffering because I was not going to see them. Even though I have always had faith in God, the human side of me was afraid of death,” she said.

That faith led her to cling to

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John Paul II, whom she called “my saint”.

Her prayers were heard. On May 2, 2011, a day after the pope’s beatification, which she had followed on television, “I heard that voice in my room that said to me, ‘Get up, be not afraid’”. It was then that her recovery began.

When the doctors confirmed that she had been healed, Ms Mora decided to share what had happened and to write down her testimony. Weeks later she contacted the Vatican and underwent further evaluations in Costa Rica and Rome to verify her miraculous recovery.

Ms Mora says sharing her testimony has become her “number one priority” in life. In Costa Rica, she visits the sick, speaks at parishes, and goes wherever she is invited to share her story.

“Everything that I do now is for the glory of the Lord,” she said.

“I am an instrument that he used to do his work, but nothing that happened to me would have occurred if my family did not have faith. We need to have a lot of faith, because a life without God is no life at all.”—CNA

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The Southern Cross, November 6 to November 12, 2013

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

Call ex-Catholics home

F

OR every Catholic parent, it is a question of perennial concern: will their children continue to practise the faith beyond their day of confirmation?

Clearly, many children do not. In Europe, observers speak of Christianity in terms of erosion and even demise. In the United States, the Catholic Church is the biggest single religious group; the second-biggest is said to be lapsed Catholics.

Indeed, the Church’s New Evangelisation efforts place the missionary focus not so much on the so-called “unchurched”, but on those baptised Catholics who have become detached from their Christian beliefs.

In South Africa the secularisation of society has not yet reached such alarming proportions as in Europe, and the question of how to “win back” inactive Catholics is still nascent.

However, even here the secularist agenda is finding an increasingly receptive audience, separating many cradle Catholics from God. This is no doubt aided by media which pretend that religious faith is of no public relevance—except in cases of scandal and the election of new popes—and religious bodies, including the Catholic Church, which do not succeed in asserting their public presence.

Not all who leave the Catholic Church do so for a life of no faith. Many join evangelical and pentecostal churches (or, worse, prosperity cults), trading the sacraments, saints and apostolic succession for what they perceive to be superior fellowship, greater vigour in worship and a more intense focus on Christ.

The Catholic Church in Southern Africa has no apparent programme to win back lapsed Catholics, or those who have left for the unaffiliated churches. Indeed, research into why Catholics leave the Church and how they can be persuaded to return remains largely unexplored.

Some of those who take an interest in these questions suggest that the New Evangelisation should not focus on the 18-35 age group.

Instead, they argue, the time to reach out to lapsed Catholics is when such people are about to enter the middle years of their lives, when they are mature and possibly more open to settle for

answers in the human quest for spiritual nourishment. This approach may have merit.

At the same time, the Church must reach out to every Catholic who, for whatever reason, has left to join other churches or none.

Before all this can take place, however, the Church must identify the reasons why Catholics become alienated from the Church in which they grew up, as well as whether and how these reasons can be addressed.

Closing the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation in the Vatican just over a year ago, Pope Benedict XVI said: “Besides traditional and perennially valid pastoral methods, the Church seeks to adopt new ones, developing a new language, attuned to the different world cultures.”

He called on us all to work harder to redress a situation “where the light of faith has grown dim and people have drifted away from God, no longer considering him relevant for their lives”.

Arguably Pope Benedict’s successor, Pope Francis, has by sheer force of personality and energy reignited some interest in the Church. By shifting the emphasis on public discourse on some issues, he has also changed the conversation about the Church.

Indeed, Pope Francis’ tone may well be, in part, a conscious strategy of engagement with those who have become indifferent, dubious or even hostile towards the Church. If this is so, then it seems to be having the desired effect.

Pope Francis has flung open the doors of the Church, even as many Catholics had not noticed that they had been seen to be closed.

The Year of Faith, which is coming to a close at the end of this month, was intended to animate the New Evangelisation effort.

With the guidance of the Holy Father, we must build on the Year of Faith: to listen to alienated Catholics without judging them, to meet their needs where we can, to impart to them the sense of hope and optimism we draw from walking on the pilgrimage of life with our Lord.

And this is an evangelisation effort that must involve all the faithful, from bishops to laity.

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.

Tribute to a visionary priest READ the sad news of Fr Matthew the best of communicators (he had I24.McDonald’s death on September the habit of speaking rapidly), his I would like to add my voice to subject matter was nevertheless the tribute paid to him in The Southern Cross by his confrere Fr Hyacinth Ennis OFM. In the 1950s Fr McDonald was the lecturer in sacred scripture at St John Vianney seminary. Even though Fr Matthew’s field of theological expertise was dogmatic theology, the seminary at that time did not have a lecturer in sacred scripture (that came later). In the meanwhile Fr Matthew filled in as lecturer in scripture.

In those days the study of scripture was normally dry, dull and uninspiring. This was due to the fact that it was confined mainly to dating and placing a text or book.

One had to try to prove through evidence, either internal or external or both, the authenticity of the sacred writer. Very little was done in the way of exposition, explanation, interpretation and application of the sacred text to our lives.

This was certainly not the case in Fr Matthew’s lectures. Not always

Women cardinals

F

URTHER to your editorial in the October 2 edition, on Women in the Church, I suggest that we campaign for the appointment of a significant number of women cardinals.

They do not have to be ordained and, no doubt, would exercise a highly beneficial influence on the changes that seem to be impending.

There are many women who are distinguished in pastoral work or as theologians.

Donovan Lowry, Germiston

Corrupt cops

L

AST week I went to Polokwane to meet with a group of pilgrims.

On the way to Polokwane , I asked the person who met me at the airport what kind of work he did.

He replied that he worked for the traffic department. I said: “What, are you a cop?”

He answered that he was appointed to prevent corruption. His job was to stop cops taking bribes, catch them and deal with them.

So something is being done. Let us do our part!

Val Tangney, Cape Town

Curb corruption

C

ORRUPTION is alive and well in our country but our “leaders” feel that it has not yet been perfected! They still have a lot to do!

To curb corruption in this regime is as futile as trying to visit the wreck of the Titanic without diving gear.

The perpetrators are too engrossed in their good fortune to give any credi-

nothing less than brilliant. He brought to life the meaning and the richness of the inspired word of God. This was particularly true of our New Testament studies.

He gave me (and I’m sure many others) a deep and abiding understanding and love of the Gospels and the writings of St Paul.

In 1959 the seminary acquired a lecturer in sacred scripture. This freed Fr Matthew to lecture in his own field, namely dogmatic theology.

Our subject matter for that year was De Ecclesia (The Church). Our textbook (in Latin) was dull, dry and written in scholastic jargon.

Fr Matthew did not even look at the textbook. He had prepared his own lectures based (I think) on the University of Louvain’s publications.

For him the Church was grounded in the biblical concept of the people of God. Some years later, Vatican II’s decree on the Church, Lumen Gentium, recognised and acknowledged in the words of St Peter ble attention to the matter as it will be to their detriment.

The proposed meeting to challenge the corruption problem in my view will, without wishing to be negative, achieve absolutely nothing.

This is a very serious problem on this continent but it will continue for years as the ones responsible are masters at the art. Also, they have no conscience, shame or ethics.

But I suppose that the persons planning this meeting have good intentions and so they must be supported and commended. Good luck!

Brian Gouveia, Bloemfontein

No to evolution

Y

OUR correspondent A Hewlett (October 16) quotes Fr Bonaventure Hinwood OFM as saying that Catholics are free to accept evolution theory or not.

But Catholic teaching (Lat IV Vat I) does not allow the choice of accepting evolution theory. The fossil record mentioned by Patrick Dacey (October 23) is hostile to evolution theory because it shows perfected kinds separated by unbridgeable gaps; striking evidence for the Genesis revelation that creatures were 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

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HEN my late husband and I worked in Zululand, we lived next door to the magistrate and heard quite a lot about the attitude of civil servants. That was in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.

One example: the magistrate always supplied pensioners with busfare because of the distances, but one old lady died on the way, walking.

On questioning, he was told that she was saving her busfare to be able to get her pension.

He also questioned the young lady who worked for him. She explained that since her parents had paid for her education, they had to pay her to serve them. It was called “Open My Eyes” money and was an accepted practice among Africans.

The magistrate was furious and sentenced her to two years in prison.

The African culture is very different to other cultures, and this attitude is not something new today.

M Parsch, Durban

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created according to their kind.

There is no fossil record of transitional life forms and famous South African scientist Lord Solly Zuckerman pronounced the Taung skull as giving no evidence of something evolving into a human.

The recent “new discovery” of a human skull in Georgia trashes all current opinions, for those who believe them, of human origins. St Peter predicted rejection, by many, of the Church’s teaching on creation. (II Peter 3).

Franko Sokolic, Cape Town

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that we as Church “are a chosen race, a Kingdom of Priests, a holy nation, a people to be a personal possession to sing the praises of God...Once you were a non-person and now you are the people of God” (1 Peter 2:9).

Through his study, research and love of scripture and theology, Fr Matthew was a man well ahead of his time.

Many years later in a discussion with Archbishop Denis Hurley, and much to his surprise, I pointed out that my understanding of the Church as the people of God was not due to Lumen Gentium, but rather to Fr Matthew McDonald.

Not only did Fr Matthew give me a love of scripture and a new understanding of the Church, but he also helped me to develop a critical mind which could sift and distinguish between the good, the bad and the indifferent in matters theological and philosophical.

I owe Fr Matthew McDonald a deep debt of gratitude. He served the people of God as teacher and pastor. He is now with the people of God triumphant.

Mgr Paul Nadal, Durban

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PERSPECTIVES

Decision time? Look to the psalms Emmanuel Ngara W E all want to take things into our own hands and make our own decisions. This goes for everybody, whether we are leaders or not.

The pressure to make decisions is more for those who hold positions of influence because organisations and followers require that direction is given about where the organisation is going, about the followers, and about the leader’s personal life and problems.

In all of these situations we might make our own decisions without reference to God. If all is going well for us and there is no particular problem, our inclination is to make our own decisions. If we are in big trouble, then we may find ourselves appealing to God for help.

In other words, God becomes a factor in our lives to the extent that he can perform miracles and save us from the problems of life. God becomes a factor in our lives, not for his sake as God, but as that machine that we use to solve our problems when it has become clear that our power to resolve these problems is limited.

The psalms have much to teach us about how important it is to depend on God, and not on our own power, in all that we do and in all the decision-making processes of our lives. A large majority of the psalms was written by David who had serious problems in life, and who was just as sinful as we are.

One of the lessons we learn from David is that he put his trust in God in the decisions he made and when he was facing trouble. We learn this from Psalms 4 and 25.

Psalm 4 advises us: “Offer the sacrifices

of the righteous and trust in the Lord” (verse 5). This theme is more fully developed in Psalm 25, which opens with the words: “In you, LORD, my God, I put my trust” (verse 1).

What these two psalms teach us is that we should put our trust neither in our own wisdom nor in the wisdom and power of those who wield political and economic power.

T

here is no harm in seeking assistance from the powerful, but as servants of the Lord we should not yearn for complete dependence on the powerful, for in the final analysis it is the power of God that will redeem us from all our problems. This demands of us that we surrender ourselves to God and have true faith in him.

If we really believe in God as our guide in the decisions we make and the troubles we meet in life, we will know that “No one who hopes in you [that is, in God], will

Christian Leadership

ever be put to shame” (Psalm 25: 3).

Putting our trust in God requires that we learn to know the difference between the ways of human beings (or man’s ways) and God’s ways. We should ask God to teach us to discern the difference between his ways and our ways.

We should pray with the psalmist: “Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me.” This is because, unlike our ways, “all the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful towards those who keep the demands of his covenant” (25:10).

There is no deception in the ways of the Lord; there is no room for fear in following the ways of the Lord, for the decisions based on his commands are based on truth and love, and the Lord himself is good and upright.

Among the lessons we learn from the psalms today are the following: If we depend on our own power, we may make major mistakes, and mistakes that have the potential to do harm to those over whom we have authority.

On the other hand, if we depend too much on the power and authority of the powerful, not only are we likely to make mistakes to our detriment and to the detriment of others; we are also likely to be ruled by fear and slavish dependence on the powerful.

Fight SA’s drug and drink culture Anthony O Gathambiri IMC NE evening I was jogging. It was getting dark and so I decided to take a shortcut through a local town-

ship.

As I entered the place, I saw two young boys of less than 12 years smoking from a pipe connected to a pot.

They were smoking with a grown-up guy who I would guess was in his twenties.

There was a terrible smell of the fumes of marijuana. It made me reflect on the extent of the drug scourge in South Africa.

We have a serious problem that needs addressing. We risk having a hopeless generation if we don’t do something. The presidents of tomorrow, the teachers of tomorrow, the priests and nuns of tomorrow will depend on the society of today.

Many students get hooked on drugs through peer influence. They become slaves to drugs, and often this leads them to steal and sell goods, even those belonging to their loved ones, in order to quench their craving for drugs.

Much of the crime in South Africa is drug-related. An ex-offender who spent nine years behind bars for stealing cars was quoted in The Sowetan in July. He said that he had stolen 85 cars in the space of just three months—an average of almost one a day. He confessed that drugs and alcohol made him behave badly.

Many other drug addicts have committed suicide because the debts they owed to drug dealers were too huge to clear.

We should encourage initiatives that bring former drug offenders to schools and

Point of Reflection

churches to share their experiences with young people. To receptive ears, they can unveil the hell that one goes through in jail.

Who is selling these drugs to our children? Do we know them, and if we do, why don’t we report them? If we love our communities, isn’t it high time that we cooperated with police to bring the drug dealers to book. These dealers are known and reporting them is a prophetic mission to which we are all obliged.

T

he fight against drug abuse begins at home. Parents should be role models.

When we are telling our children to avoid alcohol—another major problem—but consume it liberally ourselves, then we obviously lose credibility.

Talking about drugs and alcohol abuse in the family can make a big impact on our children, especially when they are young.

Parents should frequently discuss substance abuse and the risks involved. But the key is to listen to the children, not to lecture them.

Recently a friend of mine said that some people don’t take water anymore, but beer.

He isn’t wrong.

Our families are crumbling because alcohol has enslaved men and women. Alcohol and substance abuse have caused endless fights in families, sometimes violent. Needless to say, health, safety and financial problems can result from alcohol and substance abuse in our families.

At the same time, we need to treat drug and alcohol addicts with compassion, not stigmatise those who are afflicted by it.

These are our neighbours. They are the poor who need our help. If we reject them we are no different from the priest and the scholar who passed the man in Jesus’ parable (Lk 10:25-37) who had been beaten by robbers on the dangerous road to Jericho.

We need to listen to their stories without condemning them—and that could be a starting point in helping them overcome the problem.

We can change the world if we start to listen to one another attentively.

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7

Point of Reflection

Lessons for life from a motorbike

W

HEN I was in high school in Cameroon I had a part-time job. It was a lucrative job which gave me some ready money.

I had a motorbike taxi business, locally known as benskin or akada (motorbike). Behind the motorbike was a sign with an attractive motto: “Door-to-Door Express”. I transported people from one location to the other, from house to house, from hospital to home, from office to office, from home to home—in short, from door to door.

I came to know people’s doors and their ways of life, their businesses, work, faith, relationships, those who had two or more girlfriends or boyfriends, cheats, gossips, liars, rich and poor, committed Christians and so on.

People trusted me and would send me to carry out transactions for them. It was an eyeopening time; I saw the reality of everyday life.

But beyond this, I discovered that the legend on my motorbike became famous. Every one called me “Door-to-Door”.

Last year, Pope Benedict XVI used the image of the door, in the document announcing the Year of Faith, to describe what faith is about.

“The door of faith (Acts 14:27) is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church,” Pope Benedict wrote. “The threshold is crossed when the Word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows itself to be shaped by transforming grace.”

Today I look back with much gratitude on my motorbike business. My experiences paid off.

Now in South Africa as a missionary priest, I do the motorbike business in another form. I still do the door-to-door ministry, transporting people of different nations and races to God. People have opened their doors, hearts and lives to me.

Could this be actually what the Year of Faith, which will conclude at the end of this month, was inviting me and you to do? To know and love Christ and to have a personal and undivided relationship with him and with others.

This is faith in practice.

During those years of the door-to-door business, many unexpected things happened, hitting me like a bolt of lightning. But one day, with the reality of life teeming around me, I was presented with a scrap of paper upon which was written a set of “Teenage Good Rules”. I have kept this treasure over the years, well beyond my teenage existence. It has proved to be a decisive tool in my life journey of faith.

The “Teenage Good Rules” advised the following: l Don’t let your parents down; they brought you up. l Be humble enough to obey; you may give orders some day. l Treasure your time; don’t spend it—invest it. l Be master of your habits, or they will master you. l Choose your companions with care; you may be choosing your mate. l Don’t show off when you drive: the speed that thrills, kills. l Stand for what is right; don’t fall for all in sight. l Go to church faithfully; make your first steps—church steps. l To Christ be wholly true; he gave his life for you.

8

The Southern Cross, November 6 to November 12, 2013

COMMUNITY

A group of pilgrims from all over South Africa, led by Fr Sean Wales CSsR (centre), gather for a photo in front of Rome’s basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls. With them is local tour director Leonardo Mastropasqua (back row, right) who accompanied the group in Italy. The pilgrimage took the group to the Holy Land, Rome, Assisi and Cairo.

The diocese of Dundee celebrated the golden jubilee of the annual pilgrimage to the shrine of Maria Ratschitz, Our Lady of Sorrow. The pilgrimage was started by Oblate Father Pacificus Tait. Mass was celebrated by Bishop Graham Rose of Dundee (inset left).

The women students and staff of St Joseph’s Theological Institute in Cedara, Kwazulu-Natal, prepared a special Women’s Day liturgy to celebrate the achievements of the women in Church and society.

Antony and Janet Denman (seated right), the super regional couple of Teams of Our Lady, visited Durban and Chatsworth teams of Our Lady. They are part of Equipes de Notre Dame, which is an international movement aimed at enriching the spirituality of married couples.

Pictured with the teams are Cardinal Wilfrid Napier (centre) and Sr Helen Christmas OP (front, third left).

Altar servers from St Benedict’s cathedral in Eshowe.

Three new Young Franciscans (YouFra) of St Vincent’s parish in Pietermaritzburg were officially accepted into the order. Pictured with them is formator Br Terrence Watson SFO.

Robyn Hock of Holy Rosary High School in Edenvale, Johannesburg, was awarded Eastern Gauteng colours in women’s artistic gymnastics and represented Eastern Gauteng at the national championships.

Salesian Brother Peter Simmonds celebrated his diamond jubilee of religious profession at Salesian Institute in Cape Town where he was instrumental in establishing the Institute’s Youth Projects.

(From left) Br Clarence Watts, Br Marko Mhara, Br Peter Simmonds and Br Thoothe Mosithi.

Foundation phase learners at St Dominic’s Priory in Port Elizabeth, took flowers and sang to the sisters at the priory in celebration of spring.

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St Theresa’s parish in Queenstown held a Bavarian “Oktoberfest” on the Rosenthal church grounds. The event was opened by parish priest Fr Edward Tratsaert SAC.

Members of the Renew programme in Edleen, Kempton Park Johannesburg, held their first meeting of season three. (From left) Denise Brown, Dorothy Lai, Mathilde Ferreira, Agnes Bartus, Wendy Simpson, Derryn Lange and Lydia Moyte.

The Southern Cross, November 6 to November 12, 2013

FOCUS

9

Climate change: what we can do The debate on climate change has been couched in neutral language, but it is time to shout “Fire!” in the theatre, argues CHRIS CHATTERIS SJ.

A

LOT of ink has been spilt over how to talk about climate change. Some people even regard the term “climate change” as fatally freighted, thanks to oil company spin doctors who successfully pushed it as a more neutral-sounding alternative to “global warming”.

To say that this is a topic where commentators have had to watch their words is the proverbial understatement.

Journalists have had to tread carefully in order not to be accused of unscientific alarmism and exaggeration, and to avoid being dismissively lampooned as “bunny-huggers”.

Scientists have been wary of overstating their case for fear they would cease to sound like the cool rationalists we expect them to be.

Climate activists have been guarded about over-dramatisation because they thought that if their reports read like disaster movies, then ordinary people would simply throw up their hands in despair and do nothing.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has had to produce reports which were always the summary of a vast number of scientific papers.

So while the overwhelming consensus pointed to a pretty dire situation, the exercise has tended to come up with documents of a sober, muted tone.

The trouble is that all this sweet reasonableness and fair-minded tentativeness means that those who can distinctly smell the smoke of the fire in the theatre and whose every instinct is to bellow “Fire!” have schooled themselves to utter circumlocutions sotto voce.

Of course this is an outcome

that those who profit by inaction could only dream of.

By contrast, Kevin Anderson, deputy director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in Britain, has been described as “the only adult in the room” when it comes to climate change.

A report co-authored with a colleague puts the situation this way: “Analysis suggests that despite high-level statements to the contrary, there is now little to no chance of maintaining the global mean surface temperature at or below 2°C. Moreover, the impacts associated with 2°C have been revised upwards, sufficiently so that 2°C now more appropriately represents the threshold between ‘dangerous’ and ‘extremely dangerous’ climate change.”

In other, more simple, words: humanity has all but lost the battle to keep the average increase in global temperature below 2°C, and the scientists now believe that 2°C is dangerous, and anything over that is extremely dangerous.

I

n a YouTube presentation (bit.ly/QXxhKS), Prof Anderson spells this out with a series of simple, compelling graphs.

His conclusion is that his peers in the scientific world have, for one reason or other, effectively failed to shout ‘Fire!’

His concern is that humanity will overshoot 2°C and push the temperature up to an average increase of 4°C. “For humanity, it’s a matter of life or death,” he says. “We will not make all human beings extinct as a few people with the right sort of resources may put themselves in the right parts of the world and survive. But I think it’s extremely unlikely that we wouldn’t have mass death at 4°C. If you have got a population of nine billion by 2050 and you hit 4°C, 5°C or 6°C, you might have half a billion people surviving.”

Has he fallen into the problem of inducing hopeless despair? He

Climate change is causing the world’s glaciers to melt at an unprecedented rate. Jesuit Father Chris Chatteris writes that it is high time that climate change be treated as an emergency, and advocates simple ways in which we can act. (Photo: NASA) thinks not, because he adds that there is some good news, namely that a concerted effort by a minority of the earth’s population can lay the foundation of a solution.

The point is that 80% of the climate problem is caused by 20% of the people because it is that 20% that puts out 80% of the greenhouse gases. These people are mostly aware, informed and—unlike most of the poor—capable of changing their lifestyles.

Of course the ones burning most of the coal and oil are you and I. But we are the ones who can make significant reductions in our energy usage. And yes, he does say

that we will need to include the 300 million Chinese who now enjoy a middle-class existence in this effort.

A

nother way of slicing the pie is the calculation that a mere 1% are responsible for 50% of greenhouse gas emissions—the superemitters.

Prof Anderson argues that we, the 20%, need to reduce our demand for energy because the supply side (Eskom, Sasol, oil/gas companies) won’t stop supplying while there is a demand and a profit to be made from the demand.

He also reminds us that because

carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for a hundred years, it is terribly important that we begin reducing our output of the gas immediately.

In the YouTube video, Prof Anderson shows that if drivers got their cars’ emissions down to the latest German emissions standards (either by driving more efficient cars or by using our existing vehicles less and more efficiently) this would be a big start, and not particularly onerous.

The other things we should do are to cut down on our flying (“airport prelates”, priests and religious take note!), on meat and animal products, and to make our water heating systems more efficient.

Presumably most of us are already recycling—now that wasn’t too painful was it?

There are plenty of good self-interested reasons for reducing our carbon footprints in this way. One is health. Who hasn’t gone down with a bad case of flu after a flight?

Another is wealth. If we can reduce our use of electricity, petrol and meat, that will contribute to controlling the inflation of our monthly budget. Then we can invest the savings in the next boom industry—rooftop solar panels— which will enhance the virtuous cycle.

Virtue is its own reward here, but of course it’s also simply the right thing to do for our children and all future generations.

And for Christians, climate change is a sign of the times, perhaps the sign of the times, demanding our practical response.

Now is the time!

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.

Smoke belches from a chemical company’s chimneys in Hamilton, Canada.

Climate change is an issue on which the Catholic Church’s social teaching urges action. (Photo: JP Moczulski, Reuters/CNS)

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.

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.

10

The Southern Cross, November 6 to November 12, 2013

MOVIES

Catholic behind the scenes of major film A Catholic who worked in the White House as chief usher served as a consultant on the film The Butler, which is going on circuit in South Africa this week. He told KATIE BAHR about his behind-the-scenes experience.

F

OR four years, Steve Rochon worked alongside US presidents, dignitaries and international heads of state in his position as director of the executive residence and chief usher at the White House.

Mr Rochon, a Catholic, led 95 full-time and 250 part-time staff members in running and preserving the White House under Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama from 2007 to 2011.

In his role, he had to prepare for visits from past presidents, celebrities such as Stevie Wonder and Maya Angelou and heads of state that included England’s Queen Elizabeth II. He was invited

on a private tour of Buckingham Palace and stood in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI, who later gave him a blessed rosary and a specially minted papal coin.

For Mr Rochon, a history buff who served as a Coast Guard commander for 36 years, the job was a dream come true.

“It didn’t get old coming through those wrought iron gates [of the White House] every day,” he said. “I pinched myself every day as I drove through those gates, ‘Look where I’m working.’”

Among the many memorable moments in the job was a brief meeting Mr Rochon had with longtime butler Eugene Allen, who served at the White House for 34 years and under eight presidents.

Mr Allen retired as head butler in 1986, but he came to the White House for an oral history interview while Mr Rochon was on the staff.

Mr Rochon was impressed by Mr Allen’s humility and, when he passed away in 2010, arranged to read a letter from Mr Obama at the funeral.

Mr Allen’s story was the inspiration for the film The Butler, which is goling on circuit in South Africa on November 8. The star-studded

movie features Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Vanessa Redgrave, Cuba Gooding Jr, Robin Williams and John Cusack, among others.

Because of his White House experience, Mr Rochon was chosen as a consultant for the film.

He read the screenplay ahead of time and was on the New Orleans film set for most of the 40-day shoot.

Whenever a scene was set in the “White House”, Mr Rochon was in charge of keeping details as close to real life as possible: ensuring characters entered rooms in the correct way, that costumes were accurate down to the right military medals and that music was played at the correct times.

Mr Rochon also helped lead actor Forest Whitaker prepare for his role as Cecil Gaines, the film version of Mr Allen.

The experience was exciting for Mr Rochon, who enjoyed learning everything that goes into filming a Hollywood movie.

“Watching what goes on behind the scenes of making a movie is incredible,” he said. “It’s really fun watching what the audience doesn’t see and seeing how hard the staff worked.”

O

A scene from the The Butler, depicting President John F Kennedy and his family meeting the White House staff. (Photo: Weinstein)

ne of the first changes Mr Rochon suggested had to do with the film’s original content. When he first read the script, he noticed the dialogue was littered with strong language.

“I told them, ‘This is a great story, a great script, but I cannot have my name associated with something with this type of language,” he said. “After 13 years [of Catholic schooling] with the Blessed Sacrament nuns and the Josephite fathers, and with a cousin who is a retired bishop in [Washington] DC, I can’t put my name to something that is R-rated.

I don’t know if that changed anything, but all I do know is it became PG-13.”

During filming, Mr Rochon became close friends with Mr Allen’s son, Charles.

“We talk daily,” Mr Rochon said. “He is so moved by this that he needs to share that with someone. It’s surreal for him that his lit-

Steve Rochon is pictured in an undated photo with President George W Bush at the White House. Mr Rochon, a Catholic who worked as director of the executive residence and chief usher at the White House from 2007-11, served as a consultant to the film The Butler, ensuring that scenes and costumes were accurate. (Photo courtesy of Steve Rochon) tle dad, his quiet unpretentious father that kept the White House secrets very well, is now a hero and he’s getting to live that through him.”

Mr Rochon has seen the movie three times. He attended both a private screening hosted by President George HW Bush in Maine and the official film premiere in New York City. Once the movie was in US cinemas, he organised a screening for 39 of his family members and friends in Alexandria, Virginia.

What impressed him most was how the filmmakers merged Mr Allen’s story with the civil rights movement happening at the same time.

While growing up in the South of the United States, Mr Rochon remembers seeing segregated water fountains and being called “the horrible N-word” while walking to a Boy Scout meeting at his church.

“I lived during the civil rights movement in the South and this struck a chord with me because that racism was real for me,” Mr Rochon said.

“This does a lot for people of my generation, but also for the

young folks to be able to see what it was like back then, to appreciate how far we have come, and to not take those things for granted or go out in the streets to take someone else’s freedom,” he said.

“I was very pleased with the whole product and how it was put together,” he said. “Watching this, it really was a schoolhouse, not just a movie house, because it brought back those things for people who normally would not want to be bothered with reading it in a history book.”

The movie also marked his own big-screen debut. Mr Rochon is not in the movie, but a young actor, Stephen Rider, depicts him in one of the final scenes. Mr Rochon met and had lunch with Rider during the film shoot. Watching that scene was surreal, but “awkward”, he said.

“If there was any critique I’ve gotten from [friends and family], it was that, ‘You should have played yourself. Or you could have at least gotten Denzel Washington’,” Rochon said with a smile. “But my wife said, ‘He’s not good enough.’”—CNS

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The Southern Cross, November 6 to November 12, 2013

itzburg. In the 1980s, he became vice-chairman of the United Democratic Front’s Natal Midlands region.

He publicly joined the African National Congress in 1990. In 1996 he was elected to the PMB-Msunduzi transitional local council—serving from 2000 onwards as the council’s speaker, with a notable commitment to fairness and conciliation.

After retiring from active politics in 2006, he involved himself in the Community Chest, resigning as chair earlier this year because of illhealth.

As a political activist he was best known publicly as a provocative columnist in The Natal Witness. He loved argument and a good debate.

He was deeply concerned about corruption, indolent public servants and creeping infringements on democracy, but he believed that while a lot had gone wrong, much had gone right, and one could rejoice in the values embedded in the constitution: civil liberties, nonracialism and democracy.

Colin Gardner’s concern was not only for great causes but also for individual men and women, their joys and sorrows, hopes and fears—perhaps seen most clearly in his quiet work over the years in the Detainees Support Committee, caring for the families and dependants of political prisoners.

His public life would not have been possible without his wife Mary’s support. As in the best of marriages, they were a remarkable team.

Following a Requiem Mass on October 18 at St Mary’s church— where he had worshipped for well over 60 years—the city honoured him with a civic memorial at which the various organisations in which he had played a leading part paid tribute to him.

Colin Gardner is survived by his wife Mary and their five children Libby, Margie, David, Richard, and Kathy; and remembered with gratitude and admiration by his many friends.

Douglas Irvine

Colin Gardner

C

OLIN Gardner, emeritus professor of English at the University of Natal (now UKZN), has died in Pietermaritzburg on October 10 at the age of 79. His life exemplified Vatican II’s vision of Christian engagement with the modern world, working with people of different faiths and intellectual positions for the common good.

He was a fine teacher and scholar, recognised nationally and internationally. He was also passionately committed to the great struggle for justice and human rights as a political activist, social commentator and bridge-builder in our divided society. But his life was not compartmentalised. In everything he did Colin Gardner was recognisably himself—energetic, principled, quick-witted, generous and humane.

He came to South Africa from England in 1947 as a schoolboy and was an outstanding student at Maritzburg College and Natal University. As a Rhodes scholar at Oxford in 1957, he made a crucial decision: he would return as an active opponent of apartheid “both within the university and outside the university”.

He joined Natal University in 1959 as a lecturer and in 1972 he

was appointed professor and head of department. He was an influential dean of the faculty of arts, and an indefatigable committee man, chairing, among others, the NU Press, the Alan Paton Centre, and the Academic Staff Association. In the university senate his interventions were always thoughtful and generally respected, though he was an irritant and gadfly to some.

He was perhaps the most eloquent keeper of the university’s conscience, insisting that institutions of higher learning have an inescapable social responsibility. A master of verbal skill, he was for many years the university’s official orator.

When he retired from the university in 1997, he took up a second career in local government.

Outside of academic life, Mr Gardner became active in the nonracial Liberal Party, which stood for universal suffrage. He was its acting national chair when it was finally outlawed in 1968.

He worked Liturgical Calendar Year C with Archbishop Denis Hurley’s Weekdays Cycle Year 1 archdiocesan Sunday, November 10, 32nd Sunday Commission for 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14, Psalm 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15, 2 Justice and Peace, Thessalonians 2:16, 3:5, Luke 20:27-38 with Beyers Monday, November 11, St Martin of Tours Naudé’s Christian Wisdom 1:1-7, Psalm 139:1-10, Luke 17:1-6 Institute, chairing Tuesday, November 12, St Josaphat its board till it too Wisdom 2:23, 3:9, Psalm 34:2-3, 16-19, Luke 17:7was banned, and 10 with Peter KerWednesday, November 13, St Francis Xavier choff in establishWisdom 6:1-11, Psalm 82:3-4, 6-7, Luke 17:11-19 ing PACSA, an Thursday, November 14, St Nicholas Tavelic ecumenical Wisdom 7:22, 8:1, Psalm 119:89-91, 130, 135, Christian (later, 175, Luke 17:20-25 interfaith) agency Friday, November 15 for social action Wisdom 13:1-9, Psalm 19:2-5, Luke 17:26-37 in PietermarSaturday, November 16, Memorial of the BVM Wisdom 18:14-16; 19:6-9, Psalm 105:2-3, 36-37, 42-43, Luke 18:1-8 Sunday, November 17, 33rd Sunday This week we congratulate: Malachi 3:19-20, Psalm 98:5-9, 2 Thessalonians November 7: Bishop Frank Nabuasah of Francis3:7-12, Luke 21:5-19 town on the 15th anniversary of his ordination.

Our bishops’ anniversaries

FRANCISCAN NARDINI SISTERS

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I shall always strive for the one goal: For JESUS CHRIST to be my centre.

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DEATH

CASEY—Val. Died in East London on October 16, 2013. Mommy we will miss and love you forever. While we are so heartbroken by our loss, we know the pain and suffering for you is over.

Till we meet again. With all our love Sean, Maureen, Donovan, Maryann, Simon and Jenny.

IN MEMorIAM

VoN rubEN—In memory of my beloved husband, Mick, who died on November 10, 2001.

Daily remembered and sadly missed by Maire.

May he rest in peace.

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HoLIDAY ACCoMMoDATIoN

HoLY SPIrIT you make me see everything and show me the way to reach my ideals. You give me the divine gift to forgive and forget. In all instances of my life you are with me, protecting me and opening for me a way where there is no way. I thank you for everything, and confirm once more that I never want to be separated from you, no matter how great the material desires. I want to be with you and my loved ones in your perpetual glory.

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The Southern Cross is published independently by the Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Company Ltd. Address: PO Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000. Tel: (021) 465 5007 Fax: (021) 465 3850 www.scross.co.za Editor: Günther Simmermacher (editor@scross.co.za), business Manager: Pamela Davids (admin@scross.co.za), Advisory Editor: Michael Shackleton, News Editor: Claire Mathieson (c.mathieson@scross.co.za), Editorial: Claire Allen (c.allen@scross.co.za), Mary Leveson (m.leveson@scross.co.za) Advertising: Elizabeth Hutton (advertising@scross.co.za), Subscriptions: Avril Hanslo (subscriptions@scross.co.za), Dispatch: Joan King (dispatch@scross.co.za), Accounts: Desirée Chanquin (accounts@scross.co.za).

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33rd Sunday: November 17 Readings: Malachi 3:19-20, Psalm 98:5-9, 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12, Luke 21:5-19

T

HE day is coming when God will intervene. Is that a cheerful or an alarming prospect?

The first reading starts: “Look—the day is coming, blazing like a furnace, when all the arrogant and all those who do evil shall be stubble.” So it is not all that cheerful, unless we can honestly look in the mirror and say: “I am not arrogant, and I don’t do evil.” On the other hand, the prophet continues: “For you who revere my name, the sun of justice will arise, with healing in its wings.”

As we come to the end of the Church’s year, and in this country the end of the academic year, with all that implies, we are reminded that it is a serious business, and we need to examine our attitude to this coming of God that we shall celebrate during Advent.

The attitude of the psalmist is never arrogant, but, as so often, is an encouragement to “sing”; this is actually the commonest verb in the psalms, and not a bad thing to do at this (or any) time of the year.

He invites us to “pluck a tune on the guitar, and trumpets and the sound of the horn—make an exultant noise in the presence of the King, the Lord”.

And it is not just musical instruments, but also “the sea and what fills it, the world and those who live in it”; and even the “rivers”

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Readying ourselves for judgment Nicholas King SJ

Sunday Reflections

are to “clap their hands”, and the “mountains” are ordered to “exult”.

It is a glorious symphony, but we should not be lulled into any bland ease, for we are reminded why the Lord is coming: “He comes to judge the earth; he will judge the earth in righteousness, and the peoples with uprightness.” This is not necessarily a comfortable prospect.

In the second reading, it is not so much the Almighty who is intervening—as Paul himself. Some people up there in Thessalonica have got the idea that because Jesus might be returning any day now, they can put their feet up and not bother with doing any work.

So Paul reminds them of how he behaved when he was preaching the Gospel to them:

“We did not eat food without paying for it, but worked, slaving and toiling day and night so as not to burden any of you.”

And why not? “It was not because we didn’t have the right to do so; it was so as to give you a model to imitate.” And Paul’s intervention is fairly radical: “If someone is reluctant to do any work, then they are not to eat!”

The Lord may be coming (Advent is only a couple of weeks away), but that does not mean that we can lounge about doing nothing.

The gospel for next Sunday is likewise fairly destructive of any over-easy assumptions.

It starts with some spiritual tourists, perhaps visiting from Galilee for the first time, exclaiming in wonder at the Temple, its “beautiful stones and lovely decoration”.

This was the Temple that Herod had built (or rebuilt, depending on how you look at it); years after its destruction in 70AD the rabbis still remembered its beauty and mourned for it.

So it is with some alarm that we hear Jesus predicting what will happen to it: “These things that you are looking at—days are coming when not a stone shall be left on a stone that will not be destroyed.”

He was right, of course; and if you go to

T

HE universe works in pairs. From the atoms to the human species, generativity is predicated on union with another. Happiness, it would seem, is also predicated on that.

So where does that leave singles and celibates? How can they be normal, generative, and happy?

For many people living single and celibate, life can seem unfair. Everything, it seems, is set up for couples, while they are single.

And that isn’t the only problem. Too often, neither our churches nor our society give singles and celibates the symbolic tools to understand their state in a life-giving way.

Consequently single persons often feel like they’re looking in at life from the outside, that they’re abnormal, that they’re missing something essential within life.

Moreover, unlike married persons and vowed religious, few single persons feel that they have positively chosen their state of life. They feel it rather as an unfortunate conscription.

Few single persons feel at ease with and accepting of their lot. Instead they regard it as something temporary, something still to be overcome. Rarely does a single person, especially a younger person, see himself or herself growing old and dying single—and happy.

Invariably the feeling is: This has to change. I didn’t choose this! I can’t see myself like this for the rest of my life!

There are real dangers in feeling like this. First, there’s the danger of never fully and joyfully picking up one’s life and seeing it as worthwhile, of never positively accepting what one is, of never accepting the spirit that fits the life that one is actually living.

As well, there’s the danger of panicking and marrying simply because marriage is

Classic Conrad

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

seen as a panacea with no real possibility of happiness outside of it.

Partially those fears are well-founded.

Being single and celibate does bring with it a real loss. Denial is not a friend here.

Pious wishing or platonic spiritualities that deny the power of sexuality don’t placate our emotions or erase the fact that God said: It is not good for man to be alone.

The universe works in pairs and to be single is to be different, more different than we dare admit.

T

homas Merton, reflecting on his own celibate state, once put it this way: “The refusal of woman is fault in my chastity.

And all my compensations are a desperate and useless expedient to cover this irreparable loss which I have not fully accepted. I can learn to accept it in the spirit and in love and it will no longer be ‘irreparable’.

“The cross repairs and transforms it. The tragic chastity which suddenly realises itself to be mere loss, and the fear that death has won—that one is sterile, useless, hateful. I do not say this is my lot, but in my vow I can see this as an ever-present possibility.”

Celibacy and the single life bring with them real dangers for immaturity and unhappiness.

But, paradoxically, admitting this truth is the first step in beginning to live positively beyond those dangers. Sexuality is a dimension of our self-awareness. We awake

Southern Crossword #575

Photo: morguefile.com

Living the tough single life

Jerusalem, all that you can see is a few of Herod’s characteristic stones, right at the bottom of the Western Wall.

Inevitably, Jesus’ hearers ask about the timetable: “Teacher, when is this going to happen? What is the sign that it is about to take place?” We always ask that sort of question; it is part of our desire to be in control of events.

And Jesus does not give us very much help: “Watch out”, he says, “that you are not led astray. For many are going to come in my name and say ‘It’s me’ and ‘The time has come’. But don’t go marching after them.”

Then he gives solemn warning of “wars and disorders” at which we are not to be dismayed. Dismay, however, may be an option when we hear what happens next: “Nation will rise against nation, and empire against empire, and great earthquakes and famines and diseases in place after place, and there will be frightful portents from heaven.”

Nor does it end there: “For they will lay hands on you, and persecute you, and hand you over to synagogues and prisons…”.

We are not, however, to worry, “for not a single hair on your head will be lost”. Do you feel alarmed or cheerful?

to consciousness and feel ourselves, at every level, as cut off, sexed, lonely monads separated and aching for unity.

Celibacy is indeed a fault in our humanity.

However, to be celibate and single doesn’t necessarily mean that one is asexual or sterile. Today the impression is often given that no happiness exists outside of sexual union. That’s superficial and untrue.

Sexuality is the drive in us towards connection, community, family, friendship, affection, love, creativity, delight, and generativity. We are happy and whole when these things are in our lives, not on the basis of whether or not we sleep alone.

The single celibate life offers its own opportunities for achieving these. God never closes one door without opening countless others. For instance, when our culture recognises that it’s easier to find a lover than a friend, it recognises too that human sexuality and generativity are more than biological.

There are other ways of being healthily sexual, of getting pregnant and impregnating, of being mother or father, of enjoying intimacy. Sexuality, love, generativity, family, enjoyment and delight have multiple modalities.

Early on in my ministry, I served as a spiritual director to a young man who was discerning between marriage and priesthood.

His greatest hesitation in moving towards priesthood was one particular fear: “I’ve always been afraid of being a priest because celibacy will mean dying alone.

My father died when I was 15, but he died in my mother’s arms. I’ve always resisted celibacy because I want to die like my father died—in a woman’s arms.

“But, meditating on Christ’s life one day, it struck me that Jesus died alone, loved, but in nobody’s arms. He was alone, but powerfully linked to everyone in a different way. It struck me that this too could be a good way to die!”

It can be, but only if first, as Merton says, the cross repairs and transforms us.

ACROSS 1. Dead but not on time (4) 3. Came to an end (8) 9. Short Dubliner with debts.

That’s questionable (7) 10. Ornamental headband for the lady (5) 11. Why the preacher cannot find what to say? (4,3,5) 13. Abduct the little goat having a snooze (6) 15. Jump over the obstacle (6) 17. Sob over saint about remarks (12) 20. Imperial language (5) 21. Vain, or I am a West African (7) 22. Lie down not so often, being perturbed (8) 23. Let out of deleted official document (4)

DOWN 1. Typical of a genteel woman (8) 2. Arrange but as instruments (5) 4. Re-tins what goes inside (6) 5. Preliminary part of the book (12) 6. Doer had stored away (7) 7. Transaction for a card-player (4) 8. Far art Connel gets for being brotherly together (12) 12. Experienced, having had salt and pepper (8) 14. Set bead for discussions (7) 16. Refrains from (6) 18. Like sheep of the flock (5) 19. Hides lurid insinuation (4) Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

A

PRIEST waited in line to have his car filled with petrol just before a long holiday weekend. Finally, the attendant motioned him towards a vacant pump.

“Father,” said the young man: “I’m sorry about the delay. It seems as if everyone waits until the last minute to get ready for a long trip.”

The priest chuckled: “I know what you mean. It’s the same in my business.”

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