140101 by The Southern Cross

The

S outhern C ross

January 1 to January 7, 2014

Reg No. 1920/002058/06

The Vatican’s historic year 2013

No 4855

Page 5

www.scross.co.za

R7,00 (incl VAT RSA)

Hollywood rediscovers religion

Fr Rolheiser: Is karma going to get you?

Page 10

Page 12

Priest: I forgive racist attackers BY MATHIBELA SEBOTHOMA & STAFF REPORTERS

A Fr Victor Phalana (right) and parishioner Martin Wamba after they were attacked by racist thugs. Fr Phalana said he follows the examples of Jesus and the late Nelson Mandela in forgiving his assailants. (Photo: Mathibela Sebothoma)

St Augustine not moving yet BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

OUTH AFRICA’S Catholic university, St Augustine College in Johannesburg, will begin the new academic year at its Victory Park premises, which the institution had planned to sell to weather a financial crisis. Negotiations are currently underway with a donor about a plan to help the university stay in its current location. The past year was tumultuous, with the university coming into financial troubles, which forced the tough decision to close its undergraduate programme for 2014 and to consider selling its northern Johannesburg campus. Undergraduate students and their teachers were assisted in finding placement in other tertiary institutions. But now ground is being made as the university turns a new leaf under new guidance. The year 2014 is set to be a positive year for the university, said its president, Sr Madge Karecki SSJ-TOSF, who succeeded Fr Michael van Heerden in late 2013. “Post-graduate courses are going on and they begin in January,” said Sr Karecki. The university is taking on new post-graduate students, and “we are working hard to assure the future of the college”, she said. “Issues are still not rectified completely, but we are working on them. We are doing things that good management requires, like streamlining our costs without diminishing our ability to provide excellent education for

students who want to grow in knowledge and become the person they were created to be,” the new president told The Southern Cross. The college is already abuzz with activity. “We have more than 23 masters of philosophy students at the moment coming for the teaching week, while other students are in the process of writing the required research papers.” Sr Karecki said she is optimistic about St Augustine’s position and that there is a hopeful mood on campus thanks to support from the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Knights of da Gama. New financial and marketing plans are in development, as well as best practice organisational practices and policies to “make sure we are on a real course of sustainability”. Sr Karecki, who returned to South Africa from her native United States to head the college, said everything possible is being done to keep South Africa’s only Catholic university open and to ensure educational security for its students. “St Augustine is a Catholic college that is open to all people. We need support and we need students if we are going to have an educated Catholic population,” she said. “Here students not only gain knowledge; they also gain a perspective on their lives, the country and the world, based on a dynamic educational tradition that is values-based and rooted in respect for all humanity and the created world,” Sr Karecki said.

PRIEST who was assaulted by racists has said he forgives his attackers, adding that he believes that the attack was an act of retaliation for the attention the late Nelson Mandela received in December. Fr Victor Phalana, vicar-general of the archdiocese of Pretoria and administrator of the Sacred Heart cathedral, and parishioner Martin Wamba were attacked near Gezina on their way to a wedding. As they were assaulted, the group of three white men demanded: “Where is your Mandela now?” Fr Phalana said the group of “white hooligans” were aged between 20 and 30. He did not see the registration plates of their vehicles. The priest recalled that one of the attackers asked him whether he was a pastor, which Fr Phalana, who was wearing his clerical collar, confirmed. The man then punched him. “These hooligans thought that by beating me up, they were retaliating against the attention Nelson Mandela was getting on his funeral,” he said. “Some people are angry at the attention he is receiving. Ordinary men and women are going to pay the price for that. Let us go forth and not be afraid.” However, the priest stressed, “this does not mean that all whites are racists”, adding that he has also experienced “the true rainbow nation”. “The beating I suffered is nothing compared to the 27 years of Madiba in prison. The humiliation I suffered from these boers is nothing compared to the suffering of the millions of South Africans at the hands of our oppressors. I will not retaliate,” Fr Phalana said.

nstead he forgives them. “I do not need to know who they are. I simply forgive them because Mandela taught us to forgive our enemies. Jesus taught us go forgive and bless our enemies,” he said. “The blows I got and the insults: what are they, compared to the deaths of Steve Biko, Chris Hani, Solomon Mahlangu and the Riberios? We forgive them. We are going to forgive them because without that, there is no future for South Africa,” Fr Phalana said. He added that “all non-racists must stand up and really speak out against racism”. Mr Wamba, who came to South Africa from Cameroon five years ago, said that this had been his first experience of racial violence.

Recounting the incident, Fr Phalana said he and Mr Wamba had stopped their car when they heard hooting from a bakkie and a red car behind them. Thinking the drivers were trying to attract their attention, Fr Phalana and Mr Wamba stopped and exited their cars, as did the three men who then launched into the assault. Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria, said he was shocked to see the wounds incurred by Fr Phalana and Mr Wamba. “I do not expect such racist behaviour when South Africa and the international community are celebrating Nelson Mandela, the champion of non-racialism and national reconciliation.” He appealed to religious communities and the government to work hard in dealing with racism. “We must really pray hard.” “Such attacks should not be tolerated by anyone,” he added.

ity of Tshwane municipality councillor Joe Mkhize, speaking on behalf of the metropolitan municipality, said that “this isolated incident is not a true reflection of race relations in Tshwane”. He said the people of Tshwane and South Africans in general are warming to one another, adding that the reason the assault onFr Phalana and Mr Wamba made news was because such incidents are rare. A recent study conducted by the South African Reconciliation Barometer concluded that class and not race is the barrier to nation-building. The study also said that white people are more economically privileged than their African counterparts and that white people should not complain about “reverse racism”. Fr Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, a Catholic priest and chairman of the Moral Regeneration Movement, said “all sectors of society must accelerate the process of building a non-racial united nation”. “It is for this reason that a democracy such as ours, which has emerged from the apartheid ashes, should be founded on sound moral values that will inculcate in each of us a sense of national pride, oneness and commitment to the common good,” Fr Mkhatshwa said. He said “our past as a nation is nothing to be entirely proud of, yet it could teach us a lesson or two as we shape a society in which a bright future for all under the sun is guaranteed”. South Africans must be committed that “racism will never again be part of our lives,” he said.

FATIMA • LOURDES • AVILA Join The Southern Cross and the Diocese of Tzaneen on a Pilgrimage of Prayer for the Sainthood Cause of Benedict Daswa to places of Our Lady in France, Spain & Portugal!

Led by Bishop João Rodrigues • 25 Sep to 6 Oct 2014

Benedict Daswa

For full itinerary or to book phone Gail at 076 352 3809 or 021 551 3923 info@fowlertours.co.za www.fowlertours.co.za