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The

S outhern C ross

May 21 to May 27, 2014

Reg No. 1920/002058/06 No 4874

Diary of a pilgrim in Italy

www.scross.co.za

Interview with Jean Vanier

The benefits of getting out of the car

Page 10

R7,00 (incl VAT RSA)

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Mariannhill priests serve other dioceses

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

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Southern Cross pilgrims on a boat trip on the Sea of Galilee. The pilgrimage, which was led by Archbishop Stephen Brislin (third from right) with Southern Cross editor Günther Simmermacher (third from left), took the group to the great sites of the Holy Land and to Italy, where they visited the Padre Pio shrine at San Giovanni Rotondo, the place of the first recognised Eucharistic miracle at Lanciano, and, of course, Rome, with a papal audience and the Sistine chapel. Tour guide Ramon Makhlouf is pictured far left.

Later this year The Southern Cross will go on a pilgrimage to places of Our Lady in Portugal, Spain and France, led by Bishop Joao Rodrigues of Tzaneen. It will be a journey of prayer for the sainthood cause of Benedict Daswa, who was from Tzaneen diocese and whose cause will be examined by the Vatican in October.

Next year, The Southern Cross will go with Archbishop William Slattery of Pretoria to the Holy Land, Rome, Florence and Turin, where the group will see the Holy Shroud in a rare exhibition.

See our adverts for both pilgrimages in this week’s issue for more details.

Vatican voices opposition to drones

N

O matter how sophisticated and how many algorithms are programmed to help a drone or other machine make calculations before firing on a target, autonomous weapons systems could never comply with international human rights law, a Vatican official said.

“Meaningful human involvement is absolutely essential in decisions affecting the life and death of human beings,” Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican observer to United Nations agencies in Geneva, told experts meeting to discuss lethal autonomous weapons systems.

Archbishop Tomasi said it was essential “to recognise that autonomous weapons systems can never replace the human capacity for moral reasoning, including in the context of war. The development of autonomous weapons systems will ultimately lead to widespread proliferation,” the archbishop said, and “the development of complex autonomous weapons systems, which remove the human actor from lethal decision-making, is shortsighted and may irreversibly alter the nature of

A Reaper drone is pictured firing a missile. The use of drones is becoming an increasing concern. (Photo: Drone Wars UK) warfare in a less humane direction, leading to consequences we cannot possibly foresee, but that will in any case increase the dehumanisation of warfare.”

Archbishop Tomasi said technology obviously has many beneficial uses and even the idea of a nation keeping its soldiers out of harm's way is praiseworthy, but when nations are using or considering the use of technology to target and kill human beings, they are obliged to weigh decisions in a way only a human being can.—CNS

The

HILE nationally vocations are dwindling, one diocese has continued to see positive numbers of young men joining the priesthood, an act which has not only directly benefited the diocese of Mariannhill, but has also seen priests become available for service in neighbouring dioceses.

Today, the diocese has two priests working in Umzimkulu, two in Dundee, two in Queenstown, one in Kimberly, and three priests teaching formation at St John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria as well as 33 men currently studying towards the priesthood.

Bishop Mlungisi Pius Dlungwane said the vocations tradition in the diocese stems back to the earliest days of Catholicism in the region when the Trappists monks, led by Abbot Francis Pfanner ,sent five young men to Rome. Four returned as priests. Soon, the first minor seminary in the country would be built in Mariannhill and shortly after, a major seminary was completed which served the indigenous people. Bishops from around the country sent their seminarians to the diocese and talk of priesthood became culturally accepted in Mariannhill. “Despite cultural traditions, the people came to accept the bishop’s call to send their children to the service of the Church,” Bishop Dlungwane told The Southern Cross.

While the seminaries would eventually move and merge to become St John Vianney in Pretoria, the vocation promotion continued in Mariannhill. “The honour of laying the foundations and truly promoting vocations should go to the two bishops before me,” said Bishop Dlungwane.

It was Bishop Marin Elmar Schmid, bishop from 1970-1980, who formed the vocations promotion team with one member representing the diocese and another promotion for the religious orders. The team would visit parishes and share with congregants. “This made a great impact which was continued by my predecessor Bishop Paul Themba Mngoma (1981-2005).

He challenged the people of the diocese that each family should send at least one son to the priesthood.” Bishop Dlungwane said it was his predecessor that had the most seminarians.

But the diocese of Mariannhill today has an impressive number currently studying at the South African and Lesotho seminaries. There are currently four seminarians at St Augustine’s in Lesotho for their first year, and three at St Francis Xavier in Cape Town. The seven men will go on to commence their studies in philosophy and theology at St John Vianney where there are currently seven seminarians, and St Augustine’s where 19 are studying towards the priesthood.

Bishop Dlungwane said it was an expensive but necessary endevour to promote vocations.

While the need is great, it should be done cautiously. Not anybody can become a priest, he said. “We are challenged with the screening and assessments of the candidates. We continue to be caring because this is a great responsibility.”

The bishop said the new priests are trained to work in one of the 46 parishes in Mariannhill but if there is a need, it is possible to send fide donum priests—literally “the gift of faith”. “There has been some resistance from the priests to go out to other dioceses. Of course, they became diocesan for a reason. But they are doing very well and the bishops are extremely happy with their work,” said Bishop Dlungwane.

The 46 parishes in Mariannhill are “not comfortable, but we are managing”, the bishop told The Southern Cross, adding that some parishes—particularly the large township parishes—require more than one priest. “But the priests will go where there is the greatest need. And sometimes that is not in Mariannhill.”

The diocese has seen a priest ordained every year since its inception, usually ordaining two per year.

“Vocations are suffering; the religious are suffering too. But I am still amazed to see the young men come forward, even in times when the priesthood has had negative publicity.

There is still hope!”

Since 2000, the diocese has held an annual fundraising event to help pay for the seminarians’ studies when the five deaneries converge for a special Mass. “The people are very happy to give to the fund.” The bishop said he foresees a day when the diocese no longer needs assistance in paying for the priests’ studies.

A fide donum priest’s formation fees are contributed to by the host diocese through a contract between the two bishops. The priest signs on to work in the diocese for three years, which is mutually renewable. “I’ve been very pleased with the priests and the work they have done.

I tell them to work as missionaries and to learn the local language and to always remember that they are representing the diocese of Mariannhill. They do try and it’s been very positive,” said Bishop Dlungwane.

The bishop said part of the success of the number of priest has been down to formation.

“It is difficult to see if a person is called to the priesthood. After seven and eight years of study, assessment and screening, we still take time to see if he is ready to settle. We focus on ensuring he is ready at all times for the priesthood,” said Bishop Dlungwane.

The preparation and focus gives the bishop confidence in the priests coming from the diocese. “I honestly believe the one who is eventually ordained is called and can serve the people.”

Southern Cross & Archbishop William Slattery invite you to a special pilgrimage to

HOLY LAND • ROME • TURIN Rare chance to view Shroud of Turin!

7-21 May 2015

Jerusalem | Bethlehem | Nazareth | Boatride on Sea of Gailee | River Jordan | Turin with reserved viewing of the Holy Shroud | Florence | Papal Audience in the Vatican |Sistine Chapel | Catacombs | Ancient & Baroque Rome | Four Major Basilicas | and much more...

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

2

The Southern Cross, May 21 to May 27, 2014

LOCAL

Charity ball gives hope

Civic responsibility continues STAFF REPORTER

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

I

T

HE annual Ball of Hope held in Cape Town has helped raise awareness and funds to address the HIV/Aids and TB pandemic in South Africa.

According to Fr Stefan Hippler, founding member of Hope Cape Town, the sold-out event was held at the Westin hotel and was supported by the South African German Chamber of Commerce.

Guests were treated to local and international acts as well as a performance from the senior choir of Holy Cross Brooklyn—a longtime supporter of the organisation.

Hope Cape Town, located at the medical school of the University of Stellenbosch’s Tygerberg campus, is a non-profit organisation providing outreach, education and counselling at community level, focusing on HIV/Aids and TB. The organisation is also co-located and associated with the Ithemba (Hope) Infectious Paediatric Ward at Tygerberg Hospital, is linked to the University of Stellenbosch, and also cooperates with “KID-CRU”, the Tygerberg Hospital research unit for paediatric infectious diseases.

According to Fr Hippler, since the work began in 2001 the organisation has made an impact in local communities.

“The Ball of Hope is an opportunity to bridge the gap between business and charity. People support a

The senior choir of Holy Cross Brooklyn is seen at the Ball of Hope, which helped raise funds for HIV/Aids organisation Hope Cape Town. The group is pictured with Viola Klein, organiser of the Hope Gala Dresden, an event in the city of Dresden in Germany. good cause by having fun themselves,” he told The Southern Cross.

The organisation is focusing this year on a new project: Hope to Home. “The biggest emerging threat to HIV-positive patients receiving ARVs is the lack of compliance and the resulting resistance to available antiretroviral drugs.

Fr Hippler said the organisation plans to facilitate the smooth transition between admission and reporting for care at the local community facility by preparing

patients for discharge, confirming appointments, visiting them at home and accompanying them to the local facility, where possible.

“We estimate that 200 to 300 children will require this service per month,” he said.

The priest said funds raised at the ball will go a long way to making the new project possible. n To support Hope or find out more about the work they do, please visit www.hopecapetown.com or phone 021 938 9930.

N the wake of the elections, South Africans have been called to live up to the responsibilities of their citizenship, responsibilities that go far beyond marking an X on a ballot sheet.

In her reflection, Frances Correia of the Jesuit Institute South Africa said even if the 2014 election feels a long way from the hopes of 1994, “the same possibility of a new vision is still with us”.

“It exists within our human potential for conversion and redemption. As our newly elected government prepares to take up its responsibilities, we Christians can pray for their ongoing conversion and renewal of heart.”

Ms Correia further reminded South Africans that, as free citizens, “we have responsibilities”.

“It is all too easy in the ‘New South Africa’ to allow our civic duty to be exercised once every five years on a ballot sheet. Yet we are the people, we are the country. We have a responsibility to exercise our freedom and to express our needs, our grievances and our desires.”

The Jesuit Institute writer and spiritual director said as Christians we have a moral responsibility to care not only for our own wants, but also for the needs of the most vulnerable, for the marginalised and the silenced.

“If we are unhappy with service delivery, then we need to make a

noise about it. We need to hold our leaders accountable for their choices.

We need to remember—and help them to remember—that they have offered themselves as servants of the people. They rule because we gave them our votes and they are paid for by our taxes.”

Ms Correia referred to Gaudium et Spes, the document which translates to joy and hope, which describes the modern world as “keenly aware of its unity and of mutual interdependence and solidarity, but at the same time split into bitterly opposing camps”.

“This description seems to me to fit our country exactly,” she said.

“On the one hand, we are mutually interdependent. On the other, we are still a profoundly divided people. We cannot hope for government alone to heal our land, or to adequately meet the needs of all our people. We have, together, a responsibility for nation building.”

She said South Africans need to be informed and to choose the often hard path of taking action.

Ms Correia said citizens have to deal with the problems of freedom.

“The Church challenges us to be active citizens, to engage in and with the world and to use our faith in Jesus as the measure by which we judge what is good. God is inviting each one of us to be fully alive. Part of being fully alive is to claim a personal sense of responsibility for the task of nation building.”

Winter Living Theology 2014 Renowned lecturer and author on leadership and public ethics, long-running radio presenter and guest on Oprah!

Supported by the South African Bishops Conference

A vocations festival was celebrated in Mdantsane, East London, at the Church of Christ the King, with a large mixed group of the elderly, teenagers and the not so young attendeding.

Kolbe House

WARDEN

CATHOLIC CHAPLAINCY AT UCT

Kolping Guest House & Conference facility

Situated in a tranquil garden in the centre of Durbanville, Cape Town, with pool and braai facilities, we offer both tastefully decorated B&B and S/C as well as a full English breakfast and dinner by arrangement. Conference and wheelchair facilities available, within walking distance of shops, restaurants, banks and close proximity to Catholic church, tennis courts, golf course and wine routes.

7 Biccard Street, Durbanville, 7550 Tel: +27 21 970 2900 Fax: +27 21 976 9839 info@kolpingguesthouse.co.za www.kolpingguesthouse.co.za

FRIENDS FOR EVER PILGRIMAGE

NEW FOR 2014 9 TO18 NOV

Formerly Ngome Friends Pilgrimage Visiting the Vatican city, Rome and Assisi for the 9th time and also Istanbul (Old Constantinople) with Rev Fr Bongani Sithole Cost from R16500

Tel: (031) 266 7702 Fax: (031) 266 8982 Email: judyeichhorst@telkomsa.net

Canon Law Society of Southern Africa Tel: +27 11 402 6400 tribunal@catholicjhb.org.za Fax: +27 86 689 26633

Invites you to attend their Convention to be held at Ukuphila Retreat Centre, Bluff, Durban from 11th–14th August 2014.

The main speaker will be Cardinal Leo Raymond Burke, the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura,who will speak on:

1. Canon Law at the Service of Justice and Freedom in the Church, 2. The Nullity of the Marriage Process as the Search for Truth, 3. Jurisprudence regarding New Grounds of Nullity of Marriage introduced by some Tribunals.

Everyone who is interested is welcome to attend.

For information and application form please contact Marieke at 011 402 6400 or tribunal@catholicjhb.org.za

Applications are invited for the post of Warden at Kolbe House, the home of the UCT Catholic Chaplaincy.

The Warden is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the self-catering student residence at Kolbe House in Rondebosch, Cape Town. He or she attends to the well-being of the approximately 20 students in residence, and to the management of the historical property. The role complements the life and work of the vibrant university Chaplaincy.

The Warden must be available at reasonable times to attend to the needs of residents and the duties of the position. To that end, he or she resides free of charge in a cottage on the property. The post also carries a modest stipend.

The ideal candidate will hold strong Catholic values and have good management and inter-personal skills, enabling him or her to work closely with the Chaplain, the Kolbe Trust (which owns the House), staff, students and residents.

The appointment will be on a fixed-term basis, preferably from September/October 2014. The duration is negotiable.

Please submit a CV, letter of motivation and two contactable references to donovan.muller@accenture.com by 30 June 2014.

Enquiries may be directed to Donovan Muller (Chair of Trustees) at donovan.muller@accenture.com or on 083 408 6592.

The Southern Cross, May 21 to May 27, 2014

LOCAL

3

Swazi mission celebrates centenary STAFF REPORTER

S

Fr Angelo Ciccone OSM of St Joseph’s mission welcomes the new bishop, Bishop José Ponce de León, to St Joseph’s in Mzimpofu in the diocese of Manzini, Swaziland, for the mission’s centenary celebration.

WAZILAND’S second-oldest church, St Joseph’s mission in Mzimpofu has celebrated 100 years of serving the community of Manzini.

The Manzini diocese, the only one in the country, celebrated its centenary earlier this year. The event was attended by the bishops of the region as it coincided with the bishops’ first plenary session of the year, as well as seeing the installation of the diocese’s new bishop, Bishop José Ponce de León.

The event celebrated not only the anniversary of the arrival of the first Servite missionaries, but also the positive impact the Church has made in the challenged country.

The first missionaries settled at

Mbabane in early 1914, where Mater Dolorosa stands today. But a few months later, the Servites expanded to establish St Joseph’s in Mzimpofu.

The St Joseph’s centenary celebration took place on May 11, due to the new bishop’s attendance at the ad limina visit in Rome. Fr Angelo Ciccone OSM of St Joseph’s wanted the celebration to be right—with the country’s bishop present.

Writing in his popular blog, www.bhubesi.blogspot.com, Bishop Ponce de León said the four-hour celebration started by remembering how the Bible came to the Kingdom of Swaziland, the arrival of the first Catholic missionaries to the area, and the murder of one of them.

The bishop said the celebration included many special moments.

“There was a very moving moment when the second reading was fluently read in braille by a blind young girl. We were all deeply impressed.”

The mission school at St Joseph’s has more than 2 500 students of all denominations. It is unique in Swaziland—it is the only facility to educate the blind and children with the most severe learning disabilities.

The school also supports physically disabled children. All the children are taught in a fully integrated way by specially trained teachers.

While the visit was his first official one, the bishop said he would certainly return so that “I can know better the different projects being run for disabled and blind people”.

Addiction programme for SA?

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

S

OUTH Africa could see the arrival of Cenacolo missionaries to help rehabilitate and work with those affected by drug and alcohol addiction.

The Cenacolo community was founded in 1983 in a response to the cry of many who were desperate, drug addicts and non-addicts, searching for the true meaning of life, by Sr Elvira Petrozzi in Italy.

Today, the movement is present in 17 countries and a group of Catholics is trying to bring Cenacolo to South Africa.

Michele Michael of Our Lady of the Cedars in Woodmead, Johannesburg, first encountered the movement on pilgrimage in Medjugorje 12 years ago. “Having people in my own family with addictions, I knew that this place was something South Africa needed,” she said.

When she returned, a small group of friends formed a prayer group for the intentions of the community and would a few years later travel to Italy to experience the community life of Cenacolo. “We stayed at the mother house and also visited the neigh-

bouring houses and convent.

“A group of us shared in the experience of community life in Saluzzo, Italy, and we have formed these prayer groups in order to get the missionaries to this country,” Ms Michael told The Southern Cross.

“The four of us sat in on an interview with parents of drug- and alcohol-addicted young men and cried at the stories they told, their struggle and how they wanted to get their children into the community. Many of them had heard about Cenacolo after visiting Medjugorje,” said Ms Michael.

The group met with Andrea and Padre Stefano who work on behalf of the founder of Cenacolo and discussed opening a home in South Africa. While site is not important, the group said it was vital that there be a “strong infrastructure or support group” in place.

“The ‘Friends of Cenacolo’ are a vital part of the process because much prayer is needed,” said Ms Michael. The system of prayer and support helps keep the home afloat and ensures much-needed ongoing support for addicts.

Treatment at the Cenacolo

centres is free of charge and the focus is on Eucharistic and Marian prayer life as well as hard work. “It’s based on Catholic principles, but is for everyone,” said Ms Michael, adding that the treatment has seen an 80-90% success rate.

“It is the most harmonious and loving environment I have seen and I believe this kind of care is essential for this country.

Addiction is everywhere in our country, this could make a difference,” she said.

Ms Michael said Friends of Cenacolo prayer groups were active in South Africa and had been for eight years, but there is hope that more people will join the cause.

“The sooner more prayer groups are established, the sooner the call to Italy can be made,” she said.

“Our calling is to establish many prayer groups throughout South Africa,” said Ms Michael. I have no doubt that prayer works miracles and it will happen in God’s time.” n For more information or to get involved, please contact Michele Michael on 011 455 2356/3313 or 082 417 2725.

Tangney

We have moved to: 2 Plein Street, Sidwell, Port Elizabeth

Special Interest Tours St Francis of Assisi Pilgrimage

Holy Land. Istanbul. Ephesus.

Kusadasi.

LYSt John’s D Tomb.

St Paul’s Amphitheatre.

L E FU OKVermaak CO Led by Fr Jonathan Escorted by: BOGlynn Brown 28 April – 9 May 2014 ================

Regina Mundi Pilgrimage

Rome. Assisi. San Giovanni Rotondo (Padre Pio) Lanciano. Monte Cassino.

Led by Fr Sebastian Rossouw OMI 7 – 29 August 2014 ================

La Madonna della Speranza Pilgrimage

Rome. Assisi. San Giovanni Rotondo (Padre Pio) Lanciano. Monte Cassino Led by Fr Bernard Madiba 29 June – 7 July 2015 ================

NAM-ZIM Pilgrimage

Holy Land: Jacob’s Well. 1st Century synagogue.

Bethlehem. Jerusalem. Galilee. Rome: Audience Holy Father (TBC). Cathedrals.

Led by Fr Eliot Vumbanyama 3 – 15 August 2014. ================

St Anthony’s Pilgrimage

Holy Land & Cairo. All the special new sites.

Led by Fr Jude Nnorom CSSP 1 – 11 February 2015

Tel: (021) 683 0300 Fax: 086 691 9308 P O Box 273, Rondebosch, 7701 Email: karis@tangneytours.co.za

St Joseph’s parish in Goodwood, Cape Town, launched Project Food Pyramid during Lent, with the slogan With God We (Can). Supported by parish priest Fr Mari Joe, the parishioners built a pyramid of tins of food for the poor and needy in the community, ending up with 250 food parcels for distribution.

SPRINGFIELD CONVENT SCHOOL, WYNBERG Applicants are invited for the following post

GRADE ONE CLASS TEACHER To commence 1 January 2015

Springfield is a day school for girls from Pre-School to Matriculation, set in beautiful gardens on Wynberg Hill in the southern suburbs of Cape Town.

Founded by Irish Dominican Sisters in 1871, Springfield has a caring, Catholic atmosphere, a proud academic record, vibrant Music and Art Departments and excellent facilities for Sport.

The successful applicant will: • Be a fully qualified, enthusiastic teacher, with experience in the Foundation Phase; • Understand, identify with and contribute to the Catholic ethos and values of the school; • Be willing and able to teach the Catholic religious education syllabus; • Have a proven record of innovation, commitment and professionalism; • Be well versed in curriculum and assessment for the Foundation Phase; • Have a sound understanding of the Foundation Phase learner, in particular Grade One • Have effective organisational and administrative skills; • Be available in afternoons, evenings and at other times to attend workshops, courses, school functions and educational outings, camps and tours; • Have good computer skills; • Be registered with SACE; • Be willing to become fully involved in the school's curricular and co-curricular programme.

Apply in writing, giving details of qualifications, experience and the names of three contactable referees, including your Parish priest or Minister, to: The Principal, Springfield Convent Junior School, St. John's Road, Wynberg, 7800 Or email: postmaster@sfc.wcape.school.za

Closing date for applications: FRiDAy 6 JUNE 2014

The school reserves the right not to proceed with the filling of this post. An application will not in itself entitle the applicant to an interview or appointment, and failure to meet the minimum requirements of the advertised post will result in applicants automatically disqualifying themselves from consideration.

No faxed applications accepted. Candidates not contacted shall consider their application unsuccessful.

4

The Southern Cross, May 21 to May 27, 2014

INTERNATIONAL

Patriarch: Crackdown on vandalism at religious sites in the Holy Land

BY JUDITH SUDILOVSKY

T

HE Latin patriarch of Jerusalem called a continuing wave of vandalism against Christian, Muslim and Druze properties a “blight on Israeli democracy” and urged authorities to step up prosecution against the perpetrators.

Patriarch Fouad Twal said during a news conference in the northern city of Haifa that the attacks, which involve scrawling and spray painting racist and anti-Christian and antiMuslim messages on buildings and holy sites, was particularly troublesome in light of Pope Francis’ planned visit to the Holy Land in the month of May. The comments came after antiChristian graffiti were found scrawled on a column outside of the Office of the Assembly of Bishops at the Notre Dame Centre in East Jerusalem, where Pope Francis is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later this month.

“This wave of extremist actions of terror, are surely a grave concern to all reasonable persons. The government of Israel must be concerned, because it is very bad for the State of Israel’s image abroad,” he said in a statement.

After the graffiti were discovered, Patriarch Twal expressed concern and fear of escalating violence. He also criticised the lack of political response by the Israeli government.

The Ha’aretz Israeli newspaper re-

Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem said a spate of attacks he described as acts of terror against the Church were poisoning the atmosphere ahead of this month’s visit by Pope Francis, and urged Israel to arrest more perpetrators. (Photo: Ammar Awad, Reuters/CNS) ported that district police commanders have been directed to create security plans to protect the Christian population and holy sites. Police have said security measures will be tight during the pope’s visit.

In Haifa, the patriarch chastised the Israeli government for failing to arrest any of the perpetrators in more than two and a half years of increasing attacks by a group calling itself “Price Tag”. The group has been characterised by authorities as hardline Israeli settlers opposed to peace talks with Palestinians and any in-

fringements on Jewish settlements and outposts in the West Bank.

The first attack on a mosque in the West Bank took place in 2009.

The attacks have now crossed over the Green Line into Israel itself where there have been reports of graffiti in both Christian and Muslim villages, on Catholic monasteries and most recently at the Notre Dame Centre and a Romanian Orthodox church in the old city.

Activists opposed to the attacks said they have recorded more than 100 incidents against non-Jewish

THE BEAUTY OF LIFE IN THE WOMB

property and individuals.

“The actions are only drawing condemnation by Israeli leaders but few arrests,” Patriarch Twal said. ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing,’ to use and often quoted line.”

He said the “unrestrained” acts of vandalism poison the atmosphere of “co-existence and collaboration” particularly in the weeks prior to the pope’s visit. At the same time, he said, he was “encouraged” that Israeli’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni had convened an emergency meeting to combat the vandalism and that security forces had described the attacks as terrorism.

At the same time, another group seems to be using the pope’s visit as an opportunity to fan the flames over a long-running dispute between Israel and the Vatican over the ownership of the cenacle on Mount Zion, traditionally considered the site of the Last Supper.

Pope Francis will celebrate Mass with the bishops of the Holy Land at the cenacle.

The room is located on the second floor of a building that also houses a site considered holy by Jews

and Muslims as the tomb of King David. The property once belonged to the Franciscans before it was taken over by Muslims who turned it into a mosque for King David, whom they consider a prophet.

Several hundred people joined a joint Jewish-Christian-Muslim-organised demonstration against the vandalism in front of the prime minister’s house in Jerusalem. It was organised by the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel and Illuminating Tag, a group of Israelis organised to counter the vandals.

“Violence and racism has no place in our religion,” said Tammy Gottlieb, among the organisers of the demonstration. “It is important to show a tolerant face to our neighbours.”

“It is impossible to ask why this is happening at this particular point in time so close to the visit of the pope when he is coming to ask for peace and justice,” said Franciscan Sister Lucia Corradin, who had travelled from Bethlehem to join the demonstration. “When there is violence it affects every person. [Pope Francis] is not only coming for Christians. He is coming for everybody.” —CNS

Pope: Jesus transforms sinners into saints

BY CINDY WOODEN

W

HILE it is true that the Church is made up of sinners, it is also true that Christ has made the Church holy and he can make sinners holy, too, Pope Francis said.

“No one can sanctify themselves,” the pope said during his early morning Mass, “there is no class for becoming a saint”.

“Holiness is a gift Jesus gives the Church, and so that we can see this, he chooses certain people in whom we can clearly see his sanctifying work,” Pope Francis said during the Mass in his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

How can the Church “be holy if we belong to it? We are all sinners,” the pope asked. The Church “is the bride of Christ and he loves her, he sanctifies her, he sanctifies her every day with the eucharistic sacrifice because he loves her so much”.

And, he said, “we are sinners, but in a Church that is holy. And we, too, are sanctified by belong-

ing to the Church. We are children of the Church and Mother Church sanctifies us with her love and the sacraments.”

Pointing to a whole list of Bible characters who became saints—including Mary Magdalene, Matthew and Paul—the pope said the one thing they had in common was their willingness to become less important and accept humiliation so that Christ’s importance would shine.

“The difference between heroes and saints is witness, the imitation of Jesus Christ, following the path of Jesus Christ,” which was the cross, he said. Many of the saints, he added, finish their lives in great humility. “Think of the last days of St John Paul II. We all saw this.”

The only path to holiness, he said, is the path of the cross.

“If we travel this path, we will give witness to Jesus Christ who loves us so much,” the pope said, “and we will give witness that, although we are sinners, the Church is holy”.—CNS

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The Southern Cross, May 21 to May 27, 2014

INTERNATIONAL

5

Pope to beatify Pope Paul VI at end of family synod P

BY CINDY WOODEN

OPE Francis will beatify Pope Paul VI on October 19 during the closing Mass of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family.

Pope Francis signed a decree recognising a miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope Paul, who led the church from 1963 to 1978, and authorised publication of the beatification date, according to a Vatican statement.

The miracle involved the birth of a baby in California in the 1990s.

The family’s name and city have not been released, but according to news reports, a pregnant woman whose life was at risk along with the life of her baby was advised by doctors to terminate the pregnancy. Instead she sought prayers from an Italian nun who was a family friend. The nun placed a holy card with Pope Paul’s photograph and a piece of his vestment on the woman’s belly.

The baby was born healthy. For Pope Paul’s sainthood cause, physicians continued monitoring the child’s health up to the age of 12 and everything was normal.

Pope Paul’s connection with the themes expected to be raised at the

Pope Paul VI leads the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome in 1977. (Photo: Giancarlo Giuliani, Catholic Press/CNS) synod on the family include the encyclical for which is he is most known, Humanae Vitae. The 1968 encyclical, usually described as a document affirming the Church’s prohibition against artificial contraception, places that conclusion in

the context of Catholic teaching on the beauty and purpose of marriage, married love and procreation.

When St John XXIII died in 1963, Pope Paul reconvened the Second Vatican Council, presided over the final three of its four sessions and oversaw the promulgation of all of the council’s documents. He also led the process of implementing the council’s reforms.

Pope Paul VI was the first pope in the modern area to travel abroad, visiting: Jordan and Israel in January 1964; Lebanon and India in December 1964; the United Nations and New York in October 1965; the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugual in May 1967; Turkey in July 1967; Colombia and Bermuda in August 1968; Switzerland in June 1969; Uganda in July-August 1969; and Iran, Pakistan, the Philippines, Samoan Islands, Australia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka in November-December 1970.

Born Giovanni Battista Montini in 1897 in the northern Italian province of Brescia, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1920 and was named archbishop of Milan in 1954.

Elected pope in 1963, he died at the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo on August 6, 1978.—CNS

Jackie Kennedy's letters reveal struggles with faith

BY MICHAEL KELLY

N

EWLY released letters between former US first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and a Dublin-based priest reveal Kennedy’s struggles to keep her faith after her husband’s assassination.

The letters exchanged by Kennedy and Vincentian Father Joseph Leonard, who died in 1964, are set to be auctioned in Dublin in June. Excerpts were published in The Irish Times newspaper.

One letter, dated January 1964— just weeks after President John F Kennedy was assassinated—revealed how the tragedy left Kennedy struggling with her Catholic faith. “I am so bitter against God”, she wrote. She explained that she did not want to be bitter “or bring up my children in a bitter way” and was “trying to make my peace with God”.

She wrote: “I think God must have taken Jack to show the world how lost we would be without him —but that is a strange way of thinking to me”.

Kennedy wrote in the same letter that “God will have a bit of explaining to do to me if I ever see him”.

She asked Fr Leonard to pray for her and said she would pray too in an effort to overcome her bitterness against God. “I have to think there is a God—or I have no hope of finding Jack again,” she wrote.

Fr Leonard taught at All Hallows College, the Vincentian seminary in Dublin, and first met a young Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in 1950 when she visited Dublin. The two struck up an immediate friendship and corre-

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The letters reveal that Kennedy often turned to Fr Leonard in times of darkness. In 1956, she wrote to the priest after the birth of a stillborn daughter, Arabella, and said: “Don’t think I would ever be bitter at God.” She observed that she could “see so many good things that come out of this—how sadness shared brings married people closer together”.

The letters reveal that Fr Leonard rekindled Kennedy’s interest in her Catholic faith. In early 1952, she wrote: “I terribly want to be a good Catholic now and I know it’s all because of you. I suppose I realised in the back of my mind you wanted that—you gave me the rosary as I left Ireland.”

She was 22 and told the priest: “I suddenly realised this Christmas that I desperately wanted to change and get close to God again—that it must have been your little prayers that worked—all the way across the ocean.”—CNS

Students join a protest in Lagos, Nigeria, demanding the release of abducted secondary schoolgirls in the remote village of Chibok in April.

(Photo: Akintunde Akinleye, Reuters, CNS)

US bishops, Iranian ayatollahs hold dialogue on nuclear arms

Q

UIETLY, a small group of US Catholic bishops and Iranian ayatollahs began in March what they intend to be an ongoing dialogue on nuclear weapons and the role of faith leaders in influencing political moves on the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme.

The meetings in Iran, hosted by the Supreme Council of Seminary Teachers of Qom, began with basic discussions of areas of philosophical and theological commonality between Catholicism and Islam, and concluded with a commitment to issue a joint statement, said the US bishop who led the delegation.

The four-day session between three US bishops and four prominent Muslim scholars and ayatollahs began with contacts facilitated by two Iranian-American doctoral students of John

Steinbruner, a professor of public policy at the University of Maryland and a consultant to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Peace and Justice.

Committee chairman Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, told Catholic News Service that the trip was keeping with the emphasis by Pope Francis on dialogue being “the key to discovering truth and avoiding misunderstanding”.

He explained that Prof Steinbruner had suggested such a dialogue to the committee. Once the bishops agreed, he and the students, along with USCCB staff, spent a year making arrangements.

The State Department and the Vatican were advised of the project, but it remained an independent activity.—CNS

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The Southern Cross, May 21 to May 27, 2014

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher Guest editorial: Michael Shackleton

Sister Earth

T

HERE is an intimately close bond between human life and the rest of creation.

Perhaps the first one to appreciate what this means was St Francis of Assisi, whose deep sense of belonging to creation and nature was at the heart of his spirituality.

He “fraternised” with God’s creatures, calling them his sisters and brothers.

In his Canticle of the Sun he praises God for Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Sister Water, Brother Fire, Sister Earth and Sister Death. He felt in his inner soul that he needed these in order to live, adore and serve God the Creator.

Now in the 21st century, we are almost reluctantly beginning to appreciate that Sister Earth is the only home we have, the environment where we develop and thrive, and our Sister is under threat. Human activity is endangering her.

A good example of this appeared last week when the World Health Organisation’s report on pollution in 1 600 cities worldwide found that only 12 per cent of them meet the guideline levels for small particles of dust and harmful chemical pollutants that can penetrate and lodge deep inside human lungs.

Alarmingly, South Africa’s major cities were on the list of culprits.

The report urged cities to improve public transport and urban developments that are attractive to pedestrians and cyclists, in other words, cut down on fossil fuels and their emissions.

As far back as 1971, Pope Paul VI sounded the alert in his apostolic letter Octogesima adveniens, when he commented: “Not only is the material environment becoming a permanent menace from pollution and refuse, new illness and absolute destructive capacity, but the human framework is no longer under man’s control, thus creating an environment for tomorrow which may well be intolerable”.

Governments and environmentalists know how injurious carbon and other emissions into the atmosphere are to our lives.

Sometimes they attempt to come to grips with eliminating

or decreasing their frightening effects. Sometimes they deny the gravity of the threat we all face. But the issue is no longer debatable.

The Church is showing it is ready to raise international awareness of the Christian duty to respect nature as God’s gift to us, and to respect Sister Earth and all she means to life on the planet.

Three days after his election, the present pope told journalists that he had taken the name of Francis of Assisi because “Francis was a man of poverty, who loved and protected creation”.

Not long afterwards he condemned “consumerism” and a “culture of waste”.

He then followed later with these words: “Let us be channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish.”

Last year during World Youth Day in Brazil, he told the indigenous people around the Amazon to resist the encroachment on their forests by agribusiness enterprises, because God had entrusted these to humanity and they should not be indiscriminately exploited.

In reminding us that St Francis was a man of poverty who loved and protected creation, the pope highlights how the plundering and pollution of our natural surroundings brings about marginalisation of communities and the resultant humiliation our fellow human beings have to endure.

Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, the papal spokesman, has stated that Pope Francis is preparing a document, maybe an encyclical, devoted to the necessity of caring for and protecting the environment.

The pope might take a strong moral stand and present proposals for the way the Church will have to be upfront and vocal in its dioceses, parishes, institutions, schools and homes to diminish the harm we may be doing to the ecology collectively and individually.

We should pray for the grace to see Christ in creation so as to heal and reclaim it, because the earth is beautiful and is in need of our caring stewardship.

Think again and give Luther his due

I

REFER to the excellent article in The Southern Cross (May 7) on Luther wanting to “reform the Church he loved”.

Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk (1483-1546), was also a scripture scholar of note and was responsible for his monumental translation of the scriptures into German to make them accessible to the German lay Catholic. He would have rejoiced in Vatican II. Luther, contrary to popular perceptions, saw the need for profound renewal in the Church, particularly in the lax lives of much of the clergy.

He railed against the shocking practice of selling indulgences, particularly for the rebuilding of St Peter’s basilica in Rome, and as a way of doing good works that would lead to salvation.

The popular, widespread understanding of many was that salvation was “achieved” by good works.

The Holy Spirit does, however, renew our hearts, equipping and calling us to good works. The wholesale traffic in the sale of relics, much of it fraudulent, was certainly one aspect of the superstition that was prevalent. A wrong perception

Today’s Israelis are Hebrews

B

ESIDES raising some pertinent points regarding the situation in Israel, Ken Hanna (April 16) tells us that we must not confuse the current Israelis with the biblical Hebrews.

If I’m not mistaken, biblical Hebrews could be defined by their belief in the Torah or the five books of Moses. During the almost 2 000 years since the Jewish people were ruthlessly driven out of Judaea by the Romans (AD73), a greater percentage have retained this particular belief.

In the late 1800s a national movement began to encourage the Jewish people to return to their homeland, no longer called Judaea but Palestine. This movement went under the banner of Zionism which reflected the growing insecurity Jewish people were experiencing in various countries. This insecurity would turn out to be well founded, with the growing popularity of Hitler and subsequent cold-blooded murder of six million Jewish people during the Second World War. It is documented that since the foundation of Israel, more than 40% of the world’s Jewish population have migrated there. Is Ken Hanna telling us that it’s the other 60% that have the biblical connection?

Patrick Dacey, Johannesburg

ON TAPE

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

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

of the basic gospel message in the Church is prevalent even today—justification by one’s own efforts, a form of Pelagianism—“be good and God will love you”.

Luther’s personal struggle, it is true, was severely complicated by the way the authorities in Rome under Pope Leo X treated him.

Would that the pope at that time had been a John Paul II or a John XXIII, the Protestant Reformation might never have occurred.

Luther’s heart’s desire was for an ecumenical council of the Church, which was long overdue.

His later overstressing of salvation by faith alone could very well have been the result, partially, of Rome’s defiance of him in the face of a genuine and important aspect of the basic gospel message.

Luther was blunt, bold, even vulgar, and mistakes were made, but he didn’t want schism. He wanted to reform the Church he loved.

Pope Leo X, the pope from 1513, squandered the fortune left by Julius II. He clearly failed to understand what was involved in the revolt of Luther, whom he excommunicated

Family planning

C

ARDINAL Wilfrid Napier in his article, “Plan families God’s way” (April 2), states that “many [priests] still mistakenly think and speak of NFP [natural family planning] as if it were the outdated and long-discarded rhythm method of family planning”.

This is certainly true and I am amazed that the communication of the Church with the laity is so poor that it has taken this long for this fact to be pointed out.

We all have relatives and friends who have unplanned children, and parents are acutely aware of the need to keep the family to the size they can afford, because today a child cannot leave school at 16, get a job and learn a trade while being paid a salary.

Unless parents can afford to keep their children in school, pay government school fees, and pay for some form of after-school training, their children might not get a job at all.

How does an illiterate couple, or a woman married to a nonOpinions 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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It is noteworthy that Pope Hadrian, who succeeded Pope Leo X, acknowledged that “abuses, sins and errors” were made by Church authorities in dealing with Luther.

Many Catholics seem to regard Luther as the arch-demon.

Yet his love for the Blessed Virgin Mary is clear in his writings. His love of the Bible has had a great influence on the importance to us Catholics of the scriptures in our day.

Noteworthy too is the fact that both Lutherans and Catholics believe in the true presence–—body, blood, soul and divinity—of our Lord in the Eucharist, which is quite different to what Calvin taught.

But Catholics and Lutherans each explain it differently, Catholics in transubstantiation coined by St Thomas Aquinas, and Lutherans as consubstantiation or true presence, together with the wine and bread remaining.

Contrary to what we Catholics have believed of Luther in the past, we need to enjoy the current spirit of ecumenical hospitality between Lutherans and ourselves.

John Lee, Johannesburg Catholic, or a woman who does not have autonomy over her sexuality, manage to persuade her husband to follow the method?

Cardinal Napier states that natural family planning is “a most accurate, scientifically tested and tried method” of family planning. We need to be given scientific facts, methods and statistics to support this statement.

I suggest that The Southern Cross produces a series of articles on exactly what the natural family planning method entails.

A Haylett, Pietermaritzburg

Married priests is the solution

W

HILE I agree that we should pray more earnestly for vocations, I believe the Church has been doing it for ages and the results have been dwindling over the years.

I do not believe that the solution is for women to be ordained as priests but to allow priests to marry.

Surely this is combining two great vocations into one—the priesthood and married life.

If we go back into the history of the Church, some of the first priests were married (St Peter) so why did the Church later declare that priests should not marry?

I believe that it would help the Church in understanding the problems that married people face.

Graham Pearson, Alberton

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The Southern Cross, May 21 to May 27, 2014

PERSPECTIVES

My life as a second fiddle I N my last column I promised to reveal some of my weaknesses and failures in the hope that by “lifting this cup of my life”, I might help others to accept their own limitations and even failures.

My focus this month is on how I have played second fiddle in life, how I have found myself being considered second best in leadership positions.

It all begins with how my school authorities and teachers viewed my leadership abilities and my suitability for leadership positions. This was at St Ignatius College outside Harare, then a new Jesuit high school, where what I had thought was my calling to the priesthood as a Jesuit came tumbling down.

I believe it was the year after I had announced that I no longer wanted to be a Jesuit that one of the Jesuit Fathers came to me and said words to this effect: “Emmanuel, we thought hard about whether you should be the head boy, because you do have good leadership qualities. The problem is that you are small in stature and we have very big boys here. We have therefore decided to appoint Dominic the head boy. You will be his deputy, but we expect you to do the job of head boy.”

This was the beginning of my life of playing second fiddle.

The second time was when I was a lecturer at the National University of Lesotho in the 1970s. I was a popular lecturer in English who got involved in the administration of the faculty of humanities—and guess what? I became the faculty tutor, or deputy dean!

During Zimbabwe’s War of Liberation I got actively involved in the struggle. Among other things, I established a successful underground branch of the Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front), or Zanu-PF, in Swaziland where political activities were outlawed. Because of my political activities in Swaziland and previously in Lesotho, I was prevailed upon (against my wish) to join the diplomatic service.

I

n briefing me before posting, the then deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Simon Muzenda, gave me a message to this effect: “We have appointed you deputy ambassador to Ethiopia and the Organisation of African Unity, but you are being appointed as a career diplomat because you have been interviewed and recommended by the Public Service Commission. Your ambassador is a political appointee who has less education and less international exposure than yourself. We therefore depend upon you to ensure the success of the embassy in Addis Ababa.”

Getting out of my car...

O

NE of the joys of living in Cape Town, where I now work, is that on several weekends, I’ve been able to park my car at home and get around on the public transport system and wherever my two feet can take me.

It has allowed me to notice the details of my surroundings in a way that is impossible when you’re concentrating on not driving into the car in front of you, whose driver inexplicably slows suddenly to 30km/h in a 60 zone!

It has been a few years since I last was a pedestrian. Back then, I was a penniless student, and it must have shown from my battered backpack, my dishevelled appearance as I was normally chasing a bus, in my trademark battered jeans. This might have been the reason I was mostly left alone.

I guess I look different now. I am older, no longer look as if my clothes are in desperate need of an upgrade, and my routes clearly show that I am more a tourist than someone in a rush to get somewhere.

This means that I’m frequently harassed for money, for food, for help, and sometimes I have been the focus of someone who just needs to hurl abuse at the world as a way of expressing their frustrations at a society that mostly ignores the most marginalised.

This made me think. When we are driving around in our cars, we don’t have to engage with anyone. We turn up the radio and wind up our windows to shut out the beggars at the traffic lights. And then we zoom past everyone else.

Our cars are a means through which we can touch the world outside of our families and our workplaces, but often they become bubbles in which we isolate ourselves from

coming into contact with the “lepers” of our modern society who make us uncomfortable.

Perhaps we are called to take ourselves out onto the streets and interact with the heart-breaking poverty that resides in our streets—and to recognise our own poverty.

While I can buy a meal for a homeless guy, I can’t feed everyone, and there will always be someone who is disappointed that I couldn’t give them something, too. I can listen to a man who tells me that he is desperately trying to get home to his family in a neighbouring country but I know that my small donation won’t go anywhere near being enough to buy the ticket home. I also need to recognise my inability to control how any monetary help I may give will be used.

But I must also allow the poor to interact with me, allow them to enrich my life. Like the young homeless man who in thanks for a few small coins told me and two friends that we had beautiful smiles.

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Emmanuel Ngara

Christian Leadership

When the embassy in Addis was successful and fully operational, I was allowed to leave the diplomatic service in order to take up a senior lectureship at the University of Zimbabwe.

At the farewell party hosted for me by the embassy, a friend, Dr Martin Ngwenya, commenced his speech with these words: “A pig will always be a pig. You take it out of its mud, wash it and anoint it. As soon as you leave it to its own devices, it will go back to its mud.”

Indeed, people said I would have had a brilliant career as a diplomat, and would have been appointed ambassador or even minister, but I found myself continuing with my trajectory of playing second fiddle as a pig in the mud: I became deputy vicechancellor at the Universities of Zimbabwe, Fort Hare, Natal and KwaZulu-Natal. I became a veritable professional deputy!

There are a few lessons I have learned from my life as a pig in the mud. First, high positions are not the only things that matter in this life. You get more satisfaction from following a career that is in line with your interests and calling.

Second, it is good to recognise that some people may be more gifted in matters of leadership and, all being equal, these may be promoted over you.

Third, it is sometimes necessary to be patient and bide one’s time. As it is, I am now employed as chief executive officer, and am no longer playing second fiddle.

Sarah-Leah Pimentel

The Mustard Seeds

homeless youngster who craved the dignity of a “normal” conversation with three women who live worlds away from his hand-to-mouth existence? Or three girls out on Valentine’s Day, knowing that he wasn’t just speaking about physical beauty but perhaps of something deeper which in today’s material world is so often forgotten?

Human contact. Allowing God-in-you to speak to God-in-me. This must always be the first goal of any form of communication. All of the latest technologies are only useful if they are able to enhance this goal and break down the barriers that prevent us from reaching out to one another.

Let me leave you with three short quotes from Pope Francis’ message for 2014 World Communications Day (observed by most of the Church on June 1 this year, but in our region on September 7), which expresses these ideas far more eloquently than I can: “Let our communication be a balm which relieves pain and a fine wine which gladdens hearts. May the light we bring to others not be the result of cosmetics or special effects, but rather of our being loving and merciful ‘neighbours’ to those wounded and left on the side of the road.

“Jesus shifts our understanding: it is not just about seeing the other as someone like myself, but of the ability to make myself like the other. Communication is really about realising that we are all human beings, children of God. “A culture of encounter demands that we be ready not only to give, but also to receive.”

REMEMBERING OUR DEAD

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7

Chris Chatteris SJ

Pray with the Pope

For the unemployed General Intention: That the unemployed may receive support and find the work they need to live in dignity.

P

OPE Francis has stressed the urgent need for employment in a world where it is massively lacking. The statistics support his sense of urgency.

The International Labour Organisation’s “Global Employment Trends” reports that the number of unemployed people in the world rose by 5 million to 202 million in 2013. In the same year youth unemployment broke a new record: the rate for 15 to 24-year-olds reached 13,1% (or 74,5 million), nearly three times the adult rate.

That’s the entire population of Brazil or four times the population of South Africa.

Some critics of the pope have taken him to task for highlighting this particular issue at the expense of others. I imagine he would reply that these numbers represent a vast ocean of human misery and one which leads to so many other miseries. Add to the picture a younger generation which cannot find work and you have a recipe for a globalised Arab Spring, and we all now know where that can lead— to further despair and frustration under a military regime.

The teaching of the Church has consistently pointed to work as a means of earning a living, but also as something intrinsic to our human dignity. In his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Francis says that is “through free, creative, participatory and mutually supportive labour that human beings express and enhance the dignity of their lives”. Given the difficulty of just providing work—any work—for ordinary people, this part of the Church’s teaching can seem like a luxury.

However, one can argue that the loss of the importance of the dignity of human work has itself contributed to the soaring unemployment rate. If we see people as mere units of labour which must be squeezed for ever greater efficiencies and greater profits, and can be replaced by cheaper labour or robots, then there will be continual pressure on employers to discard any considerations of human dignity.

We should pray for an understanding of this in terms of the Gospel. This paraphrase of one of the Lord’s sayings might help: Work was made for people, not people for work.

Come back to God! Missionary Intention: That Europe may rediscover its Christian roots through the witness of believers.

OMINICAN Father Timothy Radcliffe believes that religious life in Europe is due for a revival.

He makes this prophetic statement in the introduction to a book entitled A Future Full of Hope, edited by Sr Gemma Simmonds CJ. Fr Radcliffe argues that the Church and religious life have always risen to crises. For example, when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire and many priests and bishops became wealthy and powerful like secular rulers, religious life arose as a prophetic witness against this.

Or when the Roman Empire fell apart under the assault of the Barbarians, Western monasticism stood fast as a bastion of Christian civilisation. The flourishing of religious life after the crisis of the French Revolution and the other secular-inspired revolutions in Europe in the 18th century are another example. Crisis leads to religious revival, often led by religious.

Frankly, it’s hard to see the signs that Fr Radcliffe says are there, but of course he is a much closer observer of things European than those of us who live on the Southern tip, and we naturally hope that history will prove him right.

There is sometimes a tendency in the contemporary Church to write Europe off and say that the future hope for the faith is in the developing world.

Proponents of this view (I include myself here) would put Africa and other developing regions of the world forward as the hope of the faith for the future.

Certainly the developing world is already playing a much more significant role in the life of the Church and is providing vitality for those parts in which life is lacking.

But Europe, where so much of our Christian history was played out and where so many of our traditions are rooted, is important, and we must pray that the Europeans can learn how to make the faith flourish once more, even in the deserts of a world of consumerist plenty.

D

8

The Southern Cross, May 21 to May 27, 2014

COMMUNITY

Fr Mohohlo Maselwane is pictured with academic gradutes at St Peter Claver parish in Pimville, Johannesburg during an academic Mass to motivate pupils about the importance and significance of education.

Stellenbosch University’s Association of Catholic Tertiary Students are pictured after doing an outreach session at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town—handing out Easter eggs and telling stories about Jesus to the young hospitalised children.

The sodalities and Catholic Women’s League of St Anne’s parish in Mphophemi, KwaZuluNatal, display chasubles they have purchased as part of a project for a new church hall.

Keith and Daleen Barrett and their four sons, who asked the Four Questions, are pictured at a paschal lunch hosted by the parish of the Resurrection church in Bryanston, Johannesburg. Parish priest Fr Michael Fitzpatrick is seen far left.

HOLY CROSS SISTERS SCHOOL

Holy Cross Sisters’ School is an Independent Catholic School established in Bellville in 1969.

The school has a caring family atmosphere in the Holy Cross tradition and a record of quality values-based education. It is nestled in the leafy suburb of Bloemhof with extensive grounds and excellent sporting facilities.

Applications are invited for the following post commencing 1 January 2015:

PRiNCiPAL OF SCHOOL

The successful candidate will:  Preferably be a practising Catholic  Have an understanding and be committed to the Catholic ethos and mission of the school  Have a teaching degree / diploma / M+3  Have an understanding of present developments in education and experience in CAPS  Be familiar with the Religious Education Policies and Programmes in Catholic Schools  Have strong leadership skills  Have good interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate at all levels in diverse situations  Have excellent organizational skills  Have a minimum on 10 years teaching experience  Have a proud record of innovation, commitment and professionalism



 

        



Scalabrini Father Sèrgio Durigon washed the feet of 12 servers during the Holy Thursday service at Our Lady of Fatima parish in South Hills, Johannesburg.

KEy RESPONSiBiLiTiES

Manage and provide leadership in the 21st Century in accordance with principles and policies of the school Manage the Pre-Primary, Primary and Aftercare facility Co-ordinate and direct the Academic, Extra Curricular, Liturgical and Religious programmes in the school Ensure that all staff meet appropriate professional standards Provide appropriate pastoral care for staff and learners Manage all aspects of Human Resources Manage all administrative tasks Manage Quality Assurance in the school Administer and take responsibility for the Annual Budget Be accountable to the relevant authorities mainly the Holy Cross Provincial and WCED Facilitate adequate planning and ensure appropriate development Ensure that the school acts in accordance with the Vision and Mission of the Holy Cross Sisters at all times Conduct the school as a Christian community in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church and the charisma of the Holy Cross Sisters.

RCIA candidates and catechumens are pictured during the Easter vigil held at Don Bosco parish in Robersham, Johannesburg.

Applicants must submit a comprehensive CV together with 2 referees including 1 from your parish priest to: The Chairperson of the Board of Governors, Holy Cross Sisters’ School, P.O. Box 1016, Bellville 7535 OR Submit it in a sealed envelope to the secretary of the school OR Electronic application: admin@holycross.co.za Closing date: 13 June 2014

Holy Cross Sisters’ School reserves the right not to proceed with the filling of the post. An application in itself will not entitle the applicant to an interview or appointment. Failure to meet with the requirements of the post will automatically disqualify the applicant.

Holy Rosary High School in Johannesburg hosted an evening with the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra. Holy Rosary music teachers Rina Francis and Michelle Carter are pictured with conductor Pienaar Fourie.

INTERVIEW

The Southern Cross, May 21 to May 27, 2014

9

The heart: It’s where Jesus rests The Canadian philosopher Jean Vanier has received worldwide acclaim for his ministry to the mentally disabled. ALICIA VON STAMWITZ interviewed the founder of L’Arche.

T

HIS year marks the 50th anniversary of L’Arche, the international federation of 145 communities in 40 countries where people with and without intellectual disabilities live and work together.

It was founded by the Canadian philosopher Jean Vanier, who in March met with Pope Francis to mark the jubilee.

Mr Vanier, 85, is the son of the 19th governor-general of Canada.

Serving in the Royal Navy and then with the Royal Canadian Navy, he accompanied the English royal family on their tour of South Africa aboard HMS Vanguard.

In 1950 he began his philosophy studies which culminated in a doctorate in philosophy from the Institut Catholique de Paris. He then taught philosophy at the University of Toronto before leaving academia in 1964 for more spiritual work.

The first L’Arche community was founded that year in TroslyBreuil, France.

AvS: You’ve lived alongside people with intellectual disabilities for nearly 50 years now. What have they taught you about God? JV: There is a mystery behind people with disabilities. I find that in many ways, they are a presence of Jesus. We see their littleness, their fragility, their pain—and yet at the same time we can say that they speak of God. As we enter into relationship with them, they change us.

I spent a year living in community with a man named Andrew.

One day, he went to see a cardiologist. When he came back, I asked him what had happened.

He said: “The doctor looked into my heart.” I said: “Well, what did he see in your heart?” Andrew said: “He saw Jesus, of course.” Then I said to him: “What does Jesus do in your heart?” And Andrew said: “Jesus rests there.”

In the French the phrase is “il se repose”—the sense is “he takes his quietness there.”

It sounds like something a mystic might say.

Yes, this is what all the mystics say.

It’s what the gospels say. Jesus comes to live in our hearts.

Etty Hillesum, who died at Auschwitz, said this sort of thing too. At one point, she said: God can’t do very much for us now, but we can do something for God. We can give God our hearts, because he needs to have places where he can dwell in this world, in a world where he is being rejected.

Why do you think so few of us are able to celebrate the gifts of the intellectually disabled?

For a lot of people, to have a child “like that”, with a disability, means that they have done something wrong or have some evil in their genealogy. So the rejection of the child may be in one sense a de-

Retirement Home, Rivonia, Johannesburg Tel:011 803 1451 www.lourdeshouse.org

Right: Jean Vanier, founder of the international L’Arche communities. Left: Palestinians with intellectual disabilities make felted wool ornaments, Nativity sets and other gift items from the wool of Bethlehem sheep at the Ma’an lilHayat in Bethlehem, West Bank. Ma’an lil-Hayat is part of the international L’Arche network founded by Jean Vanier in 1964 for people with intellectual disabilities. (Photos: Nancy Phelan Wiechec & Debbie Hill/CNS) fence of their own integrity.

Also, some people don’t want others to know that their child has Down’s syndrome because they are afraid that it will make it more difficult for their other children to get married. So for the majority of people, it is a shame. But actually, being with the disabled can heal us.

How so?

The disabled have something to bring to others. There is something very particular in their kindness, in their affection.

I spent a year living at La Forestière with the most severely disabled members here, and I would give them baths. It is a great mystery to touch the bodies of those who are so fragile and who don’t communicate verbally, but who somehow still communicate with all their body. Their bodies say, simply: “Love me.”

It’s something that rises up from within them, and that is what touches me most deeply.

That reminds me of something you once said—that tenderness is at the very heart of L’Arche.

Yes. I once asked our community psychiatrist: What, to you, does it mean to be human—a pure human person? And he said “tenderness”.

Tenderness is deeply respectful of the other, not possessing in any way, but giving the other security.

When you first invited two intellectually disabled men, Raphael Simi and Philippe Seux, to live with you in 1964, did you have any special training?

No. How do you prepare to live with another human being? You learn as you go along. You don’t need to have a school for mothers to teach them to love their babies.

It’s natural to love, to have fun, to be attentive, to be kind.

Later I was asked to take over a large institution for the disabled, and then I needed help because there was a lot of violence there. I asked a psychiatrist to help me, and I had to learn about the sources of violence and some aspects of mental sickness.

But Raphael and Philippe had no mental sickness, they were just

highly slowed up.

That is an important distinction: between those who are “slowed up” and those who have a mental illness. Do you have both at L’Arche today?

Mainly we have those with intellectual disabilities, but the frontier between the two can be pretty thin.

You’ve said that it’s important to trust your intuition. Has your intuition ever led you astray?

Yes. We started some communities that didn’t work out. So there are times when you think you’re doing the right thing, but it turns out not to be right.

But that’s part of life. Maybe the experience taught you something.

You always have to learn from mistakes.

Someone once described you as an unconventional Christian.

What do you think they meant by that?

I don’t know. What is conventional and what is unconven-

Frail/assisted care in shared or single rooms.

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tional?

What I can say is that there’s something happening here in L’Arche that hasn’t yet been fully understood in the Church.

See, St Paul says that God has chosen what is weak and foolish to confound the intellectuals and the powerful. He wasn’t speaking about the intellectuals and powerful outside the Church: he was speaking about the intellectuals and powerful inside the Church.

The Church frequently intellectualises faith. But to love is to let the other rest in your heart, as Andrew put it. How many people would say that? And yet it’s right at the heart of the mystery of all the gospels. The whole vision of Jesus is there: to live in us as we live in him.

Tell us about L’Arche’s sister organisation, Faith and Light.

Faith and Light is an international association of people with disabilities and those who care about them. We founded Faith and Light in 1971, and we now have 12 500

576AM in Johannesburg & beyond

www.radioveritas.co.za streaming live

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Join us as a sister and through Christ, bring healing and joy to our world

The Missionary Sisters of the Assumption Sr Carmel, 082 543 9778 srcarmel@wizz.co.za

groups in 84 countries.

One important thing is that they are a very visible network of communities because they are based in parishes. Other people in the parish see the Faith and Light members gathering and they can get to know them.

L’Arche can be invisible—we have little, private houses with very few people—but Faith and Light groups are out in the world.

What is the essential message of L’Arche for the world?

L’Arche is essentially a place where you come to love and to accept people exactly as they are, with all that is broken in them. Not to change them, but to accept them.

To build relationships of trust.

The heart of L’Arche’s message is the text of Jesus: When you give a meal, don’t invite the members of your family, don’t invite your rich neighbours, don’t invite your friends. When you want to give a really good meal, invite the poor, the lame, the disabled and the blind.

That is to say: Don’t just remain only in the clan or the tribe, surrounded by your friends. This is a danger for a lot of people—to remain in the tribe where everybody’s just flattering each other.

Get to know those on the outside!

For some those may be challenging words. How can we begin?

Maybe we can go and visit an old people’s home and invite one of the old people out to a meal. But it’s important not to force things.

The vision is to be open, to open the door to new friendships.

Frequently, in my mind, it’s about what might happen if you are attentive.

For instance, I might have a cousin whose husband has just died. She doesn’t live too far away, and maybe I didn’t like that cousin too much—she was a bit of a pain in the neck—but maybe she’s the one that I can invite to a meal.

Maybe she’s the one on the outside.

Sometimes opening up like this leads us to new discoveries, to profound and unexpected meetings.— CNS

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10

The Southern Cross, May 21 to May 27, 2014

PILGRIMAGE

Diary of a pilgrim Southern Cross and Radio Veritas pilgrims travelled to Rome and Assisi for the canonisation of Ss Pope John XXIII and John Paul II. CLAIRE MATHIESON takes us through her diary of each day of the pilgrimage.

DAY 1 & 2

W

E met at OR Tambo International. Some of the pilgrims were easy to spot: the white Fowler Tour caps stood out in the crowd, but many others blended in, so the first flight involved trying to make eye contact with people in the hope they’d somehow recognise you.

It was only once we were on the bus in Rome on day 2, that we saw our group in its entirety. And what better way to get to know everyone than by spending time together at Mass and sharing in a delicious Italian meal. By the end of the day, we knew one another and friendships were forged.

DAY 3 The night was short and morning came fast. Our alarms went off at 3:15 and we were on the bus an hour later, headed off to become part of history as Popes John Paul II and John XXIII were canonised. But so too were a million other people.

There was a degree of anxiety. What would we see? What wouldn’t we see? How many Poles would be there? Did I pack my wallet?

Thousands had camped out overnight and despite getting to the Vatican before sunrise, we were still 800m away, positioned at the bottom of Via della Conciliazione, the road leading to the Vatican. We found a position next to a group of young people from the Czech Republic piled on top of blankets, camping bags and mats. Half were still sleeping, the others chatting or praying the rosary. The spirit was festive and the atmosphere exciting.

Our South African pilgrims were decked out in their Bafana Bafana and Springbok jerseys (no Protea fans on this trip?) and waving South African flags. Some had brought chairs; others hit the floor unafraid of the Roman dirt. The wait would be long and legs would be tired. Five hours later, another few thousand additional people had joined our already cramped space and body space became non-existent.

The pushing was spectacular and tensions rose high. The mixture of pushy people desperate to catch a glimpse of a screen collided with the passion of the Italians. As soon as it sounded like a fight might break out the internationally recognised “ssssh sssh” would pacify the argument. Peace prevailed. As the crowd got too thick and you bonded a little too closely with those around you, people still tried to push forward with no room to move. It was a recipe for disaster but miraculously

no one was hurt.

Sadly, some of our group did get pushed out and a mini group relocated to the less-congested Navona Square where a smaller but equally passionate crowd was watching the ceremony.

My favourite moment was after the ceremony as Catholics from around the world streamed out of the Vatican waving their flags, joyously renewed.

Almost as expected in a crowd 1 million strong, two pilgrims went missing and did not make it back to the bus. Reports to the police were prepared, phone calls to South Africa made and a mad dash around the immediate vicinity by those in running shoes was undertaken three or four times, in the hope of spotting the lost souls. Thank goodness for running shoes and a new fitness regime.

The group was reunited and the bus ride home was a time of reflection—the meal that night was a time to recount the history we had just been a part of.

DAY 4 The group was grateful for a good night’s sleep in their comfortable hotel as the day would be another busy one. Discovering ancient Rome and Rome of the Renaissance was on the itinerary.

Our day started with Mass in the beautiful St Alfonso church. A neighbour to St Mary Major basilica, it’s hard to believe so many beautiful places of worship exist in such close proximity.

Southern Cross and Radio Veritas pilgrims in front of Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence. (Photo: Claire Mathieson) After an encouraging word from spiritual director Fr Emil Blaser, we headed towards the basilica. Rome was still particularly busy—far busier than usual, raising concerns of the infamous pick-pocketers. St Mary’s, like the other basilicas, can leave one dizzy from the dramatic ceilings. We found a similar situation inside the basilica of St John Lateran, our next stop.

I particularly enjoyed seeing this church, the pope’s parish church as the bishop of Rome. The basilica was also decked out with giant pictures of the two newly canonised saints—both of whom called this church their parish. It was another special moment.

Pilgrims had the opportunity to visit the Colosseum next. The stories and histories of the landmark are intriguing but what is most mind-boggling is the quality of workmanship and the speed at which it was built.

It’s a reminder that not only gladiators and animals died here but thousands of slaves who did not build up to scratch.

Lunch was spent at the world-famous Trevi fountain where we enjoyed a slice of classic Italian pizza and tossed coins into the fountain, with the hope of returning to the Eternal City.

We also saw the Pantheon which was dedicated to pagan gods but recently celebrated 1 405 years as a Catholic church.

After another mad scramble to find a missing pilgrim, our afternoon was spent on Navona square before heading back.

Day 5, 6 & 7 I don’t speak Italian but I do eat it —lots of it. Partly because it’s delicious and partly because it just keeps coming. The sights and sounds keep coming too. Rome is not a city you can do in just a few days, or months, but pilgrims were treated to the must-see highlights. Tuesday would see our return to the Vatican, this time to explore the Vatican museums, Sistine Chapel (hold on to something, you’re about to get dizzy again) and St Peter’s basilica.

Again, the city was chaotically busy; the lure of the city and its new saints was unprecedented. Pilgrims were blown away by the chapel and the basilica, where they could stop and pray at a chapel dedicated to St John Paul II and see the uncorrupted body of St John XXIII. The sheer scale of the basilica is something that you are continuously reminded of. The lettering around the inside of the dome is 2m high—something incomprehensible from down below. The statues too dwarfed our pilgrims.

In the afternoon we did what popes do in the summer time, we retreated to Castel Gandolfo, the traditional summer residence of the popes. It is peaceful, green and beautiful. Mass here was serene and inspiring and a good opportunity to ease into the evening.

Day 6 was another early one. We had a pope to see! The papal audience is not a Mass, but rather a time for the Holy Father to share a message with the faithful. It’s a joyous occasion and our pilgrims brought

out their flags once again. I’m fairly certain Pope Francis heard us when the “pilgrims from South Africa” were welcomed on loudspeaker.

The papal audience and canonisation were meant to see rain. If the new saints are to become patrons of something, I propose they become saints of the weather clearing up.

The weather always improved at pivotal moments!

Our pilgrims got very close to Pope Francis and were able to wave and get a good look at the pontiff as he drove past.

I did warn pilgrims to ensure they saw him through their own eyes, and not through the screen of an iPad or camera lens. We’ve travelled this far to see him in person; you can view him on a screen from your couch. And we did see him!

We continued on a high note!

After a bit of shopping and lunch, it was off to the catacombs, a fascinating history in Christianity seen up close before joining the bishops of Southern Africa for Mass in St Paul’s Outside the Walls.

The pilgrimage coincided with the ad limina visit of the region’s bishops. It was a beautiful moment for many of the pilgrims to see their bishops in Rome.

It was also an opportunity to put a face to the names so familiar in Catholic media—this was no more true for this journalist who has a great telephonic and digital relationship with many of the bishops but had not had the pleasure of meeting many of them. This was it!

Day 7 was our morning to sleep in. And it was well-needed. The hours of walking, standing and the emotional experience of encountering Rome, the saints and our popes had been exhausting.

We were able to further relax and enjoy the drive through the Umbrian countryside on our way to Assisi, famed as the home of St Francis and St Clare.

Photos are not allowed in the majority of Assisi’s churches, forcing pilgrims to experience the church with their own eyes—not a bad thing at all! Assisi had a slower but spiritual pace.

We received further insight into the popular saint and learnt more about his faith life—something quite apt considering we had just encountered the pope who had taken his name.

From spending time in St Mary of the Angels, where St Francis’ church still stands, to visiting the basilicas of St Francis and St Clare, pilgrims were able to understand Franciscan spirituality.

Pilgrims hiked along the same path St Francis did and spent time in Greccio where he created the first nativity scene, and visited Fonte Colombo where the saint wrote the rule of his order.

And all too soon, it was over and we were reminiscing on the trip. We were physically tired but spiritually renewed.

And the best part of a pilgrimage? You might be one person but you don’t have to do it alone. You start out with strangers and you end with friends—those that have inspired you and grown with you in the faith.

CLASSIFIEDS Our bishops’ anniversaries This week we congratulate: May 23: Bishop Dabula Mpako of Queenstown, on the third anniversary of his episcopal ordination.

May 31: Bishop Patrick Zithulele Mvemve retired of Klerksdorp, on his 73rd birthday.

Word of the Week Humanae Vitae: The 1968 encyclical by Pope Paul VI on married love and procreation.

Excommunication: A penalty of censure by which a baptised person is excluded from the communion of the faithful for committing and remaining obstinate in certain serious offences specified in canon law. Even though excommunicated, a person still is responsible for fulfillment of the normal obligations of a Catholic.

See: Another name for diocese or archdiocese.

Liturgical Calendar Year A Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday, May 25, Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 8:5-8, 14-17, Psalm 66:1-7, 16, 20, 1 Peter 3:15-18, John 14:15-21 Monday, May 26, Memorial Day Acts 16:11-15, Psalm 149:1-6, 9, John 15:26 -16:4 Tuesday, May 27 Acts 16:22-34, Psalm 138:1-3, 7-8, John 16:5-11 Wednesday, May 28 Acts 17:15, 22 -- 18:1, Psalm 148:1-2, 11-14, John 16:12-15 Thursday, May 29 Acts 18:1-8, Psalm 98:1-4, John 16:16-20 Friday, May 30 Acts 18:9-18, Psalm 47:2-7, John 16:20-23 Saturday, May 31, The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Zephaniah 3:14-18 or Romans 12:9-16, Isaiah 12:2-6, Luke 1:39-56 Sunday, June 1, The Ascension of the Lord Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9, Ephesians 1:1723, Matthew 28:16-20

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 603. ACROSS: 3 Steadfast, 8 Levi, 9 Foolhardy, 10 Hurley, 11 Swing, 14 Moons, 15 Tall, 16 Titus, 18 Spew, 20 Tolls, 21 Rents, 24 Crunch, 25 Psalm book, 26 Brim, 27 Eucharist. DOWN: 1 Alchemist, 2 Overpower, 4 Troy, 5 Aglow, 6 Flaunt, 7 Side, 9 Feast, 11 Sites, 12 Gallantry, 13 Blasphemy, 17 Stork, 19 Wealth, 22 Tiber, 23 Esau, 24 Cows.

Community Calendar

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

CAPE TOWN: Helpers of God’s Precious Infants meet the last Saturday of the month except in December, starting with Mass at 9:30 am at the Sacred Heart church in Somerset Road, Cape Town.

Mass is followed by a vigil and procession to Marie Stopes abortion clinic in Bree Street. For information contact Colette Thomas on 083 412 4836 or 021 593 9875 or Br Daniel Manuel

on 083 544 3375.

Good Shepherd, Bothasig.

Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in the chapel. All hours. All welcome.

NELSPRUIT: Adoration of the blessed sacrament at St Peter’s parish. Every Tuesday from 8am to 4:45pm followed by Rosary, Divine Mercy prayers, then a Mass/Communion service at 5:30pm.

To advertise in this space call Elizabeth Hutton on 021 465 5007 or email adver tising @scross.co.za

The Southern Cross, May 21 to May 27, 2014

CLASSIFIEDS

11

Births • First Communion • Confirmation • Engagement/Marriage • Wedding anniversary • Ordination jubilee • Congratulations • Deaths • In memoriam • Thanks • Prayers • Accommodation • Holiday Accommodation • Personal • Services • Employment • Property • Others Please include payment (R1,37 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

IN MEMORIAM

FERNANDES—Debbie.

Our dearest daughter and sister left us on May 20, 2001. Your golden heart has stopped beating. Your happy cheerful outlook on life has been a tremendous example to all of us.

Rest peacefully in God's garden. Till we meet again. Your ever loving mom, sisters, brother-inlaws and nieces and nephews.

FERNANDES—Debbie. I knew a smile I would love to see, a loving face so dear. I knew a hand I would love to hold, a voice I long to hear. I knew them all because I love you.

Your ever-loving son Paulo Joseph. I miss you mom.

VAN SCHOOR—Fr Laurence. You will always be remembered by the Fernandes family.

WINDVOGEL—Magdalene (née Ackerman). In loving memory of my sister, called home one year ago on May 24, 2013. It does not take a special day to bring you my mind, for the days I do not think of you are very hard to find. Precious thoughts of times together will last forever. Rest in Peace. Always in our thoughts. Your sister Catherine and children.

PERSONAL

ABORTION is murder—Silence on this issue is not golden, it’s yellow! Avoid ‘Pro-abortion’ politicians.

ASIAN lady, sixties, seeks mature gentleman for friendship. Write to P O Box 52108, Berea Road, 4007, KZN or SMS 079 488 2865.

CAN YOU be silent on abortion and walk with God? Matthew 7:21 See www.180movie.com CATHOLIC TELEVISION: To receive EWTN Global Catholic Networks via satellite in the PTA/JHB region, please contact Frans on 082 698 1096. www.abortioninstru

ments.com is the graphic truth that will set you free.

PRAYERS

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

Leon and Karen.

THANKS be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, For all the benefits thou hast won for me, For all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother, May I know thee more clearly, Love thee more dearly, And follow thee more nearly, For ever and ever.

ACCOMMODATION WANTED

RENTAL ACCOMMODATION WANTED IN CAPE TOWN—Catholic family (two adults and young infant) relocating to Cape Town for work at CPUT (Roeland). Looking for secure, spacious, unfurnished rental accommodation with private courtyard or garden in a family-friendly neighbourhood up to 10km away—minimum 2 bedrooms with full bathroom.

6 or 12 month lease from 1 June, mid-June or 1

July. Alternatively, short term furnished accommodation for 3-4 months.

Contact Kim at kimesmit@gmail.com

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

LONDON: Protea House: Single R350, twin R560 per/night. Self-catering, busses and underground nearby. Phone Peter 021 851 5200 or 0044 208 7484834.

BALLITO: Up-market penthouse on beach, selfcatering, 084 790 6562.

FISH HOEK: Self-catering accommodation sleeps 4.

Secure parking. Tel: 021 785 1247.

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

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

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

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OUR GIFT TO YOU!

Subscribe now to the digital or print edition, for yourself or for someone you love, and we will send you a beautiful

OLIVE-WOOD HOLY LAND ROSARY made by Christians in the land of Christ and blessed with holy water in Jerusalem.

*Offer valid while stocks last

NOAH OLD AGE HOMES

We can use your old clothing, bric-a-brac, furniture and books for our 2nd hand shop.

Help us to create an avenue to generate much needed funds for our work with the elderly.

Contact Ian Veary on 021 447 6334 www.noah.org.za

The Southern Cross is a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa. Printed by Paarl Coldset (Pty) Ltd, 10 Freedom Way, Milnerton.

Published by the proprietors, The Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Co Ltd, at the company’s registered office, 10 Tuin Plein, Cape Town, 8001.

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7th Sunday of Easter: June 1 Readings: Acts 1:12-14, Psalm 27:1, 4, 7-8, 1 Peter 4:13-16, John 17:1-11

P

ENTECOST is already in sight, and the Easter season is galloping to its end. Next Sunday sees us looking to the question of “What happens next?”, as we shall shortly be relapsing into “ordinary time”. The answer is that we have to keep our eyes on each other, on Jesus, and on God. The first reading gives us the aftermath of the Ascension, which we shall celebrate next Thursday; the little group, bereft of their Lord, return from the Mount of Olives to that Upper Room where we saw them celebrate the Last Supper; and Luke gives us a list of them, eleven disciples (Judas is missing and has not yet been replaced), and then “the women” (always a majority when the Church gathers), and with them “Mary the mother of Jesus; and his brothers”. So they know nothing better than to remain together until the Spirit comes; and we should learn from them of the importance of being “in community” as a Church, most especially in company with Mary.

The psalm, as so often, reminds us that if we are to survive, we must concentrate on God: “The Lord is my help and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” Then the poet twice uses the word “seek”, though it does not always come out in translation: “One thing I ask of

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Accepting what happens next Nicholas King SJ

Sunday Reflections

the Lord—this is what I seek”; then, at the end, “My heart says to you, ‘Seek your face, O Lord!’ ” That will be our task, longing for God: “In the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord, to visit his Temple.” Underlying it all is a serene confidence, which we shall do well to imitate, that God is attentive: “Lord, hear my voice; I called, and he was gracious and answered me.”

The second reading is coming to the end of the first letter of Peter, which we have been following all through this Easter season. It offers a useful reminder that the fact of resurrection does not mean that everything is going to be easy now. Instead, we are encouraged to “participate in Christ’s sufferings”.

But that does not mean that we are to sulk:

“Rejoice, that you may rejoice, exulting in the revelation of his glory.” It gets worse: “If you get reviled because of Christ’s name, congratulations, because the Spirit of Glory and of God is resting upon you.” The author does not want us to be punished because we are “murderers or thieves or evil-doers or busybodies”. However, if we get into trouble because of being Christian: “Don’t be ashamed, but glorify God for this cause.” It is possible to survive in this brave new world, but it will not be easy.

In the gospel for next Sunday, we are overhearing the beautiful prayer at the end of Jesus’ Last Supper discourse, and we need to recognise that we can only survive because the Lord is praying to the Father for us. He makes the prayerful gesture of “lifting up his eyes”, and addressing the Father: “The hour has come.” That “hour”, we have increasingly come to realise throughout the gospel, is the time of Jesus’ “lifting-up”, which means both his death and his exaltation. But the prayer now is that the Father, at this (literally) crucial moment, should “glorify your Son, in order that the Son may glorify you”. Then we explore the relationship between Father and

Reflections on my mother T

HERE’S an old adage that offers wise counsel, even as it leaves us powerless to heed its advice: Pick your parents wisely!

Easier said than done; but the adage holds. We’re not fully our own persons.

We’re also products of our parents who don’t give us only our physical DNA, but, in complex confluence of how they are inside their own persons and how they relate to us and to the world, also profoundly help shape our person and our character.

As adults, it can be both freeing and emotionally crippling to reflect upon exactly what we really inherited from our parents. They shape us.

I have this in the back of my mind as I reflect upon my own mother and the DNA that I inherited from her.

She died 43 years ago but left a lot of herself here, with my siblings, with me.

What did she give me, beyond some of my bodily features?

What she gave me didn’t happen in a vacuum. She raised a large family, with the help of a very supportive husband, my dad, and, while they had a marriage made in heaven, they had to spend most of it chronically strapped for money, time and energy.

The demands on her were always somewhat beyond those for which she had adequate resources. But, somehow, she always

Conrad

Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

managed to make do, always found a way to stretch everything, including her time and energy, to feed, clothe, and properly mother us.

She frequently didn’t have the time, energy or heroic patience to provide us with the individual affection and warmth that a child so desperately desires and needs, even though she was a naturally warm and kind-hearted person.

The pressure of so many needs could wear her idealism and attention pretty thin at times.

And so she wasn’t a Hollywood mom, always perfectly dressed and perfectly affectionate; but she gave us, and in spades, the most important thing that a home is really asked to give, safety and security.

The one need in a child that trumps all others is the need to feel safe and secure.

My mother gave us a house and a home that was always steady and robustly sane—oftentimes, loudly so.

Inside that ambience we were always

safe. Nobody could have given me a greater gift or greater riches in my youth.

Moreover, inside all that busyness, scrambling to provide, and the conscriptive attention deficit disorder that she had chronically to deal with, she taught us something else of importance, namely, that you don’t have to wait until everything is perfect, until all your bills are paid, your health is perfect, you have the right leisure time, and there are no large headaches waiting for you tomorrow, in order to celebrate and enjoy a moment.

She knew how to celebrate the temporary.

Every feast-day, birthday or Sunday was an occasion for a special meal and a special celebration, no matter what might be putting a damper on life.

And, perhaps most important of all, my mother was largely responsible for giving me faith, though, in this, she had my dad as an equal partner; however she, more than anyone else, pushed me to be open to hear the call to priesthood.

Anthropologists who study initiation rites in various cultures tell us that the initiatory process needed to move someone from being a child to an adult needs to instil four salient truths: Your life is not your own. Life is hard. You will die. Your life is not about you.

The culture and Church out of which she came had already indelibly etched those truths into her. For her generation, especially if you were poor and lived in a rural area, life was naturally hard and mortality rates were high.

Lots of people died young. And the ethos of her generation held that family, Church, neighbour and country could ask you for your life, and your duty was to give it over, without whining or self-pity.

It was selfish to think first of yourself.

She had inhaled that ethos and then she etched it into us, particularly the truth about your life as not being about you. The other facts, that life was hard and that you were going to die, were left to speak for themselves; but, from the time you graduated from toys to school, the message was clear: Your life is not your own. Your life is not about you. Anthropologists might well study my mother’s initiatory vision and tactics.

No mother is perfect, and neither was mine. She had her faults and I carry many of those too, along with the better things she gave me.

But, reflecting on my mother, I have only good feelings and warm gratitude. I chose my mother wisely!

Son, and discover this: “You have given him authority over all flesh, in order that everyone you have given him, he may give eternal life”. Then we discover what eternal life means, and how we are to get through what remains of the Easter season and on into what lies ahead: “That they know you as the only True God, and the One whom you have sent, Jesus Christ.” That is where the focus of our gaze has to be, if we are to get through. And how is God glorified? By our doing what Jesus did: “I glorified you on earth, by perfecting the ‘work’ that you gave me to do.” And the “work” of which he speaks is, we discover, that of living out the love that God sent him to bring. Then comes the prayer: “Glorify me, Father, in your presence, with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.” Finally, we hear of our task: “I made known your name to the people whom you gave me from the world; they belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your Word. Now they know that everything that you gave me is from your presence.”

That focus on God and on Jesus is what will get us through whatever lies ahead.

Southern Crossword #603

ACROSS 3. Fad tastes that become constant (9) 8. One of Jacob’s sons (4) 9. Idiot, sturdy, is reckless (9) 10. First archbishop of Durban (6) 11. It goes back and forth in the playground (5) 14. Lunar months (5) 15. Not a short story and hard to believe (4) 16. Paul missed meeting him in Troas (2 Cor 2) (5) 18. Vomit (4) 20. Charges paid for sounding the bells? (5) 21. Tears after paying the landlords (5) 24. Grind with teeth (6) 25. David’s biblical contribution (5,4) 26. Water jars filled up to here (Jn 2) (4) 27. Blessed Sacrament (9)

DOWN 1. Alec Smith, an old-time optimistic metallurgist (9) 2. The gates of hell will not do it to the Church (Mt 16) (9) 4. Famous siege city (4) 5. Glimmering (5) 6. Display ostentatiously (6) 7. President takes the team in with him (4) 9. Church festival for the hungry (5) 11. Areas for the building contractor (5) 12. Heroism (9) 13. Profanity (9) 17. The bird in the nursery?

(5) 19. You have it if you’re prosperous (6) 22. You will come across it in Rome (5) 23. Where Saul holds a biblical character (4) 24. A long time before they come home (4)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

A

PRIEST is driving down the road when he comes across a baboon lying dead in the road.

He contacts the local police station to inform them of his find.

The policeman, upon hearing that the caller is a Catholic priest, asks sarcastically: Did you give it the last rites?”

“No,” the priest responds, “I thought I’d inform his next of kin first.”