140528

The

S outhern C ross

May 28 to June 3, 2014

Reg No. 1920/002058/06 No 4875

www.scross.co.za

R7,00 (incl VAT RSA)

Why Jesus went to hell

We want a saint for South Africa!

Big Bang priest still making noise

Page 7

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Page 10

Radio Veritas is ‘growing up’

BY CLAIRE MATHIESON

J

UST two years into their medium wave broadcasts, Radio Veritas are upgrading their facilities to prepare for the future of radio, keep on top of technology, and to ensure listeners get the best product possible in a move that makes the radio station function like a “professional adult”.

The station has started to prepare for digital broadcasts of the future and has taken the first step by replacing its studio equipment. “This move was prompted by periodic blackouts and ‘dead air’ we would sometimes experience. We realised something was wrong with the wiring or the desk but have not been able to pinpoint the problem,” said station director Fr Emil Blaser OP. “Instead of waiting for the problem to happen again, we thought we’d take this opportunity to go digital in studio,” Fr Blaser told The Southern Cross.

The move resulted in regular programming being put on hold for two weeks while the new desk was installed.

Listeners to 576AM and channel 870 on DStv instead found EWTN on their airwaves during the maintenance period.

“We know people have missed the regular programming but it was necessary to make the change. It’s an investment in our future and to ensure future broadcasts are seamless.”

The new digital desks will have very little impact on the listeners—the sound will remain the same. But the upgrade will make a big difference for presenters. “This desk can be programmed which is ideal for a radio station that doesn’t always have technicians on hand.

It’s not a major shift, but it gives us far greater potential,” said Fr Blaser.

The station director said the station needed to “stay on top of things” as broadcasting is an expensive business. “We were able to make this upgrade thanks to a donor and the contribution the Department of Communications has made to our broadcasting costs.”

Fr Blaser said the support has meant the station is forging ahead. The broadcast costs alone stand at R123 000. “Thanks to donations and the support from the department, we have money to continue and to break even.”

Fr Blaser said the station was also keeping an eye on developments in broadcasting, namely the future national shift to Digital Radio Mondial (DRM) or satellite radio.

The move would require listeners to use different receivers but the quality would be “better than FM”. Tests are currently ongoing.

“We already broadcast across different mediums and we want to keep up with what-

With

The

Fr Emil Blaser, station director of Radio Veritas, has made the decision to upgrade the studio with digital equipment. (Photo: Claire Mathieson) ever technologies our listeners have.”

The station currently broadcasts in six languages online, on 576AM and on DStv and can be listened to through televisions, radio sets, computers and smart phones.

In fact, the station is so diverse that getting an accurate listener count has been impossible. “I would guess we have 70 000 listeners.

The last count we got put Radio Veritas at 35 000 listeners in Johannesburg. But we have listeners all over the country and that number didn’t take into account listeners online or on DStv, so we really have no clue.”

But, what the station does know is the impact it is making. “Our Mass at noon is still our most popular show, followed by our morning show and Khanya Leseli in the afternoon,” said Fr Blaser. “We have lots of correspondence from our listeners and we know we’re bringing them hope.”

The business side of things has also matured. Apart from joining various broadcasting bodies, Fr Blaser said in the two years since launching on medium wave, the station has become more sustainable financially. “We’ve worked hard to get to where we are and now, thanks to contributions and support, we can plan the future.”

The station is in talks to launch its Catholic media journalism school which will see young South Africans—and later Africans—being formally trained in news journalism. “Our news department is one area where the station has really matured. We have the equipment and the contacts to bring news from around the world, including lots of live links. This is something we want to see grow.” The station has taken on new staff in this regard.

“We’re busy and constantly challenged but it remains exciting,” said Fr Blaser. “We’ve gotten through our teething problems and we’re functioning like an adult station now.”

Marist postulants of Champagnat Formation House in Malawi are beginning preparations for their Founder’s Day celebrations with siblings and parents of the brothers, novices and postulants, with a novena to founder St Marcellin Champagnat.

(Front from left) Mugove Chibengwa (Zimbabwe), Golden Tati (Zambia), Antonio Armando (Mozambique), Joseph Lazarus (Malawi), Benson Chaula (Malawi). (Middle from left) Patrick Rodrick (Malawi) and Rufino Paulo (Mozamabique). (Back from left) Lazarus Jailosi (Malawi), Blessed Vambe (Zimbabwe), Augustine Mateyu (Malawi), Geronimo Raimond (Mozambque), Jimmy Soko (Malawi), Oscar Kapito and Aubrey Chimangeni (Malawi).

Nigerian archbishop condemns twin bombings A RCHBISHOP Ignatius Kaigama of Jos condemned twin bombings that claimed more than 100 lives in his city, saying they were setbacks to peace efforts.

The explosions occurred within 30 minutes of each other at a bus terminal and adjacent market, killing 118 people and injuring 45, the National Emergency Management Agency reported.

The bombings were the latest in a country already jittery over a series of similar attacks and kidnappings carried out by Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group with a somewhat undefined leadership and structure.

No one claimed immediate credit for the Jos bombings.

Archbishop Kaigama, president of the Nigerian bishops' conference, told reporters during a news conference that the prospects for peace seemed to improve in recent weeks.

“Just two weeks ago, the Catholic Church did fundraising for its new cathedral, and Muslim leaders were not only there, but actu-

Smoke rises after a bomb blast in the crowded market business district of the central Nigerian city of Jos. (Photo: Reuters, CNS) ally made donations”, the archbishop said.

“Because of the solidarity and the oneness that characterised the event, we concluded that peace had finally returned to Jos. “So, this news is very disturbing, very retrogressive and quite sad”, he added.

Southern Cross to Fatima • Lourdes • Avila with Bishop João Rodrigues & Günther Simmermacher Join The Southern Cross and the Diocese of Tzaneen on a Pilgrimage of Prayer for the Sainthood Cause of Benedict Daswa to places of Our Lady in France, Spain & Portugal!

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2

The Southern Cross, May 28 to June 3, 2014

LOCAL

CLC experience moving Visit to roots pilgrimage in Eastern Cape of Little Eden STAFF REPORTER

STAFF REPORTER

I

N celebration of the conclusion of the 450th anniversary of the founding of the Marian sodalities—from which they originated—members of the Christian Life Community (CLC) went on pilgrimage from Port Elizabeth to East London, Keilands, Pallotti Farm, Grahamstown and Dunbrody.

“Ignatian spirituality, community and mission constitute the three pillars of CLC,” said the organisation’s Veronica Wellburn.

“These are the cornerstones of the way of life that we follow to deepen our relationship with God and increase our awareness of God’s action in our daily lives.”

The pilgrimage, she said, was a means to deepen and develop all three aspects.

Ms Wellburn said the 1 000km journey allowed members to bond and share life stories.

The regional community is scattered over the Eastern Cape, with well-established groups in Port Elizabeth and East London, and an emerging group in Mthatha.

“Because of the distances we seldom have the opportunity to get together as a region, so this was wonderful!” Ms Wellburn said.

“The support of the community was extraordinary and the generous donations of food, accommodation, cars and petrol made it affordable.”

Ms Wellburn said the organisa-

T

Members of the Christian Life Community went on a pilgrimage through their region, the Eastern Cape, to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the Marian sodalities from which they originated. tion is firmly rooted in the broader Church, as was evident by the joyful receptions from the sisters at the missions they visited.

The group were also joined by Mgr Brendan Deenihan, apostolic administrator of Port Elizabeth.

For many, the visit to Keilands Mission brought to life the meaning of Christ’s request to go into the world and preach the good news, while the visit to Dunbrody Mission gave insight into the dedication of the Jesuits in taking the faith to indigenous people and making education a cornerstone of that effort.

“In addition to the spiritual impact of community and mission we had evening reflections each

day,” Ms Wellburn told The Southern Cross. The CLC travelled with their spiritual guide, Fr Graham Pugin SJ, who celebrated Mass in various churches along the journey.

Ms Wellburn said a special moment was a visit to the old cemetery in Grahamstown, where the diocese’s first bishops, Notre Mere, the first nun in South Africa, and the early Jesuits are buried.

“Everyone was touched by the memories of what these early pioneer missionaries had brought us and which we have inherited with the duty to keep alive.”

“There was joy and awe as we traced the footsteps of those who went before us,” she said.

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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

HE visit to the home town of Domitilla Rota Hyams, the founder of Little Eden, by Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban and Bishop Graham Rose of Dundee has been hailed a success.

The president of the Associazione Domitilla Rota Hyams Onlus, Giuliano Rota Martir, expressed grateful thanks to the bishops, their companions, and Little Eden for attending the two special events which took place during May in Bergamo, Italy.

The bishops concelebrated a solemn Mass at Santuario Della Madonna Della Cornabusa on May 4.

On May 6 the cardinal addressed members of religious orders, academics, politicians, council members and citizens of Bergamo at Magna Hall at l’Università di Bergamo about South Africa’s celebration of 20 years of democracy.

This included recollections of the events leading up to the first democratic elections in South Africa, and the new government formed by the late former president Nelson Mandela.

During his speech, Cardinal Napier reflected on the impact and influence the Church had on bringing the two opposing parties together during the apartheid era.

He recalled that people were segregated by race and the negative impact it had on the country and the world.

The cardinal expressed hope that things would turn out for the best in the wake of the 2014 elections, noting that there are still challenges with corruption in the South African government.

The visit was an exchange of sorts.

In February this year, a research team from Bergamo’s university spent a month at the two homes of the Little Eden Society (Domitilla and Danny Hyams Home and Elvira Rota Village)

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.

(From left) Bishop Graham Rose, Lucy Hyams Slaviero, Matthew Turner (Little Eden resident) and Cardinal Wilfrid Napier at the plaque of Domitilla Rota Hyams on the outside of the church of Albenza overlooking the valley. in Johannesburg. This was part of the university’s excellence traineeship project, aimed at widening and spreading the horizons of the message of love of the founders, Domitilla and Danny Hyams.

In his address, the cardinal prayed that “God will continue to inspire, bless and commission the next generation to sustain and develop this wonderful work even further.”

Bishop Rose hailed the founders for their work, calling Danny and Domitilla “a perfect combination”.

“I have great admiration for Danny because to live with a saint, you have to be a saint,” he said.

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The Southern Cross, May 28 to June 3, 2014

LOCAL

3

New project aims to uplift Swazi villages STAFF REPORTER

T

HE Early Detection of TB programme of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) has shown success in Swaziland, according to the Aids Office, despite the situation remaining “dire” and the people living in “appalling conditions”.

The programme has since August 2013 been implemented at Good Shepherd (Siteki) and Regina Mundi (Piggs Peak) in the diocese of Manzini, Swaziland.

“In these few months the two sites managed to place themselves in positions three and four out of a total of 16 implementation sites, in terms of reaching target numbers,” said the Aids Office’s Johan Viljoen, adding that the progress was applauded since Swaziland has the world’s highest prevalence of both HIV and TB. Mr Viljoen said the statistics showed just how prevalent TB was.

“In the 14 South African project implementation sites, no more than 20% of community members screened for TB show TB symptoms.

These are referred to their nearest clinic for a sputum test. Once again, no more than 20% of those under-

going sputum tests are TB positive, and are then initiated on TB treatment.

“In Swaziland, however, at least three-quarters of those screened show TB symptoms. Of those showing TB symptoms, at least twothirds test sputum-positive for TB,” he said.

Mr Viljoen said the Aids Office visited the Siteki and Piggs Peak sites this May, where they found socio-economic conditions in both places to be “appalling”.

“Patients with TB and/or HIV have no social security, no nutrition and no proper sanitation,” he said.

The programme has helped diagnose locals suffering from TB and has got patients onto treatment.

Mr Viljoen said the rural poverty was dire and the diseases have crippled many lives.

“Patsisiwe Vilakazi lives near Siteki. She was found by the community health worker in the SACBC programme to have TB, and has been on TB treatment since October 2013.

“Suffering from peripheral neuropathy so severe that she cannot walk, she accepts her plight—there is no pharmacy and no pain medication in the area where she lives.

She lives with her twins.”

Topi Tsabedze, who lost her leg in a car accident, was also found by the project to have TB, and is on TB treatment.

“Lively and energetic, she is eager to work—she dreams of breeding chickens. But with no source of income, she cannot afford the basics necessary to start such an enterprise,” Mr Viljoen told the Southern Cross.

He said poverty appeared to be even worse in Piggs Peak than in Siteki, but he hailed the local parish priest, Fr Mandla Makama, as a visionary.

“He has many good ideas to uplift the local community, and unlimited energy. He anecdotally confirms the success of the Early Detection of TB programme—in the past he conducted an average of 17 funerals over a six-month period—almost all deaths due to HIV/Aids and TB. Since the programme began in August last year, he has been conducting an average of three funerals over a six-month period,” said Mr Viljoen.

He said families were struggling.

“Mrs Mthembu, an elderly woman living in Nsangwini village, near Piggs Peak, nursed her two daugh-

HIV-positive and TB-positive from caring for her dying daughters, Mrs Mthembu today looks after her six orphaned grandchildren in dire poverty in Swaziland. A new programme from the SACBC Aids Office aims to support the treatment of people in similar situations. ters when they were dying of Aids,” Mr Viljoen said.

“Not trained in infection control, she became infected as a result of contact with her daughters’ body fluids. She is now HIV-positive, TBpositive, on antiretroviral medication, on TB medication and looking after her six orphaned grandchildren, with no source of income.

“Her maize crop failed this year—she produced a handful of

MICASA TOURS

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Pilgrimage of Healing to Fatima, Santiago Compostela and Lourdes led by Fr Emil Blaser 10-23 October 2014

Pilgrimage to Ephesus-Turkey and Medjugorje led by Father Andrew Knott of the Shrine of Ngome 25 September-10 October 2014

Camino de Santiago, Classic French Itinerary -Sarrina to Santiago Every two years, the South African Marist Brothers lead a group of staff from the five Marist schools in the country on a pilgrimage to Rome and to the places in France associated with St Marcellin Champagnat, founder of the Little Brothers of Mary (the Marist Brothers). This year Craig Anderson (right) and Barbara Burns (left) have taken a framed cross made by Joshua Goncalves (centre) as a gift to the Hermitage, the crucible of Marist educational principles and practice, in France.

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mealies, barely sufficient to provide seed for the next planting season.

Furthermore, none of the children are able to attend school, because they do not have the ‘top up’ school fees required by the Swazi government.”

Mr Viljoen said while the conditions made treatment and detection difficult—the diseases are rampant—the programme has made very positive strides in its infancy.

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4

The Southern Cross, May 28 to June 3, 2014

INTERNATIONAL

Vatican finance watchdog sees good reporting results

BY CINDY WOODEN

A A rusted anchor shackle hangs from the bow of “Libby” at the shrine of St Therese in Juneau, Alaska. The stainless-steel boat was used by Jesuit explorer Fr Bernard Hubbard, whose legendary expeditions to Alaska in the early half of the 1900s earned him the name “the glacier priest”. (Photo: Nancy Wiechec, CNS)

Vatican guidelines teach on interreligious dialogue

BY CINDY WOODEN

W

HEN Catholics engage in interreligious dialogue [with non-Christians], their aim is not to convert their dialogue partners, but they should not exclude that possibility, say new Vatican guidelines on interreligious dialogue.

The document also cautions Catholics against joining in common prayer with followers of other religions, because of important differences in their understanding of God. “In encounters with people of other religions and indeed all human beings, Christians must always make Jesus Christ better known, recognised and loved,” say the guidelines published by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

“Interreligious dialogue, in itself, does not aim at conversion. Nevertheless, it does not exclude that it might be an occasion of conversion,” the document says.

For a true dialogue to occur, it says, both the Christian and his or her dialogue partner must know and practise their own faith. “With an attitude of respect and friendship,” it says, they share with each other their religion’s teachings and challenge one another to grow deeper in faithfulness and in understanding the truth about God. “Experience has shown that for the Christian firmly rooted in his beliefs”, the guidelines say, “dialogue can offer a unique occasion to deepen one’s own religious

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Catholics engaged in dialogue must be “guided by faith, animated by charity and oriented toward the common good through mutual respect, knowledge and trust,” the document says.

The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue included in the guidelines strong cautions about dialogue partners praying together.

“Often in the context of interreligious relationships, there comes a desire to pray together for a particular need of the society,” the guidelines say. “It is important, however, to understand that being able to pray in common requires a shared understanding of who God is. Since religions differ in their understanding of God, ‘interreligious prayer’, meaning the joining together in common prayer by followers of various religions, is to be avoided.”

On some occasions, the document says, it would be appropriate for believers of different religions to pray in each other’s presence, but it should be clear to all that participants are not praying together.

“Proselytism in the biblical sense of bringing people to conversion is good,” it says, but in many circles today it is used to refer to efforts to convert another using coercion, psychological pressure, threats, fraud or enticements. “This kind of negative proselytism must be recognised for what it is: an affront to conscience and a transgression of natural law.”—CNS

S the Vatican implements new controls on financial transactions, its watchdog agency has seen a steep rise in reports of suspicious transactions.

“It means the reporting system is working,” said Rene Brulhart, director of the office that monitors and investigates Vatican financial transactions to prevent their use for money laundering or the financing of terrorism.

Brulhart presented the 2013 annual report of the Vatican Financial Intelligence Authority during a news conference.

The number of suspicious transaction reports filed grew from six in 2012 to 202 in 2013, Brulhart told reporters. He said the majority of those reports involved transactions carried out through the Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican Bank.

After investigations by his office, Brulhart said, five of the reports were deemed worthy of further investigation and possible criminal charges and, therefore, handed over to the judicial offices of Vatican City State. He said he could not talk about the current status of those cases since they are now in the hands of the Vatican

dropped; there were 1 557 declarations of outgoing cash and 550 declarations for incoming cash.

Although the movement of large amounts of cash triggers special scrutiny, Brulhart said, there are legitimate reasons for large cash transactions at the Vatican.

Ticket sales, for example, at the Vatican museums, generate cash, as do collections from the Catholic faithful. Many priests, bishops and religious orders work in countries without a secure banking system so cash payments in such cases are more common.

Brulhart also told reporters that his office had begun its first onsite inspection of the Vatican Bank in January to ensure that its procedures and personnel were in compliance with updated Vatican finance laws. He said his office and the bank leadership would meet soon to discuss an “action plan” and a timeline for making improvements.

The bank, he said, has made significant efforts to comply with international standards and Vatican law; “they are doing their job”.

The bank has been reviewing all accounts, collecting more detailed information on account holders and closing accounts belonging to people with no direct Vatican connection.—CNS

Bishops ask pope to beatify Archbishop Romero in El Salvador

P

OPE Francis assured the bishops of El Salvador that the sainthood cause of slain Archbishop Oscar Romero was proceeding well, and the bishops asked him to come to El Salvador to preside personally over the archbishop’s hoped-for beatification.

Archbishop Jose Escobar Alas told reporters that he and three other Salvadoran bishops met the pope at the Vatican to discuss the cause of Archbishop Romero, who was shot and killed March 24, 1980, as he celebrated Mass in a hospital in San Salvador.

“We ask the Lord for the speedy beatification of Archbishop Romero and that the pope come here to celebrate the ceremony,” Archbishop Escobar said.

The pope told the Salvadoran bishops that he was pleased the process was moving ahead, but he gave no indication of when it would be completed, the archbishop told reporters.

Archbishop Romero’s sainthood cause was opened at the Vatican in

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ON TAPE

A group of readers is preparing audio tapes of excerpts from The Southern Cross for interested people who are blind, sight-impaired, unable to hold a newspaper or illiterate.

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

police and court system.

New Vatican finance laws and regulations issued by the Financial Intelligence Authority have “put the threshold quite low” for what triggers an obligation on the part of Vatican offices to file suspicious transaction reports, he said.

The annual report also showed a big jump in the number of requests for financial intelligence that Brulhart’s office sent to its counterparts in foreign countries, and the number of such requests it received from foreign agencies.

During 2013, Brulhart’s office signed cooperation agreements with Slovenia, the United States, Holland, Italy and Germany. He said the number of requests for information is likely to continue climbing as his office signs cooperation agreements with more countries.

The agreements and the sharing of information, he said, show the “strong commitment of the Holy See” to “fighting the evil of money laundering and financing terrorism”.

Brulhart’s report included the number of obligatory declarations to Vatican authorities by those carrying more than 10 000 euros (about R142 000) in cash into or out of the Vatican. In 2013, he said, the numbers of both

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A flag with an image of the late Archbishop Oscar Romero is seen during a march commemorating his assassination in San Salvador. (Photo: Ulises Rodriguez, Reuters, CNS) 1993, but was delayed for years as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith studied his writings, amid wider debate over whether he had been killed for his faith or for political reasons.

In 2013, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family and official

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promoter of Archbishop Romero's sainthood cause, said the process had been “unblocked”, but gave no further details.

Before the archbishop can be beatified, Pope Francis must either sign a decree recognising him as a martyr or recognising a miracle received through his intercession.—CNS

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INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, May 28 to June 3, 2014

5

Soldiers lay down weapons for rosaries

BY CAROL GLATZ

I

T looked like any other military parade with bands playing, flags waving and thousands of men and women marching in colourful uniforms decorated with medals and ribbons.

But instead of impressive displays of tanks and trucks, troops from dozens of nations fell in line behind religious banners, a large wooden cross and a rose-strewn statue of Mary. Candles and rosaries —not weapons or rifles—were held aloft in soldiers’ hands.

Such scenes were common during the 56th International Military Pilgrimage to the sanctuaries of Our Lady of Lourdes.

More than 12 000 retired and active duty military personnel, their families and compatriots from 36 nations took part in the annual encounter to pray for peace and the spiritual healing of nations and individuals. A large number taking

part, and given special prominence in the many processions, were those wounded in the line of duty.

Among the military personnel tackling disabilities were about 60 retired or active duty US soldiers together with another 60 caregivers, family members, chaplains and support staff.

They were participating in the “Warriors to Lourdes” pilgrimage, sponsored by the US archdiocese for the military services and the Knights of Columbus. The Knights covered the costs for the wounded personnel for the encounter of prayer, healing and friendship in Lourdes.

“It’s really been great for both those who have come with a petition in their heart—suffering in some way, and those who are helping them”, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson told Catholic News Service.

With Memorial Day on the hori-

zon and foreign military operations set to wind down, “We don’t want to forget those who have sacrificed so much and still need our attention and support—our wounded warriors. So this is a way of increasing consciousness of their situation,” he said.

The Knights, the largest lay Catholic organisation in the world, began during World War I to provide their service and help—especially pastoral and educational support—for US troops.

Expanding their initiatives, last year the Knights began the “Warriors to Lourdes” pilgrimage as another way to offer “spiritual support and spiritual development, and these pilgrimages, we think, are a wonderful way of doing that”, Anderson said.

The weeklong programme provided opportunities for prayer, the sacrament of reconciliation, personal reflection during a Way of the Cross procession, eucharistic adoration and celebrating Mass.

Participants could take part in candlelight vigils to the Massabielle grotto where Mary appeared to St Bernadette in 1858, drink the water flowing from the sanctuaries’ spigots and be immersed in the special baths inside chambers near the grotto.

“We come to this holy ground to pray for the intercession of our Blessed Mother,” said Auxiliary Bishop Richard Spencer of the US archdiocese for the military services.

The prayers are for “the healing that is so necessary with our men and women who have worn coura-

Pope Francis smiles alongside Fr Adolfo Nicolas, superior general of the Society of Jesus, while arriving to celebrate Mass at the church of the Gesu in Rome. (Photo: Paul Haring,CNS)

Jesuit superior announces resignation after 80

BY CINDY WOODEN

F

ATHER Adolfo Nicolas, superior general of the Jesuits, announced his intention to resign in late 2016 after he turns 80.

“Reflecting on the coming years, I have reached the personal conviction that I should take the needed steps toward submitting my resignation to a general congregation,” Fr Nicolas said in a letter sent to Jesuits around the world.

Fr Nicolas, who was elected in 2008, said he already has discussed the idea with Pope Francis—a Jesuit —with officials at the Jesuit headquarters and with Jesuit provincials around the world.

“The result of the consultation is favourable toward the convening of a general congregation.” he said.

Like the pope, the superior general of the Jesuits is elected for life, although the Jesuit constitutions include provisions for the superior general to resign. Fr Nicolas suc-

ceeded Fr Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, who resigned at the age of 79. At the time, Fr Kolvenbach said, “the Society of Jesus has the right to be governed and animated by a Jesuit in full possession of his physical and spiritual talents and not by a companion whose energies continue to diminish because of age.”

When delegates to the general congregation accepted his resignation, Fr Kolvenbach thanked them “for so graciously firing me”.

Five days later, the delegates elected Fr Nicolas, a Spaniard who had been serving as moderator of the Jesuit Conference of East Asia and Oceania. At the time, Fr Nicolas told reporters it was unlikely any Jesuit leader again would feel an absolute obligation to serve until death.

The Society of Jesus, the largest religious order of men in the Catholic Church, includes about 17 000 priests and brothers.—CNS

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Military members from 36 nations raise candles as others arrive in procession for a candlelight vigil at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in south-western France. About 60 wounded US military personnel, together with family members and caregivers, were a part of the annual International Military Pilgrimage to Lourdes. (Photo: Paul Haring, CNS) geously our uniform in battles, especially during the last 12 years of these wars, and now are suffering from their wounds. We pray for healing, patience and understanding”, he said.

The pilgrimage was open to nonCatholics who were seeking spiritual reflection and renewal because Lourdes is regarded as a special place of prayer for many Christians, and “they, too, are in need of healing and they, too, trust in the intercession of the Blessed Mother”, the bishop said.

Attending during the larger international military pilgrimage was

also important for “showing and demonstrating that we can come together to truly yearn and pray for peace”, he added.

Silent and solemn ceremonies turned into pomp and pageantry as military bands roamed the small village all hours of the day and night, belting out national anthems, marching tunes and folk songs.

The camaraderie and celebration easily crossed cultural lines as soldiers from different nations asked to have their pictures taken together and traded berets and insignia.—CNS

6

The Southern Cross, May 28 to June 3, 2014

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher Guest editorial: Michael Shackleton

Grace of a pilgrimage

A

LETTER on this page today extols the spiritual relish experienced by a reader who learnt on a Southern Cross pilgrimage that many disparate persons can bond together in unimagined solidarity when they are all one in the faith, and present in a place that strikes a chord deep in the heart of each one of them.

There is something singularly uplifting for an individual to be thrust together with strangers on the same pilgrimage journey.

There is the realisation that the group is not comprised of tourists who pay substantial sums in order to visit places of historical interest and enjoy the benefits of a pleasantly comfortable and relaxing excursion.

The pilgrim does not expect luxury and is prepared to slum it in the best tradition of baring one’s faults and weaknesses to God and to one’s neighbour’s scrutiny. Every pilgrimage has an element of the penitential about it.

Jostling, noisy crowds, irritating characters and sometimes awkward timetables are inextricably entailed in the undertaking, and these can be the means of humbling oneself and being cut down to size. John the Baptist’s remark about Jesus, that “he must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30) comes to mind.

Such may not happen on every pilgrimage but the spiritual benefits of small indignities can elevate the soul in a satisfying manner, which pilgrims of all times have discovered.

Inconveniences do not deter the faithful who have a longing to be present where Christ and his saints were present.

They may even strengthen a resolve to make a pilgrimage for the sake of one’s soul and not for the pleasures of a cruise, a tropical paradise or a simple vacation.

A pilgrim’s journey is on an inestimably higher level of fulfilment than that of the selfseeking tourist’s.

It is a way that leads into oneself, into one’s presence with God and his saints. It can bring about life-lasting peace of mind, healing and personal sanctity.

The Holy Land is the theatre

of the dramatic developments of God’s love of humanity and his very presence there in the person of Jesus Christ.

It is supremely on this sacred soil that pilgrims feel a close connection with their Saviour, experiencing the paths that he walked and the sights that he saw.

In advertising and promoting pilgrimages to the Holy Land, this newspaper accepts the view that the Holy Land may be considered the “Fifth Gospel”.

Visits to its sacred sites vividly bring to life the descriptive and moving narratives penned by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament. Pilgrimages to other shrines and hallowed places are also encouraged for similar reasons.

The Holy Father’s visit to the Holy Land at this time is significant for an assortment of reasons.

It highlights the importance of the area not only for the Church but also for Jews, other Christians and Muslims.

His meeting there with Anathagoras I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, will hopefully be another step on the path to the reconciliation between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

A visit to the Holy Land unlocks the deep-rooted appreciation of the Church’s origins in Judaism and its expectancy of the Messiah, the son of David.

The Old and New Testaments are seen to be integral to each other, as pilgrims pray where ancient kings and prophets prayed.

In addition to the Holy Land, Rome, Assisi, Lourdes, Fatima and other venerated spots receive pilgrims who give expression to their piety as they join processions and receive the sacraments in an atmosphere conducive to prayer, penance and the consciousness of the blessing of being among the vast People of God. The effort and rewards of making a pilgrimage for the good of one’s soul is a time-honoured and grace-filled benefit on the road to the Kingdom of God.

Church must teach with compassion

T

HERE has been much correspondence regarding the issues of homosexuality, abortion and contraception. I do not wish to align myself with any of the views for or against these issues. It is not that I favour any or all such issues, rather that I cannot bring myself to judge or condemn anyone.

I know homosexuals, I know people who have had abortions, I know people who practise contraception.

I cannot judge them—judge not and you will not be judged (Mt 7:1). Our Redeemer’s

Missal problem

L

ET me try to answer Lou Corbitt with the last “worry” in his letter to The Southern Cross (April 23).

The Catholic official view, I believe, is that the Our Father as said

by Catholics is what Jesus is reported to have said and is supported by ancient documents.

In 1606 the first Protestant James I Bible—which contained the most beautiful English ever written—was published and the words “for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, now and forever, Amen” were tacked onto the traditional Catholic Our Father.

To emphasise what was the Catholic Our Father, the Church in its “wisdom” decided to enter a short prayer between the two.

I have never understood why we say “every knee shall bow, every tongue confess” when in acceptable English the word should be “bend” and not “bow”.

RG Pitchford, Middelburg

Unsound views

C

ECIL Cullen’s opinion (May 14) that others’ views must be respected is surely not valid for views which oppose Our Lord’s teaching?

In Archbishop Hurley’s case, holy as he is said to have been, he opposed the Church’s infallible teaching on the deadly sin of contraception. He was unsound on abortion. He wrongly declared that the traditional Mass had been abrogated. He was in favour of priestesses (who are to be found only in witchcraft and pagan rites). Pope St John Paul II declared that the Church does not have the authority to ordain women.

The many good points about Archbishop Hurley are well known, but his true portrait should be a Cromwellian one, “warts and all”.

Franko Sokolic, Cape Town

Movies a treat

T

HANK you for the great feature on movies about holiness (May 7). As a self-confessed book and film

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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.

stances that led up to the action.

A homosexual may not have deliberately chosen that lifestyle, the reasons for the abortion are not known to me, and those practising contraception have spoken of the huge relief this brought about in their marriage and family life.

I am totally unable to condemn any of these; they are my neighbours.

Of course the Church must continue to teach and my prayer is that she teaches with compassion. Evangelii Gaudium is such an exhortation.

Francis Boulle, Cape Town

own words are to love God, neighbour and self (Mk 12:30-31). I cannot do otherwise.

Until I have walked one mile in another’s shoes I cannot fully understand that person’s actions. I can, of course, love the person and hate the action—I do not even bring myself to use the more usual “sin/sinner” wording because that judges.

The important thing is that I must understand why that action was taken, and in truth I cannot because I do not know all the circumaddict, I enjoy features and reviews pertaining to these leisurely pursuits of mine in The Southern Cross.

Although I've not seen every film on John Mulderig’s lists, my favourite title has to be the superb Of Gods and Men. I thought it was a deeply moving and profound meditation on the words of our Lord in John 15:13. It is definitely one of those films you’d wish for all Catholics to see at least once in their lives. For those interested, the DVD is available for purchase at relatively cheap prices on local websites such as loot.co.za and kalahari.com.

My least favourite film featured, however, would have to be Becket, if only for the strange homoerotic tension imposed on the relationship between King Henry II and St Thomas Becket by the filmmakers.

Michelle Evert, Gordon’s Bay, Western Cape

Pilgrimage joy

A

Abducted girls

CARDINAL John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, has called for “concrete action” in order to free the girls abducted by Boko Haram.

Concrete action from where and by whom? Weeks have gone by since these abductions, with no hope as yet of finding the girls.

The Nigerian government does not seem able to make any headway in its attempts to find them.

Maybe the good cardinal should initiate a worldwide prayer crusade to St Anthony, a very powerful saint when it comes to finding missing things for those who pray to him.

Edna Greene, Amanzimtoti, KZN Opinions expressed in The Southern Cross, especially in Letters to the Editor, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or staff of the newspaper, or of the Catholic hierarchy. The letters page in particular is a forum in which readers may exchange opinions on matters of debate.

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

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

MIDST the throng of 1 million Catholics from across the globe, a little group from South Africa experienced a unique event in the history of the Church—two popes celebrating the canonisation of two popes.

To be in the Via de Conciliazione, to be sandwiched into the crowd but to feel “safe” knowing we were all one “body” was an experience of immense grace, allowing the new grass of love and hope to spring forth, green in season.

I too was on the pilgrimage but unlike Ms Jacobs (May 14), this was my fourth visit to Rome and the Vatican and my third to Assisi.

For me the pilgrimage was about my great devotion to St John Paul and growing knowledge and love for St John XXIII. Though I had been on pilgrimage before, my young adult daughter and my best friend wanted to go and so I agreed to go along, excited to share this wonderful event with people whom I love and today, I thank God for having blessed me with a miracle.

Our spiritual director Fr Emil Blaser celebrated Mass every day in a different venue—each rich in the history of the Church. He shared and inspired us with his homilies and, together with Fr Robert Mphiwe who had come along with us as a pilgrim, nourished and enlivened our faith.

Claire Mathieson, our tour leader from the Southern Cross, cared for us like a mother, and our Italian guides were an inspiration. They spoke with great love, knowledge and a very obvious deep faith, sharing intricate details of each and every amazing site we visited.

I find myself, weeks later, still wrapped in a cocoon of euphoria.

My faith has grown deeper and the face of Constanza, the guide in Assisi, still floats in my mind as she said: “Pray for me always as I will for you.”

Just as a shell holds the echo of the sea, the soul holds its memories and its dreams (Anon).

Ana Stenvert, Somerset West

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The Southern Cross, May 28 to June 3, 2014

PERSPECTIVES

Our ‘doing God’ election A LASTAIR Campbell, a senior adviser to former British prime minister Tony Blair, made famous the term “We don’t do God” during a British election campaign. “Doing God” refers to the crass use demagogue political parties make of religious institutions for electioneering purposes.

Almost all South African political parties “do God” during election campaigns.

The ruling party even went as far as identifying the ANC, without irony, with messianism, with its leader compared to Christ.

Naturally, most Christians found this distasteful, if you measure the reaction of established churches. But the non-established denominations were strangely fascinated by this, confusing it with a self-generated sense of cultural emancipation. Needless to say, the theological implications are ignored, or deliberately flouted.

Most of the leaders of established religions have come out to condemn the embedded corruption that seem to be dogging our government institutions. In particular, the Catholic bishops of Southern Africa have written letters protesting against the failing standards of our government in curbing corruption, in the Nkandla, Gupta, and other scandals.

Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu came out strongly, in declaring that he would not be voting for the ANC this time around. It attracted the usual fracas, with Tutu being accused of becoming reactionary.

But that didn’t take away from the fact that vulgar materialism and crassness seem to be the major driving forces behind our political canvassing, a far cry from the political founding fathers, most of whom were men of the cloth inspired by good Christian values.

All you needed to do was to observe

who dominated during the entertainment at major rallies—half-naked people singing crude songs that have no meaningful educational qualities.

Albert Luthuli, with his characteristic studied absence of guile, was of the opinion that when the steady hand of moral virtue is no longer on the tiller of the political ship, it veers off course. I am willing to bet that OR Tambo, himself a man of the cloth, was of a similar persuasion. Even Mandela.

The disjunction between our dominant politics and good values is one of the strange phenomena of our modern democracy, taking into consideration that virtuous political acts are what bore them.

Nevertheless, signs are that the ship of the liberation movement is not just wandering off course but is about to run aground while its leaders are dancing on the deck.

For now, most people still have diffi-

The election campaigns of many political parties have misused the major religions in crass and untrue ways.

Why Jesus went to hell I N a letter to the editor, reader Lou Corbitt (April 23) expressed discomfort with the new English translation of the Creed, in particular the section which reads: “He descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead.”

The section quoted is not from the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, as the reader has it, but from the Apostles’ Creed.

The corresponding section of the NicenoConstantinopolitan Creed reads: “He suffered death and was buried, and rose again in accordance with the Scriptures.”

Now, let’s move on to the wording Lou Corbitt quoted from the Apostles’ Creed and with which the reader is not happy. The Latin original for the passage in the Apostles’ Creed is “Mortuus, et sepultis, descendit ad inferos, tertius die resurrexit a mortuis”.

This is certainly not a “new English translation”. I have referred back to two documents, firstly my old “Penny Catechism”, which I used while in primary school between 1952 and 1958. It has the identical wording Lou Corbitt has quoted, and which is the wording used currently in the Missal.

I then went to a book of homilies by the great English Catholic academic, linguist and theologian Mgr Ronald Knox, best known for the excellent English translation of the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible between 1936 and 1950. In The Creed in Slow Motion (1949), he devotes two entire chapters to these words in the Apostles’ Creed.

Mgr Knox comments: “‘He descended into hell,’ we say without thinking much about it. And what we normally mean by

A mosaic depicts Jesus the Risen Saviour, surrounded by his disciples as he pulls Adam and Eve from the depths of hell to salvation, at Sacred Heart University’s chapel in Fairfield, Connecticut. (Photo: Tracy Deer-Mirek/Sacred Heart) hell is a place or state…are punished for all eternity.” He goes on to explain that the Latin original contains the words ad inferos, meaning “to down below”, and not ad inferno, meaning “into the fires of hell”.

Those “down below” were, in Jewish terms, in Sheol (and you can see the link between that word and our modern English word “hell”), the place of the dead. To take it further, the Jews of Jesus’ time regarded Sheol as a sort of neutral state, and the Creed affirms the concept that Jesus, through his death on the cross, went to the many who were in that state of Sheol in order to redeem them to the fullness of the Kingdom of God. So Lou Corbitt is correct in saying that the word hell as used in the Creed is differ-

Mphuthumi Ntabeni

Pushing the Boundaries

culty breaking with the psychological and historical holds on us. But more heads are slowly appearing above the parapet, like Archbishop Tutu, Ronnie Kasrils and Barney Pityana—even some who still prefer to shout from the inside, like Ben Turok and Pallo Jordan.

They fool themselves, those who think the problem is just with President Jacob Zuma, and not with those who elect him, or the system that allows the likes of Zuma to rise so high.

It’s once again going back to our prophetess Nongqawuse syndrome: because you cannot deal with contemporary challenges, you blame everything on external factors, while fatalistically self-destroying. The problem with us is that we are underlings, to use Shakespearean language. We allow our ruler to abuse us in our name.

The Catholic Church, under the reign of Pope Francis, is entering an epoch of what is termed the revolution of tenderness and mercy. Like most revolutions it champions and gives voice to the oppressed towards a more democratic and holy reform.

The Church in our country will need to add vigilance against the erosion of good values and against the predominance of political arrogance.

She is once more called to be the teacher, not only of religious conscience, but of our social one too. For the truth of the matter is that, as we believe in Christ’s teachings, to serve God is to lead people into the light by giving them power to make informed decisions that will bring about their true emancipation. Now that is the true meaning of “doing God”.

Chris Busschau

Point of Faith

ent from our more common usage.

Having fulfilled the Old Covenant, redeeming those in Sheol, Jesus “rose again from the dead”.

So, the Apostles’ Creed gives us the ancient way of stating our belief that probably, in one form or another, formed the statement of belief until the Council of Nicaea in 325 when the more detailed Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed was crafted and its successor, the Council of Constantinople in 381, when this masterful statement of faith was finetuned.

Both creeds are wonderful sources for faith and for meditation.

Lou Corbitt also poses a question about the priest’s prayer: “Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil…” This prayer, which we call “The Embolism”, has been part of the Mass since the earliest of times, and is present in both the Western and the Eastern churches. It is not an addition to the Lord’s Prayer—it is a prayer to enable us to place the last words of the Lord’s Prayer in context.

It is followed by the doxology, “for the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever”. This has been intentionally separated from the Lord’s Prayer in order to prevent the error of assuming that it is part of the prayer that Jesus taught us. It does not appear in any of the Gospels—it was another additional prayer that first appeared in the Didache, the first Catechism written about 100 years after Jesus.

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7

Michael Shackleton

Open Door

Can I receive the Eucharist twice?

I am confused about whether I can receive the Eucharist at Mass and then receive it again at a Communion service. Some seem to say yes, others no. Many don’t know or care. What if I want to receive at a funeral Mass on the same day?

P Evans ANON 917 says that any person who has received the blessed Eucharist may receive it again on the same day only within a eucharistic celebration in which that person participates.

This needs a little explanation. If you have received the Eucharist at a Mass or at a Communion service in the morning, and then get the opportunity to take part in the celebration of Mass later in the day, you may receive the Eucharist again.

However, the reverse would not be the case. If you have received Communion either at a Mass or a Communion service, and then attend a Communion service later that day, you may not receive again. The canon allows a second reception only within a eucharistic celebration in which you participate.

These rules would apply whenever a funeral or wedding is celebrated within a Mass at which you are present.

The only exception is in the case of danger of death from whatever cause. Then, even if someone has received the Eucharist, whether within or outside Mass, they may receive again.

The eucharistic celebration is both a sacramental re-enactment of Christ’s saving death and the spiritual food that unifies us in Christ. The altar, therefore, represents both a place of sacrifice and a table laid for a meal.

By taking part in the Mass we first, with the priest, offer the sacrifice of Christ’s body and blood to the Father, then we receive Communion.

The Church has no greater act of worship than this. It solemnly unifies us with God and one another, and explains why the Church sees it as an anticlimax to receive at a Communion service afterwards, and disallows it, with the exception I have mentioned.

Vatican II said: “Hearty endorsement is given to that closer form of participation in the Mass whereby the faithful, after the priest’s communion, receive the Lord’s body under elements consecrated at that very sacrifice.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 55) In a nutshell, if you attend Mass at which you receive Communion, you may attend another Mass on the same day and receive Communion.

You may not on the same day receive Communion again outside of Mass. This does not apply in the reverse case.

The purpose of Canon 917 is to accentuate the importance of the Mass as the supreme act of worship.

C

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8

The Southern Cross, May 28 to June 3, 2014

COMMUNITY

Mgr Brendan Deenihan, outgoing apostolic administrator of Port Elizabeth diocese, was part of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference delegation on the bishops’ ad limina visit to the Vatican, during which he had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis.

Members of St Thomas the Apostle parish in Laudium, Pretoria, are pictured at their Easter vigil. (Inset) The church was beautifully decorated for the Mass.

The altar servers of Our Lady Help of Christians in Landsdowne, Cape Town, followed by parish priest Fr Marian Kulig SDB, led the Palm Sunday procession through the streets of Lansdowne with the church visible in the background.

Do you feel called to the Franciscan way of life?

Deacon Lawrence Augustine of Port Elizabeth, George Johannes, former ambassador to Switzerland, his Cape Town-based brother Deacon Arthur Johannes as well as sisters Rita Martin of Port Elizabeth, Maureen Rainey of Windhoek and Joan Johannes of Cape Town (Deacon Johannes’ wife) attended the canonisation of Ss John XXIII and John Paul II. A fourth sister, Imelda (wife of Deacon Augustine) could not attend.

Fr Emil Blaser OP, station director of Radio Veritas, is pictured accepting a cheque of R20 300 from the Catholic Women's League diocesan president Elaine Phillips of Johannesburg.

Fr Andrew Cox, parish priest at St Margret Mary church in Green Point, Cape Town, is pictured with RCIA candidates after the Easter vigil Mass.

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The Southern Cross, May 28 to June 3, 2014

9

We want to see a South African saint!

These South Africans saw two saints being made when they witnessed the canonisation of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII at the Vatican in April. They’d like to see the same happen with the cause of Benedict Daswa, South Africa’s saint hopeful.

CLAIRE MATHIESON finds out more.

Berrie Weterman, Sacred Heart cathedral, Polokwane “We know the story of Benedict Daswa well because Polokwane recently hosted the night vigil where the country prayed for the success of his cause.

It’s already been great for Catholics in our region but I think a saint would be even better.

We would have a place for adoration and pilgrimages. I’d also like to return to the Vatican and see his canonisation!

This country needs more inspiration from our leadership and we need positive role models. Benedict Daswa is a great answer to this call.”

Her sister-in-law Melitza Oosthuizen [pictured left] agrees. “He would be the local example we could

lives. And for non-Catholics, imagine the people that would want to come to the Church after learning the story of Benedict. People will become more interested and they can learn from him; we need more role models like him but today there are very few. We need role models for our children.

He was a good man and he stood his ground. We need more of that in South Africa. And we’ll definitely be there for his canonisation!

try to imitate. People can associate themselves with him as many are in a similar situation of suffering and oppression. If they go through suffering, there is someone they can relate to, someone in recent memory that has been there.”

Molefi Mosenogi of St Peter’s in Kagiso, JHB I didn’t know about Benedict Daswa, but now that I’ve seen the response to a canonisation, I think he would give South Africans someone to look up to and someone that can set an example of gracious living. We had a good role model in Mandela but today we don’t have many options and Benedict Daswa could become that person. I’d personally like to see it just as I saw St John Paul II! I think it would encourage other people to live a virtuous life and could help the growth of the Church. It could also help people understand the positive values in the Church and what it stands for. It would be positive publicity.

Margaret Braam from Sacred Heart cathedral, Bloemfontein We learnt the story

Guinevere Jacobs, St Ninian’s in Kuils River, Cape Town

The Catholic Church at Nweli in KwaZulu-Natal which Servant of God Benedict Daswa helped to build. (Inset) Dawa’s headstone in Mhabe cemetery. from our archbishop who explained the importance of Benedict Daswa.

He said it was particularly important for South Africans because so many face suffering. His stance against superstitions is also important for many people. It’s something they can relate to and we definitely need help in the area of witchcraft.

A saint would be positive for the country; someone for people in the Church to identify with. Benedict Daswa would be an ideal role model because he is not all about money.

He represents faith and values. It would also be good for the Church— we could see more growth as people

become attracted to the life he lived.

It would be good because we’re not a Catholic country but having a Catholic saint could help rejuvenate the country’s morals.

Busi Khumalo from St Peter Claver in Pimville, JHB If Benedict Daswa did a good job, he should be recognised. His canonisation would also get those in our Church to work harder towards living saintly

What Bishop João Rodrigues of Tzaneen thinks

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HERE is no doubt that South Africans are ready for a saint. In recent years even the South African secular media and journalists have shown interest in the cause for Bendict Daswa to be recognised by the Catholic Church as a holy martyr of the faith in Christ.

The prayer vigil which took place in February this year at Mater Dei Pastoral Centre in the diocese of Polokwane was a very clear indication of the importance of this cause for many people of faith. There were more than 3 000 people at the vigil and they came from a number of different dioceses in South Africa.

We must always keep in mind that the majority of South Africans are Christians. There is a spiritual need for heroes of faith to be recognised just as they have been in biblical times as well as throughout the history of the Church. The story of the life and death of Benedict Daswa is of particular significance for the men of Southern Africa today because it reveals what a real man of faith is all about.

The personal testimony of Benedict Daswa's daughter captivated everyone during the prayer vigil as she described the kind of father he was for them. Benedict Daswa was a servant-leader of faith at grass-roots level in his family, in the school where he was the principal, in the church and village communities where he lived and died.

His life speaks for millions of people who live in the same kind of situation he lived in.

Will he be a saint for Tzaneen or the world?

It is important to understand that we are all called by the Gospel of Jesus Christ to become saints. This call is universal. It is significant that Benedict Daswa lived and died in a relatively poor and unknown part of South Africa. Also it was a region where the Gospel of Jesus Christ was only beginning to be made known among the people in the various villages. Benedict became a lay catechist and personally built the first Catholic church at Nweli village.

God often chooses to reveal his grace and glory among the seemingly insignificant places and people. From God’s perspective it is the

humble person (sometimes we mistakenly call him an insignificant person) who responds best to the Gospel and makes the Gospel known among his contemporaries.

For these reasons it makes sense that the Catholic Church’s first acclaimed holy martyr of South Africa should come from the diocese of Tzaneen rather than from a more significant and famous place like Cape Town.

But we know that the blessings that come through the intercession of a saint reach anyone in any place.

The diocese of Tzaneen has already received a number of reports from different parts of South Africa of special blessings and graces received through the intercession of the Servant of God Benedict Daswa.

We believe that Benedict Daswa is indeed a saint for all South Africans and beyond. It is our hope that he will not only be beatified but eventually also canonised a saint.

We know that a confirmed miracle would need to take place after his beatification before he can be canonised a saint. And such a miracle can happen to anyone anywhere in the world who happens to implore the special intercession of Benedict Daswa. Recall that it was a woman in Costa Rica who was miraculously cured of a brain aneurysm after praying to Blessed Pope John Paul II whose beatification she was watching on TV!

And the future plans?

It is our hope that this cause will bring a renewal of faith in Christ in the diocese of Tzaneen and that more and more people will be attracted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help bring renewal of spirit and morals in our society.

We are planning to develop a pilgrimage centre near the village where Benedict Daswa lived and died with the aim of spreading the message of faith which he embodied and where pilgrims will be able to experience healing in body, mind and spirit.

It is our hope that eventually he will be canonised a saint of the universal Church and that this pilgrimage centre will be recognised as a national shrine of the Catholic Church in South Africa.

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I think a saint is just what South Africa needs— South Africa and the continent at large.

A saint would bring unity between churches and give people hope and motivation to hold onto their faith during tough times—especially during times of violence and war. People need something to hold on to.

A saint would be motivation to stay in the Church. Many young people are attracted to and move to Pentecostal churches. A saint in our time could help them stay.

We simply don’t have enough role models. Benedict Daswa would bring people towards a virtuous life and help them deepen their spirituality. Having seen the faith of a million pilgrims in Rome I can see that this is sorely needed in SA.

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The Southern Cross, May 28 to June 3, 2014

FOCUS

Big Bang priest still makes noise Catholics who are confronted by critics of the Church with the false notion that faith is incompatible with science might respond by pointing to the Belgian priest who discovered the Big Bang theory as DENNIS SADOWSKI reports.

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HE work of researchers who reported detecting the signal left behind by the rapid expansion of space billions of years ago is rooted in the efforts of a Belgian priest whose mathematical computations in the 1920s laid the groundwork for the Big Bang theory.

Mgr George Lemaître, a mathematician who studied alongside leading scientists of the first half of the 20th century exploring the origins of the universe, suggested that the cosmos began as a super-dense “primeval atom” that underwent some type of reaction that initiated the expansion of the universe which continues today.

The priest’s conclusions challenged the conventional hypothesis proposed by luminaries such as Albert Einstein and Fred Hoyle that the universe was in a steady state.

Researchers in cosmology over the decades refined Mgr Lemaître’s idea, leading to what became widely known as the Big Bang theory and later ideas that signs of the Big Bang can be detected.

The most recent evidence supporting the Big Bang emerged in March when a team of scientists announced they had detected polarisation in light caused by primordial gravitational waves originating from the Big Bang. The measurements were made with the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarisation experiment, or Biceps2, located near the South Pole.

Scientists had theorised that

The 10-metre South Pole Telescope and Biceps2 are seen against the night sky with the Milky Way. Citing measurements from the telescope and Biceps2, astronomers announced in March that they detected ripples in the fabric of space-time that echo the massive expansion of the universe that took place just after the Big Bang. (Photo: Keith Vanderlinde/National Science Foundation via Reuters)

Mgr George Lemaître with Albert Einstein. The Belgian priest, who died in 1966, was the first proponent of the Big Bang theory. Like Mgr Lemaître, Catholic theologians stress that there is no conflict between scientific inquiry into the beginnings of the universe and the Catholic faith. such waves would have been produced in the universe’s first trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second as it underwent an exponential expansion 13,8 billion years ago, sending ripples throughout the universe that can still be detected.

Other research teams are seeking to confirm the findings.

If the existence of gravitational waves is confirmed, it will provide the most direct evidence yet for the rapid expansion of space, also known as the theory of inflation, said Ronald Olowin, professor of astrophysics at St Mary’s College of California.

Inflation was proposed in 1980

by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)(physicist Alan Guth.

In information provided by MIT, Dr Guth described inflation as the “propulsion mechanism” that caused the universe to undergo tremendous expansion in a fraction of a second.

The discovery also provides more evidence to support Einstein’s general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics governing motion in the universe, Prof Olowin said.

Mgr Lemaître’s work focused on interpreting Einstein’s theory and analysing measurements of galactic motion by astronomer Edwin Hubble.

The priest’s computations pointed to a constantly expanding universe and by extrapolation backward to the primeval atom.

The priest’s work has long been held in high regard by generations of scientists. Even Einstein, who at first was sceptical of the calculations, literally stood up and applauded Mgr Lemaître’s explanation of the origins of the universe during a series of seminars in California in 1933.

Mgr Lemaître, who taught for most of his career at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, died on June 22, 1966 at 71 know-

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ing that he was on the right trail.

He was told shortly before his death that scientists had measured the cosmic microwave background radiation.

By the late 1990s, researchers also concluded that the universe was expanding at an increasing rate, which Mgr Lemaître’s computations had shown to be happening.

“He’s really come into his own after a few decades of obscurity,” said John Farrell, the author of The Day Without Yesterday: Lemaître, Einstein and the Birth of Modern Cosmology.

Despite the scientific disagreements, Mgr Lemaître maintained warm friendships with his colleagues around the world, Mr Farrell said.

A

more definitive challenge, however, arose as some in the scientific community believed Mgr Lemaître’s pursuits were religiously motivated in an attempt to identify a creation moment in line with Catholic teaching. Mgr Lemaître insisted there was neither a connection nor a conflict between his science and his Catholic faith.

In response to a question about the connection of his work and his faith, Mgr Lemaître said that the Bible’s authors were “illuminated...on the question of salvation” and that “the idea that because they were right in their doctrine of immortality and salvation they must also be right on all other subjects is simply the fallacy of people who have an incomplete understanding of why the Bible was given at all”, according to a 1933 Literary Digest article quoted in Mr Farrell’s book.

Augustinian Father Allan Fitzgerald, director of the Augustinian Institute at Villanova University in Philadelphia, said there should be no conflict between faith and scientific discovery. He explained that St Augustine of Hippo expressed openness to truth wherever it could be found.

“The sciences of our day are no less than being sources of truth than anything else. The sense Augustine brought to all of this was, just don’t try to use this book called Genesis or the book called the Bible

as a way of embarrassing yourselves in front of scientists,” said Fr Fitzgerald, who at one time pursued a career as a physicist.

“Once [scientific discovery] reaches a state of true being, we can’t use the Bible to beat it back,” he said.

Jesuit Father Gabriele Gionti, who studies quantum gravity at the Vatican Observatory, said that as a scientist he draws a distinction between the beginning of the universe and creation and finds no contradiction between religion and science.

“Creation does not coincide with the beginning of our universe,” he explained.

“I tend to separate theological terms from scientific terms. This discovery proves, quite clearly, that the human mind is able to find mathematical models, like cosmic inflation, which could describe quite accurately nature,” he said.

“This is totally in agreement with the doctrine of imago Dei, which says that God created human beings as God’s image and as such we are like God, capable of discovering the secrets of nature,” the Jesuit said.

John O’Keefe, professor of theology at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, said the apparent measurement of gravitational waves and their connection to the early moments of the life of the universe “doesn’t change a whole lot except to make it even more likely that the Big Bang theory is the best scientific explanation for the origin of the universe”.

He expressed concern that the mainstream media continues to press the idea of conflict between science and religion.

“A lot of people still don’t understand that the Big Bang theory is not threatening to Christian faith,” Prof O’Keefe said.

“I think Catholics need to spend a little more time reading what our tradition teaches rather than just taking the word of the evening news,” he said.

“The evening news is totally distorting between science and religion, that there is a war between science and religion when there really isn’t.”—CNS

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The Southern Cross, May 28 to June 3, 2014

CLASSIFIEDS Religions promote peace at World Cup

BY LISE ALVES

Tavares, who works for the archdiocese.

ITH the start of the He said the archdio2014 FIFA World Cup cese’s sports pastoral is in Brazil coming up, promoting activities such leaders of several religions gathas “decorate your street” ered at Maracana Stadium in and creating a “peace tent” Rio de Janeiro to kick off what to bring together players they are calling the World and fans of all nations to Peace Cup. the spirit of the games.

Maracana Stadium will host “There should be a the finals of the world’s largest truce between nations and soccer tournament on July 13. fans during this period,” The inter-religious World Religious groups have gathered together to said Fr Tavares.

Peace Cup was designed to pro- promote peace during the Football World Cup. Among religions promote the spirit of a “world moting the World Peace without guns, drugs, violence Cup are Catholics, Jews, partment, or pastoral, that deals and racism” during this year’s with sports.

Muslims, Buddhists, evangelicals World Cup, said a statement from “We want to score in favour of and indigenous and African reliRio de Janeiro’s archdiocesan de- peace,” said Fr Leandro Lenin gions.—CNS

W

Word of the Week

Titular Sees: Dioceses where the Church once flourished but which later died out. Bishops without a territorial or residential diocese of their own, such as auxiliary bishops, are given titular sees.

Community Calendar To place your event, call Mary Leveson at 021 465 5007 or e-mail m.leveson@scross.co.za (publication subject to space)

CAPE TOWN:

Good Shepherd, Bothasig.

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

Helpers of God’s Precious Infants meet the last Saturday of the month except in December, starting with Mass at 9:30 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.

Padre Pio: Holy Hour 15:30 every 3rd Sunday of the month at Holy Redeemer parish in Bergvliet.

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.

Liturgical Calendar Year A Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday, June 1, The Ascension of the Lord Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9, Ephesians 1:17-23, Matthew 28:16-20 Monday, June 2 Acts 19:1-8, Psalm 68:2-7, John 16:29-33 Tuesday, June 3, Sts Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Memorial) Acts 20:17-27, Psalm 68:10-11, 20-21, John 17:111 Wednesday, June 4 Acts 20:28-38, Psalm 68:29-30, 33-36, John 17:1119 Friday, June 6 Acts 25:13-21, Psalm 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20, John 21:15-19 Saturday, June 7 Acts 28:16-20, 30-31, Psalm 11:4, 5, 7, John 21:20-25 Sunday, June 8, Pentecost Sunday (Solemnity) Acts 2:1-11, Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34, 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13, John 20:19-23

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ST. KIZITO CHILDREN’S PROGRAMME St. Kizito Children’s Programme (SKCP) is a community-based response to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children, established through the Good Hope Development Fund in 2004 in response to the Church’s call to reach out to those in need. Operating as a movement within the Archdiocese of Cape Town, SKCP empowers volunteers from the target communities to respond to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) living in their areas.

The SKCP volunteers belong to Parish Groups that are established at Parishes in target communities. Through the St. Kizito Movement, the physical, intellectual, emotional and psycho-social needs of OVCs are met in an holistic way. Parish Groups provide children and families with a variety of essential services, while the SKCP office provides the groups with comprehensive training and on-going support.

In order to continue its work, SKCP requires on-going support from generous donors. Funds are needed to cover costs such as volunteer training and support, emergency relief, school uniforms and children’s excursions. Grants and donations of any size are always appreciated. We are also grateful to receive donations of toys, clothes and blankets that can be distributed to needy children and families.

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IN MEMORIAM

KANE—Pauline (née Lopes). Beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother passed away peacefully June 4, 2013. We miss you dearly, Mary Athol, Bridget, Brent Mackenzie & Alexander, Bryan & Francesca, Patrick Jeanette Warren & Alison, Sr Charbel (Veronica) & Peter. R I P. PARKERWOOD—Sheela Margaret June (née Coughlan). In loving memory of my darling wife who passed away May 31, 2002. May Almighty God Bless her. Sadly missed by husband, sons, Vincent, Tony and John.

WINDVOGEL—Magdalene. Mommy, Ma called home one year ago on 24/5/2013 to join husband John, passed on 23/9/1968. Time may pass and fade away but in our hearts you will always stay. We miss you dearly.

Gone but never forgotten.

Always in our prayers.

From your children and inlaws, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

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PRAyERS

HOLy St Jude, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, kins-

man 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.

OuR LADy OF FATIMA: O MOST Holy Virgin Mary, who chose to appear on the Sierra de Aire, in the Cova de Iria, to three young shepherds to reveal the treasures of grace held in the recitation of the Rosary, impress upon our souls a fervent love for this devotion. By meditating on the mysteries of our redemption, may we learn how to use the teachings which lie therein and obtain the graces we ask in this prayer. For the Glory of God and the redeeming of our souls. Amen. Photostat and distribute.

HAIL, HOLy Queen, Mother of Mercy! our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley, of tears. Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus; O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

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Pentecost Sunday: June 8 Readings: Acts 2:1-11, Psalm 104: 1, 24, 2931, 34, 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13, John 20:19-23

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EXT Sunday our Easter season ends in a blaze of glory with Pentecost, when the Church, that is, you and I, are sent out on our mission. How are we to accomplish this mission? Inevitably, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit; and each of the readings for the feast tells us something new about that Spirit.

The first reading is the one that we always hear on this feast-day, Luke’s account of that first Pentecost. What does it tell us about the Spirit?

First, that it comes upon the Church when they are all “together on the same purpose”.

Secondly, the Spirit is described in terms of “the sound as of the coming of a powerful wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting”.

This is followed by another image, that of “fire”: “there appeared to them divided tongues, as it were of fire, and it sat upon each one of them”.

These two images, of wind and of fire, are graphic metaphors for the power of the Spirit, not just in the rest of Acts of the Apostles, but also in the entire history of the Church. Our task is to look out for it.

It does not stop there, however, for “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in different languages, according as

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Pentecost defines our mission Nicholas King SJ

Sunday Reflections

the Spirit gave them to utter”. Now we see this dramatically performed for their Jewish audience in Jerusalem, as everyone hears these bizarre characters from Galilee (and Galilean Aramaic was always something of a laughing-stock for its incomprehensibility), in their own languages! Luke gives us a picture of where they all come from: the East (“Parthia, Media, Elam”), then the local region of Judea, westwards to Asia Minor, across the Mediterranean to Egypt and Libya, back across to Rome, then down the Mediterranean to Crete and finally Arabia in the East once more; and everyone is included: “both Jews and proselytes”.

What does the Spirit impel them to do? To “speak in our own languages the great deeds of God!” Will you allow the Spirit to speak in you, this week?

The psalm offers a slightly different view

of what the Spirit does (and actually here we might equally call it “breath”). The context is that of a lovely hymn of praise to our Creator God, and to the multitude of his “works”, which “fill the earth”.

Then the poet uses the metaphor of “breath” (or “Spirit”): “You take away their breath, they perish and turn back into dust.”

Then, by contrast: “You send your breath, they are created; and you make new the face of the earth.”

So it is all about God’s precious gift of life: “May the glory of the Lord be forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works.”

Paul addresses the second reading to the Corinthian community, whose divisions caused the apostle such constant anxiety.

So he offers a test, by which they could know when the Holy Spirit was present; and it goes like this: if they can proclaim that “Jesus is Lord”, then the Holy Spirit is operating.

After that he introduces what will turn into the lovely image of the “Body of Christ”, in which the “Spirit” is what supplies the “breath” that keeps the body alive: “there are different kinds of free gifts [from God], but the same Spirit/breath”, he says, “different kinds of ministry, and the same Lord, and different kinds of powers, but the same God”.

Dag Hammarskjold on desire HE lusts of the flesh reveal the loneliness of the soul. Dag Hammarskjold, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, wrote those words and they highlight part of the deeper intentionality of sexual desire. And this insight was more than just a theoretical one for Hammarskjold. He knew loneliness and unfulfilled desire.

As more and more of his journals are published in English, we are becoming more aware that Hammarskjold was both a man of extraordinary moral integrity and extraordinary spiritual depth. His father, at one time the Prime Minister of Sweden, had been a great statesman of uncompromising integrity and his mother had been a woman of great warmth and spiritual depth. Hammarskjold inherited the best of both, and it made him both a rare statesman and a great spiritual writer. However, not everything was whole in his life.

While in his professional life he dealt with issues of world importance and was taxed for every ounce of his energies, the rest of his life was not nearly so complete.

As a young man, he had lost a woman he deeply loved to another man, and this was a wound that never left him. He never dated or pursued marriage again. He longed to be married, but, for all kinds of reasons, as is the case for millions of people, it just never happened. He was, in the

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Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

words of his biographer, Walter Lipsey, “checkmated rather than mated”.

Hammarskjold, in his journals, often reflects on this “checkmate” and upon the lacuna it left in his life. There’s a searing honesty about its pain and about how he tries to grapple with it. On the one hand, he is clear that this is a pain that cannot be denied and which never goes away; on the other hand, he is able to redirect it somewhat, sublimating it into a wider embrace, into a different kind of marriage bed: “I feel pain, a longing to share in this embrace [of a husband and wife], to be absorbed, to share in this encounter. A longing like carnal desire, but directed toward earth, water, sky, and returned by the whispers of the trees, the fragrance of the soil, the caresses of the wind, the embrace of water and light.” Was this satisfying? Not quite, but it brought a certain peace: “Content? No, no, no—but refreshed, rested, while waiting.”

In this, both in how he experienced the pain of his non-consummation and in

how he tried to redirect those longings, his feelings parallel those of Thomas Merton.

Merton was once asked by a journalist how he felt about celibacy. Merton replied that “celibacy was hell”, that it condemned one to live in a loneliness that God himself condemned (“It is not good for the man to be alone”), and that it was in fact a dangerous way to live since it was an abnormal way of living. But Merton then went on to say that, just because it was anomalous and dangerous, didn’t mean that it couldn’t be wonderfully generative and life-giving, both for the one living it as well as for those around him or her. And that was no doubt true in Merton’s own case, just as it was true for Hammarskjold. Both infused more oxygen into the planet.

Moreover, Merton tried to sublimate his desire for a marriage bed in much the same way as Hammarskjold did: “I had decided to marry the silence of the forest. The sweet dark warmth of the whole world will have to be my wife. Out of the heart of that dark warmth comes the secret that is heard only in silence, but it is the root of all the secrets that are whispered by all the lovers in their beds all over the world.”

Both Hammarskjold and Merton longed for that deep, highly individualised, intimate and sexual, one-to-one embrace which was denied them by their place in life and which is denied to millions of us by every sort of circumstance and conscription. Merton chose to forgo sexual consummation deliberately, to embrace religious vows; Hammarskjold had it chosen for him, by circumstance. At the end of the day the effect was the same. Both then tried to sublimate that need and desire for congenital intimacy by, in their own words, somehow marrying the world and making love in a less-particularised way.

Many married persons who enjoy that unique depth of one-to-one intimacy that Hammarskjold and Merton longed for, must, I suspect, inchoately also long to find within their sexual intimacy that wider embrace of which Hammarskjold and Merton speak, knowing that they want that too in their sexual embrace.

Thinkers have forever mulled over the problem of the one and the many, the interrelationship between the particular and the universal, because this isn’t just a theoretical issue in metaphysics, something to entertain philosophers; it’s also something that lies inextricably entangled within the powerful pressure of sexuality in lovers in their beds all over the world.

What gives the body its unity is the Spirit: “towards what is advantageous”, and the climax of the argument is that “in one Spirit we were all baptised into one body…and all were given to drink the one Spirit/breath”. The Spirit, then, whose coming we celebrate next week, is the principle of our unity.

Yet another function of the Spirit (and a reminder of its link with the idea of “breath”) appears in the gospel for next Sunday.

It is Easter Day, once more, and the notvery-brave disciples have locked the doors “because of their fear of the Judeans”; but effortlessly Jesus breaks through their fearful security gates, and simply says to them, “Peace be to you”.

Then he identifies himself to them by showing “his hands and his side” (so he is still the one who suffered), and repeats the “Peace” greeting, and offers them a mission: “As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.”

Then, we hear, “he breathed on them, and said, “Accept the Holy Breath [or Spirit]”, and now we learn that this “Spirit” is a matter of power over sins: “Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; those whose sins you hold bound are held bound.”

The Spirit has much to give us, this week, as we approach our post-Easter task.

Southern Crossword #604

ACROSS 1. Secures, holding French priest (4) 3. Greek who laboured twelve times (8) 9. Anglican vicars (7) 10. Abigail’s husband (1 Sam 25) (5) 11. If it’s so, it is sinful (7,5) 13. Wanderers (6) 15. Polish? Kind of, but could be of another nation (6) 17. Bad conduct (12) 20. Turn your eyes away! (5) 21. It’s your essential being as a person (3,4) 22. They are not found at St Paul’s Outside the Walls (8) 23. Prison agitation (4)

DOWN 1. Ritual for marriage (8) 2. One in the running for the prize (1 Cor 9) (5) 4. Tries pieces of writing (6) 5. Opposite opinion (8,4) 6. Biblical land of the nonable?

7. The one fish Jesus caught? (4) 8. How the existence of hell may be discussed (5,7) 12. One who bears the fumes (8) 14. Said men show us the young girls (7) 16. And I shall be ...than snow (Ps 51) (6) 18. Explicit here over the moon (5) 19. Imagine finding stargazers inside (4)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

C

OMING home from Catechism, a little boy spent several minutes staring at his baby brother. “Mommy,” he said, “when will my brother start talking?”

“Not until he’s much older,” his mother said.

“That’s strange,” the boy replied. “Our Sunday School teacher said babies in Old Testament times could talk.”

“What?” his mother said. “What exactly did your teacher say?”

“Well,” the boy said, “she said, ‘Job cursed the day he was born!’ ”