The
S outhern C ross
June 4 to June 10, 2014
Reg No. 1920/002058/06 No 4876
Children’s lives most precious
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Pope Francis in the Holy Land
To tell or not to tell: Trouble with fairy tales
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Discreet aid for Rustenburg’s needy BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
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Bishop Edward Adams, retired bishop of Oudtshoorn, celebrated his 80th birthday with his three sisters with a Mass concelebrated with Frs Dick O’Riordan and David Rowles at the church of the Holy Spirit in Koelenhof, Cape Town.
Lunch with Pope Francis! W HEN Elias Abu Mohor entered the Casa Nova convent for lunch with Pope Francis, he was surprised to realise he would be sitting at the same table with the pontiff. Five families were chosen to eat with the pope after the Mass in Bethlehem. The five— including one Muslim family—presented urgent issues facing the Palestinian community, including land confiscation, imprisonment, displacement from their homes and the situation of people trapped by the embargo of the Gaza Strip. Abu Mohor told Catholic News Service the first day he was informed his family had been chosen he was in disbelief, but he said he used the opportunity to present Pope Francis with a map showing the encroachment of lands by Israel. Speaking to the pope in Spanish, he expressed the concerns of families in the Cremisan Valley, where Israel has confiscated land for its separation barrier, sometimes splitting people’s property. Each of the families chosen told the pope about issues they faced. Most spoke in Arabic, with their concerns translated into Spanish. Shadia Sbait, 42, and her husband George, 50, travelled from the northern Galilee village of Kafar Yassif. They and their children Nicole, 15, and Caesar, 13, represented the families of Ikrit and Biram. In the late 1940s, after the creation of the Jewish state, residents of the two Catholic-Arab
George Sbait and his wife, Shadia, pose with their children, Caesar, 13, and Nicole, 15, in front of a section of the Israeli separation wall in Bethlehem, West Bank. (Photo: Debbie Hill, CNS) villages were displaced with the promise that they would be permitted to return after two weeks. That never happened, and descendants of the residents, who now live in various villages and cities in northern Israel, have peacefully pursued legal recourse to be permitted to return. Before the meeting, Shadia Sbait said she would ask Pope Francis to bring up their concerns when he met the following day with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I am not a very religious person but I believe in miracles—and the power of the personality of the pope,” she said.—CNS
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HANKS to a donation of R75 000 from the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC), the diocese of Rustenburg was able to provide immediate relief to those most affected by the strike action and violence experienced on the platinum belt. However, to avoid intimidation and further violence, much of the Church’s work has had to be done discreetly and will continue to be concealed until the violence in the region dissipates. Fr S’milo Mngadi, SACBC communications officer, said the bishops made the decision to assist the diocese of Rustenburg as the Church there has been “quietly assisting the vulnerable of the situation”. The diocese of Rustenburg runs a big hospice, Tapologo, care centres for orphaned and vulnerable children, soup kitchens and clinics as well as ARV roll-out centres—all of which have been put under strain due to the strike action of 70 000 miners. The strike action, which started in January, has left miners hungry and resulted in increased levels of violence, intimidation and theft. Bishop Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg said the work being done by the diocese for the poor and vulnerable was being hindered by the violence caused by the strike. The bishop said the Church’s outreach to those affected by the strike action had taken on a low profile because of “the threat of attacks and intimidation by the striking miners, especially in the settlements near the mine shafts”. He said the carers at the clinics have found it necessary to devise new strategies of preparing small food parcels that clients can hide and take home. “This hides the food from the striking miners who have even resorted to taking food from little children to whom we have given this small help to keep them going.” Much of the money donated by the SACBC will go towards providing relief in the form of food parcels. Further donations have been received from De la Salle College in Johannesburg and Selly Park Convent in Rustenburg, which will go a long way to assisting the affected communities. Bishop Dowling said the police in the area were hesitant to intervene “because of what happened at Marikana” where police opened fire on striking miners, resulting in the death of 44 people. “They say they do not want anything like that to happen again and also because they are genuinely afraid of the striking miners because they are outnumbered.”
Bishop Kevin Dowling of Rustenburg says his diocese is assisting children and vulnerable people affected by the strikes in the area. (Photo: Washington Post) Bishop Dowling said many in the community felt the same way and acts of violence were often unreported and rarely with witnesses. He said the clinics, however, had heard many stories and were reaching out to these victims. “No one is going to take a chance with their life by coming forward as a witness to violence and intimidation.” As a result, the bishop was not willing to disclose the names of the clinics assisting those affected by the strike actions. “Given the terrible violence of the past months, and the fact that some of our carers have already been targeted, I believe I am right to be concerned for their safety.” The Church in Rustenburg has also been assisting starving miners and their family members through the eight Tapologo ARV clinic centres where patients on the clinic’s lists receive a cooked meal. Bishop Dowling said more meals were being prepared to deal with the influx of hungry mouths. Other Church organisations have also quietly been assisting where possible. Bishop Dowling said he was “deeply grateful” for the donation for the immediate relief of the most vulnerable people who had suffered from the strike. Further donations from individuals had meant the bishop was able to plan ahead as to “how best we can get the humanitarian aid, and especially food, to the most vulnerable children and people”. n To support the work being done in Rustenburg: Account: 033071675; Diocese of Rustenburg; Standard Bank, 052-646; Reference: PB Relief.
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