141119

The

S outhern C ross

November 19 to November 25, 2014

Reg no. 1920/002058/06

no 4900

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The key to understanding Pope Francis

Page 5

R7,00 (incl VAT RSA)

Fr Rolheiser: How to defeat the devil

Page 9

The Catholic spirit of Paris

Page 10

Bishops: Accept teaching on women priests

By STUART GRAHAM

T each year on november 11, the school community of St Henry’s Marist College in durban gathers in the quad at the Memorial Bell Tower to remember the 18 young men from the college who gave their lives in the Second World War, and the Marist Brothers who have taught generations of Marist pupils and who have since died. This year, special mention was made of 2nd Lieutenant dennis Chambers (Class of ‘33) who served in Burma in Queen Alexandra’s own Gurkha Rifles and was killed in action in 1943.

History master Gary Brits was suitably dressed in WW2 military uniform and wearing the belt of another St Henry’s student, Cecil Boyd, who died in action in italy in 1945. Here Mr Brits shows Lt Chambers’ Gurkha Rifles’ sword to Grade 8 pupils Sydney van Voorst and Tyrese Pillay. Grade 8 classes have been studying this period in history and a number came to the service dressed as members of one or other of the armed forces.

Pope: Clergy don’t know everything

By Cindy Wooden

P

OPE Francis has said that the Church’s ministers—bishops, priests and deacons—must be aware of how merciful and compassionate God has been with them, because such honesty makes them “humble and understanding of others”.

Recognising that his call “flows only from God’s mercy and God’s heart” ensures that a minister “will never assume an authoritarian attitude, as if everyone were placed at his feet and as if the community were his property or personal kingdom,” Pope Francis said.

“One does not become a bishop, priest or deacon because he is more intelligent or better than others,” the pope said, “but only because of a gift: God’s gift of love poured out by the power of the Holy Spirit for the good of his people,” the pope said at a general audience in the Vatican.

“Woe to a bishop, priest or deacon who thinks he knows everything, who thinks he always has the right answer to every ques-

tion and thinks he does not need anyone,” the pope said.

While bishops and priests are called to “courageously safeguard” and share the teachings of the Church, they also must recognise that they “always have something to learn, even from those who may still be far from the faith and from the Church”.

By working together, supporting one another and examining questions together, the Church’s ministers will demonstrate “a new attitude, one marked by sharing, co-responsibility and communion.”

Quoting St Paul’s letters to Timothy and to Titus, Pope Francis outlined the human qualities a minister must have: “Acceptance, moderation, patience, meekness, trustworthiness and goodness of heart.”

Those human qualities, he said, help the Church’s ministers go out to meet others with the attitude of respect necessary for offering “a service and a witness that is truly joyful and credible”.—CNS

HE Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has warned against supporting women priests, saying it is “contrary”to the teaching of the Church to offer or create platforms where conversations are held with women who claim to have been ordained.

In a tersely worded pastoral statement, SACBC president Archbishop Stephen Brislin emphasised that the ordination of women to the priesthood “is not recognised in the Catholic Church”.

“The Catholic faithful are required to give ‘a religious submission of mind’ to the definitive teaching of the Supreme Pontiff who exercises his teaching authority by virtue of being the lawful successor of the Apostle Peter,” Archbishop Brislin said.

“The faithful are expected to avoid whatever does not accord with the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding the ordination of women.”

The pastoral statement comes after the ordination of Dr Mary Ryan, 60, in Hermanus in late September. The Catholic Church regards the ordination illicit and invalid. By that act, Dr Ryan and those who presided at the ordination are considered automatically excommunicated, latae sententiae.

Dr Ryan, a mother of four, was ordained by Patricia Fresen, a former Dominican nun who was expelled by her order after being ordained a priest in Barcelona in 2003.

Archbishop Brislin said Pope John Paul II issued a definitive pronouncement on the question of admitting women to the priestly ministry in his apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (“On Priestly Ordination”) in 1994. In it, Pope John Paul II declared that “the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and this judgement is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful”.

The SACBC statement pointed out that Pope Francis had stated in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”) that “the reservation of the priesthood to males as a sign of Christ the Spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist is not a question open to discussion”.

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“Catholic women who accept to be ordained to the priesthood separate themselves from the Church and the sacraments,” the statement said. “It is therefore contrary to the spirit of the Catholic Church to be involved in the promotion of the ordination of women to the priestly ministry.”

The archbishop added that it is “contrary to the teaching of the Church” to offer or create platforms where conversations are held with women who claim to have been ordained.

“It is wrong for Catholics to participate in the invalid celebration of the ‘Eucharist’ offered by individual women who do not recognise the teaching authority of the Church and who have consequently separated themselves from the Catholic Church,” his statement said.

“It is equally inconsistent to use Catholic premises and the Catholic media to undermine the authoritative teaching of the magisterium of the Catholic Church.”

He said Catholics who align themselves with the cause and promote the ordination of women are seen by the Church authorities to be “in open defiance” of the Church’s “clear and unambiguous teaching on the subject”.

“These Catholics are undoubtedly on a collision course with the Church’s authority and can under no circumstances claim ignorance of the Church’s definitive teaching,” the bishops’ statement said.

“As your pastors we urge all Catholics to ‘keep to what is taught and know to be true’,” the statement said, adding that it is important that Catholics don’t allow themselves to be “tossed one way and another and carried along by every wind of doctrine”.

The statement said that, together with Pope Francis, the bishops believe that there are many important ways of promoting women in the Church.

This month Spanish Claretian Father Pablo d’Ors, a consultant to the Pontifical Council for Culture, was quoted as saying that he was “absolutely” in favour of opening up the priesthood to women.

Fr d’Ors told Italian daily La Repubblica: “Am I in favour [of the ordination of women]?

Absolutely, and I am not the only one. The Continued on page 5

2

The Southern Cross, november 19 to november 25, 2014

LOCAL

Choirs to sing for Advent St Augustine needs new head R

By STAFF RePoRTeR

S

OUTH Africa’s only Catholic university, St Augustine College in Johannesburg, is calling for nominations for the post of president.

The university says the post entails “leading a South African Catholic institution of higher education as it seeks to grow in student numbers and in the range of academic degrees and diplomas offered.

“The position of president is the equivalent of rector/principal or vice-chancellor at a state university and the incumbent should preferably be a practising Catholic who has embraced the Catholic intellectual tradition,” the university said.

The candidate should hold an earned doctorate and be suitably qualified academically to lead this seat of learning and be able to take comprehensive responsibility for the academic, administrative and financial activities of the university, “particularly fundraising”.

The university’s president should also be able to promote the growth of student enrolment, the expansion of its intellectual offerings, and

be able to promote the institution and its place in wider tertiary education in South Africa.

St Augustine College was established in 1999 by a group of academics and “other interested persons” who felt that the Catholic Church in South Africa had a significant contribution to make to higher education.

Its campus is in the tranquil suburb of Victory Park, Johannesburg.

The university currently offers only post-graduate degrees. It plans to reintroduce a range of undergraduate degrees in the future.

The board of directors is establishing a selection panel which will consider candidates who meet the above requirements.

Nominations should be received

by January 31, 2015, and the new president should be able to commence duties by mid-2015. n Persons seeking to nominate a candidate should obtain the candidate’s consent, prepare a written motivation, and send the motivation and candidate’s CV to Helen Hartwig, St Augustine College, PO Box 44782, Linden, 2104. E-mail: h.hartwig@staugus tine.ac.za

ADIO Veritas and St Benedict’s College in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, will again co-host a Christmas carol service, with Assumption Convent in Malvern joining in the festivities.

The choirs of both schools will be collaborating in singing popular carols. Scriptural readings by the students will tie the musical story of Christmas together.

The one-hour service will be held on November 28 at 18:30 in St Benedict’s school hall. Tea and refreshments will be served in the school’s gazebo from 17:30.

In lieu of a ticket price, attendees are asked to bring wrapped Christmas gifts, marked for a girl or a boy, and non-perishables for children who are less fortunate.

“We are very passionate about giving back to society, which is what we are called to do,” said Fr Emil Blaser OP, station director of Radio Veritas. “Society sustains us and therefore we have the responsibility to take good care of society too.” n For more information contact Mahadi Buthelezi at mahadi@radio veritas.co.za or 011 663 4700.

Great honour for SA woman STAFFRePoRTeR

A Twenty-four men gathered for a weekend in Hornlee, Knysna, to share their experiences of being a man in contemporary society. Members of the “Men for Change Ministry” of St Mary Magdalene parish in Lentegeur, Cape Town, travelled to Knysna to facilitate the workshop. The workshop, organised by the parish council of Knysna, was a follow-up to the SACBC national seminar on masculinity in 2013. Seen in the photo are the Knysna participants.

Charities to hold booksale in CT

F The parish church at Hermanus in the archdiocese of Cape Town held a 12hour vigil of silent prayer from 8:00 to 20:00 before the Blessed Sacrament exposed, for the repose of the souls in purgatory, as part of their ongoing prayer during this month of prayer for the departed. A total of more than 50 people came to the vigil. (Photo: duncan Ray)

deborah Harris has been named as the principal of de La Salle Holy Cross College in Victory Park, Johannesburg. isabel Hancock, a member of the school’s board of governors, said the appointment as head of the high school would be effective as of January 1. Mary Hyam will take on the duties of headmistress of the junior school.”

IVE charities, including Help the Rural Child, are collaborating for a charity booksale in Rondebosch, Cape Town, this weekend.

There will be a wide range of books in categories such as fiction, non-fiction, children’s, Africana and cookery at the sale, held at St Paul’s Anglican church.

On Friday evening, November 21, light snacks will be sold when Andrew Brown, a Cape Town advocate and police reservist will be in conversation with Mary Bock about his new book, Devil’s Harvest.

Breakfast will be sold on Saturday morning. Coffee, tea and juices are available throughout the threeday sale. The sale will be open from 14:00 to 20:30 on Friday, 8:30 to 17:00 on Saturday and 9:00 to 13:00 on Sunday.

The sale is organised by St Paul’s church, Help the Rural Child in Mowbray (an initiative of the Goedgedacht Forum), Cafda Bookshop in Claremont, Marsh Memorial Homes in Rondebosch, and St George’s cathedral second-hand bookshop.

SOUTH African has been appointed as a presidency councillor of the worldwide Secular Franciscan Order.

Jenny Harrington from the Sacred Heart Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order in Johannesburg will be responsible for the United States, Canada and the Englishspeaking countries of Africa.

The Secular Jenny Harrington Franciscan Order’s general and elective chapter took place in Assisi, Italy, this month. Hungarian Tibor Kauser is the order’s new general minister.

The new Presidency Council was installed by taking possession of its service during a thanksgiving Eucharist celebrated in the Upper Basilica of St Francis, with the TOR general minister, Fr Nicholas Polichnowski, as its main celebrant.

Mrs Harrington is from St Charles’ parish in Victory Park, Johannesburg.

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LOCAL

The Southern Cross, november 19 to november 25, 2014

3

Bishops to celebrate religious life

By STAFF RePoRTeR

T

HE bishops of Southern Africa will show their appreciation for the contribution that the religious have made in the region by issuing a pastoral letter and holding two Eucharistic celebrations during their plenary sessions next year.

Fr Grant Emmanuel, associate general-secretary of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC), said the two celebra-

tions would be held in Gauteng and Mariannhill, KwaZulu-Natal, to mark the Church’s Year of Consecrated Life, which will run from November 30 this year to February 2, 2016.

“The bishops want to show their appreciation for the wonderful contribution that the religious have made in our region, both spiritually and socially,” said Fr Emmanuel.

“They therefore have decided to issue a pastoral letter reflecting these sentiments, as well as to host

two Eucharistic celebrations to celebrate with the religious.”

Fr Emmanuel said Johannesburg and Pretoria were tasked with preparing for the Gauteng event, since the January plenary takes place in Pretoria. The second plenary, in August, will be held in Mariannhill.

All religious will be invited to these events and will play an active role in the celebration, said Fr Emmanuel.

Each bishop in collaboration

with the religious working in his diocese will plan diocesan events to celebrate the role that the religious have played in the diocese.

It is hoped that through all these celebrations, greater awareness and appreciation for the religious life will be promoted and hopefully nurture the call to follow our Lord as a religious in our times.

The Year of Consecrated Life will have an evangelical focus, helping people to recognise and celebrate the beauty of following Christ in

Catholics called to ‘push boundaries’

By STAFF RePoRTeR

S

OUTH Africa’s Catholics have been challenged to push their boundaries and widen their missionary endeavours as the Church seeks to move forward on a mission to “enlarge the space of its tent”.

Sr Stephany Thiel said the resolution was passed during the Johannesburg Archdiocese Missionary Congress, held at St Benedict’s College in Bedfordview.

“The aims of the congress were to explore ways for us, the Church, to fulfil our vocation to proclaim the gospel and to move from maintenance to being on a mission,” said Sr Thiel. “We also aimed to celebrate our baptismal call together and to take back to our parishes the motivation to move forward.”

The congress was attended by representatives of 50 parishes in the archdiocese of Johannesburg and was inspired by God’s call through the prophet Isaiah to “Enlarge the space of your tent” and to “Go make disciples of all nations”.

Sr Thiel said the congress expressed appreciation for the great contribution of foreign missionaries to the South African Church.

“Congregations of men and women have had an influence in

Participants at the Johannesburg Archdiocese Missionary Congress, held at St Benedict’s College in Bedfordview. many spheres of life, including education and the medical world,” she noted. “This impact of religious and priests was not felt only in the past, but is continuing in the present through people such as the various speakers at the congress.”

One resolution passed at the congress was to promote support for the Comboni Missionaries’ Marpuordit missionary project in Southern Sudan, a hospital ward for

The children of the parish of the Blessed Sacrament at their annual retreat in Skogheim.

Durban retreat with EDGE By dyLAn APPoLiS

T

HE family was at the centre of the seventh annual retreat for 31Grade 5-7s of Blessed Sacrament in Virginia, Durban. The retreat of the catechetical EDGE programme took place at Skogheim, near Port Shepstone.

“It included prayer, meditation and reflection time, family-themed games, a movie, a teddy bears picnic, the making of a family tree, Mass at the local parish, and a skit performed by the Edge Core which focused on God’s Word,” said Margarita Fuller of Virginia parish.

“The feedback we received from the children and parents has been very positive,” Mrs Fuller said.

the “desperately needy” South Sudanese.

Sr Thiel said one of the most significant points that emerged at the congress was a reaffirmation that “by virtue of their baptism” all the members of the people of God are missionary disciples and agents who become actively engaged in evangelisation whatever their position in the Church.

Lay speakers at the congress in-

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cluded Beatrice Nkuna who answered a call to open her home to abandoned children and to give her life to “bring Jesus’ love and compassion to the lost children of the nation”.

“In order to do this. Beatrice left the job she had as an executive marketing manager in the business world,” said Sr Thiel.

Another speaker, Dillon Naicker, found that his dream to become a star in the entertainment world— perhaps even get to Hollywood— left him feeling empty.

“He experienced ‘a Paul moment’, a conversion to Christ,” said Sr Thiel. “He left his career to pursue his true career, his heart’s desire.

A missionary was born. He is in fulltime ministry as a youth leader, presently in Youth for Christ.”

Adilia de Sousa, an associate of the Scalabrini Sisters, felt a call from God to become involved in the ministry of the sisters in their project Bienvenu Shelter which welcomes, especially, refugee women and children.

“She responded to God’s call as a woman, a mother and a granny.

Her ministry is to welcome women in need, accompany them through difficult times, and share the word of God with them,” said Sr Thiel.

various types of religious vocations.

Its purpose is to make grateful remembrance of the past and to embrace the future with hope.

Each parish and religious community in the SACBC will launch the year on the 1st Sunday of Advent, November 30. The prayer for the Year of Consecrated Life will be said at all the region’s Masses that weekend.

Each diocese will organise celebrations, seminars, prayer days according to its customs.

‘Clash of Choirs’ for Mafikeng

E

VERY year Radio Veritas and the Interdiocese Catholic Church Choirs Music Association (ICCCMA) stage a “Clash of the Choirs” in celebration of music and life. This year, from November 29-30, they will descend upon the Mmabatho Civic Centre.

The festival attracts over 3 500 choristers and supporters from around South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, and as far as Uganda.

Bishop Abel Gabuza of Kimblerley and Mafikeng’s executive mayor Lena Miga are scheduled to attend.

The event will include an HIV/Aids commemoration during the service on the final day.

“This isn’t just another choir competition, it’s a real celebration and a chance to show off our Godgiven talents”, said Clement Menyuko of the ICCCMA. The best choirs will be awarded across the board. For the first time, the Radio Veritas St Cecilia Award, for the patron saint of music, will be awarded to the best conductor. n For more information contact Akani Malobola at akani@radioveritas. co.za or 011 663 4700.

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4

The Southern Cross, november 19 to november 25, 2014

INTERNATIONAL

Vatican’s new ’foreign minister’ from England

By Cindy Wooden

P

OPE Francis has named the 60year-old nuncio to Australia, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, to be the Vatican’s new foreign minister.

The position, formally known as the secretary for relations with states, was held by French Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, who was named the new prefect of the Apostolic Signature, the Vatican’s highest court.

Archbishop Gallagher, who was born in Liverpool, England, will be the first native English-speaker to hold the post.

“I don’t think it is particularly significant, though it does indicate that the Holy See is continuing to undertake necessary innovations as the true Catholic identity of the Church is reflected in the curia,” he said.

“Without passing judgment on myself,” he said in an e-mail reply to questions, “I believe the criterion has to be the right person for the

job irrespective of nationality. The diplomatic service has long been truly international, with members from very many countries. Obviously, the proportions tend to reflect the size of a national Catholic community and the number of priestly vocations, so there are big groups of Vatican diplomats from certain countries and smaller groups like Great Britain.”

Archbishop Gallagher, who had been named nuncio to Australia by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, said he expected to begin his new duties at the Vatican in mid-January.

In his first posting as a nuncio, Pope John Paul II sent him to Burundi in 2004 to replace Archbishop Michael Courtney, who was gunned down by unknown assailants. The nuncio’s death in Burundi marked the first time in the modern age that a papal ambassador had been assassinated.

Known for his efforts to continue providing pastoral ministry while serving as nuncio in various

Archbishop Paul Gallagher countries, Archbishop Gallagher said: “I think you have to hold on to a pastoral heart and see things from a pastoral perspective. It will be necessary for me to remember that politics is ultimately about people and their lives.”

He said he hoped to find ways to provide pastoral ministry in Rome even as he serves as the Vatican’s foreign minister.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1977, he later earned a degree in canon law and studied at the Pon-

tifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which trains Vatican diplomats. He joined the Vatican’s diplomatic service in 1984, serving in nunciatures in Tanzania, Uruguay and the Philippines.

He worked at the Vatican Secretariat of State from 1994 to 2000, focusing particularly on Southeast Asia.

From 2009 to 2012, he served as nuncio to Guatemala.

Archbishop Mamberti, 62, had been secretary for relations with states since September 2006.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1981, he holds degrees in civil and canon law.

As prefect of the Apostolic Signature, he succeeds US Cardinal Raymond Burke, 66, whom the pope appointed to a largely ceremonial post of cardinal patron of the Knights and Dames of Malta.

Cardinal Burke’s appointment, seen by many as a “demotion”, had been widely expected since an Italian journalist reported it in September, and the cardinal himself confirmed it to reporters the follow-

ing month.

It is highly unusual for a pope to remove an official of Cardinal Burke’s stature and age without assigning him comparable responsibilities elsewhere.

A prominent devotee of the traditional liturgy and outspoken defender of traditional doctrine on controversial moral issues, Cardinal Burke had appeared increasingly out of step with the current pontificate.

After Pope Francis invited German Cardinal Walter Kasper to address a meeting of the world’s cardinals in February, Cardinal Burke emerged as a leading opponent of Cardinal Kasper’s proposal to make it easier for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion.

Cardinal Burke also warned that efforts to streamline the marriage annulment process—the mandate of a commission that the pope established in August—should not undermine the process’ rigour.—CNS

Bishop: After Gaza, Holy Land needs hope

By MARK PATTiSon

T

HE 18 US bishops who conducted a 12-day prayer pilgrimage for peace in the Holy Land in September came away with new perspectives on the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico, told the November meeting of the US episcopate in Baltimore.

The message from the media in the United States “seems to lean heavily on the side of pro-Israel”, Bishop Cantu said at a press conference. However, “on the ground, the injuries were primarily [committed] on the side of the Israelis,”

Bishop Cantu said. “That certainly was the truth that we witnessed.

There were injustices on both sides. But they were not parallel.”

Bishop Cantu, in his remarks to his fellow bishops, said, “We went to pray for peace and to pray for a two-state solution and an open and shared Jerusalem.” However, “arriving in the wake of the recent Gaza war,” he said, “we encountered pain, intransigence and cynicism.”

He added, “Even young people were discouraged. The rubble that once was their homes weighed heavily on them.”

One sign of encouragement reported by Bishop Cantu was the

delegation’s visit to Bethlehem University, which he billed as “the only Catholic university in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. The student body is 70% Muslim and 30% Christian. They study together to create the future of Palestine.”

Bishop Cantu noted that “the Christian community is emigrating at alarming rates”.

“We know peace is possible,” Bishop Cantu said, “because God is our hope.” But “after another Gaza war, hope is now in short supply.

What is needed now is the transformation of human hearts, so that one side’s hearts is less deaf to the concerns of the other.”—CNS

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Bishops edward Weisenburger and oscar Cantu of Las Cruces stand amid rubble from buildings destroyed in the bombing of Gaza, during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in September. (Photo: Matt McGarry, CRS)

Shock at sterilisation camp deaths

By AnTo AKKARA

T

HE Church in India has expressed shock over the deaths of more than a dozen young mothers in government-run sterilisation camps in central Chhattisgarh state.

“It is not enough to punish the guilty responsible for this shocking tragedy. The systemic faults behind this tragedy must be exposed and corrected,” said Archbishop Prakash Mallavarapu, chairman of the health care commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.

While 13 of 83 poor village women who underwent free government sterilisations at a private hospital in Bilaspur this month died of subsequent medical complications after being sent home, local government officials said at least 20 more women were crit-

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ical and were being treated in different hospitals.

Following the national outcry over the rising deaths from the botched surgery, police have registered criminal charges against half a dozen health officials, including a senior doctor who performed more than 80 sterilisation surgeries, more than double the limit for one day.

“What is the motive behind such sterilisation camps? Is it for the need of the people or to meet the sterilisation targets of the government?”

Archbishop Mallavarapu asked.

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INTERNATIONAL

The Southern Cross, november 19 to november 25, 2014

5

Why Francis is ‘the pope of surprises’

By PATRiCiA ZAPoR

P

Pope Francis poses for a selfie with a mother and her child during his meeting with members of the italian Adult Catholic Scouting Movement in nervi Hall at the Vatican. (Photo: ePA/CnS via L’osservatore Romano)

Pope on the kind of priests Church needs

By Cindy Wooden

T

HE Catholic Church needs priests who show their people that being Christian is a lifelong journey toward holiness, a journey that proceeds by serving God and serving their brothers and sisters, Pope Francis has said.

The Catholic Church cannot “improvise” when it comes to training such priests and supporting them throughout their ministry, Pope Francis told the bishops of Italy.

“The formation we are talking about is the experience of permanent discipleship, one which draws him to Christ and helps him increasingly become like him,” the pope wrote in a message to the bishops who were meeting in Assisi.

Pope Francis suggested that as the bishops review and devise ongoing formation programmes for their priests, they keep in mind the many holy priests who inspired and taught them and who minister in their dioceses in parishes, schools, hospitals and among the poor.

Without attachment to things or their own self-interest, he said, such priests demonstrate how “lowering themselves and keeping nothing back is the path toward the heights which the Gospel calls love”.

“Holy priests are forgiven sinners and instruments of forgiveness.

Their existence speaks the language of patience and perseverance; they are not ‘spiritual tourists’ eternally undecided and unsatisfied because they know they are in the hands of one who always keeps his promises and whose providence ensures that nothing can ever separate them from belonging to him,” he wrote.

“The Church does not need clerical priests whose behaviour risks alienating people from the Lord, nor does it need functionary priests who, while fulfilling a role, seek their consolation far from him,” the pope said.

The experience of community or at least of “priestly fraternity”, he said, is essential for ensuring that a priest does not become isolated and begin thinking of himself as the “epicentre of everything”.—CNS

Vatican consultor on women priests Continued from page 1 reasoning which claims that women cannot become priests because Jesus was a man and because he chose only men [as his apostles] is very weak. That is a cultural consideration, not a metaphysical one.”

Fr d’Ors said the “change is necessary” because to deny women the priesthood represents “an unacceptable discrimination”.

He said that in preparing a report for a plenary assembly of the Vatican’s Council for Culture, titled “Women’s Cultures: Equality and Difference,” in February, he had spoken to many women, Christian and non-Christian alike, from various social backgrounds, and that “all but one” were in favour of the ordination of women.

He acknowledged there are many in the Church, priests and laity alike, who oppose such a move, but argued that it would be a “sin” to resist this change because “life is a continual evolution”.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi SJ told The Irish Times that Fr d’Ors was not speaking on behalf of the Vatican on this occasion.

OPE Francis is clearly “a pope of surprises”, according to German Cardinal Walter Kasper, and those who would try to understand the pontiff should remember his Argentine roots and how they influence his theology and his world view.

The president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Cardinal Kasper was at The Catholic University of America in Washington to accept the Johannes Quasten Medal for Excellence in Scholarship and Leadership in Religious Studies.

In a 45-minute address about the pope’s ecclesiology and ecumenical vision to a crowded hall that included many seminarians, Cardinal Kasper said that Pope Francis has, “succeeded in a short time in brightening up the gloomy atmosphere that had settled like mildew on the Church”.

However, he acknowledged, every pope has his “proponents and his enemies”. Likewise, Pope Francis has his own detractors, the cardinal said. “What for some is the beginning of a new spring, is for others a temporary cold spell,” he said.

Cardinal Kasper said Pope Francis “is the first pope to have grown up in a multicultural megalopolis in the southern hemisphere”. That shaped him with some European influences, but he also was strongly affected by Argentine culture, including its films and music.

The cardinal compared the theological influences on Pope Francis with those of his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Benedict comes from the best European theological traditions, seeking to put the doctrine of the faith into practice.

“Pope Francis works differently,” Cardinal Kasper said, and not necessarily in the way in which he is

Cardinal Kasper (Photo: CnS) sometimes portrayed.

“He’s not a Franciscan in disguise; he’s a Jesuit, through and through.” That means, according to the cardinal, that he begins with a concrete situation and seeks to assess it according to the rules for discernment drawn from the Ignatian spiritual exercises, before arriving at a concrete action or position.

That method corresponds to the approach of St John XXIII during the Second Vatican Council, “reading the signs of the times”.

U

nderstanding Argentina’s variant of liberation theology also is instructive for those who wish to understand Pope Francis, the cardinal said.

The same “see, judge, act” approach of the Jesuits describes Argentine liberation theology, Cardinal Kasper said.

While in other places in Latin America, the approach focused on the social and political conditions that led to societal inequality, sometimes in a Marxist manner, “Argentinian liberation theology is a theology of the people and their culture”.

It proceeds from a historical and cultural analysis of popular culture, in which people are unified by shared conscience, he said. “It does not want to instruct people, but listen to their wisdom.”

Cardinal Kasper said the pope is a deeply spiritual man who is convinced that the light of the Gospel is the only thing that can help people fully understand and interpret reality.

For Pope Francis, he said, “faith is a light, but not like a lighthouse which expels all dark, but a lighted torch which guides our steps into the night”.

That insight helps to understand how Pope Francis operates, from a basis of the Gospel as an instrument of joy and of reform.

“Pope Francis stands in a great tradition,” Cardinal Kasper said.

“He does not represent a liberal tradition, but a traditional position,” as in going back to the Gospels as the source and strength of renewal for the Church.

“He does not represent a traditionalist or a progressive scheme, but builds a bridge back to the origins. He has constructed a bridge to the future.”

Pope Francis doesn’t intend to revolutionise faith and morality, as “he wants to lead faith and morality back to their original centre”, to the heart of the Gospels, the cardinal said.

Particularly through his constant message of the need for mercy, Pope Francis emphasises that, as St Thomas Aquinas said, “God is not bound by our views of justice”, but only to God’s own desires. “God allows himself to be moved by the needs and sympathies of man.”

Cardinal Kasper said another message of Pope Francis is that it is important that the Church not be so self-centred.

“A self-centred person is sick,” Cardinal Kasper said. “A self-centred Church is a sick Church.” Pope Francis wants to leave behind the self-centred, self-pitying Church immersed in its own suffering, he added.—CNS

Priest convicted of bishop’s murder

By FRAnCiS nJUGUnA

A

CATHOLIC priest was among five people found guilty and sentenced to death in Kenya for the 2005 slaying of Italian Bishop Luigi Locati.

As the eight-year trial concluded, Judge Fred Ochieng described Fr Guyo Waqo as the mastermind of the plot.

The judge said he believed the priest recruited Mohammed Molu Bagajo, Adan Ibrahim Mohammed, Mahati Ali Halake and Diqa Wario

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Mohammed to carry out the shooting death of the 77-year-old bishop in July 2005 after a disagreement over cash donations to the Isiolo apostolic vicariate which the bishop was overseeing.

A sixth co-defendant, Roba Balla Bariche, was acquitted by Judge Ochieng, who said he “was not involved in the plot despite the fact that the gun used in the crime had been obtained from him”.

Judge Ochieng immediately imposed the death sentence on the defendants. But it is unlikely the

sentence will be carried out. Although capital punishment is not formally abolished, Kenya has not carried out any executions since 1987.

The defendants’ attorney, Ojwang Agina, told the court that they planned to appeal the death sentence.

Ordained a priest in 1952, Bishop Locati arrived in Kenya in 1963. He established the vicariate in Isiolo, 230km north of Nairobi, that year and was ordained a bishop in 1996.—CNS

Y

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6

The Southern Cross, november 19 to november 25, 2014

LEADER PAGE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor: Günther Simmermacher

The historical Jesus

C

ATHOLICS will be exasperated by the periodic claims by experts, many of them self-proclaimed, that Jesus did not exist or that “new findings” reveal some controversy or other about him.

Christians are regularly confronted with all manner of “new evidence” that supposedly compromises the credibility of the Gospel.

While much research on the historical Christ, even when it is critical, is undertaken with academic integrity and sincerity, the new “revelations” which we receive in the media tend to be sensationalistic, disingenuous, ignorant and malicious.

Often these “revelations” refer to documents that are described as long-lost. Usually they were neither long-lost nor credible in the first place.

This month the English Daily Mail proclaimed the startling revelation that a long-lost, 1 500year-old “gospel” claims that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, with whom he had two children.

“If true,” the Daily Mail breathlessly declared, “this would make it the greatest revelation into the life of Jesus in nearly 2 000 years.”

It is not true, of course. The potential world-changing discovery turned out to be an ancient Jewish novel titled Joseph and Aseneth, which was never “lost” but was subjected to a fanciful reinterpretation by people who had a book to write.

Many a book deal is to be had for authors who dispute the gospel account of Jesus, never mind his divinity. Often their line of argument centres on pagan myths which they claim were used to create a Christ figure.

They may also raise arguments such as the absence of legal documents or references to Jesus in non-Christian, non-Jewish literature—a cunning exclusion indeed.

Some absurdly suggest that the absence of biographical details in the Pauline letters provides evidence that the man St Paul writes about was an invention.

Such scholars are on the fringe in the study of the historical Jesus, and tend to work towards an agenda. Serious scholarship might disagree over the extent to which gospels and tradition portray Jesus of Nazareth accurately, but there is an academic consen-

sus that the man Jesus existed.

The weight of documentation of Jesus’ existence—if one does not exclude Christian and Jewish sources and accepts historical references such as that of the firstcentury historian Josephus Flavius—is substantial. Aside from the canonical gospels there are several books by early Christians which were not included in the New Testament. It would be an impressive deception if all of these writers fell for a hoax.

But the most compelling argument that there not only was a man called Jesus of Nazareth, but that he also inspired a following which grew even after his death, resides in the fact that people were willing to lay down their lives as his disciples—even in Jerusalem, within living memory of Jesus’ execution—without having prospects of material benefit from perpetuating a fraud.

Indeed, if the story of Jesus of Nazareth was pure invention, it would be a spectacular, unique and unlikely swindle.

That notwithstanding, the sincerely conducted inquest into Jesus’ actual existence is a valid academic exercise. In the game of hard evidence, the sceptics ask some difficult questions.

It is also valid to debate, within the setting of scholarship, whether Jesus was all that the New Testament claims him to be or to what extent the gospels are biographically reliable.

The latter debates, which challenge a too literal reading of the biblical narrative, can serve to enrich our understanding of the faith. Bible study can be enhanced by the interrogation of the gospels: the meaning of Jesus’ pronouncements and actions, the literary symbolisms the evangelists applied to drive home a point to his audience, and so on.

A better understanding of the historical Christ and the texts written about him can bring us closer to him and provide us with a more intimate understanding of his mission.

As Christians, we accept the word of first-century witnesses— those who recorded the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles— that Jesus was the Christ, and invest in their testimony a faith which by definition requires no proof. Sensationalistic, disingenuous, ignorant and malicious “revelations” should not shake us in that faith.

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.

Bl Nicolas Steno: a fossils pioneer

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OUR edition of November 5 was full of very interesting reading.

The editorial highlights the fact that many pioneers in the field of science were either Catholic clergy or laity. It is interesting to note that Bl Nicolas Steno was originally a Lutheran.

Living in Denmark, Bl Steno first studied anatomy, at which he excelled. He then left Denmark and ended up in Florence where he was appointed physician to the duke of Florence. Whilst dissecting a shark, he realised what fossilised shark’s

Ordination rules

R

ESPONDING to the letter from James Boshell et al (November 5), is it an “unjust law” that only men can be ordained? The real issue is whether it is “‘of the Lord” that only men can be ordained.

There is such a thing as fair and unfair discrimination.

That a person has a doctorate in theology is no guarantee of being right about something.

How can undergoing an invalid ordination and presenting oneself as a “Catholic priest” be “prophetic”?

I have no doubt that these women are well intentioned, but they are just plain wrong. They are in schism.

Pope John Paul II in the apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (1994) made it clear that the Church has no authority to ordain women and ruled that the issue is not open to debate.

It is perhaps regrettable that Church authority has to put a lid on free discussion of this question, but the popes have to preserve the peace and unity of the whole Church which has members from many cultures and mindsets. It is part of being a Roman Catholic that we accept the authority of the Bishop of Rome.

If ever the Church does decide that it does have the authority to ordain women, it will be through a very long process, first to reach consensus and, thereafter, to prepare the whole Church for this change.

The Church is not just one among many other organisations and institutions. It is a unique divine-human reality. Church authority is not just management and the pope is not just a CEO. His responsibility is not just to the “company”.

Ann Rooney, Gauteng

Why discard a Church asset?

I

HAVE always been under the impression that if anyone is excommunicated, they have committed

teeth actually were, not “tongue stones” that had fallen from the sky, as people thought in that era, the 17th century.

From a palaeontological and geological perspective, people in that era could not understand how sea shells could be found on mountain tops, many of them fossilised and encased in rocks. Steno solved the problem by realising firstly that mountains had not always been mountains, and secondly that residue had covered the sea shells over time and then solidified. the gravest of sins. So you can imagine my concern when I read that this was being done to a dedicated servant of God. It would seem that the Church has lost all understanding of the real world.

Dr Mary Ryan was ordained to the priesthood in Volmoed chapel towards the end of September. I thought that your readers would like to learn what Dr Ryan shared at this joyous service by quoting her verbatim: “I am a married Catholic woman who has long felt a call to priesthood, but because my Church has legislated that only celibate males may be ordained, I have been excluded. After completing theological study and immersing myself in different aspects of educational and pastoral ministry, I encountered the Roman Catholic Woman Priest movement, and two years ago began a process of preparation which lead to my ordination at Volmoed.

“Volmoed has been a space of retreat and spiritual nourishment ever since my husband and I moved back to Cape Town in 2002, a place of welcome and beauty, with its ecumenical outreach and commitment to reconciliation and forgiveness. I find resonance with the dimensions of my ministry as some called to participate in healing and reconciling of differences that have long been wounds in our country and in our Church.”

Can someone please explain how the Church can summarily discard such a highly educated and dedicated member of their community?

Owen Gush, Cape Town 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

Bl Steno then converted to Catholicism. He later gave up his scientific studies and entered the priesthood. He was appointed first vicar apostolic for the Nordic Missions and then auxiliary bishop of Münster, Germany, living a very ascetic life. He was unhappy being bishop and requested being given normal duties as a parish priest.

This was duly granted and he died shortly after at the age of 48.

Bl Steno’s cause for sainthood was brought about in 1938 and he was beatified by Pope John-Paul II in 1988.

Patrick Dacey, Johannesburg

Nun remembered

I

WAS saddened to hear in your obituary (October 29) of the passing of Dominican Sister Frances Emke, a beautiful soul, and grateful too that my road of life crossed hers, when she was in her 50s and I in my 30s.

I had the privilege of working alongside her for a mere two years at the Marymount Maternity Hospital in the premature baby unit as a nursing sister.

It was a pity we were transferred to Cape Town as I would have loved to stay on. I was not a Catholic at that stage; I converted when I was 40 years old.

Sr Frances never tried to convince me to change my religion, she just showed me what it was like to be truly Christian.

I loved to hear the Sisters chanting the Divine Office at Marymount. Once when I was very worried about my father's health we went into the chapel and knelt together and prayed for his recovery.

It was like a weight falling off my shoulders. I just knew he would be well again.

We kept in contact for a few years and I treasured her letters.

Thank you, Sr Carmen Brokamp, for the obituary. May Sr Frances’ beautiful soul rest in peace.

Jenny Daly, Knysna

Living rosary

T

HANK you very much for publishing Michael Shackleton’s sympathetic review of my booklet The Living Rosary (November 5).

Readers whose interest may have been aroused can order the booklet at R20 from Pauline Books & Media at Booksmedia@Paulines.co.za or phone 011 622 5195 or fax 011 616 7153, or buy it at the Pauline bookshop in Johannesburg or other Catholic bookshops.

Ideally, it is also on sale in parish repositories (if not, perhaps they might be nudged into ordering a supply from the Paulines).

Bishop Hubert Bucher Emeritus of Bethlehem

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Point of Reflection

What sort of king is Our Lord?

P

OPE Pius XI instituted the feast of Christ the King, this year on November 23, in 1925. Yet today our people of different tongues and culture fail to comprehend this kingship.

How do we make sense of the paradox and mystery of a king who reigns over the hearts of men from a criminal’s cross, and disturbs the entire social order by proclaiming that the very poor and downtrodden, the prostitutes and sinners, would possess the kingdom ahead of the pious learned who professed, taught and lived the Jewish law to the letter.

What kind of king publicly asks his followers to be “like little children” in order to enter his kingdom; to sell all their possessions, renounce the world and suffer? A king who asked his people to die to self in order to live forever, who even dared to preach that all men were equal; that we were to forgive the unforgiveable and love the enemy and the unlovable!

Then came his illogical declaration that we should eat his body and drink his blood in order that he may live in us and we in him. No earthly king ever made such preposterous demands.

Yet this king also spoke of love and tenderness, of justice, truth and peace.

He told Pontius Pilate that his kingdom was “not of this world”. How could it be when he also claimed that the “kingdom of God is among you” and even “within you”.

That was, of course, the very core of Jesus’ preaching.

Jesus came to establish the kingdom of heaven here on earth, not only in the spiritual but also the social domain for this song of the kingdom was meant to be sung within and among us in the very moral fibre of our daily Christian living.

He speaks of the kingdom as past, present and future for it is an eternal kingdom, beyond all time.

It is already and not yet here, simply because man has delayed it by preferring his own will to the divine. It is to be fully established and finally triumphant only when man submits to the will of Christ, for only then will he have absolute dominion over all his subjects.

In the perfect prayer, Jesus prays that “thy kingdom may come, that thy will may be done on earth as it is done in heaven”. For, surely, this remarkable kingdom is with us, among us and in us only when we submit to his will and surrender to his rule and lordship over us, and when he is glorified in all that we do.

From the psalms, the prophets and the teaching of the master, we are left in no doubt that here is an eternal kingdom portrayed, as is with all spiritual realities, in human imagery.

Jesus offered certain human images to display the mysteries of the kingdom by speaking in parables. His miracles were “signs” of the kingdom. He came to rule over the hearts and minds of his subjects, but also to heal the ill and wounded—and even death. His glorious resurrection was a sign of the ultimate triumph of his kingdom.

On the other hand, there are those whose declaration we hear even in our age: “We have no king, only Caesar!”

We are fully aware that Christ’s kingdom does not reign over all the earth. Satan reigns where he is given permission to rule—where there is corruption, injustice, greed, drug and alcohol abuse, racism, gangsterism, religious persecution, exploitation of the weak, human trafficking and so on.

The kingdom of God is here to upset and reverse the whole social order; it must dictate a new vision, a new social perspective, a cry for truth and justice and mercy among us—without which peace is impossible.

This is the Church’s mission in this world, and every Christian has a part to play, for every act of love, respect and justice will be building a new social order, beginning with the family and affirming the basic right to life itself.

Just as a mustard seed is tiny and has yet to grow into a mighty tree, so the kingdom is already with us and yet not fully accomplished until we Christians hear the call to live the life of the kingdom.

The Southern Cross, november 19 to november 25, 2014

Keep your words sweet W HILE working on training material for a communications course recently, I was reminded of something one of our teachers told us way back in Grade 9 (or Standard 7).

In class we were discussing the issue of calling people names and the hurt caused by our words. Our teacher told us that one can never take back the spoken word. And I have never forgotten that advice.

My dad used to tell us to remember always that “sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can never hurt you”.

But I remember being very hurt by the words of children in my neighbourhood.

As a child I was very timid and thin, and children had all kinds of names to call me—so much so that I feared walking past certain children’s homes on my way to the shop because I dreaded them spotting me and calling me names. It hurt me terribly at the time.

Once my mom went with me to one of the children’s homes to speak to her parents about her calling me names, and I remember her mother being very dismissive and saying to my mom: “Ag, she didn’t mean to hurt your daughter.”

It’s interesting how often people are dismissive of the power of our words. “Oh, she was just teasing”, or “He didn’t really mean it”, or even “Maybe you are too sensitive”—these are phrases frequently used to explain away hurtful words.

A few weeks ago, I was reminded of just how much words can hurt when I spoke to a woman in one of our training workshops who shared that during an argument with

a friend of hers many years ago, the friend had said to her: “I regret that I ever met you.” For a short while thereafter their friendship ceased, but they became friends again and have remained so ever since.

Now, many years later, she realises that those words, and the hurtful feeling, have always stayed with her. She has never forgotten it.

She says she does not know whether her friend remembers saying those words to her, but she has decided to bury it and not bring it up now, nearly 15 years later.

Whether this remark was deliberately malicious or just thoughtless, its effect has not gone away. Words that hurt people can stay with them for a lifetime.

Earlier this year, Pope Francis spoke about how we should speak to and about our brothers and sisters. The pope said: “In our day we think that ‘not killing our

Hurtful words may be forgiven, but they can’t be taken back. (Photo; morguefile.com)

A Catholic-Anglican bond

A

SPECIAL ecumenical vocation was born when a French priest met an Anglican aristocrat on a Portuguese island.

Fernand Portal was born in 1855 in France. At 25 he became a Vincentian priest, with the intention of going to China as missionary. For reasons of health he was rather retained to teach in a major seminary.

A bout of tuberculosis in 1890 brought him to the island of Madeira, where he met Charles Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax, president of the English Church Union, a society dedicated to the promotion of Catholic principles and practices within the Church of England.

Their friendship, rooted in mutual understanding and respect, would soon foster dialogue, giving birth to the desire to work towards union between the Catholic and the Anglican Churches.

Bishop Jean Calvet, who was a seminarian at Cahors when Abbé Portal was superior, testified: “We were absolutely amazed…when we saw [Lord Halifax] in the chapel...following the liturgy with a missal—Roman, obviously—kneeling down and making the sign of the cross. This got our brains working feverishly. After all, this man was a heretic! … He was attending Mass with obvious fervour; he therefore believed in the Mass!”

Abbé Portal and Lord Halifax organised debates between Catholics and Anglicans on the question of Anglican orders as means of bringing the hierarchies of the two Churches together.

Indeed, there was excitement when a pontifical commission met in Rome with the aim of studying the Anglican Orders in greater depth. Lord Halifax and other Anglicans were hopeful that with Pope Leo XIII as bishop of Rome there would be a happy outcome. But the result was a kick in their teeth.

The pope concluded: “Therefore adhering entirely to the decrees of the pontiffs, our predecessors on this subject, and fully ratifying and renewing them by our au-

Abbé Fernand Portal in 1881 (left) and Lord Halifax thority, on our own initiative and with certain knowledge, we pronounce and declare that ordinations performed according to the Anglican rite have been and are completely null and void” (Apostolicae Curae 36).

Needless to say, the Anglicans were deeply disappointed. Abbé Portal, no less disenchanted, soothed Halifax with these words: “The future is with the peaceful.

What you and your group have done for the reunion of Christianity will be to the eternal glory of the Anglican Church. You have shown perfect loyalty and generosity.”

Then he added confidently, this time with a tinge of prophecy: “In nature nothing gets lost; this is even more true in the realm of the supernatural. A single act of love is more effective in producing infinite reverberations than the displacement of an atom. How many acts of love towards Our Lord and the Holy Church have not you and your friends made. Sooner or later the entire Church will be shaken. Let us not get discouraged, my dear friend.”

A

man with an open spirit such as Abbé Portal just could not yield to discouragement. He quickly attracted Catholics and non-Catholic into a study circle that treated various issues. He also founded the journal La Revue Catholique des Eglises in which he published the works of the study circle.

But another dampener was forthcoming, this time from Pope Leo’s successor,

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Faith and Life

brother’ means simply not actually murdering him—but no. Not killing our brother means not [even] insulting him, the insult comes from the same root of the crime: hatred.”

During arguments or times of high emotions, when it is so easy to say hurtful things to one another, we ought to remember the counsel of the Sufi mystic Rumi: “Clam up your mouth and be silent like an oyster shell, for that tongue of yours is the enemy of the soul, my friend. When the lips are silent, the heart has a hundred tongues.”

Proverbs 16 reminds us that gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

How beautiful does this sound, but how difficult it is to always remember and accomplish. Soft and gracious words can be spoken only from our heart, where God dwells. Hurtful things are spoken from a place of hatred.

In her novel Salem Falls, Jodi Picoult says: “Words are like eggs dropped from great heights; you can no more call them back than ignore the mess they leave when they fall.”

And so, my dear beloved Standard 7 teacher had it right all those years ago: “You cannot take back the spoken word.”

With that in mind, let us keep our words sweet.

Fr Evans Chama M.Afr

Saints of Christian Unity Pius X. Accused of modernism, Abbé Portal was taken out of the seminary and definitively banned from publishing or speaking in public.

Despite all setbacks, Abbé Portal and Lord Halifax were determined to forge ahead.

Through the help of Cardinal Mercier, archbishop of Malines, the two managed to obtain the approval of Rome to organise meetings of Anglican and Catholic theologians in Malines, giving rise to the “Malines Conversations”. Thus dialogue was re-established, but before it could bear fruit tragedy struck.

Their sponsor Cardinal Mercier died on January 23, 1926, and in June that year Abbé Portal died also.

The ecumenical flame was dimmed. It would take several years before Vatican II, the meetings between Pope Paul VI and the Archbishop Michael Ramsey of Canterbury, as well as Pope John Paul II’s visit to England in 1982, to revive the vision of Abbé Portal and Lord Halifax.

For Abbé Portal and Lord Halifax, who died in 1934 at 95, the Church is universal with no fixed borders; its borders must constantly be pushed further out in order to embrace new members. Both saw One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church that rises above the distortion of the denominational divisions.

Abbé Portal leaves us with this legacy: “The union of the Churches cannot, in fact, be achieved except by real apostles, in other words men of faith using spiritual means first of all: prayer, which is the source of grace; charity, which gives understanding of persons, even those from whom we are separated; humility, which leads us to accept our defects and our faults.

“There, it seems to me, we have the essential elements of all action in favour of union.” n This month the US bishops formally endorsed the sainthood cause of Fr Wattson.

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8

The Southern Cross, november 19 to november 25, 2014

COMMUNITY

Peterose Wolde and eden endale of Addis Ababa, ethiopia, were married at St Anthony’s parish in Randfontein, Johannesburg. Frs Jude nnorom CSSp and Melese Tumato Shula MCCJ presided. The wedding celebration was held at Fort Beaufort community hall, with deacon Anthony Ventel and evangelist Hailu Adalo presiding.

The Catholic Men’s Association (CMA) of Sacred Heart parish in Ackerville, Witbank diocese, and the Most Holy Trinity parish (including outstations) in Tzaneen diocese, held two bilateral discussions at Sacred Heart parish. The men of both CMAs are pictured together. The CMA’s patron saint is St Joseph and their motto is “Faith! Action! Knowledge!”.

Brescia House School handed over three wheelchairs to Little eden, a home for severely intellectually and physically disabled children and adults, in edenvale, Johannesburg. The wheelchairs each had a story: one was donated by a Grade 8 pupil who has overcome many physical challenges of her own. The second was donated by a Brescia House School family on the death of a family member. The third was earned by the school body, who collected plastic bottle tops and bread tags for the eco-committee and Junior School earth Keepers Group. These bottle tops and tags were handed over to interwaste, who then donated a wheelchair to Brescia House School for Little eden.

(From left) L norman (head of counselling and community outreach), Mary Hyams of Little eden, Grade 6 pupils Tatenda Mudzana and Genevieve Michael, and K van Crombrugge, eco-schools coordinator.

Four Holy Cross sisters made their First Profession at St Charles parish in Victory Park, Johannesburg.

(From left) Sr Beatrix eita from namibia, provincial leader Sr Monica Madyembwa, Sr Vimbai Majaja and Sr Connie Torevei from Zimbabwe, administrator of Christ the King cathedral Fr Thabo Motshegoa, Sr nomfundo Mani and novice directress Sr Theresa Mafuta. (Photo: Sr Maureen Rooney HC)

St Raphael’s choir from Khayelitsha in Cape Town took part in the Xhosa festival of the archdiocese of Cape Town held at St Monica’s parish in Lwandle, Strand.

The children of St Martin de Porres parish in Lavistown, Cape Town, received their first Holy Communion. They are pictured with Fr John d’Souza, deacons Arthur Arries, Terry okkers, eddie Hansen and catechist Agnes Julie.

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St dominic’s Priory School in Port elizabeth was again represented at the annual Remembrance day Parade at the Walmer Cenotaph. This year the outgoing head boy and girl, Simon Mowatt and Michela Wells, laid a wreath on behalf of the school’s staff and pupils. on november 11 at 11:00 the sound of “The Last Post” could be heard echoing from the hall as the school gathered to honour those who lost their lives in the line of duty.

The Southern Cross, november 19 to november 25, 2014

FAITH

9

50 years on, a call to holiness still echoes Fifty years ago, on November 21, 1964, the bishops at Vatican II approved a document that changed the Catholic Church. FR AnTHony eGAn SJ looks at the impact of Lumen Gentium.

F

IFTY years ago, during the Second Vatican Council, the Church adopted the text Lumen Gentium (1964), the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church.

It emphasised the universal call of all Christians—ordained and lay—to holiness, called for Christian unity and introduced a form of Church government which stressed a combination of collegiality—governance by all the bishops—and papal supremacy.

As we look back to its adoption, we see today many of its fruits—not least in the first phase of the Synod on the Family last month—as well as many promises and a few challenges.

The three main themes in the text should be seen as interconnected. The universal call to holiness cannot but feed into the call for Christian unity: the ancient formulae of the Church as “one, holy, catholic and apostolic” in the Creeds are not options on a menu but a definition of what we really should be.

One cannot really talk of holiness while the scandal of disunity persists. Holiness is both piety and wholeness, after all.

Similarly the principle of episcopal collegiality “with and never without” the Bishop of Rome is both a sign of the unity in diversity for which we strive and a source of challenge to Christian unity, on which so much of the call to holiness stands or falls.

Many years ago, a book titled Bishops–But What Kind?, a collection of essays by Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant scholars, examined different understandings of the role of bishops in Christianity.

It argued for the necessity and importance of the ministry of episcopos—the “overseer”—for the Christian tradition, but noted that the episcopate, or ministry of bishop, had a long and complex history of development traceable back to the Apostles.

There was a shift, the authors argued, from directly elected over-

seers, through locally appointed bishops confirmed by the pope, to direct papal appointments.

What held bishops together was a common faith and commitment to serve as leaders of the local Church, bonded in communion with each other and the pope, who enjoyed a primacy of honour rooted in the tradition that St Peter had been bishop of Rome.

The bishop had authority in his own diocese. Bishops resolved local issues locally, while councils of the Church brought them together to address broader doctrinal questions.

This collegiality was weakened by the 11th-century schism that led to what we call today Eastern Orthodoxy and was further damaged by the Reformation.

With the expansion of Catholicism to mission territories around the world, episcopal appointments were centralised on Rome, though only in the 1917 Code of Canon Law was it made the general norm (with a few exceptions) that the pope appointed bishops.

At the First Vatican Council (1869-70) the authority of the papacy was strengthened, not least by the declaration of limited papal infallibility. Where previously doctrinal issues had been resolved by councils of the Church or by individual bishops seeking the expert advice of theologians, now doctrinal and administrative authority was centred on Rome.

D

uring Vatican II, this centralising tendency was challenged by the majority of bishops, some of whom even toyed with the idea of conciliarism—the supremacy of a universal Church council over the pope. What emerged from the debate, Lumen Gentium, was a compromise document that could be read at least two ways.

Supporters of supreme papal authority objected to an earlier draft which they felt gave the assembly of bishops (the collegium) authority over the pope. As a result the final text stated that the Church was governed by all the bishops together with and never without the pope, while giving the pope extensive ordinary governance over the whole Church.

In the wake of Vatican II, successive popes tended to emphasise the latter over the former. Given the retention of direct papal appointment of bishops, it has been suggested, with some justification, that many new appointments were of bishops more sympathetic to papal supremacy over collegiality.

Pope Paul Vi presides over a meeting of the Second Vatican Council in St Peter’s basilica. november 21 will mark the 50th anniversary of the council’s adoption of the dogmatic constitution of the Church, Lumen Gentium (“Light of the nations”). (Photo: Catholic Press Photo/CnS) A recent book, How Can the would argue does the universal call Petrine Ministry Be a Service to the to holiness.

Unity of the Universal Church? (once The universal call to holiness itagain by an ecumenical collection self should not be seen simply as a of scholars) ably demonstrates that kind of pious exhortation but as the question has major significance part of the wider renewal of the for Christian unity. With varying Church. degrees of sympathy for the papacy, It firmly set aside any false imthe Catholic, Orthodox and Protes- pressions Catholics had that the tant theologians all agree: the Church comprised two streams, a Petrine ministry is es“professionally holy” sential to any genuine class (bishops, priests, Taking on the religious men and and lasting Church unity. The problem is universal call to women) and the in how this ministry is “rest” (the laity). All exercised. holiness, if it is to were called to be Quite simply, OrChristians. be more than “whole” thodox and Protestant It’s a point that was scholars cannot accept piety, means that reiterated time and the kind of highly cenagain in the other tralised structure of the laity must have a documents of the Catholic Church under Council: renewed invoice in the the pope. Some see it terest in Scripture and Church. as a historical accident revelation, participathat breaks with the tion (as opposed to longer tradition. observation) in the Orthodox theologians in partic- liturgy, renewal of priestly, religious ular (whom we see as theologically and family life, theological educaclosest to us), while accepting papal tion and the promotion of justice in primacy of honour, cannot accept the world. either the idea of direct papal apnevitably the call to holiness and pointment of bishops or the notion renewal had a tremendous impact of papal infallibility exercised outon everyone willing to engage with side a Church council.

Yet Lumen Gentium, in emphasis- it. Committed laity took it up— ing collegiality, points towards a reading the Bible, studying theolprocess that makes growth towards ogy, taking responsibility for unity at least possible. The recogni- catechesis and leadership in the tion of other Christian churches as local church and society, renewed “separated brethren”, as the council involvement in spirituality, not in general and Lumen Gentium in least in the Charismatic Renewal.

Inevitably, too, this had an imparticular described them, makes the struggle for unity desirable, as I pact on other areas, notably the

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drive towards Christian unity and collegiality.

As they read the Bible, got involved in prayer groups and worked for social justice, lay Catholics, bishops, clergy and religious found themselves working with nonCatholics, with whom they found much common ground. And in finding common ground, they built up a grassroots (if sometimes haphazard) ecumenism that drew many of them to seek greater Christian unity.

In exercising their particular ministries, many too found themselves actively collaborating with clergy and religious, bringing new insights to the Church through a dialogue in life. Though boundaries of leadership and teaching authority remained, a sense—perhaps more accurately an expectation— was created of a kind of collegiality in common faith.

Of course this new sense of collegiality in holiness and grassroots ecumenism led to many complications. Some were disappointed when the sense of collegiality did not go what they perceived was far enough. Others found the changes in the Church distressing, a shattering of long-held identities and practices.

The latter welcomed the reining in of the “democratising” tendencies and the restoration of a more conservative theology and practice in the late 1970s. The “progressives” reacted against what has sometimes been called the “reform of the reform”.

What seems clear, however, is that a return to a status quo before the Vatican II, before Lumen Gentium, is impossible.

Understanding and taking on the universal call to holiness, if it is to be more than piety, means that laity must have a voice in the Church. This voice echoes the need for unity in diversity that episcopal collegiality presumes. And resolving the tensions inherent between episcopal collegiality and papal leadership—the Petrine office—is crucial to attain the Christian unity the council, and the Creed, calls for.

This is the Church that Pope Francis has inherited. His style of leadership, epitomised in the recent synod meeting, seems to be trying to redefine once again Lumen Gentium’s collegiality in the light of his clear belief in dialogue and the holiness he sees in everyone—including those outside the Catholic Church. n Fr Anthony Egan SJ is a member of the Jesuit Institute in Johannesburg.

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The Southern Cross, november 19 to november 25, 2014

PILGRIMAGE

The pervasive Catholic spirit of Paris In October a group of Southern Cross pilgrims, led

by Bishop João Rodrigues of Tzaneen, returned from a pilgrimage to Portugal,Spain and France. In the final of four articles, GünTHeR SiMMeRMACHeR looks at the spirit of Catholicism in Paris.

P

ARIS means all sorts of different things to different people.

The city of love, of course. The world’s fashion capital. The greatest concentration of art anywhere. The setting of some of the greatest works of literature and cinema. The landmarks of Eiffel Tower and the Champs Elysées.

And then there is Catholic Paris.

For all the separation of state and church, and for every revolution’s assault on the faith, its spirit pervades the great city.

It is there in the neighbourhoods named after saints—Saint-Germain, Saint-Denis, Montmarte (Mount of the Martyr, St Denis)—and in the title of the city’s most famous cemetery, the Cimetiere du PèreLachaise, named after Fr François de la Chaise (1624–1709), confessor to Louis XIV, the Sun King.

And the city’s Catholicism is most evident in its many great churches: the Sacré-Cœur basilica and Sainte-Trinité in Montmartre;

The archangel Michael and the devil contest for souls in a relief above the main entrance to notre dame cathedral, and the interior of the Miraculous Medal chapel in Rue de Bac in the Montparnasse area of Paris. (Photos: Günther Simmermacher) Saint-Séverin and Saint-Étienne-duMont, on the steps of which one will find students from the nearby Sorbonne University, in the Latin Quarter; the church of Saint-Louisdes-Invalides, next to Napoleon’s tomb, and Saint-Eustache near the Louvre; Saint-Sulpice and Saint-Germain-des-Prés on the Left Bank; the stained glass extravaganza that is Sainte-Chapelle on the Île de la Cité, and nearby the great cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris).

In our pilgrimage’s brief time in Paris it was not possible to see all of

these churches. In fact, we saw only two, both with a Marian theme.

After St Peter’s basilica in the Vatican, Notre Dame might well be the world’s most famous church. Built in the 12th century over the city’s first church, which was dedicated to Stephen, it was in Roman times the site of a temple to Jupiter.

In literature it was the abode of the bell-ringer Quasimodo in Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Victor Hugo also used Notre Dame as a metaphor in the novel Les Misérables, when the law-loving

and God-fearing but uncompassionate policeman Javert commits suicide on the Pont au Change bridge, situated between NotreDame cathedral, representing God, and the Palace of Justice, representing the law.

The reliefs on the facade of Notre Dame are richly symbolic, too.

Above the right entrance, they play out the Last Judgment, with the Archangel Michael and the devil contesting for souls.

A striking image depicts a female devil squatting in an obscene pose over the heads of a bishop and a king, a reminder that even the powerful and mighty are subject to God’s judgment.

The left entrance depicts the assumption of Our Lady, surrounded by the apostles.

While our group received detailed instruction on the exterior of the cathedral, thanks to Paris guide and art historian Salvatore Rotolo, we were denied a good look around the interior—but for a good reason.

As we arrived in the morning, a long procession of deacons, priests, bishops and Cardinal André VingtTrois of Paris was entering the church for an ordination Mass of ten permanent deacons.

H

Pilgrimage Highlights HOLY LAND: Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, Jordan River and much more...

ROME: Papal Audience, Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Catacombs, Major Basilicas, Ancient and Baroque Rome...

FLORENCE: Dumo cathedral, Church of the Holy Cross with the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo, Renaissance Florence...

TURIN: Reserved viewing of the Shroud of Turin in the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, plus sites of Don Bosco on his bicentennial: Pinardi Chapel and Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians...

aving seen many great Paris landmarks—the Eiffel Tower, both Arcs de Triomphe, the Louvre, Alexander Bridge, Les Invalides and so on—and made time to explore and shop in the Latin Quarter, our group made its way to the bustling Rue de Bac in the Montparnasse area for our final Mass in the chapel of the Miraculous Medal.

It was our fourth site of Marian apparitions, after Fatima, Zaragoza and Lourdes.

Between July and December 1830, a 24-year-old novice of the Daughters of Charity, Sr Catherine Labouré, reported three apparitions of Our Lady, following earlier visions of Christ and the heart of St Vincent de Paul, co-founder of her order. All took place in the chapel at 140 Rue de Bac, built in 1813.

In her apparitions, Mary instructed Sr Catherine to have medals struck featuring the image

in which she appeared—inside an oval frame, standing upon a globe, with her hands coming out as rays of light—and the invocation: “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”

After some investigation into Sr Catherine’s claim by the archdiocese, this was done, with a Parisian goldsmith named Adrien Vachette executing the design.

Shortly after, in February 1832, Paris suffered a cholera epidemic which killed 20 000 people. The Daughters of Charity distributed the medals at that time and many survivors attributed their cure to the protection received through the medal.

And so it became known as the Miraculous Medal. It remains a very popular devotion in the Catholic Church.

I have had the opportunity to visit the chapel twice this year; privately in May and during this pilgrimage. What is particularly striking is the presence of young people at Rue de Bac. Many of them seem to pop in for a prayer, and then go on their way.

It is a busy place, as the long queues in the gift shop testified.

The chapel is a place of intense prayer; the air is thick with faith.

It has been remodelled several times since St Catherine’s time. Its present appearance dates to 1930, the centenary of the apparitions.

Only the tabernacle is unchanged.

The altar of the apparitions has been moved to the right of the sanctuary.

It houses the tombs, in glass reliquaries, of St Catherine, who died at 70 in 1876, and the co-founder of the Daughters of Charity, St Louise de Marillac, who died in 1660. The tomb of St Vincent de Paul, who also died in 1660, is in the Vincentian church around the corner, in Rue de Sèvres, but his heart is kept in the Miraculous Medal chapel.

And with a final Mass at Rue de Bac our Marian pilgrimage of prayer for the cause of Benedict Daswa ended, a journey of faith that took us through three countries to places of Marian apparitions and the places of great saints.

notre dame (left) and the portal to the Miraculous chapel in Rue de Bac.

The Southern Cross, november 19 to november 25, 2014

CLASSIFIEDS

Sr Pudentia Hosli OP

D

OMINICAN Sister Pudentia Hosli died after a long illness on October 21 at Sunward Park Hospital, Boksburg.

She was born on May 28, 1924 in Udenhout, Netherlands, where she grew up during World War II. Her desire to serve God and neighbour prompted her decision to enter the religious life.

Sr Pudentia joined the Newcastle Dominican Sisters at Rosary Priory, Hertfordshire, England, where she began her studies. After her novitiate training she was sent to South Africa.

Her first assignment was to Newcastle, in northern KwaZuluNatal, where she joined the community at St Mary’s in Blaauwbosch.

Her desire to serve the poor was fulfilled. Her outreach knew no bounds. With the help of friends and family in Holland she became whole-hearted in the work of helping others.

Sr Pudentia was a most creative person. She loved and served God sewing, knitting and doing embroidery work. She was a woman of great faith and love for the liturgy.

After years of service, her health began to fail. She retired to Marian House, but remained in contact with the people of Blaauwbosch. With assistance from the Liliane Fund in Holland, she was able to ensure the education of physically challenged children.

Southern CrossWord solutions SOLUTIONS TO 629. ACROSS: 5 Adverse, 8 Garden, 9 Ascents, 10 Lyceum, 11 Actors, 12 Sodality, 18 Fidelity, 20 Shrove, 21 Presto, 22 Profane, 23 Unholy, 24 Steeple. DOWN: 1 Ageless, 2 Brocade, 3 Sexual, 5 Dismayed, 6 Events, 7 Satyrs, 13 Infernal, 14 Mission, 15 Synonym, 16 Thirst, 17 Coffee, 19 Erring.

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)

DurBAN: Holy Mass and Novena to St Anthony at St Anthony’s parish every Tuesday at 9am. Holy Mass and Divine Mercy Devotion at 17:30pm on first Friday of every month. Sunday Mass at 9am. 031 309 3496.

NELSPruiT: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at St Peter’s parish every Tuesday from 8:00 to 16:45, followed by rosary, Divine Mercy

prayers, then a Mass/Communion service at 17:30pm.

JOHANNESBurg: Carols by candlelight at St Charles parish, Road no 3, Victory Park.

Sunday november 23 at 18.30 for 19.00. Boerewors rolls available and Christmas stalls to buy goodies. Children can dress up as shepherds or angels. Contact Marilyn on 084 461 2592 or marilynchekteri@ gmail.com

Births • First Communion • Confirmation • engagement/Marriage • Wedding anniversary • ordination jubilee • Congratulations • deaths • in memoriam • Thanks • Prayers • Accommodation • Holiday Accommodation • Personal • Services • employment • Property • others Please include payment (R1,37 a word) with small advertisements for promptest publication.

iN MEMOriAM

Sr Pudentia was well loved by all and supported by the community during her final weeks.

Her Requiem Mass was celebrated by Dominican Fathers Lewis Tsuro and Martin Roden.

She is buried in Marian House cemetery, Boksburg.

Liturgical Calendar Year A Weekdays Cycle Year 2 Sunday, November 23, Christ the King Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17, Psalm 23:1-3, 5-6, 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28, Matthew 25:31-46 Monday, November 24, St Andrew DungLac Revelation 14:1-5, Psalm 24:1-6, Luke 21:1-4 Tuesday, November 25 Revelation 14:14-19, Psalm 96:10-13, Luke 21:5-11 Wednesday, November 26, St Leonard of Port Maurice Revelation 15:1-4, Psalm 98:1-3, 7-9, Luke 21:12-19 Thursday, November 27 Sirach 50:22-24, Psalm 138:1-5, 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, Luke 17:11-19 Friday, November 28, St James of the Marsh Revelation 20:1-4, 11-21:2, Psalm 84:3-6, 8, Luke 21:29-33 Saturday, November 29, All Saints of the Seraphic Order Sirach 44:1, 10-15, Psalm 24:1-6, Mark 10:1721 Sunday, November 30, First Sunday of Advent Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7, Psalms 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19, Mark 13:33-37, First Corinthians 1:3-9

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MALuKA—olga (née elissac). in loving memory of my wife, our mother who passed away peacefully on September 18, 2013.

Fondly remembered by dennis (husband), Cheslyn, dennis C, Reneé, Melvyn, Leroy, Joshua and grandchildren. you will always have a special place in our hearts.

SACCO—Louise. in loving memory of our Louise called to her eternal reward on november 20, 2011. Always remembered by her family. Rest in peace beloved Louise. We recall with gratitude her teaching experience over many years and particularly by her words, “This life is a preparation for eternal life and we should go forward with confidence faith and trust—what a privilege it is to glorify the Lord like this.”

SHArKEY—Brian. Brian left us on 25/11/ 2010 to play golf on heaven’s courses. Missed and loved forever, yours always Val.

PrAYErS

splendour of Heaven, blessed Mother of the Son of God, immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. o Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein that you are my Mother, o Holy Mary Mother of God, Queen of heaven and earth, i humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to secure me in my necessity. There are none who can withstand your power, o show me that you are my mother. o Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Thank you for your mercy towards me and mine. Amen.

ALMigHTY eternal God, source of all compassion, the promise of your mercy and saving help fills our hearts with hope. Hear the cries of the people of Syria; bring healing to those suffering from the violence, and comfort to those mourning the dead. empower and encourage Syria’s neighbours in their care and welcome for refugees. Convert the hearts of those who have taken up arms, and strengthen the resolve of those committed to peace. o God of hope and Father of mercy, your Holy Spirit inspires us to look beyond ourselves and our own needs. inspire leaders to choose peace over violence and to seek reconciliation with enemies. inspire the Church around the world with compassion for the people of Syria, and fill us with hope for a future of peace built on justice for all.

We ask this through Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace and Light of the World, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen. Prayer courtesy of the USCCB.

THANKS

ST MiCHAEL the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, o Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls.

Amen.

O MOST beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine,

MARy da Silva wishes to say a big, big thank you for all the lovely phone calls on my birthday. Thanks to Fr Bogdan for Holy Mass.

God bless all my family and friends.

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Website: www.scross.co.za 1st Sunday of Advent: November 30 Readings: Isaiah 63:16-17, 19; 64:3-8, Psalm 80: 2-3, 15-16, 18-19, 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, Mark 13:33-37

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Fr Nicholas King SJ

Sunday Reflections

tion’s) trust in God, where it belongs.

The psalm continues the intimacy with the idea that God is Israel’s “shepherd”, “you who lead Joseph like a flock”; the poet is well aware that he cannot dictate terms to the Almighty, “the One who dwells on the cherubim”.

So God has to be addressed as “God of hosts”, but the psalmist is not afraid to attract his attention: “Please come back—look down from heaven and see! Visit this vine”—and there is a particular plea: “Let your hand be on your right hand man…give us life, and we shall call upon your name.”

The second reading continues the mood: it is very near the beginning of Paul’s first letter to Corinth. Far from keeping their eyes on

their longing for God, the Corinthians were, as ever, squabbling among themselves, each thinking themselves better than the other. So in this reading, Paul has to remind them that it is not they but God and Jesus who have it all to do: “Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

That is where we must keep our eyes, this Advent, remembering that “grace” means God’s unconditional love, which comes to us regardless of who we are or what we do.

Read closely through that second reading, and see how Paul’s emphasis is not on the Corinthians’ great qualities, so much as the gifts that God has given them: “the unconditional love given you…you have been made rich in him…the witness of Christ has been made strong in you…you lack no gift…he will confirm you on the day of Our Lord Jesus Christ”.

If they were listening carefully the Corinthians should have been shaken by Paul’s insistence that it is all a matter of God’s gift, not their own superior qualities. That is what we are waiting for in Advent.

To wait for it, however, requires a certain attentiveness. So the gospel for next Sunday

How we will defeat Satan S

PIRITUAL literature has always highlighted the primordial struggle between good and evil, and this has generally been conceived of as a war, a spiritual battle.

Thus, as Christians, we have been warned that we must be vigilant against the powers of Satan and other forces of evil.

And we’ve fought these powers not just with prayer and private moral vigilance but with everything from holy water, to exorcisms, a dogmatic avoidance of everything to do with the occult, the paranormal, alchemy, astrology, spiritualism, séances, witchcraft, sorcery, and ouija boards. For Christians these were seen as dangerous routes through which malevolent spirits could enter our lives and do us harm.

And scripture does, seemingly, warn us about these things. It tells us that for our world to come to its completion and its fulfilment, Christ must first triumph over all the powers that oppose God. And for that to happen, Christ has to first vanquish and destroy death, darkness, evil, the powers of hell, the powers of Satan, and various “thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers”.

What, concretely, are these powers and how is Christ ultimately to triumph over them? How should we conceive the battle that’s taking place?

We are clearer about how death will be defeated: we believe that the resurrec-

Conrad

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Advent signals longing for God

N

EXT Sunday we start a new liturgical year, with the first Sunday of Advent.

And the mood that the Church wishes to instil in us is, quite simply, one of longing for God. It goes deeper than that, however, for there is also in these readings a sense that it is in God alone that we can trust.

This is clear in the first reading that we hear, which probably dates to those terrible days just after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, days that were so terrible that the poet even imagines the possibility that “Abraham not know us, and Israel not acknowledge us”; but even under those circumstances, he continues: “You, Lord, are our Father, and our Redeemer from of old you are named.”

Then, but very gently indeed, the poet indicates that it is really all God’s fault: “Why do you make us wander from your ways?

Why do you harden our hearts?”

The reading ends in that powerful sense of intimacy with God that is never very far from Israel’s heart: “And now, Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay and you are the potter—all of us are the works of your hand.”

All the poet can do is place his (and his na-

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Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI

Final Reflection

tion—Jesus’ and our own—is how that battle is to be won.

As to Satan and hell, each of us has her own idea of what these are, but what we share as Christians is the belief that these will continue to exist, alongside and opposed to God and heaven, for eternity.

That’s the common Christian belief, though not the universal one.

T

here have always been theologians and mystics who believed that the full triumph of Christ will occur when Satan himself converts and goes back to heaven along with everyone else in hell. The love of God, they believe, is so powerful that, in the end, nobody, not even Satan, will hold out against it.

But that still leaves us with the “thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers”. Are these simply another way of referring to Satan and his powers? Or do these refer to spiritual forces hidden inside the paranormal? How might we conceptu-

alise evil spiritual forces?

Each of us conceptualises them in some way, usually in the graphic images given us in the Book of Revelation and by centuries of Christian artists. And so we picture some kind of spiritual warfare happening beneath the surface of things, a spiritual battle between good and evil, a warfare wherein, eventually, Christ will triumph by defeating and destroying all these malevolent powers.

But those are archetypal images, intended to point us towards something deeper.

What really are the “thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers” that are opposing Christ, and how are they to be defeated? How might we conceptualise the spiritual warfare going on beneath the surface of things?

The spiritual warfare that is being described in scripture and inside all authentic spirituality has less to do with the occult than it has to do the malignant grip of narcissism, greed, anger, bitterness, hatred, lust, woundedness, grudges and ignorance. These are the real “thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers” in the struggle between good and evil.

Authentic spiritual warfare is to be pictured this way: Inside our world and inside each of us there’s a fierce battle waging, a war between good and evil.

And these are the contestants: Hatred is battling love; anger is battling patience; greed is battling generosity; bitterness is battling graciousness, jealousy is battling admiration; choosing to remain inside our wounds is battling healing; holding on to our grudges is battling forgiveness, ego and narcissism are battling compassion and community; and self-hatred is in a bitter battle with the acceptance of love and God’s unconditional embrace. Paranoia is waging a war against metanoia.

That’s the real war that’s going on, in our world and inside each of us.

Hatred, anger, paranoia, greed, bitterness, lust, jealousy, non-forgiveness and self-hatred are the “thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers” about which scripture warns us.

Hence the final triumph of Christ will occur when the last of these forces is eventually subdued, when we are finally at peace with goodness, with love, with trust, with ourselves, with others, with our history, with our mistakes, with those who have hurt us, with those whom we have hurt, with our shortcomings, and with our impatience with God. In the meantime, there will be spiritual warfare, primordial battles, all around.

begins with the exhortation, “Keep looking!

Don’t go to sleep” and ends with “Stay awake!”, and what we have to do during this time is to keep our eyes on God. And the reason for this? “You do not know when the time is”; and Jesus illustrates this with one of his rather shocking “stories” or “parables”, about someone (presumably the God whom we long for) who goes overseas, leaving his “slaves” in charge of their works.

Most important of all, of course, is the “doorkeeper” (or the person in charge of those electronic devices with which you protect your house. Or the Rottweiler), to whom goes the simple instruction to “stay awake”.

And this message is spread out to all of us: “…because you don’t know what time the Lord of the house is coming, in the evening or the middle of the night or at cock-crow or in the morning”.

And the point is that in our longing for God we do not want “him to come suddenly and find you sleeping”.

So our task, this Advent, is to polish up that longing for God that is the very deepest and best part of us.

How about starting this week?

Southern Crossword #629

ACROSS 5. Harmful contemporary poetry (7) 8. Biblical place of temptation (6) 9. Risings of coin in the donkey (7) 10. My clue for Aristotle’s teaching place (6) 11. They’re in the Passion Play (6) 12. Religious group can be also tidy (8) 18. Faithfulness in marriage (8) 20. Pancake Tuesday (6) 21. Hey! The magician says it quickly (6) 22. Commit a sacrilege (7) 23. Kind of mess where no saint is (6) 24. It rises above the church (7)

DOWN 1. Eternal (7) 2. Rich fabric in the vestment (7) 3. Instinct shared by men and women (6) 5. I dyed Sam, leaving him aghast (8) 6. Special occasions (6) 7. Woodland gods can be strays (6) 13. Like the depths of hell (8) 14. Important assignment for evangelist (7) 15. A word with the same meaning (7) 16. Christ’s dry feeling (6) 17. Drink for a break (6) 19. Getting doctrine wrong (6)

Solutions on page 11

CHURCH CHUCKLE

A

FTER hearing the Christmas story, and singing Silent Night, a Sunday school class was asked to draw what they thought the Nativity scene might have looked like.

One boy did a good likeness of Joseph, Mary, and the infant Jesus, but off to the side was a rolypoly figure. The teacher, afraid that he had somehow worked Santa Claus into the scene, asked him who that was. She wasn't sure whether she was relieved or even more worried when the boy replied: “Oh, that's Round John Virgin.”

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