The
S outhern C ross
June 3 to June 9, 2015
Reg No. 1920/002058/06
No 4927
www.scross.co.za
The case for priestly home visits
Holy Shroud Pilgrimage in pictures
Page 9
Page 8
R7,00 (incl VAT RSA)
Archishop: Catholics should read Quran
Page 10
Pope: I miss going out for a pizza BY ANDREA GAGlIARDuCCI & ANN SCHNEIBlE
P The Southern Cross’ website (www.scross.co.za) periodically produces inspiring wallpaper images for computer screens, such as this one pictured. Currently there are close to 30 wallpapers to choose from. This image, with a statue of St Paul in front of St Peter’s basilica in the Vatican, quotes from I Corinthians: “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but I do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (13:1). Download the wallpapers at www.scross.co.za/category/wallpapers/
Gibran art set for SA exhibit BY STAFF REPORTER
T
HE paintings of Lebanese-American artist and writer Gibran Khalil Gibran, who authored the classic collection of philosophical tales The Prophet, are due to be exhibited in South Africa later this year. Fadi Khalaf, an advocate representing The Gibran National Committee in South Africa, said that the exhibit will give the country's Lebanese community, most of whom are Maronite Catholics, the chance to learn more about their cultural heritage. “Organising such cultural event will give the Lebanese, South Africans and South Africans of Lebanese descent the opportunity to discover and learn more about the Lebanese heritage, art and culture,” Mr Khalaf said. Gibran was born in 1883 into a Christian family in the town of Bsharri in Lebanon. He emigrated with his family to the United States when he was a young man. He studied art and wrote in English and Arabic. He is best known for authoring The Prophet, a collection of short philosophical essays that became one of the top-selling books of the 20th century. He was also an accomplished visual artist with work that incorporates components of two major late 19th century art movements—aestheticism and symbolism.
Gibran strove to relay personal, often deeply spiritual feelings in visual form, similar to the aesthetes, said Mr Khalaf. “He sought beauty and poetry in all things as an antidote for the rampant materialism of the world around him,” he said. “Gibran’s quest for humanity’s eternal and undeniable truths is a consistent theme linking his literature and artwork.” Gibran’s artwork, which used human figures to express universal themes suggesting a link between the physical and spiritual realms, is incorporated into his collection of literary work. In 1932, the content of Gibran's studio in New York, including his furniture, his personal belongings, his private library, his manuscripts and 440 original paintings, was transferred to Bsharri. His work is displayed at the Gibran Museum, which is managed by the Gibran National Committee. Mr Khalaf has asked the Lebanese community in South Africa and the Maronite Foundation in Johannesburg to help arrange the event. The exhibition is expected to be held between December this year and February 2016, possibly including the feast of St Maroun, the 4th-century founder of the Marionite rite, on February 9. A venue is still to be arranged.
OPE Francis has said he misses the “tranquillity of walking in the streets” and that he’s always been callejero—a man of the city. In a wide-ranging interview with the Argentinian newspaper La voz del Pueblo, Pope Francis said that since being elected pope, he misses being able to “go out in the streets”, or even “going to a pizzeria to eat a good pizza”. When the journalist told him that he can always order a delivery pizza, the pope responded: “It is not the same thing.” “I have always been a callejero,” the pope said. “When I was cardinal, I loved walking the streets, and taking buses and the underground.” Pope Francis also explained his need to stay in touch with people. “I enjoy the general audiences, both from a spiritual and from a human point of view. I get along well with people, I am in tune with people, it is just like my life is enveloped by people.” He noted that “from a psychological point of view, I cannot live without people, I am not useful as a monk”. He said that this is the reason why he chose to live in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse in the Vatican. “There are 210 rooms. We are 40 living there and working for the Holy See, while the rest of the people are guests, bishops, priests, lay people who pass and are accommodated here, and I like this a lot. Coming here, eating in the refectory where everybody eats, celebrating Mass there, where four days a week there are people from the outside, from the parish priests. I like it a lot,” he said. Pope Francis also revealed details surrounding his day-to-day life. “I sleep so profoundly...that as soon as I get in bed, I fall asleep. I sleep six hours a day. Normally, I stay in bed from 9pm, and read until almost 10pm. As soon as one of my eyes waters, I turn off the light and I sleep until 4am, when I wake up by myself, thanks to my biological clock.” During the afternoons, Pope Francis takes a nap that last from 40 minutes to one hour. “When I don’t take the siesta, I suffer.” he said. Asked if he understands the extent of his impact on people, Pope Francis said that he doesn’t know why exactly. “I try to be concrete in the audiences, in things I speak about.” He said he is touched by circumstances involving “sick children”, especially those who
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Pope Francis at a general audience in May. (Photo: Bob Haring/CNS) are affected by “rare infirmities”. The pope said he also mourns when he goes to prisons. He’s spent two out of three Holy Thursdays in a prison since his pontificate, and recalled that he has visited prisons in other towns throughout Italy. “When I am having meals with inmates, I think that I could be there,” Pope Francis said. “No one of us can be sure that he will never commit a crime. I feel pain for the inmates, and thank God that I am not there [in prison].” He went on, however: “Sometimes I feel that this gratitude is of convenience, as the inmates did not have the opportunities I had.” Pope Francis said he doesn’t cry in public, but admits that there have been occasions where “I was about to cry and stopped right in time”. One of these instances occurred when he was speaking about persecuted Christians. The pontiff also added that he’s not afraid of anything. He is “in God’s hands” with regard to any possible attempts against his life. He simply prays that, if it has to be, God will give him grace not to feel physical pain. Pope Francis said he says this prayer because he is a “coward” when it comes to pain. “I can manage the moral pain, but I can’t manage the physical pain.” Pope Francis also said that he feels the pressures of daily life like any person who governs. And he admitted that the intensity of his duties is weighing on him. “I am pushing forward an intense rhythm of work” as if it were the last year of school, he said. Pope Francis also addressed problems surrounding the media’s coverage of him, which he says “takes a word and uses it out of context”. The pope said he reads only one newspaper, Continued on page 5
Rome, Assisi, Florence, Siena, Padua, Milan, Venice and more 6 - 17 September 2015