The
S outhern C ross
June 17 to June 23, 2015
Reg No. 1920/002058/06
No 4929
www.scross.co.za
Priests speak on Church and the youth
Page 25
16-page Catholic education supplement
R7,00 (incl VAT RSA)
Why priest couldn’t hear confession
Page 23
Church must preach to fight witch hunts BY STUART GRAHAM
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he Church must use the Gospel and preach its moral teachings to fight the spread of witchcraft, a retired Catholic bishop based in Musina in Limpopo has said. Bishop Hugh Slattery, retired of Tzaneen, spoke after a spate of violent witch hunts in the Nancefield area in Musina. He stressed that it is important for the Church to be clear on its teachings. “Witchcraft and all those kinds of things flourish on hearsay and gossip,” said Bishop Slattery, who led the diocese of Tzaneen from 1984 to 2010. “There is fear around it. People are scared. They don’t speak openly about it,” Bishop Slattery said. “The Church can play a role in stopping the spread of witchcraft by using the Gospel to teach its faith and sacraments. We also have to use religious means like rituals to help people,” he said. “We need to preach the moral teachings of the Church. We have to be clear on these issues.” Dozens of people, including children, were arrested after they allegedly burned down a 70-year-old pastor’s house.
P
olice spokeswoman Ronel Otto said the pastor had been seen in a video on Charis TV, which broadcasts charismatic Christian church services, in which he confessed that he was involved in witchcraft and that his teenage daughter was an evil spirit. The community saw the video, went to his house and tried to burn it down with the family inside, Ms Otto said. The police were called and rescued the pastor, his wife and daughter before they could be harmed. The group later threw stones at police officers and their cars before blockading the N1 between Musina and Beit Bridge. The group mobilised again later. On this occasion it succeeded in burning down the pastor’s house. The following day a group
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threw rocks at the pastor’s brother’s house. No one was injured in the attacks. The South African Council of Churches’ provincial secretary for Limpopo, Lechipisha Mohlala, said that the council was deeply disturbed by the pastor’s televised confession and the actions of the residents who had destroyed his property. “The problem of the day is that we have all these commercialised churches who use public media to lure people for personal gains. People have now taken the church for a business enterprise. We condemn all those acts of commercialising the church.” Limpopo government spokesman Phuti Seloba called on charismatic churches to stop encouraging people to make dangerous public statements.
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ishop Slattery said the beatification of Benedict Daswa, who was beaten to death by members of his community on February 2, 1990, after he refused to take part in a witch hunt, will be an important step in stopping the spread of witchcraft. “Daswa is a hugely important figure. He had a special grace. He rejected witchcraft. A lot of people were with him silently but not in public,” said the bishop, who launched the sainthood cause for Daswa. “Daswa was prepared to stand up and be counted and take the consequences without forcing his views on people.” Benedict Daswa, a school principal and father of eight, is due to be beatified in Thohoyandou on September 13. Bishop Slattery said all kinds of misfortune feed into witchcraft, including droughts, thunderstorms and unseasonable weather. Pentecostal churches, which often blame the devil for everything, also have to take responsibility for halting the violence. “It is a complex issue. Tension and stress feed into it,” Bishop Slattery said. “People will try and make an enemy into a witch. There is much dishonesty in the whole thing.” (See also page18)
When Bishop Abel Gabuza visited the small church of St Theresa in Manyeledi in the remote Kalahari for the confirmation of 16 candidates, he was advised to get out of the car and leave it on the side of the road in order to cross the sandy street to arrive at his destination. On his first visit to the church, Bishop Gabuza expressed appreciation to the community for the organised way of his welcome. He noted the grinding poverty in the area, saying: “It needs faith to make life from here, and I really admire the people who live this side of the diocese.”
Fr King lectures touch listeners STAFF REPORTER
F
ATHER Nicholas King SJ has wrapped up his Winter Theology lectures in Gauteng and Bloemfontein, and is now preparing to deliver his lectures in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. The world-renowned Jesuit Scripture scholar and long-time Southern Cross columnist is in South Africa to present the series of lectures entitled “The Scandal of Christian Disunity: A Biblical Approach”. In the lectures King looks at disunion in the Church and between churches. It is a return to South Africa for Fr King, who served in the country from the late 1980s until 2002, and is returning to England after a year-long stint in Boston, Massachusetts. He still writes his weekly reflections on the Sunday readings exclusively for The Southern Cross. “I was really touched by Fr King’s reading and insight into the Scriptures,” said a participant who attended the first week of the annual Winter Living Theology in Bryanston, Johannesburg, hosted by the Jesuit Institute.
St John Paul II Pilgrimage to Poland Southern Cross
Fr Nicholas King speaking in Johannesburg. “I really appreciated the input and the gentle manner in which it was presented,” said the participant, who declined to be named. Fr King, in a series of nine lectures over three days, looked at disunion in the early Church and how they managed it. He looked at divisions that arose in the Pauline writings and then took each of the gospels and examined various conflicts. Fr King also used a lecture to look at the Continued on page 3
A journey to the places of St John Paul II’s life and devotions, led by a Bishop who knows Poland intimately.
Led by Bishop Stan Dziuba 13 - 21 May 2016
Kraków | Wadowice (on St John Paul II’s birthday) | Black Madonna of Częstochowa | Niepokalanów (St Maxmilan Kolbe) | Divine Mercy Sanctuary | Warsaw | Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (with miraculous icon) | Zakopane | Wieliczka Salt Mine (with Mass!)