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The Southern Cross, February 5 to February 11, 2020

LOCAL

What SA bishops and Ramaphosa discussed By ERin CARElSE

RESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has agreed with Catholic Church leaders that things need to improve in South Africa, and has asked that the Church work with him to resolve them. A delegation representing the Southern Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) met with the president and several government ministers at Mahlamba Ndlopfa, the official presidential residence. They included SACBC president Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha, first vice-president Archbishop Dabula Mpako of Pretoria, SACBC secretary-general Sr Hermenegild Makoro CPS, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town, and Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg. “Both the president and the Church realise that at this moment South Africa faces a nationwide challenge. While there is a crisis in the economy it is also clear that the

President Cyril Ramaphosa (front, from left) Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka of Mthatha, Cardinal Wilfrid napier of Durban, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg and (back) SACBC secretary-general Sr Hermenegild Makoro CPS and Archbishop Dabula Mpako of Pretoria. citizens need to be offered by the Church a foundation in spiritual values such as an awareness of the priority of the common good rather than seeking personal entitlement,” Bishop Sipuka explained.

“We informed the president of the Church’s new national Pastoral Plan, engaging all committed Catholics to exercise their faith and competencies at the service of the whole national community,” he said.

The president and the bishops shared their concerns regarding unemployment, homelessness, migration, youth, and integrity and honesty in all areas of public administration and delivery. According to Bishop Sipuka, the meeting, which was requested by the bishops, was warm and friendly. “We assured [the president] that the Church is committed to working with all people of goodwill towards the renewal of South African society,” the bishop said. Mr Ramaphosa expressed his appreciation for the Church’s work. He was very aware of the efforts of the Catholic Church over the centuries to serve the nation, especially the poor, in worship, social care, and education, and also in its huge contribution in the face of HIV/Aids. According to SACBC spokesman Archbishop William Slattery, the Church is, after the government, the greatest contributor in addressing the HIV/Aids crisis. “There are 8 million people in the country who are suffering from

HIV/Aids, and the Catholic Church at one stage was doing 25-27% of the response to that,” the archbishop explained. “The president also expressed his appreciation for what the Church is doing in the area of education, as we have 380 Catholic schools,” he said. Archbishop Slattery also noted that the Catholic Church “opened all of the first rural clinics, and many of the great hospitals were started once by the Church”. Another important concern for the Church was homelessness. “Homelessness is a huge problem because of the number of people coming into the country. We have such high unemployment ourselves, so how can we deal with that. The Church is worried about it but appreciates the difficulty of the government in responding to that,” Archbishop Slattery noted. “There was also some conversation about unemployment and especially the youth, and also ways in which we can strengthen marriage and family in the country,” he said.

‘Where does it hurt?’ is a key theological question STAFF REPORTER

HERE does it hurt? That is the key theological question of the day, a priest told the annual Dominican Day at Koinonia in Johannesburg. The day, themed “Decolonising Church and Society”, attracted about 70 people. Speakers included Fr Peter-John Pearson, and St Augustine College academics Prof Terry Sacco, Tebogo Moroe-Maphosa and (in absentia) Dr Nontando Hadebe. Fr Pearson, director of the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office, spoke on “What really matters? Re-aligning with the Mission of Jesus,” and also celebrated the closing Mass. He used the story of the beggar Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16, and the work of theologian Ruby Sales, an African-American civil rights activist, to issue a call for

fundamental change. “Pope Francis makes the same appeal for a radical ‘new lifestyle’,” Fr Pearson said. He referred to Ms Sales’ campaign for social justice through the Spirit House Project she founded. Once, the priest said, Ms Sales asked a young and angry prostitute: “Honey, where does it hurt?” According to Fr Pearson, Ms Sales has come to believe that is the key theological question of the day. “Unless society—and the faith communities—begins to name its ills, there can be no hope of healing them,” he said. Fr Pearson pointed out that of all the characters in the parables of Jesus, only Lazarus got a name. “Colonialism takes away people’s names and history, creating anonymity. There is no anonymity in religion. God knows us by name. What are we naming? We need a ro-

Keen cook Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David OMi of Cape Town was presented by Grazia Barletta, of Our lady of Good Hope parish in Sea Point, with her book of selected italian recipes.

CT bishop keen to cook up a storm By DAViD STROnG

ESIDES being an ardent devotee of Our Lady and an accomplished biblical scholar, Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester David OMI of Cape Town is also a keen cook, and those in-the-know speak highly of “Sylvester’s kitchen”. So the bishop was pleasantly surprised to receive a copy of Our Lady of Good Hope parishioner Grazia Barletta’s recent cookbook of Italian recipes. Ms Barletta, a dame of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, handed the book to Bishop David, who was the guest speaker, at a morning of recollection held under the auspices of the Order hosted at Our Lady of Good Hope.

bust and potent spirituality for our day,” he said. “Colonialism and imperialism make people anonymous, and also engineered the destruction of agency. With noteworthy resilience, Lazarus sat at the rich man’s gate day in, day out. The poor and the marginalised will not go away, they will not be anonymous. This is one of the ‘signs of the times’ that the Church should be heeding,” the priest said. “The elite cannot continue to talk about the poor and marginalised but must talk to them. Unless the Church includes the poor in the dialogue about poverty and change, we cannot move forward,” urged Fr Pearson. After leading the assembly in the opening prayer and the Xhosa hymn “Masibuleleku Yesu”, Prof Sacco and Mr Moroe-Maphosa spoke. Mr Moroe-Maphosa, although born in 1994, said he had experi-

(From left) Tebogo Moroe-Maphosa, Fr Peter-John Pearson, Fabian Oliver and Prof Terry Sacco at the Dominican Day in Johannesburg. enced a life oppressed by having his language and culture deemed to be not good enough. As a musician, he was lauded for singing in German, while his own language was considered “foreign”. Prof Sacco reflected on growing up in a context of white privilege.

“It is imperative, in the context of post-colonial and post-apartheid South Africa, that we interrogate white privilege. Ask yourself, ‘How do I decolonise my white mind?’ Maybe by asking, ‘Where does it hurt?’ The Church cannot be silent,” Prof Sacco said.

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