r5,50 (incl VAT rSA)July 27 to August 2, 2011 www.scross.co.zareg No. 1920/002058/06 No 4736

Meet Muhammad,prophet of Muslims

Page 10

Who cares for the

prisoners?Page 9

BY CLAIrE MATHIESON

THE spirit of volunteering needs to beinstilled in South African youth,according to Fr Sammy Mabusela CSS,

the national youth chaplain.The priest is currently working with a

group of Italian volunteers across the arch-diocese of Pretoria.

The group of 17- and 18-year-olds trav-elled to South Africa from the city ofVerona with their priest Fr Simone Pianti-ni. The two Stigmatine priests met duringFr Mabusela’s tenure in Tanzania where heran a school. Part of the congregation’scharism is youth ministry and Fr Piantinisaid he would encourage youth from hisdiocese to volunteer in Africa.

“The group has come to volunteer theirtime, their talents and to help our commu-nity,” explained Fr Mabusela. The studentswill be spending their summer holidays inPretoria until returning to Italy in August.

“I dream of instilling the spirit of volun-teering among our youth,” Fr Mabuselasaid. “Volunteering is a way of evangelisingbecause we offer ourselves to a cause. Ihope the South African youth will learnfrom these Italian volunteers and beinspired to do the same in their own com-munities.”

The national youth chaplain said manyyoungsters in South Africa complain aboutthe lack of employment but the situation,he said, “will stay the same until they takesome initiative”.

Fr Mabusela said people can learn skillsand benefit their communities throughvolunteering. “And when they have some

experience and a job does open up, thenthese volunteers will be the first to be con-sidered for the job.”

The Italian volunteers are currentlyputting their painting skills to use through

the renovation and cleaning of parish out-stations in the area. “We hope to convertsome of the buildings to child-care facili-ties, and this has been made possible onlybecause we have helping hands to clean

the building up,” said Fr Mabusela. The young international volunteers have

already gained life lessons through theexperience, Fr Mabusela said.

“They’ve learnt about the challengesthat other people around the world experi-ence. They’ve also learnt there are lots ofthings we all have in common.”

He said the Italian youth have had their“eyes opened” to the world.

Fr Mabusela wants to promote volun-teering by South African youth.

“I keep in touch with what’s importantto the youth and I try to inspire them,”said Fr Mabusela, who uses Facebook andTwitter to communicate with the nation’syouth.

He said he wants to inspire the youth tomake a difference in the country. “Charitybegins at home. Why not do somethingsmall in your own community that couldmake a big difference?” he asked.

The benefits of volunteering go farbeyond the physical action required. Bothvolunteer and those in need benefit.

“There are great spiritual benefits andit’s educational for the volunteer,” FrMabusela said, adding that when some ofthe volunteers first came to South Africathey were “terrified but because they took aleap of faith they have grown from theexperience. It has widened their horizons”.

Fr Mabusela said the volunteering actscould be as small as walking young chil-dren to school in the morning, talking tosenior citizens who may live far from theirfamilies or even offering one’s skills to alocal organisation.

“Start small,” he said, “but start!”

Volunteer, priest tells SA youth

BY KuDzAI TAruONA

ON July 31, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier ofDurban will be celebrate a series ofnoteworthy anniversaries this year:

his 70th birthday, 50 years as a Franciscan,his 30th anniversary as bishop and thetenth anniversary of becoming a cardinal.

The celebration will be held at theSahara Kingsmead Cricket Stadium in Dur-ban, beginning at 10:00am.

Thousands of Catholics from through-out the archdiocese as well as clergy andlaity from other dioceses are expected toattend. No other Masses will be celebratedin the archdiocese after 8:30am to encour-age the faithful to attend.

The celebration coincides roughly withCardinal Napier’s 41st anniversary of ordi-nation to the priesthood on July 25.

Cardinal Napier was born on March 8,1941 in Swartberg, East Griqualand. Hewas appointed bishop of Kokstad in late

1980, at the age of 39. In 1992, he succeeded Archbishop

Denis Hurley in Durban, a position he stillholds.

He chose as his episcopal motto thegreeting of St Francis, “Pax et bonum”(Peace and goodwill).

Pope John Paul II named him a cardinalin 2001. He was given the titular church ofSan Francesco d’Assisi ad Acilia.

Cardinal Napier is a member of theCouncil for the African Synod, the Con-gregation for the Evangelisation of Peo-ples, the Congregation for ConsecratedLife, the Pontifical Council for Culture andthe Council of Cardinals for the Study ofthe Structural and Economic Affairs of theHoly See.

He was among the cardinal-electorswho participated in the 2005 papal con-clave that selected Cardinal JosephRatzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, to suc-ceed Pope John Paul II.

Fr Sammy Mabusela, national youth chaplain, and a young Italian volunteer with a group of chil-dren who are still warming up to the attention they are receiving. 

Napier to celebrate anniversarieswith big Mass at cricket stadium

HAVING withdrawn support from theInternational Catholic JournalistsUnion (UCIP) over irregularities, the

Vatican has issued a statement opposingmoves by its controversial leadership toreconstitute it as the International CatholicsOrganisation of the Media (ICOM).

In April, the Pontifical Council for theLaity said that UCIP should remove the word

“Catholic” from its title, Catholic WorldNews reports.

The Vatican explained that the move wasprompted by concerns about finances andmanagement of the group, and lack ofaccountability in its leadership.

At the time, UCIP leaders said that theywould respond to the Vatican’s concerns.

The laity council has said that the newgroup should remove the word “Catholic”

from its title for the same reasons.In a joint communiqué, the Pontifical

Councils for the Laity and for Social Com-munications said that UCIP “after decades ofvalid service to evangelisation through thepress, in the last years has experienced a pro-gressive crisis of management”.

UCIP’s general assemblies in 2007, 2008and 2010 were all invalidated.

In 2007 UCIP members elected South

African journalist Else Strivens, editor of Tre-foil magazine, as president. The current lead-ership controversially blocked her election.

The Vatican noted that “the so-calledICOM has unduly appropriated the intellec-tual, economic and historic patrimony ofUCIP, as well as its logo and its web page”.

UCIP was founded in 1930 to bringtogether journalists, publishers and acade-mics in secular and religious journalism.

BY THANDI BOSMAN

COUNTER-TRAFFICKING in Persons(CTIP) will hold a prayer service andwalkathon on August 6 at the

Sacred Heart cathedral in Pretoria in aid ofwomen and children affected by humantrafficking.

The event is being organised in cooper-ation with the Leadership Conference ofConsecrated Life and the Southern AfricanCatholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC).

The prayer service will begin at 10:00 atSacred Heart cathedral; from there thewalkathon will start and proceed toChurch Square. The walkathon will end atthe cathedral.

The walkathon is timed to coincidewith Women’s Day.

“Women’s Day falls on August 9 eachyear, and while we celebrate the greatcontribution of women to the upliftmentof society around the world, we are onlytoo keenly aware of the continued vio-lence and abuse meted out to many of our

women and indeed our children , especial-ly those who find themselves in vulnera-ble positions,” said Sr Melanie O’Connor,of the SACBC’s Human Trafficking Desk.

She said that the event is aimed at rais-ing awareness of “re-human trafficking,especially in South Africa, and to protectpotential victims”.

Sr O’Connor said that transactional sex“fuels human trafficking” and that Chris-tians should pray for an end to prostitu-tion and the exploitation of young chil-dren.

“At the same time we feel that manysex workers are treated very badly bypolice, and we are calling for an end toviolence against sex workers and ask thatthey uphold the dignity of every humanperson at all times,” Sr O’Connor said.

Those interested in attending the eventare asked to call Sr O’Connor at 012323 6458 as early as possible so thatorganisers can plan around the total num-ber of people expected to take part in thewalkathon.

Torn journalists union told to remove ‘Catholic’ from its name

Protest against human trafficking

WYD: Madrid’strouble with

rosaries, bananasPage 4

STAFF rEPOrTEr

THE huge growth of the des-perately poor in South Africahas spurred the Society of St

Vincent de Paul National Counci(SVP)l to develop the Society capa-bilities to respond to their needs.

National Council PresidentClem Venter commissioned devel-opment officer Rex Glanville toconstruct a national developmentprogramme which the Council hasapproved for action.

The key goals are: to enhancesociety’s spirituality, attract newconference members, grow theyouth membership, raise funds,extend among parish laity andclergy awareness of society activi-ties inspired by the driving force ofits patron St Vincent de Paul: “letus go to the poor”.

The SVP “works to provide ourneighbours in desperate need withmaterial help, personal and familyhelp, counsel and friendship, and

to bring hope and joy,” said Ray-mond James of the SVP.

He said involvement in the SVPcan take the form of joining theparish SVP, volunteering to distrib-ute food, donating greatly neededmoney, clothing and householdgoods, or “simply by telling familyand friend of the society’s goodworks and praying for the societyin fulfilling its mission.”

“Support for the society’s goodworks means personally contribut-ing to bringing hope and joy topeople who desperately need us tosee Christ in them, with hope theywill see Christ in us,” he said.

The SVP has operated in SouthAfrica since 1836, just three yearsafter the society was founded in1833 in Paris to serve impover-ished people living in the slums ofParis.

“The founders were a group ofseven university students, led by20-year-old Frederic Ozanam, allcommitted Catholics, who were

challenged by fellow students:‘You praise your Catholic Churchas the benefactor of humanity butwhat do you do for people inneed?’,” Mr James explained.

Choosing St Vincent de Paul astheir patron, the students formedan organised group (a “confer-ence” in French terminology).

Today the SVP operates aroundthe world with more than 1,3 mil-lion members and volunteersactive in 147 countries.

In South Africa the society hasover 200 parish conferences, withmore than 2 500 members.

A main focus of the SVP is tohelps people acquire vocationalskills through initiatives such asthe Tshepisong Sewing Project,which has trained and providedunemployed women with equip-ment to produce bedding items.These are then sold and all theproceeds retained by the women.n For more information on the SVPvisit www.stvincentdepaul.co.za

BY ruSSELL POLLITT SJ

THE Jesuits working in SouthAfrica met at Coolock Houseon the south coast of KwaZu-

lu-Natal to explore how they canbetter respond to their mission inthe Church and the world asdirected by the 35th Congregationof the Society of Jesus in 2008.

Pope Benedict’s allocution atthe Congregation encouraged theSociety of Jesus to “reach thosephysical and spiritual places whichothers do not reach or have diffi-culty in reaching”.

The pope at the time admittedthat this is one of the most diffi-cult and demanding tasks, but saidthat the Jesuits are to dialoguewith very different social and cul-tural contexts and also the diversementalities of today’s world.

Pope Benedict encouraged theSociety of Jesus in its mission byrecalling the words of Pope PaulVI: “Wherever in the Church, evenin the most difficult and extremefields, at the crossroads of ideolo-gies, in social trenches, there hasbeen and there is confrontationbetween the burning exigencies of

man and the perennial message ofthe Gospel, here also there havebeen, and there are, Jesuits.”

At the South African meeting,Dominican F Martin Badenhorstaddressed some of the challengesthat rapid secularisation poses tofaith.

He outlined different degrees ofsecularism and their varying per-ceptions of religious belief.

He also tried to specify the waysin which secularism challengestheology and, as a result, howimportant further rigorous theo-logical enquiry and dialogue withscience is needed.

He pointed out that theology isnot static but dynamic and alwaysneeds to respond to scientificdevelopment.

The second part of the meetingbegan an ongoing reflection onthe future ministries of the Jesuitsin South Africa.

They have begun to look at astrategic plan for the region so thatthey can live their charism, whichwas reaffirmed at the General Con-gregation, more deeply and indoing so minister more effectivelyin the country.

LOCAL2 The Southern Cross, July 27 to August  2, 2011

APPLICATIONS ARE INVITED FOR THE POST OF

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION (HOD)TERM 1 2012

The incumbent will be expected to have:

• the requisite academic and professional qualifications and SACE registration.

• a strong personal commitment to the objectives and ethos of Catholic education

• experience in a Catholic educational environment

• a successful teaching record and involvement in extramural activities

• a good understanding of current educational practice

The incumbent will be expected to:

• be a practising Catholic

• co-ordinate and lead the Religious Education programme of the College

• teach Religious Education from Grade 8 to 12

• to be part of Ethos Committee of the Board of Governors

• in addition to teach Life Orientation in accordance with qualifications in the High School

section of the College

• participate in extramural activities

Applications should be addressed to the Principal and should include certified copies of all

relevant certificates as well as a motivation and names of two contactable references, which should

include one from a Catholic priest. Applications should reach the College on or before the 31 July

2011, delivered by hand to the College or emailed to prross@cbcpretoria.co.za

The College reserves the right not to proceed with filling the post. An application will not in itself

entitle the applicant to an interview or appointment and failure to meet the requirements of the

post will result in the applicants automatically disqualifying themselves for consideration.

Candidates not contacted before 5th August 2011 should consider their application unsuccessful.

Christian Brothers’ College is a Catholic Independent Day School for girls and

boys from Grade RRR to Grade 12 and committed to the ideas of a Gospel inspired

education in the traditions of Edmund Rice.

Mount Edmund

CHrISTIAN BrOTHErS’ COLLEGE

PrETOrIAPO Box 912-487 Silverton 0127•Tel: School (012) 804-1801, 804-1792, 804-8461• Fax: (021) 804-8781

Jesuits chartway forward

Taking part in the local Jesuits’ annual meeting at Coolock House in Kwazu-lu-Natal were (front from left) Frs David Dryden, rigobert Minani, DavidSmolira, Martin Badenhorst OP, Nigel Johnson; (middle row) rampe Hlobo,Terry Mutesha, Matsepane Morare, Gilbert Mardai, Graham Pugin, ThomasPlastow, David rowan and russell Pollitt;  (back) Anthony Egan, Peter Knox,Shaun Carls, Matthew Charlesworth, Chris Chatteris and Bruce Botha.

SVP launches new advertising campaign

STAFF rEPOrTEr

ACONFERENCE on schoolsafety held at Sacred HeartCollege in Observatory,

Johannesburg, achieved its aim “toprovide practical knowledge andresources on how to improve safe-ty at schools”, according to ColinNorthmore, head of the hostingschool.

The conference was held overtwo days and attended mostly byschool leaders, principals anddeputy principals from indepen-dent, township schools and ruralschools from as far away asLesotho.

Mr Northmore said the confer-ence was developed from a grassroots level. “The programme wasdesigned by practitioners in theindustry, which made it more rele-vant and directly addressed theneeds of schools. Delegates left theconference with a sense of empow-erment; they left feeling that theynow have the tools to make a dif-ference in their schools.”

The conference also launchedthe Coalition of Safe Schools(COALSAS). Operating as a volun-tary group of schools, the coalitionwas formed to help schools mea-sure their progress in creating safeenvironments.

Schools can apply to join theassociation by submitting theirapplication to COALSAS@sacredheart.co.za. The application mustbe accompanied with a completedHIRA (Hazard Identification RiskAssessment). Once this has beensubmitted a certificate will be sentindicating that the School is aCOALSAS member.

“We want to break down theprocess of becoming safer forschools and make this a moremanageable process so that evenschools with very little resourcesare able to implement simple mea-sures to make their school safer,”said Mr Northmore.

School safety conference empowers educators

STAFF rEPOrTEr

IRISH Jesuit Father Jim Corkerybegan his five-week, five-citytour of Winter Living Theology

with a workshop on the SecondVatican Council at Santa Sophiafriary in Pretoria.

The day-time lecture seriesbegan the following day with apacked house at the Pauline Sis-ters’ Cultural Centre in Kensing-ton, Johannesburg.

About 80 people followed thethree-day series entitled “TheChurch in the Modern World:From Trent to Benedict XVI”.

The first 50 participants whoregistered enjoyed a lunch everyday at Mario’s Italian restaurant afew blocks away. Others broughttheir own packed lunch.

Fr Corkery’s first week was inJohannesburg. His second week oflectures was given at the cathedralin Bloemfontein. He will speak atthe Glenmore Pastoral Centre inDurban from August 2-4; at StLuke’s Retreat Centre in Port Eliza-

beth from August 10-12; and at theSchoenstatt Centre in Cape Townfrom August 16-18.

Under the umbrella of theHope&Joy Network, the lecturesbuild up to a climax on the subjectof the Second Vatican Council andthe contemporary Church.Evening workshops in each cityhelp participants to explore howthe major ecumenical Council haschanged forever the way theyexperience their faith and theirChurch.

The annual Winter Living The-ology programme, run by theJesuit Institute on behalf of thebishops’ conference, was originallyconceived for the ongoing forma-tion of priests. Over the years theprogramme has proven so popularamong laypeople and religious, aswell as members of other Christianchurches, that it is now open toany participant.n For more information about theWinter Living Theology, contactadmin@jesuitinstitute.org.za orphone 011 482 4614.

LOCAL The Southern Cross, July 27 to August 2, 2011 3

BY SANDISIWE NGCONGO

THE usually serene NgomeMarian shrine in the dioceseof Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal,

was not so quiet when 500 youngpeople came to worship and prayfor the different intentions theybrought with them.

The young people came fromMpumalanga, Durban, Pietermar-itzburg, Pretoria, Swaziland andEshowe.

In a show of seriousness in theirpilgrimage, the youths surrenderedtheir cellphones for the wholeweekend. From the church atNgome, Fr Nkululeko Meyiwa OMIof Estcourt said: “For us to committo this weekend, we will give upour cellphones per groups and youwill get them [back] on Sunday.”

The weekend was filled withactivities right through. Food tick-ets were counted and given toeach group leader to control por-tions.

During the eucharistic proces-sion from the circle, which is 2kmaway from the shrine, the youthswere chanting praise songs as theyleft and the Marian songs as theyreturned with dignity and stillness.

Fr Wayne Weldschidt OMI, rec-tor of the shrine, led the adorationof the Blessed Sacrament and gavea talk on Ngome and apparitions.He went on to encourage theyouth to use their “five stones”—reading the Bible, prayer (especial-ly the rosary), confession, Mass(especially also on weekdays), andfasting on Wednesdays and Fri-

days—to manoeuvre their waythrough the pilgrimage of life.

Sunday Mass was celebrated byBishop Xolelo Thaddeus Khumaloof Eshowe who is also the episco-pal vicar for youth. Among theconcelebrants was Fr SammyMabusela, the national youthchaplain.

Fr Mabusela reiterated the mes-sage of hope, calling on the youthto understand how special theyare.

To launch the diocesanEucharistic Pilgrimage Year, theBlessed Sacrament was handedover to Eshowe’s Inkamana dean-

ery where it will remain for threemonths and then rotate in thefour deaneries until 2012 when itwill return to Ngome for the clos-ing ceremony.

Fr Meyiwa is implementing oneof the focus areas of the Oblates ofMary Immaculate at Ngome: toemphasise the importance of theEucharist in the Church.

The youths also showed aware-ness of the Church’s media. WhenFr Moroti posed a question aboutthe media, a pilgrim shouted:“Radio Veritas is here!” TheCatholic radio station covered thepilgrimage throughout.

500 young peopleconverge on Ngome

500 young people from all over Southern Africa made a pilgrimage at theNgome Marian shrine in Kwazulu-Natal where they were involved in variousactivities and were joined by Bishop Xolelo Thaddeus Kumalo of Eshowe.(Photos: Sepanya Mahlangu)

Fr Jim Corkery, a Jesuit from Ireland, launches Winter Living Theology at anevening seminar at Santa Sophia friary in Pretoria.

Winter Living Theologykicks off in Pretoria

INTERNATIONAL4 The Southern Cross, July 27 to August 2, 2011

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BY CINDY WOODEN

AS half a million youngCatholics are about todescend on Madrid, “there

are an infinite number of smallproblems to solve”, said theexecutive director of WorldYouth Day 2011 from August16-21.

Yago de la Cierva said that hehad “seven tonnes of rosaries Ihave to bail out of customs. TheUS-based Family Rosary Crusadehad the rosaries made inEcuador and sent to Madrid fordistribution to WYD partici-pants.

But, Mr de la Cierva said, it isa bit difficult to convince cus-toms agents that seven tons ofanything shipped international-ly is meant as a gift and not aproduct to be sold and, there-fore, taxed.

A produce company hadpromised to donate 25 000pounds of bananas, but if organ-isers accept the fruit, “we haveto find a way to dispose of allthose peels”, he told a newsconference in Madrid.

More importantly, he said,the organisation was trying toselect and get security clearancefor the 50 young people whopersonally will welcome thepope to Madrid on August 18,and organisers were also decid-ing which five young peoplewill have the honour of askingPope Benedict a question duringthe vigil on August 20.

Organisers estimate the eventwill cost more than $70 million(R500 million). However, theysaid they expect to cover it allwith registration fees and dona-tions, especially of supplies. Thedonated material includes thebananas and other food for par-ticipants, but also big-ticketitems such as private securityofficers and the materials and

labour for the stages and altarplatforms for papal events.

The Madrid headquarters isstaffed with 250 people, “work-ing 25 hours a day”, Mr de laCierva said. About 200 of thestaff members are volunteersfrom around the world. Manyare housed, fed and transportedby World Youth Day, but noneof them are paid.

The original plan was to have23 000 volunteers helping, butnow organisers are rallying30 000 volunteers. Just the taskof coordinating all those volun-teers is a major undertaking, hesaid.

David Martin Valles, vice-director of Madrid’s tourismpromotion office, said thedemand for hotel rooms in thecity this August is “150% higherthan normal for August”. In acity that has about 70 000 hotelrooms, the occupancy rate isexpected to be complete. Hotelsin towns nearby also are experi-

encing a boom in bookings.In fact, Mr de la Cierva said,

with more than 300 000 of theregistered pilgrims requestinghousing, WYD has recruitedhost families and has foundschools, churches and sportscentres willing to host youngpeople with sleeping bags. Hesaid the city has offered 643public buildings, mainlyschools, and the church and pri-vate groups are providing anoth-er 790 venues that will be trans-formed into hostels, completewith portable showers.

Fr Javier Cremades, coordina-tor of the key large liturgies andceremonies, said that with Mass-es planned each day for specificlanguage groups and the papalMass planned for the last day,his office expects to use between4 million and 5 million Com-munion hosts. The altar linenshave been made by volunteersaround the world and mailed toMadrid.—CNS

BY MICHAEL KELLY

THE group that representsIreland’s Catholic priestssays the secrecy of confes-

sion must be protected, despitegovernment indications thatconfessions would not beexempt from rules on mandato-ry reporting of child abuse.

“The point is, if there is a lawin the land, it has to be followedby everybody. There are noexceptions, there are no exemp-tions,” said Irish children’s min-ister Frances Fitzgerald.

Fr P J Madden, spokesman forthe Association of CatholicPriests, insisted that the sacra-mental seal of confession is“above and beyond all else” and

should not be broken even if apenitent confesses to a crime.

Fr Madden said he wouldstrongly urge and appeal to thepenitent—whether a priest oranyone else—to confess a crimeto the police and have the civilaspect dealt with, but that hedid not approve of the idea ofreporting what was said.

“If I’m breaking the law thensomebody has to find a way toaddress that for me...but in myown right as a priest what Iunderstand is the seal of confes-sion is above and beyond allelse,” he said.

“The seal of confession is avery sacred seal for lots of differ-ent reasons way beyond this one

single issue, however seriousthis one single issue is,” Fr Mad-den insisted.

The Irish government said itwould introduce legislation thatmakes it mandatory for prieststo reveal details of child abuse,even if they become known inthe confessional.

The announcement cameafter a judicial commissioninvestigating the diocese ofCloyne revealed that allegationsof abuse were being mishandledand withheld from the police asrecently as 2008.

Irish Prime Minister EndaKenny said that canon lawwould not be allowed to super-sede state law.—CNS

BY CINDY WOODEN

TUNISIA’S tiny Catholiccommunity prays for thecountry’s transition to

democracy and hopes that thenation will embrace full religiousfreedom, said ArchbishopMaroun Lahham of Tunis.

“We are certainly for the sep-aration of ‘mosque and state’,but we say clearly that a healthydemocratic society must have asits foundation values that, what-ever anyone says, have a reli-gious root: freedom, respect,peace, equality, the preferentialoption for the poor, solidarity,”the archbishop said.

The archbishop wrote a pas-toral letter on the attitude thatTunisia’s 22 000 Catholics—all ofwhom are foreigners—should

have towards the North Africancountry’s political and socialchanges. Tunisia’s authoritativegovernment was overthrown inJanuary and a process of democ-ratisation began.

For Christians, ArchbishopLahham said, the first wish “is tosee the country finally arrive at ademocratic regime. It is clearthat a revolution is one thing,and a successful democratic tran-sition is another.”

Archbishop Lahham’s letterwas dated July 24, the date origi-nally scheduled for elections tothe committee to draft a newconstitution. The elections noware scheduled for October.

The constitution must bedrafted and approved in a refer-endum before normal elections

can be held to choose a legisla-ture and a president. The processis expected to take two years,which sounds like a long time,but “is nothing in the history ofa nation, especially when deal-ing with such a radical change”,he wrote.

Christians in Tunisia arecalled to live their faith and to“show with our lives the giftGod has given us in Jesus Christ,but also to discover the life ofthis nation and its cultural andreligious traditions,” he said.

They should rejoice over thefact that Tunisians are acquiringthe rights and freedoms theywere denied for decades and thatthere is greater space for goodneighbourly relations betweenMuslims and Christians.—CNS

WYD: Madrid ready, mustfix a few ‘small problems’

Puerta de Alcala, the symbolic main entrance to the city of Madrid, is litin blue in this evening view from Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid. PopeBenedict will enter Madrid through the archways for an evening recep-tion during World Youth Day. (Photo: Paul Haring, CNS)

Tunisia’s Catholics told to ‘rejoice’

Law to break confessional seal?

POPE Benedict has urged theinternational communityto deliver urgent humani-

tarian aid to the drought-strick-en Horn of Africa, especiallySomalia, where tens of thou-sands have fled drought andfamine.

The pope, addressing pil-grims at his summer residencein Castel Gandolfo, said he hadbeen following news of theregion’s humanitarian catastro-phe with “deep concern”. Unit-ed Nations experts say the pro-longed drought, combined witha rise in food prices, have forcedmany families to make long andoften deadly overland treks toreach refugee camps.

“Innumerable people arefleeing from that tremendousfamine in search of food andassistance. I hope the interna-tional community will increaseits efforts to quickly send aid toour sorely tested brothers andsisters, among them many chil-dren,” the pope said.

“Our solidarity and the con-crete assistance of all people ofgood will should not be lack-ing.”

Most of those fleeing Somaliahave headed towards refugee

camps in Ethiopia and Kenya,walking across a barren land-scape in journeys that havetaken more than a month.Many mothers arriving in thecamps have described losingchildren along the way to dis-ease and malnutrition.

The drought in eastern Africahas been reported as the worst

in 60 years, and UN officials sayit has placed the lives of 11 mil-lion people at risk.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said that United Nationsagencies have requested $1,6billion to pay for life-savingprogrammes in the region, butso far have reached only halfthat amount.—CNS

INTERNATIONAL The Southern Cross, July 27 to August 2, 2011 5

Sudan’s bishops: Meet challenges by putting Christ first

LIKE the early Christians whowere challenged by socialpressures and political forces,

Sudan’s Catholics face modern-daychallenges that can best be met by“putting Christ at the centre oftheir life”, the bishops of Sudansaid.

They also called on their collab-orators in various ministries to ini-tiate a period of spiritual renewal,strengthen the spirit of coopera-tion, communion and mutual sup-port, share resources and person-nel in an effort to better serve theSudanese people.

The statement from CardinalGabriel Zubeir Wako of Khartoum,Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Adwok

Kur of Khartoum and CoadjutorBishop Michael Didi Mangoria ofEl-Obeid followed Sudan’s parti-tion into two nations as SouthSudan became the world’s newestcountry this month.

They also called for new pas-toral initiatives to foster voca-tions, form new catechists andprovide faith education for fami-lies, especially children.

The bishops urged a peacefuloutcome to the recent violence inSudan’s South Kordofan state. Wit-nesses said a series of attacks bygovernment troops were aimed atthe ethnic Nuba people aroundKadugli, South Kordofan’s capital.Other attacks occurred in Abyei,home primarily to members of the

Dinka Ngok tribe, supporters of thegovernment of Southern Sudan.

The bishops also welcomed astatement to the Sudanese Parlia-ment from Sudan’s President Omaral-Bashir, who invited all segmentsof society to help rewrite the coun-try’s constitution.

“This is a positive move andassurance from the president, asign of reconciliation and anappeal to heal our wounds and aneffective request for every citizento rise from the ashes of our pastand recreate our future with peace,dignity and equality for all,” thebishops said.

Meanwhile, Italian-born BishopCesare Mazzolari, known forrebuilding church structures and

communities in the diocese ofRumbek, Sudan, died on July 16while concelebrating Mass.

The bishop, 74, fell backward,clutching his chest and gasping forair, at the beginning of the conse-cration. He was pronounced deadat a local hospital.

Catholics from the dioceserecalled Bishop Mazzolari as a zeal-ous worker who re-opened mis-sions and negotiated humanitarianassistance for the diocese which, in2004, was home to tens of thou-sands of refugees from theSudanese region of Darfur. He alsopromoted education and healthcare and “passionately respondedto human need at every level,”they said.

“Like St Paul, Bishop Mazzolarispent his life at the service of theGospel, always assuring us thatGod was journeying with the peo-ple of South Sudan,” said a state-ment released by diocesanCatholics.

Born in Brescia in 1937, CesareMazzolari was ordained a Com-boni priest in 1962. He spent 19years working among African-American and Mexican mineworkers.

In 1981, he moved to theSudanese diocese of Tombura-Yam-bio, in what is now South Sudan.Pope John Paul II appointed himapostolic administrator of Rumbekin 1990, and he was consecratedbishop in January 1999.—CNS

BY JOHN THAVIS

THE Vatican said a Chinesebishop ordained illegiti-mately in mid-July has

been automatically excommu-nicated and lacks the authorityto govern his diocese.

At the same time, the Vati-can praised bishops loyal toRome who resisted participationin the ordination ceremonybefore being forced by authori-ties to do so.

“The Holy Father, havinglearned of these events, onceagain deplores the manner inwhich the Church in China isbeing treated and hopes thatthe present difficulties can beovercome as soon as possible,” aVatican statement said.

The Vatican was reacting tothe ordination of Fr JosephHuang Bingzhang at St Joseph’sCathedral in Shantou, in south-ern China’s Guangdongprovince. Bishop Johan FangXingyao of Linyin, president ofthe government-sanctionedChinese Catholic Patriotic Asso-ciation, was reportedly themain celebrant; he was one ofeight Vatican-approved bishopsat the ordination.

It was the second ordinationof a Chinese bishop withoutpapal mandate in the lastmonth. The Vatican hasemphasised that willing partici-pants in such ordinations facesevere penalties under Churchlaw, including automaticexcommunication for theordained bishop and the conse-crating bishops.

In the latest case, Fr Huang“had been informed some timeago that he could not beapproved by the Holy See as anepiscopal candidate, inasmuchas the diocese of Shantoualready has a legitimate bish-op”.

The Asian Church newsagency UCA News reported thatVatican-approved Bishop PeterZhuang Jianjian of Shantou,whom the government recog-nises only as a priest, said hewould not recognise Fr Huangas a bishop, because he violatedChurch law and principles.

The Vatican statement saidofficials in Rome had

learned that some Chinesebishops, when contacted bycivil authorities, were unwillingto participate in the ordinationand had offered “various formsof resistance” before beingobliged to take part.

“With regard to this resis-tance, it should be noted that itis meritorious before God andcalls for appreciation on thepart of the whole Church.Equal appreciation is also dueto those priests, consecratedpersons and members of thefaithful who have defendedtheir pastors, accompanyingthem by their prayers at thisdifficult time and sharing intheir deep suffering,” the Vati-can said.

UCA News reported thatsome bishops were accompa-nied to the ordination by gov-ernment officials. Church

sources said many of the dioce-san priests went into hidingdays before the ordination, butthat some were found by gov-ernment officials and had toattend to the ceremony.

The Vatican sees the right ofthe pope to appoint bishops asfundamental to Church unityand as an essential element ofreligious freedom. China’s civilauthorities consider it a foreigninterference.

“The Holy See reaffirms theright of Chinese Catholics to beable to act freely, followingtheir consciences and remain-ing faithful to the successor ofPeter and in communion withthe universal Church,” the Vat-ican statement said.

China insists that keyCatholic leaders—includingbishops—and Church sites beregistered with the government.Some Catholic officials haverefused to do so because theyfeel the Chinese governmenttries to control the Church.

A Shantou priest whoattended the ordination said hehoped the new bishop couldunite the priests for the good ofthe local Church.

“Forgiveness, tolerance andmutual support are more impor-tant,” said the priest, speakingon condition of anonymity.

Even if the Holy See excom-municates Fr Huang, “I willwork with him, except forsacramental Communion, andcontinue to serve my parish-ioners, who are innocent inthis incident,” he said.—CNS

Another ‘bishop’ excommunicated

A woman holds her baby outside a tent serving as a medical clinicestablished by the African union peacekeeping operation in Mogadishu,Somalia. Pope Benedict has urged the international community to deliv-er urgent humanitarian aid to the drought-stricken region of easternAfrica, especially Somalia. (Photo: Stuart Price/uN handout)

Pope urges aid to Horn of Africa

Mgr Kolbe’s plantspecimens sought

COULD any of your readersshed light on what has hap-

pened to the herbarium (a collec-tion of pressed plant specimens) ofMgr FC Kolbe (1854-1936)?

Two separate published sourcesstate that the collection of morethan 5 000 specimens was kept atSt Mary’s Dominican convent,Cape Town. Neither UCT’s BolusHerbarium nor the KirstenboschHerbarium, which includes that ofthe SA Museum, has the collec-tion. Anyone with information onthis is asked to contact me at rodneymoffett@ymail.com or 073 4995556.

Prof Rodney Moffett, Free State

Abortion: be plainand prickly

IN 1997 the South African parliament legalised abortion on

demand. Some years ago Peter Kreeft, pro-

fessor of philosophy at Boston Uni-versity, stated in a thesis justifyingthe personhood of unborn humanbeings: “Abortion comes from hell,and will lead us to hell if notrepented; and in opposing it there isa time to be polite and scholarly,and a time to tell the truth, plainand prickly.”

Does the Catholic ParliamentaryLiaison Office constantly lodgeprotests with the government aboutthe continued existence of theChoice on Termination of Pregnan-cy Act, and it’s tragic consequences,and if so, are they “polite and schol-arly” or “plain and prickly”?

Damian McLeish, Johannesburg

Has the Vaticangot it wrong?

PERMIT me to respond to HazelMacDonald’s letter “Church

Traditions Explained”, (July 13).To maintain that the Mass is

available in one language, Latin,throughout the world, is useful toCatholic globe-trotters, but doesnot sit comfortably with me. Ofwhat importance is that toCatholics when travelling abroad?Surely the core of and the familiar-ity with the Mass can be followedfairly easily in whatever language?

Even though the Mass in theearly centuries seemed to havemoved to greater uniformitybecause of Latin, most worshippersshared in “common incomprehen-sion”. Despite seminary reform,neither the laity nor many of theclergy, for that matter, couldunderstand Latin.

The original intention of altar-rails was as a barricade for keepingdomestic animals out of the sanc-tuary in earlier times, when peoplebrought them to Mass, not for theseparation of the clergy from thelaity or for the reception of HolyCommunion.

With the tearing of the templecurtain in two (Mt 27:51), it isclear there is no longer separationof laity and clergy, or people fromGod. The baptised are all one inChrist.

For much of the Church’s histo-ry, people stood to receive Com-munion in the hands. To say thatthe tongue is more “worthy” totouch the species than our handsis nonsense. Jesus came to redeemthe entire person, not just parts ofus. Have a look at James 3:5-12regarding what the Word of Godhas to say about the tongue, inci-dentally.

One of the main aims of Vati-can II was for the Mass to be cele-brated in the vernacular. I am sureJesus did not have his back to theapostles at the Last Supper—thefirst Mass. Since the Mass is offeredfirst and foremost to the Father,who is omnipresent, and who isSpirit, why should the celebranthave to face the east, or the taber-nacle?

The correct location for thetabernacle is in a place separatefrom where the Mass is celebrated,according to the rubrics. In StPeter’s basilica the Pope celebratesthe liturgy facing the people, andthe tabernacle is halfway down themain body of that vast church.Has the Vatican got it wrong?

Fasting and abstinence areindeed important (including meat-less Fridays) for our growth andstrength as Christians, especiallyto overcome and combat the wilesof the evil one, which Jesus saidcan only be cast out with “prayerand fasting”.

For 30 years devotees of theMedjugorje apparitions have beenfasting on bread and water onWednesdays and Fridays, out oflove for the blessed Mother.

This is much more meritoriousthan being coerced, for fear ofhell-fire, or to notch up goodmarks to “celebrate” the pope’svisit to Britain.

John Lee, Johannesburg

LEADER PAGE6 The Southern Cross, July 27 to August 2, 2011

I WAS amazed at the relevance ofthe parable of the sower, which

we read recently at Sunday Mass, tocontemporary Catholic society. Itspeaks of our receptivity to the wis-dom and truths of God.

It begs the question: Have we“cultivated” that frame of mind inwhich we would be receptive to themeaning of the Gospel—are we spir-itually prepared?

Do we really listen or is our mindfar off on some thought-safari?Indeed many who appear to listen,ask: “What was it I just heard?” Toparaphrase the Lord: “Though see-ing, they do not see; though hear-ing, they do not hear or under-stand.”

There are many ways of focusingon this parable, but for me it is inidentifying the sower as Christ him-self, who sows the “seeds” of the

knowledge of the kingdom of heav-en; the seeds falling on differingground, each yielding (or not!) aharvest as allowed by the fruitful-ness of that ground.

Those who listen and take what’ssaid to heart are those who yield thefruits of the kingdom in abundance.We need to focus on the “soil of oursoul” and ask the question—havewe prepared ourselves sufficiently tounderstand, to take up the goodnews, the Gospel of Christ?

I find this particular focal pointto be most poignant, especially inlight of his statement: “Whoeverhas will be given more, and theywill have an abundance. Whoeverdoes not have, even what they havewill be taken from them.”

A definite responsibility on ourpart as followers of Christ is impliedhere. It’s pointless listening to the

Word, however it’s heard, if thatseed falls on an “arid heart”.

Good farmers know that anabundant crop requires a fertile soil;it needs watering, fertilising and till-ing. Thus the seed that falls outsideof fertile soil is fruitless, carriedaway by the guile of those whosepurpose is worldly, choked on the“weeds” of worldly desires or with-ered by the lack of spiritual founda-tion—blossoming for a while butinevitably fading away when facedwith any test.

Yet, he who yearns after the waysof the kingdom, whose heart isimperfect but open to God’s healingWord, will learn, understand andgrow spiritually, producing anabundance of the love and charitywhich our Lord so eagerly desires.

Are you prepared for your nextencounter with the Word of God?

Anthony J Sturges, Johannesburg

The Editor reserves the right to shorten or edit published letters. Letters below 300 words receivepreference. Pseudonyms are acceptable only under special circumstances and at the Editor’s discre-tion. Name and address of the writer must be supplied. No anonymous letter will be considered.

LETTERS TOTHE EDITOR

Don’t shut the doors

SOME years ago The SouthernCross learned of an inmatein a South African prison

who decided to convert toCatholicism on account of thenewspaper.

Having read The SouthernCross (which is distributed tomany prisons through the Asso-ciates Campaign) and its cover-age of Catholic thought on aregular basis, the prisoner aimedto turn around his life byembracing the faith.

This is one example of howCatholic outreach to prisonerscan make a concrete differencein their lives. It would seem like-ly that the odds of recidivismamong released prisonersdecrease if they walk free ascommitted Christians.

Those who provide spiritualcare to prisoners—the most mar-ginalised individuals in our soci-ety—are thereby performing animportant service not only tothe people they minister to, butalso to the public in general.

The faithful in SouthernAfrica should take the Week ofPrayer for Prisoners and Victimsof Crime from July 31 to August7 very seriously.

As its title implies, the prayerweek calls on Catholics in ourregion to direct the focus oftheir intentions to those whominister to prisoners, to prison-ers themselves (especially thatthey may find the courage andguidance to change their livesaround), and to the victims ofcrime.

In our feature article thisweek, national prison chaplainFr Russell Campbell says: “Thereis a great need for chaplains inthis ministry as they are theones through whom the sacra-ments can continue to be madeavailable to people once theyare sentenced and while theyare cut off from society.”

He points out that many pris-oners are abandoned by theirfamilies and friends while theyare locked up.

Yet, to have a chance ofreforming themselves, prisonersneed contact with the outsideworld. Indeed, it is Christ’s dem-mand that prisoners be visited:“I was...in prison and you visit-ed me” (Mt 25:36). In doing so,those involved in prison min-istries give witness to Christ’slove in a very special way.

There are many Catholicswho have taken up this uninvit-ing mission in harsh environ-

ments; but many more are need-ed.

Pope Benedict in 2007 calledthe pastoral care of prisoners a“vital mission”. The pope—whohas made it a point to visit pris-oners, as his predecessors JohnXXIII, Paul VI and John Paul IIdid—said that correctional facil-ities “must contribute to therehabilitation of offenders, facil-itating their transition fromdespair to hope, and from unre-liability to dependability”.

The Catholic prison aposto-late cannot, of course, accom-plish all that on its own. Of theelements mentioned by PopeBenedict, the Catholic prisonministry is best placed in help-ing facilitate the transition from“despair to hope”.

Also in 2007, the then-presi-dent of the Pontifical Councilfor Justice and Peace, CardinalRenato Martino, warned thatsociety could not “close its eyes,cannot be indifferent” to the liv-ing conditions, human rightsabuses and often-dim prospectsexperienced by many prisoners.

The Church must continue toadvocate for conditions thatmight more effectively encour-age the rehabilitation of theinmates in our overcrowded andoften anarchic prisons which arefurther congested with awaitingtrialists, thanks to an overbur-dened judiciary system.

The state of many of SouthAfrica’s correctional facilities,many of them run by gangs andgiving little protection toinmates who wish to reject thegang system, can be dehumanis-ing. It should not surprise uswhen individuals, some alreadylacking in empathy, emergefrom jail with a pitiless charac-ter.

Victims of crime—thosetouched directly by crime andtheir family and friends—maywell point out that their anguishtends to be ignored, other thanin a general resentment ofcrime. It is therefore commend-able that the bishops specificallyinclude them in the intentionsfor our week-long prayers.

The week is then not only atime for highlighting the prisonministry and the plight of pris-oners, but also an opportunityfor the Church to reviewwhether enough pastoral care isextended to the victims ofcrime, and whether their storiesare being properly heard.

Editor: Günther Simmermacher Parable of the sower’s relevance

Opinions expressed in The SouthernCross, especially in Letters to the Editor,do not necessarily reflect the views of theEditor or staff of the newspaper, or of theCatholic hierarchy. The letters page in par-ticular is a forum in which readers mayexchange opinions on matters of debate.Letters must not be understood to neces-sarily reflect the teachings, disciplines orpolicies of the Church accurately. 

URSULINE SISTERS OF THE ROMAN UNION“LEAD A NEW LIFE”

“WHEREVER THEY ARE, THEY SHOULD SEEK TOSPREAD PEACE AND CONCORD.”

FROM THE SECOND COUNCIL OF STANGELA MERICI.

“ALWAYS LET YOUR PRINCIPALRECOURSE BE TOGETHER AT THE FEET

OF JESUS CHRIST AND... JESUS CHRISTWILL BE IN YOUR MIDST.” FROM THE

LAST LEGACY OF ST ANGELA MERICI.

For more information:The Vocations PromoterPO Box 235RANT-EN-DAL, 1751

E-mail: vocdir@mweb.co.zaTel: 011 706 3520

www.ursulines.org.zaFax: 011 953 3406

PERSPECTIVES The Southern Cross, July 27 to August 2, 2011 7

THE headline in a Kenyan daily news-paper a few months ago demanded:“Is the institution of marriage under

threat? Then let’s do away with it.” The writer was inspired by a case in

which a husband had murdered his wifeand two sons in cold blood before commit-ting suicide by hanging himself with arope inside the same house.

This was just one such case where hus-bands and wives have turned against eachother and children against their own par-ents. The writer went on to point out thateven in the western world, marriage haslost its meaning as men and women havetaken to sexually befriending and marryingeach other in same sex unions.

The writer argued that marriage is themost peculiar, irrational, selfish and restric-tive institution ever invented, and con-cluded by stating his hope that future gen-erations will have the moral courage toabolish it because the human race can con-tinue without it.

This year, May was declared “FamilyMonth” by the Southern African CatholicBishops’ Conference. Of course, theChurch should not limit her focus on fam-ily to one month only.

Even the first family, in the creationaccount in the book of Genesis, had itsshare of tribulations; it did not take longbefore things began to fall apart. The ser-pent drove a wedge between the first cou-ple and God. And when God sought anexplanation, neither Adam nor Eve was

ready to take the blame; instead theyresorted to pointing fingers.

It was in that first family in which thefirst murder was committed: the jealousCain turning against his younger brotherAbel; and when God called him toaccount, he bluntly said that he was nothis brother’s keeper. Ever since Cain, manyfamilies have faced similar tribulations.

The world adores a love story andthirsts for narratives of hope in difficulttimes. This is what a wedding offers. As thebride and the groom exchange their mari-tal vows, they envision a future full of loveand happiness.

Unfortunately, sometimes marriagebliss doesn’t last forever. Few marriagesthese days are free from tangled familyconstellations. How can the Church helpcouples to learn to forgo the many littleliberties in marriage?

St Martin de Porres parish in Wood-lands, Pietermaritzburg, is one communitythat has found a way.

The parish formed a family ministrygroup whose goal is to spread the GoodNews of family life by rediscovering thebeauty of married and family life. Membersof the group intend to renew and fosterfamily life and reach out to couples withproblems by offering them means of heal-ing and reconciliation.

Already they are networking with otherfamily life organisations, Church groupsand agencies promote a vision of greaterfamily focus in the Church, based on thevalues of the holy family. They have invit-

ed guest speakers who have shared withparishioners their personal life experiencesof troubled marriages and how they man-aged to save their families from disintegra-tion.

Marriage is not a contract, but a com-mitment, a commitment where 1+1=1 andnot 2.

Becoming one flesh simply means thatthe two people share everything they have;not only their bodies, not only their mate-rial possession, but also their thinking andtheir feelings, joys and sufferings, hopesand fears, successes and failures.

Through family ministry, the Churchcan help couples realise that marriage is tobe enjoyed, not endured.

The family is the domestic church.Therefore, if we have healthy and stablefamilies, then we will have healthy andstable individuals, healthy and stableparishes and a healthy and stable society.

May the spirit of God encourage hus-bands and wives, mothers and fathers,brothers and sisters to learn to appreciateone another and to be grateful for the giftof family.n Samuel Francis studies at St Joseph's Theo-logical Institute in Cedara, KwaZulu-Natal.

Is the death of marriage near?

I OFTEN feel frustrated by the lack ofsilence in my life because I deludemyself into believing that if I had

more silence, I would be more contem-plative and open to divine inspiration.Most of the time prayer is a dry spell ofpresenting myself before God and wait-ing to hear.

Better prayers I have had came to mewithout my volition, in unexpectedplaces; such as on the bus, at dusk whengoing home after a long day.

Lately have I discovered that the bestway to pray is to offer your life to God asa prayer. Often we think this means acloistered life. But, as the English writerDorothy Sayers (1893-1957) taught us, acontemplative life is also possible for laylife.

I am lucky enough to work close to acathedral, and so sometimes I’m able toattend midday Mass. Still my prayer atthat time is a crowded zoo of floating dis-tractions, personal concerns, the dailygrind and all. So more recently I learnt tooffer my distractions as prayer, andfound peace. So it was rather consoling toobserve that even those who dedicatetheir whole lives to the life of prayer andsilence suffer the same frustrations asmyself.

I recently watched a documentary filmcalled No Greater Love by Michael Whyte.“You cannot put a value on prayer, likeyou can a product, it still remains a mys-tery,” says its premise.

Whyte says it took him ten years of

correspondence before he was given the“unprecedented access” to the monasteryof the Most Holy Trinity in London’sNotting Hill. The monastery of the Dis-calced Order of Carmelite Nuns wasfounded in 1878.

As most Catholics know, Carmelitenuns lead a cloistered life dedicated toprayer and contemplation, “rarely leav-ing the monastery except to visit a doctoror dentist. Silence is maintained through-out the day with the exception of twoperiods of recreation”, as Whyte put it.

No Greater Love gives a unique insightinto the cloistered life of the Carmelitesby interweaving “a year in the life of themonastery with the daily rhythms ofDivine Office and work”. One is shockedinto reality at how mundane the makingof the Holy Bread for Communion is.Like every other job, it follows a factoryline: dough-making, baking on steelplates, cutting with perforatingmachines, shipment packing, and so on.

The film follows a year in the life of anovice who is professed and one of thesenior nuns who dies. Though mainly anobservational film, there are several inter-views which offer insights into the livesof the nuns. One of them, Sr ChristineMarie of John of the Cross, says: “Silenceechoes the eternal word.” It acts to fulfilthe unfailing power of God and is full oflife’s expectancies, and there’s redeeminggrace in it.

You get to understand that a cloisteredlife is not place of escape; in fact it iswhere you come face to face with the

reality of yourself—and most of us can’tstand that. This is why we invent all sortsof distractions.

The greatest trick the devil hasachieved is to use god to avoid God. Thatis, to use pious distractions, like falseprayer, empty piety, pompous devotion,unlived words, and so on. Maybe this isthe danger in the cloistered life, and theseCarmelite nuns are well aware of it—Iwondered how they could convey thismessage clearer today with all the “born-again” churches springing out everywherelike mushrooms. I believe these are them-selves part of the movement of the HolySpirit, but the danger of the Phariseesseems more prominent with them.

It is humbling to see moments ofdoubt even from the senior nuns. Buttheir belief in the power of prayer takesthem through everything.

Sr Mary of Saint Philip concludes bysaying that “death is awesome, totallyunknown”.

She says she sometimes thinks: “Whatif the atheists are right?” The simplicityof her answer is amazing: “Then therewon’t be anyone to tell me so,” shelaughs softly, “but if I am right there willbe someone to meet me on the otherside.”

That’s faith stripped bare to its funda-mentals. To quote St Paul: “If Jesus Christis not risen, then we preach in vain.”

Our faith, stripped bare

Samuel

Francis IMC

Point of Family

MphuthumiNtabeni

Pushing Boundaries

on DStv audio

channel 170also streamed onradioveritas.co.za

Listen on iPhoneor Blackberry:http://listenlivec2p1.ndstream.

net:8030

Chris Chatteris SJ

Pray with the Pope

WYD for everyoneGeneral Intention: That World Youth Day inMadrid may encourage young people throughout theworld to have their lives rooted and built up in Christ.

MOST young Catholics in the world won’tbe able to go to World Youth Day (WYD)in the Spanish capital. But don’t despair if

you’re one of them or if you feel too old to go to ayoung people’s event! The official WYD websitewill enable those who have Internet access to makea virtual, “home-based pilgrimage”.

By logging on to virtualworldyouthday.org onecan share the experience of the real pilgrimsonline. On the virtual pilgrimage site you can,through social networking, be in close contactwith the place, the people and the event.

The site says that through it, “you can gatherwith the thousands who will be taking this pil-grimage for a personal encounter with Christ”.

This is a modern-day application of the tradi-tional Catholic practice of providing local places ofpilgrimage for those who lacked the means to trav-el to Jerusalem or Rome. The local Church hasalways established pilgrimage destinations such asour own Shongweni or Ngome. And many a parishhas its own Lourdes grotto.

In this way the WYD organisers respond to thepope’s intention which prays that young peoplethroughout the world may be encouraged to roottheir lives in the Lord.

We pray that the Madrid gathering will be assuccessful as the one in Sydney in 2008. This notonly had an impact on the participants but alsodeeply impressed the inhabitants of the host city.

The pilgrim, whether on the road or online, isalways an ambassador of Christ.

Christians in the WestMissionary Intention: That Western Christiansmay be open to the action of the Holy Spirit and redis-cover the freshness and enthusiasm of their faith.

IT’S no secret that Pope Benedict is concernedabout the state of Christianity in the West. He’s

particularly concerned about Western Europewhere the Church is sometimes even said to be interminal decline. His choice of the name Benedict,the patron saint of Europe, proclaimed his concernfor Europe’s re-evangelisation. He has even appoint-ed a cardinal to oversee this initiative.

It’s also true that greater growth and enthusiasmare often to be found in the Church of the develop-ing world. Thus this intention marks a striking andsobering role-reversal in which the countries whichoriginally sent out missionaries are now beingprayed for as mission territories themselves.

In purely human terms it seems as if the faithwaxes and wanes under the influence of the forcesof history. Spain, for example, was a Christiancountry which fell under Muslim rule and was laterre-conquered. Today, Christianity in the MiddleEast is in decline because of the current politico-religious situation.

The decline in Europe is linked to a post-warslowdown in the birth rate. However, in manyEuropean countries, Catholic congregations arebeing bolstered by immigrants from Africa, Asiaand Eastern Europe.

How the Holy Spirit works in these movementsis a mystery. However we have faith that the salva-tion promised to us in God’s involvement with ourworld in the Old Testament and the in the histori-cal event of Christ’s life, continues to unfold in andthrough these complex events.

And the Spirit blows where it wills, sometimesin the most unpromising of circumstances. Therevival of French Catholicism after the Revolutionis a dramatic example of this. In our own day,despite the apparent triumph of a godless secular-ism, one recent book’s title proclaims: “God isBack”. Few people now believe that “God is dead”or that faith is about to wither away

It’s worth noting that as a percentage of the totalpopulation of the country, the Catholic Church inSouth Africa is declining. Some commentators won-der whether this is because South Africa is the mostWesternised country on the continent. Again, thereasons are difficult to discern.

What is certain is that any revival of the faithanywhere, always involves much prayer.

PILGRIMAGE TO

HOLy LAND/CAIRO - June 2012

All travel, visa, insurance etc will be arranged for you.

Will also help u fund raise for your trip!

Contact John Sheraton 021 705-5131 or 083 277-7999

Liz Lotters: 021 706-5217 or 082 319-7249

e-mail: john.sheraton@gmail.com

ST GERARD’S HOLY TOURS

An 11-day experience that will change your life!

The St Boniface Communityis presenting its annual

CHURCH BAZAARon SUNDAY, 28 AUGUST

STARTING WITH OPEN-AIR MASS AT 9:30AMat the St Boniface Community ChurchCnr Puttick Avenue & Kowie Road

Sundowner Ext. 8, RandburgTel: (011) 795-3651

COMMUNITY8 The Southern Cross, July 27  to August 2, 2011

Natalie Meerholz from Holy rosarySchool in Edenvale, Johannesburg, wasawarded the first place in the category“Extending Learning Beyond the Class-room” at the Innovative TeachersForum presented by Microsoft. MrsMeerholz, who came second overall willjoin four other candidates to representSouth Africa in Istanbul at the regionalforum, and is currently the IT head ofdepartment at her primary school. Herwinning project was to establish an E-Waste collection centre at her school inconjunction with a recycling company,involving the pupils who have done allthe advertising, collection and manage-ment of the project. (Submitted byBerniece Eales)

Send photographs, with sender’s name

and address on the back, and a SASE

to: The Southern Cross, Community Pics,

Box 2372, Cape Town, 8000

or email them to: pics@scross.co.za

IINN FF OOCCUU SS

Edited by: Lara Moses

The Bosco Youth Ministry team runs a programme every Sunday at Siceloin Meyerton, Johannesburg. It provides young people with a place to be athome while learning, praying and playing. Fr Ivo Pisacane SDB entertainsthe youngsters with magic tricks. (Submitted by Clarence Watts)

Lionel Samuel winsthe Pro Ecclesia etPontifice papalmedal, which wasmotivated by hisstudents for his out-standing contribu-tion to the Catholiceducation ministryespecially inCatholic schools inKwazulu-Natal.(Submitted by Gre-gory Moonilal onbehalf of the Stu-dent Committee)

Newlands East Durban confirmation class of 2011 (Back from left): Leonard,Kerwi, Brandon, Nelson (teacher), Fr Bill Lovett OFM, Naomi, Philetta, Tanyaand Kellin. (Front row): Bulent, Amy, Preeta, robyn, Tracy-Lee, Avesha,Fiona and Leo. (Submitted by Edwin Joseph)

Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town blesses children reached by theSt Kizito movement, that takes care of orphaned children, at its annualThanksgiving Mass. (Submitted by Shirley Dunn)

IT may be one of the least glam-orous ministries, but it is anapostolate that is active in

morezthan 200 facilities across thecountry.

Prison ministry is often forgot-ten, but there is great need for thisministry to be supported by theChurch and such an opportunitywill occur during the Week ofPrayer for Prisoners and Victims ofCrime which takes place from July31 to August 7.

The whole Church will be asked“to keep in mind the work beingdone by so many committed anddedicated volunteers in our pris-ons,” said national prison chap-

lain, Fr Russell Campbell. The Church works with the

Department of Correctional Ser-vices in three ways. Firstly, a bish-op takes on the responsibility ofthe ministry. Archbishop WilliamSlattery of Pretoria currently holdsthis position and ensures thesmooth operation of the ministryacross the country via Fr Campbelland the national prison deskwhich oversees administrativework.

Secondly, the Church actsthrough the secondment of priestsor deacons to the Department ofCorrectional Services to act as full-time chaplains in the state’semploy.

“Unfortunately, because of theshortage of clergy we have onlyone such chaplain: Fr JordanNgondo, who is stationed atLeeuwkop prison in Johannes-burg,” said Fr Campbell.

“There is a great need for chap-lains in this ministry as they arethe ones through whom the sacra-ments can continue to be madeavailable to people once they aresentenced and while they are cut

off from society,” said Fr Camp-bell, adding that often the chap-lain represents the only remainingcontact prisoners have with theoutside world as they are oftenabandoned by friends and family.

“The challenges of being aprison chaplain are very demand-ing as they are intimately involvedin the departmental policy of therehabilitation of prisoners—asopposed to a purely punitive sys-tem—which involves demandingand draining relationships beingestablished between them andthose for whom they are responsi-ble”, said Fr Campbell.

In addition, while those work-ing in the ministry are primarilyresponsible for Catholics in prison,“this is not their sole responsibilityas they are appointed to ministerto all prisoners regardless of theirdenomination—which in view ofthe overcrowding in our prisonsleads to a huge workload beingplaced upon them,” said Fr Camp-bell.

Ideally every prison shouldhave a Catholic chaplain, said FrCampbell, “but it is not the policyof the department to appointchaplains for every denominationin every prison, nor is it possiblefor the Church to supply the man-power to meet the challenge”.

This is the third and mostimportant role the Churchplays: seeking to meet the

challenge of catering for the spiri-tual needs of Catholics in prison.This work is conducted by spiritualworkers—lay men and women,male and female religious, as wellas priests and deacons, throughpermission granted by the depart-ment and the consent of the dio-cese. The work may range fromadministering sacraments, preach-ing, teaching, counselling or evenBible study.

Fr Ngondo said the ministry isboth challenging and fulfillingbecause one works with peoplewho have committed crime. Hesaid those in the ministry have to

be forgiving but also cautious as itcan be stressful and even danger-ous at times. “Prisoners don’t wantto be told about hell and judg-ment, because they are con-demned already. They appreciatethe Good News,” Fr Ngondo said.

Fr Ngondo said while the min-istry is supported, there is a longway to go. “One of the challengesis the coordination of this ministryfrom the local to the conferencelevels where all stakeholdersshould be united, the left handmust know what the right hand isdoing. What is clear is everyonesees and says that this ministry isvery important ministry of theChurch but practically one sees alot of gaps.”

Fr Campbell said great work wasbeing done in the dioceses of Pre-toria, Kokstad and Cape Town,and to further this work and to putit on a more organised foundationa consultation to set up a nationalumbrella body has been called byArchbishop Slattery. The consulta-tion is scheduled to take place inJohannesburg in September.

“There is a lot that needs to bedone, we need structures in theparishes, parishioners need to be

educated with regard to prisonsand prison life,” said Fr Ngondo.

He added community participa-tion, volunteers, rehabilitationprogrammes, prisoners Sunday andministry to the families of the pris-oners’ were all activities that couldbe adopted on the local level.

Fr Campbell said that is whyemphasis has been put on theWeek of Prayer: it’s not just specif-ically for chaplains but for thebroader ministry of prison out-reach.

“Moreover, people may consid-er whether or not they are beingcalled to share in this ministry bybecoming spiritual workers them-selves and by offering their ser-vices to the prison coordinators intheir diocese.”

He added this kind of proactiveaction was the only way that “wewill begin to meet the huge chal-lenges of caring for those in prisonand offering them hope and accep-tance in the future”.

The Southern Cross itself isengaged in prison outreach.Through its Associates’ Campaign,the newspaper is sent to all prisonchaplains who request it for distri-bution among prisoners.

FEATURE The Southern Cross, July 27 to August 2, 2011 9

Effective Education Today for a Successful TomorrowSt Thomas Aquinas School in Witbank seeks to appoint a dynamic

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL – HIGH SCHOOLJANUARY 2012

This senior position requires a suitably qualified educator who is:• An innovative thinker with proven leadership, management and administrative skills• Knowledge about the FET curriculum and its requirements• Able to interact confidently with staff, learners and parents, a ‘people person’• To be willing to contribute to the whole school ethos and accept the Catholic

traditions of the school• Committed and available for all school functions and events

Please send your CV with your SACE registration and the names and contact details of two referees to: head@stthomasaquinas.co.za by 19 August 2011.

The school reserves the right not to make an appointment. Submission of an application doesnot in itself entitle the applicant to an interview.

Staying True to our Values

The Church behind bars

Inmates attend a Mass celebrated in Cook County Jail, Chicago. 

A priest distributes Communion at a prison. Church services and prayer inprisons has become a regular ministry within South Africa prisons. (Photo:Karen Callaway, CNS)

With the Week of Prayer for

Prisoners and Victims of Crime

taking place from July 31 to

August 7, CLAIrE 

MATHIESON takes a closer

look at ministry within prisons.

RELIGION10 The Southern Cross, July 27 to August 2, 2011

IT is difficult to write about thelife of Muhammad: for onething, Muslims have a particular

perception of him and of the faithhe brought that non-Muslims, nomatter how objective they try tobe, simply cannot emulate.

For a person who does not sharethe Islamic faith and legacy, it’shard to deal with this topic with-out being influenced by the her-itage of prejudice which we carrywith us. This, despite the fact thatnow more than ever, “the barriersof geographical distance, hostilityand fear, which once kept the reli-gions in separate, watertight com-partments, are beginning to fall” aspeople begin to discover the richesin the faith of “the other”, asauthor Karen Armstrong notes.

Considering the limited sourcesabout his life, there has to be acontinuous process of separatingfacts from the countless myths thathave grown up around his person.

About the early life of Muham-mad, prior to his call to be theProphet of God, we have little reli-able information. The Qur’ân,which is certainly not a biographyof Muhammad, together with thecorpus of Islamic traditions, com-bine as the primary source ofinformation about his life afterthe revelations began. How objec-tive they are is an entirely differ-ent question.

Notwithstanding some goodcontemporary biographies (includ-ing one by Karen Armstrong), toknow and understand the realMuhammad we must go back tothe earliest Arabic sources abouthis life. A crucial source is thebiography by Ibn Ishâq, who diedin the first century of Islam, edit-ed by Ibn Hishâm, who died inthe second.

The work contains fragments ofearlier texts, and is therefore indis-pensible for a serious study ofMuhammad.

The year 571 is the commonlyaccepted date of Muhammad’sbirth. His father died before or verysoon after his birth, and his moth-er died during his early childhood:the combination of material pover-ty, orphan status and membership(on his father’s side) of a clanwhich had lost its prestigious statuswould provide a very definite con-text to Muhammad’s life and per-ceptions.

After the death of his mother,the young Muhammad went tolive with his grandfather: two yearslater, after his grandfather’s death,the “doubly” orphaned Muham-mad was taken in by an uncle, AbûTâlib. He was, tradition tells us, anaffectionate and devoted fosterfather, and played an importantrole in Muhammad’s life: neveraccepting Islam himself, he never-theless defended Muhammad inthe heat of later persecution.

Hagiography aside, Muhammadmade a good impression on people,despite the definite impoverish-ment in his beginnings and his sta-tus. These qualities—reliability,confidence, intelligence and bal-ance—caught the attention ofKhadîja, a wealthy, twice married,widow. It would be in her armsthat Muhammad would take refugeafter the trauma of divine revela-tion, and her role in his life is ines-timable.

From being in her employ,Muhammad became her husband,after she had proposed marriage.This was to bring a dramaticchange of circumstance into thelife of the poor orphan: an end tohis material difficulties, a changein his social status and good busi-ness opportunities.

Born into a period of Arab histo-ry that seemed characterised by

malaise, by spiritual restlessnessand a hunger for something more,Muhammad appeared disatisfiedwith Arab paganism and concernedfor justice and the future ofhumanity, driving him into period-ic retirement and contemplation. Itwas during one of his retreats, inRamadân 610, that the revelations,

which were to continue in differ-ent contexts until the end of hislife, first began.

It is difficult to comprehend thetrauma of this, and later moments,for Muhammad. His own doubtsare clearly alluded to in the Qur’ân,in the spiritual counsel and com-fort he sought in Khadîja, and inhis reluctance to preach what hehad received. It was a message ofmonotheism linked, from the verybeginning, with social and eco-nomic justice. As such, it was to bemet with increasing hostilityamong the residents of Meccawhose very livelihood would bethreatened by it.

The first converts to this newway of submission and justice weremembers of his own family. To thissmall circle was added, in the earlydays, his friend Abû Bakr who wasto play a key role in later years andbrought numerous young men ofMecca into the faith.

As the converts increased, so didthe hostility, at first manifested bya complacent tolerance. The cata-lyst for more serious oppositionwas the rejection by Muhammadof the other Arabian deities in 616in which he was not only callingfor the abandonment of the “faithof the fathers”, but also threaten-ing the heart and fabric of the Mec-can society.

The result was a combination of

moral and economic pressures,which were to grow in intensity,and would lead the Meccans toinstitute a not altogether successfulboycott of Muhammad’s clan.

Eventually Muhammad and hisfollowers would emigrate to thenearby city of Medina, where Islamwould begin to thrive. They stillfaced hostility, not only from theMeccans, but also from elementswithin the Jewish tribes of Medi-na—later Muhammad would turnon these tribes for breaking theirtreaties with him, punishing somewith expulsion and others withdeath.

A number of clashes took placebetween the Meccans and the

Muslims of Medina until 630 whenMuhammad set out for Mecca witha vast following of about 10 000men. Faced by scant resistance,Muhammad and his army enteredthe city. The idols in the sanctuarywere destroyed, amnesty (withsome exceptions) was proclaimedfor past offences and the citizenswere invited to pay homage toMuhammad, acknowledging himas Messenger of God. Nobodyappears to have been compelled toconvert to Islam.

Around March 632 he returnedto Medina, where two months laterhe became ill. In June of that year,ostensibly without having appoint-

ed a successor (this would haveserious implications for Islam),Muhammad died and was buriedin the city which had first wel-comed him and the revelation hebrought.

The almost immediate disputeover leadership has marked Islamto this very day. His death alsomarked the beginning of a generalrevolt in Arabia, with many regard-ing the pacts they had signed asbeing nullified by his death.

But neither the disputes nor therevolts can negate the enormity ofMuhammad’s personality: his mili-tary and diplomatic skill, his obvi-ous qualities of leadership, his abil-ity in dealing with opposition. Hisown life and psychological compo-sition forms part of the vital con-text into which Islam was born.

It is hard to know whether ornot Muhammad intended to starta new religious movement: thefirst message of Islam—strictmonotheism and a commitmentto social justice—is hardly differ-ent from that of Christianity orJudaism.

Theologically, Islam does notpurport to be a new religion: norhas it come to supplant or nullifythe others with some innovativebelief system or religious regimen.Islam understands itself as humani-ty’s only religion and thus the nor-mative expression of nature.

Islam sees itself as abrogatingChristianity, since Muhammad isthe “seal of prophets”, and the rev-elation he received supersedes allthat came before.

Nonetheless, Christianity has avital role in Muslim consciousness.Islamic scholars insist that Islam’sabrogation of Christianity parallelsthe Christian surpassing of Judaism(although Christian theologyunderstands itself not as conclud-ing Judaism but completing it).

While Christianity persists inacknowledging its Judaic roots,Islam envisages itself as the re-establishment of what Judaism andChristianity would have been, hadtheir sacred texts not become cor-rupted. Muslims believe that theseearlier messages as originally pro-claimed were perfectly consonantwith the Qur’ân.n Fr Clohessy is a priest of the arch-diocese of Cape Town.

Christians often misunder-

stand Islam’s prophet

Muhammad. To coincide with

the month of Ramadan, Fr

CHrISTOPHEr CLOHESSY,

an expert on Islam, provides

a brief introduction to

Muhammad and his life.

Meet Muhammad, the prophet of Islam

Muslim pilgrims gather to pray at the Mount of Mercy near Mecca, Saudi Ara-bia, the holiest city in Islam.

FRANCISCAN NARDINI SISTERS

Blessed Paul Joseph Nardini

For more information, contact the Vocation Team at

P/Bag X9309 PO Box 194 PO Box 12Vryheid 3100 Wasbank 2920 Nkandla 3855

Tel: 034 981 6158 034 651 1444 035 833 0033Fax: 034 983 2012 034 651 1096 035 833 0317

E-mail E-mail: E-mail:franasi@bundunet.co.za nardini@trustnet.co.za nardinis@mweb.co.za

DOMINICAN Sister Lily LeeSun of King William’s Towndied on June 28 in East Lon-

don. Sr Lily, formerly known as Sr

Paul OP, was the ninth of ten chil-dren, born in South Africa of par-ents who came from Moiyen,China. Sr Lily could speak nine lan-guages which aided her greatly onher travels throughout the world.

She entered the Dominican Sis-ters of Siena in King William’s

Town, in 1963, trained for threeyears and was sent to RhodesiaTeachers Training College foranother three years. Sr Lily taught inKliptown Chinese School for threeyears. Kuo Ting Chinese School forfour years, Dominican ConventSchool, Belgravia, St Albert’s Con-vent in Hinckley, England, andSprings Convent.

In 2009, Sr Lily retired to theDominican Convent in Brakpan.

Sr Lily lived in Rome for sevenmonths, visited the Holy Land and

with her sisterViolet, travelledto China, Tai-wan, Canada,San Francisco,Singapore andMauritius.

She alsotoured SouthAfrica and Swazi-

land with two Belgian priests, fivewomen and 22 children from Tai-wan.

Sr Lily was spiritual director forthe Catholic Chinese Welfare Asso-ciation, was one of the foundationmembers of Hong Ning (The Chi-nese Community Old Age Homebeside St Anne’s), a member of theLegion of Mary: Queen of ChinaPresidium, a member of St Vincentde Paul Society, and an extraordi-nary minister of Holy Communionat Holy Angels, Bez Valley. Submitted by Lily Loo.

Sr Lilly Lee Sun OP

DEATH

POLLITT—Valerie Joan.Beloved wife of Mervyn,mother of Michael and Jen-nifer, mother-in-law to Grantand grandmother to Kyle,Vaughn and Chevonne.Passed away on July 15after a brave acceptance ofincurable cancer. Val will begreatly missed by her familyand friends. Safe in the armsof Jesus we commit a coura-geous Soul.

WERNBERG—DenisJacques. 03/01/1926 -08/07/2011. Beloved hus-band, father, grandfather andgreat grandfather passedaway peacefully on 8/7/2011.A loving, gentle man of greatintegrity loved and respectedby all who were privileged toknow him. He will be sadlymissed and his memory willbe cherished always by hiswife Connie and his children,Mary Anne, Philip, David,Kevin, Stephen, Libby andtheir families.

IN MEMORIAM

CERFONTYNE—In LovingMemory of our dear son andbrother Michael who passedaway July 26, 2010. We willalways love and keep you inour hearts. Mom, Dad, Heidi& Carla

DU PLESSIS—Dion. 31 May1975 – 27 July 2007. Youare always in our thoughtsand prayers. Lovinglyremembered and deeplymissed. Mom, Dad, Paige,Neil and Charlotte.

FR JIM McCAULEY—Fr Jimis remembered with love anda big hug. Maureen Mayesand the family.

GOUVEIA—Edwardo.30.07.2010. Dear God,please take this message toour precious Dad in heavenabove. Tell him, how muchwe miss him and give himour love. A year has passedand our entire family is stillfeeling the pain. We misshim in so many ways and

wish we could have him backagain. Old times we recall ofthings he used to say anddo. We miss your tendervoice, infectious laugh; yoursmile has gone forever andyour hands we cannot touch.Looking back upon the pathyou trod we bless each hourspent with you and thankOur God. Treasure him dearLord in your garden of restfor on earth he was truly ourvery best. We keep in ourheart the love of the past,there it was planted foreverto last. rest in peace mylove until we meet again.Yours always Maria, Joanna,Angelo, Eddie and all thefamily.

SANVIDO—Tony. In lovingmemory of my dear hus-band, our father and grand-father who passed awayAugust 1, 1998. Forever inour hearts. Always remem-bered with love by his wifeNancy, his children andgrandchildren. rIP

PERSONAL

ABORTION WARNING:‘The Pill’ can abort, undetect-ed, soon after conception (amedical fact). See website:www.humanlife.org/abortion_does_the_pill.php

MATURE lady seeks live-inposition. Cape Town, Preto-ria or Johannesburg. 074315 3381

ACCOMMODATIONOFFERED

CAPE TOWN, Cape Penin-sula: Beautiful homes to buyor rent. Maggi-Mae 082 8924502. Colliers InternationalFalse Bay, 021 782 9263,

maggimaev@colliers.co.za

HOLIDAY ACCOMMODATION

BALLITO: up-market pent-house on beach, self-cater-ing. 084 790 6562.

BETTY’S BAY: (WesternCape) Holiday home, sleepssix, three bathrooms, closeto beach, r800/night. 021794 4293, marialouise@mweb.co.za

FISH HOEK: Self-cateringaccommodation, sleeps 4.Secure parking. Tel: 021 7851247.

GORDON’S BAY: Beautifulen-suite rooms available atreasonable rates. Magnifi-cent views, breakfast onrequest. Tel: 082 774 7140.bzhive@telkomsa.net

KNYSNA: Self-cateringaccommodation for 2 in OldBelvidere with wonderfulLagoon views. 044 3871052.

MARIANELLA GuestHouse, Simon’s Town:“Come experience the peaceand beauty of God with us.”Fully equipped with amazingsea views. Secure parking,ideal for rest and relaxation.Special rates for pensionersand clergy. Tel: Malcolm Sal-ida 082 784 5675 or mjsalida@mweb.co.za

SKIATOS: (Langebaan) Hol-iday home for hire, sleeps10-12. Special rates forCatholics. To book contactJean on 072 243 1379 or021 981 9816.

SOUTH COAST, uvongo:Secure holiday unit, withlock-up garage. Sleeps 6. Incomplex. r350 per night.078 935 9128.

UMHLANGA ROCKS: Fullyequipped self-catering 3 bed-room, 2 bathroom house,sleeps 6, sea view, 200 mfrom beach, DSTV. Tel: Holi-day Division, 031 561 5838,holidays@lighthouse.co.za

SOLUTIONS TO #455. ACROSS: 1 Fume, 3 Probable, 7 Van-dals, 8 Found, 10 Mockingbird, 11 Novice, 13 Shinto, 15 Psalmnumber, 17 Spurt, 18 Killing, 19 Distress, 20 Ages. DOWN: 1Five minutes, 2 Manic, 4 Resign, 5 Bounden, 6 Latin chant, 8Faithfully, 9 Discourages, 12 Vapours, 14 Smokes, 16 Bring.

Southern CrossWord solutions

CLASSIFIEDSBirths • First Communion • Confirmation • Engagement/Marriage • Weddinganniversary • Ordination jubilee • Congratulations • Deaths • In memoriam •Thanks • Prayers • Accommodation • Holiday Accommodation • Personal •

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Word of theWeek

Family ReflectionsJuly 31 18th Sunday. The Lord who feeds us. Like anyloving parent God feeds us because he loves us, evenmaking miracles happen to do so. Why not organise aspecial tea or meal for grandparents, or other older peo-ple to express gratitude for their love and care. Older peo-ple too can take some time to give of themselves andshare their wisdom with their grandchildren.

Liturgical CalendarYear A

Sunday, July 31, 18th Sunday Isaiah 55:1-3, Psalm 145:8-9, 15-18, Romans 8:35:37-39,Matthew 14:13-21Monday, August 1, St Alphonsu Liguori Numbers 11:4-15, Psalm 81:12-17, Matthew 14:22-36Tuesday, August 2, Ss Eusebius of Vercelli, Peter EymardNumbers 12:1-13, Psalm 51:3-7,12-13, Matthew 15:1-2,10-14Wednesday, August 3, feriaNumbers 13:1-2, 25-14,1:26-29, Psalm 106:6-7, 13:-14, 21-23, Matthew 15:21-28Thursday, August 4, St John VianneyNumbers 20:1-13, Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9, Matthew 16:13-23Friday, August 5, Dedication of the basilica of St Mary Deuteronomy 4:32-40, Psalm 77:12-16, 21, Matthew16:24-28 Saturday, August 6, Transfiguration of the LordDeuteronomy 7:9-10, 13-14, Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6,9, Matthew17:1-9Sunday, August 7, 19th Sunday 1Kings 19: 9,11-13, Psalm 85:9-14, 15-18, Romans 9:1-5,Matthew 14:22-33

The Southern Cross, July 27 to August 2, 2011 11

Editor: Günther Simmermacher(editor@scross.co.za)

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CAPE TOWN:

Fundraiser Car Boot Sale

and morning market at St

Brendan’s church, Cnr Long-

boat rd (off Ou Kaapseweg)

and Corvette Street, Sunval-

ley, Fish Hoek, Last Saturday

every month. All welcome.

Info and stall reservations:

Maggi-Mae 021 782 9263 or

082 892 4502

mvidas@mweb.co.za

KIMBERLEY:

The St Boniface Past Stu-

dents’ union is busy preparing

to celebrate its 60th anniver-

sary on September 24. Past

students are requested to

contact union’s PrO & Chair-

man of the Board, Mos-

alashuping Morudi 073 768

3653, John Siyoko 079 181

5716 or Kagisho Mogamisi

082 451 5893 or sbonifa@

iafrica.com

MAFIKENG: Annual dioce-

san music festival, Septem-

ber 3, admission r350, clos-

ing date for booking August

27. Choirs throughout Kim-

berly Diocese are eligible to

take part. Contact 072 569

7531or 058 861 4411.

Community CalendarTo place your event, call Claire Allen at 021 465 5007 or e-mail c.allen@scross.co.za, (publication subject to space)

Fr Vincent Ford SDB

SALESIAN Father Vincent Forddied peacefully on June 12, atthe age of 82.Born in 1929, Fr Ford was a

Salesian of Don Bosco for nearly63 years, and nearly 54 years ofthese as a priest. Out of his 44years of ministry in South Africa,he spent half of those in CapeTown, and the rest in Johannes-burg, as a history teacher in Sale-sian schools, and then as parishpriest.

Fr Vincent is especially remem-bered as a teacher and preacher.

The official obituary paid trib-ute to Fr Ford: “Reason and reli-gion were wonderfully broughttogether by this brilliant and holySalesian in the search for truth to

be found in the past, and itsmeaning for our own time.

A few years ago, Fr Ford cele-brated his golden jubilee as apriest. In his homily he spokeabout the mystery of the priest-hood, the mixture of the divineand the human in the vocation ofthe priest, and, in the Salesianpriestly ministry to the young, thebalance of doing very ordinarythings in working with youth, andalso touching the divine, and thejoy he experienced in the mystery.He was forever seeking to under-stand at a deeper level.

He was a compassionate,understanding person who madedeep, long-lasting friendships withthe people he worked with—

young people at school, seminari-ans, colleagues, parishioners,members of sodalities, bible studygroups, legionaries, Salesian co-operators and so on

After suffering a stroke 15months ago, he acceptedinevitable suffering in love andobedience. He had preached it elo-quently, even before he learned itby experience. He died surround-ed by friends, Nazareth sisters andSalesian confreres. Francois Dufour SDB

UPHOLSTERERMore than 50 years ofexperience guarantees

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Rubrics: The rules laiddown for the recitationof the Divine Office, thecelebration of Mass, andthe administration ofthe sacraments. Application: When tosit, stand, kneel or bowduring Mass is part ofthe rubrics of theCatholic Church.

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REMEMBERING

OUR DEAD“It is a holy and wholesome thought topray for the dead, that they may beloosed from their sins” (II Macc XII,46)

Holy Mass will be celebrated on the firstSunday of each month in the All Souls’chapel, Maitland, Cape Town at 2:30pm

for all souls in purgatory and for all thoseburied in the Woltemade cemetery.

For further information, please contactSt Jude Society,Box 22230, Fish Hoek, 7975Telephone (021) 552-3850

NEW FOR 2011 • ALL WELCOME!24 September to 2 October

EMMANUEL CATHEDRAL DURBAN PILGRIMAGE

Visiting Assisi, Rome and Vatican City

Organised and led by Rev Fr Stephen Tully

Cost: R15 520

Tel: (031) 266 7702 Fax: (031) 266 8982Email: judyeichhorst@telkomsa.net

A list of current pilgrimages can be viewed by clicking on the Valley View Travel icon at www.catholic-friends.com

THIS is one of the nicest e-mails of itskind I have ever received. It startsoff with the introduction: “I dreamt

that I went to heaven and an angel wasshowing me around.” From there, thenarrator continues:

We walked side-by-side inside a largeworkroom filled with angels. My angelguide stopped in front of the first sectionand said: “This is the Receiving Section.Here, all petitions to God said in prayerare received.”

I looked around in this area, and it wasterribly busy with so many angels sortingout petitions written on voluminouspaper sheets and scraps from people allover the world.

Then we moved on down a long corri-dor until we reached the second section.The angel then said to me: “This is thePackaging and Delivery Section. Here, thegraces and blessings the people asked forare processed and delivered to the livingpersons who asked for them.”

I noticed again how busy it was there.There were many angels working hard atthat station, since so many blessings hadbeen requested and were being packagedfor delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the longcorridor we stopped at the door of a verysmall station. To my great surprise, onlyone angel was seated there, idly doingnothing. “This is the AcknowledgmentSection,” my angel friend quietly admit-ted to me. He seemed embarrassed.

“How is it that there is no work goingon here?” I asked. “So sad,” the angelsighed. “After people receive the blessingsthat they asked for, very few send backacknowledgments.”

“How does one acknowledge God’sblessings?” I asked. “Simple,” the angelanswered. “Just say: ‘Thank you, Lord’.”

“What blessings should they acknowl-edge?” I asked.

The angel replied: “If you have food inthe refrigerator, clothes on your back, aroof overhead and a place to sleep, thenyou are richer than 75% of people in thisworld. If you have money in the bank, inyour wallet, and spare change in a dish,then you are among the top 8% of theworld’s wealthiest.

“If you get this on your own comput-er, you are part of the 1% in the worldwho has that opportunity.

“If you woke up this morning withmore health than illness, then you aremore blessed than the many who will noteven survive this day.

“If you have never experienced fear inbattle, the loneliness of imprisonment,the agony of torture, or the pangs of star-vation, then you are ahead of 700 million

people in the world.“If you can attend a church without

the fear of harassment, arrest, torture ordeath you are envied by, and moreblessed than, three billion people in theworld.

“If your parents are still alive and stillmarried, then you are very rare.

“If you can hold your head up andsmile, you are not the norm, but uniqueto all those in doubt and despair.”

“Ok,” I said, “what now? How can Istart?”

“Count your blessings, and if you careto, pass this along to remind everyoneelse how blessed we all are,” the angelsaid.

“And perhaps send the following mes-sage up to Heaven: ‘ATTN: AcknowledgeDept. Thank you Lord, for giving me theability to share this message and for giv-ing me so many wonderful people withwhom to share it’.”

The e-mail then poses a challenge: “Ifyou have read this far and are thankfulfor all that you have been blessed with,how can you not send it on?”

Quite right, how can one resist notpassing this on? I just did, right here.

Now for something else to do withprayers. A bar is suing a church in MtVernon, Texas.

It all started when Drummond’s Bardecided to expand in order to increasetheir business. In response, the local Bap-tist church started a campaign to blockthe bar from expanding with petitionsand prayers. Work progressed right upuntil the week before the grand reopen-ing when lightning struck the bar and itburned to the ground.

The church folk were rather smug intheir outlook, bragging about the powerof prayer, until the bar owner sued thechurch on the grounds that it “was ulti-mately responsible for the demise of hisbuilding, either through direct or indirectactions or means”.

In its reply to the court, the churchvehemently denied all responsibility orany connection to the fire.

The judge opened the proceedings bysaying: “I don’t know how I’m going todecide this, but it appears that we have abar owner who believes in the power ofprayer, and a church congregation thatdoes not.”

Makes you think doesn’t it?

CHURCH CHUCKLE

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

19th Sunday: August 7Readings: 1 Kings 19: 9a, 11-13a; Psalm85:9-14; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-23

AFRICAN people very often rub theireyes incredulously at the agnosticscepticism of Europe; for them the

reality of the mystery called God is veryclose indeed. Next Sunday’s readings maygive us pause if we too are inclined to brushGod aside.

The first reading gives us the lovely pic-ture of Elijah, who is on the run fromJezebel, after his murderous triumph overthe prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel; he ishidden in a cave and, frankly, sulking, buthe has to be educated in the mystery ofGod, who is not to be dictated to, even byvery successful prophets like Elijah.

So he is dragged out of his cave to meetGod, and to be taught the lesson that God isnot always how human beings imagine.

So the appearance of God is heralded,first, by “a great and mighty wind, splittingmountains and shattering rocks”, and youthink, “Ah! That must be God, then”, but“the Lord was not in the wind”, and similar-ly with the equally impressive “earthquake”and “fire”.

It is only when there is something like a“thin soft voice” (no one can agree on thetranslation, but it is clearly much lessimpressive than the preceding phenomena)that Elijah “wrapped his face in his mantle,

and went out and stood at the entrance ofthe cave”.

We must learn to encounter the mysteryof God everywhere in God’s creation, andnot just in the loud noises.

The psalmist knows that it takes a bit ofeffort to “listen to what the Lord God willsay”, but that it is worth it, “for he shallspeak peace”. And he is well aware that Godis not remote, but “his salvation is near tothose who fear him, for his glory to dwell inour land”. What is more, God has compan-ions: “Love and integrity...righteousness andpeace.” You may not be able to see God, normay God’s appearance be what we assume itto be; but he is there, just beyond ourglance. Let us pray this week to attend tothe presence of God in our lives.

In the second reading , Paul has complet-ed some of the more difficult argumentationof the letter to the Romans, showing thatbecause of what God has done in Jesus, the

Gentiles (that is, most of us who read theSouthern Cross) have access by faith to God’splan for us.

However that raises the question of whathappens to the Jews, God’s chosen people.

Paul is absolutely clear that God has notchanged his mind; listen to the solemntones with which Paul starts this part of theepistle: “I am speaking the truth in Christ, Iam not lying; my conscience bears witnessto me in the Holy Spirit”.

You could hardly get more emphaticthan that. And what is he saying? He isspeaking of his “immense pain and unceas-ing agony” with regard to the people ofGod, and, astonishingly, says that he couldwish himself “accursed from Christ for theirsakes”, and insists that they are really“Israelites, children of God; they have theglory and the covenants and the Law-giving,and the Temple worship, and the promisesand the ancestors. And the Messiah camefrom them!”

Christians, as the present pope hasrecently reminded us, have absolutely nojustification for the condemnation of ourJewish brothers and sisters in which we havetoo readily indulged, thereby ignoring theprofound mystery of God.

In the gospel we are brought face to face

with that mystery. After feeding the crowds,Jesus, rather surprisingly, “forced the disci-ples to go on board the boat, and to goahead of him to the other side, while he dis-missed the crowds”. He however goes up“into the mountain privately to pray”.Then, as if it were the most natural thing inthe world, when they are in difficulties withthe waves, “in the fourth watch of the nighthe came to them, walking on the sea”.

Not surprisingly, they assumed it must bea ghost. He reassured them, “Courage—it’sme”; but Peter, impetuous as ever, is havingnone of it, and demands a sign: “Tell me tocome to you on the water.” He gets it, andstarts out but then realises what he hasdone.

In desperation he addresses the mystery:“Lord, save me!”, he bellows, and finds him-self taken by the hand, and rebuked: “Youperson of little faith—why were you afraid?”Then, suddenly, they are back in the boat,and the wind has stopped (of course!); andthe boat turns into the church as they wor-ship him: “Truly you are the Son of God.”That is the climax of this extraordinarystory.

This week, let us allow the mystery of ourvery present God to capture our imaginationand transform our existence.

Encounter the mystery of God in all things

How to count your blessings

Chris Moerdyk

The Last Word

Nicholas King SJ

Sunday reflections

Southern Crossword #455

DOWN1. Twelve such periods for theholy hour (4,7)2. Affected by mania (5)4. Reigns only to abdicate (6)5. Kind of obligatory duty (7)6. You will hear it in the oldsung Mass (5,5)8. How to keep your belief (10)9. Said scourge makes you loseheart (11)12. They’re given off by thethurible (7)14. The thurible does it swing-ingly (6)16. ... all ye dear-boughtnations (hymn) (5)

ACROSS1. Incensed thurible may do it(4)3. Likely (8) 7. They deliberately damagechurch property (7)8. He was lost and is ... (Lk 15)(5)10. Creature that ridicules youin flight? (11)11. She’s in the convent but notyet professed (6)13. Japanese religion (6)15. It identifies the order ofKing David’s songs (5,6)17. Sudden burst of speed (5)18. Doing so will break a com-mandment (7)19. Sid rests having extremeanxiety (8)20. Rock of ... (hymn) (4)

Solutions on page 11

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ONE Sunday after Mass, a Mom asked hervery young daughter what the lesson wasabout.

The daughter answered: “Don’t be scared,you’ll get your quilt.”

Needless to say, the Mom was perplexed. Laterin the day, the priest stopped by for tea and theMom asked him what that morning’s Sundayschool lesson was about.

He said: “Be not afraid, thy comforter is coming.”

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