The Annual Inter-Catholic Athletics Meeting for Primary Schools was held on 15 March at the Green Point Athletics Track. Thirty-two schools participated, including five from the Diocese of Oudtshoorn. The Archbishop opened the event and awarded the medals to the U8 sprinters.
The African National Congress (ANC) has historically shown leadership in challenging times. In the early 90’s the leadership of the ANC courageously took the steps needed to bring South Africa back from the brink of civil war. Now, more than ever since then, the ANC needs to courageously steer the country through a mounting crisis: allegations that President Jacob Zuma ceded his executive power to his rich friends – the Gupta family. These allegations are serious because they are a gross violation of his oath of office in which he promises to devote himself to the well-being of the Republic and all of its people.
The recent revelations by senior members of the ANC suggest that the party still has bold and courageous members who have both integrity and the capacity to deal with the challenge it faces. The majority of South Africans, by voting the ANC into power, indicate their faith in the party’s leadership capacity. That capacity counts in a time of crisis like now.
Those who have broken silence against the interference in Government by the Gupta family, or who have challenged organs of State that are being used for personal and political gain, are to be commended. They are not disloyal but South African patriots who put the country and its freedom, in short the common good, ahead of their party or personal interests.
The Jesuit Institute urges that independent investigations into the alleged corruption are instituted and should prima facie evidence emerge prosecutions must take place.
South Africa faces surmounting political challenges and is in an economic crisis. The free fall of the currency has been hastened, amongst other factors, by interference in Government. The events of the last few days have led to another dramatic fall in value against global currencies and further risked the country being downgraded. In a country where unemployment has already spiralled out of control the socio-economic consequences are potentially lethal. The ANC needs to act now to stabilise what is within its control.
Catholic Social Teaching says that the State is an instrument to promote, amongst other things, the “common good.” At this time the ANC needs to be unrelenting in using all its resources to pursue the common good. At this critical juncture it is the leadership of the ANC that can and must act boldly.
Opposition parties need to act wisely and with restraint and not use the current crisis for conceited political gain because the very future of the country is compromised. This is not a time for opportunists to make political capital out of national crisis.
The National Executive Committee of the ANC is due to meet in the next few days – this provides an opportunity for the ANC to show leadership. South Africa needs decisive and clear action at this time to address the serious political crisis the country faces. The current challenges are not insurmountable. The ANC must act decisively now for the common good and in the national interest.
17 March 2016
For more information:
Fr Russell Pollitt SJ,
Director: Jesuit Institute South Africa
+27 11 482 4237/ +27 82 737 2054
r.pollitt@jesuitinstitute.org.za
Dr Anthony Egan SJ,
Social Ethicist
+27 11 482 4237/ +27 72 938 4553
now available from the Catholic Bookshop (021 465 5904). Only R100.
Contains contact details for all things Catholic in the Archdiocese of Cape Town: Administration; Chaplaincies; Development and Educational Programmes; Homes; Bookshops; Priests & Deacons’ contact details; Religious of the Archdiocese; Detailed parish section; Mass times throughout the Archdiocese; Catechetics Co-ordinators; Schools; Liturgical Calendar; and much, much more. Also includes a detailed Index.
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Below are some pictures from the Catechetical Co-ordinators’ Meeting held at St Ignatius on Saturday 20 February 2016.
We were very happy to have over 70 co-ordinators from about 38 parishes attend the meeting.
It’s strange, watching a film based on events of which you were part, however peripherally. The film Spotlight has that effect on me: I was in Boston the year the Boston Globe newspaper revealed the extensive cover-up by Church authorities of child-abusing priests in the archdiocese.
With minimal sensationalism Spotlight tells the story of how a team of journalists on the Globe followed up on the background to the conviction of a former priest extradited from California to Massachusetts to stand trial for child abuse crimes committed twenty years before. This led them to an abuse victims support group, an attorney working for victims, and to the big story that brought down the most powerful bishop in the United States Catholic Church.
It is an excellent film that also highlights another important dimension to the scandal: the explicit or implicit compliance of Boston police, judiciary and media in ‘burying’ a scandal that should have been revealed ten to twenty years before.
Beyond the specifics of the cover-up the film is about accountability, holding those in authority accountable for their actions. Few escape unscathed: the Boston legal system cooperated with the Church in covering up the abuse cases, agreeing to let things be ‘settled’ internally. The archdiocese failed also in their duty by not removing abusing clergy from active ministry. Even, they discovered, the Globe itself buried news they’d got years before. Power trumped justice, lies trumped truth. Accountability was nowhere to be seen, for a while it least.
The strength of this film goes way beyond the events it describes. It goes to heart of a challenge facing us everywhere: holding those in power to account – in Church, in State, in media, business, families, and so on. It speaks volumes to us in South Africa today about the failures of institutions and individuals in our society, their abuse of authority and often exercise of raw power, and the public’s failure – our failure – to demand they be held to account for their actions.
In Boston studying theology prior to ordination, I remember the shame my fellow seminarians and I felt at the way the Church had acted. The usual excuses, that it was protecting the ‘good name’ of the rest of the Church, that media was out to ‘get’ the Church, rang hollow: the media was doing its job, exposing corruption in high places (even if these were ‘our’ places).
Wise lay voices helped us through this. “You are not the cardinal, you are not those who covered up,” they would say: “You can choose where to stand: with the victims or with those who abuse power.” Catholics in Boston, including many priests, took a principled stand against misuse of power, calling on Cardinal Law to resign, which he did on December 13, 2002.
Rather than see Spotlight as anti-Catholic propaganda, let’s see it rather as a reminder to us today in South Africa of the need to challenge the powers that tend to corrupt state, society and sometimes church.
By Anthony Egan, S.J.
Enjoy this panorama video of St Mary’s Cathedral, Cape Town. It is a 360VR pic. Click the full screen button on the picture (rhs button), then with the mouse pointer on the picture, press left mouse button down and drag left, right, up and down.
By Fr Russell Pollitt, S.J.
I am a ‘white’ South African. I am angry. I am disillusioned. I cannot believe that one stupid, senseless, racist fool could throw a country backwards, into a vicious circle of despair, because she splashed her bigoted, undignified and racist views on Facebook. It’s utterly unacceptable. Penny Sparrow’s racist comment about ‘black’ people did not only insult them. It took the whole nation to a new level of depravity and reminded us of our immoral past. Like the eye of a storm, it sucked us all into a dark vortex in which the only possible outcome is destruction. And we continue to see that destruction in the offensive rhetoric that abounds on social media.
Most Christians are attuned to interior states that compromise their spiritual lives. Most Christians know that stealing, swearing, sex outside of marriage, abortion and pornography, for example, are sinful. Catholic theology has, traditionally, distinguished between ‘mortal’ (serious) and ‘venial’ (less serious) sin. A mortal sin is described as something that is a wilful violation of God’s law. It is serious and grave. It results in a separation between God and us and causes the “spiritual death of the soul”. Venial sins, on the other hand, do not cause a separation between God and us. They injure our relationship with God. The person may have acted in a way that they did not intend and so their guilt before God is less. The Church reminds us that for a sin to be called ‘mortal’ it must be 1) serious matter; 2) the person must know it’s serious and 3) freely commit it.
Any South African with a conscience cannot but condemn racism. It is serious – we know how serious because we live in the aftermath of the evil of apartheid. Racism is also something we freely commit to – like other serious sins.
No matter how well we say our prayers, how often we condemn stealing or abortion, or how often we attend Mass, if we do not confront (often within us!) and condemn racism we risk living in the dangerous state of mortal sin.
The damage that apartheid did to this country will continue to haunt us like any serious sin haunts the sinner. Townships, squatter camps, lack of running water and massive inequality are all visible reminders of our mortal sin. The worldview and attitude that led to this is alive and well amongst us. We have to face the truth about ourselves because, as Jesus tells us, the truth will set us free (John 8:32). We are not free. South Africa is not free. South Africa has not dealt with racism in a constructive manner. Many ‘black’ people are haunted by the pain and trauma. They are rightly sensitive to racism. Many ‘white’ people have not acknowledged that, collectively, they benefitted – and continue to – from a system that was systemically evil. It is a big deal and we need to find ways of taking responsibility, healing, reconciling and freeing. It will not be easy but it is a demand of Christian life.
The opening lines of the Scriptures and the heritage and tradition of our Christian faith remind us of one fact: all people are created in the image and likeness of God. Racism denies this fundamental truth; it separates us from God and others. It confines us all to Satan’s playground…
Archbishop Brislin is at present part of an international group of Bishops visiting various parts of the Holy Land with a view to supporting the work of the church in very troubling conditions, especially through prayer. It also seeks to do advocacy in support of the Church’s commitment to justice and peace in the region. He has been interviewed by the press several times on the visit. The link below will enable you to read an article in The Independent.
The Archbishop has asked that this be sent out to you all. (to read it, just click on the link below….
“THE PURSUIT OF COMMON GOOD MUST BE THE PRIMARY GOAL”
The Jesuit Institute South Africa joins the chorus of voices from all sectors of South African society expressing serious concern over the removal of Nhlanha Nene as the country’s Minister of Finance. This move, announced by President Jacob Zuma, spells disaster for the stability of an embattled economy and raises questions about his ability to lead.
Moments after the announcement was made the local currency plummeted, hitting an all time low against the US dollar. Zuma offered no explanation for what seems to be a grossly irresponsible decision.
There seems to be no doubt that the President fired Nene because he would not allow Zuma and some of his cadres to spend money recklessly, for personal gain, and in so doing risk the integrity of the Treasury. Nene insisted on tight fiscal discipline in the face of a growing deficit and a worrying economic forecast.
Nene did not bow to political pressure. He would not sanction the revision of a deal to buy new aircraft for South African Airways. The airline’s board chairperson, Dudu Myeni (who is also chair of the Jacob Zuma Foundation), was unhappy and appears to have used her personal relationship with the President to influence this decision.
Nene was also cautious not to back a R1 trillion nuclear building deal, which Zuma was personally invested in.
Speaking on our own continent recently, Pope Francis said in Kenya: “In the work of building a sound democratic order, strengthening cohesion and integration, tolerance and respect for others, the pursuit of the common good must be a primary goal.” Nene’s removal is not good news for South Africa, it compromises the common good. Pope Francis appealed to leaders to “work with integrity and transparency for the common good, and to foster a spirit of solidarity at every level of society.”
The people of South Africa will bear the brunt of a questionable decision. This will have far reaching consequences for all South Africans but most especially the poor, who are most vulnerable. Zuma’s decision, by all accounts, fails the common good. Is it a decision for his own narrow self-interest and those around him? It does not foster a spirit of solidarity at every level of South African society.
Pope Francis also told Kenyans, “Corruption is something that gets inside of us, it’s like sugar, but it ends badly. When we have too much sugar, we end up with diabetes, or our country ends up being diabetic.” The Holy Father went on to say that “corruption is the path to death.”
For the sake of the common good and clarity, the Jesuit Institute calls on President Jacob Zuma to give an honest and transparent explanation for his decision.
Furthermore, the Jesuit Institute urges the African National Congress (ANC), who fought tirelessly to liberate the people of this country and lead them to freedom, to act on anything which compromises the common good. The ANC stated that it is committed to fighting corruption. If any corruption is suspected we call on the ANC to act timeously and decisively to avert further damage.
We call on all bodies, institutions, and citizens to demand accountability of those in public office. Our integrity and our very future are at stake.
ENDS
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For more information please contact:
Fr. Russell Pollitt, S.J.
Director
+27 82 737 2054
Celebrating the richness of Music and Voice, Concert in a Convent Garden will take place on 31 January 2016 at 17.30 in the gardens of Springfield Convent in Wynberg. It will take the form of an outdoor picnic concert in the late afternoon where you can enjoy a glass of wine and delicacies from the Opera Café.
Renowned South African musicians, Peter and Suzanne Martens, together with members of the Stellenbosch University Camerata, will form the musical background to the splendid voices of four of Cape Town’s finest singers. We have the pleasure of presenting Violina Anguelov, Riaan Hunter and Ifriki Tadadjeu as well as Lynell Kenned, fresh from the stages of West Side Story and Orpheus in Africa, under the musical direction of Albert Combrink.
You are invited to come early to relax on your picnic blankets and chairs (gates open at 15.30) and be entertained by the Springfield Marimba Band and a Scottish piper. A supervised children’s corner and roaming magicians will entertain the little ones.
Secure parking is available and Springfield girls will lend a hand to carry picnic paraphernalia to the lawns.
Tickets will cost R150 for adults, R30 for children, under 10 is free. These are obtainable from 021 797 9627 extension 200 during school hours or 082 781 1708. Or our email address is: concertinaconventgarden@gmail.com
This event is presented by Springfield Convent School, the Rotary Club of Kromboom and the Past Pupils’ Union. All profits will go towards their respective community outreach programmes.