Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg www catholic-johannesburg.org.za Archbishop Buti Tlhagale’s Presidential Address to the S.A.C.B.C. Plenary meeting in August at Mariannhill. Archdiocesan News | Departments | Churches | Forums | About Us | Contact Us | Site Map

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

WELCOME

On behalf of the Conference, I would like to welcome the new members of the Conference: Bishop José de Ponce, Bishop Stanislaw Dziuba, Bishop Jan Van Graaf, Bishop Valentine Seane.  Congratulations upon your appointments.  This Conference pledges its brotherly support.  We look forward to a good working relationship as shepherds of the various Catholic Communities.

HOMAGE

I would be remiss not to use this opportunity to pay homage to our predecessors whose memories are still vivid in our minds: D. Hurley, D. Khumalo, R. Orsmond, H. Brenninkmeijer, M. Biyase, M. O’Shea, J.B. Minder, F. Lobinger, H. Bucher, J. Potocnak, O. Hirmir (E. Hecht, H. Slattery) B. Setlalekgosi, G. Daniel.

Now some of these Bishops have been Bishops for twenty years, thirty years and more.  If you consider the Catholic Church to be some hundred years old in most parts of the region, these Bishops have virtually been pioneers in their own right.  They have marshalled resources in collaboration with religious congregations to build churches, schools and health centres.  They have established vibrant communities of faith.  They have seen to the growth of the Catholic Church.  We, their successors have inherited institutional resources, traditions and practices which they have painstakingly built-up and nurtured over the decades.  We owe them a debt of gratitude.  Using the Golden Jubilee (1997) publication by J. Brain and the Historical Sketch of the Diocese of Port Elizabeth (2007), as a yardstick when the history of the Catholic Church in the last 50 years is written, it will reflect a period of unprecedented growth and vitality.

APPRECIATION

Again, on behalf of the Conference, we would like to express our appreciation and gratitude to the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop James Green for his tireless effort of filling the vacant sees in record time.  This has helped to minimize the anxiety that is usually generated by an absence of a chief shepherd in a diocese.

CAUSES OF SAINTS

One of the milestones in the history of the Local Church is without doubt the introduction of the cause of saints.  The Diocese of Tzaneen has presented to the Holy See the cause of Benedict Daswa who was brutally murdered for taking a stand against witchcraft.  The Congregation of the Mariannhill Fathers has presented the cause of their pioneer-founder Abbot Pfanner.  This is a momentous development for the Church in the region.  At long last, God willing, the local Church will have models of faith, heavenly patrons, special friends of God, invisible friends and protectors who spoke our language and walked our trusty roads.  Recognition of these men by the Church will help us to understand even deeper that holiness resides in truth and in moral goodness.  The entire process is bound to have a lasting impact on the indigenous culture and a worldview in which ancestral spirits are accorded supernatural powers as a matter of course.  A clash of worldviews in the minds of many local Catholics is bound to come to a head.

OUR PRESENT SITUATION

It can be said that Apartheid in South Africa met its own Waterloo definitively in 1994.  It was a turning point in human relationships.  For Christians, it was the fulfilment of the promise: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you”.  The demise of Apartheid entailed the collapse of a particular worldview, of traditions and practices of the past.  A new hope was rekindled, a new order was ushered in.  Fourteen years down the line, this new order, alongside promises of great hope, has revealed some disturbing features.  The new government does not share the same Christian vision with the Catholic community.  The authority of the Bible as a source of morality and ethical norms has been replaced by human reason.  Traditional moral values that had underpinned society have been abandoned.  Some Constitutional values are at odds with the Gospel values.  In some cases there is open contradiction and conflict.  Strong agnostic lobby-groups have a free reign in shaping the legal and moral compass of the South African Society.  There is an unfortunate perception by many that what is permitted by the laws of the country is also morally acceptable and that if it were morally reprehensible the government would not have authorised it by law.  A fact we have to face reluctantly is that our countries are not in the main, Christian countries in spite of the much vaunted number of Christians.  It is not the Christian ethos that dominates society.  There is a melange of worldviews.  There are irreconcilable versions of Christianity which defy complimentarity.  Secularism has made serious inroads into the way people think.  The moral domain is contested with passion.  The diversity of thought and belief has become an integral part of the fabric of society.  Clearly the public square has become the “locus classicus”, the arena of competing visions and the law of the land protects the right of citizens to subscribe to different ideals, lifestyles and beliefs.  The Church also enjoys that protection.

Redemptoris Missio aptly describes our situation when it says that there is a gradual secularization of salvation.  Our government and people in general “strive for the good of man (batho-pele), but man who is truncated, reduced to his merely horizontal dimension” (RM.11.4).  On the African continent many have descended on the cities in their thousands with a dream of better prospects.  Their hopes have been crushed, their aspirations frustrated.  They sleep in the open.  They live in squalor and abject poverty.  Rampant crime and begging in public suggests that poverty has reached unacceptable proportions and or, that greed has spiralled out of control.  This is our situation.  These are our challenges.  Is it possible, I ask, that the Pastoral letters of the Bishops’ Conference can be written in such a language and with such powerful content, so that they can make their way to the Areopagi – the cultural centres of our secular societies through the secular media?  To date, we seem to be speaking only to Catholics.  This challenge stares us in the face.

THE PASTORAL PLAN (1989) of the Bishops’ Conference did not foresee the radical socio-political changes, nor did it anticipate such far-reaching changes in the moral-ethical realm of society.

SYNOD

We propose the convocation of a Synod where the abovementioned concerns and the issues tabled below can be considered.  Convocation of this magnitude in our Conference territory is not new.  There was an Inter-  Diocesan Pastoral Consultation in 1980 held at Hammanskraal.  In the last 30 years, no such Consultation has been held.  This suggests a lack of continuity and or lack of an inbuilt mechanism to ensure regular evaluation, and monitor new significant developments such as the events of 1994 in South Africa, or the impact of displaced Zimbabweans in the region.  A Synod on the other hand would have, as a matter of policy, to hold such consultations at regular intervals of at least five years.  A Synod then is an opportunity for renewal, for planning a way forward.  It is a forum for an exchange of ideas, common decisions and common commitments.  A Synod involves the Bishops as Chief Shepherds, Pastors, Theologians, Religious and Laity.  It is a process of collective discernment that underlines the co-responsibility of the members of the Body of Christ.  A Synod has a way of unleashing new energy as we have learnt from the Synods which have been held in the various dioceses.

While the Vision Statement (1989) of the Bishops’ Conference pre-dates the advent of democracy in South Africa (1994), the clarion call of Community Serving Humanity remains unchanging.  It remains unchanging because it is rooted in the very message of Jesus Christ himself.
- “the greatest among you shall be your servant” (Mt.23.11).
- “in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me” (Mt.25.45).
- “well done good and faithful servant, you have shown you can be faithful in small things” (25.21).
- “by love serve one another” Gal.5.13).
The call to serve the other, to put others first, to alleviate pain and suffering, to create conditions which allow others to develop and even flourish, is a perennial feature of the Gospel message.  This orientation defines what it means to be Christ-like.  Service to others is the vocation of the Church.  It embraces both spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

While the broad vision remains intact, the radical change of the political landscape in 1994 does call for a review of the priorities identified then.  It calls for an honest assessment of the impact of the programmes which had been adopted.  In the meantime, new priorities and new needs have surfaced.  A Synod would afford the Conference an opportunity to evaluate the work of its different departments and whether the work of the departments and Associated Bodies have had a recognizable effect throughout the targeted dioceses or whether indeed the benefits have been evenly distributed.  We have to ask ourselves whether the dawn of democracy in Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland has significantly changed the quality of life of the majority of the citizens, whether it increased opportunities for education and jobs; whether the life expectancy of people has increased or decreased; whether services such as primary health care, electricity, access to clean water and sanitation are up to speed.  A critical evaluation by an interested party such as the Catholic Church is imperative if the expression prophetic witnessing is to have any meaning at all.

LAITY

The life of the Church is generally experienced at both the level of the parish and the diocese.  But the Catholic Church also straddles across the region.  We are all called to be holy and blameless before Christ (Eph.1.4).  Lumen Gentium states categorically that lay people “are in their own way made sharers in the priestly, prophetic and kingly functions of Christ, and they are to carry out for their own part the mission of whole Christian people in the Church and in the world” (no.31).  They are urged to witness to Christ in their workplace, their families, in the social, political, educational and health care areas.  They are to make the Church “present and operative in those places and circumstances where only through them can the Church become the salt of the earth” (L.G.31).  Christifideles Laici reminds us that the laity have a complementary role in the handing over of the faith, in catechesis and in theological teaching (no.2).

There is a strong feeling that lay people have not been visibly supportive of the positions taken by the hierarchy on the laws that are in direct conflict with the teachings of the Church (abortion, same-sex unions, legalizing prostitution etc.,).  Some even unashamedly state that on such moral issues the Church is simply a relic, a moral dinosaur from the ancient past.  The hierarchy on the other hand, has not always been pro-active in bringing the laity on board with regard to their role as Catholics in the market place.  The Church has thousands of organized members in a variety of sodalities and organizations, but these have not been roped in into campaigns to buttress the position of the Church.  The Church on the whole has essentially remained a private entity (a ghetto) shunning in practice what it propounds in its teaching documents.  There is a need to hear the many voices of lay Catholics, after all, they are the branches of the vine.  It is important to hear how they perceive their role and mission as followers of Jesus Christ.  They are co-responsible for the Mission of the Church.  A Synod would offer the opportunity to debate these morally vexing issues openly with the view to changing our world in order to achieve the common good.

SIZE COUNTS

More than a hundred and fifty years ago, the first Catholic Missionaries came to South Africa to take care of the spiritual needs of the colonial communities.  Some religious congregations however focused on the conversion and upliftment of the native population.  Since the days of those daring missionaries, Joseph Gerard and Abbot Pfanner, the number of Catholics has increased to some 10% of the total population of South Africa (Botswana: 90 000: of 1.600 million; Swaziland: 55 000 of 1.1 million).  In all the three countries, Catholics are a minority.  The numbers appear to have remained relatively stagnant.  Size counts.  On the other hand, a prophet does not have to rent a crowd.  10% or possibly 8% relegates the Catholic Church to the margins of society.  We have no significant presence.  Consequently, we are not a voice to reckon with.  And yet potentially, as it was in the past, the Church can be a social force for good.  Those in power can afford to ignore the irritating Catholic voice.  It is considered to be marginal.  In the past, government leaders have snubbed the Catholic Church by turning down the invitation of the Bishops insisting that the Bishops should join interfaith delegations if they wished to speak to government.  And yet, these very leaders bent backwards to speak to the Afrikaner Church, some leaders of the indigenous churches, and indeed the Jewish community, small in number but powerful in other respects.  Sour grapes?  Perhaps.  Granted that a significant number of Catholics are nominal Catholics who certainly would not stand up for anything Catholic.  The time appears opportune for the Church to take stock of herself.  How do Catholics perceive themselves?  What do others think of the Catholic Church?  What impact is the Church making on other religious institutions and on society?

The Church cannot justly remain a flickering flame.  She has to become a consuming fire.  A Synod might give the Church an opportunity to evaluate herself.  Self-complacency is an infectious disease.

RELIGIOUS CONGREGATIONS

It is important to do an evaluation jointly with the religious congregations.  Many of the members are no longer in teaching or in the health services.  Many are in retirement.  Many suffer a serious lack of vocations.  The religious were the founding pioneers of the Catholic Church.  What then is the future of the Catholic Church without the religious?  They have assiduously built the institutions of the Church.  They have nurtured the faith of many.  They have edified many with their exemplary lifestyle.  They raised funds to build schools, clinics and hospitals.  They provided sterling education to many.  Their teacher and nursing training colleges were second to none.  Some Missionaries wrote the original grammar books of the local languages.  Some were experts in local cultures.  They gave it their all.  These men and women have been the cornerstone of the Catholic Church.  Their rapidly diminishing numbers alone persuasively suggests that the Catholic Church in these parts, is at a crossroad.  Their gradual demise also implies the drying up of overseas financial resources.  The majority of novices in the novitiates are from outside South Africa.  This does not bode well for the South African Church.  In this and many other regards, the local Church faces formidable challenges.  Hence the need for a thorough evaluation and the intensification of the theme of a self-reliant local Church.

EDUCATION

In the past, the Catholic Church, especially through its religious congregations, was a pioneer in the fields of education, teacher training and health services.  These functions have by and large been taken over by the state in all three member countries of the Conference.  The diminishing numbers of both male and female religious has opened the way for lay people to take over the running of the schools.  In some cases the schools have been handed over to committed lay people both Catholic and non-Catholic.  In many schools numbers of both non-Catholic learners and non-Catholic teachers have increased dramatically.  As a result of these new developments, a vaguely defined concept of a “Catholic ethos” became part of the public discourse on Catholic values in Catholic schools.  Serious concerns have arisen over the teaching of religious education.  Catechesis as was formerly taught at schools has by and large been jettisoned.  A positive outcome is that parishes have become responsible for the catechesis of the youth.  A question for the Synod is: how have these changes affected the Catholic community and its teaching of the faith and doctrine.  What has been the impact across the entire territory of the Conference area?  Do these changes spell the demise of Gospel values that formed part and parcel of teaching and learning in schools?  These matters have been greatly debated by the Catholic Institute of Education.  But what does the future hold in store?

CATHOLIC MEDIA

Do we communicate enough on critical issues of the day?  Do we bring Catholic thought to bear on issues of concern in our society?  Do we have a strong Catholic media?  How should the Catholic media serve the community?  Surely a critical reflection on the role of Catholic media in both the Church and society is highly desirable.  A Synodal input could help guide initiatives around Catholic media and ownership.

FORMATION

Where in our Conference territory do we find best practices in adult Christian formation, in youth Christian formation?  The strength of the Conference’s admirable and highly successful programmes appear to be in the departments/offices/Associate Bodies of AIDS, Welfare, Justice and Peace, Parliamentary Liaison Office, Dennis Hurley Institute and not in Evangelization, Liturgy, Catechesis, Doctrine and Ethics, Communications – themes that are at the heart of the mission of the Church.  These are the ones that are poorly funded, chronically understaffed and yet perform well under difficult conditions.    Unless the centre develops policies and programmes; inspire, motivate and support diocesan initiatives, the overall impact on the whole Church will be feeble.  Christian formation of both adults and youth demands to be prioritized and supported with resources.  Politically attractive programmes will continue to attract foreign funding.  It is foreign funding that determines the priorities of this Conference.  Admittedly it is foreign funding that makes the social mission of the Church look good.  But for how long?  The formation of the clouds are ever shifting.  A Synod might help us regain some perspective.

CONCLUSION

The comments made above represent some of the arguments that could be made as a motivation for convoking a Synod.  As Church, we are in a new era with new challenges in Southern Africa.  The Church has an immense potential to rekindle hope and to support efforts aimed at promoting the quality of life for the many who feel that history is not on their side.  There is a Church beyond the Parish and the Diocese.  There are issues that can only be appropriately addressed and resolved at Conference level.  A Synod by its nature acknowledges the fact that we are all members of the Body of Jesus Christ.  Representatives of the various constituencies come together, deliberate together, decide together, commit themselves and carry out their plans for the benefit of all.  It is this mutual recognition (and a strong sense of co-responsibility) that goes a long way towards creating bonds of solidarity and mutual understanding in the face of common challenges.  Such a Synod, we anticipate will also strengthen a sense of a Catholic identity inspired by the values and traditions we hold dear – for the greater glory of God.


+ Buti Tlhagale
      August 2009

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