A message from Archbishop Buti Tlhagale
In these troubled economic times, newspapers the world over are struggling for survival. While our own Southern Cross has managed almost 89 unbroken years of publication, it too will soon begin to feel the pressure of rising costs.
I urge you to support the Southern Cross Associates Campaign to ensure that this newspaper can continue to serve the Catholic community in Southern Africa. God Bless you for your support.
Archbishop Buti Tlhagale
Archbishop of Johannesburg and President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Southern Cross Associates will:
- Be kept fully informed about progress achieved in the various projects undertaken;
- Benefit from the Holy Mass to be said annually for Associates on the feast of St Francis de Sales (January 24), patron of the Catholic press;
- Be remembered on All Souls Day in a Mass for deceased Associates and their families;
- Have their name published in the Christmas issue of The Southern Cross(of course, you may remain anonymous if you wish).
There are three categories of Associate:
Cardinal Owen McCann Associate
Named after the former editor of The Southern Cross (1942-48 and again 1986-92), for those whose annual contribution is R1500 or more. In addition to the above, Cardinal Owen McCann Associates will receive a free postal subscription to The Southern Cross*.
St Maximilian Kolbe Associate
Named after the modern martyr and heroic Catholic newspaper editor and publisher, for those who assist our apostolic efforts by means of an annual contribution of between R500 and R1499.
St Francis de Sales Associate
Named after the patron saint of Catholic media, for those whose annual gesture of support for The Southern Cross is R100 or more.
Since Associateship is renewable annually there is no long-term commitment, but should you not wish to become an Associate we would be very grateful to receive whatever contribution towards our projects you may wish to make.
* South Africa only. For Associates outside SA, a rebate equal to the current local subscription will apply.
Dear reader
When we launched our Associates Campaign seven years ago in 2002, The Southern Cross was in a very serious position. Its circulation had dropped, its reserves were inadequate, the computers essential to the production of the paper were failing and annual losses were frequent. Following the model of the noted Jesuit publication America, we appealed to our readers for help. The response was immediate and generous.
As a result — and because of very hard work on the part of the Editor and our staff — The Southern Cross is now on a completely different tack. It is financially stable and its circulation is increasing. Of course, because of continuing inflation which affects all printed media, very occasional increases in the cover price are inevitable.
The Southern Cross now faces some new and daunting challenges.
Newspapers the world over are under enormous pressure from cost increases and competition from all manner of new media. Some very famous old newspapers have already closed down. And on top of ensuring the sustainability of our 88-year-old Southern Cross, we have the additional challenge of reaching far more of the millions of Southern African Catholics than the relatively tiny proportion we reach at present through our newspaper. This means that we will need to embrace technology and the wonderful new media that are at our disposal to reach younger Catholics who don’t read newspapers, and to get our Catholic message beyond the cities and into the most remote parts of our country.
For many years free copies of The Southern Cross have been delivered weekly to several hospitals. At the start of our Associates Campaign we expanded our outreach programme. For the past seven years we have supplied free copies in appropriate numbers to all seminaries. Today, every seminarian has access to The Southern Cross every week.
Father Christopher Clohessy, Rector of Saint Francis Xavier Seminary in Cape Town, writes:
‘Each of our students reads The Southern Cross: obviously, it is an excellent way for the students to remain in contact with the events and thinking of the local and worldwide Church, and the various ways in which these events and this thinking are articulated. A seminary can easily become an enclosed situation, removed from the reality of what it means to be “Church” in a fast-paced and difficult contemporary world. The Southern Cross is our window onto that world, and we are grateful for your continued support.’
Very importantly, we supply around 30 prisons every week through their chaplains. This is an expensive but
essential operation. As St Paul admonishes us in his Letter to the Hebrews: “Keep in mind those who are in
prison, as though you were in prison with them…since you too are in the one body”.
A prison chaplain writes:
‘The first thing which is taken from my bag by the sacristan when I arrive to celebrate Mass in the prison is the week’s edition of The Southern Cross! Often questions arise concerning articles they have read in the paper. It is also a link for Catholics behind walls to the world beyond. There is even a sense of pride in this Catholic newspaper within the prison.’
We intend to expand this apostolate as far as resources will allow for. As Pope Benedict XVI has said: “Prison
chaplains and their collaborators are called to be heralds of God’s infinite compassion and forgiveness.” So much needs to be done! After all, how many prisons are there in South Africa and how many Catholics are held in them?
The prisons to which we send free copies are but a small fraction of the total and we are not reaching out
to a great number of Catholics who are in need of spiritual help. One prisoner wrote: “There are a lot more
Catholics here who need to know that there are people who care about them”. Another wrote to say that he
had converted to Catholicism after reading The Southern Cross for some time.
Your support for the Southern Cross Associates Campaign will ensure that we can reach out to Catholics who otherwise would not benefit from our country’s only national Catholic weekly newspaper.
