Let’s help the visitors

Guest Editorial by Michael Shackleton – Any crowded place is an opportunity for slick confidence tricksters, thieves and muggers to move in for the pickings.

Who does not go into the thick of a surging throng of people without holding on to handbags, wallets and other precious items? So, now that the World Cup Football extravaganza in 2010 is only four years away for South Africa, we should be plotting our strategy to handle the waiting hordes of criminals. It is not only benevolent football fanatics who will come to us in droves.

At the moment, the World Cup is in gear in Germany. Reports tell us that the European law enforcement bodies share an extensive database of known hooligans, racists, sex traders and other organised trouble-makers. By pinpointing their movements, they contribute to keeping the peace in the German cities where the World Cup matches are played.

South Africas knowledge of identified foreign ugly customers is seemingly scant. However, Commissioner Andre Pruis, deputy head of the South African Police Service and chairman of the joint operations and intelligence structures for 2010, told the media that his agencies would rely on the intelligence provided by European police, Interpol and the world body Fifa for assistance.

This is on the surface. Also to be feared and faced are the potential terrorists and extremists. The South African defence force, intelligence, police and other organisations will therefore also be fully informed and on the alert.

Where does the Church fit into this busy schedule? Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, warned that sex traders in Germany would make a feast of the games by treating unsuspecting women as products for purchase, many against their will.

This has stimulated pastoral work by religious sisters and other congregations to act together during the World Cup. They want not only to preserve the dignity of women but also to challenge the “consumers” in the sex business.

The South African Church, like our civil authorities, can learn much from the German tactics and experiences. We already have well organised structures in our dioceses to deal with migrants and the exploitation of sex for profit. These provide sound advice and practical support for the victimised and the unfortunate. They will certainly cooperate on a national level.

With an estimated three million people entering South Africa for the 2010 event, we can expect many Catholics among them who will need all kinds of pastoral care. Our bishops and parishes in affected areas are aware of this. Brochures and leaflets will need to be made available for visitors to acquaint themselves with the pastoral care they will be seeking, including times of Masses, confessions and the Churchs special World Cup ceremonies.

Their numbers will be from a diversity of cultures and languages, and this must be taken into account.

We are confident the South African Church will not fail this challenge. What would be helpful now is for coordinators to ensure that we shall all be made aware in good time of what the Church will have prepared for our visitors so that we can share this great occasion with them in both a sporting and a spiritual way.