A most handy directory

by Gunther Simmermacher · July 13, 2009

THE CATHOLIC DIRECTORY 2009-2010. Southern African Catholic Bishops� Conference, Pretoria. 2009. 606pp. R150

Reviewed by G�nther Simmermacher

For those working in the Catholic field, the arrival of a new Catholic Directory is always most welcome. Published every two years, the directory is an essential resource for those who need to know the address of a parish in Eshowe; or the name of the bishop of Bethlehem and his predecessors (including their length of service); the location of a Catholic bookshop in Pretoria or a Bible institute in Cape Town, a Catholic school in Mthatha, or Marriage Encounter in Durban; the episcopal head of the department of liturgy (and his contact details); addresses and numbers for the bishops� conference of Kenya; and so on.

Compiled and updated for many years by Johnson Mkhabela, the librarian of the Southern African Catholic Bishops� Conference (SACBC), the directory is easy to navigate, even as it gets thicker with every edition.

Each diocese is listed, with a brief history and list of previous bishops. The diocesan sections include the names, addresses and contact details for every parish and mission. For easy cross-referencing, other sections list all parishes and their dioceses (so you might learn that Mafikeng�s parishes fall under the diocese of Kimberley), and all priests and their parishes.

Alas, the former section becomes quickly outdated when dioceses move their priests around. The SACBC�s plan to make the directory available on-line is therefore particularly welcome.

The inclusion of greater details for neighbouring bishops� conferences is a notable improvement on previous editions. Another helpful innovation would be an index of religious brothers and sisters. Should one wish to look for the location of a particular nun, one would need to know first in which diocese she is based, and which congregation she belongs to. There is an index listing all permanent deacons in Southern Africa, with contact details � why not one for religious?

Number crunchers will be grateful for the simple presentation of statistics that detail the number of Catholics, priests and religious in each diocese, as well as a breakdown of South Africa�s population by religion.

The Catholic Directory is available from Catholic bookshops, or directly from the SACBC at R150 plus R28,35 p&p. Contact (012) 3236458 or " target="_blank">