Tribute to a shepherd of Bethlehem

THE SHEPHERD OF BETHLEHEM, by Fr Dikotsi William Mofokeng (ed). Mariannhill Press, 2011. 138pp.

Reviewed by Günther Simmermacher

In 1956 three young priests left their home in the Bavarian diocese of Regensburg to serve as Fidei Donum missionary priests in the Eastern Cape diocese of Aliwal North. They toiled in the mission fields in the rural diocese, and eventually all three became bishops in South Africa.

The Shepherd of Bethlehem is a Festschrift, or tribute, to the youngest of them: Bishop Hubert Bucher, the first of the Regensburg trio to be elevated to the episcopal rank. The other two were Bishops Fritz Lobinger (appointed in 1987 in Aliwal North) and Oswald Hirmer (1997 in Mthatha). All three of them were reunited in retirement in Mariannhill, where Bishop Hirmer passed away earlier this year.

In this book, several voices recount and pay tribute to Bishop Bucher’s journey of service to the people of Aliwal North and Bethlehem — and indeed to the Church of all Southern Africa. It serves as a letter of appreciation and love for a loyal servant of God and his people.

In his chapter, Bishop Lobinger recalls how the young Fr Bucher asked his bishop for an appointment in the remote farming area of Dordrecht, where there was only one Catholic family living in what was then called “the location”. With much energy, imagination and missionary zeal, Fr Bucher converted many of the local Xhosa people, building farm schools and, eventually, a Catholic community. He spent his days off, every Monday, with his fellow missionaries from Regensburg, who worked in neighbouring areas. Meeting in nature, they would discuss their pastoral challenges, problems and successes. These meetings, Bishop Lobinger notes, “were in fact a mini mobile pastoral institute”. It is no wonder that these three clerics, as priests and bishops, were very much at the vanguard of the local Church’s pastoral development.

Fr Bucher was preparing to take charge of the missiology department of the Lumko, the bishops’ pastoral institute, when he was unexpectedly appointed bishop of Bethlehem by Pope Paul VI in 1977. His almost 32 productive years at the helm of the rural Free State diocese obviously takes up the bulk of this book. It is apparent that Bishop Bucher was a popular ordinary who cared deeply for his priests and enjoyed making pastoral visitations to parishes that would span whole weekends.

He was passionate about vocations and the development of a local diocesan clergy in a diocese that had been under the care of the Spiritan Fathers. The book’s editor, Fr Mosebetsi Mokoena, explains in some detail how Bishop Bucher set about meeting the objective. By the time he retired in 2009, Bishop Bucher had ordained more than 20 local priests (one of them now a bishop himself: Bishop Xolile “Teddy” Kumalo of Eshowe).

Added to the diocesan clergy were priests from the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and Missionaries for Africa, whom Bishop Bucher invited to the diocese to participate in his catechetical and pastoral programmes. His successor, Bishop Jan de Groef, belongs to the latter congregation.

Bishop Bucher clearly was an organised administrator, to the point of conforming to stereotypes of teutonic efficiency. He might have liked to crack a joke, but he was a strict boss with limited patience for inadequate work. He was also a practical bishop who declared September “Gutter-cleaning Month” in his diocese as a way to encourage good maintenance of Church buildings. This came with detailed instructions in exactly how maintenance was to be conducted.

There are many lovely touches in this collection of tributes and memories. From his housekeeper, Sr Veronica Tshabalala, we learn that Bishop Bucher’s mood could be gauged by his whistling. The chancery’s gardener, David Mofokeng, recalls how the bishop taught him horticultural skills.

Bishop Bucher was a strong opponent of apartheid who would engage the Church’s network to assist people detained by the regime. His prophetic opposition even made news in Germany when Bishop Bucher strongly criticised the pro-apartheid activities of Bavaria’s premier Franz-Josef Strauss.

Edited by Fr Mofokeng, The Shepherd of Bethlehem is a labour of love and a joy to read. It clearly was not subjected to ruthless editing, but in a book like this, rawness of the prose is part of the charm. The Festschrift is a tribute, so one should not expect a dispassionate critique of the bishop’s life. The book’s editor points out that Bishop Bucher, like all of us, has his human failings (the present reviewer also knows that the bishop compensates for these with admirable humility), but a book of tributes is not the place to deal with those. And what a blessing it is when somebody takes the initiative to compile a tribute in the subject’s lifetime!

Fr Mofokeng offers a couple of welcome bonus features: six chapters of Bishop Bucher’s 2004 “Preparation and Purification” series, and 14 pages of colour photo on gloss paper.

To order The Shepherd of Bethlehem at R100 a copy, contact 058 3033072 (telephone) or 058 3039378 (fax).