Hurley bio now in an abridged version

DENIS HURLEY: TRUTH TO POWER, by Paddy Kearney. UKZN Press. 2012. 272pp. ISBN: 978-1869142193

Reviewed by John O’Leary

Paddy Kearney has produced a concise and easy to read account of the life and times of the late Archbishop Denis Hurley of Durban.

This is an abridged version of his 2009 book Guardian of the Light (see The Southern Cross‘ review of it here). In affordable paperback format this is a timely publication, particularly for younger readers who may not have had first hand experience of the contexts in which Archbishop Hurley worked.

Truth to Power describes the key events which shaped the compassion and courage of a man who became bishop at the age of 31 and Archbishop at the age of 35 (in both instances the youngest in the world at the time).

Some of the stories told include:

• his life as the son of a lighthouse keeper;

• how he was lost in a cave for nearly a day during his high school years in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, and found his vocation in the profound darkness and uncertainty of that experience;

• his studies for the priesthood in Ireland and Rome (he was in Rome at the time of Hitler’s state visit to Mussolini, and he was strongly influenced by Pope Pius XI’s firm stand against the dictatorships of Hitler, Mussolini and others);

• his early experiences as a priest at Emmanuel Cathedral and as head of a seminary in Pietermaritzburg (during which time he became a member of the local Parliamentary Debating Society);

• his leadership in the South African bishops’ growing opposition to apartheid and his courage in speaking truth about the evil of apartheid to those in power at the time;

•  his leadership in the Church, being an enthusiastic participant in the Second Vatican Council from 1962-65, and especially in the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, and locally serving several terms as president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference;

• his ecumenical commitment, working throughout his 45 years as a bishop with people of other denominations and faiths and with secular leaders and ordinary citizens of all walks of life (he founded the Diakonia Council of Churches, an ecumenical body which Kearney led for many years);

• his later years, during which he was greatly concerned about the increasing poverty and economic inequality in South Africa and saddened by the lack of implementation of the collegiality which had been central to the Second Vatican Council, but encouraged by the preservation of that spirit of collegiality in communities and organisations in different parts of the world, such as the community of Sant‘Egidio.

A book like this can be viewed in many different ways — as biography, as history, as theology, as prophetic literature.

Kearney shares with Archbishop Hurley a gift for conveying prophetic, sometimes painful, insights in a dignified manner, and this is apparent from his writing.

Apart from the narrative, from which I have selected only a few highlights, the importance of the book lies in the themes which recur throughout.

It is a book which South Africans of all ages and beliefs will find interesting and challenging. Interesting because it is an excellent account of 20th century South Africa as experienced by one of its most courageous leaders. Challenging because it leaves the reader feeling uncomfortable about many things.

To mention only a few of these: the lack of collegial debate at all levels of Church and society; the role of language in theology and liturgy; the shift in ecumenism from a search for common values and beliefs to a search for like-minded compliance; the priority of eradicating poverty; and the inspirational example of communities which live out and preserve the values he believed in.

Archbishop Denis Hurley was born on November 9, 1915 and died on February 13, 2004

Denis Hurley: Truth to Power can be obtained at R150 plus R25 for packaging and postage to anywhere in South Africa, from Hester Joseph 083 799-4136 or hester.joseph [at] diakonia.org.za