‘Catholics Took Care Of Me’ – Rev Chikane at Fr Albert Nolan Book Launch

by Admin · July 4, 2023

Rev Frank Chikane Speaking at Book Launch. Photo: Robyn-Glanville

By Terence Creamer – “The Catholic Church has lots of hiding places,” well-known anti-apartheid activist and theologian Rev Frank Chikane mused when recalling his life on the run from the security police in the 1980s.

Rev Chikane was addressing some 150 people at the Johannesburg launch of a tribute book to the late Dominican Father Albert Nolan titled Reluctant Prophet. He recalled how Fr Nolan and his Catholic network of nuns, priests, and activists inside and outside the country had kept him safe during a period when Chikane was facing arrest and detention.

“He took care of all the logistics and nearly made me a Catholic in the process,” quipped Rev Chikane, who was ordained as a minister in the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa in 1980.

“I was hidden in convents and community houses and Albert even arranged for me to stay for three months with the Jesuits in Jules Street. The Catholics really took care of me.”

Rev Chikane is also one of the 71 contributors to the tribute book, published by ATF Press less than nine months after Fr Nolan’s death on October 17, 2022. It was edited by the priest’s fellow Dominicans Mike Deeb, Philippe Denis and Mark James, with a foreword by Fr Timothy Radcliffe, the former master of the order.

From left: Dominicans Philippe Denis, Mike Deeb (Speaking), Mark James. Photos: Robyn Glanville

The book, Rev Chikane noted, highlighted not only Fr Nolan’s bravery as an underground activist but also the “extraordinary” impact that he had as a brother, Dominican preacher, priest, student chaplain, pastor, mentor, theologian, intellectual, political activist, and friend.

“More than anything, he was a humble servant of God…who entered each context with a desire to listen first and then to accompany others,” Rev Chikane said.

Fr Deeb argued during the launch that it was this humility that made Fr Nolan such a “reluctant prophet”, and also distinguished him from the traditional view of prophets as people who can come across as “serious, grumpy, aggressive and abrasive”.

“Albert was always so joyful and welcoming even of those who disagreed with him,” Fr Deeb recalled.

“Reluctant Prophet” on display. Photo: Robyn Glanville

The 500-page book is packed with tributes that reinforce that humility, including Fr Nolan’s refusal to publish his doctoral thesis on the basis of its costs, his decision to live a simple life in the poor area of Mayfair and to sell the provincial house in the leafy northern suburbs of Johannesburg, and even his refusal of a fixed salary when working for the Institute for Contextual Theology.

The book, which publisher Hilary Regan of ATF Press described as an enormous project that was completed in record time, also highlights Fr Nolan’s ongoing willingness to read the signs of the times and stand for the truth — even when it went against his natural inclinations towards peaceful relations with those in authority.

Rev Chikane acknowledged the deep pain Fr Nolan had expressed towards the end of his life at the current state of South Africa, “which is not the country we fought for. It is now up to those of us, who can still contribute, to stop Albert’s pain by trying to stop the pain of our people.|

He concluded: “I don’t know exactly what we need to do today to have the spirit of the likes of Albert coming back, but for me it is very simple: we can’t be governed by criminals. We have to make a stand.”

The Cape Town launch of Reluctant Prophet will be on July 8 at St Michael’s church hall in Rondebosch, with Fr Peter-John Pearson as the keynote speaker. RSVP today to

‘Reluctant Prophet: Tributes to Albert Nolan OP’ can be bought at the Pauline Book & Media Centre in Johannesburg and at the Catholic Bookshop in Cape Town, or online through the UJ Press at https://ujpress.uj.ac.za/