History in Colour: Sister Brigid Flanagan

by Admin · November 2, 2023

A snapshot from the past, colourised exclusively for The Southern Cross

In the Catholic Church of Southern Africa, and indeed worldwide, Holy Family Sister Brigid Flanagan was a trailblazer for women as the associate secretary-general of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC). In the 1980s, she served as acting secretary-general when the priest in that position, Fr Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, was twice detained by the apartheid regime.

Sr Brigid worked for the SACBC from 1975 to 1994, initially in the Department for Christian Education and Worship. Born in 1918 in Ireland, she came to Durban in October 1938, shortly after making her first vows.

A woman of tremendous courage, like so many other religious Sisters, Sr Brigid was a Catholic leader in the struggle against apartheid. She encouraged religious women to join protests while wearing their veils. As a leader in the SACBC, she was involved in the founding of the alternative newspaper, New Nation. She was one of six people, including two bishops, who were in Khanya House when it was bombed by apartheid state operatives under the leadership of Eugene de Kock.

Sr Brigid had a particularly close relationship with Archbishop Denis Hurley of Durban, who was SACBC president for a significant time of her terms as associate secretary-general. Their friendship went back to the 1950s, when she was the principal of Holy Family Convent High School in Durban.

On November 12, 2005, Sr Brigid died in Pietermaritzburg at the age of 87.

Four women have been associate secretaries-general since her time at the SACBC, with one of them, Sr Hermenegild Makoro CPS, leading the bishops’ conference for two terms as secretary-general. The current associate secretary-general is Sr Dominica Mkhize FSF.

Published in the August 2023 issue of The Southern Cross magazine