Dear Reader,
On October 3, the Church marks the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi. Pope Leo XIV has declared a Year of St Francis, which will conclude on January 10, 2027.
The face on the cover is that of St Francis in a photorealistic depiction of the saint, based on a fresco created during his lifetime or shortly after his death. It was painted to commemorate St Francis’ visit to the Benedictine monastery at Subiaco in 1223.
Another famous image was created soon after Francis’ death. We have created a photographic interpretation based on that artwork too. As a gift to our readers, both can be downloaded as printable A3 posters from our website at scross.co.za/francis-posters.
This month we conclude our series of reflections on the life of St Francis, while Fr Paddy Noonan OFM pleads the case for the simple life modelled by the founder of his order. Raymond Perrier reflects on the relevance of the saint today, and on the back page we feature quotations illustrating the impact of St Francis on the life of the Church.
A shocking R7,2 billion bill
St Francis was shaped by the time he spent as a prisoner after being captured as a soldier in Perugia. He would no doubt endorse the sentiments expressed by Antonius Spek in his article on prison ministry. Spek confronts us with a shocking reality: South Africa spends about R7,2 billion a year on awaiting-trial prisoners who are ultimately released without conviction — and who may be scarred by the experience.
In a crime-ridden country like ours, there is a temptation to treat prisoners with the same lack of dignity they might have shown their victims, or even to demand that they be put to death.
This, however, is not the way of Christ or his Church. We are called to rise above our righteous indignation and recognise the sanctity even of the least admirable lives. It is a great challenge, but those engaged in prison ministry prove that it can be met in a Christ-filled way.
A mission statement
Still on the subject of St Francis, the sons and daughters of the founder of the Franciscans have been at the vanguard of missionary work, globally and in South Africa. In October, the Church marks Mission Sunday, and this year’s observance commemorates the 100th anniversary of the annual day of prayer and reflection, as Fr Jeremiah Browne notes in his beautiful reflection.
Mission Sunday is also a call to action for all Catholics to participate in the Church’s mission of evangelisation. Pretoria-born and US-based seminarian Br George Thomas Kochumalil tells us how he is responding to that call through a podcast aimed at young people. We can all respond to the Church’s call in our own ways.
A wonderful British television series, Call The Midwife, follows the women in the titular profession, some of them Anglican nuns. They are compassionate yet no-nonsense. I imagine that Benedictine Sister Reinolda May, a missionary from Germany, was cut from the same cloth. She helped bring thousands of children into the world, including a future Zulu king, and trained countless women as midwives.
But her prominence rests on the Marian apparitions she reported, which are at the heart of the Ngome shrine in KwaZulu-Natal. On page 14 we tell Sr Reinolda’s remarkable story to mark the 125th anniversary of her birth.
As always, thank you for reading The Southern Cross.
God bless,
Günther Simmermacher, (Editor)
- St Francis and Mission - October 6, 2026
- St Francis of Assisi: Creation and Brotherhood - September 28, 2026
- St Francis of Assisi: The Franciscan Way of Keeping it Simple - September 21, 2026
