Papal Canonisation / Pope John Paul II
by admin · Published April 11, 2014 · Last modified October 15, 2018
This is the front-page editorial which appeared in The Southern Cross special edition, released on April 4, 2005, two days after the death of Pope John Paul II. The editorial was written by editor-in-chief Gunther Simmermacher....
He is acknowledged as a great leader in Christian history — a global leader, a world statesman. The most travelled pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church was hailed for his human rights and political activism. St John Paul II was a peacemaker.
While Pope Francis thinks Blessed Paul VI wrote “the greatest pastoral document that has ever been written,” great writing does not make a pope a saint.
A person who was ahead of his time was St John Paul II. In 1995, he wrote a letter to women of the world, still available on the Vatican website. In that letter, he said, “Unfortunately, we are heirs to a history which has conditioned us to a remarkable extent. … Women’s dignity has often been unacknowledged and their prerogatives misrepresented; they have often been relegated to the margins of society and even reduced to servitude.”
Almost 4000 young Catholic men and women from throughout Southern Africa gathered in Durban’s Exhibition Centre for an intensive four day event to celebrate their Christianity, community and unity while experiencing the chosen theme chosen by Pope Francis, of “young people, faith and vocations”.
Ten years ago Oblate Father Frans Claerhout, the Free State-based painter of world-renown, died. Retired journalist WINNIE GRAHAM recalls meeting the priest. Father Frans Claerhout was not expecting us at his home at Tweespruit...
by Tony Magliano · Published July 27, 2015 · Last modified November 15, 2016
While Pope Francis’ new encyclical Laudato Si’ is enjoying wide publicity, few people are aware this year also marks the 20th anniversary of another powerfully prophetic social justice and peace encyclical: Evangelium Vitae(The Gospel of...
Chama / Ecumenical dialogue / Perspectives
by Evans Chama · Published June 7, 2015 · Last modified September 21, 2017
The late motivational speaker Leo Buscaglia said: The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing and becomes nothing. In this Oct. 4, 1962 file photo Pope John XXIII stands at the...
Few popes in history have been as closely tied to the country of their birth as St John Paul II was to Poland. To honour the pope born Karol Wojty?a and explore his country...
Pilgrimage 2014 / Simmermacher / Travel
by Gunther Simmermacher · Published November 10, 2014 · Last modified April 22, 2016
In October a group of Southern Cross pilgrims, led by Bishop Joao Rodrigues of Tzaneen, returned from a pilgrimage to Portugal, Spain and France. In the second of four articles, GUNTHER SIMMERMACHER looks at places associated...
Features / History / Pope Paul VI
by admin · Published October 17, 2014 · Last modified October 15, 2014
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service Meeting Catholics from Pope Paul VI’s home diocese, Brescia, Pope Francis said his predecessor’s witness “nourishes within us the flame of love for Christ, love for the church...
Papal Canonisation / Pope John XXIII
by admin · Published April 24, 2014 · Last modified October 15, 2018
Although he served as pope for less than five years, Pope John XXIII left one of the most lasting legacies in the Catholic Church’s history by convening the Second Vatican Council. A plump, elderly,...
