A Test of Humanity
Eighty years ago, a German ship’s captain defied the Nazi regime in 1939 by sailing an ocean liner around the world to find safe haven for 900 Jewish refugees. Captain Gustav Schröder went to...
Author: Editor
Where is Christ?
Many committed Catholics have responded to the ongoing scandals in the Church by grappling with a most important question: Why should I stay in the Church? Introspective articles on that question have been published...
Dropping the ‘Father’?
Pope Francis frequently condemns a culture of clericalism in which priests “lord it” over the laity and pursue a path of self-aggrandisement rather than of service. It is a culture of clericalism in which...
Driving Out Christians
Pilgrims to the Holy Land will see in abundance the holy shrines of Our Lord and the rocks of the prophets. These are often referred to as the “Ancient Stones” of the faith. These...
The State of Vocations in the Church
On Vocations Sunday we pray in a special way that God’s call to service in the priestly or religious ministry will find many open ears and hearts. The vocations crisis in Europe and North...
The Southern Cross: A Question of Survival
Later this year, The Southern Cross will enter its 100th year of publication, culminating in its centenary in October 2020. That jubilee will be a good time to reflect on a long history of...
South Africa After 25 Years
The Rainbow Nation, it has turned out, was just as elusive as the appearances of colours created by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light. In the 25 years since those exhilarating days when South...
Why We Can Say: Hosanna in the Highest
Hosanna! The crowds in Jerusalem afforded Jesus a euphoric entry into Jerusalem. Within five days, the blink of an eye in a lifetime, Jesus died an unheralded death on a cross. At Mass...
Mentality of Arrogance
The report that British officials turned down asylum applications by Christians from Iran by mocking their faith is symptomatic of the increasing lack of respect given to people of faith in secularised countries. An...
The Ideal Politician
As South Africans prepare to vote on May 8, they will survey the promises, ideologies and track-records of the various parties and the candidates they are fielding for election. By and large, they will...
THAT is the Church
Those people who regard the Catholic Church as a body in ruins after all the scandals and betrayals don’t know the Church. Of course, the institution has been devastated by failures of its own...
The Pius XII Files
The announcement by Pope Francis that documents in the Vatican Secret Archives relating to the pontificate of Pope Pius XII between 1939 and his death in 1958 will be opened to scholars next year...
