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...
Author: Editor
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...
No More Fudging!
Whatever the Catholic Church does in addressing the abuse scandal, it will never be seen as being good enough. And given the dimensions of the scandal, how could it ever be? Still, it is...
The End of Clericalism
It is not easy being a Catholic priest at a time when on various fronts they are being criticised. One of the many tragedies of the abuse scandal is that it has cast a...
Fruits From a Summit?
This week’s Vatican abuse scandal summit, which ends on February 24, may be expected to produce big solutions to the Church’s greatest crisis since the Reformation, but those who entertain such hopes will be...
World Youth Day in South Africa?
The announcement that the next World Youth Day, in 2022, will be held in Lisbon, disappointed many Africans who are still waiting for the event to be hosted on their continent. There are indeed...
Abortion Rates Point to a Crisis in Society
Earlier this month a young man who should never have been born died aged 21. In July 1997, the young man, known only as Tim — or the “Oldenburg Baby”, after the city of...
The Celibacy Debate
When he announced that the bishops of Germany are opening a discussion about the option of changing the discipline of mandatory celibacy for Latin-rite priests, Cardinal Reinhard Marx kicked off 2019 with a topic...
South Africa Needs Unity in Action
Almost a quarter of a century since the optimistic days when the Rainbow Nation stood together in queues to vote in South Africa’s first democratic election, we are acutely aware that racism has not...
Our Prayers in 2019
As we enter the final year of the decade, we direct our prayers on immediate needs, but also with a view to creating a better, more humane future in the 2020s. For South...
A New Leader for a Diocese of Few Bishops
Pope Francis has made a wise and bold decision by appointing Bishop Abel Gabuza as coadjutor archbishop of Durban, and therefore as Cardinal Wilfrid Napier’s successor. Having been born in Alexandra, Johannesburg, and having...
Calling Back Ex-Catholics
In many Catholic parishes and families one hears the lament that young people abandon the Church, and even their faith, the moment they take off their confirmation outfits.
