by Gunther Simmermacher · Published October 9, 2018 · Last modified October 8, 2018
The Southern Cross pilgrimage to Ireland in August was a journey of faith with moments of tourism — and sometimes the two happily coincided, as Günther Simmermacher found. The Southern Cross pilgrimage to Ireland...
Mary / Our Lady / Pilgrimage
by Gunther Simmermacher · Published October 2, 2018 · Last modified October 3, 2018
Unlike most other Marian apparitions, that in Knock was silent. Having visited Knock as part of the Southern Cross pilgrimage to Ireland in August, GÜNTHER SIMMERMACHERreflects on the shrine. There have been reported...
After going on pilgrimage in Ireland last month, Southern Cross editor GÜNTHER SIMMERMACHER found a diminished but still present Church. The scene: a pub in Dublin’s Nassau Street, near Holy Trinity College and Grafton...
by Gunther Simmermacher · Published September 11, 2018 · Last modified September 10, 2018
The last place you’d expect to find a practising Catholic to ply his trade is in a satanic rock group called Deicide. But so it was with Ralph Santolla, a guitarist who died in June at the age of 51.
by Gunther Simmermacher · Published September 1, 2018 · Last modified November 1, 2018
A memoir by a Catholic author about growing up under apartheid has been a surprise bestseller in South Africa this year. Günther Simmermacher interviewed Beryl Crosher-Segers. What was supposed to be a family memoir...
Church / Feast Days / Simmermacher / The Holy Land
by Gunther Simmermacher · Published August 11, 2018 · Last modified August 8, 2018
Tradition holds that the Transfiguration of Jesus took place on Mount Tabor, the 586 metre-high bluff which overlooks the Jezreel (or Esdraelon) plains.
Church / Church History / Simmermacher
by Gunther Simmermacher · Published August 8, 2018 · Last modified August 7, 2018
Fr Patrick Peyton (1909-1992) was a dynamic advocate for family prayer and a trailblazer in radio broadcast and televised evangelisation. Along with promoting prayer in his shows, Fr Peyton held “Rosary Rallies” around the...
There is always something salutary about visiting, if one can, a place with deep Catholic roots — especially if one comes from South Africa, where Catholicism has no significant presence in general life....
Bible / Jesus / Simmermacher / The Holy Land
by Gunther Simmermacher · Published July 10, 2018 · Last modified July 9, 2018
In biblical times, as today, water was vital: to be hydrated, to stay clean, to produce crops, to raise livestock. Water was life. So it is no accident that so many crucial events in the Gospel take place around water: the Sea of Galilee, the River Jordan, and the various wells and healing pools.
Church / Church History / Simmermacher
by Gunther Simmermacher · Published June 19, 2018 · Last modified June 20, 2018
As the Church marks 200 years of being established in South Africa, Günther Simmermacher gives an overview of Catholic history in the country.
Christian Living / Ethics & Human Dignity / Simmermacher
by Gunther Simmermacher · Published June 18, 2018
One of my proudest childhood moments was when my father, a great football journalist, quizzed me about the 1974 World Cup.
During this year’s World Cup, we will see many footballers cross themselves as they take to the field or after scoring goals, or exhibit their Christian faith in other ways.
