Gunther Simmermacher
A lavish guided tour of the Vatican
THE VATICAN: Secrets and Treasures of the Holy City, by Fr Michael Collins. Penguin/Dorling Kindersley (2014). 320pp. Reviewed by Gunther...
Who was Pontius Pilate?
His name is in the Creed and we encounter him every Holy Week. But who was Pontius Pilate? GÜNTHER SIMMERMACHER looks...
Pope John Paul II’s very strange day
A hostage drama, a precarious flight and an unexpected stop in Johannesburg turned September 14, 1988 into one of the...
Southern Cross history – Part 6: 1970/80s
Advertising has always been a thorny terrain in terms of what is acceptable in a Catholic newspaper. Alcohol ads were...
Southern Cross history – Part 5: The 1950/60s
Managing editor Andrew Murray, appointed in late 1950, and editor Fr Louis Stubbs, appointed just two years earlier, steered The...
Southern Cross history – Part 4: The 1940s
Before becoming a bishop, Fr McCann had been The Southern Cross editor, from 1941-48. He would return for a second...
Southern Cross history – Part 3: The 1930s
By 1933, the Great Depression also affected The Southern Cross. In a gesture of concern for the staff, it was...
Southern Cross history – Part 2: The 1920s
by Gunther Simmermacher After months of promotion, especially by Durban’s Fr ODonnell OMI who tirelessly toured the country to create...
