The Last Editorial
This is the last of more than 5 200 editorials that have appeared in The Southern Cross since the first edition was published on October 16, 1920. Back then, founding editor Fr James Kelly declared...
Category: History of The Southern Cross
From Our Vaults 72 Years Ago: September 1, 1948
Southern Cross editor resigns Fr Owen McCann has resigned as editor of The Southern Cross after leading the newspaper for seven years. He will now take over the position of administrator of Cape Town’s St...
From Our Vaults 37 Years Ago: August 28, 1983
Celebrate Mary’s 2000th birthday At an open-air Assumption feast Mass in Lourdes attended by 180000 people, Pope John Paul II called on Catholics to celebrate Mary’s 2000th birthday during the Holy Year 1983. Mary is believed...
The Southern Cross: Farewell and Look to the Future
The Southern Cross’ retrenched staff came together one last time for a sad farewell — and some to chart the way for the publication’s future, as SYDNEY DUVAL writes. As a window on the Catholic...
Archbishop William Slattery: There’s a Death in the Family
It is a very sad moment in the history of the Catholic Church of South Africa to learn that our beloved weekly as we knew it will soon be no more. The Southern Cross ensured...
Newspaper To Magazine: This Is A ‘Phoenix’ Moment
As from October 2020, the only national Catholic newspaper in South Africa, The Southern Cross, will become a monthly magazine. This was reported by its editor, Günther Simmermacher, in the editorial of the July 8-14...
From Our Vaults 51 Years Ago: July 23, 1969
Pope hails moon landing Pope Paul VI has praised the first moon landing in what The Southern Cross calls a “dramatic and unscheduled speech from his summer retreat”, Castel Gandolfo. The pontiff had followed the...
From Our Vaults 75 Years Ago: May 16, 1945
Pope Pius XII on end of the war In a radio broadcast marking the end of World War II in Europe, Pope Pius XII speaks on behalf of the fallen soldiers who admonish the world:...
From Our Vaults 68 Years Ago: May 7, 1952
SA gets new patron at Durban congress The Church in South Africa celebrated its dedication to a new patron, Our Lady of the Assumption, with a special Marian congress in Durban. About 20 000 attended...
From Our Vaults 19 Years Ago: March 4, 2001
Archbishop Napier becomes a cardinal Presiding over the largest consistory in history, Pope John Paul II created 44 new cardinals. They included Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, archbishop of Durban, who was the 24th of the 44...
From Our Vaults 98 Years Ago: February 18, 1922
New pope became cardinal last year The election of Cardinal Achilles Ratti of Milan to succeed Pope Benedict XV will not be a surprise to Vatican observers. The new pope was born in 1857...
From Our Vaults 66 Years Ago: February 17, 1954
Cardinal detained in communist jailed Poland’s Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski is reportedly being held in the notorious Lubianka prison in Warsaw where detainees are usually “softened up” by torture before “confessions” are extracted from them, which...
