Joan Williamson Rest in Peace
Former Southern Cross board member Joan Williamson died on March 27 at 98. Born in 1920 in Pietermaritzburg, she was a boarder at Holy Cross Convent School in Aliwal North. After matriculating she studied...
Category: History of The Southern Cross
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...
A Southern Cross Christmas, 60 years ago
The Christmas edition of The Southern Cross in 1958 was a bumper 32-page affair. GÜNTHER SIMMERMACHER steps into a time-capsule from 60 years ago. In the 1950s, the Catholic Church in South Africa, as...
Its 45 Years for Our Pamela Davids!
Business manager Pamela Davids celebrated 45 years with The Southern Cross this month. The longest-serving staff member in Southern Cross history — she has overtaken the record of 42 years set by former managing...
Imagine a Church Without The Southern Cross…
The past few years have been rough on The Southern Cross, as it has been on most newspapers throughout the world.
A Southern Cross Christmas, 75 years ago
The Christmas edition of The Southern Cross in 1942 was a slim affair at ten pages, but there was a lot to read. GÜNTHER SIMMERMACHER steps into a time-capsule from 75 years ago.
A Note from the Chair: We are Looking Ahead
Issue #5000 is a good time to recall the proud history of The Southern Cross, but it is also a time to look to the future, writes ROSANNE SHIELDS, chair of the Catholic Newspaper &...
Interview with the Editor (Part 2)
Part 2 of FR RUSSELL POLLITT‘s interview with Southern Cross editor Günther Simmermacher. (Go to part 1) Do you edit letters much? Only for clarity and language. But we might cut out inappropriate, irrelevant or repetitive...
Interview with the Editor: We are a forum for all Catholics
Günther Simmermacher has been with The Southern Cross newspaper since 1995 and became its editor in 2001. FR RUSSELL POLLITT SJ interviewed him about The Southern Cross — past, present and future. You have been with...
The Southern Cross’ 1000th issue, Christmas 1939
To celebrated The Southern Cross’ 5000th issue, we are looking back at our Catholic newspaper, first printed in 1920. The 1000th issue of The Southern Cross came out in December 1939. We un-archived it...
Cardinal edited The Southern Cross – twice!
No other newspaper can claim that it has been edited by a future and serving cardinal—except The Southern Cross, in the person of Cardinal Owen McCann. MICHAIL RASSOOL looks at the life of South Africa’s first...
Southern Cross history – Part 7: 1990 to the present
The board of directors had seen a gradual passing of the torch. On June 15, 1979, chairman Jean Pothier died suddenly. He had served on the board for nearly 33 years, and 24 of...
