Peace Amid the Noise
For Catholics, the Advent season should create a tension in reconciling the secular and the holy elements of the weeks leading up to Christmas. More scrupulous Catholics may even be concerned about whether it...
Category: Editorials
The Diversity in Catholicism
Some of the protests against the recent Synod of Bishops on the Amazon seemed to insist that there can be only one valid expression of Catholicism: the Western European model. There were several points...
To Be Waterwise
In the face of climate change we will have to get used to increasingly frequent droughts in South Africa, a country in which many regions are already under pressure from water shortages. It...
The Tensions of Art
The blistering outrage over a school art project that was considered by some to be blasphemous holds lessons for all involved, including those who registered their anger on social media. To be sure,...
We Are Saints
Guest Editorial by Michael Shackleton Celebrating the memory of the great saints of the Church is an annual time to be happy, as it is on All Saints Day, which in South Africa is...
Enthusiasm and Enthusiasts
Guest Editorial by Michael Shackleton Saint Ambrose, the fourth-century bishop of Milan, coined the phrase “Ubi Petrus ibi Ecclesia” (Where Peter is, the Church is). He expressed it within the Church’s knowledge that...
As We Turn 99 Years Old…
Guest Editorial by Chair of the Board Rosanne Shields As we kick off the celebration of The Southern Cross’s centenary year, we begin by thanking you, our loyal readers, our associates and supporters, and...
The Pitfalls of Mission
Sometimes Pope Francis reveals a surprising blunt side. One such episode was told by the Holy Father himself. Talking to Jesuits in Mozambique during last month’s papal visit there, the pope recalled an encounter...
The Outlawing of Spanking
The ruling by the Constitutional Court to outlaw all forms of corporal punishment of children by parents has inevitably divided public opinion. In its decision to uphold a High Court judgment, the Constitutional Court...
You Are a Mission
When he declared October 2019 an Extraordinary Mission Month, Pope Francis invited us to do more than pray for vocations, important as that is. He issued a call to action in discerning, planning and...
What is Patriarchy?
One keyword in the discussions on gender-based violence is “patriarchy”. In protests against the endemic rape crisis, domestic violence and femicide in South Africa, many voices (including this newspaper and at least one bishop)...
Safety From Men
Once in a while, news reports of rapes and murder of women and girls pile up to create a sense of despair among South Africans. So it has been over the past month...
