The Church: Inside and Out
Guest editorial: Michael Shackleton – Like a coin, there are two sides to the Church. One side faces the world around it. The other side is seen and experienced by its faithful people in...
Category: Editorials
World Youth Day in South Africa?
The announcement that the next World Youth Day, in 2022, will be held in Lisbon, disappointed many Africans who are still waiting for the event to be hosted on their continent. There are indeed...
God Cannot Be Cheated
Guest Editorial By Michael Shackleton – Corruption is the catchword of the day. It is not a new word. It has appeared in many history books describing the perennial dishonesty and downfall of empires...
Abortion Rates Point to a Crisis in Society
Earlier this month a young man who should never have been born died aged 21. In July 1997, the young man, known only as Tim — or the “Oldenburg Baby”, after the city of...
The Celibacy Debate
When he announced that the bishops of Germany are opening a discussion about the option of changing the discipline of mandatory celibacy for Latin-rite priests, Cardinal Reinhard Marx kicked off 2019 with a topic...
South Africa Needs Unity in Action
Almost a quarter of a century since the optimistic days when the Rainbow Nation stood together in queues to vote in South Africa’s first democratic election, we are acutely aware that racism has not...
Our Prayers in 2019
As we enter the final year of the decade, we direct our prayers on immediate needs, but also with a view to creating a better, more humane future in the 2020s. For South...
A New Leader for a Diocese of Few Bishops
Pope Francis has made a wise and bold decision by appointing Bishop Abel Gabuza as coadjutor archbishop of Durban, and therefore as Cardinal Wilfrid Napier’s successor. Having been born in Alexandra, Johannesburg, and having...
The Rough Beast
Guest Editorial by Fr Lawrence Ndlovu – Christmastide is often characterised by light and great festivity. It is a time of abundance, families and friends feasting, and the exchange of gifts. But this feast...
Calling Back Ex-Catholics
In many Catholic parishes and families one hears the lament that young people abandon the Church, and even their faith, the moment they take off their confirmation outfits.
Our Obligation on the Road
The holiday season is supposed to bring much cheer, but every year it also produces tragedy on our roads and highways. The road death toll over last year’s holiday season was 1527. There was...
How to Survive the ‘Secular Christmas’
The tinsel in the shops and colourful catalogues in newspapers have alerted us for the past few weeks already that the “Christmas season” is upon us. But in what we might term the “secular...
