To Beat the Devil
After his cousin John baptised him in the River Jordan, Jesus withdrew to a mountain in the desert to spend forty days and nights in battle with temptation.
Category: Editorials
Poison Fruits Of Failure
Thirty years ago South Africa cautiously entered a period of hope, prompted by the unbanning of the liberation movements by President FW de Klerk and the release of Nelson Mandela after 27 years of...
God’s Open Door
The deaths of young and talented celebrities invariably shock us, more so when their lives are taken in tragic events. So it was recently when legendary US basketball star Kobe Bryant perished at the...
Time to Get Radical On Abuse
Every time it seems that the Catholic Church is making some progress in addressing the sex abuse scandal, new revelations of alleged abuse and their cover-up emerge. Among several disturbing stories hitting the news...
The New Pastoral Plan
After many years of extensive work and consultation, today, January 26, will see the official launch of the local Church’s new pastoral plan at a Mass in Soweto’s Regina Mundi church. The new pastoral...
The Church in Public
One of the areas of tension between secularising societies and religion, especially Catholicism, is the secularist determination to drive religion out of the public discourse and into the margins of society, with the demand...
Commandments for the Road
This week the news will again report frightening statistics of road fatalities on South Africa’s highways as convoys of holiday-makers return home. South African drivers have a deserved reputation of being among the worst...
Jesus the Refugee
The feast of the Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of the divine nature of the human Jesus, the newborn King. But as we celebrate the visit of the magi, and with them pay homage to...
Our Prayers for 2020
Every year we issue our prayer intentions for the coming year. Usually, we include both local and global issues, but this past year has thrown up so many challenges for South Africa that...
Who Will Save us From the State We’re In?
Guest Editorial by Bishop Sylvester David OMI, auxiliary bishop of Cape Town In 1966 the famed duo Simon & Garfunkel recorded a song entitled “Silent Night/7 O’Clock News”. The hymn “Silent Night” is sung...
Debunking the Myth of ‘Pagan’ Christmas
At this time of the year, Catholics are liable to be lectured with the inaccurate notion that the celebration of Christmas on December 25 derives from an appropriation of pagan feasts. Some Catholics have...
Teaching About Sex
The two areas where the teachings of the Church are most at odds with mainstream secular society are those of sexual ethics and reproduction. While the Church is unyielding in its firm opposition to...
