Are Volunteers a Nightmare?
About 40 years ago I was waylaid in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, by an Irish Catholic priest who wanted to have a closer look at my rather snazzy Italian...
Moerdyk
It’s over and out from me
Almost exactly four years ago, following the untimely death of Owen Williams, who penned this back page column for decades with so much dedication and vigour, the...
The terrible realities of poverty
For many months now the media spotlight has every now and then paused on the drought disaster on the Horn of Africa, where hundreds of thousands of...
Famous brands through history
What do slave trading, newspapers and Cape Governor Sir George Young have in common? Or Mrs Ball’s Chutney, Jeyes Fluid and the French word for bone? Or,...
Antiseptically yours, Chris
Last month a letter to the editor by Albert Vianello raised the question of germs, and a fellow Catholic, Dr Michael Pravetz, responded by pointing out that...
Why we are on the cusp of civil war
A few weeks ago Spanish citizens took to the streets in protest against their country spending almost R1 billion for the extra security required for the pope’s...
Marketing the faith for good
There is increasing sentiment within various levels of Catholic hierarchy these days about the biggest challenge facing the Church: the education of the laity. There is more...
Navigating the church pew
There is nothing that appeals more to my innate sense of laziness than receiving e-mails from fellow Catholics who are able to put profound pen to paper...
Here’s a shot of good medicine
My father, a teacher, instilled in his children a love of reading. Not a love of books, mind, but a love of reading. He often used to...
Let’s pursue some things trival
The encroachment of television, video games, iPads and smartphones on family life by offering so many platforms for entertainment, seems to have resulted in everyone doing their...
