At Home in the Universal Church
When Pope Francis canonised Archbishop Oscar Romero, Pope Paul VI and five others this month, Raymond Perrier was there. Here he reflects on that experience. The meaning of Catholic is of course “universal”. It...
Category: Raymond Perrier
Open the Church’s Eyes
We all love the image in the Gospel of the eyes of the blind being opened. But are we willing to open our eyes as a Church and see some of what we need...
The Power of the Movies
Films can entertain, thrill, terrify, educate. They can be feel-good, feel-bad and feel-sad. Some are hugely impactful but most films are like the popcorn we consume while watching them. St Ignatius of Loyola, the...
Hear the Ancient Voices of Women
Sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know. I realised this recently at the “Amaz!ng” National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. I was thus drawn to a musical programme that was advertised as featuring works by only female composers. The one name I did recognise was St Hildegard of Bingen…
SA is Full of People Who Want to Help! Let’s Structure that Helping
Volunteering and Donating It is fitting to mark Mandela’s legacy with generous acts of volunteering and donating. They express the values of a man who gave so much throughout his life and continues to...
Are Our Parishes catholic?
Happy Birthday to all of us. Pentecost is often called the birthday of the Catholic Church and so that means we can all indulge in a piece of cake — and it has got to a pretty large cake to accommodate 1985 candles!
Let the Truth Set us Free
The story of the Church began with a whole evening of unjust trials – Jesus brought before the Sanhedrin and the Roman governor to defend himself against trumped-up charges and in a highly politicised process. The Church’s birth through injustice – condemning not only Jesus but many of the early Apostles – has given it a good basis on which to challenge corrupt policing, biased courts and inhumane laws
Why Do We Pray?
Over the past few weeks, Catholics and people of other faiths have been praying for the rains to come to avert the crisis. I do not want to undermine or diminish the power of prayer, but it is worth asking ourselves what we feel the act of prayer in itself is actually doing.
The Power of Disability
At the Denis Hurley Centre in Durban, we aspire to live up to Pope Francis’ vision of the Church as “the House that welcomes all and refuses no one”. So, as well as providing a safe place for those who are homeless, or refugees, or drug addicts, we also try to be a place where people with disabilities feel welcome.
More than Money: The Stakeholder Society
Shareholders come and go as they buy and sell their shares, but stakeholders often have a much more enduring relationship with the company.This concept has even more relevance for Church organisations and NGOs since there are no shareholders in the commercial sense.
Forgotten Out At Sea
There is one group whose work over the holiday season will probably go unnoticed since they work invisibly during Christmas and indeed throughout the year. That group are seafarers.
Do We Spend Money Well?
First and foremost, our duty is to make sure that we do not waste the money entrusted to us. I am afraid I have been involved in the past in some very well-resourced charities who happily use money because it’s there, without stopping to think if they are actually getting value for their spend
