Like Having Dinner With Pope Francis
A FUTURE OF FAITH: The Path of Change in Politics and Society, by Pope Francis with Dominique Wolton. Bluebird/Pan Macmillan. 2018. 324pp Reviewed by Günther Simmermacher Imagine you are at a dinner party, and...
Category: Simmermacher
How Martyrs Defeated Nazi Executioners
November 10 marked the 75th anniversary of the execution of three anti-Nazi priests and a Lutheran pastor whose witness and friendship across sectarian lines inspired ecumenical relations, as GÜNTHER SIMMERMACHER writes.
God and Slim Margins
A few random seconds made the difference between my writing these lines and never writing anything again.
Electing a Pope: The Conclave of October 1978
Pope John Paul II makes his first appearance as pope following his election on October 16, 1978. (Photo: Arturo Mari/CNS) When Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was elected pope 40 Years ago on October 16,...
The Graces of an Ireland Pilgrimage
The Southern Cross pilgrimage to Ireland in August was a journey of faith with moments of tourism — and sometimes the two happily coincided, as Günther Simmermacher found. The Southern Cross pilgrimage to Ireland...
Catholics Who Do the Devil’s Work
The last place you’d expect to find a practising Catholic to ply his trade is in a satanic rock group called Deicide. But so it was with Ralph Santolla, a guitarist who died in June at the age of 51.
Where is the Real Place of the Tranfiguration?
Tradition holds that the Transfiguration of Jesus took place on Mount Tabor, the 586 metre-high bluff which overlooks the Jezreel (or Esdraelon) plains.
When ‘Rosary Priest’ Fr Patrick Peyton came to South Africa
Fr Patrick Peyton (1909-1992) was a dynamic advocate for family prayer and a trailblazer in radio broadcast and televised evangelisation. Along with promoting prayer in his shows, Fr Peyton held “Rosary Rallies” around the...
Visit to a Catholic Land
There is always something salutary about visiting, if one can, a place with deep Catholic roots — especially if one comes from South Africa, where Catholicism has no significant presence in general life....
Finding Jesus at the Waters
In biblical times, as today, water was vital: to be hydrated, to stay clean, to produce crops, to raise livestock. Water was life. So it is no accident that so many crucial events in the Gospel take place around water: the Sea of Galilee, the River Jordan, and the various wells and healing pools.
A Timeline of Catholicism in South Africa
As the Church marks 200 years of being established in South Africa, Günther Simmermacher gives an overview of Catholic history in the country.
How a True Football Hero Emerged
One of my proudest childhood moments was when my father, a great football journalist, quizzed me about the 1974 World Cup.
