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: Books
The Poetry Of A Priest
IN QUIET REALM, Poems by Lawrence Mduduzi Ndlovu. Write-On Publishing. 2018. 113pp. Reviewed by Michael Shackleton In his poem “The Daffodils”, William Wordsworth wrote that he would often lie on his couch “in vacant or in...
Archbishop On Ancestors And The Faith In Africa
PASTORAL LETTERS ON MARY AND MATTERS ANCESTRAL, by Archbishop Buti Tlhagale OMI. SA Catholic Online Books. 2018. 255pp. Reviewed by Michael Shackleton Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg, has a plan: to build a place...
Hurley Letters: Advocating Real Christianity
A LIFE IN LETTERS: Selected Correspondence of Denis Hurley. Edited by Philippe Denis, Paddy Kearney & Jane Argall. Cluster Publications, Pietermaritzburg. 2008. 541pp. Reviewed by Mike Pothier To anyone who knew him, however remotely,...
Book on missionaries killed in Zim war tells untold story
The late Fr Ted Rogers deserves credit for having taken a bold step to acknowledge the missionaries who were killed during the Rhodesian/Zimbabwean war of independence.
An Ordinary Life In An Extraordinary Time
A DARKER SHADE OF PALE, by Beryl Crosher-Segers. Torchflame Books, Durham NC, 2018. 243pp Reviewed by Günther Simmermacher The rich body of literature on the subject of apartheid has rather neglected the experience of...
Priest shines light on suffering
KEEP IT LIGHT: Praying through Suffering into Joy, by Larry Kaufmann CSsR (Redemptorist Pastoral Publication, Merrivale). 2017. 84pp. R70 Reviewed by Fr Kevin Reynolds The sub-title of this 84-page book by the well-known South...
How Martin Luther was the ‘first media star’
SHORT LIFE OF MARTIN LUTHER, by Thomas Kaufmann. (William B Eerdmans, Michigan) 2017. 146 pp Reviewed by Paddy Kearney On October 31 it will be the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing the famous...
A rich mine for reflection
SILENCE AND SOLIDARITY: Celebrating 30 years of the Centre for Christian Spirituality. Barnabas Publishers (Wellington, SA). 2017. Reviewed by Elsabe O’Leary This is a most extraordinary anthology, dedicated to Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu....
How a gangster found redemption
THE INNOCENCE OF GUILT: A True South African Story, by Reggie Karam. Reach Publishers, 2016. 137pp. R200 Reviewed by Günther Simmermacher A member of a prominent family in Johannesburg’s Lebanese community, Reggie Karam pulls...
A township priest in the struggle
TOWNSHIP GOD: More Than Meets the Eyes, by Paddy Noonan OFM. Write-on Publishing, 2017. 244pp. R195 Reviewed by Mandla Zibi Although it might at first appear so, this is not a book about liberation...
Poetry collection offers comfort
THE WAY HOME: Poems for the Human Spirit, by Augustine Shutte. Kirkwood Press, 2017. 101pp. R120 Reviewed by Margaret Blackie The South African theologian Augustine Shutte died just over a year ago. This short...
