I have for some
time now been making noises that our South African Catholic newspaper should do
more about giving its readers access to the homilies and messages of our
bishops. Not all of us are fortunate
enough to attend Mass with them and to hear their message for ourselves.
The good news is
that I see that Cardinal Napier is now going to be contributing to The Southern
Cross on a monthly basis. I am
absolutely ecstatic about this news. I
hope that Cardinal Napier’s example will lead more of our bishops to reach out
to us through the newspaper and share their message with us. We need their guidance and their encouragement
more than they themselves may sometimes realise.
Thank you
Cardinal Napier and thank you The Southern Cross!
Is the Cardinal endorsing the Southern Cross and its trash? Or, is the Southern Cross and its trash endorsing the Cardinal?
ReplyDeleteOr, is there some sign of repentance coming for the SC? Or, is all this just a mediocre compromise or synergy emerging from the dire lack of clarity and confusion which has been consistently spewed from this paper with the tacit consent of the bishops?
Sorry for being so cynical, but this skeptism arises from the experience about how badly local Catholics have been treated and persecuted from within.
Greg, I don't know what led to this column of Cardinal Napier. I don't suppose it matters. What matters is that I have no doubt that this is a good decision, whether by The Southern Cross, the bishops of South Africa, or a combined decision.
ReplyDeleteIf we want a Catholic newspaper that promotes the true teaching of the Church, we need people qualified to do that, like our bishops. We also need these suitably qualified people to be prepared to give of their time to regularly contribute to the content of The Southern Cross.
I have no doubt whatsoever that the Cardinals contribution will be of exceptional value to the readers of The Southern Cross. To be fair, and you know I have not hesitated to criticize the newspaper, I believe we must proceed with the premise that The Southern Cross wants to promote the true teaching of the Church and that this is a first step in that direction.
We must pray unceasingly. A group of us have been praying the rosary every single week for the newspaper for about 2 months now and we must continue to do this. Hopefully others will join us!
Many of us are no longer young enough to innocently swallow what the SC glibly dishes out.
ReplyDeleteFor years now, they have pushed out their weak "orthodoxy" for only one week in the month and for rest of the month, they proceed to spew confusion and trash. They regularly apply their "policy" in the name of "pluralism" and "relativism".
As far as the bishops are involved here, there has been no known radical correction of the paper’s policy for the past 30 years. Acceptance of "systematic and slow erosion of minds and hearts" appears still to be the hierarchical policy for this paper.
Bringing the Cardinal onto the "stage" at this point in time is likely to purely be another utilitarian gesture; a gesture being in line with th SC’s policy.
We all need always to be wise and vigilant.
Perhaps, here, some wise idiomatic expression could be useful i.e. "One swallow does not a summer make". "The proof of the pudding is in the eating thereof".
I agree, prayer is a powerful weapon.
We need to pray not only for the SC, but also pray that our seminaries and noviciates produce solid, orthodox parish priests; also, pray for growth in Fidelity to our Catholic Tradition; praying for less abuse of the Liturgy; pray that euthanasia, abortion, contraception, same sex unions, paedophilia, fornication and adultery are rebuked locally as being wicked, evil and destructive and so on and on.
Now, having mentioned the above, in the spirit of optimism, let's see, over the next few years, what the SC and the bishops will produce; see, as Our Lord puts it: See "when the Son of Man comes again, whether there will be an increase of faith on earth"; See whether or not there will be an increase in Eucharistic devotion, reverence, and adoration....
Personally, I am not at all optimistic about the SC. I refuse to subscribe. For me, they are be avoided, like a plague.