SACBC's Latest News

New name for the diocese of Pietersburg

Thursday, 15 October 2009 14:16

The diocese of Pietersburg will from now be called diocese of Polokwane. In response to the request from Bishop Mogale Paul Nkumishe to change the name of the diocese, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples published a Decree effecting this change. The official latin title is now "Polokwanensis" and will appear in all official documents. In a letter sent to the President of the SACBC, the Apostolic Nuncio in South Africa wrote "it is hope that this change will help the Church to become more clearly associated with the local people".

Synod for Africa: 2nd report from Fr Sean O'Leary

Tuesday, 13 October 2009 09:32

We are still in phase one of the Synod and that is the phase of interventions. To date about 200 have given their five minutes intervention on every conceivable subject. One has to accredit the Synod as being a true consultation. What is interesting to note is that by and large everyone is on the same page. One does not get the sense of a 'conservative' or indeed a 'progressive/liberal' sentiment but rather most speaking in the same voice. This Synod is very clearly looking out and is not an internal audit of where we are as a Church in Africa.

Synod for Africa: Fr Weber's intervention

Monday, 12 October 2009 14:21

As a member of an institute of consecrated life, an individual agrees to be consecrated to Jesus Christ and to accept His mission and His vision. Both are beautifully expressed in Luke 4, 18-21. And if we add John 20,21 where Jesus says "As the Father has sent me am sending you" we can say that a consecrated person continues the mission of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In Africa, today, that could mean to go as healer to the wounds of the world, and not to look away or flee into the comfort of consumption and power.

Synod for Africa: bishop Ndlovu's intervention

Monday, 12 October 2009 14:19

The Catholic Church in Swaziland is still young having arrived in 1914 and numbers some 55 000 adherents in a population of 1 million, meaning that only five percent of Swazis are Catholics. Even though the Church is a minority it remains the largest Single Christian Church in the country. From its arrival the Church participated in social action in many parts of the country. This has received lots of praise from the traditional and political authorities in the land. My predecessors, mainly of European origin, enjoyed good relations with the traditional authorities as well.

Synod for Africa: Bishop Wood's intervention

Monday, 12 October 2009 14:16

I thought it would be beneficial to my sisters and brothers at the Synod to concentrate on one initiative of the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC), which we took after our first democratic elections in 1994. That was the creation of a Catholic Parliamentarian Liaison Office (CPLO). The aim of this Office is to do precisely what the title says and that is to liaise with Parliament. Although South Africa is only 9% Catholic, of the 440 members of Parliament, 22% are Catholic. However, and this is an important point, the Office liaises with, does research for and informs ALL Parliamentarians irrespective of their religious or political backgrounds.