Last 11th August 2016, during our SACBC plenary session, we were addressed for the first time by the new Apostolic Nuncio to Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and
Swaziland
* * *
Thank
you Archbishop Brislin, as President of the Conference, for your kind
words of introduction. Your Eminence and my dear brother Bishops, Sr
Hermenegild and Fr. Patrick.
First
of all, I want to thank you all for the warm and brotherly welcome
you have given me since my arrival. I could not be more grateful.
Also
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Monsignor Kevin
Randall for the wonderful work he did during a long period as Chargé.
I am personally very grateful, and I know you all are as well.
As
you know, we are celebrating the year of Mercy, and I would like to
base what I have to say on the episode related in the Gospel of Luke
of the healing of the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:11-17), which I
believe to be one of the most concrete acts of mercy witnessed in the
Gospels.
The
first point found in this passage which I want to make concerns
compassion. Luke tells us that: “When the Lord saw her, he was
moved with pity for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’” (v.13)
It’s the only time in Luke that no one asks Christ to do something;
he does it on his own. Love always takes the initiative and that
means not just feeling but acting. If you look at the corporal and
spiritual works of mercy, they are all concrete actions which require
both heart and will to be moved. Jesus says: “Not
everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only the one who does
the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 7,21). In the Bull of
Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis calls
mercy, “the
ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us”.
And
yet, there are many times we feel sorry for someone but we do not do
anything, e.g.:
the homeless man living on the steps of the Cathedral; an elderly
retired priest who would appreciate a visit; a fellow bishop
struggling with limited resources. Maybe if we are asked, we do
something; but love does not wait to be asked. In fact, how often are
we secretly thankful not
to be asked! And this is not just with the poor and needy, but even
with our own community. We do not want to get involved. Getting
involved means commitment and that requires giving of our time, our
energy, interrupting a pre-planned program. The more we feel that we
are in positions of leadership the greater the danger of excusing
ourselves from reaching out to our neighbor because we are busy with
“important”
matters. Yet, it is clear that Christ tells us not to wait to be
asked, act now; just as the “good
Samaritan” did. For example, remember what Pope Francis said at
the beginning of his Pontificate… to get out from behind our desks.
I cannot expect those who work with me to get out and do pastoral
work if I am not doing it myself.
For
Bishops, this is most strikingly present in their ministry. It is
here that I want to speak of a particular aspect that I believe to be
constitutive of the Charism of the Episcopacy, the “Ministry
of Unity”. It is really the only reason we have a Nunciature. It is
a sign of unity, helping to foster unity with the See of Peter and
among the bishops. This is expressed concretely in two ways: in
“unity of
vision” and “unity
in mission”, particularly in facing a whole range of crises in
Southern Africa –
political, economic, social, but especially moral and spiritual.
Unity in mission is required for implementing the far-reaching
restructuring process which you have undertaken, emphasizing that the
Conference exists to serve the member dioceses, and not to be a
“super-diocese”.
Unity is also expressed concretely in sharing resources, particularly
through the solidarity fund with each diocese contributing 1% of its
ordinary income. Among the important issues which require consensus
among the bishops are:
-
carrying out Pope Francis’ program of renewal and reform from the top down to the local community, and back to the top;
-
strengthening marriage and the family; urgency in re-thinking marriage preparation so that marriage is understood as a vocation from God; strengthening family life by use of the Family Movements when and where this is possible;
-
promoting and nurturing vocations to the priesthood and religious life as a joint venture at both diocesan and conference levels, including mutual assistance in regards to costs.
The
episode of the healing of the Widow’s son also gives us some
pointers on how Jesus acts with regard to social oppression. In the
time of Jesus, a widow whose only son had died was in an extremely
vulnerable position. In effect she was destitute with no means of
support. Jesus would not allow the cultural and social oppression to
have the last word. In the Letter of St. James we read: “Religion
that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care
for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself
unstained by the world” (1, 27). Today there are many expressions
of social oppression. Even after 22 years of democracy in South
Africa the poor remain largely excluded from the benefits of social
and economic development. Recently we have also witnessed rising
levels of racial tension and xenophobia throughout Southern Africa.
Here I would encourage you as bishops to take the lead in the work
for reconciliation and peace. There is a mindset of violence which
needs to be changed beginning with children growing up in families
and attending school.
Jewish
custom regards the coffin that is used to transport the corpse as
being ritually unclean and so the fact that Jesus touched it would
have caused consternation, so much so that the procession stops.
Jesus came into this world to meet us in our situation of suffering,
sin and death. He is not concerned about being contaminated by the
unclean aspects of our lives. He heals the leper by reaching out his
hand and touching him (Lk 5:12-15). His healing is spiritual and not
just bodily. It is the grace of redemption already at work. Mark
reports Jesus as saying "It is not the healthy who need a
doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners" (2,17). All of us are invited to allow Christ to enter
our darker sides and purify us. As disciples and ministers, Christ is
also saying to us: “Don’t
be afraid to enter, to touch, to show compassion for the lives of the
“unclean”.
For it is only through love, compassion and the courage to break
through social prejudice that they can be cleaned.
One
of the key notes of the Holy Father’s recent
Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia is
its pastoral concern for families that particularly require being
looked upon with mercy and compassion. Quoting from the Relatio
Synodi 2014 Pope Francis writes:
“…the
Church must accompany with attention and care the weakest of her
children, who show signs of a wounded and troubled love, by restoring
in them hope and confidence, like the beacon of a lighthouse in a
port or a torch carried among the people to enlighten those who have
lost their way or who are in the midst of a storm”.
He
follows this up with the comment: “Let
us not forget that the Church’s task is often like that of a field
hospital.” (291) Among other issues, Chapter 8 deals with the case
of those who are civilly divorced and re-married. The question of
whether such individuals should be allowed to receive the Eucharist
has been the focus of much debate. We have to admit that the
Exhortation does not make a definitive statement in this regard. In
paragraph 305 we read:
“Because
of forms of conditioning and mitigating factors, it is possible that
in an objective situation of sin – which may not be subjectively
culpable, or fully such – a person can be living in God’s grace,
can love and can also grow in the life of grace and charity, while
receiving the Church’s help to this end.”
The
accompanying footnote 351 adds: ‘In
certain cases, this can include the help of the sacraments…I would
also point out that the Eucharist “is
not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment
for the weak.”’
It
is no secret that many bishops have expressed the desire to have some
clearer guidance on how exactly this teaching is to be implemented in
pastoral practice at the grassroots level. Individual bishops in some
places have taken the initiative by attempting to clarify the
pastoral implications of the Exhortation with regard to their own
diocese. My own suggestion is that the bishops of this Conference set
up a Commission with the aim of establishing a set of unified
standards regarding pastoral practices to be followed in dealing with
this particular issue. In this regard I think it is helpful to look
at what Pope Francis has written concerning the possibility for
bishops to decide how to implement what is said in the Exhortation
taking account of the local social and cultural context:
“I
would make it clear that not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or
pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the
magisterium. Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in
the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting
some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from
it. This will always be the case as the Spirit guides us towards the
entire truth (cf. Jn 16:13), until he leads us fully into the mystery
of Christ and enables us to see all things as he does. Each country
or region, moreover, can seek solutions better suited to its culture
and sensitive to its traditions and local needs. For ‘cultures
are in fact quite diverse and every general principle… needs to be
inculturated, if it is to be respected and applied’”. (n.3)
A
Commission could also be created to deal with the pastoral
and juridical implications of the Motu
Proprio Mitis et Misericors Iesus
regarding canonical norms related to the nullity of marriages. I
would also encourage you to continue to consult theologians and
canon lawyers in your discussions as well as make use of the
particular committees that already exist alongside of the Theological
Advisory Committee.
Finally,
my brother Bishops, I would like to say something about your role as
prophets. As bishops we are indeed called to be “Priests,
Prophets and Kings”. We do rather well on the priestly and kingly
bits, but sometimes we are a bit remiss on the prophetic part.
Christ’s treatment of the Widow of Nain reminds us of our prophetic
role. Indeed, Jesus was prophetic in this event reminding the Jewish
community and all of us of our role to protect and cherish the
destitute and the vulnerable. Wherever and whoever they may be Jesus
would not allow the cultural and social system of oppression to be
the last word. As men configured in a special way to Him, neither can
we. We can allow only one last word and that is the Word of God. The
Word that is mercy and hope. The Word that saves.
){kind=link}