South African Cardinal-elect: 'We need a healing only God can bring about'
By Linda Bordoni
Following Pope Francis’ announcement of a consistory for the creation of new cardinals on Sunday, South African Cardinal-designate, Stephen Brislin, continues to receive messages of congratulations from different countries and different sectors of society.
Amongst them, in an official statement, South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa described the Archbishop of Cape Town’s elevation as “an exceptional personal honour and recognition of his spiritual leadership and stewardship of the Catholic Church in South Africa.”
“His nomination is cause for pride among South Africans of all backgrounds and should inspire all of us to exercise our beliefs, in our diversity, with deep devotion,” Ramaphosa said.
The President of the South African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) issued a statement in which he said: “As a Conference, we are happy that the Pope has recognized the gifts of Cardinal-elect Brislin and availed them for the larger Church by appointing him a Cardinal.”
And as the Cardinal-elect said, speaking to Pope on the day after the announcement, he first heard news thanks to a congratulatory message from someone in Thailand!
The first Cardinal-elect Brislin heard of his nomination was through a message that arrived on his telephone from a contact he has in Thailand.
“I wasn't sure who had sent it and it was a little bit ambiguous. It simply said ‘Congratulations, so happy to hear there's a new red hat in South Africa!’ and I wasn't quite sure,” he said.
Rumours started circulating and they were confirmed, he added, but “I was completely taken by surprise and I must be honest, at the time I was quite bewildered and quite confused that things seemed to be happening so fast.”
Recent meeting with Pope
The Archbishop, who is an extremely modest and unassuming man, recalled the recent ad limina visit undertaken by the members of the SACBC. They were in Rome during the Pope’s stay in hospital for surgery so they were unable to have a formal papal audience. However, Archbishop Brislin said, the Pope made a point of meeting us at Santa Marta on the morning he came out of the hospital.
“He simply spoke to us as a brother, an older brother, very gently, very profoundly, very wisely, and with a lot of humour as well,” he said, adding that the bishops were so appreciative of that, and of the warmth and the brotherliness that he expressed, the collegiality.
Comprehensive picture of the Universal Church
Noting that during the 30 September consistory three Africans (from South Africa, Tanzania and South Sudan) will be created Cardinals, the Cardinal elect reflected on how in the past decades, since the Second Vatican Council, the College of Cardinals has become more and more diverse.
He said the fact that there are representatives from so many African countries, “makes a very big difference to the nature of the advice and the counsel that the Pope receives, because he's got people from every corner of the world, and it gives him a far more comprehensive picture of the universal Church.”
Synod on Synodality
Cardinal-designate Brislin also noted that the fact that the consistory comes just before the Synod on Synodality is “a wonderful opportunity for the Church, as we embark and battle and struggle with quite a number of new issues that we haven't really faced as Church before.”
“We need the collective wisdom of the whole of the Church, because God's Holy Spirit works throughout the Church, not only with bishops and priests and so on, but with all the Church and every component of it,” he said.
The Archbishop of Cape Town went on to speak of how the synodal journey has been well received by South Africans who “really responded to it” knowing that it is something that is happening universally, “but also something that we can develop more locally, to become that listening Church, that discerning Church, and really opening ourselves to God's Holy Spirit.”
And although the Cardinals hail from different countries, cultures and backgrounds, they represent the universality of the Church, which is united in its mission to reach every corner of the earth with the Gospel message of Salvation.
Enormous challenges for Church and country
At this moment in time, Archbishop Brislin said, South Africa faces many enormous challenges.
As Church, he continued, “I think one of the biggest challenges that we have is really to bring about healing, particularly the healing of relationships because we are a broken society.”
That he explained, is the legacy of apartheid and colonialism, but he expressed his belief that the people should be able now to look to the future and let go of all racial classifications.
"We are South Africans together, and we must work together for the good of the country," he added, but for that to happen we need healing: “And I think this is a healing that cannot just be brought about by human endeavour. It's a healing that only God can bring about.”
The Archbishop continued saying that for that healing to happen there has to be economic transformation, and while the Church cannot formulate an economic policy, through Catholic social teaching there are some very important underpinning values for an economic system.
He underscored the crucial importance of finding ways to create greater equality among people in South Africa “because the gap between the rich and the poor is simply so enormous, and so many young people are denied the opportunity to further their studies, to get jobs and to be able to live a relatively prosperous life.”
Thus, he reiterated his belief that the Church has an important role to play in “motivating and advocating for a more just economic system.”
Hope for the Church in Africa and elsewhere
Asked with what hope he faces this new responsibility, Cardinal-elect Brislin said: “My hope would certainly be that I will remain loyal to what has been asked of me, and faithful to the Church, faithful to the apostolic tradition, and faithful to Jesus Christ, of being able to evangelize and to promote the Gospel among people.”
“My hope, also for the Church, is that she will have an impact here in Southern Africa and other parts of the world because our task is to bring about goodness and beauty and truth.”
I hope, he continued, “that we can all be faithful to that, and really work for it, no matter what difficult challenges we face in different parts of the world: we have got to be able to bring people to hope, and to see beyond the reality, into the reality that was promised by Jesus Christ.”
Concluding, Cardinal-designate Brislin asked for prayers for the new cardinals and for the existing cardinals “that we will be open to God's Holy Spirit.”
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