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CONGRESS 2008
LIVING A FULLY COMMITTED OBLATE LIFE
Tuesday 25th to Friday 28th November at Albini
Hall, Congella Durban
Each day begins at 8.30 am
Tuesday 25th Theme 1 - Morning 8.30-12.00
Obedience and Initiative
Speaker: Fr Macaire MANIMBA, President: OMI Africa Region Provincial, OMI Congo
Tuesday 25th Theme 2 - Afternoon 14.00-17.30
Celibacy in a South Africa in Moral crisis
Speakers: Most Rev Buti TLHAGALE Archbishop of Johannesburg
Prof. Graham Lindegger School of Psychology UKZN Member of RSA Professional
Board for Psychology
Tuesday 25th Theme 3 - Evening 19.00-20.30
Natal Province: The End of an Era in 2009?
Oblate Restructuring in Southern Africa
Speaker: Fr Stuart BATE Provincial
The Tuesday Sessions are Compulsory for all Oblates in the Province
Wednesday 26th: Leadership in the Province:
Workshop for all Superiors, assistants, Committee Chairs and
Secretaries,
Provincial Councillors (Optional for others)
Animation team: Frs. Eric BOULLE, Stuart BATE and Wayne WELDSCHIDT
Thursday 27 and Friday Morning 28 November:
Evangelical Poverty and the Administration of Our Mission
Workshop for all Oblates Involved in Active Ministry
Animation Team: Fr Rufus WHITELY, Treasurer General
Fr Chris PULCHNY (Member of OMI General Finance Committee; Former
Provincial Assumption Province Canada.)
Fr Peter FOLEY. Provincial Treasurer
Good News about Oblate Heritage
1. St Eugene De Mazenod in Archdiocesan Calendar
Cardinal Wilfrid Napier has issued a formal Archdiocesan Decree
inserting the feast of St Eugene De Mazenod into the Calendar of
the Archdiocese of Durban with the rank of obligatory memorial.
The decree reads as follows:
Whereas the Church has elevated Eugene de Mazenod to Sainthood.
Whereas the Archdiocese of Durban recognises the role played in
the Archdiocese of Durban by Eugene de
Mazenod of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate he founded.
Whereas the Oblates of Mary Immaculate have requested that his name
be put in the liturgical calendar of the
Archdiocese of Durban.
I hereby decree that the Feast of St Eugene de Mazenod be inserted
into our Diocesan Calendar on 21 May with the rank of obligatory
memorial.
Given at the Chancery on this
5th day of August 2008.
The decree is signed by the Archbishop and the Vicar General/chancellor
Bishop Barry Wood OMI.
We would like to thank His Eminence for the honour he has extended
to our founder and to the Congregation.
LJC&MI.
2. Archbishop Hurley honoured by Ghandi Development Trust
At a glittering awards ceremony in the Durban City Hall, on 22
July 2008, Archbishop Denis HURLEY
was given a posthumous Satyagraha ("soul force") Award
by the Ghandi Development Trust in Durban.
The citation used on the occasion reads as follows” “Denis Hurley
was Bishop and Archbishop of this city from
1947 to 1992 - almost exactly the years of apartheid rule. He saw
the suffering caused by that policy and his faith made him ever
more determined to do whatever he could to end apartheid.
- he spoke out against unjust laws;
- he supported those who were forcibly removed from their homes;
- he arranged for church buildings to give sanctuary to the victims
of government policy;
- he went to court to have detainees released, and to defend conscientious
objectors;
- he stood with those who were protesting in Durban’s streets;
- he backed workers and trade unions when they were victimised;
- he was the first person in this province to sign the UDF’s Million
Signatures Campaign;
- he publicly criticised security force conduct in the townships
and, most notably, in Namibia
– which led to his being brought to court;
- his compassion ensured that no-one who came to him for help was
turned away emptyhanded.
Ela Gandhi who handed out the award called him “an epitome of kindness.”
In his efforts to promote justice and peace, Archbishop Hurley was
willing not only to work with members of his own church, but those
of all Christian churches and indeed, of all faiths – as well as
those who simply had a
passion for justice. In the words of the prophetic motto he chose
in 1947:
“WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, THERE IS FREEDOM”.
In a related incident the Street which runs alongside the Cathedral
Parish Centre in Durban has been renamed
"Denis Hurley Street". By the Ethekwini (Durban) Municipality.
3. Oblate Researches the Genealogies of ‘Coloured’ People in KZN
Retired Oblate Duncan McKenzie has worked for many years on tracing
genealogies of the ‘coloured’
people of KwaZulu Natal. His work is currently being computerized
and recently formed part of an exhibition on
the coloured people of Pietermaritzburg during heritage month (September)
Msunduzi Museum researcher
and anthropologist Khanya Ndlovu, who specialises in Zulu and coloured
history, confirmed that the exhibition,
will join other cultural exhibitions on the mezzanine floor’ of
the museum dedicated to representing the diverse cultural heritage
of the province. According to Ndlovu, pulling together the new exhibition
demand a sensitive approach to issues of racial classification and
identity. Raising these issues sometimes produced as an emotional
response. ‘Some people feel that the term coloured was problematic;
others were more resigned to and accepting of the label’. With sponsorship
from the Msunduzi Municipality, the exhibitions will eventually
boast a touch-screen computer through which visitors will be able
to trace the genealogies of their families thanks to the
work of Father Duncan.