The Southern Cross Newspaper

Pope Leo XIV, Angelus, St Peter’s Square, Sunday, 23 August 2026 Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday! This Sunday’s Gospel (Mt 16:13-20) confronts us with a question that speaks to each of us on our journey of faith: Who is Jesus, truly, for me? The Gospel passage makes us understand how decisive this question is for the experience of discipleship.

Ms Bitsa Lenkopane interviewed by Kati Dijane of Far East Rand Catholic News As the Diocese of Kimberley celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption, a long-serving lay leader reflects on synodality, women’s witness and the responsibility of the baptised to build a living Church. Bitsa Lenkopane in our interview says that being Catholic is not simply about attending Mass or belonging to a sodality. It is a call to participate, to serve and to become an active instrument of God’s love in the world.

On August 23, we mark the feast St Rose of Lima. Her father was a Spanish soldier from Puerto Rico, and her mother was of mixed Spanish and indigenous descent. Rose herself was mestiza, a child of both worlds, which made her canonisation in 1671 as the first saint of the Americas all the more significant. Born as Isabel Flores de Oliva on April 20, 1586, in Lima, Peru, she stood out from childhood for her piety and as well as for her striking beauty.

Fr Okaeng Sempe interviewed by Kati Dijane of Far East Rand Catholic News Three years into his priesthood, Father Oakeng Sempe is witnessing a changing Diocese of Kimberley, where local vocations, synodality and the voices of young people are helping shape the Church’s future. Father Sempe says that his vocation to the priesthood began long before he entered the seminary. As a young altar server, he found himself drawn to the priesthood through the witness of the priests who served his parish.

Sermon by Emmanuel Suntheni OSB,  Twenty-First Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A Sermon And Christian Act In The Word Theme: God’s Ways are Mysterious! Divine Choices! Leadership is listening to God’s way! The identity of Jesus Christ! Point of Reflection: Do I understand God’s way? Do I know the identity of Jesus Christ as God? Do I listen to God to understand his ways? The readings of today remind us of God’s choices and our duty to listen to the Word of God and do the will of God.

Pope Leo XIV, General Audience, St Peter’s Basilica, Wednesday, 19 August 2026 Dear brothers and sisters, The sixth chapter of the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC) of the Second Vatican Council is dedicated to sacred music. The document states that “The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art.

The Neocatechumenal Way met with Archbishop Dabula Anthony Mpako of Pretoria The team responsible for the Neocatechumenal Way in Southern Africa recently met with Archbishop Dabula Anthony Mpako of Pretoria for a meeting focused on evangelisation and synodality, as well as on the pastoral needs of the local Church. During the meeting, Dino Furgione renewed the organisation’s obedience and support for the diocesan pastoral ministry, with particular attention to young people and families.

Father Sipho Moatlhodi interviewed by Kati Dijane of Far East Rand Catholic News As the Diocese of Kimberley celebrates 75 years of the establishment of its hierarchy, Father Sipho Moatlhodi reflects on a local Church shaped by missionary foundations, growing lay participation and a renewed commitment to young people.

In today’s world where technology – especially artificial intelligence (AI) – is moving at lightning speed, Pope Leo, in his first encyclical letter titled Magnificent Humanity, strongly feels that without clear, comprehensive moral guardrails, it is very possible AI will become significantly uncontrollable, thus posing grave risks to humanity With all of the very real dangers an unsecured AI poses to humanity – dangers that must not be ignored – on the other hand, AI has real potential to...

Rosa Calaca, head of the Catholic Schools Office in Gauteng, and former principal of St Dominic’s in Boksburg. For Rosa Calaca, head of the Catholic Schools Office in Johannesburg, involvement in education is a vocation that can be traced back to her experience as a pupil in a Catholic boarding school. She spoke to Raymond Perrier about her mission and journey in education, and her view of what Catholic schools should be.