The Valley Catholic May 7, 2019 | Page 23

tvc.dsj.org | May 7, 2019 IN THE CHURCH 23 South African Archbishop says Oppression of Migrants Recalls Apartheid CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- A South African archbishop has urged the government to act against xeno- phobic attacks, which have increased as general elections approach. “A fallout between South Africa and other African countries can only have disastrous consequences, hence the urgent need to dissipate tensions,” Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johan- nesburg said in a late-April statement. “If the unwarranted violent attacks on migrants and refugees are not brought to a halt, South Africans run the risk of becoming like the oppres- sors of the apartheid era,” Archbishop Tlhagale said. South Africa marked the 25th an- niversary of the end of white-minority rule April 27. Warnings of protests against the employment of foreign nationals have been spread around South Africa in the run-up to the May 8 election. Noting that young people have always been “in the forefront of the struggle for justice” and that the “at- tacks on migrants and refugees are reprehensible acts of injustice,” Arch- bishop Tlhagale said young South An Economic Freedom Fighters election poster hangs in front of homes outside Johan- nesburg, South Africa, April 17, 2019. Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg criticized shameless physical attacks on migrants and refugees based on spurious allegations that they have robbed South Africans of their jobs. (CNS photo/Siphiwe Sibeko, Reuters) Africans’ “silence is deafening.” Young people’s “prophetic voices appear to have been muted at a time when their support and solidarity” would make a significant difference to oppressed migrants, he said. After about 300 migrants, mostly Malawian, were displaced in attacks in Durban late March, South African ministers held emergency talks with diplomats of other African countries in the capital, Pretoria. “The shameless physical attacks on migrants and refugees on spuri- ous allegations that they have robbed South Africans of their jobs is simply disgraceful,” Archbishop Tlhagale said, noting that with few or no arrests, “the victims do not get to see justice being done.” “Migrants bring skills into the econ- omy” and their contribution to South Africa is significant, he said. “These attacks are patently fueled by anti-foreigner sentiment” and can- not “be reduced to hooliganism,” the archbishop said. “Foreign governments expect the South African government to quell and diffuse” such “xenophobic attacks,” he said. Xenophobic attacks are sometimes linked to protests about “lack of clean water, electricity, housing” and other grievances, he said. “The anger and frustration of the local people at government’s empty promises have tended to engulf migrants who live in the same neighborhood as the protesters.” There are about 3 million immi- grants in South Africa, which has a population of 57 million and is the most developed sub-Saharan economy. CCH153_CarDonateAd2_4.937x6in_PressQuality.pdf 1 8/10/15 7:41 PM Vatican Newspaper Appoints new Editorial Board for Women’s Magazine VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vati- can newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, named a new director and editorial board for its women’s magazine, “Wom- en-Church-World.” The announcement came a little more than one month after the magazine’s founder and former director, Lucetta Scaraffia, resigned along with her editorial staff, claiming a lack of trust and support from the new management at the newspaper. The newspaper announced April 30 that the head of a new editorial board would be Rita Pinci, an Italian journal- ist who has been working at TV2000, the Italian bishops’ television station. Pinci spent 20 years at the Italian daily newspaper, Il Messaggero, starting out as a correspondent and later becoming the first Italian woman to be the editor- in-chief and vice director of a major national daily newspaper. She also served as a vice director of two major weekly magazines, Panorama and Chi. She said in a written statement that even though she is not a theologian, church historian or Vatican expert, “I am a journalist. I am a believer” and “I think the church needs the gaze and voice of women who represent more than half of the faithful.” Along C M Y CM Italian journalist Rita Pinci has been ap- pointed as the head of the editorial board of “Women-Church-World,” the editorial magazine of L’Osservatore Romano. The naming of a new director and editorial board for the magazine comes a month after the former director and members of the editorial board abruptly resigned. Pinci is pictured in this photo provided by her employer, TV2000. (CNS photo/Stefania Casellato, courtesy TV2000) MY CY CMY K with the announcement of Pinci’s ap- pointment, the newspaper said it was “pleased to announce” the monthly magazine would be published as usual in May. Pope Francis had appointed Andrea Monda, an Italian journalist and religion teacher, to be editor of L’Osservatore Romano in December. Donating Your Vehicle Rebuilds Hope Vehicle Donations Support Catholic Charities’ Refugee & Immigrant Programs Free Towing  •  Fast & Easy  •  100% Tax Deductible Contact Us Today at CarDonationCC.org or 1 (866) 565-5912