God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

12/24/2009 • 4:45 pm Comments Off on 24.12.2009 Christmas Eve

24.12.2009 Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve 2009: The noise of the construction side next to my cottage has ceased – since month the first day without noise – what a relief. The sun is shining and my cellphone is giving its characteristic “sms beep” again and again – all the good Christmas wishes are coming in – even the email box is full of well wishers. The coming services are prepared – and it feels like time and hectic is calming down for a moment.

Christmas Eve – traditionally in Germany the most important family event and as parents preparing the last necessities for their kids, I will now close down my office and enjoy a Christmas Eve with friends. I must admit that I am not a real Christmas person – too much sentiments are not my cup of tea on this day. I cherish my memories of a winterly Christmas time in Germany but I must say that I enjoy a sunny Christmas the same way if not even more. Sun, laughter, kids at the poolside, braai: doesn’t that sound like a real birthday bash? 🙂

We celebrate the coming of God into the world – and we proclaim us brothers and sisters in Christ, sons and daughters of God. But looking around, watching the news, experiencing it in my own environment: Do we have drawn any consequences out of this event? Is mankind better in dealing with each other? Do we see our sisters, our brother in the person next to us? According to statistics the most poor people in this world living in Africa have become more poor in the last two decades. All the progress, all the donations have done virtually nothing to change the world as a whole. Millions dying of hunger in the developing countries while others live and digest more than it is healthy. The funny conference in Copenhagen – has it shown that those having benefited since years from climate change, are now really looking towards the lives of their brothers and sisters when they propose targets to stop this change in nature. Or do they, like always, just offer money – the rich ones can always bail themselves out,it seems.

Christmas – we celebrating the coming of God into our world – and we proclaim us brothers and sisters in Christ, sons and daughters of God. On this day we also should look and acknowledge all those, who take these titles serious and try to act on that – sometimes against the will of a state or a church. People, who are really take it on – day by day – to fulfill the promise of Christmas. I just read about Erwin Kraeutler, bishop in the Amazons, who is not able to walk a mile without security because of death treats he received. Those are the people balancing the bitter balance of human mankind’s dealing with each other in a way, which indeed shows the likeness of God.

Merry Christmas to all of you – and may the blessings be felt by each and every one of you!

Filed under: General, Reflection, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

12/18/2009 • 5:11 pm Comments Off on 18.12.2009 A new bishop..

18.12.2009 A new bishop..

Since 13h00 local time, it is official: Cape Town has a new bishop and – what coincidence – it is a Stephen. After my home bishop Stephen Ackermann in Trier Cape Town will now be represented by Bishop Stephen Brislin. Without being to superstitious I take it as a good sign.

Who is he, the new bishop? It is amazing to see how thrilled people are to know more about the newly appointed one. Is he progressive, conservative, open-minded, pastoral… ? Especially the clergy has an interest to know more and I am sure the next days and weeks will be filled with whispered what one has heard about the new bishop.

I hope like always that the newly appointed is first and foremost a human being, touched by the love of God. Not more, not less. This is for me the basic to be able to stand despite all the massive expectations of the people of a new diocese and to humbly accept the big task lying ahead of him. A man of prayer and recognition, that we all struggle one in a while to match our vocations, but that we try our best to be good worker in the vineyard of the Lord.

Also for me, a “visiting” priest in the Archdiocese of Cape Town, it is a change of times. Having served under Archbishop Lawrence P Henry the last 12 years, I am grateful for all, I have experienced so far in this Archdiocese and I am looking forward to be part of this new chapter of the Archdiocese of Cape Town, the mother of Catholicism in South Africa.

Filed under: Reflection, Uncategorized, , , ,

11/10/2009 • 11:19 pm Comments Off on 10.11.2009 A long day…

10.11.2009 A long day…

… draws to an end. And a day which was defined by meetings, two major meetings. The first with the group which calls itself “working group POZ” and is driving the process of the pastoral care for priests and religious living with the virus. I reported back from my meeting with the Papal Council for Health Care Workers and other meetings related to this work. And we discussed the way forward trying to involve the level of bishops into our work  as proposed by the councils representative. So we will approach some bishops in the next time to get their support – the first I will see tomorrow is Archbishop Lawrence P Henry, who gave with his blessings the starting point for this joined work between the “Justice & Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Cape Town” and HOPE Cape Town. It is a further step on a long way to bring the topic to the top of the church.

In the afternoon then first planing meeting and then management meeting of HOPE Cape Town. It is a productive time, a time to reflect and plan the necessary structures of HOPE Cape Town for the next time. What is running good, what has to be enhanced, what has to be corrected – how can we optimise the mechanism of work within HOPE Cape Town so that we deliver on our mission statement. But also the question where are our limits? What burden can we carry? Reports back, correspondence, requests – there is always so many things which waits for a decision or the next step ahead. At the end we all know that exciting times are lying ahead. Hopefully new and sufficient office space will be available still this year to accommodate the new working structures of HOPE Cape Town.  Kerstin, our future PA to chair and management has done her first 6 weeks and reports back. It is good to see how good she fits in and enjoys her work – and the HOPE Cape Town people enjoying working with her. It is always a blessing to see when people fit in nicely. Or our HOPE Cape Town doctor, who is with us already for 5 months, but it feels as she has been with us for some years.

I leave the meetings with the feeling that we are moving forward and that we are all willing to bring HOPE Cape Town to a new level of professionalism without losing the heart of the project. I feel encouraged that after months of soul-searching and pondering the right way we are now on this right way into a good future – for the sake of the people we try to assist. Thanks to everybody who contributed to todays productive meetings.

 

Filed under: HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Networking, , , , , , , , , , , ,

09/24/2009 • 7:18 pm 7

24.09.2009 Bishops worried

German Bishops are worried about the increasing numbers of people leaving formally the church, so I read in the news today. And I wonder how the bishops discuss that matter. Do they, as people usually do, search for the blame by the people leaving or do they start soul searching with themselves to find out, what is going wrong in our days. The right-wing Pius brotherhood has a simple solution: Only the way back to the good old times will prevent more people leaving the church – not sure how they really can think like that.  One must be very ignorant to the reality of today and totally living in the past with closed eyes to come to that conclusion. I am sure our bishops are different – and if they really would go out and ask the people why they are leaving the church, one answer will come up more frequently in my opinion:

That church is losing its relevance for the people of our days, that the sermons in church do not match the living circumstances in our days, the announcements of episcopal nature are not matched with how people experiencing church and the representatives of the church in their daily lives. Sunday sermons are followed by Monday blues – power games instead of servants of the faithful – people feel hurt and alienated from us clergy. Obviously we never can generalize it – but in this context the personal experience, the personal encounter is the decisive test for a single faithful. Mess it up and you have lost a soul, so to speak. And there is still the scandal of sexual abuse, the loss of moral stance through the encyclical “humanae vitae”, the dealing with the  Pius brotherhood – so many topics were my church in our days cannot gain points on the score card.

As we accompany people through the times, I guess we always have to reflect on our attitude as professional staff of the church, we always have to ask what is coming first, God’s message of love or church discipline. We might make general rules in the church, but we always have to see the individual standing before God. Not more and not less…

If we do so, maybe people still will leave the church, be it because they found other ways of finding God, may it that the path of the church community is not fast enough for the individual, may it that they even don’t need a church institution anymore because of their direct contact possibilities with God. Whatever it might be – our goal as the Catholic Church should be to serve all good people to be able to connect to God. And when we look into the field of HIV and AIDS, there is even more the need just to bring home the love of God, the unconditional love of God.  Forget about judgement, forget about exclusion – just embrace the person as he or she is – he or she deserves it because he or she is a brother or sister of me and a son or a daughter of God. Embrace the person, make him or her feel home and loved and wanted…

Filed under: Reflection, Society and living environment, , , , , , , , , , , ,

09/03/2009 • 2:51 am Comments Off on 03.September 2009 feeling humbled

03.September 2009 feeling humbled

The last two days were amazing days – so many emails, phone calls, text messages – I even did not know that so many people are following my “case” and were waiting after the cancellation of contract through the German Bishops Conference what will happen to me. Most seemed to have bid, that I will go back to Germany – others thought I will leave the church. Well, both thoughts were quite  real – real threats to my life, but thanks heaven a somehow happy end has been found.
Receiving all this positive messages, I feel indeed humbled and realise once again, what expectations people have. I personally never felt that I am doing something extraordinary but simply what was waiting along my way I picked up – and I had from the start marvellous people assisting in creating HOPE Cape Town. Living in South Africa creates other possibilities as somebody would have in Germany. But I believe that everybody has a chance to pick up a challenge along his way on earth and in doing so, change the course of this world and to assist and help people in need.

I am also a bit scared seeing the expectations of the HOPE Cape Town “family”. HOPE Cape Town is in the phase of restructuring because our possibilities and opportunities have grown so fast and big, that we have to look how to cope with all the workload. So we will add myself and a PA, a personal assistant to join HOPE Cape Town. Grass root work and research are at the ends of our working spectrum, and in between is quite a range of portfolios in need to be covered. Thanks God for the recent addition of Saadeka Williams as a full time HOPE doctor.

Also the Catholic Aids Network is in development. We had a meeting this morning as CAN has now to be registered as a NPO and PBO in South Africa in its own rights. So we met with a lawyer who is willing to do “pro bono” work and assist in getting the constitution right and the applications on the way.

With POZ, the working arm of HOPE Cape Town together with the Justice & Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Cape Town, providing pastoral care for priests, religious and seminarians who are living with the HI virus, there is a whole new area where we have to gain expertise. Today we fixed also our meeting with the secretary of the Papal Council for health care worker in Rome; on the 18.10. we will have a meeting with the Bishop to discuss amongst other topics a possible working relationship in this field. I am very curious to see how they react in the Vatican for such a request of official support. But with or without the support, we have to face realities and we have to tackle them head on. Doing so we are also forced to look into our theology and develop our teaching accordingly. It is indeed a tricky field – but on the other hand: only tricky fields are a real challenge… 🙂

Well, it is time to go to bed – it is 2:46 am in the morning and at 6am a new working day is beginning.

Filed under: General, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Reflection, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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