Latest news with #SouthernAfricanCatholicBishops'Conference
Eyewitness News
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
Religious leaders use Pope Francis' passing to urge local politicians to prioritise welfare of citizens
Zoleka Qodashe 24 April 2025 | 8:11 Pope Francis Catholic Church A memorial mass service was held at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Johannesburg on 23 April 2025 in honour of the late Pope Francis. Picture: Sphamandla Dlamini/EWN This, too, is the case in South Africa, where Catholic leaders believe political officials ought to take a leaf from the teachings of the late pontiff. A life in service is what the secretary-general of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC), Father Hugh O'Connor, said politicians should embody. "You are there to serve the common good. You are there to see that those who are left out of political, social and economic systems are included, that there is work towards the eradication of poverty, to the provision of decent employment for all people. "He would call on leadership, business, social, society, religious, and political, to put aside differences in order to search for a bigger vision. In other words, service delivery." O'Connor added that the Vicar of Christ's message to South Africa's leaders would have been consistent with his long-standing calls for leadership rooted in humility and accountability.
eNCA
22-04-2025
- General
- eNCA
World mourns death of first Latin American Pontiff
JOHANNESBURG - Tributes continue to pour in from across the globe following the death of Pope Francis. The 88-year-old, who made history as the first Latin American Pontiff, died of heart failure and stroke yesterday. Just a day earlier, he appeared at Saint Peter's Basilica during Easter Sunday Mass. Known as a Pope for the poor, the downtrodden, and the forgotten he leaves a legacy of compassion, humility, and reform. According to Father Hugh O'Connor of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, Pope Francis extended out to the world. They had lost a spiritual father and someone to whom they might turn too.
