Thursday, 28 September 2023

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba's statement on the Church's resolution on Israel/Palestine

 Archbishop Thabo Makgoba issued the following statement on the decision by Provincial Standing Committee to declare Israel an apartheid state. The PSC resolutions on Israel/Palestine will be found on the church's website >>

TEXT:

As people of faith who are distressed by the pain of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza – and who long for security and a just peace for both Palestine and Israel – we can no longer ignore the realities on the ground. We are opposed not to the Jewish people, but to the policies of Israelis' governments, which are becoming ever more extreme.

For Christians, the Holy Land is the place where Jesus was born, nurtured, crucified and raised. Our hearts ache for our Christian brothers and sisters in Palestine, whose numbers include Anglicans but are rapidly declining. People of all faiths in South Africa have both a deep understanding of what it is to live under oppression, as well as experience of how to confront and overcome unjust rule by peaceful means. When black South Africans who have lived under apartheid visit Israel, the parallels to apartheid are impossible to ignore. If we stand by and keep quiet, we will be complicit in the continuing oppression of the Palestinians.

If we are to celebrate peace for Palestinians and security for the Israelis in in our time, we need to pray and work for the land we call holy, for an end to the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank and for full recognition of the Palestinians' inalienable right to self-determination.

We yearn for peace and the wholeness of God to be made manifest in Palestine, in Israel and among their neighbouring countries. I pray the prayer we adopted at the last meeting of the Provincial Synod, the ruling body of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa:


Lord God,

Bless the people of the Middle East;

Protect their vulnerable children;

Transform their divided leaders;

Heal their wounded communities,

Restore their human dignity,

and give them everlasting peace. AMEN.


Friday, 22 September 2023

At UN, Archbishop Makgoba urges G20 to boost spending on combatting HIV/Aids among children

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has called on the G20 group of nations to boost their spending on combatting HIV and Aids among the world's children.

Speaking on the sidelines of United Nations meetings in New York, he said the coronavirus and war in Europe had taken attention away from the plight of children infected by HIV and Aids.

“Right now, the main focus in relations between the world's most powerful nations on the one hand, and the countries of Africa on the other, is on that which is negative: on military interventions, on the export of weapons and mercenaries to Africa, and on the economic exploitation of our raw materials,” he said.

“If the economic powers of the world wish to improve their image in Africa, they could do no better than boosting their aid in the health arena. Specifically, the United States should reauthorize PEPFAR, and their European and Asian counterparts in the G20 group should follow their example.”

PEPFAR is the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, an initiative launched in 2003. Since then, the American government has spent $100 billion on its global HIV/AIDS response. The US Congress currently faces a vote on whether to continue the programme.

Excerpts from Archbishop Makgoba's address on Thursday follow:

“In an era when world attention has been distracted by Covid, and then by war in Europe, keeping a focus on ending the scourge of HIV/Aids is of critical importance. Especially tragic is the way in which the coronavirus pandemic and international tensions have taken attention away from the plight of children in this health crisis...

“Right now, the main focus in relations between the world's most powerful nations on the one hand, and the countries of Africa on the other, is on that which is negative: on military interventions, on the export of weapons and mercenaries to Africa, and on the economic exploitation of our raw materials.

“When President George W Bush introduced PEPFAR, with bipartisan support in Congress, he promoted the image of Americans as caring and compassionate people, people who saved millions of lives in Africa. No American programme has saved more lives of mothers and babies than PEPFAR. There is nothing more pro-life than PEPFAR.

“But that image of the United States now threatens to be replaced by one in which you present yourselves as primarily a military power, only interested in Africa as a battleground in your fight against international terrorism.

“But you and your partners in the G20 nations in Europe and Asia can turn this around. If the economic powers of the world wish to improve their image in Africa, they could do no better than boosting their aid in the health arena. Specifically, the United States should reauthorize PEPFAR, and their European and Asian counterparts in the G20 group should follow their example.”

The full text of the address can be found here:
https://archbishop.anglicanchurchsa.org/2023/09/prioritizing-children-in-hiv-response.html

(This is the text of a news release issued by the church.)

Read more here:



UNAIDS, the Governments of Botswana and the United States of America, together with the European Commission have joined global partners to urge world leaders to get on the path that ends AIDS. This, they say, will also accelerate progress to reach many other of the Sustainable Development Goals. [UNAIDS photo] 





Thursday, 21 September 2023

“Prioritizing Children in the HIV Response”

 Prioritizing Children in the HIV Response”

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

Communities of Faith Breakfast: Building Partnerships for a One-Community Response to HIV

Thursday, 21 September 2023, 7:45 am


My warm thanks to UNAIDS, PEPFAR and your faith community partners for the invitation to join you. In an era when world attention has been distracted by Covid, and then by war in Europe, keeping a focus on ending the scourge of HIV/Aids is of critical importance.

Especially tragic is the way in which the coronavirus pandemic and international tensions have taken attention away from the plight of children in this health crisis.

Wednesday, 20 September 2023

Celebrating Global HIV Progress to End AIDS and Advance the SDGs

 “Celebrating Global HIV Progress to End AIDS and Advance the SDGs”

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

UNGA high-level event

Wednesday September 20, 2023


Your Excellencies, dignitaries and friends in the fight against HIV and Aids, my respectful greetings and greatful thanks to all those Presidents, ministers and global leaders, who have accepted the invitation to be here. Your faith and your  commitment to end HIV by 2030 are good news. Your leadership is exactly the kind of commitment that God expects of each of us. Blessings.

Saturday, 16 September 2023

Homily preached at the funeral of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi OSC

 The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba

Archbishop of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa

Homily for the funeral of

Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi OSC

Diocese of Zululand

September 16, 2023


May I speak in the name of God, who is Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen.


Members of the Royal Family,

Members of the Buthelezi family,

Your Excellency, Mr President,

Your Excellencies, Presidents Obasanjo, Mbeki, Motlanthe and Zuma,

Madame Premier,

Ministers, MECs and Mayors,

KwaZulu/Natal and national Church leaders, including Bishop Vikinduku Mculwane of Zululand,

Members of the amaZulu nation,

Fellow South Africans,

Friday, 15 September 2023

Sermon preached at a Memorial Service for Steve Biko

 

Anglican Church of Southern Africa

Diocese of Grahamstown

Bantu Stephen Biko Memorial Service

St Andrew’s, Ginsberg

The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba

Archbishop and Metropolitan

Sunday, 10th September 2023

Readings: Philippians 3:7-11; Ps 126; Matthew 10: 16-22


Saturday, 9 September 2023

Archbishop conveys condolences to the family of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi OSC

On behalf of my family, the Synod of Bishops and the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, I offer our deepest condolences to the family of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who died in the early hours of today at the age of 95. 

Apart from being a towering figure in the life of the Zulu nation and South Africa, Prince Buthelezi was a lay minister of our church who often represented his parish, the Diocese of Zululand and ACSA in church forums, and was a member of the Order of Simon of Cyrene. Funeral details will be announced later. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba
Archbishop of Cape Town and
Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa

Sunday, 3 September 2023

The heart-break of Johannesburg - A sermon to Anglican schools

Combined Confirmation Service for Anglican Schools in Cape Town

Herschel Girls School Music Centre, Cape Town

3rd September 2023

Readings: Exodus 3: 1-15; Romans 12: 9-21; Matthew 16: 21-28

May I speak in the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, dear people of God, heads of participating schools – our host today, Mrs Heather Goedeke of Herschel Girls, Mrs Shirley Frayne of St Cyprian’s School and Mr Antony Reeler of Diocesan College – also friends and families, educators here present,  I am pleased to join you once again as we share in this important milestone in the lives of the confirmation candidates who will be presented later in this service. 

Monday, 28 August 2023

A message on the 95th birthday of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi OSC

On behalf of my family, the bishops and all Anglican parishioners, I wish to say 'Happy birthday, Shenge, Sokalisa, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi OSC.

He turned 95 years old yesterday and I was able to join his family and staff in hospital for Communion and sing birthday wishes. Blessings to the Prince and his family at this time. We know that he is old and blessed with long life, we wish him health and strength and at the apt time healing.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba


Monday, 21 August 2023

Ad Laos - To the People of God – August 2023

The text of Archbishop Thabo's August Ad Laos, published in the Cape Town diocesan newsletter, Good Hope:

When the taxi strike paralysed much of Cape Town this month, religious leaders joined forces to intervene both with city authorities and the taxi industry in order, as I said in St George's Cathedral on Women's Day, ”to give the people of the city a light and a path that will lead to a possible solution.” The relatively quick end to the immediate crisis a day later was encouraging, but we still have a long way to go before Cape Town's transport situation stabilizes. Our condolences go to the families of those who died in the violence which the strike prompted, and please continue to pray for a long-term solution to the situation.

Within the church in the Western Cape, we have suffered significant bereavements in recent months, with the deaths of the Revd Canon Karl Groepe, formerly Dean of Studies in the Diocese of Cape Town, the Revd Marcus Slingers of the Cathedral, and the Revd Canon John Suggit (at the age of 101). Our condolences go to the Groepe, Slingers and Suggit families. As the long life of John Suggit reminds us, we are a Eucharistic community, doing all “in remembrance of Him.” As I said at his funeral, people not familiar with a Eucharistic theology and spirituality were powerfully moved by John's conviction of the centrality of the Eucharist to our faith, and of the potential which this act of worship offers for the transformation of the world. (You can find the sermon on my blog>> )

Whether we are consoling the bereaved, comforting the suffering, or calling on the City of Cape Town and the taxi bosses in Santaco to “press the pause button” and explore peaceful alternatives to their impasse, we do all in remembrance of the Prince of Peace, who said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives” (John 14:27). At the centre of the Eucharist, or Thanksgiving, is an attitude of gratitude. We are grateful for the relative peace that pervades our country as a whole, in spite of all the hardships and inequality, and we pray for Niger and other countries in turmoil.

Pray also particularly for Eswatini and our sisters and brothers there as they prepare for elections in August and September, and then begin a National Dialogue on their future. Anglicans are expressing the wish that the country's Elections and Boundaries Commission will facilitate a free and fair election which, with the dialogue, will usher in a peaceful era for the nation. And in our neighbouring Anglican province of Central Africa, pray for the people of Zimbabwe as they too go to the polls.

The Church of the Holy Spirit, Kirstenhof, has recently dedicated their Life Centre. We are proud of them for this step forward. On that note, thanks to Bishops School for the recent musical they staged to raise funds for Eluvukweni Anglican Church in Crossroads. Please, parishioners of the Diocese of Cape Town, do help me and the parishioners of Crossroads to build a church and Early Childhood Development Centre to enable them to minister to and educate their community more effectively.

I ask for your prayers for next month's meetings of the Synod of Bishops and Provincial Standing Committee, during which bishops, clergy and lay representatives from our dioceses in Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, St Helena and South Africa will gather virtually. You can see what will be discussed and decided upon by looking up the PSC Agenda on the provincial website >>

Finally, our warm congratulations to Bishop Eddie Daniels of the Diocese of Port Elizabeth on being named a Sub-Prelate of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, and to Canon Andrew Hunter, the former Dean of Grahamstown, who retired in Cape Town recently and who has now been named Dean Emeritus of the Diocese of Grahamstown.

God bless,

†† Thabo Cape Town

Sunday, 20 August 2023

Upon the 40th anniversary of the founding of the United Democratic Front

The text of an address prepared for the 40th anniversary celebration of the founding of the United Democratic Front, held in Johannesburg:

Programme Directors, Mr President, Friends, Colleagues, former comrades in the struggle, fellow South Africans, and all who hold the freedom of this country close to their hearts:

Greetings to you from Cape Town. Apologies for not being with you in person. It's of course a working day for me, and the factory in which we build hope is particularly busy on a Sunday -- today I was at the Tutu family's current parish, St Oswald's Church in Milnerton.

Celebrations are about, or ought to be about, looking at where we come from, where we are today and what we want to become in the future. My input will attempt to follow that format, ending with seeking hope for the future.

Until today 40 years ago, I was a relatively quiet, science student who enjoyed tennis and squash and fun at varsity. Then I joined my fellow Wits students and came from Johannesburg on a bus to Cape Town, where at the Rocklands Civic Centre in Mitchells Plain, the formation of the UDF was not only about our political freedom, but became a critical part of my own conscientisation. Every kilometre in that bus was fraught with tension, the possibility of arrest, of being turned back and becoming subject to the range of persecutory tricks that the government of the day used to attempt to smother the flames of freedom which burned in our hearts.

Nothing had prepared us for the dynamism, the energy, the revolutionary power that emerged from that gathering in Rocklands. Seeing and being in close proximity to the iconic figures who had inspired us for years, and drawing from their courage in what was a very dark hour in the apartheid dispensation, was what I can only describe as a touch of God. And nothing prepared me for the oratory, the insights, the spirituality and sound theology of Dr Boesak’s famous “three little words” speech. Many of you will remember it, when in that inspiring rhetoric, he spoke of the rights we were demanding. He told us that we didn't have to have a vast vocabulary to understand them. We didn't need a philosophical bent to grasp them. No, his message was simple, he declared: We wanted ALL our rights, and we wanted them HERE and we wanted them NOW. In response to his speech, the chant that Capetonians came to know so well went up: BOESAK! BOESAK! BOESAK!

His words stirred my heart. In the chemistry of that moment, I knew in my own inner being that my service to the nation would be through the heart of the church but indelibly linked to the work of changing the course of this country’s history; as Luke says in his gospel, of raising those bowed down, providing food, and the necessities for a dignified life, to those who hunger; and of unmasking those who cannot see from every blindness and prejudice that that bars the way to freedom.

His speech gave me goose bumps and indeed transformed my lukewarm student politics into a deeper activism within the Release Mandela Campaign and in establishing contact with cadres in Zimbabwe. It fired me up, and the fact that Allan Boesak was a cleric helped enable me to work within the leadership of the Anglican student movement. Eighteen months later, when the UDF hosted a celebration of Desmond Tutu's Nobel Peace Prize in Jabulani Stadium, I joined a delegation of the Wits Black Students' Society, and in our yellow T-shirts, we toyi-toyi-ed as we chanted the praises of Albertina Sisulu, Madiba and OR Tambo. Again, seeing Desmond Tutu shining out amid the crowd in his long purple cassock, I realised the relevance of the church in the midst of pain and struggle, and the presence of Helen Joseph and Frank Chikane on the platform underlined the point.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to say that I am a child of the UDF, part of its undeniable, unquenchable legacy, part of the generation in whom the fires of hope burnt steadily and who took responsibility to pass it on, undimmed, to others. My own predecessor, Archbishop Tutu, used to repeat in those conflicted times: “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness.” So if we are now able to see further, if we are able to vote in free elections, if we are able to walk our streets without a “dompas” then it is because, for generations, others, and indeed the UDF, have passed on those lamps of hope.

Forty years later, we can say we have those rights which we and Allan Boesak were demanding. But now we have to ask: what have we done with them?

Yes, we have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights which are the envy of the world. Yes, we have democratically-elected Parliament, and we are led by our fifth democratically-elected President. In the language of my predecessors, like Moses and the children of Israel in the Christian Bible, we have escaped the bondage of Egypt. We have achieved much, in housing, in health and in education. We are a beautiful country. We have accomplished these achievements through the efforts of organisations and individuals who risked everything, even life and limb, to let freedom ring. A friend sent me a quote by Marshall Ganz the other day, which I found useful in reflecting on these tumultuous events during this 40th anniversary. The quote reads: “Movements have narratives. They tell stories, because they are not just about rearranging economics and politics. They also rearrange meaning. They are not just about redistributing the goods, they are about figuring out what is good.” Ends quote.

That for me, on this 40th anniversary, seems to be of utmost importance. Against the background of all that has gone so horribly wrong in our country, and despite many bold initiatives, we need to work out, here and now, what is good. We need to mobilize our energy, our courage, our imagination, our skills and our political will, and channel them into a mighty stream, just as we did against the apartheid state, 40 years ago.

I don't have to tell you that we are mired in the mud of corruption. We are a country marred by the most glaring inequality in the world. Services we built for our people have collapsed in some areas, and too many public servants have forgotten they are servants of the public. We need to marshal all that we are into hearing and answering the cries of the poor, completing half-finished tasks and responding to the new obstacles that have emerged.

We need to ask again what is good for the women and children who are battered daily, for the poor who can only dream of going to bed with a full stomach, for the unemployed who stand along the streets of our cities and the rural poor whom the formal economy does not reach. We need to ask again what is good for those who are deprived by the seemingly unending spiral of corruption that robs our people of the hard-won victories of our struggle.

Every act of corruption is an act of theft from the poor. We need to ask urgently what is good for the whistle-blowers who are so vulnerable, exposed and in real danger as they seek to put an end to acts of wanton corruption. We need to ask what is good for the foreigner who lives with insecurity as the dark clouds of xenophobia continue to hang low over those look for hope in SA. The struggle is not over; we cannot sit back simply to revel in past victories. Too much remains to be changed. I know that for myself I will only be able to hold my identity as a child of the UDF with pride, if in the here and now we resolve to end the blight that still mars the landscape of our country.

Yes, we won our rights, but like Moses and the children of Israel, we've escaped the bondage of Egypt only to go astray, wandering in the wilderness. Now, are we, like them, condemned to wander in the wilderness for 40 years?

No, I say, No! That cannot be so!

I believe, and Christian hope compels me to declare, that we must rise again from the current ruinous state of our nation and get back on track to achieve the ideals and values that our Constitution promises. As both Allan Boesak and Popo Molefe, our fathers in the struggle, have pointed out in their recent public exchange, we need to be brutally honest with one another about our failings, and we need to work hard to re-set especially the moral compass of our country.

How do we do that? I want to renew my call, issued to the churches: we need a New Struggle, a struggle to replace the old struggle against apartheid with a new struggle to regain our moral compass, a struggle to end economic inequity, a struggle to bring about equality of opportunity.

And I want to address the young people of this country. You are correct when you tell us that the promises of democracy are not being realised. We can understand your disillusionment, we understand why you are opting out of politics and public life. But that is not the answer to our crisis. That will not secure you and your children's future. No, the answer to our crisis is for you to roll up your sleeves and make the New Struggle a new struggle for a new generation.

Please, young people, for the sake of our country's and your futures, dig deep into the radical roots of the old struggle against apartheid, and dare to dream and work for a country in which there is justice, equity and equality of opportunity. Organise amongst yourselves, and those of you who are old enough, register with the Independent Electoral Commission, then campaign and vote in next year's elections. We need a peaceful revolution in which young people stand up, reject corruption and self-dealing, and help get involved in the political process.

And the older cadres among us need to use our resources to help young people in this struggle. In faith communities, religious leaders need to make our houses of worship “voting sanctuaries”, where young people can receive guidance on how to register. We can host workshops on voter education and provide instruction on our electoral system. Civil society needs to partner with business to raise funds for an historic effort to revitalize our democracy and get us moving again, so that we can realise the promises of our Constitution.

Let us not have to repeat this litany of social and economic pathologies in 40 years’ time. Let us rather ensure in the spirit of the UDF that these things become a footnote in history. We have the power in our hands, let’s use it now!

God bless South Africa. God loves you and so do I.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

Thursday, 10 August 2023

Interfaith Noon Prayer Service on Taxi Strike

Interfaith Noon Prayer Service on Taxi Strike
The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba
Archbishop of Cape Town
St George's Cathedral, Cape Town
Women's Day, August 9, 2023

Colleagues, friends, Mr Dean, Mr Mayor, the representatives of Santaco, fellow South Africans, especially those from the household of faith, and my colleagues here on the stage: Greetings.

Monday, 7 August 2023

Homily for the funeral of the Revd Canon John Suggit

 The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba

Archbishop of Cape Town

Homily for the funeral of the Revd Canon John Suggit

St Margaret's Church, Fish Hoek

Diocese of False Bay

Friday August 4, 2023

Tuesday, 1 August 2023

Address at a Mayoral Gala Dinner for the Prince Mangosuthu Legacy Cup

Address at a Mayoral Gala Dinner for the

PRINCE MANGOSUTHU LEGACY CUP

The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba

Archbishop of Cape Town

28th July 2023

Saturday, 22 July 2023

Ad Laos - To the People of God – July 2023

The text of Archbishop Thabo's July Ad Laos, published in the Cape Town diocesan newsletter, Good Hope:

This past month has forced me to pause and spend a disproportionate amount of time absorbing God’s mercies, which the Bible says are new every morning because of God’s unceasing and steadfast love for each of us. I can only respond by saying “Praise ye the Lord and the Lord’s name be praised!”

The world and global ecumenical family have recognized a number of South Africans who have “wallowed” in such mercies, becoming part of the cloud of witnesses as we serve God together and on behalf of the faithful in society and God’s world. I praise God as we congratulate one of our own, the Revd Courtney Sampson, for receiving the Hubert Walter Award from the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace.  

In the broader ecumenical family, we congratulate Archbishop Stephen Brislin, my Roman Catholic counterpart in Cape Town on being named as Cardinal-elect. On your behalf, I issued a public statement saying how privileged I am to work with him, and how thrilled I was to learn of a well-deserved appointment. The Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town and the Catholic Church in South Africa are also to be congratulated on producing yet another Cardinal of the Church.

Upon receiving the Lion of Tutzing Award in Germany recently, for which I am grateful, I responded with this acknowledgement:

I receive the award on behalf of the many who, in Johannine words, have said, 'Come and see, Thabo, we have found Jesus,' for the many from all walks of life who are marginalised, for the poorest of the poor without running water or proper sanitation, and for those who support my ministry. They are, as my co-recipient, Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, said, the 'tailwinds' which sustain us in doing justice.”

Following the visit to the Tutzing Protestant Academy in Bavaria, I spent some time in Leck, also in Germany, for a time of retreat and contemplation on what I have described as my “the sacred lone search for King Mamphoku’s skull”. (King Mamphoku was my great-grandfather, who was beheaded by forces of the Transvaal Republic in 1895, and whose skull went missing.)

I am grateful for my physical and spiritual journey in Germany, one which brought hope and healing. I would ask of you, my readers: what journeys and pilgrimages of gratitude are you taking or are able to take with a view to seeking healing and planting seeds of hope for yourself, others and all of creation? Please consider doing so if you are not already.

Talking of kings, Lungi and I joined the Bishop of Lesotho at the festivities to mark King Letsie III’s 60th birthday last weekend. We are grateful for our friendship with the King and give thanks to God for his life and this milestone in it. Blessings, Ntate.

Thank you all for your support of the 30th anniversary of the College of the Transfiguration, and for your generous gifts to this, our only residential theological college. If you have not already given, contact the College for details of where to send your donations: You can use admin@ or registrar@ with the College's email host address, which can be found here>>

Thank you too for your donations in response to the Eluvukweni Lenten Appeal donations. Even though we are long past Easter, please do continue to send gifts – I have a dream that one day, sooner rather than later, the people of Eluvukweni in our Diocese will not worship in a tin structure but that their church and Early Childhood Development Centre will be a reality. Give thanks to the Lord for the Lord is gracious, for God’s mercy endures forever.

As Good Hope went to press, we received news of the devastating explosion in a central Johannesburg street, killing at least one person and injuring dozens of others, some seriously. We pray for the victims and that the cause will be found and the conditions which caused the explosion rectified.

On a final note, please pray for the election of a new bishop for the Diocese of Christ the King in southern Gauteng. Their Elective Assembly takes place on July 26 and 27.

God bless you

†† Thabo Cape Town

Monday, 10 July 2023

Congratulations to Cardinal-elect Stephen Brislin and the Catholic Church in South Africa!

 On behalf of the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and on my own and my wife, Lungi's behalf, our warmest congratulations go to Archbishop Stephen Brislin on being named a Cardinal-elect of the Catholic Church. 

Pope Francis has announced that he will hold a Consistory at the Vatican on September 30, where 21 new cardinals will be created, including three from Africa. 

I have been privileged to work with Cardinal-elect Brislin, who is my counterpart in Cape Town, and am thrilled at this well-deserved appointment. 

The Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town and the Catholic Church in South Africa are also to be congratulated on producing yet another Cardinal of the Church. 

The Most Revd Thabo Makgoba
Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town

Monday, 26 June 2023

Sermon preached at the funeral of the Revd Canon Karl Groepe

 Funeral of the Revd Canon Thomas Matthew Karl Groepe

Cathedral of St George the Martyr

Preacher and President

The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba

Archbishop of Cape Town

24th June 2023

Thursday, 22 June 2023

Ad Laos - To the People of God – June 2023

The text of Archbishop Thabo's June Ad Laos, published in the Cape Town diocesan newsletter, Good Hope:

June is Youth Month in South Africa, and the youth uprising of June 16, 1976, is a painful reminder that if we are determined enough, we can use our agency and the Holy Spirit to take practical action to address the ills of our society and turn around the lives of our young people, many of whom face very bleak prospects at present.

In our national life, the prospects of big business coming alongside the government to help revive our transport and crime fighting agencies – in the form of Transnet, the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority – is a good sign, both in addressing the desperate need to grow the economy and create jobs, and in ensuring that the corrupt do not undermine the prospects of fixing our nation.

But as we address corruption and growing our economy, we must urgently find practical ways of addressing youth unemployment in Southern Africa. Youth Day is of course followed by Mandela Day on July 18th, when the Nelson Mandela Foundation urges us to volunteer for the good of our communities. This year, I encourage you to follow how God leads your heart in deciding how to observe both days, but please spare a thought and take some practical action to improve the employability of our youth.

In your parishes and dioceses, I strongly urge you to look at implementing the suggestions made by the report of the church's Commission on Youth Unemployment, which included the following recommendations:
    • Establishing a database recording the personnel resources available among church members:
    • Using the database to set up mentors to provide guidance to young people needing work;
    • Budgetting to employ more young people in parishes and dioceses;
    • Organising workshops to help young people write their C. V.s and develop their skills; and
    • Making church-owned land available for business ventures.
You can read the full report here >>
 

At Easter and in last month's Ad Laos I challenged you to adopt the “Archbishop's Ballot Challenge (ABC)”, the aim of which is to persuade young people to take their futures in their hands, to end the understandable scepticism they have about the political process in South Africa, and to register to vote. This month I am pleased to say that the SA Council of Churches' Youth Desk, as well as their Gauteng and Western Cape branches, have taken seriously the ABC and its invitation to the youth. We will be having a webinar on June 24th to explore ways of engaging this initiative further.

I also want to repeat my appeal of last month for generous donations to the College of the Transfiguration in Makhanda as it celebrates its 30th anniversary in August. Pray too for the College, and if you feel called, consider joining a preaching course, or devoting a year of your life to teaching there.

In a year’s time, from June 13th to 15th 2024, we will hold our Diocesan Synod. Please do start planning and reflecting on what missional and ministry matters are vital for you for the extension of God’s reign, especially post Covid, so that we can plan appropriately for the future.

Finally, winter in Cape Town is wet and cold, and especially so this winter. Please continue and if possible step up your pastoral work of feeding and clothing those without shelter and food. Your action and presence in their struggle for human dignity is a vital and real prophetic witness which is desperately needed.

Once again thank you for your prayers for my cataract procedures on both eyes. They have been successful, so now I can chuckle and sing along with Johnny Nash or Jimmy Cliff, “I can see clearly now the rain is gone” (though not yet in Cape Town!).

Keep warm, stay safe and God bless you.

†† Thabo Cape Town

Saturday, 10 June 2023

Sermon preached in the Diocese of George at the Chrism Eucharist

 DIOCESE OF GEORGE

The Chrism Eucharist and Renewal of Ordination Vows

The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop and Metropolitan of ACSA

The Cathedral Church of Saint Mark the Evangelist

Thursday, 8th June 2023, 10:00

Monday, 22 May 2023

Ad Laos - to the People of God - May 2023

 As published in the May issue of Good Hope, the newsletter of the Diocese of Cape Town:

As we look ahead to Youth Day on June 16, when we celebrate the contributions of young people to winning freedom in our country, I want to extend the “Archbishop's Ballot Challenge” which I issued to the youth at Easter, and urge Rectors, all our clergy and Parish Councils to take a lead in this campaign.

Please make our houses of worship “voting sanctuaries”, where young people can be inspired to follow the example of previous generations, and use the freedom denied to their forebears to transform South Africa into the country we want.

As I said at Easter, I understand the attitudes of young people who are disillusioned with politics and public life, and scornful of the self-dealing and corruption of some of our politicians. But most of us neither can nor want to leave the country, and the only way to turn the situation around is to do something about it ourselves.

So in the lead-up to next year's national and provincial elections, I urge parishes to adopt your Archbishop's Ballot Challenge (ABC) and to provide voter education for young people. Perhaps using the slogan, “Registering to vote is as simple as ABC”, you could facilitate voter registration for both those who have become eligible to vote since 2019, as well as those who have not bothered to register in the past. You could also host workshops on voter education and provide instruction on our electoral system, if necessary partnering with local businesses to finance such an effort.

Then encourage young people to campaign for the parties, the candidates and the policies of their choice, and help them get to polling stations. In that way we can bring about a peaceful revolution in which we eliminate corruption, ensure good and efficient governance and save our country.

This month I also urge clergy to take care of themselves by joining “Caring for the Shepherd”, clergy wellness meetings being organised by our Safe and Inclusive Church initiative on May 20th. After the devastation and intense pastoral pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic, we need to say to our clergy in particular, “Sawubona! We see you and we are anxious for your welfare.”

And of course, load-shedding now brings its own pressure to bear on clergy, causing serious disruption and emotional distress to many of us. At Bishopscourt, we have assumed our Sawubona Archdeaconry teas, to which we invite the clergy of the Diocese to meet and share tea with one another and their archbishop. Please come and be welcomed when you receive the date for your Archdeaconry tea. I look forward to seeing you.

Looking ahead to an important Provincial event, the College of the Transfiguration in Makhanda celebrates its 30th anniversary from August 2nd to 6th this year. Please pray for the College, and visit them if you can make it. If you are a New Testament scholar and feel called to share your expertise, there is a vacancy for a lecturer there, so you might offer yourself to teach.

But whoever you are, clergy or lay, please donate generously to CoTT for their 30th anniversary – residential theological education is a powerful instrument of our church, and the College needs your financial support.

As we celebrate our Lord's Ascension and look forward to the celebration of the empowering of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, please keep in your prayers those who have been bereaved this Eastertide, including the family of Dean Michael Weeder, who lost their mother, Sheila (Sarah) Weeder at the age of 90 on May 6th. May the souls of the departed rest in peace and rise in glory.

God bless you.

† Thabo Cape Town

Monday, 15 May 2023

Opening remarks for “Existence is Resistance” - An Exhibition of Images from Palestine

The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba

Archbishop and Metropolitan

Opening remarks for “Existence is Resistance”

Images from Palestine

Sunday May 14th, 2023


Sisters and Brothers, Friends,

A very warm welcome to the launch of this exhibition, which, with its illuminating photographs documenting the plight of the Palestinian people, is a fitting commemoration of Nakba Day. Our congratulations go to Jimi Matthews for this important contribution to publicising the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the process in which Palestinians have been uprooted from their homes, forced to flee as refugees and continue to suffer in the Occupied Territories and elsewhere.

Jimi, there are many in Cape Town who recall the courage you and your fellow television journalists displayed in Cape Town and elsewhere in the 1980s, when you sent out into the world graphic footage which exposed to an international audience the oppression of apartheid. This exhibition reflects your continuing commitment to documenting the truth about oppression, one which is in the best traditions of the craft to which you have dedicated your life. 

As men and women of faith who are concerned about the injustices of the Middle East, who are distressed by the pain of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and who long for a just peace for Palestine and Israel, the people of the wider Cathedral family have been on a long journey. It goes back many decades, to the visits of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu to Palestine and Israel in the 1980s and 1990s, to my own visits to the Holy Basin, and more recently to the declarations of the ruling bodies of the Anglican Church. During Lent this year, we heard a series of very good Bible studies which led us into a deeper understanding of the relevant theological issues. 

Both our Anglican forums and the South African Council of Churches have highlighted the situation in the Holy Land, firstly because, for Christians, it is the place where Jesus was born, nurtured, crucified and raised. Our hearts ache for our Christian brothers and sisters in Palestine, whose numbers are rapidly declining. If Palestinian Christians disappear from the Middle East, what does that say about our commitment to our heritage? We dare not allow the agenda of Christian Zionism, which seeks to conflate the Biblical Israel with the 20th century political state of Israel, to prevail, the more so because many Christian Zionists envisage the ultimate demise of Jews as well as Muslims. 

But of course our concern for Palestine and Israel goes beyond the narrow interests of Christians. People of all faiths in South Africa have both a deep understanding of what it is to live under oppression, as well as experience of how to confront and overcome unjust rule by peaceful means. And so people of all faiths can identify with the words of Desmond Tutu: “People of religion have no choice... Where there is injustice and oppression, where people are treated as if they were less than who they are, those created in the image of God, you have no choice but to oppose, and oppose vehemently... that injustice and oppression...”

In expressing our concern for the plight of Palestinians, we have experienced push-back from both Jewish and Christian Zionists. But as Desmond Tutu reiterated time and again, we are opposed not to the Jewish people but to those policies of the governments of Israel which oppress Palestinians. 

I think particularly of the growth of Jewish settlements on the West Bank of the Jordan. Last year at the Lambeth Conference the world's Anglican bishops endorsed a statement by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East stating that a two-state solution remains the best hope of ending the occupation and fulfilling Palestinian aspirations for self-determination. But speaking for myself, I have to say that the expansion of settlements, combined with changes to Israeli law, are increasingly rendering the idea of a two-state solution as one that is unattainable.

As a civil society consultation organised by the United Nations concluded just a few weeks ago, the Palestinian people continue to experience, and I quote, “increasing levels of dispossession, displacement, violence, human rights violations and insecurity.” Indeed, the consultation described their current plight as “an ongoing Nakba”.

Faced with such a situation, if we stand by and keep quiet, we will be complicit in the continuing oppression of the Palestinians. Last year, our church's Provincial Standing Committee urged Europe and North America to take stronger action to ensure that Israel is held accountable for its actions and that Palestinian rights are upheld. In the spirit of the PSC resolution, I urge the government of the United States to ensure that Israel is held fully accountable for the killing a year ago of the Palestinian American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh of Al Jazeera. The statements of Democratic senators in the U.S. Congress suggest that the Biden administration is an accessory after the fact to a cover-up of her shooting by an Israeli soldier. As Senator van Hollen of Maryland has said, “we need to make sure that this isn’t swept under the rug.”

Will we ever celebrate peace for Palestinians in our life time? If we are to do that, we need to pray and work for the land we call holy, for an end to the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank and for full recognition of their inalienable right to self-determination.

We yearn for the peace and wholeness of God to be made manifest in Palestine, in Israel and among their neighbouring countries. And so I conclude with a prayer we adopted at the last meeting of our Provincial Synod:

Lord God,

Bless the people of the Middle East;

Protect their vulnerable children;

Transform their divided leaders;

Heal their wounded communities,

Restore their human dignity,

and give them lasting peace.  Amen



* * * * *

Tuesday, 9 May 2023

Address to the 2023 Western Cape Synod of the Ned Geref Kerk

 Address to the 2023 Western Cape Synod 

of the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba

Monday May 8th, 15h30


Voorsitter – my vriend, Dominee Nelis,

Ondervoorsitter, 

Aktuarius, 

Skriba, 

Ander lede van die Moderatuur, 

Susters en Broers in Christus:

 Ek groet julle in die heilige naam van onse Here en Verlosser, Jesus Christus: Goeie Middag! 

Dit is vir my 'n besondere groot voorreg om hierdie nege-en-veertigste sitting van die Sinode van Wes Kaapland aan te spreek. En dit is nie net 'n groot voorreg nie; as 'n mens die lang geskiedenis van verhoudings tussen ons twee kerke inagneem, is dit miskien 'n historiese gebeurtenis. Baie, baie dankie vir die uitnodiging. Namens die hele Anglikaanse Kerk van Suidelike Afrika, ons waardeer die uitnodiging meer as wat ek in my swak Afrikaans kan sê. Ek is net jammer dat ek nie fisies by julle kan wees nie. Alhoewel hierdie nuwe tegnologie ons help om meer verpligtinge in ons skedules in te pas, kan dit nie persoonlike kontak tussen ons vervang nie.

Saturday, 22 April 2023

Thanksgiving Service for Dr Brigalia Bam OSC

 The Most Revd Thabo Makgoba

Metropolitan of ACSA

Thanksgiving Service for Dr Brigalia Bam OSC 

on her 90th Birthday (April 21 2023)

St Alban’s Cathedral - Pretoria

22nd April 2023 @ 09h00


Readings: Acts 6: 1-7; Psalm 33: 1-5, 17-21; John 6: 16-21

May I speak in the name of God, who is Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen.

It is good to be with you again at St Alban's. I am always grateful to be here, but no more so than at a celebration such as this, a celebration of the extraordinary life of one of the great South Africans of her generation, Ntombemhlophe Brigalia Bam, OSC. 

Thursday, 20 April 2023

Homily for St George's Grammar School 175th Anniversary Service

 The Most Revd Thabo Makgoba

Archbishop of Cape Town

St George's Grammar School

175th Anniversary Service

St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

20th April 2023


May I speak in the name of God, who is Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. 

Wow! Our school is 175 years old! What an extraordinary achievement, from your humble beginnings – which I learn were in a shoe shop – through the years when you were housed in this Cathedral precinct, to your campus in Mowbray. On behalf of the Diocese and on my own behalf, warm congratulations on this anniversary. Thank you, Mr Cameron, teachers, staff and learners for all that you do in the school and in our community, and especially for inviting me to this prestigious occasion, and thank you to everyone, including the Cathedral staff, who have helped to plan this service.

Ad Laos - to the People of God - April 2023

As published in the April issue of Good Hope, the newsletter of the Diocese of Cape Town: 

A happy and blessed Easter to you! 

As I said in my homily at the Easter Vigil in St George's Cathedral, we in South Africa today can draw hope and courage from the Easter story. The reading from Matthew's Gospel about the women at Jesus' tomb related how, after hearing the baffling news that the tomb was empty, the women overcame their fear and conflicting emotions to pluck up the courage to defy the religious and political establishments who had crucified Jesus. As the women grew in confidence, they began to shape an almost defiant narrative of new life emerging in unlikely places, encouraging others with the good news of Jesus' resurrection.

Translating the hope of Easter into tangible form for our country, the key to our future is the potential offered by the young people of South Africa. They are, like the women at the tomb, eminently capable of defying the forces of greed, corruption and stagnation, and of bringing about real transformation, a transformation which will bring about equality of opportunity and realise the promises of our Constitution. In my Easter homily, I used a phrase coined by the American civil rights leader, Bayard Rustin, to urge young people to become “angelic troublemakers”. 

What would angelic troublemakers look like in South Africa today? They would be young men and women, of all races, who would come together and organise at all levels of society, beginning in their own communities. They would register to vote, and they would campaign to rejuvenate our politics on a sound ethical and moral basis, guided by the highest ideals of our religious convictions. To this end, I invite representatives of all our youth formations to ask their executives to engage with this challenge. 

It is not only South Africa that has the capacity to bring people to despair. I was shocked to read recently that there are around 40 armed conflicts being waged across the world today. Some nations such as Ethiopia and Myanmar are plagued by numerous conflicts in different regions of their countries. If you are in a church youth or student group, I urge you to look up the Wikipedia entry “List of ongoing armed conflicts“ on the web, to choose a country in which there is fighting and to soak that country in prayers for peace. 

Another source of hope for me recently was visiting the families of those who were killed in the violence at the Marikana mine in North West Province in 2012. Sibanye-Stillwater, the new owners of the mine – with the support of others – are committed to providing housing, education and jobs for the families of victims. A few weeks ago I travelled to Gauteng and rural areas of the Eastern Cape and Lesotho to visit widows and families, where a delegation  representing the groups involved handed over the keys of new houses to widows and families. It is a commendable effort which has generated hope out of tragedy. 

You will know from the past that one of my passions – and a real source of hope – is giving our children a good education. So it always pains me when parents miss the deadlines to apply for the placement of their children in public schools, causing the children to suffer anxiety and tension until they get placements much later. The initial deadline for admission to Grades 1 and 8 in the Western Cape has just passed, but since there is provision for late applications, I ask parish leaders to please urge parents to act soon, and to help parents with applications. 

One of our own historic schools, St George's Grammar School in Mowbray, celebrates a very significant anniversary this month – it is their 175th birthday! School records show that it is our oldest school, established at St George's Cathedral when Bishop Robert Gray came to Cape Town as the church's founding bishop. Warm congratulations to St George's, the learners, teachers and staff and parents! You can expect to see coverage of their anniversary service at the Cathedral next month.

As you celebrate the Season of Eastertide, I pray that you, in the words of our Lectionary, will encounter the Risen Christ, and that your encounter will help you discover the new life which Christ's victory assures.

God bless you and God bless your families and communities.

† Thabo Cape Town