Inter-religious Co-operation in South Africa
Chris Chatteris SJ & Russell Pollitt SJ
show us how St Joseph’s Theological Institute is forging ahead with a newfound confidence.
‘Beautiful beyond the singing of it’, is one of the lovely phrases coined by South African novelist Alan Paton in Cry the Beloved Country to describe what is today the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The southern part of the province, named Natal by Vasco da Gama on Christmas day in 1497, became the 19th century British colony. To the north KwaZulu was the kingdom of the renowned Zulu warrior-nation, the ‘people of heaven,’ established by King Shaka. The post-apartheid democratic dispensation has united the two entities.
From the balmy tropical shoreline of the coast to the sharp and sometimes snow-laden crags of the Drakensberg mountains (‘Dragon mountain’ in Afrikaans, ‘wall of spears’ in Zulu), this is a land of spectacular beauty. It is also blessed with water: hundreds of rivers rush and meander eastwards towards the Indian Ocean. Its water makes it the most populous of the South African provinces, sustaining some 8 million people of Zulu, Indian and European origins.
Midway between mountains and sea is St Joseph’s Theological Institute, set in the lush farmland around the provincial capital, Pietermaritzburg. St Joseph’s was originally the scholasticate of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, but it has developed into a training centre for over twenty religious orders, mostly of men. The centre teaches philosophy and theology, including a pastoral programme for those preparing for ordination.
The 200 strong-student body has grown and diversified in recent years. The majority of the students now come from African countries outside South Africa - ‘Anglophone’ ‘Francophone’ and ‘Lusophone.’ With the arrival of missionary congregations such as the Combonis, it has diversified further to include students from Latin America.
The ideal of the Institute is to equip men and women for ministry for the African context within guidelines of the Urban University, which accredits the programmes. Negotiations are currently under way with the South African Education Ministry for state recognition of these programmes. However, in co-operation with the department of theology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, St Joseph’s is already able to offer masters and doctoral programmes accredited by the University.
Religious congregations in Africa today, despite good numbers of vocations, struggle to provide teachers and formators for their training programmes. Hence the need to co-operate in this way. Going it alone is unrealistic, but co-operation and the pooling of resources can work well and St Joseph’s demonstrates this. Congregations represented on the staff are the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Redemptorists, Dominicans, Marianhill Missionaries, St Patrick’s Missionaries, Medical Missionaries of Mary, sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, diocesan priests, lay teachers and Jesuits. The Society has three priests on the teaching staff and two scholastics (one doing philosophy and the other postgraduate studies) at SJTL. These Jesuits come from South Africa (2), the USA (1), Burundi (1) and India (1).
The experience of ‘ecumenism’ amongst the teachers and students is extremely positive. There has grown up a strong bond of unity among staff members, who have developed into a community of communities. Students form continental and world-wide friendships.
St Joseph’s is also part of the Pietermaritzburg Theological Cluster, consisting of the University’s School of Theology, the Lutheran House of Studies and the Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa. Co-operation between these institutions is both formal and informal. Working with a large and diversified body of young students, and in the setting of a young and newly-liberated country, there is a strong sense of energy, dynamism and hope for the future of the Church in the African continent.
show us how St Joseph’s Theological Institute is forging ahead with a newfound confidence.
‘Beautiful beyond the singing of it’, is one of the lovely phrases coined by South African novelist Alan Paton in Cry the Beloved Country to describe what is today the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The southern part of the province, named Natal by Vasco da Gama on Christmas day in 1497, became the 19th century British colony. To the north KwaZulu was the kingdom of the renowned Zulu warrior-nation, the ‘people of heaven,’ established by King Shaka. The post-apartheid democratic dispensation has united the two entities.
From the balmy tropical shoreline of the coast to the sharp and sometimes snow-laden crags of the Drakensberg mountains (‘Dragon mountain’ in Afrikaans, ‘wall of spears’ in Zulu), this is a land of spectacular beauty. It is also blessed with water: hundreds of rivers rush and meander eastwards towards the Indian Ocean. Its water makes it the most populous of the South African provinces, sustaining some 8 million people of Zulu, Indian and European origins.
Midway between mountains and sea is St Joseph’s Theological Institute, set in the lush farmland around the provincial capital, Pietermaritzburg. St Joseph’s was originally the scholasticate of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, but it has developed into a training centre for over twenty religious orders, mostly of men. The centre teaches philosophy and theology, including a pastoral programme for those preparing for ordination.
The 200 strong-student body has grown and diversified in recent years. The majority of the students now come from African countries outside South Africa - ‘Anglophone’ ‘Francophone’ and ‘Lusophone.’ With the arrival of missionary congregations such as the Combonis, it has diversified further to include students from Latin America.
The ideal of the Institute is to equip men and women for ministry for the African context within guidelines of the Urban University, which accredits the programmes. Negotiations are currently under way with the South African Education Ministry for state recognition of these programmes. However, in co-operation with the department of theology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, St Joseph’s is already able to offer masters and doctoral programmes accredited by the University.
Religious congregations in Africa today, despite good numbers of vocations, struggle to provide teachers and formators for their training programmes. Hence the need to co-operate in this way. Going it alone is unrealistic, but co-operation and the pooling of resources can work well and St Joseph’s demonstrates this. Congregations represented on the staff are the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Redemptorists, Dominicans, Marianhill Missionaries, St Patrick’s Missionaries, Medical Missionaries of Mary, sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, diocesan priests, lay teachers and Jesuits. The Society has three priests on the teaching staff and two scholastics (one doing philosophy and the other postgraduate studies) at SJTL. These Jesuits come from South Africa (2), the USA (1), Burundi (1) and India (1).
The experience of ‘ecumenism’ amongst the teachers and students is extremely positive. There has grown up a strong bond of unity among staff members, who have developed into a community of communities. Students form continental and world-wide friendships.
St Joseph’s is also part of the Pietermaritzburg Theological Cluster, consisting of the University’s School of Theology, the Lutheran House of Studies and the Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa. Co-operation between these institutions is both formal and informal. Working with a large and diversified body of young students, and in the setting of a young and newly-liberated country, there is a strong sense of energy, dynamism and hope for the future of the Church in the African continent.