“An honour, a matter of giving service”: South Africa’s Cardinal Brislin on Appointment to Vatican Dicastery for Clergy

Johannesburg, 01 September, 2025 / 11:50 PM

Stephen Cardinal Brislin of the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg in South Africa has described his August 28 appointment to the Vatican Dicastery for the Clergy as “an honour” and an opportunity to serve.

In an interview with the Communication Officer of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC), Sheila Pires, Cardinal Brislin said that the news of his appointment also came to him “as quite a surprise in many ways,” but at the same time, not as a surprise because Cardinals are usually appointed to at least a Vatican Dicastery.

“It is an honour in many ways to be appointed to a Dicastery, as a great deal of trust is placed in the members of the Dicasteries,” said the South African Cardinal, who has been at the helm of the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg following his transfer from the Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town in October 2024.

Cardinal Brislin who also serves as the SACBC President noted that his appointment “should not really be seen as an honour. It is a matter of giving service, giving service to the Church, and ultimately giving service to the growth of the Kingdom of God.”

In the Friday, August 29 interview, the Local Ordinary of Johannesburg, who was among the 21 Cardinals that the late Pope Francis named after on 9 July 2023 and created Cardinals during the 30 September 2023 Consistory explained what the Dicastery for Clergy entails.

“The Dicastery for Clergy focuses on issues of the diaconate and of the presbyterate—in other words, of Deacons and of Priests—and it's concerned with issues of formation in terms of academic formation, pastoral formation, spiritual formation, and human formation of Deacons and Priests,” he said.

Besides, Cardinal Brislin went on to say about the Vatican Dicastery for Clergy, “there are other issues that it is concerned with, for example, Seminary training. Not all Seminaries fall under that Dicastery.”

He explained that Seminaries of the Oriental Churches and Seminaries in countries that are under the Dicastery for Evangelization do not fall under the Dicastery for Clergy. 

Cardinal noted that Priests “are really the coalface of the Church in many ways” and explained, “So much is entrusted to Priests, and it's very important that we look after the well-being of Priests and ensure that they are well-formed and truly pastoral, and that they have the interests and concerns of those whom they are serving at heart.”

His latest appointment adds to his membership in the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, which is a Vatican department responsible for overseeing the canonization process of saints in the Catholic Church.

In the August 29 interview with the SACBC communication Officer, Cardinal Brislin who will turn 69 on September 24 said, “It's a lovely Dicastery to be part of because it's very positive, and it's looking at individuals who have lived exemplary lives, whether they were saints or not.”

“The Dicastery determines this through prayer, reflection, and consultation. But it's a wonderful Dicastery because you're looking at the lives of very, very exemplary people who have tried their best to live holy lives,” he said.

The South African Cardinal also serves as a member of the Santa Marta Group, which is an alliance of police chiefs and Bishops from around the world working together with civil society to eradicate human trafficking and modern-day slavery.

The group is an international network of Church personnel as well as law enforcement officers, who recognize that human trafficking, the group’s main focus, is an international network of people who are remarkably cruel in the trafficking of human persons.

Human trafficking, Cardinal Brislin said during the August 29 interview, “is really a cruel enterprise, if you like, to traffic in human beings, and it's a recognition that this problem cannot be resolved by any single country.”

He said that various countries and law enforcement agencies have to work together, and that the Church believes that it has a role to play as well in addressing the manace.

“We work among ordinary people, and we can assist law enforcement in their task of tracking down human traffickers. And also, when arrests are made, the Church can be there to give assistance to those who have been trafficked, to give counselling, to give consolation to them, to be there for them,” the South African Cardinal said.

He added, “A great part of what the Church does is to create awareness, particularly among young people, about the dangers of human trafficking, and to be aware of offers that look too good – maybe an offer for employment, or an offer to go to a different country, and so on.”