Cardinal Brislin Lauds Sacrifice of Catholic Priests Forced Out of South Africa amid Foreigners’ Visa Woes

The SACBC President assured Fr. Stephen and Fr. Jude Thaddeus that all was not lost for them, and for the South African missions they left “without a shepherd”, saying, “Don't lose hope. Let us try to resolve this matter. Let us try to get your visas renewed even though you will now have to do it in your home country but let us not give up on this.”

He said the fact that Catholic Priests are coming from other African countries to serve the people of God in South Africa, where vocations have been said to be on the downward trajectory is “a sign of the unity of Africa as well.”

Fr. Stephen Syambi (left) in South Africa and Fr. Jude Thaddeus (right) during pastoral work. Credit: Fr. Jude Thaddeus/Fr. Stephen Syambi

“I think the more we can do to build bridges among countries and cultures in Africa, the better it will be for all of us. It will make us much stronger and much more united,” the South African Cardinal told ACI Africa during the August 2 interview on the sidelines of the July 30 – August 4 SECAM Plenary Assembly. 

Also expressing his spiritual closeness with members of the South African missions left without pastoral care at the leaving of Fr. Stephen and Fr. Jude Thaddeu, Cardinal Brislin said, “My message simply is, don't lose hope. You will get some pastoral care, maybe not as much as you would get if you had your Parish Priest, but we are working very hard to try to bring a resolution to this problem.”

The 68-year-old South African Cardinal, who started his Episcopal Ministry in January 2007 as Bishop of South Africa’s Kroonstad Catholic Diocese found it unfortunate that the visa and work permit issue is affecting evangelization in the country.

“We are having many problems at the moment, not only about Priests not being able to renew their visas, but also new Priests coming in from other countries in gaining their work visa,” he told ACI Africa.

Blaming the increasing hostility against foreigners in South Africa for the severity of the situation, Cardinal Brislin said, “We do have a waiver letter from the Minister of Home Affairs which should make the process very simple and very easy. However, I think with the rise of xenophobia in South Africa the government is trying to show that they're really toughening up on immigrants coming in from other countries particularly African countries unfortunately and therefore some people have become rather overzealous and Priests and Religious Sisters, Religious Brothers are being refused their visas.”

Stephen Cardinal Brislin. Credit: ACI Africa

Promising to address the challenges that non-local Church personnel are facing in South Africa, the SACBC President said, “We certainly plan to meet the Minister of Home Affairs as soon as we possibly can to try to address this issue.”

He however called for the cooperation of Catholic Church personnel in the renewal of their documents, saying, “Sometimes they don't try to renew their visas timeously. They've got to put in their application at least three months before their visa expires.”

“Unfortunately, we have had a couple of incidents, not too many, of Priests who haven't bothered even to renew their visas and then of course they become persona non grata and they get banned from South Africa for five years or so,” he said.

Stephen Cardinal Brislin. Credit: ACI Africa

Cardinal Brislin agreed that there is a growing reliance in South Africa on foreign Priests, corroborating the sentiments of Bishop Joseph Mary Kizito, the liaison Bishop for the Migrants and Refugees Department of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC).

Ugandan-born Bishop Joseph Mary Kizito of Aliwal Diocese in South Africa.

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“We are witnessing delays in the processing of documents such as visas. Many priests have left the country because they have failed to secure their documents that show that they are not living here illegally,” Bishop Kizito told ACI Africa in a July 15 interview.

The Ugandan-born Bishop of South Africa’s Catholic Diocese of Aliwal since his Episcopal Consecration in February 2020 said that the trend, where Priests are moving from South Africa and back to their native countries is not good for the country that he said already has a shortage of Priests.

In the August 2 interview at Kigali Convention Centre (KCC), the venue of the 20th SECAM Plenary Assembly, Cardinal Brislin agreed with the sentiments of Bishop Kizito, saying, “Yes there is a reliance in Southern Africa on foreign Priests particularly South Africa itself.”

“We are not having many vocations to the Priesthood at the moment, and that has been the case for some years particularly after we gained independence in 1994,” the SACBC President told ACI Africa, and added, “I think things will certainly change in the future.”

Fr. Stephen Syambi in South Africa. Credit: Fr. Stephen Syambi

“But not only are we dependent on Priests from other countries but the fact of the matter is that we welcome it because this is part of being Catholic,” he further said, adding that the richness of the Catholic Church has always been in “not just being one nation…or a particular cultural group.”

“We are a Catholic Church that encompasses people from all over the world, and we believe that it is beneficial for the Church to have Priests from other countries just as in the past we had Irish missionaries and German missionaries,” Cardinal Brislin explained.

Fr. Jude Thaddeus during pastoral work Credit: Fr. Jude Thaddeus

In the August 2 interview with ACI Africa, the South African Catholic Church leader, who was created Cardinal during the 30 September 2023 Consistory also spoke about the just ended Jubilee of Youth in Rome, which had pilgrims from SACBC region comprising Botswana, Eswatini, and South Africa. 

In his message to pilgrims to Rome from the three countries, the SACBC President said, “We rejoice in this wonderful pilgrimage of young people. It is such a sign of hope for the future. It is a sign of the church as a living Church and a Church that is not just for old people but it is particularly the youth who give such vitality to the Church.”

Pilgrims from South Africa at the Youth Jubilee in Rome. Credit: Kati Dijane

“In Africa we are a church filled with young people,” he said, and called on the young people on the continent to be agents of change.

“Bring about change in the world,” Cardinal Brislin said during the August 2 interview.

He appealed to youths in Africa, “Bring about change on social media; change for the good. Let us bring about love, peace, and unity. Let us abandon all those horrible things that divide people, which cause jealousy among people and hatred, and let us just bring in the love of Jesus Christ into the hearts of people.”