Johannesburg, 11 November, 2025 / 4:03 pm (ACI Africa).
Archbishop Siegried Mandla Jwara of South Africa’s Catholic Archdiocese of Durban has clarified that the Church in South Africa is not opposed to African culture or traditional values, following the release of a recent pastoral statement by the Bishops of the Durban Ecclesiastical Province directing the Clergy and women and men Religious to refrain from practising Ubungoma – traditional healing – while exercising their ministry.
The statement, which has sparked broad discussion within the Church in Southern Africa, aimed to address concerns over Clergy who blend traditional belief systems with Catholic ministry.
In an interview with the Communication Office of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC), Archbishop Mandla explained that the decree seeks to ensure that faith remains firmly centred on Christ and not divided between Christian and ancestral practices.
“We are very clear that we are not against African culture. In each culture, there is something good and also something that needs purification. We keep what is good,” the South African Catholic Archbishop said in the interview published on November 9.
Archbishop Mandla, a member of the Congregation of Mariannhill Missionaries (CMM), said the Bishops’ decision followed careful reflection by the Durban Ecclesiastical Province—comprising the Dioceses of Eshowe, Dundee, Kokstad, Mariannhill, Umtata, Umzimkulu, and the Vicariate Apostolic of Ingwavuma—on the growing practice among some priests of Ubungoma.
