South Africa Needs “another Kairos document”, Catholic Bishop Says, Decries Crisis

“Maybe if we go back to Albert Nolan and to the prophets, we might find our calling and we might be able to stand up today and say to this government, thus says the Lord,” Bishop Phalana lamented.

He added, “I think we are afraid, or we have been compromised. Albert Nolan believes that we have been neutralized. And Albert Nolan believes that we have sold out. And may he forgive us for that and hopefully his death will bring up something new.”

The Liaison Bishop for the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO) of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) lauded the late Priest, a member of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans - OP), for being a central figure for both young black and white Christians seeking liberation in the 1980’s.

“He (Fr. Nolan) was our inspiration when we were in the Seminary. Our Seminary was a typical traditional Catholic Seminary, teaching traditional Catholic theology, and we were thirsty, we were hungry for the kind of theology taught by Fr. Albert Nolan,” said Bishop Phalana.

He continued, “We consoled ourselves by looking at his articles, reading the book ‘Jesus before Christianity’ from cover to cover. Unfortunately, it was not a prescribed book in the Seminary, so we had to read it privately, to arm ourselves, to empower ourselves, and to be inspired by this wonderful man.”

“And when the Kairos Document came, it answered most of our questions, and we felt proud; proud to be seminarians of the 80s; proud to be Catholics, and seeing the Catholic Church being part of this ecumenical movement that gave birth to such a radical and revolutionary theological document, the Kairos document,” Bishop Phalana said.

The Local Ordinary of Klerksdorp Diocese expressed gratitude to Fr. Nolan for playing a key role in the production of the Kairos Document, saying, “We want to thank him and the group that worked for that because it saved our vocations. Some of our guys in the Seminary were thinking of leaving the Seminary to go and join the struggle, some even contemplated going for military training.”

He continued, “But coming across a document like the Kairos Document gave us hope in that atmosphere of hopelessness, despair, and fear... That document revived our hope to say we can still serve the living God, serve the Church and at the same time be faithful to the struggle.”

Among the speakers at Fr. Nolan’s Funeral Mass that was held at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Springs were several struggle stalwarts and friends who paid tribute to the South African Dominican Priest.

In his address, anti-apartheid activist, struggle stalwart and Chairperson of the Moral Regeneration Movement (MRM), Fr. Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, called on the Catholic Church in general and the Dominican Order in particular to bring the remaining authors of the Kairos Document together to “revisit” the document in a bid to address the present crisis in South Africa.

“When I look at the number of tributes that have come in, it seems to me that there's a real desire from many sources, especially all those hundreds of people who worked with Albert to try and revisit the type of theology that we're doing at that particular time to see to what extent it could still be relevant in the situation in which we find ourselves today,” said Fr. Mkhatshwa.

The South African Catholic Priest continued, “Let me … try and persuade you, the Dominicans, to convene something like a conference where all these people that we involved in that method of theology, the Kairos Document and liberation theology and so on, to bring us together once again, just to revisit that, because that is a very important resource that could still be very useful in grappling with some of the issues that are facing us as a country today.”

Conveying a message from President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, former Minister of Environmental Affairs and friend of the late Fr. Nolan, Nomvula Mokonyane, said, “In the words of President Ramaphosa, we have lost somebody who has made a contribution that the country still has to appreciate and celebrate and share as we have seen through the number of tributes that have poured in over these past two days.”

Ms. Mokonyane added in reference to late Fr. Nolan, “We're grateful for his life, for his humble leadership, for his courage and for his abiding love for this country and all who live in it.”

“We celebrate a remarkable person who revealed through his actions the wonder of humanity and the enduring power of faith. Offered a life of privilege and comfort, Fr. Nolan chose the path of struggle and sacrifice instead. It was a path that placed him in greater danger, but also in great company,” she further said.

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“We remember how we worked with leaders of faith like Beyers Naudé, Sister Bernard Ncube, Fr. Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, and many others who saw their Christian faith as an instrument of liberation such as the very person who was on this podium here, Reverend Frank Chikane,” Ms. Mokonyane added.

The member of the African National Congress (ANC) said that Fr. Nolan, “in the scriptures, found not only that his activism was justified, but that it was necessary. He was compelled by his faith to do all within his means to fight for justice and peace, for freedom and democracy. It was his faith that made him an organizer, a writer, a freedom fighter, a mentor, and a rebel.”

“His deep care for humanity radiated from the Dominican Order as his spiritual home to communities and institutions across the country and around the globe, with whom he built friendships, partnerships, and alliances,” the former South African government Minister said.

Fr. Nolan, she continued, “was not afraid to act; indeed, he was a life of action. Nor was he afraid to think, to reflect, to learn, to disagree, and to be proved wrong. We're blessed to have his ideas live on in his writings.” 

The ANC member further said, “It is at times like this that we need people who give themselves selflessly and unconditionally to the service of others. The struggle to which Father Albert Nolan dedicated his life is not over; it continues in the fight to end both poverty and privilege, to stop the violence that men commit against women, to teach and house and feed the children of our nation, to hold those in power to account, and to banish corruption from our public life.”

“As we confront the legacy of our past and the difficulties of our present, we should follow in the footsteps of Father Albert Nolan; we should embrace his humility, honesty, and goodness,” Ms. Mokonyane said.

We should use our faith, she went on to say, “to guide our actions so that we may build a better society, a society that is just, tolerant, inclusive, and at peace.”

“May we honor his memory through our actions, our words, and our faith and through our shared endeavors to build a better country and a better Africa and a better world,” the ANC member said during the Funeral Mass of late Fr. Nolan on October 21.

This story was first published by ACI Africa on 25 October 2022.