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Inside Church Media Room Worldwide

Symposium on Role of Religion and Faith-Based Organizations in International Affairs will push to combat racism

Speakers will explore the urgent need to transform our world, exposing and redressing the systemic injustices of racism, colonialism and slavery that continue to pervade all aspects of society – local, national and international.

For Dr Ryan Smith, World Council of Churches programme executive for the Ecumenical Office to the United Nations in New York, this year’s Symposium will be “a great opportunity to bring the voices of the faith community, governments and the United Nations (UN) system together to highlight work that has been done and work that needs to continue to eradicate systemic racism and reshape the future.”

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Photo: Marcelo Schneider/WCC

Photo: GCIS

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In The News Media Room

NCCC considering way forward on National State of Disaster

President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Union Buildings, addressing the nation on the passing of the last surviving South African laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu. Archbishop Tutu passed away today, Sunday, 26 December 2021 at the age of 90. Jairus Mmutle/GCIS 26/12/2021

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) is considering whether or not the country will continue with the National State of Disaster legislation currently in place.

The National State of Disaster was declared by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, as a response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020,nearly two years ago.

“We are examining how best we should handle the state of disaster in this period where the infections have tapered down and to see the efficacy of using the State of Disaster legislation or utilising other measures.

“The National Coronavirus Command Council is examining exactly that to see whether we can use health protocols, health regulations to move forward in our management of this pandemic,” President Ramaphosa said.

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Photo: GCIS

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Inside Church

WCC acting general secretary to participate in panel on “Ecumenism and Pandemic”

Hosted by the Institute for Ecumenical Studies of Angelicum University, the event will also be attended by all students currently attending the WCC Bossey Ecumenical Institute.

After an introductory greeting by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the council, will present a working paper entitled “Ecumenism in a Time of Pandemic: From Crisis to Opportunity” prepared on the basis of a survey amongst the episcopal conferences.

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WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca. Photo: Grégoire de Fombelle/WCC

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In The News

Over 4 000 new COVID-19 cases recorded in SA

A total of 40 654 COVID-19 tests have been conducted, with 4 322 new cases being identified in South Africa in the last 24 hours.

This brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 568 900.

In a statement on Wednesday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said this increase represents a 10.6% positivity rate.

Due to the ongoing audit exercise by the National Department of Health (NDoH), the institute said there may be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported.

The Department of Health said 156 deaths have been reported and of these, 36 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours, and this brings the total fatalities to 93 707 deaths to date.

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Inside Church

SACBC Plenary 2022: Nuncio and President’s address

On the second day of the Pleanary in the morning session there were addresses from the president of the Conference, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka; an address from the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Peter Wells; and report from the secretary general of SACBC, Fr Hugh O’Connor.

SACBC President, Bishop Sithembele Sipuka, said the meeting provided the bishops with an opportunity to reflect about the Church and the signs of the time in the world which they are called to discern their message. Further on he noted with some relief also the usual pastoral programmes of the parishes that are gradually resuming, and people recommencing their Sunday Mass attendance, and other activities of the Church.

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Photo: Archbishop Peter Wells, the Apostolic Nuncio

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Inside Church Testimonies

US bishops urge Americans to follow Martin Luther King’s prophetic witness

The United States is celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which since 1983 has been observed on the third Monday of January to commemorate the Civil Rights leader’s life and legacy.

In a statement for the observance, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, has called on all people of goodwill to follow his prophetic witness of nonviolence and fraternity.

He said the prominent activist should be remebered not only for the justice he pursued, but for “how he pursued it.”

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Inside Church Media Room

Media accreditation to WCC Central Committee meeting online press room

The upcoming Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) 9 – 15 February will be the fifth meeting of this central committee since it was elected at the WCC 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea, in 2013.

The central committee meets normally every two years and serves as the chief governing body of the WCC between assemblies, but due to the pandemic the central committee has met online in June 2021. It is responsible for implementing the policies adopted by the assembly, reviewing and supervising WCC programmes and the budget of the council. The current central committee’s mandate terminates at the 11th WCC Assembly, which takes place 31 August – 8 September 2022 in Karlsruhe, Germany.  

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Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC

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In The News

SA records close to 3 700 new COVID-19 cases, with 30 deaths

There were 39 654 COVID-19 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, with 3 658 new cases reported across the country.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), this represents a 9.2% positivity rate.

Of the latest infections, Gauteng is leading with 814 cases, followed by 745 in the Western Cape, 329 in the Eastern Cape, 305 in Limpopo and 202 in the North West.

This means the country now has 3 564 578 laboratory-confirmed cases since the outbreak.

In addition, 30 more patients lost their battle to COVID-19 related complications, pushing the tally to 93 551 to date.

Meanwhile, hospital admissions went up by 198 to 7 363 since the last reporting cycle.

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In The News

Class of 2021 went through two years of disruption due to COVID-19

The Class of 2021 was the first Grade 12 cohort to experience the harsh realities of the pandemic for two consecutive years, Umalusi said on Tuesday.

Addressing a media briefing, Umalusi CEO, Dr Mafu Rakometsi, said that consequently this class needed more academic support compared to their predecessors.

The matric Class of 2021 was the eighth Grade 12 cohort to write final examinations under the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS).

Rakometsi said that the most important beneficiary of Umalusi’s quality assurance work are the learners – who are eager to know whether Umalusi has done its job to ensure the credibility of their hard earned qualifications.

“The Class of 2021 was subjected to the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic for two consecutive years, which included a hybrid mode of teaching and learning such as online and rotational classes,” Rakometsi said.

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In The News

Matric results to be released on media platforms

The Department of Basic Education says that it will abide by the North Gauteng High Court ruling regarding the release of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination results on media platforms.

“This means that the department will make available the results to stakeholders who requested access,” the department said on Tuesday.

This after AfriForum and a Grade 12 learner made an urgent application for the court to reverse the department’s decision to no longer release matric results on public platforms, which cited the violation of the Protection of Personal Information Act or POPI Act.

However, according to the department, the conditions of the court ruling must be taken into account in line with the provisions of the POPI Act.

In addition to accessing results from media such as newspapers, the department has urged candidates to register on the website to view the results when they become available on Thursday, 20 January 2022.

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