Cape Town, 14 November, 2024 / 11:22 am (ACI Africa).
It was “with heavy hearts” that the people of God in Cape Town Archdiocese (ADCT) received the news of the Papal transfer of their shepherd, Stephen Cardinal Brislin , the Auxiliary Bishop of the South African Archdiocese has said.
Bishop Sylvester David, who was addressing participants in the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council meeting on November 9 said that despite their “visceral discomfort”, they have come to accept the transfer of Cardinal Brislin to the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg as part of the functioning of the Church.
“Although such transfers are part of Church life, the news left us with heavy hearts and with a visceral discomfort. There was unease. It was difficult to articulate exactly what one felt because in many cases the right words could not be found,” Bishop Sylvester said.
He added, “We now find ourselves in a liminal space i.e. in a state of transition. But liminal spaces are not only negative because an essential dimension of the liminal space is that it affords us an opportunity for transformation.”
“Both His Eminence and I know that this transfer is not about us and our working together,” he went on to say, adding, “It is about the Church and the opportunities of living the faith in different contexts.”