Johannesburg, 23 August, 2022 / 3:24 pm (ACI Africa).
The Catholic Archbishop of South Africa’s Johannesburg Archdiocese has called on the people of God in his Episcopal See to seek the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary to end violence against women, “especially by those who claim to love them”.
In his homily during the Vigil Mass to mark the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Patron Saint of South Africa, Archbishop Buti Joseph Tlhagale also urged the people of God under his pastoral care to model their lives after Mary in making themselves available to God.
“This month is the month that celebrates the dignity of women… As we honor Mary, our mother, perhaps we need to deepen our faith and our trust in her intervention. So that the violence committed against women, especially in our homes might disappear,” Archbishop Tlhagale said during the August 19 Eucharistic celebration.
He called on the congregation at Christ the King Cathedral of Johannesburg Archdiocese, the venue of the celebration, to “pray to gather strength, to oppose the scourge of oppressing women, especially by those who claim to love them.”
The South African Archbishop regretted the fact that perpetrators of domestic violence are mostly those who claim to love the victims.
