Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference
The Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference is an episcopal conference consisting of all the bishops of the Catholic Church in South Africa, Botswana, and Swaziland, and their equivalents under canon law (apostolic vicars, apostolic administrators, etc). It is a collegial body approved by the Holy See and has as its particular aim:
to provide the bishops of the territories mentioned above with facilities for consultation and united action in such matters of common interest to the Church as consultation and co-operation with other hierarchies; the fostering of priestly and religious vocations; the doctrinal, apostolic and pastoral formation of the clergy, religious and laity; the promotion of missionary activity, catechetics, liturgy, lay apostolate, ecumenism, development, justice and reconciliation, social welfare, schools, hospitals, the apostolate of the press, radio, television, and other means of social communication; and any other necessary activity.
The conference is led by a president and two vice presidents, each elected by an absolute majority of the members for three year terms. The members also elect chairmen and vice-chairmen for the departments of the conference. All office holders must be diocesean ordinaries; coadjutor bishops, auxiliary bishops, and bishops emeriti may not be elected. The president, vice presidents, department chairmen, and any Cardinals who do not hold a conference office form an administrative board which coordinates the conference's activities between its plenary sessions.
The Conference mandates a Secretariat to Coordinate Conference activities. The Secretariate is made up of Departments (such as the Justice and Peace department), Offices (such as the AIDS Office) and Associate Bodies (such as the Denis Hurley Peace Institute (DHPI). Its official newspaper is The Southern Cross.
In recent times, the Conference's application of the revision of the English translation of the Mass liturgy has been criticized as premature.[1]
The Presidents of the Conference have been:
| President | Period |
|---|---|
| Archbishop Denis Hurley | 1952-1961 |
| Archbishop (later Cardinal) Owen McCann | 1961-1974 |
| Archbishop Joseph Fitzgerald | 1974-1981 |
| Archbishop Denis Hurley | 1981-1987 |
| Bishop Reginald Orsmond | 1987-1988 |
| Bishop (later Archbishop) Wilfrid Napier | 1988-1994 |
| Bishop Louis Ndlovu | 1994-2003 |
| Cardinal Wilfrid Napier | 2003-2006 |
| Archbishop Buti Tlhagale | 2007 - |