Hurley remembered

The last time my wife and I visited Archbishop Denis Hurley in Durban in his tiny retirement apartment at Sabon House, the retirement residence for Oblates of Mary Immaculate, he reminisced at length about his early childhood spent on Robben Island, where his father was the lighthouse-keeper.

The Archbishop was working on his memoirs when we visited him. I don't know if he completed these but I do hope that whatever he has written will be published. The church needs to hear what he has to say, especially about the reactionary re-writing of the accomplishments of Vatican II that is taking place at present in Rome.

For a man who spent so much of his life since the Council involved in the liturgical renewal in South Africa and indeed in the world by way of his presidency of the International Commission on the Liturgy for many years, it must have broken his heart to see what the latest instruction on the liturgy has done. He had written a series of very interesting, short articles on the Council for the Southern Cross, the South African Catholic weekly, and these can be seen on its web page.

He was certainly a courageous man, leader and inspiration for many. It is no news that he was certainly a candidate for a red hat ... but his statements on Humanae Vitae, his attitudes towards women and married priests and probably, his "involvement in politics" earned him the displeasure of Rome and this honour was never forthcoming, much to the disappointment of many who knew and loved this great man. He himself laughed it off.

Alex Campbell,

Ottawa

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