Continuum International (London)
3 November 2009
book listing
Durban author and veteran social activist and campaigner for peace and justice, Paddy Kearney, launches Guardian of the Light, the first full biography about the astonishing life and phenomenal work of Archbishop Denis Hurley – one of the most significant Catholic leaders in South Africa in the second half of the twentieth century.
Huley was a courageous opponent of South Africa's apartheid regime for 50 years, dubbed "an ecclesiastical Che Guevara" by a South African official and "guardian of the light" by Alan Paton. He was a champion of the reforms and "spirit" of Vatican II, who was controversial for his views on birth control, married priests, and women's ordination.
Born in Cape Town in 1915 of Irish parents, the son of a lighthouse keeper, he was raised at various lighthouses on South Africa's coast. He became the youngest Catholic bishop in the world in 1947 at 31 and Archbishop of Durban in 1951.
He first served as chairman of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference from 1952 to 1961. The conference issued in 1957 its first statement against apartheid, describing the system of enforced racial segregation as "inherently evil." Eventually, along with four other church leaders (including Desmond Tutu), he was regarded as one of the South African state's "most wanted" political opponents.
He retired as archbishop in 1992, becoming chancellor of the University of Natal from 1993 to 1998. He continued to work as a parish priest well into his eighties.
Auxiliary Bishop Jabulani Nxumalo of Durban recalled that in 1951 Hurley "was the first bishop ... who openly expressed himself against apartheid and spoke in support of the rights of the blacks."
"Denis Eugene Hurley was undoubtedly the most significant Catholic leader in South Africa during the twentieth century. Hurley had a profound effect upon the Church's struggle against apartheid and played a major role in the process of renewing the Catholic Church. Tall and impressive, he was an eloquent speaker, years ahead of his time not only in his views on South Africa's racial problems, but also on the reforms needed in the Catholic Church," explained Kearney.
"To Hurley, apartheid was a form of organised evil, which he believed could only be overcome by organised good. Thus, in the 1970s, he established organisations that would help to bring about change. He founded Diakonia (1976), an ecumenical agency promoting action for justice and peace in the Greater Durban Area; initiated the Human Awareness Programme (1977) which strengthened civil society efforts; and supported the establishment in 1979 of PACSA (the Pietermaritzburg Agency for Christian Social Awareness). Through his contacts with leaders of other churches and other faiths, his ecumenical commitment grew ever stronger. The dynamic ecumenical movement in KwaZulu-Natal even now owes much to his pioneering efforts.
"Investigations by South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that Hurley was "one of the state's most wanted political opponents and a target for dirty tactics because banning was not an option for such a high-level cleric," Kearney said.
Guardian of the Light - Denis Hurley: Renewing the Church, Opposing Apartheid
by Paddy Kearney
Published by Continuum International
Suggested retail price: $34.95
SA launch price R300
All Royalties go to the Denis Hurley Centre
Website:
www.archbishopdenishurley.org
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