OUR DIOCESE
The Catholic Church throughout the world is divided into administrative units called Dioceses. Each Diocese is headed by a bishop. In some cases (as in South Africa) those Dioceses which are of greater political importance are called Archdioceses and are headed by an Archbishop. In South Africa there are five such Archdioceses, one of which is Cape Town.
Each Diocesan bishop in the world (ecclesiastically called an ordinary to distinguish him from other bishops who work in an administrative capacity) is responsible directly to the Pope. In order to facilitate and co-ordinate various matters of national interest such as seminaries, the bishops of South Africa are associated into the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC). This conference is affiliated to two other such conferences: IMBISA (the Inter-regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa) and SECAM (the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar).
A representative of the Pope was appointed in 1922 as the Apostolic Delegate. In 1994 the Holy See (the Diocese of Rome and the Papal administration) and South Africa established diplomatic relations, setting up an Apostolic Nunciature for the Holy See in Pretoria and a South African Embassy in the Vatican.
The Diocese of Oudtshoorn is a suffragan Diocese of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cape Town, the city which is the seat of parliament and the legislative capital of South Africa. The Diocese of Oudtshoorn, together with the other suffragan Dioceses of Aliwal, De Aar, Port Elizabeth and Queenstown rely to some extent on the Archdiocese of Cape Town for ecclesiastical support, although they are in no way subordinate to Cape Town.
To help him administer the Diocese of Oudtshoorn, the Bishop appoints a vicar general. A chancellor is appointed in each Diocese, whose task it is to act as a notary or someone who authenticates any official document which the Bishop might issue. In Oudtshoorn, the chancellor also acts as the archivist.
To help in the ministry of the various departments of the Diocese of Oudtshoorn, a number of priests or lay people have been appointed as vicars or heads of those departments. All the priests and deacons serving in Oudtshoorn constitute the presbyteral council, and it is from this body that the Bishop chooses his consulters or advisors in order to co-ordinate the pastoral function of the various parishes in the Diocese of Oudtshoorn.
The geographical area of Oudtshoorn is divided up into autonomous areas called parishes. Each parish is obliged to have its own pastoral council as well as a finance council. Representatives from these parish councils – as well as of other bodies – together form the Diocesan Pastoral Council whose task it is to advise the Bishop in certain matters.
In total the Diocese covers an area of 113 343 square kilometres with a total population of 856 975 people, of whom 28 159 are Catholics (outdated statistics). The administrative centre of the Diocese is called a chancery and is located at 42 St Saviour Street in Oudtshoorn while the Bishop’s cathedra (seat of episcopal authority) can be found in St Saviours’ Cathedral in Oudtshoorn.
The Diocese of Oudtshoorn was first established as the Central Prefecture by decree of the Holy See on 24 May 1872. Till then, It had been part of the Western Vicariate. On 13 July 1874 its care was entrusted to the “Missionaries for African Missions of Lyons”. When the Fathers of Lyons left the Central Prefecture in 1882, the Western part of the Prefecture was given to the Oblates of St. Francis of Sales and a new Prefecture was erected in 1884. The Eastern part again came under the jurisdiction of the Vicar Apostolic of the Western Vicariate as the Central Prefecture until 1922, when it was separated from the Western Vicariate and entrusted to the Pious Society of Missions, now called the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottine Fathers).
On 13 June 1939, the Central Prefecture became the Prefecture of Oudtshoorn which in turn was raised to the status of Vicariate on 9 December 1948. The Diocese of Oudtshoorn was constituted on the establishment of the Catholic Hierarchy of Southern Africa on 11 January 1951. The Diocese has for its boundaries on the West, the eastern boundaries of Bredasdorp, Caledon, Paarl, Malmesbury, Clanwilliam, Van Rhynsdorp and Namaqualand districts; on the North, the southern boundaries of Kenhardt and Prieska districts; on the East, the western boundaries of Britstown, Richmond, Murraysburg, Aberdeen, Jansenville and Humandsdorp districts; and on the South the Indian Ocean and the northern boundaries of Caledon and Bredasdorp districts. By decree of the Holy See the districts of Calvinia and Williston were separated from the Diocese of Oudtshoorn in 1979 and now fall under the jurisdiction of the Ordinary of the Diocese of Keimoes-Upington.
OUR CATHEDRAL
‘N AFRIKAANSE WEERGAWE VIND U HIERONDER IN PDF-FORMAAT
St. Saviour Cathedral is a place of great beauty: in its worship, with ritual and music and in its architecture. As a parish for many years we have proudly continued a tradition of recognizing and celebrating the Catholic witness both in Afrikaans and English in Oudtshoorn. Through the decades St. Saviours’ has also been a place where people from many backgrounds and perspectives have found their lives enhanced by knowing one another.
The cathedral was designed by the Cape Town Architectural Firm of Bergamasco, Duncan, Hancock and James. This is a good example of the so-called modern architecture of the 1960s of the last century that especially reflected the renewal in the liturgy of the Second Vatican Council. The shape of the building is that of a cross with all four arms of the same length. The main construction rests entirely on twenty-four laminated parabolic arches (each arch consists of Maranti mahogany from Malaysia and assembled in Port Elizabeth). These wooden arches, the largest ever produced in South Africa, range in height from 70 to 40 feet above the floor. The largest wooden arch weighs almost 3,000 lbs. It took a special heavyweight vehicle 15 hours from Port Elizabeth to transport the wooden arches the 240 miles to Oudtshoorn. A mobile crane (34 tons) was also brought from Port Elizabeth to place each half-arch in position on the foundations, after which the rest of the pieces were bolted together. The parabolic arcs, on which the roof rests meet at a central point where the four arms of the entire structure come together. On top is a hollow tower with a 16-foot-high cross. It was decided on a copper roof to withstand the test of time and Oudtshoorn’s climate extremes
A six-hundred-year-old German firm produced the large ornamental glass windows on the ends of each of the cross shape’s four arms, as well as the four smaller ornamental glass windows in the cathedral itself. The large windows depict, respectively, the Transfiguration of Christ, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary, and St. Vincent Pallotti. The latter saint was the founder of the Catholic Apostolate (S.A.C.) or the Pallottinis – the Pallottini priests were in charge of the Diocese of Oudtshoorn at the time and, together with the brothers and sisters of this congregation, contributed greatly to spiritual and social upbuilding of the entire Southern Cape. Each of the four large windows features a base 32 feet wide with a length of 22 feet. The small ornamental glass windows on the right side of the main entrance depict St. Antony of Padua, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, and St. Patrick (the latter window comes from the old demolished church). To the left of the main entrance, the three ornamental glass windows depict St. Christopher, St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Francis of Assisi (the latter window also comes from the old church).
Four bells (electronically controlled) were made in the Netherlands. True to Catholic tradition, every clock has a symbolic name: The first is the ‘Salvator Mundi’ (Saviour of the world); the second the ‘Advocata Nostra’ (Our Advocate, in honor of God’s Mother); the third is called the ‘Apostolatum Significer’ (or Ensign Bearer of the Lord’s Message, in honour of St Vincent Pallotti) and the last one the ‘Protector Ecclesiae’ (Protector of the Church, in honour of St. Joseph).
The sanctuary is octagonal and simultaneously forms the roof of the lower church or crypt (which houses the Black Madonna Chapel). The altar forms the centre of the cross-shaped building. Three arms of the cross form provide seating space to the congregation. The fourth arm houses the sacristy behind the sanctuary and under the choir gallery. The cathedra (bishop’s chair) was donated from Knysna by a benefactor at the time. It is made of stinkwood and rests against the sacristy wall with seats for the senior clergy (cathedral chapter) on either side.
The crypt today houses the Black Madonna Chapel. Initially, it was just a chapel with an altar, partially separated by a beautiful ornamental glass window (from the old demolished church, where it stood behind the main altar) of the eight burial spaces for the bishops of Oudtshoorn. Bishop Bruno Hippel is the only bishop buried here. However, in 2003 this chapel was set up to house a copy of the Black Madonna of Jasna Gora (in Poland). A fascinating and troubled history lurks behind this chapel. In 1939, when the then Soviet Union invaded Poland, more than 1.7 million Poles were taken to Siberia as forced laborers. In 1942, only about 750,000 of these Poles were released and allowed to cross the border into what was then Persia. Many of these people were orphans whose parents perished in the terrible conditions of soviet labour camps. The Allies took pity on these children and were sent to various safe countries. A group of 500 Polish orphans arrived in Oudtshoorn on April 10, 1943. Here in the old army barracks they found shelter. The children were obviously all Catholic and were also accompanied by priests – the Catholic community of Oudtshoorn reached out to the orphans and made them feel at home. After the war, Poland was under communist rule and most of these children remained in South Africa. In grateful remembrance of their stay in Oudtshoorn, on the fiftieth anniversary of their arrival in South Africa, they donated this remarkable copy of Poland’s most precious possession – the icon of the Black Madonna in the monastery of Jasna Gora in the city of Czestochowa – to the cathedral. This picture was initially placed on the wall behind the baptismal font. On the 60th anniversary of their arrival in South Africa, the former Polish orphans had the beautiful altar made for the Black Madonna and the chapel was jointly inaugurated on 6 May 2003 by Bishop Edward Adams (Bishop of Oudtshoorn) and Archbishop Wesoly (Vatican envoy for the global Polish community).
The cathedral’s original plan provided for four side chapels planned for the spaces that would arise through the four arms of the cross shape. However, only two side chapels have been set up. To the left of the sanctuary (looking towards the cathedra) the chapel of Christ the Redeemer and right (looking towards the cathedra) the Sacrament chapel. The other two spaces were later used to house an image of Our Lady with the Baby Jesus and St. Joseph (two beautiful hand-carved wooden statues from Switzerland), respectively: Subsequently moved to the Black Madonna Chapel. A statue of Our Lady of Fatima has been placed in the left space (looking towards the cathedra) and an image of St Luigi Scrosoppi occupies the space on the right (looking towards the cathedra).
The baptismal font from the former church originally found a home to the left of the main entrance (looking towards the cathedra) and has subsequently been moved to the right space below the image of St Luigi Scrosoppi. To the right (looking towards the cathedra) on the outside wall, hangs a painting of St. Marie-Marguerite Alocoque and her vision of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with an interesting history. In 2009, a large-scale change was made to the interior of the cathedral. The Sacrament Chapel has been moved to the right side of the sanctuary and now emblazoned with a marble-lined altar and a beautiful wood-carved top that comes from the church of St. Konrad van Parzham in Dysselsdorp. Indeed, the new Sacrament chapel displays a dignity that is quite appropriate. The former Sacramental Chapel was established as the chapel of Christ the Redeemer. A third side chapel was erected on the left side of the main entrance and dedicated to the Holy Family, while the fourth side chapel was dedicated to Saint Luigi Scrosoppi on the right side of the main entrance.
The cathedral seats 600 people. Up to the apex of the cross on the bell tower, the height of this building can be counted at 125 feet. The circular exterior wall was made from terazzo. All the woodwork inside the building (with the exception of the laminated parabolic wooden arches) was then made at the local Holy Heart carpenter shop (at the old Catholic mission in North End). Br. König, S.A.C. supervised this. Construction of the cathedral was started by Br. Becker, S.A.C. who died before he could complete the building. His work was completed by Brothers Orlandi, S.A.C. and Weber, S.A.C.
St. Saviour Cathedral is the church of the bishop of Oudtshoorn and the mother church of the entire diocese stretching from Plettenberg Bay in East, Victoria West in the North to Ceres in the West. The cathedral is a beautiful landmark for the entire town of Oudtshoorn and a visible reminder of the fact that Christ is indeed the Saviour of the world.
