Brotherhood of Blessed Gérard

Chronicle of April 2005

2.4.2005: 18°° Holy Mass for the dying Pope John Paul II at the chapel of Blessed Gérard's Care Centre. The Holy Father died at 21³⁷ in the Vatican.

3.4.2005: Requiem Mass for Pope John Paul II at Blessed Gérard's Church.

5.4.2005: Dieter Schlesinger from Munich University visits Blessed Gérard's Care Centre with 27 students on a geographical excursion focussing on the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa.

12.4.2005: Per-Anders Pettersson comes to Mandeni to make pictures for the book "24 hours in the life of the Catholic Church".

14.4.2005: Political/Economic Officer Jack Hillmeyer from the Consulate General of the U.S.A. in Durban comes with a State Department officer from Washington, DC to visit Blessed Gérard's Hospice HAART Programme which is partly sponsored with PEPFAR monies from the U.S.A., Blessed Gérard's Hospice, Blessed Gérard's Community Development Centre and Blessed Gérard's Children's Home.

15.4.2005: Our Dedicated Member Yvonne Renaud comes with her husband Louis from Nelspruit to visit Blessed Gérard's Care Centre.

15.4.2005: Sr. Edith from Eshowe comes to visit us with two relatives from Germany: Berthold Hepp and Ronald Radr.

16.4.2005: Students and teachers from Interact at St. Catherine's High School in Empangeni visit Blessed Gérard's Care Centre and present a push chair for one of our paediatric patients and six high chairs for Blessed Gérard's Children's Home.

18.4.2005: A first in the history of the Brotherhood of Blessed Gérard: Our member Wilfrid Cardinal Napier O.F.M. takes part in the conclave in Rome which elects Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as the new Pope Benedict VI. Informed sources were often quoted stating that Cardinal Napier scored well on the opinion polls for the election - he was considered one of the leading 16 cardinals for the papal succession -, but we are glad that he returned to us, because South Africa needs a man of his format here at home.

Cardinal Napier summed up the sentiments he says have been shared among the cardinals with regard to their selection of Pope over the past weeks. "After many synods," said the 64-year-old archbishop of Durban, "I would have to say that … it was only in these recent times that one got to see how the man can operate at such a different level and how as dean of the cardinals [he] responded so well to any requests or suggestions that were made about how we should be actually handling the various congregations, etc. "His conduct was admirable throughout and … we already saw how excellently he led us through the days preceding the conclave." Cardinal Napier believes that among the compliments he heard, one of the greatest came after the Monday Mass prior to the conclave: "A fellow cardinal said, 'That must have been one of the most spiritual experiences I've had for a long, long time.' Once again it was due to Cardinal Ratzinger's wonderfully gentle, approachable style."

To read more about what Cardinal Napier thinks about Pope Benedict XVI click here: Cardinal Wilfred Napier.

19.4.2005: Lida Hill from Rotary Mandeni presents children's clothing.

21.4.2005: SEC Electrical of iSithebe invited us to their road show and donated a cheque to the value of R 1,000.00. Litecor-Avocar donated 5 emergency lights and ACDC Dynamics donated a computer UPS. Thank you!