AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - "Benedict Daswa an example for all young Catholics in our region"

Tuesday, 25 August 2015

Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) - "Benedict Daswa was a committed lay Catholic and the loving husband and father of a large family; a dedicated teacher and volunteer catechist, an active and charitable member of the community", said the message signed by Mgr. Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of Cape Town and President of the SACBC (the Catholic Bishops' Conference which gathers the Bishops of Botswana, South Africa and Swaziland), for the beatification of Benedict Daswa, the first African martyr recognized by the Church.
Benedict Daswa, says the message "took seriously the call to holiness which we all have received in Baptism. He will be a role model and powerful intercessor for all the Catholics of our region and in particular for young men, husbands and fathers".
Mgr. Brislin recalls the reasons that led to the martyrdom of the young South African Catholic: "Benedict’s great moral courage and his passion for the truth led him to openly and very publicly oppose the belief and practice of witchcraft. This courageous witness to the faith led to his martyrdom. Aware of the fear caused by the practices of identifying witches, the harm this does to the fabric of social relations and the inevitable killing of innocent people, he was prepared to oppose this practice which still persists today, out of love for Christ and at the cost of his own life".
On 2 February 1990 a few days after refusing to pay a bid for a ritual to drive out some "witches", Benedict Samuel Tshimangadzo Daswa (this is his full name) was attacked and beaten to death with sticks and stones and his body was covered with boiling water.
The beatification ceremony in the presence of the representative of Pope Francis, Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, will be held on September 13 at the Benedict Daswa Shrine, in Tshitanini in Limpopo Province. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 25/08/2015)


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