Muzi Xaba

16/06/2026

June 1976 and the Catholic Church -
This year marks 50 years since the student uprising of June 16, 1976 in Soweto. In this short excerpt from a larger article, Daluxolo Moloantoa looks at the role the Catholic Church played in that time.

It is one of the most striking images of the aftermath of the Soweto Uprising of 16 June 1976: Fr Buti Tlhagale OMI of Regina Mundi church leading a funeral procession in Soweto as hundreds follow behind him from the church towards Avalon cemetery, the deceased transported on a horse-drawn cart.

As South Africa commemorates the 50th anniversary of that historic day, the memory of the youth who stood unarmed before police Casspirs and bullets remains etched in the nation's soul. Among them was Hector Pieterson, whose death became a symbol of sacrifice and injustice.

But intertwined with this story of youthful courage is another: the witness of the Church — priests, religious and lay faithful — who refused to remain silent in the face of oppression.

The condensed version of this article: https://www.scross.co.za/2026/06/june-1976-and-the-catholic-church/
Read the full article in the Southern Cross June issue...

02/11/2024

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You are also invited

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If you see this, know that you are invited.

23/01/2024

I am a Franciscan Friar TOR
I belong in the Vice-Province of St. Joseph, Republic of South Africa.

*The Vice-Province of St. Joseph*
On January 16, 1982 the Congregation of the Franciscan Familiars of St. Joseph (FFJ) was united to the Third Order Regular of St Francis of Penance in a ceremony presided over by the Minister General, Fr. Roland Faley, TOR.

The Former Congregation

The Franciscan Familiars of St Joseph were founded as a diocesan congregation of priests and brothers on December 20, 1923 by Bishop Albert Fleischer, CMM (1874-1963) the Vicar Apostolic of Marrianhill from 1922-1950. The Bishop had founded the congregation for the purpose of providing for religious vocations to the priesthood and brotherhood from among Zulu men. The holy See granted its approval for the canonical establishment on July 16, 1925.

In its beginnings the formation of its members and the direction of the Institute was confided to the Marriannhill Missionaries. In 1928, the fraternity was affiliated spiritually with the Order of Friars Minor. The specific purpose of the Congregation was pastoral and missionary activity in the parishes amnd missions of the Marriannhill Diocese. The apostolate of these friars is quite varied. At the time of union there were 18 religious of whom 5 were priests, 11 brothers, 2 stundents friars and 3 novices.

The union with the Third Order Regular

On January 16, 1979, Fr. Roland Faley, TOR then Minister General, wrote a circular letter to the whole Order announcing that the first steps had been taken towards a possible union. The Holy See approved the proposed union of the Franciscan Familiars of St. Joseph with the Third Order Regular in a decree dated September 26, 1981. The official ceremony of union took place on January 16, 1982 at the Monastery of St. Joseph, the central house in the Diocese of Marriannhill, Republic of South Africa. The congregation became an Independent Commissariate or Vice-Province under the patronage of St. Joseph.

The first Provincial was Fr. Robert Dunstan Sisk of the Province of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Several friars of this province and Fr. Cyprian Merieca of the Immaculate Conception Province (USA) have assisted the African fraternity in various capacities. On November 13, 1990, Fr. Cosmos Mdladla was elected Provincial of the Vice-Province.