Cape Town - Cape Town’s Archbishop Stephen Brislin said the news of his being named one of 21 new cardinals from around the world, including three from Africa, by Pope Francis on Friday was a surprise.
A cardinal is a senior member of the Catholic church clergy. The pope selects Cardinals Cardinals and typically hold the title for life. Collectively, they constitute the College of Cardinals which elects new popes.
The archbishop, who is also the spokesperson of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC), said: “I have been taken by surprise and to be honest I feel quite confused and bewildered at the moment.”
In a message shared by the SACBC, Brislin said he hoped and prayed that he would follow the example set by his predecessors as cardinals from South Africa, the late Owen McCann and Archbishop Emeritus of Durban Wilfrid Napier.
Born in Welkom, Free State, on September 24, 1956, Brislin was ordained into the priesthood in November 1983 and served as Bishop of Kroonstad from January 2007 to 2010 when he was appointed archbishop of Cape Town. In 2013 he was elected president of the SACBC.
Messages of congratulations have come in from Cape Town for the cardinal-elect, beginning with one from his Anglican opposite number in Cape Town, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba.
Makgoba said: “I have been privileged to work with Cardinal-elect Brislin, who is my counterpart in Cape Town, and am thrilled at this well-deserved appointment.”
He said the Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town and the Catholic Church in South Africa was also to be congratulated on producing yet another cardinal of the church.
ANC Western Cape provincial chairperson Vuyiso JJ Tyhalisisu said the ANC welcomed the announcement by the Pope with “great joy and gratitude.”
Tyhalisisu said: “During his priestly ministry the cardinal-designate worked with especially those on the margins of society and the poorest of the poor, particularly in the rural areas of the Free State.
He said during apartheid, the Catholic Church played an immeasurable role in the fight for liberation, justice and equality, whereas in democratic South Africa the church continues to play an integral role in building communities, contributing to social cohesion and holding the government to account.