South Africa: Cardinal calls for reconciliation after controversial painting is defaced

Cardinal Napier

Following an incident yesterday in which a new painting of President Zuma was defaced by a protester who considered it obscene, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier OFM, Archbishop of Durban, issued the following statement on behalf of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference.

I call on the President to lead the Nation to a new dialogue on reconciliation and dignity - let us all make every effort to be the South Africa we want to be and want to become.

The furore over the painting 'The Spear' by Brett Murray has exposed a number of fault lines in our South African civic discourse. I wish to express my horror at the tone and temperament of the language around this painting.

We need honest, respectful and clear dialogue in South Africa - We have lived with enough violence in word and deed. I express in the strongest possible terms that the position of the Nazareth Baptist Church (Shembe) is not in any way a position of the Catholic Community, or indeed, I suspect, of the broader Christian Community. Calling for the 'stoning' of someone who has created an expression of his own vision is tantamount to Hate Speech and is a very clear incitement to violence. Let the courts decide - this is why we have an independent Judiciary and laws that are not arbitrary.

Secondly, the jump to the language of Race has once again allowed us to default to the easy position of blame without having to make any effort to understand or to attempt a broader dialogue. Let me be clear. I don't like the painting, its graphic subject matter or the slur on the character of the President. But simply reducing this incident to the level of Race is a sad indicator that we have, once again, allowed the easy card to be played because it serves to deflect us from the real issues of national reconciliation and the building of a community that chooses the Highest Possible Good rather than the lowest and basest human instincts.