A Catholic African Chief
Basutoland is a mountainous district in v South Africa, bounded on the north and west by the Orange River Colony, on the east by Natal, and on the south by Cane Colony. It has an area of 10,293 square miles, and its native. population numbers 309,000. It is a possession of the British Empire. Basutoland is a black man’s country (says the Sacred Heart Review). White people must have special permission .to settle in it, and" the number of whites there now is considerably under 1000. Ecclesiastically it is ‘ a Vicariate Apostolic, and its missions are in charge of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Originally Basutoland was inhabited by bushmen, savages of a very low type; but now its people are Kafirs, a very intelligent race of Africans, who are governed among themselves by a . paramount chief. The present paramount chief, whose name is Morena Griffith, is a Catholic, the first Christian paramount chief of Basutoland. Writing of Chief . Griffith in the Catholic Magazine for South Africa, the ~ Rev. Norbert Rinderman, 0.M.1., says:.— 1 ‘ Any one who knows the conditions of Basutoland, where the chiefs still practice .polygamy, will" ask himself how this chief came to make the sacrifice required of a Catholic. Did Griffith come to turn to Christ through the efforts of a missionary? No. He himself found the way to the true Church of Christ through a dream. In the night he saw one of his ancestors who invited him to save himself. He looked benevolently upon Griffith and 1 showed him two paths, one narrow and steep, the other broad and easy. Pointing to the steep path He said: “My son, you must take this path and you.will find it in the Catholic Church.” ‘ After the lapse of a few days, he sought the director of the mission in Bethel and asked for instruction in the Catholic faith. The priest aquiesced in his request and Griffith became a catechumen. Regularly on, Sundays Griffith came to Bethel to hear Mass, and occupied himself in studying his catechism just in the same way ■as the ordinary Basuto. After a course lasting two .years he .was admitted to Baptism. That was in October, 1912. At the same time 106 others were baptised. Since that time Griffith has been an earnest Christian and gives a truly edifying example to the other Christians.’ . ■ >■ A wonderful religion, truly, is this religion of Christ, which appeals to all grades of intelligence and is professed and practised by the Kings of civilisation and the chiefs of savagery! Our Blessed Lord died to save all mankind. He bade His disciples go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature, excluding none because of race or color. True to her divine commission, the great Catholic Church is everywhere busy winning the souls of men, and she finds herself as much at home in Basutoland as in the streets of Rome itself.
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New Zealand Tablet, 28 August 1913, Page 49
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492A Catholic African Chief New Zealand Tablet, 28 August 1913, Page 49
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