Russell Pollitt is a Jesuit priest working in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is currently the director of the Jesuit Institute South Africa. He writes and comments on South African politics and church affairs. Follow him on Twitter @rpollittsj.
Statements about LGBTQ+ people from Archbishop Alick Banda and the Zambian bishops' conference contrast with those from Pope Francis. The archbishop of Lusaka recently ramped up anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment.
Appreciation: In the dark years of apartheid in South Africa, Dominican Fr. Albert Nolan offered a message of hope and a prophetic vision. A well-known Catholic anti-apartheid activist and theologian, he died Oct. 17.
Changing the church's leadership style and building more welcoming communities were among the major themes in the synthesis document for the synod on synodality released by the Southern African bishops' conference.
