Zulu priest as Auxiliary Bishop of Johannesburg

FROM A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
ABLACK priest has been appointed an auxiliary bishop in the Johannesburg diocese, where a group of Catholics called last year for the replacement of Bishop Hugh Boyle by a black bishop. The priest, Fr. Peter J. Butelezi. 42, is a member of the Zulu tribe. He has been Apostolic Administrator of the Umzimkulu diocese.
Bishop Boyle said he was very pleased with the appointment. His new auxiliary bishop "will be a tremendous help for the pastoral care of the flock," Bishop Boyle said, "As a member of the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate he is already well known to priests, Religious and laity, versed in theology and ecumenical matters."
Bishop-elect Butelezi who was born in South Africa, studied theology and philosophy at Rome's Gregorian University and earned a licentiate in Scripture studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute there. Ordained in 1957, he served as a seminary professor and rector before his appointment as Apostolic Administrator of Umzimkulu in 1968.
Most of the Johannesburg diocese's 170 priests are white. They serve 134,000 black and 74,000 white Catholics.
In July 1971, Djrake Koka, a black labour union official, and II others walked into a meeting of the South African Bishops' Conference and demanded the resignation of Bishop Boyle and his replacement by a black bishop. They said Bishop Boyle had shown no interest in the spiritual and socio-economic conditions of the black community.
Last October Mr. Koka was elected to the executive committee of the Johannesburg diocesan Justice and Peace Association. Bishop Boyle expressed his disapproval and demanded that Mr. Koka should resign. The committee first ignored the bishop's wishes and elected Mr. Koka chairman. then sought a meeting with the bishop. When he refused to meet them, they resigned. In April of this year, the former, committee members sent a message to the Vatican complaining of the way Bishop Boyle had treated them and predicting that his actions would drive many blacks out of the Church.
Recently, while in Rome, the 75-year-old Irish-born Bishop Boyle offered his resignation but was asked to remain in off ice.