On Sunday the 19th of April, Archbishop Nxumalo OMI installed Fr Johnson as the administrator of the Sacred Heart Cathedral. As many already know, this is not the first Cathedral where he has held this position.
After having converted to Catholicism, Fr Johnson had entered the Oblate novitiate but decided to complete his studies for the Archdiocese of Durban. He was ordained by the late Archbishop Dennis Hurley, and took up posts at the Montebello Mission and then as Chaplain to CATHSOC (the forerunner to ACTS). In the latter posting he had the largest university chaplaincy in the country. As a young priest, Frs Johnson and Nxumalo ran various courses together and went on preaching tours across Natal.
At that time, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate were running most of the major parishes in the city of Durban, but felt that the time was right to pull out of these and allow the diocese to begin taking charge of their own diocese. In doing so, the Oblates could return to the missions. Having had such success in the University Chaplaincy, Fr Johnson was appointed to the administration of Emmanuel Cathedral by Archbishop Hurley.
In 1989 he resigned his post at the Cathedral and began work on the Afrikaans Apostolate. This entailed a transfer to Pretoria where he led the team who, among other things, were tasked with translating liturgical books into Afrikaans.
Having had such success on the Afrikaans Apostolate, and having gathered a competent team around himself, he felt encouraged to act on a calling he had so often heard: the Oratorian vocation. He traveled through Europe and America to investigate the possibilities, and then gathered a team together in Oudtshoorn. At that time the St Saviour's Cathedral in the city was in need of care, and so Fr Johnson took charge of the Cathedral. The community in Oudtshoorn continued to grow.
It was during this time that the St. Philip Neri Collegium was founded. This was established by the bishops of the old Cape province to raise the standard of candidates entering major seminary. At the Collegium, students would be given a sound education in theology, scripture, language, and social skills. Care of the Collegium was vested in Fr Johnson.
By 2002 the community had grown very large and the time was right for the establishment of a second community. The parish of St. Bernadette's in Port Elizabeth seemed to have all the facilities for a community and did not have a priest of its own. Once again, Fr Johnson would take charge of a team and begin the new foundation which was canonically established in 2008.
Having served as priest in charge of St Bernadette's until 2008, and Provost until 2014, Fr Johnny settled in for semi-retirement (he would, and does, remain rector of the Collegium which had since moved to Port Elizabeth). The community had grown very quickly and most of the brothers had now been ordained to the priesthood, and were ready to assume leadership of the Oratory.
Unknown to the Oratorian community in Port Elizabeth, the Archbishop of Bloemfontein had a problem. The priests who had administered the Cathedral for so many years were due to retire and their superiors had asked for them to be relieved. His Grace was urgently searching for priests able to assume the responsibility of running the Cathedral (which serves the entire City of Bloemfontein). While visiting Port Elizabeth in July last year, the Archbishop proposed the idea of a Bloemfontein Oratory. Despite his advanced years (having turned 76 in March 2015), Fr Johnson answered the call with great enthusiasm, and once again gathered a team around himself, this time to take on the daunting task of running a large metropolitan Cathedral.
And so on Sunday, Fr John Newton Johnson took the oaths and made his profession of faith in the Cathedral, witnessed by the Archbishop, who then conferred his blessing and led the celebration of Holy Mass.
The small community of Oratorians have only been in Bloemfontein a little over three months, but already feel settled in the city and in the parish. All feel privileged to be able to work under the leadership of Fr Johnson, who strides the South African Catholic community as a colossus.
Thanks must again go to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate - past and present - who built our beautiful Cathedral, and who ministered to the faithful in Bloemfontein for so many years.
