The Denis Hurley Centre was launched at the Durban University of Technology on Thursday last week (March 28, 2013), during which the man that the Centre is named after was remembered for his work in the fight against apartheid.
The late Archbishop Dennis Hurley was the most significant Catholic leader in South Africa in the second half of the twentieth century. During this time, he was totally committed to promoting freedom, justice and peace in South Africa as well as church renewal through the implementation of Vatican II. He wrote numerous articles and gave addresses on a wide range of issues as well as engaging in countless initiatives to promote these causes. His prophetic witness made him a significant contributor to the downfall of apartheid. It is essential that his legacy should be made known to a wide international audience.
The breakfast launch of the Denis Hurley Centre was held at the DUT Hotel School, DUT Ritson Campus. High profile guests including the Catholic Archbishop of Durban, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier; DUT Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ahmed Bawa; Monsignor James Cronin, Missio National Director; Father Stephen Tully, Durban’s Emanuel Cathedral Administrator as well as DUT Chancellor, Judge Vuka Tshabalala attended the event.
A donation of $145 000 dollars was made at the event by Monsignor Cronin on behalf of Missio, the Catholic Church’s foremost mission support charity.
The Denis Hurley Centre aims to provide an enabling environment to expand activities related to care, education, training and social cohesion. The Centre will include, among others, a primary healthcare clinic which will provide HIV and TB screening, projects that will assist the homeless, unemployed as well as refugees and a centre that will offer job readiness and skills training.
The Centre, to be constructed in the Warwick Junction precinct, has been nominated as a Heritage Liberation Site. For the next two years, it will be based at the Surat Hindu Association Building on Dr Goonam (formerly Prince Edward) Street. The Building is a five minute walk from the Durban Emanuel Cathedral.
“This nomination (of the Denis Hurley Centre as a Heritage Liberation Site) is endorsed by the City (of Durban) and the province (KwaZulu-Natal),” said Denis Hurley Centre Project Manager Costas Criticos. “The area around the centre is rich in culture and is very important in the anti-apartheid struggle. We are now waiting to hear about the approval of the plans from the city. Hopefully, we’ll start construction some time in April (2013),” said Criticos, who added that R23.3 million has been committed towards the project and the last 20 percent of the required funding is expected to be raised this month (April).
Eric Apelgren, eThekwini Municipality International and Government Relations Head of Department said the City is proud of what Archbishop Hurley achieved during his lifetime, adding that the Centre was about serving humanity. “The centre will make a huge difference for the communities it will be serving,” said Apelgren.
Prof Bawa remembered Archbishop Hurley as a man who was deeply involved in the world of knowledge. Prof Bawa was still based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal when Archbishop Hurley was Chancellor of the university. “The centre has to help us imagine the future; it shouldn’t be about the past. There’s a range of ways that DUT can contribute to the centre,” he said.
Other positive news that came out during the launch was that Monsignor Paul Nadal, who is based at the Our Lady of The Assumption Catholic Parish in Umbilo, Durban, would walk 300km to try and raise funds for the Centre. The 80 year-old will walk with a group of about 20 people from Portugal to San Diego from around late May or early June this year (2013). “The most important thing is that it’s for a good cause where a community cares for humanity, the poor, dispossessed and marginalised irrespective of race, colour or creed,” he said.
– Sinegugu Ndlovu
Pictured from left: Denis Hurley Centre Project Manager Costas Criticos, Catholic Archbishop of Durban, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier and Ben Potgieter, Coordinator of the Development Team for the Denis Hurley Centre look at an architectural model of the Denis Hurley Centre. Construction of the Centre is expected to begin sometime in this month (April).
