Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cardinal Stephen Brislin as a member of the Dicastery for the Clergy. This marks the third appointment of a member of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) by Pope Leo to a Vatican dicastery in 2025.

Earlier this year, Bishop Thulani Victor Mbuyisa CMM of Kokstad Diocese was appointed to the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, while Bishop Sithembele Anton Sipuka of Mthatha Diocese and President of the Southern African Council of Churches (SACC) was appointed to the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue.

In an interview with the SACBC Communication Office, Cardinal Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of Johannesburg and Apostolic Administrator of Cape Town, shared his reflections on his recent appointment by Pope Leo to the Dicastery for the Clergy.

Cardinal Brislin described the appointment as both an honour and a call to service. “It is an honour in many ways to be appointed to a dicastery, as a great deal of trust is placed in its members. However, it should not be seen as an honour as much as a matter of giving service—service to the Church and ultimately to the growth of the Kingdom of God,” he said.

The Dicastery for the Clergy oversees matters relating to priests and deacons, particularly their human, pastoral, spiritual, and academic formation. In the Friday, August 29 interview, Cardinal Brislin highlighted the importance of the dicastery’s mission. He said, “Priests are really at the coalface of the Church. It is vital that they are well-formed, truly pastoral, and have the concerns of the people they serve at heart.”

Cardinal Brislin, who also serves as a member of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, which examines the lives of men and women proposed for canonisation, described the department of the Roman Curia as “a very positive dicastery, looking at individuals who tried their best to live holy lives.”

Apart from serving at the two departments of the Roman Curia, the Archbishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Johannesburg is a member of the Santa Marta Group, an international network of Church leaders and law enforcement working together against human trafficking. The Santa Marta Group was started by Pope Francis as a concrete response to the global scourge of trafficking in persons.

In the Interview with the SACBC communication office, Cardinal Brislin spoke strongly about the global challenge of human trafficking, calling it “a cruel enterprise.”

He stressed that human trafficking is a problem that “cannot be resolved by any single country because it is so international,” and “various countries (as well as) law enforcement agencies have to work together, and the Church believes… that it has a role to play as well.”

Explaining the role of the Church, Cardinal Brislin said, “We work on the ground, we work among ordinary people, and we can assist law enforcement in their task of tracking down human traffickers.”

He added, “When arrests are made, the Church can be there in order to give assistance to those who have been trafficked — to give counselling, to give consolation, to be there for them.”

He further underlined the importance of prevention: “A great part of what the Church does is to create awareness, particularly among young people, about the dangers of human trafficking.” Cardinal Brislin warned that one has “to be very careful, and young people must be careful not to be duped into offers that actually lead them into being trafficked.”

The 68-year-old Cardinal is also involved in the Mining and Faith Reflections Initiative (MFRI), and its South African counterpart, Courageous Conversations, which brings together mining companies, trade unions, civil society, and faith leaders. The initiative seeks to promote ethical mining that is sensitive to local communities.

He noted that “this initiative again has its origin in something that Pope Francis asked for.” Reflecting on the global impact of the industry, Cardinal Brislin said, “Mining is a reality throughout the world. Mining creates jobs that build infrastructure, but there has also been a negative impact of mining on local communities.”

Recognising both challenges and opportunities, he explained that “there are certain mining companies who recognise that and say, look, we want to do ethical mining, and therefore they come together with faith leaders, with leaders of civil society, with trade unions in order to build bridges between the community and the mining company.”

“So that any mining endeavour is done as ethically as possible, sensitive to the needs of the local community,” he concluded.