Denis Hurley Centre opens in Durban

The Denis Hurley Centre named after the late Archbishop of Durban, South Africa, was officially opened on the centenary of his birth, 9 November, writes Munyaradzi Makoni. “The significance of this centre is that it is a living legacy to Archbishop Denis Hurley (pictured right), who was bishop and archbishop for 45 years,” Hurley’s biographer and the chairman of the centre, Paddy Kearney told The Tablet.

“The sort of projects we have would be exactly the sort of thing Archbishop Hurley was calling for,” said Kearney.

The £1.5m (32m rand) centre has a refugee office, a feeding scheme with showers and clean clothes for homeless people, a clinic specialising in HIV/AIDS and a sewing training group.

“The centre will principally be used by poor and vulnerable groups in central Durban, the local NGOs for workshops and seminars and the cathedral parishioners for meetings of the many organisations in the parish, as well as for religious education on Sundays for over 200 young people,” he said.

Kearney said the construction of the four-storey building was funded by contributions from organisations including, the German Catholic agency, Misereor, the KwaZulu-Natal province, and Caritas England and Wales.