Benedict Daswa beatified

South African schoolteacher Benedict Daswa, left, who was beaten to death 25 years ago for resisting witchcraft, was beatified last Sunday. He was proclaimed “blessed” in an apostolic letter read out by Italian Cardinal Angelo Amato to some 30,000 attending Mass in Limpopo province, and was described as giving “heroic witness to the Gospel”. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa urged at the ceremony that “this day be the day when we say ritual killings must come to an end”. Daswa’s 91-year-old mother and eight children were present.