THE BLACK CHRIST

This was the work of Ronald Harrison, a young artist resident in the parish at the time. As a protest against the apartheid regime, he painted a scene of the crucifixion of our Lord, with Christ depicted as Albert Lithuli, and two of the Roman soldiers depicted as Hendrick Verwoed and John Vorster (at the time Prime Minister and minister of the interior respectively). This painting was, on the advice of the then Archbishop of Cape Town, The Most Revd Joost De Blank, displayed in the St Luke’s Church by Father Percival Clough, Parish Priest at the the time. Such a painting, as can be imagined, brought the wrath of the then government down on both the artist and on the Parish. The artist was detained and tortured by the security police, while Fr Clough was questioned by the police and threatened with arrest. The painting was declared undesirable by the Film and Publications control board and the security police attempted to locate it and destroy it. The painting was, however, smuggled out of the country and displayed in St Paul's Cathedral in London, as a witness to the struggle against apartheid.

The “Black Christ” returned to South Africa in 1997 and was unveiled at a celebration of Solemn Evensong in St George's Cathedral, Cape Town, by the Most Revd Njongonkulu Ndungane, Archbishop of Cape Town. The painting now hangs in the National Gallery in Cape Town.

A replica of the Black Christ, together with a description of its remarkable pilgrimage was donated to the parish by the artist, Mr Ronald Harrison and unveiled during High Mass on the Sunday within the octave of the Feast of St Luke 2004 by Mr Harrison, who also addressed the congregation.