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world news Diabierna 11 Juni 2021
Mystery over claim world’s 1st ‘decuplets’ born in S. Africa

(AP) — South Africa has news is true.
been gripped by the mys- “For her to receive 10 bless- The Pretoria News initially
tery of whether a woman ings at one given time, we broke the story with an in-
has, as has been claimed, thank God for that,” Wilson terview with Sithole and
actually given birth to 10 Machaya, a neighbor of the her husband Tsotetsi at their
babies, in what would then family in Tembisa, told The home, which was conducted
be the world’s first record- Associated Press. “And be- nearly a month ago and when
ed case of decuplets. cause we are neighbors we they thought they were hav-
will have to assist in any way ing eight babies. They re-
Gosiame Thamara Sithole possible.” quested that the story only
from the Tembisa township be published after the babies
near Johannesburg gave birth A Malian woman gave birth were born for safety and cul-
to the babies on Monday, ac- to nine babies only last tural reasons, the newspaper
cording to the Pretoria News month in Morocco, in what said.
newspaper which quoted the was hailed as the world’s first
parents. The babies — seven case of nonuplets. According to the report, Sit-
boys and three girls — have “Tembisa 10” is indeed true. am happy. I am emotional,” hole went on leave earlier
not made a public appearance The Department of So- than expected from her job as
the newspaper quoted Tso-
or been captured on camera, The father, Teboho Tsotetsi, tetsi as saying. cial Development in South a retail store manager because
although they were born pre- Africa’s Gauteng province she could no longer cope.
maturely, the newspaper re- told the paper his wife had confirmed tracing Sithole Tsotetsi is unemployed.
given birth in a hospital in The couple already have
ported. and spokeswoman Feziwe
the capital Pretoria. He said 6-year-old twins, which Ndwayana said they would One organization has given
The South African govern- it was a big surprise for the would make the total an even make an announcement af- $70,000 to the couple to help
ment said it is still trying to parents after doctors only dozen kids, if the claim is ter meeting with the family. and other South Africans are
detected eight babies in pre-
true.
verify the claim. Another local government being encouraged to donate.
natal scans. South Africans are eagerly department said earlier this
That’s led to South Africans waiting for proof of what week that it had no record Alongside #Tembisa10, the
obsessing on social media “It’s seven boys and three would be a world record. of the babies’ births in any of term #NationalBabyShower
girls. She was seven months Relatives and neighbors of
over whether the story of the the province’s hospitals. has been trending on Twitter.
and seven days pregnant. I the couple have insisted the
Pope rejects German cardinal’s resignation, urges reform

abuse crisis. The “Synodal its radical impact. Marx, the In 2018, a church-commis-
Path” has sparked fierce re- group said in a statement, sioned report concluded
sistance inside Germany and had targeted the responsibil- at least 3,677 people were
beyond, primarily from con- ity of all bishops — including abused by clergy in Germa-
servatives opposed to open- the pope — for the church’s ny between 1946 and 2014.
ing any debate on issues such “system of abuse and cover- More than half of the victims
as priestly celibacy, women’s ups.” were 13 or younger and near-
role in the church and homo- ly a third were altar boys.
sexuality. The group said the pope
should have listened to Ger- Earlier this year, another
The speed with which Fran- man victims before making report came out about the
cis resoundingly rejected his decision. church officials’ handling of
Marx’s offer to resign was cu- alleged sexual abuse in the
rious and suggested the dra- Marx, for his part, said in a country’s western Cologne
ma might have been some- statement he was “surprised” diocese. The archbishop of
what choreographed, perhaps by both the speed and the Hamburg, a former Cologne
to give Marx backing for the content of the pope’s re- church official who was fault-
reforms. sponse, and accepted it out ed in that report, offered his
of obedience. But he said he resignation and was granted
Marx had said he had been still felt the need to personal- a “time out” of unspecified
thinking about resigning for ly carry responsibility for the length.
several months and had dis- crisis and would find a way
cussed it with Francis. He to contribute to the necessary But significantly, the arch-
(AP) — Pope Francis re- resignation and told Marx, said he decided to publish his renewal. bishop of Cologne, Cardinal
fused Thursday to let Ger- one of the pope’s closest ad- resignation letter June 4, after Rainer Maria Woelki, who
man Cardinal Reinhard visers, that he must continue Francis gave him permission. In his letter, Francis said ev- was cleared of wrongdoing
Marx resign over the sex as archbishop and “shepherd ery bishop must take person- by the report but remains
abuse scandal in the Ger- my sheep.” Within a week, Francis had al and collective responsibili- under pressure for his han-
man Church, but said a published his response, with ty for the institution’s failures dling of the issue, refused to
process of reform was nec- Francis said what was neces- the correspondence between to protect young people from step aside. Francis recently
essary and that every bish- sary instead was a process of both men being made public sexual predators, and that do- authorized a Vatican investi-
op must take responsibil- reform “that doesn’t consist in a variety of languages. ing so inherently puts the in- gation into the archdiocese’s
ity for the “catastrophe” in words but attitudes that Francis’ decision to keep stitution in crisis. handling of abuse cases.
of the crisis. have the courage of putting Marx on was welcomed by Marx himself has not been
oneself in crisis, of assuming the head of the influential The German church, one of implicated in any of the in-
Francis wrote a letter to Marx reality regardless of the con- German lay group ZdK, or the wealthiest in the world, is vestigative reports to date,
to respond to his bombshell sequences.” Central Committee of Ger- the latest to face a reckoning but he said all members of
announcement last week that man Catholics, which is en- over the abuse scandal, after the hierarchy shared blame
he had offered to resign as Francis’ letter appeared to gaged in the reform process. institutional reports made for the failures. A report is
archbishop of Munich and give Marx papal backing But a prominent group rep- clear that thousands were expected this summer about
Freising over the church’s to proceed with the Ger- resenting German clergy victimized by priests and the handling of sexual abuse
mishandling of abuse cases. man Church’s controver- abuse survivors, Eckiger the hierarchy covered up the cases in Marx’s archdiocese.
sial reform process that was Tisch, said Francis’ decision crimes for decades.
Francis refused to accept the launched as a response to the had deprived Marx’s offer of