[Oe List ...] {Spam?} Re: {Spam?} Katanga crosses

[Charles or Doris Hahn]

Greetings Paul,
In response to your question, I share this.  When we
came to the Order in August 1964, we were told that
Joe brought the "Congolese" cross back with him from a
trip he and Bishop Jim Mathews had made to Africa. 
Someone in the Congo had given it to him as a special
gift.  It was also communicated to him that it had
earlier been used as currency.  Earlier that summer of
1964 when the group decided to formally launch the
order, as a symbol of that launch, they had Frank
Hilliard nail the cross to the wall of the dining room
in the basement dining room of the old faculty west on
the Fifth City campus.  Someone who has been around
longer than I (Fred Buss or David McCleskey, or ?)
might refine this.
Charles.

--- PSchrijnen at aol.com wrote:

> Thank you David, 
>  
> Wonderful to find out more about this cross. I came
> across one of these at  a 
> market outside of Luanda in Angola last year, but
> alas, wasn't able to buy  
> one. They were quit expensive, about $100. Who know
> the story of how, when and  
> why  we picked this symbol for the OE. Where is
> Fred?
>  
> 
> _Katanga crosses_
> (http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/objectmo/ob-9802.htm) 
> were 
> used as currency in the copper  mining region of
> what used to be Zaire, in 
> Africa. They are made of copper and  range from
> about a half-pound to 2.5 popunds. 
> They are also associated with  ritual, as they were
> buried with the dead. The 
> crosses predate Christianity in  the area, but
> missionaries adapted the 
> symbolism of the cross for their own  purposes.
> _Katanga_ 
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katanga)  was an
> independent nation for a brief period,  from
> 1960-1963, 
> during which time they issued new national coins,
> francs, with a  picture of 
> the Katanga cross on them! 
>  (http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/objectmo/ob-9802.htm)
> 
> 
> 
>    
> > _______________________________________________
> OE mailing list
> OE at wedgeblade.net
>
http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/oe_wedgeblade.net
>