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Leonard Ncube 

THE Catholic Church in present day Archdiocese of Bulawayo is celebrating 140 years since the first missionaries arrived in Matabeleland in 1879.

Archbishop Alex Thomas, who is the third Archbishop since the diocese was elevated into a Metropolitan in 1994, said between 15 000 and 20 000 faithfuls are expected at a thanksgiving mass to be held tomorrow at Our Lady of Fatima pilgrimage in Pumula suburb.

“This will be a memorable thanksgiving mass where we expect between 15 000 and 20 000 faithfuls to attend as we celebrate the grace that God has blessed our Archdiocese with,” he said.

The history of the church in Matabeleland dates back to the arrival of first priests: Father Depelchin, Father Augustus Law and Brother De Sadeleer in Bulawayo in 1879 where they established the first mission near King Lobengula’s royal residence and called it the Mission of the Sacred Heart.

At that time, Bulawayo and the whole of Matabeleland was called Zambezi Mission as it was part of the extensive Zambezi Mission area stretching from Limpopo River incorporating the whole of Southern and Northern Rhodesia now Zimbabwe and Zambia respectively, Botswana and Mozambique and was under the care of the Jesuits.

King Lobengula, who was interested in the trades the priests could teach his people but not their religion which he felt would undermine his influence, ordered that his royal residence be burnt down in 1881 as he was moving to a new site. The Jesuit priests remained behind at Old Bulawayo which is now a national monument with a small portion of it reserved for the Catholic Church where a commemorative cross and altar were erected.

In 1885 Father Peter Prestige joined and scouted for a good location for Empandeni Mission where the Jesuit fathers were given permission by King Lobengula to start teaching new skills to his people.

However, because of political unrest, Empandeni closed in 1886 before being re-opened a year later closer to where present day St Francis Xavier at Empandeni is.

Chronicling the history of the church, Archbishop Alex said the Catholic Church focused not only on religious life but on socio-economic growth.

“The church struggled on in Bulawayo and as population grew, so did the need for education,” he said.

The Catholic Church stands as a beacon of enlightenment with regards to both spiritual and contribution to community development as it has several schools and health institutions dotted countrywide.

The first school to be built in Bulawayo was St George’s Boys School in 1896. It had a chapel which was used during the week and for Holy Mass on Sundays.

As the need for education grew, so did the need for bigger space and a bigger school was built at the corner of 10th Avenue and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street, which remains the iconic St George’s Building. 

St Mary’s Cathedral was built in 1901 on Lobengula Street and was opened by Prefect Apostolic Monsignor Richard Sykes.

At that time, there were only three missions and one town parish namely, St Patrick’s, in Makokoba. The Cathedral was raised to a status of a Minor Basilica on May 6, 2013.

In 1927, Northern Rhodesia became a prefecture Apostolic (region) thereby reducing the size of the Zambezi Mission territory.

This was followed by territorial division of Southern Rhodesia where the Marianhill administered northern parts covering Mashonaland while the Jesuits covered the southern parts comprising Matabeleland.

Because the Marianhill priests were used to working with Zulu communities south of the Limpopo, an arrangement was made that the two swop and the Marianhill moved to Matabeleland in 1930.

Bulawayo was then elevated to a Vicariate Apostolic in 1937 covering all southern parts of the country.

In 1953, Hwange and areas north of Tshangani River were cut off to form Wankie Prefecture.

Botswana was also officially established as Prefecture Apostolic in 1955 before being cut off from the Zambezi Mission in 1959, further reducing the size of the Bulawayo Vicariate, which became a Diocese in the same year.

On June 10, 1994 the Diocese of Bulawayo was elevated to a Metropolitan leaving out Gweru and Hwange.

Pope John Paul II appointed Reverend Henry Karlen as the first Archbishop for Bulawayo.

The Archdiocese covers Tsholotsho, Nyamandlovu, parts of Lupane and Nkayi in Matabeleland North while in Matabeleland South it borders along Tshangani River taking Insiza, Umzingwane, Gwanda, Beitbridge west of Umzingwane River, Matobo, Mangwe and Bulilima including Plumtree town.

Archbishop Alex said the Archdiocese has 131 priests, dozens of religious sisters and nine brothers all drawn locally and across the globe.

Dominican Sisters arrived in 1894 and started building Dominican Convent in 1895. Sisters of Notre Dame arrived in 1899 and helped in the building of Empandeni, Embakwe and St Bernard’s schools. Precious Blood Sisters arrived in 1932 and helped at Empandeni School and Brunapeg Hospital. The Franciscan Missionaries of Divine Motherhood (F.M.D.M Sisters) arrived in 1950 and were instrumental in the building of Mater Dei Hospital which was completed in 1953 and still run the hospital to date.

The Ancillae Mariae Regina sisters were established locally by Bishop Adolf Schmitt in 1956.

In 1956, the Christian Brothers from CBC in South Africa opened the CBC School while Oblates of Mary Immaculate came in 1982. Divine Word Missionaries arrived in 1987 and run their own formation and printing house at St Theresa Mission in Plumtree which prints catechetical teaching aids, hymn books, and prayer books for the church. There are also Orders Friars Minor Capuchins who came in 1989 and are domiciled in town.

Archbishop Alex said the religious personnel have always been key to evangelisation while focus at the moment is on quality of faith and service.

“Lay missionaries in the form of builders, nurses, teachers, engineers and doctors have all contributed in the past 140 years to make the Archdiocese of Bulawayo what it is today and so the Catholic Church is alive and flourishing in Bulawayo and its environs,” he said.

Institutions directly under the Archdiocese of Bulawayo include AMR Primary School, Amandlethu Girls High, Regina Mundi Primary and secondary all in Lupane, Magama primary and secondary in Tsholotsho, Nkayi primary and pre-school, all in Matabeleland North.

 In Matabeleland South there is Empandeni primary, secondary and vocational training, Embakwe primary and secondary, St Francis Primary Tshitshi all outside Plumtree, Brunapeg primary, St Joseph’s primary, Minda pre-school, primary and secondary in Maphisa, Sacred Heart primary and high school in Esigodini, Ekusileni primary and secondary in Filabusi, Dominican Convent primary and high school in Bulawayo, St Martin pre-school in Emganwini, St Padro Pio pre-school in Entumbane, Christ the King pre-school in Hillside, Adolph Schmitt nursery and St Thomas Aquinas primary in Khumalo.

There is also St Patrick’s primary in Makokoba, C.B.C in Matsheumhlophe, St Pius Nursery training and Enkanyisweni in Njube, St Bernards primary and secondary which act as minor seminary in Pumula. There is also St Luke’s nurses’ training school in Lupane.

Health institutions include St Luke’s Hospital, Brunapeg Hospital, Empandeni Clinic, Embakwe Clinic, St Joseph’s Clinic, while F.M.D.M Sisters remain Mater Dei Hospital.

In total, the church has 27 parishes, 20 missions, nine pre-schools, 16 primary schools, 13 secondary schools, three vocational training centres, two nurse training schools, two hospitals and three clinics.

Archbishop Alex said the health institutions treated 33 000 people last year alone. — @ncubeleon