The history of the parishes in the Diocese of Eshowe

Mondlo

(1967)

Mondlo was established in 1956 in the so-called Kwazulu homeland (= area reserved for the Zulus), about thirty kilometres south­east of Vryheid. The idea behind it was to remove black people from white farms or towns and to move them to their respective homelands, i.e. areas set aside by the government exclusively for Blacks. Mondlo had a population of about five thousand in 1965. The number of people who settled in Mondlo grew rapidly in the next twenty years. The infrastructure originally provided for the town was not at all adequate to cope with the influx of people. As a result, a large section of Mondlo consists of informal, squatter type housing without water, electricity and proper roads. The total population of Mondlo was estimated at about fifty to sixty thousand in 1990.

In 1964, Mark Hussey, the Pretoria architect responsible for designing so many churches for the Catholics of Zululand, drew up plans for a church in Mondlo. The original design was slightly changed by Fr. Kunibert Reisinger who looked after Mondlo as parish priest of Cassino. Construction work started in January 1965. By the end of the year, the church and the adjoining priest's house were completed. Bishop Bilgeri opened and blessed the church on April 11, 1966 (cf. annals of Little Flower). Fr. Johannes Kubheka was appointed as the first resident priest in the town. He took over the parish on April 1, 1967.

The St. Raphael's Parish in Mondlo had eleven outstations with a total of 4400 Catholics in 1990. Some of these are much older than Mondlo. The school-chapel at Shalala near Bloodriver, was already built in 1942 and another one at Mphazima in 1958. Fr. Richard Multerer erected a small church at Esiduleni in 1980. Fr. Norbert Röhm built a proper church at Emvunyane in 1991 and had the church in Mondlo thoroughly renovated. The St. Raphael's Parish was looked after by priests from Cassino and Inkamana respectively after Fr. Kubheka had been appointed parish priest of Nkandla and had left Mondlo in January 1980.

Parish Priest's of St. Raphael's Parish, Mondlo

  1. Kunibert Reisinger OSB 1963 ­ March 1967
  2. Johannes Kubheka April 1967 ­ Jan. 1980
  3. Richard Multerer OSB Feb. 1980 ­ March 1985
  4. Victor Makhetha April 1985 ­ Feb. 1987
  5. Godfrey Sieber OSB Feb. 1987 ­ May 1987
  6. Hermenegild Maier OSB May 1987 ­ July 1988
  7. Thomas Lazarus OSB July 1988 ­ Nov. 1988
  8. Hermenegild Maier OSB Nov. 1988 ­ Sept. 1989
  9. Norbert Röhm OSB Sept. 1989 ­ Aug. 1993
  10. Hermenegild Maier OSB Sept. 1993 - Dec. 1993
  11. Leo Eireiner OSB Jan. 1994 -

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