African Delegation
The Friar Servants of Mary, United States of America Province has supported missionary activity in Africa since 1948.
The present Prefecture of Ingwavuma consists of the three
large magisterial districts in the northeast corner of the Republic of
South Africa; they are: Ingwavuma, Ubombo, and Hlabisa. In 1938, the
Ingwavuma and Ubombo Districts were given to the Servites of the Tuscan
Province in the ecclesiastical Vicariate of Swaziland. After the Second
World War, Bishop Barneschi of Swaziland asked for and got three
American Servites to help him; they were: Fr. Edwin Kinch, Fr. Michael
Delahanty and Brother Tim Culhane.
In June of 1947, these three arrived in Swaziland and the
following year moved to Ingwavuma to found a mission station there. Two
more American Servites were sent to Swaziland in 1948, and they too
moved to Ingwavuma during 1949. In 1950 a new mission station was
started at Maputa, about 65 miles east of Ingwavuma, on the Indian Ocean
Coast. During the following year, the Hlabisa District was given by the
Bishop of Eshowe to the care of the American Servites and a mission was
started there.
The Zululand foundation is presently composed of four mission
communities: Hlabisa, where the Bishop lives and the Apostolate
Vicariate cathedral is located; Ingwavuma, the initial foundation and
the location of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sorrows which attracts a
lot of people; Ngwanase, near the border of Mozambique, is the location
of the Star of the Sea High School, a school that is held in very high
esteem throughout South Africa; Mtubatuba, which has become the most
important city of the zone; and Ubombo, home of the St. Alexis Mission.
The missions could always use your help. If you are interested
in assisting the Servite missions, please contact the Servite Mission
Procurator at:
Servite Provincial Center
3121 West Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60612-2729
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