The history of the parishes in the Diocese of Eshowe
The French Oblate priest Fr. Anselme Rousset (1862-1938) began his missionary work at Emoyeni in November 1895. He was joined by Fr. David Bryant (18651953) of Mariannhill in October 1896. About a year later, Fr. Bryant acquired a four-hectare mission site at the foothills of the Ngoye and began to build a new mission which he dedicated to Saint Joseph. He called the place Ebuhleni, "one of the loveliest sights in all South Africa" (Catholics in Natal II, pg. 223). The first Mass was held there at the end of December, 1898. It was a big attraction to the local Zulus. Sometimes up to two hundred people came to Mass.
Bryant built a small house for himself and a school which opened its doors in February 1899. Dominican Sisters from Newcastle arrived at Ebuhleni in the same year and helped Bryant to run the school. Bishop Charles Jolivet, the Vicar Apostolic of Natal, sent the Zulu priest Fr. Edward Mnganga (18721945; ordained 1898) to assist Fr. Bryant. However, Fr. Mnganga stayed only a few years. Anticipating a major missionary development in Ebuhleni, Bishop Jolivet invited the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary to Zululand. Sisters of that community came to Ebuhleni in 1903 and replaced the Dominican Sisters of Newcastle.
Bryant spent about nine years at Ebuhleni. During that time he collected material for a Zulu dictionary and for a history of the Zulu people. In 1906, he left his mission on the Ongoye Hills and returned to Mariannhill. Ebuhleni then became an outstation of Emoyeni. Referring to this first mission enterprise in Ebuhleni, the chronicler of Emoyeni writes (1924, pg. 10): "Fr. A. T. Bryant and Fr. Edward Mnganga tried very hard to win the people of the Ongoye Mountains to the ideals of Christianity. They still lived a rather wild life, completely uninfluenced by Christian civilization. Unforseen circumstances forced them to give up the mission."
With the arrival of Franciscan missionaries in Zululand in 1960 it was possible to open the mission in Ebuhleni once again. Fr. Patrick Mühlbauer OSB (18821975) moved into the old mission house on January 12, 1960. The following day, three Twasana Sisters arrived and began to work in the school and in the clinic. A new church was built in 1966/67 which was blessed in September 1967. The next project was a convent. A building contractor from Empangeni erected the building in 1975/76. It was designed in the shape of a horse-shoe. Bishop Mansuet Biyase blessed it on December 16, 1976.
The parish of Ebuhleni had about one thousand Catholics in 1980. The number increased to about two thousand in 1990. Three outstations belong to the parish. When Fr. Gerard Ndlovu was appointed bishop of Umzimkulu in December 1986, the bishop instructed the parish priest of Esikhaweni to take care of the Ebuhleni parish. Ebuhleni was left without a resident priest until January 1974 when Fr. Makhosonke Romanus Zwane was appointed priest in charge of the St. Joseph's parish, Ebuhleni.
Parish Priests of Ebuhleni
This page was last updarted on 12.06.02 16:59:05