From Here We Shall Never Move. These were the words inscribed almost a century ago onto a cross and mounted on a mulberry tree in a small village to the northwest of Pretoria by Fr Camillus De Hovre OMI.
The Belgian Oblate priest could not have known how these words would act as a forecast to the significance of the Most Holy Redeemer mission in the history of the Catholic Church in Pretoria, and in South Africa in general.
The original church building of the Most Holy Redeemer built in 1921
In January 2021, the mission in Mmakau Village will reach a century of existence. It is a centenary steeped in important historical milestones, particularly in the spread of the Catholic faith in Pretoria and beyond.
The beginnings of the mission run parallel to the evangelisation of indigenous African communities in the early to middle 20th century in South Africa.
In essence, its founding is a direct manifestation of the wishes of Bishop Eugène de Mazenod, the founder of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate Fathers.
“It is to the indigenous communities that you have been sent. It is their conversion which the Church expects of the Holy Ministry which has been bestowed upon...
