Spiritans first set foot on South African soil in 1878. That year Fr. Duparquet took over the Prefecture of Cimbebasia which then comprised parts of Angola, Namibia and Botswana. Conflict and communication difficulties forbade further work, and in 1889, the few Spiritans returned to Germany.

It wasn't until 1923 that Spiritans returned to South Africa, to work with the 821 Catholics that had come there, largely from Europe.  The missionaries faced a large scarcely populated territory, a virtually non-existent Catholic Church; a situation that needed courage, ingenuity and faith in order to be overcome.  The first missionaries were pioneers whose work was characterized by intensive practical activity. They had to be jacks of all trades.

Following the Pioneer Years, 1935 to 1951 

Msgr. Klerlein, C.S.Sp., was appointed Vicar Apostolic and subsequently ordained Bishop on May 30, 1935. It was especially not easy for the mis­sionaries during the Second World War and its aftermath. Most of the priests and brothers spent from nine months to four years in prison camps in Pretoria. Bishop Klerlein was first to be arrested at the beginning of 1940, but he was released shortly afterwards after a well placed Anglican pleaded his case. After their release, the Spiritans were forbidden to do most of their pastoral work among the Blacks. In 1945 this restriction was lifted.

Heralding the Spiritans' Future

In 1951, one year after Peter Kelleter, C.S.Sp., became Bishop, the South African hierarchy was established by papal decree. Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban and Bloemfontein received the status of arch­dioceses and the Vicariate of Bethlehem became the Diocese of Bethlehem. Now the Diocese of Bethlehem was open to other Congregations as well as secular priests.

If you should need to build a chapel or a church, it should always be beautiful,
but never at the expense of the poor (28).

By 1974, 50 years had passed since the first missionaries had arrived in South Africa. We remembered those who had given their lives for the missionary cause. "You are all the seed which fell to the ground from which the Kingdom of God will come"

Bishops Klerlein and Kelleter were Spiritans, but Bishop Bucher was a secular missionary from the Diocese of Regensburg (West Germany). Bishop Bucher tried to continue the work which had been started by the Spiritans, trying to get all the members of the church to participate, in as far as possible. 

 The way forward for the future was defined by the Spiritan General Chapter in 1980, emphasizing:

• A deepening commitment to the poor
• A deepening commitment to the witness of our religious missionary way of life.

To be a Spiritan means, then as now, to be ready to leave your own home and set up a new home anywhere together with many other people. "Go out to the whole world, proclaim the Good News to all creation (Mk 16:15)". For the Spiritans this means their home is the whole world.

 Spiritan Dynamism Regained