Copy correspondence of Fr. Melchor a Benisa OFM Cap., Fr. Clement Neubauer OFM Cap., and Fr. Paschal Rywalski OFM Cap., General Ministers, to Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap., Fr. Conrad O’Donovan OFM Cap., and Fr. Berard Creed OFM Cap., Provincial Ministers, re the status of the Irish Capuchin missions in Africa. Reference is made to the request made by Bishop John Colburn Garner, Vicar Apostolic of Pretoria, seeking more priests to work in South Africa (see CA AMI/1/6/7). Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap. wrote: ‘We felt that this arrangement with Bishop Garner will lead to an expansion of our work in South Africa’ (21 Dec. 1948). The possibility of separating the mission in Cape Town from that in Rhodesia is also discussed (31 Oct. 1950). Fr. Clement Neubauer OFM Cap. later referred to the establishment of Cape Town as a ‘separate mission’ and to the appointment of a Regular Superior (25 Nov. 1968). See also CA AMI/2/5/7.
Copybook containing notes by Fr. Conrad O’Donovan OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, for his visitation to the Capuchin missions in Northern Rhodesia and in South Africa. The volume includes notes re meetings with regular superiors, individual friars, horariums, local customs, school and church constructions, baptisms, and other aspects of general missionary work.
Letters from Bishop Francis Henneman SAC (1882-1951), Vicar Apostolic of the Cape of Good Hope, Western District, later Vicar Apostolic of Cape Town, to Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap. and Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Ministers. The letters refer to requests for the Irish Capuchins to take over missionary outstations including those at Matroosfontein and in the Welcome Estate.
Accounts, publicity material (catalogue) and correspondence relating to the Foreign Missionary Exhibition held at 86 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, 17-25 June 1932. The official catalogue includes a list of items displayed by the friars relating to their missionary work in Africa and a photographic print of the Capuchin exhibition stand. The file also includes display cards and captions for the artefacts exhibited by the Capuchins at the event. The caption cards read as follows: Witch Doctor’s Charms Native Arrow Royal Barge (Nalikwanda) / Paramount Chief and Four Paddlers Native Dance Mask Native Drum Native Whip / (Made from the hide of the hippopotamus) Model of Victoria Falls Capuchin Mission Church, Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia A Model of a Mission Compound Drawings and Carving by Children / South Africa Carving in Ivory / Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia Native Hut used as church at first out-station Model of Motor Lorry / made with a penknife by one of the natives Model of Hospital / lent by Sodality of St. Peter Claver, 49 North Great George’s Street, Dublin
Ledger of loans and monies supplied to the Irish Capuchin missions in Africa compiled by Fr. Kieran O’Callaghan OFM Cap., Provincial Secretary. The ledger includes records of money supplied to Fr. Alban Cullen OFM Cap. and Fr. Oliver O’Hanlon OFM Cap. to build parish churches in Athlone and Parow, Cape Town, in March 1933. £1,700 was given to Monsignor Killian Flynn OFM Cap. to build a friary (14 June 1937), and £1,000 was given to Fr. Casimir Butler OFM Cap. for Livingstone Church in Northern Rhodesia. The accounts also include monies derived from the Seraphic Mass Association (SMA) from Aug. 1931-Jan. 1935. The accounts are signed are by Fr. Edwin Fitzgibbon OFM Cap. Provincial Minister, 10 Aug. 1937.
A record of travelling expenses incurred by Irish Capuchin missionaries in Africa. The list was compiled by Fr. Giles Fitzgerald OFM Cap., Provincial Bursar, Church Street, Dublin.
Publication by Fr. James O’Mahony OFM Cap. on the Irish Capuchin mission in Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia. Published by 'The Father Mathew Record' Office, Dublin. The book summarizes Fr. O’Mahony’s experiences during a visitation to the Cape Province (South Africa) and to Northern Rhodesia in 1935. The chapter headings are: A new venture; the missionary idea; mysterious Africa; gateway of the Cape; from the Cape to Livingstone; the Barotse people; exploring; to Mongu; the religious of the Barotse.
A documentary history by Fr. Marcellus Carroll OFM Cap. referring to the arrival of the Irish Capuchins in South Africa and to their early work in Cape Town. The preface notes that the booklet was not intended for publication. His primary sources were the ‘writings of the late Fr. Kevin Lenaghan SJ, the now defunct "Catholic Magazine", and the "Southern Cross", and the archives in the Chancery in Cape Town, and those of Parow and Athlone parishes’. The documents relate primarily the period from 1929-40, but reference is also made to developments up to the late 1970s.
Booklet by Fr. Owen O’Sullivan OFM Cap. providing a brief history of the Irish Capuchin missions in Africa. The publication is divided into the following sections: A seed is sown; Key points in the Irish Capuchin Mission to South Africa; Irish Capuchin Mission in the Cape Flats; List of Capuchins on Missionary Work in Cape Town, March 1980; Growth and development of Missionary Work in Zambia; Mission stations in the Diocese of Livingstone; List of Capuchins involved in missionary work in the Diocese of Livingstone.
File relating to the procedures for applications for temporary and permanent residency permits in South Africa. The file includes copy correspondence from the Most Rev. John T. Dunkin, Bishop of Louis Trichardt-Tzaneen, and circulars from the South African Catholic Bishops’ Conference to the Major Religious Superiors and Local Ordinaries. The documents refer to the difficulties encountered by Catholic religious in obtaining permits to work in Apartheid-era South Africa. One of the circulars affirms that ‘if asked, state that you are to minister to Whites … in such and such an area. It is recommended that you do NOT state that you are coming to minister to Blacks’.