The Diocese of Mutare & The Carmelites in Zimbabwe - the Irish ...

somewhat larger to accommodate the huge Catholic population of Sakubva. The people of Sakubva subscribed six
hundred pounds towards the building which was a huge amount of money in those days.
The people also cleared the ground for the building and during the month before the opening of the church, they
battled to get the surrounding grounds in order. The work entailed the shifting by hand of thousands of barrows of
clay from one side of the church and putting in of drains. According to one account: “Everybody has hard at work
and another hour’s work would have seen things fairly neat when hurricane ‘Katie’ struck. From then onwards it
was ‘operation mud’ as we tried desperately to clear mud and water and make a path around the church to
enable Father Meagher, in the absence of Bishop Lamont, to walk round it during the blessing.
Eventually planks were used and on Sunday the rain stopped for the blessing. We were indeed blessed because
immediately we were finished, a terrific shower came down”. There had been a near-tragedy the day before when
Father Coughlan at six in the morning was driving to Saint Joseph’s Mission to say Mass at the Sister’s convent.
When crossing the concrete drift over the Sakubva river, his car was suddenly swept away in the strong current.
Father managed to get out of the car but was carried a long distance downstream. He managed to pull himself
out of the water and walk to Saint Josephs. It was a lucky escape for Father Coughlan and he even got some dry
clothes to put on at the Mission!!
Every Mission can boast of one good storm, be it rain, wind or lightning hitting it and Saint Joseph’s is no
exception. On Holy Thursday of 1962 a shower of hailstones hit the mission and broke over fifty window panes.
(In recent times, middle of December 2009 a violent storm struck Saint Joseph’s Mission and
destroyed the Priest’s house, roofs of both schools and parts of the security wall around the Mission.
The entire roof of the Father’s house was blown off and because of the heavy rain, the entire house
had to be repainted. Another lucky escape for Father Martin O’Regan who was inside the house
when the storm hit!!)
The Scapular Confraternity was and is very strong at Saint Joseph’s Mission. The uniform of the Scapular
Confraternity has been modified in modern times, in years past the members were like sisters, with long flowing
garments, blue veils and wore very large scapulars. The members did and continue to attend Mass on Saturday
mornings and have their meetings on a Tuesday afternoon.
The Sisters from the Netherlands build a large hall at Saint Joseph’s Mission, the intention at first was to use the
hall for youth gatherings, this took place of course and in time the hall was used for many purposes.
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The Jesuits and early Carmelites served the people of Sakubva from the Town Parish and later at
Saint Roberts. The Carmelites have been at Saint Joseph’s Mission since the beginning of the
Mission, 1958. The Sisters of Charity from The Netherlands came to Saint Josephs during 1958 and
left the Mission during 1990 and lived in Mutare until they returned to The Netherlands during
1994. The Dominican Sisters returned to Mutare, to Saint Joseph’s Mission during 1990 and took
over the running of the TB Hospital and many Dominican Sisters have served at the hospital to date.
Since 1990 other Dominican Sisters have taught at the Primary School and High School at Saint
Josephs. Sister Hildeberta helped many a soul during her home visits in Sakubva. The Hospital at
Saint Josephs is no longer a TB Hospital, it became a General Hospital during 2010 and continues to
be administered by the Dominican Sisters. The Dominican Sisters are also serving at Regina Coeli
Mission Hospital in the Diocese of Mutare since 1996. Like Saint Joseph’s Mission, other Dominican
Sisters have been active in the High School since 1996.
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