La Salette In Catumbela, Angola

At La Salette, Mary said: “You will make this known to all my people.”

It was 1946, the year of the centenary of the Apparition at La Salette. Eight Swiss La Salette Missionaries were commissioned by the General Council to go to Angola. It was therefore necessary to give the means to these missionaries who said "yes" to this call!
(from left) Fr. Paulino N'Guli, M.S. and Fr. Joaquim Hatewa, M.S.One of these means was first of all learning Portuguese, the official language of Angola. For this, the first missionaries were sent to Lisbon to study Portuguese for three months. Once the language was sufficiently acquired, they took a ship and arrived in Angola on May 31, 1946. Angola was still under the yoke of colonization. They arrived in the territory of New Lisbon.

The bishop of the Diocese of Benguela then entrusted them with the mission to Ganda ... and the bishop of the neighboring Diocese of Lubango in southwest Angola, entrusted them with that of Tchilengue! They gave all their energy to it without counting the cost.

How did they get to Catumbela?

The Mission-Parish of Saint Anthony was founded in 1955 and entrusted to Fr. Manuel Jacinto. The bishop of Benguela entrusted this mission to the Missionaries of La Salette on July 11, 1971. To fulfill this mission, the Superior appointed Frs. Leonard Roos and Emil Frick. The bishop then appointed a young priest, Joaquim Hatewa, who became a missionary at La Salette in 1972. The zeal of these two missionaries was manifested by their apostolic activity in a territory of 4,000 square kilometers or 1,500 square miles, with communities awaiting the Word of God.

Good News for the Poor

Faced with the poverty of these neighborhoods, Fr. Emil built houses for the most underprivileged and in particular with those who worked with the Missionaries. There they developed a social action group which still works with the people.
La Salette Shrine in Lubango ; inset: Fr. Robert Harder, M.S. (1914-2016)
They built a school there, the Minor Seminary of St. Francis Xavier. At the time of Communism it was confiscated and transformed into a public high school, then in 1992, restored by the State, and today run by Diocesan Priests.

In this mission, Fr. Robert Harder, M.S. (1914-2016) founded the community of the Sisters of Saint Catherine of Siena; they have their postulate and their novitiate there, and a health center.

In addition to pastoral work, the Missionaries worked a lot for the poor and especially for the most vulnerable, such as people with physical disabilities. Father Emil Frick (1938-1988) and Ana Angel of the Swiss Lay Association Inter-team built two houses to welcome them: one for boys and the other for girls.
Fr. Roos worked on translating missals, both for Sundays and weekdays, and Sacramental rituals into the language of the Umbundu people. He is also the co-founder of the La Salette Region of Angola. Fr. Emil Frick was the first Regional Superior. Unfortunately he died in a tragic road accident in 1988.

Today, La Salette in Angola is now the Province of Mary, Mother of Peace. Since April of 2015, the Provincial House has been located in Luanda, the capital of Angola.
Some Angolan La Salette MIssionaries in 2019