From August 17 to 27, 2024, Bishop Rudolf Nyandoro, Bishop of Gweru, and Bishop Raymond Tapiwa Mupa, Bishop of Masvingo, visited the Missionaries of Bethlehem in Immensee and Fribourg.
In 2020, the Holy Father appointed Bishop Rudolf Nyandoro, then Bishop of Gokwe (since 2017), as the new Bishop of Gweru, Zimbabwe. Born in Gweru in 1968, he studied theology in Harare and was ordained a priest in 1998. In 2015, he obtained a PhD in pastoral counselling from the University of South Africa. Bishop Nyandoro has held various pastoral roles in the Diocese of Masvingo: vicar at Mukaru Mission (1999), cathedral administrator (2000-2006), rector of the minor seminary (2007-2009), and director of Bondolfi Teachers’ College (2010-2015).
Bishop Raymond Tapiwa Mupa, Bishop of Masvingo, was born on April 28, 1970, in Tamirepi, in the Diocese of Masvingo. After his priestly ordination, he served as parish vicar in Harare, Mabvuku, and Tafara. From 2015 to 2017, he was regional superior of the Redemptorist Fathers in Harare. He was appointed Bishop of Chinhoyi Diocese on December 30, 2017, before becoming Bishop of Masvingo last year.
For the SMB, this visit by the leaders from the former mission country of the Swiss Missionaries of Bethlehem, as well as the bishops of the dioceses founded by the SMB, was an emotional event.
The significance of this visit is even greater because, in 2022, Bishop Rudolf Nyandoro requested the SMB General Council to revive the presence of the Missionaries of Bethlehem in his diocese. The 2023 General Chapter decided to respond favorably to this request, thus beginning the recruitment of new vocations in Zimbabwe and other African countries. In April 2024, the first novitiate, with candidates from Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Congo, officially opened at the regional house in Driefontein.
Following the recent canonical visit of Fr. Ludovic Nobel, SMB Superior General, to Zimbabwe in July this year, Jean de Dieu Twagirimana, a Rwandan student in Fribourg who accompanied Fr. Nobel, produced a film about this revitalization of the SMB in Africa. We invite you to watch this film.
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