In 1882, Pfanner, then prior of
Mariastern Abbey, founded a Trappist monastery in
Mariannhill at the invitation of Bishop Charles-Constant Jolivet, OMI, Apostolic Vicar of Natal (later Durban). It grew rapidly and by 1885 was raised to the status of an abbey. Pfanner was elected its first abbot. It engaged in missionary work, establishing a number of mission stations where priests and brothers taught the native
Zulu people to read and trained them in trades and skills such as farming. The missionaries also emphasised learning
Zulu and
Xhosa, and they developed standard Zulu
grammars. In 1892, Pfanner retired and was succeeded by two abbots: Dom Amandus Schoelzig who died in 1900 and then Abbot Gerard Wolpert who died in 1904. In 1904, the abbot of
Gethsemani Abbey, Edmond Obrecht, was appointed by the
Holy See as administrator of Mariannhill. He studied the compatibility between monastic life and missionary work, submitting his report after three years of study. Following his report, the
Sacred Congregation of Propaganda directed Bishop William Miller, OMI, the apostolic vicar of
Transvaal, to facilitate the independence of the Mariannhill monks. A general chapter of Mariannhill monks in 1908 under Bishop Miller recommended that the monks be formed into a missionary society loosely associated with the Trappists. Their new constitutions were approved by
Pope Pius X in March 1914, though further development stalled due to the outbreak of
World War I. After the conclusion of the war, they held their first general chapter in 1920, when they named themselves the Religious Missionaries of Mariannhill and elected Adalbero Fleischer as their first superior general. As their
religious habit, they adopted a black cassock, paired with a red cincture for priests, black cincture for other clerics, and black belt for brothers. In 1946,
Józef Wojaczek from
Prudnik received a decree from the general superior of the congregation naming him provincial superior of the Mariannhillers in Poland. Six years later, Wojaczek was arrested by the
Department of Security and imprisoned. He was paroled in 1955 and settled in West Germany. On 10 March 2019, George Kageche Mukua, a priest of the congregation, died as one of the passengers on board
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.
Pope Francis named a member of the order,
Siegfried Mandla Jwara, archbishop of
Durban on 9 June 2021. == See also ==