Mariannhillers

The Missionary Order of Mariannhill is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of the Roman Catholic Church founded in 1909 by Franz Pfanner, an Austrian Trappist monk. The name of the order come from Mariannhill, a little suburb near Pinetown in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

Formation of the Missionary Order of Mariannhill

In 1906 Pope Pius X approved the constitutions of the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood. In 1909, a few months before Pfanner's death, the Holy See, at the petition of the Trappists of Mariannhill, made a considerable change in their status. The Cistercian Rule in its rigour, for which Abbot Pfanner was most zealous, was found to be an obstacle to missionary development in some particulars. Hence they were given a milder rule and separated from the Trappist Order by official decree. They became a missionary Order in their own right, the Missionary Order of Mariannhill.

The members of the congregation are exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary of the diocese and take simple, but perpetual, vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, to dedicate the entire life to the missions.

Membership

There at present number about 60 priests, with 260 choir-religious and lay-brothers. From its foundation until 1 January 1910, nearly 20,000 persons, mostly adults, have been baptized in the 55 churches and chapels scattered throughout the 26 missions and stations.

External links

• Official web site
• Official web site South Africa
• Order of Mariannhill in French
• Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill from Catholic Encyclopedia
• Christian History Institute