Text in English / Much of the history of the Roman Catholic Church in Swaziland is conjoined with the history of the Order of the Servants of Mary. Explanations for the historiographical emphasis of this study are plentiful: the Order of the Servants of Mary was the first Catholic missionary group that worked amongst the people of Swaziland and most of the missionaries who had worked in Swaziland, both female and male, belonged to the Order of the Servants of Mary. Although Swaziland was explored by Europeans as early as the nineteenth century, the country's geographical configuration and the fact that it was a British Protectorate have kept Swaziland in the isolated back room of African studies. Consequently, the work done by the first Catholic missionaries has attracted little academic interest. This is why very little is known about the pre-Christian Swaziland. The first Christian missionaries in Swaziland were Methodists who arrived in the country in 1844. When Catholics arrived in the country sixty six years later they understood the Church as Mater et magistra (mother and teacher) forty years before the encyclical, Mater et Magistrd. Their understanding can be deduced from the way they carried out the work of evangelization. The concept of Mater et Magistra caused them to have a paternalistic mentality which kindled in them an exaggerated zeal for souls. The lack of educational institutions in the country made them feel obliged to provide education to the local people. Those educative institutions later became vehicles for propagating Catholicism, which was mingled with European cultures, largely Italian and German. Religious and cultural pluralism, which had been condemned in principle by the homogeneous structure of the Swazi society, became popular in Swaziland under the auspices of the educative institutions established by the Church. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church History)

Lona ngumbiko ngelucwaningo lolwentiwe ngalendzabakati yekufika kweLivangeli eSwatini, liletfwa belumbi labamhlophe lababetitfunywa teliVangeli laMvelinchanti. Kulandzela sembulo inkhosi Somhlolo leyabanaso sivela enkhosini vase Zulwini, titfunywa teliVangeli tatseleka eSwatini ngekumenywa yinkhosi Mswati wesibili. Emkhatsini wato kwakukhona Nkosazana Malla Moe, umsunguli weLibandla LeVangeli eSwatini, lokunguyena lolucwaningo lugcile kakhulu kuye, asahambisa tindzaba taJesu emaSwatini emdzabu. Livetile leliphepha kutsi emaSwati atemukela ngelisasa lelikhulu titfunywa teliVangeli. Ngabe sizatfu lesimcoka lesenta loko kwabakutsi letitfunywa betibapha boshukela, netiswayi, nemasekeni? Cha, kwakujulule kunaloko. Imfihlakalo kwaba kutsi inkholo yemdzabu lecuketse emagugu enhlakanipho elukholo yayise iwuvukutile umhlaba wanotsa, walungelela kutsi lembewu yenkholo yebuKrestu nayi hlanyelwa ichume itsele titselo. EmaSwati abukhandza lobuyanga lobabuvetwa yinkholo yemdzabu bucedzeka ngoba bebusitfunti salokukhulu lokutako. Loko kwenta kutsi noma letitfunywa betinemaphutsa, lebetiwacondzile nalebetingakawacondzi, emaSwati atikhandza letitfunywa kutitja letibutsakatsaka, kodwa letiphetse igolode. Ngekufundza tincwadzi emitapeni leyehlukeni, nanekufuna imivo yebantfu leyehlukene, kubekhona imicondvo letsite lolucwaningo loluyitfolile, leveta lentsambo letsekeleta letinkholo letimbili. Loko kube yinkhomba yekutsi emaSwati attkhandza emukelekile enkholweni yebuKrestu, ase ayayitsatsa lendzaba yeliVangeli yaba ngeyabo nabo. Konkhe loku lokungetulu, kucuketfwe ngemakhasi lasitfupha alolucwalingo. Lamakhasi acale etfule ingcikitsi yalolucwalingo, bese achaza ngalokufinciwe imvelaphi yesive semaSwati nekutsi sikuphi lamuhla, bese etfula inkholo yemdzabu netingoni tayo, kanye nekufika kwenkholo yebuKrestu. Emakhasi lamabili ekugcina atfula imivo yebantfu labehlukene ngebudlelwane emkhatsini waletinkholo letimbili bese ayasonga. Ngineletsemba kutsi lomcukutfu Iona utakuba lusito esiveni semaSwati, kulesitukulwane salamuhla nakusasa, ngoba uveta lolunye luhlangotsi olungenta kutsi liSwati Iibe neligcabho ngemvelaphi yalo, nangenkholo yalo yemdzabu. Futsi nemalunga elibandla leVangeli, kanye neKrestu onkhana atawukwati kutsi lelibandla lichamukaphi. Nalomunye asangachubeka acwalinge kutsi likuphi lamuhla liBandla leVangeli. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

Text in English / Much of the history of the Roman Catholic Church in Swaziland is conjoined with the history of the Order of the Servants of Mary. Explanations for the historiographical emphasis of this study are plentiful: the Order of the Servants of Mary was the first Catholic missionary group that worked amongst the people of Swaziland and most of the missionaries who had worked in Swaziland, both female and male, belonged to the Order of the Servants of Mary. Although Swaziland was explored by Europeans as early as the nineteenth century, the country's geographical configuration and the fact that it was a British Protectorate have kept Swaziland in the isolated back room of African studies. Consequently, the work done by the first Catholic missionaries has attracted little academic interest. This is why very little is known about the pre-Christian Swaziland. The first Christian missionaries in Swaziland were Methodists who arrived in the country in 1844. When Catholics arrived in the country sixty six years later they understood the Church as Mater et magistra (mother and teacher) forty years before the encyclical, Mater et Magistrd. Their understanding can be deduced from the way they carried out the work of evangelization. The concept of Mater et Magistra caused them to have a paternalistic mentality which kindled in them an exaggerated zeal for souls. The lack of educational institutions in the country made them feel obliged to provide education to the local people. Those educative institutions later became vehicles for propagating Catholicism, which was mingled with European cultures, largely Italian and German. Religious and cultural pluralism, which had been condemned in principle by the homogeneous structure of the Swazi society, became popular in Swaziland under the auspices of the educative institutions established by the Church. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D.Th. (Church History)

This thesis attempts to give a sketch of the life of Bishop Mandlenkhosi Zwane (1932-1980) who was bishop of Manzini for only four years. His enemies thought that he was magnificently prevaricating, his friends saw him as plain-dealing and bound by invisible power. Being the first Catholic African Bishop in Swaziland, he brought many changes in the life of the Church. Consecrated to the episcopate when the diocese of Manzini and the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops' Conference urgently needed a leader who would challenge injustice and the lack of authentic African spirituality, Zwane felt compelled to fight for justice and promote inculturation thus building the church. Though at a certain stage he was declared persona non grata by the South African Government; he did not stop helping the victims of injustice, in fact later on in our discussion we will find that Zwane had been at a certain stage branded a politician. He was not interested in political leadership, but he was interested in spiritual leadership. Since he was also interested in social justice some governments in the Southern Africa region felt threatened by his presence. Let us look briefly at the method. For many years Catholics in Swaziland have felt the need for a biography of Bishop Zwane. Surprisingly, no one has yet written the biography of Zwane. Since very little has been written on Zwane, in an endeavour to write his biography I felt compelled to conduct many interviews with some of the people who knew him. This means that for our knowledge of the life and the episcopate of Zwane, we are almost entirely depended upon interviews conducted fourteen years after his tragic death. A tape-recorder and questionnaires have been used. Other people who should have been interviewed have been unintentionally missed. We have made an effort to screen out errors and discrepancies. By far the most important written source for the life of Bishop Zwane is the collections of speeches and writings compiled and published by the Catholic Institute for International Relations. The oral and written sources provide new insight into Zwane's character and philosophy. They also throw certain aspects of his life into new perspective, in particular Zwane's feeling towards the poor whom he adored unequivocally. Our discussion is divided into three chapters. The first chapter deals with inculturation, which seems now to have attracted many people in Africa especially these days when the Church is preparing to enter into the third millennium. Also in that chapter, we shall try to understand how the Church looks at inculturation. Some documents of the Second Vatican and Post-Vatican Council will be used. Our reflection on inculturation will be reintroduced in the third chapter where we will be looking at Bishop Zwane's life. The inculturation we discuss in the first chapter is designed to help the reader understand how the church locks at inculturation. The second chapter looks at the Catholic Church and evangelization in Swaziland. That chapter will help us to understand how the church in Swaziland has carried out the work of evangelization amongst the Swazis. We are going to look briefly at how different religious congregations that engaged themselves in the work of evangelization established themselves in the country. When religious congregations arrived in Swaziland they discovered that there were many social problems. It will be interesting to look how they tried to address these issues as foreign missionaries. That discussion will certainly prepare us to see how Zwane who was the first African Bishop addressed similar problems. After one has understood the different approaches she or he will not hesitate to call Zwane a pioneer. Zwane tried to lay the foundations for the encounter between the Swazi culture and the Gospel. The principal aim of chapter three is to throw light on the life and the episcopate of Zwane. This chapter will consist of a careful study of some of the main issues discussed in the previous chapters such as inculturation, relations between Church and State, and other issues. Also in that chapter we shall see that the Church is one of the institutions that have a strong sense of social responsibility. The Church concern for justice was obvious in many conferences which were held during Zwane's episcopate. Our study on Zwane will enable us to learn how to build a prophetic Church. Finally; we shall be looking at the mysterious death of Bishop Zwane. Many questions have been raised about his death. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.

In 1994, Swaziland celebrated 150 years of Christianity. Three distinct eras are identified in the history of mission-church growth, each of which is related to elitism. 1884 saw the start of missions is Swaziland, but this effort was short-lived. The mission became caught up in internecine warfare, the resident missionary and the Swazi Christian community fled to Natal where the church grew and matured in exile during a period of missionary lacuna in Swaziland itself. After thirty-six years, the missionaries were once again allowed to settle in Swaziland and the church grew rapidly, mainly as a result of the widespread institutional work undertaken. Soon an elite Christian community developed as people came to identify with a mission or church, many of whom had little Christian commitment. In 1%8, Swaziland was granted independence. A return to culture accompanied a strong wave of nationalism. Mission-church growth in this period declined as those, whose commitment to the Christian faith was shallow, returned to culture or joined one of the Independent churches which catered for varying degrees of syncretism The third era outlined in this study is one of secularisation. Family structures were eroded, materialism took hold and the church was in danger of becoming irrelevant. The older churches continue their decline, but new churches, appealing particularly to the new elite, are growing. / Christian spirituality, Church history and Missiology / Th.M.(Missiology)

In 1994, Swaziland celebrated 150 years of Christianity. Three distinct eras are identified in the history of mission-church growth, each of which is related to elitism. 1884 saw the start of missions is Swaziland, but this effort was short-lived. The mission became caught up in internecine warfare, the resident missionary and the Swazi Christian community fled to Natal where the church grew and matured in exile during a period of missionary lacuna in Swaziland itself. After thirty-six years, the missionaries were once again allowed to settle in Swaziland and the church grew rapidly, mainly as a result of the widespread institutional work undertaken. Soon an elite Christian community developed as people came to identify with a mission or church, many of whom had little Christian commitment. In 1%8, Swaziland was granted independence. A return to culture accompanied a strong wave of nationalism. Mission-church growth in this period declined as those, whose commitment to the Christian faith was shallow, returned to culture or joined one of the Independent churches which catered for varying degrees of syncretism The third era outlined in this study is one of secularisation. Family structures were eroded, materialism took hold and the church was in danger of becoming irrelevant. The older churches continue their decline, but new churches, appealing particularly to the new elite, are growing. / Christian spirituality, Church history and Missiology / Th.M.(Missiology)