St. Benedict's Abbey
Monastery founded as a mission station in 1898
erected as Abbatia Nullius on 23 December 1931
raised to Diocese of Songea and reduced to status as simple Abbey
on 6 February 1969
The Abbey Church
The Monastery
St. Benedict's Abbey
P. O. Peramiho
Phone / Fax +255 635 2917
The Abbey Church
In 1887 the Benedictines of St. Ottilien were entrusted with the evangelization of the people in the southern part of German East Africa, the present Tanzania.
In an effort to reach all the people in the vast area, the monks established the mission station of Peramiho in the higher inland region of the south western part of the country in 1898. In the course of the succeeding thirty years, the original mission territory, known then as the Vicariate of South Zanzibar was divided into several jurisdictions. The south western part of "Tanganyika" as it was then called, became an independent jurisdiction in 1931 and the central mission of Peramiho was elevated to the rank of Abbey Nullius. The Peramiho Abbey Nullius developed rapidly and successfully and reached the stage in 1969 where it could hand over the pastoral jurisdiction to the African Clergy with their own African bishop. Peramiho renounced its title of Abbey Nullius and accommodated itself to the new situation as a normal Benedictine Abbey within the newly formed African Diocese of Songea. Aside from the main goal of establishing the Christian Church in Tanzania, the Benedictines - monks as well as the Sisters - laid great stress on education and built up a school system in their territory which comprised a vast network of primary schools with schools of advanced education and vocational training. They also established a junior and senior seminary for candidates to the priesthood, a teacher training college and training centre for catechists.
The Sisters opened several hospitals. A nurses training centre was attached to the Peramiho Hospital. Moreover, an African Benedictine Monastery was started at Hanga which became an independent priory in 1971. At the present time, the greater number of the Fathers and Brothers are working in the Dioceses of Songea and Njombe which were formed from the former Abbey Nullius of Peramiho. The monks working in the Njombe Diocese have a monastery centre at the Uwemba Priory. Since 1972 several monks from Peramiho have started working in Kenya where, aside from mission stations, their chief goal is to establish a Benedictine monastery in Nairobi. This latter foundation became a simple priory in 1979 and aims at winning young Africans from Kenya and Uganda for Benedictine monastic life.
Corpus in the meeting room
Mwaka 1898 Padre Kasian Spiss OSB, baada ya safari ndefu ya miguu, alifika
mara ya kwanza katika nehi ya Wangoni na kuanzisha misioni ya Peramiho. Licha ya matatizo
mengi na makubwa (Maji Maji) Misioni hii ilis.tawi na mwaka 1931 Peramiho ilipata kuwa
Abasia yaani nyumba timamu ya kibenediktini inayosimamiwa na Abate, yenye enco kubwa la
kimisioni (siku hizi Jimbo la Songea, Njombe na Mbinga).
Tangu mwaka 1982 wamonaki wa Peramiho arnbao kabla yake walikuwa wanatoka ng'arnbo,
wanawaalika vijana wazalendo wenye wito na nia njema, kusali na kufanya kazi pamoja nao
wakimtumikia Mungu na Kanisa la rnahali kama watawa wabenediktini na wamisionari.
Masharti ya kujiunga:- Kijana awe mkristo hai anayejisikia kuwa na wito
wa maisha haya ya kitawa na ya kimisionari na anayekuwa na tabia njema iliyothibitishwa na
Paroko na Halmashauri yake. Awe amemaliza na kufaulu masorno ya sekondari walao kidato cha
nne.
Anuani yetu:
St. Benedict's Abbey
P.O. PERAMIHO
Centenary celebrations of Peramiho in 1998
The monks of Peramiho Abbey elected Fr Anastasius Reiser of Münsterschwarzach
Abbey on 8 August 2006 their fourth abbot, for an indefinite period.
Abbot Anastasius is 41 years old. From 2002 to 2004 he worked in printing and
formation at Peramiho Abbey.
The election followed upon the resignation of Abbot Lambert Doerr after 30 years
in office on his 70th birthday on August 4th.
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This page was created on 23 October 1998 and last updated on
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