Odilo Weeger

Odilo Weeger
Born	14 October 1912(1912-10-14) Arberg, West Germany
Died	8 June 2006(2006-06-08) (aged 93) Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Occupation	Priest and Missionary

Rev Fr Odilo (Otto) Weeger, CMM (14 October 1912 – 8 June 2006) was a Roman Catholic pioneer missionary with the Missionaries of Mariannhill [1] in Matabeleland, Southern Africa. He arrived in Africa in July 1938 and was based at Mariannhill in Natal, South Africa. He was later transferred to Southern Rhodesia where he worked at St. Patrick's in Bulawayo before moving to Lukosi, near Hwange in 1939.

Missionary work in Matabeleland

In the North of Matebeleland, equipped with little more than a prayer book and a bicycle, he travelled around from St. Mary's Lukosi to Hwange, Victoria Falls, Matetsi and Gwayi River. He built and established many schools, including those in Gwayi, Binga, Dete and Lupane and later went to Fatima where he opened a mission hospital and school.

With the help and support of friends in Germany, who were doctors, he opened St. Luke's Hospital in Lupane. In 1958, he returned to Bulawayo, where he was the parish priest at St. Mary's Cathedral. He was appointed Provincial Superior of Mariannhill Missionaries, a post he held from 1970 to 1982. He was Parish priest for many years of the Hillside parish of Christ the King.

Odilo Weeger was awarded the Verdienstkreuz - Erster Klasse (Cross of Merit - First Class) by the Country of his birth, Germany, on 5th May 1989, for his work in Matabeleland.

Archives

The archives of Fr Odilo Weeger are maintained in Bulawayo.

References

Alexander, Jocelyn & Ranger, Terence Competition and Integration in the Religious History of North-Western Zimbabwe Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol. 28, Fasc. 1 (Feb., 1998), pp. 3-31