The First South African Roman Catholic Saint

It is the news that Catholics in South Africa and the rest of the African continent have been waiting to hear.

On 22 January 2015, Pope Francis met in a private audience with Cardinal Angelo Amato SDB, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. In that audience a decision was taken by the Holy Father authorizing that Servant of God Tshimangadzo Samuel Benedict Daswa died a martyr’s death. This opened the way for Benedict Daswa to be beatified, the first step towards sainthood which would make him the first South African Roman Catholic saint.

Tshimangadzo Samuel Benedict Daswa was a primary school headmaster and devout Catholic who shed his blood at the hands of a gang that meted out mob justice on him. He had been cornered into a pub where he had sought refuge. He was beaten to death.

At the time, the elders of the village had wanted to hire a witchfinder but Daswa objected to their wishes. His opposition to some traditional practices earned him many enemies. Today, he is revered greatly in his South African home village of Nweli and stories about his great acts of courage and kindness resound everywhere in South Africa.
 
The celebration of the beatification of the Venerable Servant of God Tshimangadzo Samuel Benedict Daswa will take place on Sunday 13 September 2015 at the Thohoyandou Stadium in the Diocese of Tzaneen, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The representative of Pope Francis at the celebration will be His Eminence Angelo Cardinal Amato SDB.