{"id":6,"date":"2018-06-03T12:08:23","date_gmt":"2018-06-03T12:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/Website\/StAugustines\/?page_id=6"},"modified":"2025-11-28T11:46:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T09:46:14","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/staugustinescatholicchurch.co.za\/index.php\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fr. Louis Rousseau OMI, a young Oblate priest from France, was appointed in 1896 to take charge of a small Catholic community in the gold mining town of Germiston on the East Rand.\u00a0 Shortly after his appointment, he cycled from the Cathedral in Kerk street Johannesburg to celebrate the first Mass at a parishioner\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0 home in Germiston.\u00a0 Masses continued to be celebrated in homes until a wood and iron structure was erected, blessed and placed under the patronage of Saint Augustine.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Fr. Rousseau\u2019s successors were Fr. J.M. McCarthy from Wales, and Fr. J. O\u2019Brien OMI who was noted for visiting his parishioners on horseback.\u00a0 In 1905 the first Bishop, William Miller OMI was appointed in the Transvaal. \u00a0\u00a0The church expanded rapidly and in 1909, the Newcastle Dominicans sisters opened a school in Germiston dedicated to St. Catherine of Siena which accommodated 300 pupils.<\/p>\n

Fr. J O\u2019Brien OMI was succeeded by Fr. J. Schang\u00a0 OMI, who realized that the old church was totally inadequate for the growing community, and planned, struggled and finally succeeded in building a new church which \u00a0unfortunately was situated in the center\u00a0 of the growing industrial town. \u00a0\u00a0The foundation stone was blessed by Bishop Cox O.M.I. on 16 December 1923. \u00a0On his return from overseas at the end of 1924, \u00a0Fr. J. Schang\u00a0 brought several beautiful statues and other interior decorations for the church. The Calvary scene in front of the present church building was erected in 1933.<\/p>\n

Fr. Leo Muldoon OMI who resided at the Oblate Novitiate was in charge of the Mission at the Germiston Township, which became the center of development at Alberton and Natalspruit.\u00a0\u00a0 He established new missions and parishes, especially in Soweto.<\/p>\n

Fr. Schang OMI was succeeded by Fr. J. G. Braniff \u00a0OMI, who began negotiations\u00a0 with the Germiston City Council to acquire a suitable site for the erection of a church in the growing Catholic \u00a0community of Germiston.\u00a0 This resulted in a long drawn out battle with the City Council.\u00a0 Fr. Daverin OMI \u00a0who succeeded Fr. Phil McCarthy OMI in 1948, persisted relentlessly in his renewed negotiations with the City Council until finally\u00a0 the present church building\u00a0 was completed and opened in 1956.<\/p>\n

Fr. Daverin OMI was transferred to Rosebank in 1963 and was succeeded by Fr. John Fitzsimons OMI who consolidated his predecessors work until his own retirement in 1973<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Oblates continued to serve the community of St. Augustine\u2019s until today.\u00a0 The Priests that succeeded Fr. John Fitzsimons OMI & Fr. Brennan OMI are (starting from the bottom of the list):<\/p>\n

2015-2020<\/p>\n

Fr. Brian Connolly OMI and Fr. Ronald Houreld OMI<\/p>\n

2009 – 2020<\/p>\n

Fr. Brian Connolly OMI and Fr. Rodney George OMI<\/p>\n

1998 – 2008<\/p>\n

Fr. Jim Hyland OMI<\/p>\n

1987 – 1998<\/p>\n

Fr. John Boyce OMI<\/p>\n

1982 – 1987<\/p>\n

Fr. John de Nobrega OMI and Fr. Tom Barry OMI<\/p>\n

1980 – 1981<\/p>\n

Fr. R. Mountford OMI<\/p>\n

1974 – 1980<\/p>\n

Fr. Ignatius Fidgeon OMI and Fr. J. Mooney OMI<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Our Parish Vision Statement<\/h2>\n
\n

<\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fr. Louis Rousseau OMI, a young Oblate priest from France, was appointed in 1896 to take charge of a small Catholic community in the gold…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staugustinescatholicchurch.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staugustinescatholicchurch.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staugustinescatholicchurch.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staugustinescatholicchurch.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staugustinescatholicchurch.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/staugustinescatholicchurch.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7862,"href":"https:\/\/staugustinescatholicchurch.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6\/revisions\/7862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staugustinescatholicchurch.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}