It is not only monasteries and mission stations that can be traced back to the monk-missionary Francis Pfanner, but also religious communities. Although “The Missionaries of Mariannhill” (CMM) were not founded by Abbot Francis, they owe themselves to his inspiration. By their present constitutions, they want to “remain faithful to the spirit of Abbot Francis Pfanner” [427]; their superior general “should be a strong and courageous leader in the footsteps of Abbot Francis Pfanner” [479]; and “their vows should be the guideline for a life of faithfulness and creativity, as exemplified by Abbot Francis Pfanner” [706].
The early history of The Missionaries of Mariannhill has already been sketched (see Art. 04 “Dunbrody-Mariannhill” and Art. 06 “The Monk-Missionary”). It was never purely monastic but also missionary. The will to harmonize these two ideals initiated a process in the course of which the year 1905 represents a milestone. 24 missionaries, including Abbot Francis, petitioned Propaganda Fide to grant Mariannhill’s 25 missions with their approx. 10,000 Christians and 3,000 catechumens, “a viable legal basis” (A. Roos, “A Piece of the Kingdom of God”). Their purpose was to save these missions before Abbot E. Obrecht could cede them to other missionaries; it was not to give Mariannhill another identity. The petition was shelved.
The Mariannhillers were determined to be missionaries and would not accept Obrecht’s manner of not consulting them. When Obrecht left South Africa for good in August 1907, the chronicler commented that “he was feared by all, hated by many and loved by none.” Immediately after his departure, Prior Isembard Leyendecker made every effort to keep the missions.
Their true identity, monastic or missionary, was a much-disputed topic among the Trappists of Mariannhill. When after twenty years they had not yet reached an agreement, Abbot General Augustinus Marré intervened. At his initiative, the 1907 General Chapter appointed a special commission to propose a solution. Obrecht was a member, and the recommendation was: “to separate Mariannhill from the order.” It was adopted on September 17 and endorsed by Propaganda Fide. However, no one wanted to break the news of the decision to the Mariannhillers. Therefore, Marré involved Dr. William Miller, OMI, Apostolic Vicar of Transvaal. His advantage was that he was familiar with the situation in Mariannhill; his disadvantage – he did not speak German. Marré provided him with two letters: an official one, authorizing him to convene a meeting which the Mariannhillers had already planned, and a private one, advising him to chair it in such a way that the Mariannhillers themselves would opt for separation.
53 participants – excluding Abbot Francis and two other priests – gathered in Mariannhill on May 10, 1908. Brothers had no vote. Miller hinted that, strictly speaking, they had only one choice: either to remain a Trappist monastery, but without missions, or to leave the order. The whispering began (Roos) and continued until Miller decided that the right moment had come to put the following motion to the vote: “The assembly requests the Holy See to grant Mariannhill and its missions a viable administration.” 51 participants voted yes. Miller’s mission was accomplished. Afterward, the assembly adopted, with only minor adaptations, the Trappist Book of Usages and then Miller announced the outcome of the vote to the brothers. Completely taken by surprise and consternated, they blamed the capitulars for having carelessly compromised their birthright as Reformed Cistercians. Marré, to whom some of them took their complaints, denied his responsibility in the matter and referred them to Propaganda Fide, which, with its sights set on Mariannhill’s flourishing missions, justified the separation, arguing that, after all, the Mariannhillers had asked for it themselves.
The next instance, the Congregation for Bishops, Priests, and Religious delegated its consultant, Abbot Primate Hildebrand Hemptinne, OSB to review Mariannhill’s application. He took five months to come to the conclusion that Mariannhill should be separated from the Trappist Order and not seek affiliation with any other. Rather, it should be erected as a canonical institute and its members made responsible for the missions and for the recital of the Divine Office, and the formation of novices and clerics. A suitable title would be “Religiosi Missionarii de Mariannhill” [Religious Missionaries of Mariannhill, RMM]. He also recommended a three-year period of transition.
Pope (St.) Pius X signed the decree of separation on February 2, 1909. Miller immediately informed Superior Leyendecker of the decree but preferred to announce it to the community by himself upon his return from Rome, on July 28, 1909. The priests, not to mention the brothers, were outraged. Separation was not what they had intended, but only that Rome would grant them an administration that assured both the advocates of the monastic ideal and those of the missionary ideal among them a life in peaceful co-existence. Abbot Francis, however, who was informed of the decree before his death on May 24, 1909, is reported to have exclaimed: “Thank God! What I always intended has come about.” (Sr. Angela Michels, Reminiscences)
Only gradually did the Mariannhillers recognize that the missionary lifestyle, not the monastic, was the more adequate one for them. This is reflected in their present constitutions (2025) which state: “In the spirit of Abbot Francis Pfanner and the early community of Mariannhill … our congregation adopts its missionary objectives” [104]. And: “We have the courage, following the example of Abbot Francis Pfanner and the early community of Mariannhill, to also take up new paths.” [111].
When the separation went into effect, Mariannhill did not have to make a completely new start; rather, it could build upon its Trappist foundations. It boasted a whole column of hardworking, qualified brothers, extensive tracts of arable land, flourishing missions, and a stable home base. Francis Pfanner’s efforts to promote vocations and solicit funds by establishing a respectable printing and publishing facility and overseas agencies now benefitted it. It enjoyed a good reputation. However, though clearly oriented in name and purpose towards the missionary ministry, the transition to fully claiming its new identity was long and painful. The Mariannhillers still prayed the Cistercian Office, wore the Cistercian cowl and observed Cistercian customs. Contrary to Hemptinne’s explicit warning, they even made several attempts to join another order, for example, the Cistercians (OC), until Rome put an end to all provisional arrangements and declared Mariannhill an independent religious institute of simple vows (March 21, 1914). It was to elect its own administration for a six-year term of office. Mariannhill never did. World War I broke out, and Gerard Wolpert, the last elected abbot of Mariannhill (who resigned in 1904) was made provost.
The war spread insecurity, severed contact with Europe, emptied the coffers and novitiates, and threatened all German expatriates with internment. Mariannhill stagnated.
After World War I, two canonical visitators, Edward Schröder, SJ and Ildefons Lanslots, OSB, gave Mariannhill’s missionary orientation fresh impetus. They facilitated the 1920 General Chapter at which the very successful missionary, Fr. Adalbero Fleischer from Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) was elected superior general. The Cistercian liturgy was replaced with the Roman rite, the choral office suspended, religious names abolished and the cowl exchanged for a black habit and red cincture (black leather belt for brothers). The one-man overseas agencies were turned into small local communities. When the novitiate house St. Paul’s in The Netherlands (est. 1911) hesitated to adopt the changes, Cardinal van Rossum, Prefect of Propaganda Fide, without further ado, gave the novitiate a Jesuit director and made the Mariannhill Institute responsible to his own dicastery (June 26, 1920). He himself became cardinal protector in 1921 and Mariannhill and its missions became a vicariate in 1922. Fleischer was appointed vicar apostolic and, by way of a rare exception, administered both institute and vicariate simultaneously for four years. Immediately upon taking office, he looked for ways to implement Pope Benedict XV’s encyclical “Maximum illud” by establishing “The Daughters of St. Francis” (1922) and a year later, “The Familiars of St. Joseph,” both indigenous congregations of episcopal right.
In 1926, Fr. Hermann Arndt was elected Superior General and Mariannhill became an institute of pontifical right (CMM). In Germany, despite post-war constraints, the “Pius X Seminary” was built at Würzburg and land in Africa mortgaged to meet the expenses. In 1928, the general administration moved its residence to Würzburg, placed all European houses under its jurisdiction and erected “The Mariannhill Monastery and Missions” as a province. 1930 was particularly hard on the institute, for by the puzzling but explicit order of Propaganda Fide, it had to trade its flourishing missions in Mashonaland for those of the Jesuits in Matabeleland (both in Zimbabwe), a most undesirable exchange. But then, as if to compensate it, Rome appointed two of its missionaries as prefects apostolic: Fr. Emanuel Hanisch , CMM for Mthatha (1930) and Fr. Ignatius Arnoz, CMM for Bulawayo (1932).
On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power. He was unpredictable. To be armed against any harassment, Superior General Reginald Weinmann, elected in 1932, acquired a house in Austria to serve as a refuge in the event of expulsion from Germany. In 1936, he relocated the generalate, first to Altdorf (Switzerland) and then to Riedegg (Austria). What everyone had feared came true. In 1938, Hitler engineered Austria’s “Anschluss ans Reich” (Germany’s annexation of Austria). Superior General Reginald Weinmann was fortunate in having a South African passport that enabled him to escape, via Switzerland to England, where in mid-June he moved into an old monastery in Hatfield-Peverel, Essex, and dedicated it to the “Mother of Good Counsel.” The houses in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria were made provinces. The start of World War II was only a matter of time.
Abbot Francis’s words: “Our mission field is the Kingdom of God and that has no boundaries” came true. By 1939, Mariannhill had become a tree which spread its branches and continued growing in Francis Pfanner’s spirit. (For the further development of the Missionaries of Mariannhill, see the next article, “His Foundations Today.”)
