The History of the Catholic Church in South Africa began with the arrival of Barthlomew Diaz at Walvis Bay on 8 December 1487. The First Mass celebrated on the island of the Holy Cross just off Port Elizabeth was held in late December 1487 or early January 1488. Tierra De Natal was the land to which Vasco da Game gave name on Christmas day 10 years later.  There is no evidence of any missionary work during these early days.

Catholicism was forbidden in South Africa under the Dutch East India Company rule between 1652 and 1795 and continued under the British rule between 1795 and 1802.   The Dutch Government opted for religious toleration in 1804, however two years later the British rule again prohibited the presence of priests banishing them. Pope Pius VII appointed the Benedictine Dom Edward Bede Slater as the first Vicar Apostolic of the Cape in 1818, however he never set foot on South African soil as well as his successor Dom William Placid Morris.

The history of the Catholic Church as a visible institution began to take shape with the appointment of Bishop Raymond Griffith, a Dominican as a third Vicar Apostolic of the Cape and First Bishop of South Africa in 1837. Fr. Aidan Devereux became the first Vicar Apostolic in the Eastern Cape Vicariate during 1847. The first missionaries of the newly founded congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate arrived in South Africa during 1852.

Bishop Jean-Francious Allard travelled to the Kingdom of Lesotho where he obtained a mission from King Moshoeshoe, the founder of the Basotho Nation, who was to become one of the strongest Catholic Communities in Africa. Very little had been done for the indigenous people in South Africa.  The first significan result came with the Trappists of Mariannhill in the 1880’s, under the leadership of Abbot Francis Pfanner.  Innovative missionary methods were developed, combining farming, schooling, and preaching.  These efforts eventually led to conversions, contributing to the growth of Catholicism in Natal.

The first four African Priests had been ordained at the turn of the century only in the 1920’s in the Diocese of Mariannhill and led to the establishment of a National Seminary for blacks in 1947. The first South African born bishop, David O’Leary was consecrated in Johannesburg during 1925, however the South African Church still relied heavily on expatriate clergy.

A National Seminary (for Whites) was founded in 1948. Not more than 5 out of 21 Bishops were born locally when Pope Pius XII established the hierarchy in South Africa during 1951. The Catholic Church was relatively slow in opposing apartheid and labored at the cost of the heritage of segregation that it had shared with the rest of the church in most pre-liberation colonial situations.

The South African Catholic Church, long seen as a foreign church has now gained influence in all sectors of society and has shown remarkable signs of growth throughout the 20^th century. The hierarchy often adopted a conciliatory stance towards the government in the hope of maintaining the church’s network of hospitals, schools, and welfare institutions during the first decades of the nationalist’s rule.

The Catholic Church fought desperately to retain the educational system seen as its major aid to evangelization when the government struck at church schools for African children with its Bantu Education Act in 1953.

The South African Catholic Bishop’s Conference made its first pronouncement against racism in the 1952 and 1957, condemning apartheid as “intrinsically evil”.  Under the influence of the Vatican Council and spurred by protests from black clergy, catholic opposition to apartheid started to intensify.  In 1972 a move began to desegregate the seminary which led to the decision taken regarding seminaries and schools. 

Furthermore, the Soweto uprising of 1976 led to a greater awareness for more active catholic participation among Catholics in various manifestations of Christian Protests activated mainly by the South African Council of Churches and the Christian Institute.  Priority has been given to conflict resolution, education to democracy and development since February 1990. The 150th Anniversary of the arrival of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Natal and the 50^th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Our lady of the Assumption as Principal Patron of South Africa took place during 2002 in South Africa.

The year 2017 saw the Bicentenary Celebration of the Foundation of the Catholic Church in Southern Africa where the official opening of this celebration was held in Cape Town.  Bishops from the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops’ Conference gathered in the Mother City to honor this special day. The Southern Africa Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) set aside a period of a year, allowing all the faithful in the region an opportunity of celebrating the successes of the Catholic Church in Southern Africa from the 25th June 2017.  These celebrations will officially come to an end on the 24th June 2018.