St. Benedict's Abbey Peramiho

Short history

Peramiho was founded on 31 st July, 1898 by Fr. Cassian Spiss of the Missionary Benedictines of St. Ottilien who had first arrived in East Africa in 1888 and had their first monastery at Pugu near Dar es Salaam. In 1902 Fr Cassian was nominated Vicar Apostolic of South Zanzibar (later Dar es Salaam) and consecrated bishop.

On 10th September, 1905 Peramiho was destroyed during the Maji Maji Rising and Fr. Franciscus Leuthner killed. In 1906 the Benedictines came back to resume their work which rapidly expanded. By 1911 catechism was taught at 50 differnt places. In 1913 Peramiho was included in the new Prefecture Apostolic of Lindi.

During World War I all missionaries were evacuated from Peramiho and interned by the British (1916). In 1918 Canadian White Fathers took temporary charge of Peramiho and other Benedictine missions in the area. In 1922 Benedictines of Swiss nationality returned under the leadership of Fr. Gallus Steiger who was named Prefect Apostolic of Lindi. Since 1926 Benedictines of German nationality were also allowed to return. In 1927 the Territorial Abbey of Lindi was erected and Fr. Gallus Steiger nominated first Abbot.

In 1931 the Abbey Nullius of Lindi was divided into two abbeys Nullius. Peramiho and Ndanda. Abbot Gallus became now the first Abbot of Peramiho and was consecrated bishop 1934. He built the present church of Peramiho between 1943 and 1948 and retired in 1953, staying on in Peramiho until his death in 1966. He was succeeded by Fr. Eberhard Spiess as the second Abbot-Bishop. In the course of the years 1968/69 Peramiho reverted to the status of a simple abbey, when its territory became two dioceses, Njombe (1968) and Songea (1969; since 1985 Archdiocese and in 1986 again divided with the errection of the Diocese of Mbinga). Abbot-Bishop Eberhard continued as Abbot of Peramiho until his resignation in 1976 after which he divided his time between the abbey and Mpandangindo Parish until his death in 1990. His successor as the third Abbot of Peramiho was between1976 and 2006 Lambert Doerr.
Since 8. August 2006 Anastasius Reiser is the fourth Abbot.

In 1972 the monks of Peramiho expanded the scope of their work to Kenya starting missionary work in the Kerio Valley, an isolated area within the Diocese of Eldoret. In 1977 a monastery was founded in the capital Nairobi with its own novitiate at Nanyuki. In 1988 the monastery in Nairobi became independent when it was erected as a conventual priory which was transferrred to Tigoni in 1992.

In Peramiho itself recruiting of local vocations only started in the 1980s, while before all local vocations to Benedictine life went to Hanga which had been founded for his purpose by Abbot Bishop Eberhard in 1956. Slowly the Abbey took on a ‘African face’ and now more than half of its members are Tanzanians.