Mulwewa was a mission founded by

White Fathers The White Fathers (), officially known as the Missionaries of Africa (), and abbreviated MAfr, are a Roman Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right (for men). They were founded in 1868 by Charles-Martial Allemand-Lavigerie, who w ...

missionaries on the west side of

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

, in what is now the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. It is at Massanze, near

Uvira Uvira is a city strategically located in the South Kivu Province of the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Covering approximately 16 square kilometers and with an estimated population of 726,000 as of 2024, it borders Baful ...

. The White Fathers reached Lake Tanganyika in January 1879, and established a station at

Rumonge Rumonge is the capital of Rumonge Province, Burundi, and is located on the shores of Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake ...

on the east side of the lake. They founded the mission of Mulwewa opposite Rumonge, on the west side of the lake, in the region of Massange in response to an appeal from Massange. The mission was founded by Father Deniaud, the Superior of the Tanganyika mission, with Fathers Moinet and Delaunay, leaving Rumonge on 25 November 1880. They reached Mulwewa and founded the station on 28 November 1880. After Deniaud returned, on 1 February 1881 he sent Father Auguste Moncet to replace him at Mulwewa, where Moncet busied himself teaching youth and helping erect the mission buildings. The station was on a narrow plateau that looked over the lake. Mulwewa became a place of refuge for orphans redeemed from slave traders. The priests did not at first build any fortifications. In 1882 Léopold Louis Joubert, a former Papal Zouave, built palisades and moats around the station for protection. He also trained the local people in the use of arms so that they could defend the mission against slavers. After Mulwewa, the White Fathers founded the stations of

Kibanga Kibanga, formerly called Lavigerieville, is a settlement in the South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The White Fathers founded the first mission station on the west of the lake at Mulweba in 1880, and founded the mission a ...

on 11 June 1883, Mkapakwe on 12 September 1884,

Mpala Mpala is the location of an early Catholic mission in the Belgian Congo. A military station was established at Mpala on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in May 1883. It was transferred to the White Fathers missionaries in 1885. At one time it was hop ...

on 8 July 1885 and Baudouinville on 8 May 1893. The local potentate, Rumaliza, tolerated the foundation of the missions at Mulwewa and Kibanga, but prevented establishment of a station at

Ujiji Ujiji is the oldest town in western Tanzania and is located in Kigoma-Ujiji District of Kigoma Region. Originally a Swahili settlement and then an Arab slave trading post by the mid-nineteenth century nominally under the Sultanate of Zanziba ...

, at the extreme northeast of the lake. The mission at Mulwewa was abandoned soon after the acquisition of the stations of Mpala and Karema in 1885. In September 1886 the missionary Mathurin Guillemé visited Mulwewa, finding it in ruins.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * * * * * {{coord missing, Democratic Republic of the Congo History of South Kivu White Fathers missions Roman Catholic missions in Africa