THE St Louis Roman Catholic Church is one of the iconic religious sites in Clairwood that has been in existence for many decades.

According to the South African History Online site, Bishop Jolivet purchased a plot in Clairwood for the erection of a mission church for “Creole” on February 10, 1884.

A larger building was erected in 1886 to accommodate Indian and coloured learners but this school was closed in 1889.

Also read: Behind the wards: Exploring the history of Wentworth Hospital

Chairperson of the Parish Pastoral Council Quinton Rehman is thrilled with the church’s transformation over the decades.

Following a visit by Bishop Delalle in February 1911, he recommended that a new church building be erected. The present structure was built shortly afterwards, and underwent extensive alterations and additions in 1932-33 and 1944.

In September of that year the church building was consecrated by Bishop Delalle. It was declared a national monument under old National Monument Council legislation on February 10, 1989.

This once vibrant, now small Parish was named after King Louis XVI of France. His mother impressed upon him from an early age the desire for serving the people, especially the poor. He made justice acceptable to all. This is all still very much alive within the community of Clairwood.

According to history, in the second half of the 19th century many Indian families established themselves in Clairwood.

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In 1884, Bishop Jolivet bought land for a mission at Clermont, later to be divided into Clairwood and Montclair.

In 1885 a school chapel was opened and a large building was erected in the middle of 1886 for the Indian and coloured pupils who attended St. Louis Church. This chapel was situated in the corner of Jacobs and South Coast roads, where the filling station now stands.

In the earlier days, Clairwood and the adjacent areas were served by priests from The Bluff. From 1912, St. Louis replaced The Bluff as the centre to reach out to places further South such as:

• Lamontville
• Montclair-Woodlands
• Wentworth
• Merebank.

Father Weist and the congregation built the present church, as the other was not suitable. Once the new church was built, the old one was used for classes, fundraising dances, parties and many more.

St. Louis had parishioners of many cultures and languages with three or four masses on weekends, with a well-attended mass in Zulu for people of Clairwood, Wentworth and the hostels within the parish.

From 1963 there was a steady decline in the Parish.

Two reasons for this were:

• The growth in the church, such as establishing of Merebank (1966) and prior to these, Lamontville and Woodlands, Montclair.
• The prospect of Clairwood becoming an industrial area and thus destroying the community and scattering parishioners to the corners of Durban.

One of the ways that the parish continues to interact with the community of Clairwood is through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which is a group of men and women that has been operating for over 50 years, while many of the families of the Parish have moved out of Clairwood.

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