German priest celebrates golden jubilee at Okatana

FATHER Heinz Steegmann, who served as parish priest at the Okatana Roman Catholic mission in the 1960s and 70s, returned to his old mission station near Oshakati last Sunday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination into the priesthood.

Steegmann, who was at Okatana from 1968 to 1975, is a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a missionary congregation focusing on preaching to the poor, especially in rural areas. He was ordained in Germany in 1967.

After eight years at Okatana, father Steegmann (76), went on to serve in other parts of Namibia before returning to Germany in the late 1980s. He decided to travel more than 8 000 kilometres back to Namibia to celebrate his golden jubilee at Okatana. Parishioners flocked to the church in their thousands on Sunday. Steegmann conducted the mass, and delivered his homily in both English and Oshikwambi, the local dialect.

Although the majority of parishioners were born after he had left and were seeing him for the first time, the older generation were happy to see their former priest again after decades.

“He baptised me as a baby in August 1973, and I was a toddler when he left. I am practically seeing him for the first time today,” said 44-year-old Adalbert Hitsidhimbwa.

Emono village resident Dionisia Gideon (66) said she married her husband Anselm Paulus in 1971, and that father Steegmann had presided at their wedding. “He was a down-to-earth young priest and an avid sportsman who played a pivotal role in the development of soccer in this region,” said Paulinus Enkono, a retired senior education official and current chairperson of the Okatana parish council.

“At a time when many whites could only see indigenous people as dirty and poor, father Steegmann was a radical exception. He visited families in their traditional homesteads to enquire about their well-being and ate whatever food they offered him,” he noted.

Enkono said Steegmann and another priest, the late Bernard Nordkamp, were the catalysts of organised soccer in the northern regions.

“Being from Germany – a soccer powerhouse at the time – the two priests were talented players, and were the ones who introduced properly organised soccer in this region,” he added.

Addressing the Okatana congregation, Oshakati mayor Angelus Iiyambo said it was a happy coincidence that father Steegmann returned to Okatana to celebrate his golden jubilee on Father’s Day.

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