Bonifatius Haushiku
Bonifatius Haushiku or Hausiku (25 May 1933 – 12 June 2002) was a Namibian Roman Catholic religious leader.
Early years
Haushiku was born in Sambiu on 25 May 1933.{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Namibia|date=2012|publisher=Scarecrow Press|pages=162–163|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VUkGQ6xfYkgC&pg=PA162|accessdate=25 October 2016}} He attended St. Josef's Teacher Training College in Döbra and St. Teresa's Minor Seminary and St. Augustine's Major Seminary in Roma, Lesotho.
Career
In June 1966, Haushiku was ordained at a priest. On 27 January 1979, Haushiku was ordained a bishop, becoming the first indigenous Roman Catholic bishop in Namibia.{{cite web|last1=Buys|first1=Gerhard|last2=Nambala|first2=Shekutaamba|title=Bonifatius Hausiku|url=http://www.dacb.org/stories/namibia/hausiku_bonifatius.html|website=Dictionary of African Christian Biography|accessdate=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708115311/http://dacb.org/stories/namibia/hausiku_bonifatius.html|archive-date=8 July 2017|url-status=dead}} He was made titular bishop of Troyna and auxiliary bishop of Windhoek.{{cite web|title=Archbishop Bonifatius Haushiku, I.C.P. †|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bhaushiku.html|website=Catholic-Hierarchy.org|accessdate=25 October 2016}} In November 1980, Haushiku was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Windhoek.
In 1986 Haushiku, along with the Lutheran bishop Kleopas Dumeni and the Anglican bishop James Kauluma, challenged a dusk-to-dawn curfew that South African authorities had imposed in Namibia. The bishops argued that the curfew violated the freedom to assemble, freedom of religion, freedom of association, and freedom of movement. Later that year he was part of a delegation that travelled to Washington DC to "appeal for pressure on the government of South Africa to end its long time occupation of their country."{{cite news|title=Namibian Church Leaders Oppose U.S. Policies|url=http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/ENS/ENSpress_release.pl?pr_number=86267|accessdate=25 October 2016|work=Episcopal News Service|date=11 December 1986}}
On 22 May 1995 Haushiku was installed as archbishop of the newly created Archdiocese of Windhoek.
In 2000, as President of the Council of Churches in Namibia, he led a 2000-person protest march in which he spoke against unemployment, poverty, disease, gender-based violence, and murder.
After suffering from cancer for more than a year, Haushiku died on 12 June 2002.
Recognition
St Boniface College, a boarding school in Kavango East founded in 1995, is named after him.{{cite news|last1=Immanuel|first1=Shinovene|title=St Boniface: the story behind the success|url=http://www.namibian.com.na/index.php?id=104375&page=archive-read|accessdate=25 October 2016|work=The Namibian|date=18 January 2013}}
References
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Category:People from Kavango East
Category:Namibian Roman Catholic archbishops
Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Africa
Category:Roman Catholic bishops in Namibia
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