It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Advocate Allan Schwarer on Saturday, 2 May 2026.
Advocate Schwarer played an important role in CATHCA’s early story. CATHCA was formally founded in Johannesburg in 1987 through the initiative of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) and the Leadership Conference of Consecrated Life – South Africa (LCCL-SA). In the months that followed, Advocate Schwarer helped with the practical work of bringing this new body to life.
Together with Bishop Reginald Orsmond and Sr Shelagh Mary Waspe, Advocate Schwarer helped convene CATHCA’s early work and helped shape what would later become a wider network of Catholic health care institutions across South Africa, Botswana and Eswatini.
This was not an easy time for Catholic health care. Many rural hospitals had closed, urban hospitals were under growing financial pressure and there were fewer religious personnel available to carry the work forward. Catholic health facilities and community health services needed support, connection and a shared way forward.
CATHCA grew out of this context, becoming a body that could support Catholic health care institutions, strengthen community services and create space for shared learning and mutual support. Over the years, it has become the organisation we know today, built on the vision of the Church structures that founded it and on the commitment of people who helped guide its early development.
We remember Advocate Schwarer with gratitude for his contribution, wisdom and commitment. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, colleagues and all who knew him.
His legacy lives on in the continued work of CATHCA and in the many lives touched through its mission.
The CATHCA Team