NORTH IDAHO — A Catholic priest who grew up in southern Africa and survived a childhood marked by loss has spent nearly two decades making himself indispensable to parishes scattered across Idaho’s Panhandle, traveling from church to church to ensure congregations have pastoral care.
Rev. Sipho Mathabela, 63, is a roving presence in the Diocese of Boise. Based at St. Alphonsus parish in the Panhandle, he also covers substitute pastoral duties at St. George’s parish churches in Post Falls, Rathdrum, and Spirit Lake — a stretch of communities that might otherwise go without a resident pastor.
A Long Road to the Panhandle
Mathabela’s path to North Idaho began in Swaziland, South Africa, where he was the fifth child in his family. Tragedy marked his earliest years: his mother died during his birth, and his father was killed when he was still a young boy. Despite those hardships, he found early support from an unlikely source — Dominican Sisters from Germany who provided clothing for him at school, an act of charity that may have planted seeds for a life of religious service.
He has served as a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Boise for nearly 20 years, building a reputation among parishioners that extends well beyond any single congregation. His ministry reflects a philosophy grounded in community rather than institution. “We are here for Jesus, not ourselves,” Mathabela has said. “We are followers of Christ. The church is the people, not the building.”
That outlook has resonated with the North Idaho Catholics who rely on him. Deacon Vince Perry described Mathabela’s presence in terms that speak to his effect in a room: “He has a great sense of humor, rolls easily with challenges and is just so full of enthusiasm that he never needs a microphone.”
Boots, Vestments, and a Parish Community
Mathabela has become something of a recognizable figure across Panhandle parishes, in part because of a personal style quirk: he wears cowboy boots roughly 90 percent of the time, whether in vestments during Mass or going about everyday life outside the church. It is the kind of detail that parishioners tend to remember, and it reflects a personality that blends easily into North Idaho’s culture while still carrying the weight of his African heritage and clerical vocation.
Long-time parishioners speak to the consistency he provides. Steven Skreenock, a member of St. Stanislaus parish for 27 years, has watched the congregation navigate the realities of rural Catholic life, where priests can be scarce and pastoral coverage uncertain. Evelyn Corrigan, who has belonged to St. Joseph parish for five years, is among the newer members who have come to rely on Mathabela’s presence.
His ministry also extends beyond Sunday services. The Knights of Columbus recently sponsored a breakfast fundraiser supporting an orphanage that Mathabela backs — a cause that carries clear personal meaning given his own history as an orphaned child in Swaziland. The fundraiser drew support from parishioners across the communities he serves, reflecting the cross-parish bonds he has cultivated over two decades.
North Idaho’s Catholic communities are part of a broader regional fabric of faith that shapes daily life in towns throughout Bonner County and the surrounding Panhandle. For a region with an active community calendar and deep traditions of neighbor-to-neighbor support — seen recently in efforts like community fundraisers for families in crisis — Mathabela’s willingness to travel where he is needed fits a pattern of service that defines much of rural North Idaho.
What Comes Next
Mathabela shows no sign of slowing the pace of his ministry across the Panhandle. As long as parishes in Post Falls, Rathdrum, Spirit Lake, and the broader North Idaho region require pastoral support, his role as a traveling priest within the Diocese of Boise appears set to continue. For the congregations he serves, his presence offers both spiritual consistency and a reminder that the church, as he puts it, is ultimately the people gathered within it — not the walls around them.