He grew up on another continent, shaped by tragedy from the moment he was born, and today he travels across Northern Idaho’s scattered rural parishes in cowboy boots and a warm smile — a familiar face to Catholics throughout the region who have come to rely on him. Rev. Sipho Mathabela, 63, has spent nearly two decades as a Catholic priest in the Diocese of Boise, becoming a fixture in communities that can struggle to maintain consistent clergy coverage.
A Life Forged by Loss and Faith
Mathabela was born in Swaziland, South Africa, the fifth child in his family. His life began with profound hardship: his mother died during his birth, and his father was later shot and killed when Mathabela was still a young boy. Despite these circumstances, he pursued a vocation in the Catholic Church, eventually making his way to Idaho, where he has served for close to two decades.
As a child, Dominican Sisters from Germany provided him with clothing at his school — an early encounter with the kind of charitable community that would come to define his own ministry. Today, Mathabela gives back to his home country by supporting an orphanage there through charitable work. The Knights of Columbus at one of his affiliated parishes recently organized a fundraising breakfast to support that orphanage, illustrating the way his personal story has woven itself into the life of his Idaho congregations.
His home parish is St. Alphonsus, located in the Idaho Panhandle, but his ministry extends well beyond a single building. He serves as a substitute pastor for St. George’s parish churches in Post Falls, Rathdrum, and Spirit Lake — a broad swath of Northern Idaho communities that depend on traveling clergy to maintain regular sacramental life.
Cowboys Boots, Hawaiian Shirts, and an Open Heart
Among parishioners, Mathabela is known as much for his personality as for his priesthood. He wears cowboy boots roughly 90 percent of the time — paired with vestments at Mass, with jeans and a Hawaiian shirt at weddings, and in virtually every other setting. The boots have become something of a trademark, a small but telling detail about a man who has made Idaho his home in the fullest sense.
Deacon Vince Perry, who has known Mathabela for many years, describes him as someone who makes himself available without hesitation. “He is readily available and always joyously answers calls,” Perry said. “He has a great sense of humor, rolls easily with challenges.”
That reputation for reliability matters in rural and suburban parishes where finding clergy on short notice can be difficult. Steven Skreenock, who has been a member of St. Stanislaus parish for 27 years and serves as head of the Knights of Columbus there, has witnessed that dedication firsthand. Evelyn Corrigan, a St. Joseph parishioner for five years, is among those who have come to appreciate the consistency Mathabela brings to communities that might otherwise go without pastoral care for stretches at a time.
For his part, Mathabela frames his work in terms that go beyond institutional duty. “We are here for Jesus, not ourselves,” he said. “We are followers of Christ. The church is the people, not the building.” It is a perspective that seems to guide his willingness to travel widely and serve wherever he is needed, rather than settle into a fixed routine at a single location.
His story is a reminder that Idaho’s faith communities are sustained in large part by individuals whose own paths to these rural towns were anything but ordinary. The community support he generates — including fundraising efforts like the Knights of Columbus breakfast for the orphanage he supports — reflects a bond that runs deeper than Sunday services. For more on community life across Nez Perce County and the surrounding region, readers can explore local coverage of service organizations and community events, including the Lewiston Elks Lodge’s upcoming Flag Day ceremony and Quilts of Valor tribute on June 12.
What Comes Next
Mathabela continues his ministry across the Northern Idaho Panhandle, filling gaps in parish coverage as needed while maintaining his home base at St. Alphonsus. His ongoing charitable support for the orphanage in Swaziland is expected to continue, with local parishes likely to organize future fundraising efforts on its behalf. For Catholics in Post Falls, Rathdrum, Spirit Lake, and surrounding communities, he remains one of the region’s most recognizable and dependable traveling priests — cowboy boots and all. Those interested in the broader challenges facing rural and lower-income communities in the region may also find relevant context in recent coverage of economic conditions across North Central Idaho.