Ralph Peter Hatendi DD AKC (9 April 1927 – 31 August 2018) was a Zimbabwean Church of England priest who served as bishop of Harare and Mashonaland from 1979 until his retirement in 1995.
[1][2] He was the first indigenous Black Zimbabwean to hold this position, and played an important role in helping the church navigate the transition in the 1980s following Zimbabwe's independence.
After training for the ministry at St Peter's College, Rosettenville in South Africa, Hatendi was ordained in 1958 and began working as an assistant priest in the Dioceses of Harare and Mutare from 1958 - 1961.
In 1963 Hatendi, his wife and their five children moved to Tetford, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom, where he served as a curate in the Diocese of Lincoln.
[citation needed] Hatendi died at age 91 on 31 August 2018 of chronic lung and heart problems.