Dr Marais will celebrate 30 years of ordained ministry this year
the Diocese of Natal and priested there in the following year.
He served in four parishes in the Diocese of Natal, two as an Assistant Priest and two (rural parishes) as Rector.
In 2005, he and his family came to the Diocese of George on his appointment as Rector of St Peter, Mossel Bay, and subsequently (2012) as Rector of Formosa Parish in Plettenberg Bay.
Dr Marais completed his theological training through UNISA and the erstwhile St Paul’s College in Grahamstown.
In 2012 he became an Oblate of the Society of the Precious Blood (OSPB).
Alongside this, he holds a Doctorate in Development Studies, with his major interests being in rural development and the evaluation of development practice.
He is a champion of Sustainable Development, where for him, after God, the Earth comes first!
People who occupy the Earth need to use its resources in the best interests of future generations and all other species which are integral to its ecology.
The economy is the servant of all created life forms.
The amelioration of poverty is central to the stimulation of the rural economy, which to his mind has a high potential to offer solutions to urban problems, such as unemployment.
These are achievable with the appropriate discernment and spiritual guidance.