The Chinhoyi Mission was entrusted to the Germany Jesuits in 1958 and remained part of the Archdiocese of Harare until the erection of a Prefecture. In 1974, Msgr Helmut Reckter was appointed as Prefect Apostolic of Chinhoyi. On the 5th of January 1986, it was raised to the status of a Diocese with Msgr Helmut Reckter SJ as its first Bishop.