Mass Stipends for 46 Priests in Africa

This year, the Missionaries of Africa are celebrating the 200th birthday of their founder, Charles Martial Allemand Lavigerie, who was born on October 31, 1825 in the small town of Huire, near Bayonne in southwest France. In 1867, he was appointed Archbishop of Algiers and, in 1868, as apostolic delegate for the Sahara and Sudan, later becoming a cardinal. He was especially opposed to slavery and human trafficking. In 1868, he founded the Missionaries of Africa, popularly known as the White Fathers, for their distinctive white robes, based on traditional local customs.  

Today, the Missionaries of Africa are still active in 17 African countries. Most of them are now native-born Africans, and vocations are particularly plentiful in the country of Togo in West Africa, which is the seat of one of the two regional provinces of the order on the African continent. Currently, there are 46 priests belonging to this province, and over half of them are working in Togo. The rest are ministering in 11 other countries, among them Nigeria, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  

The Fathers minister pastorally, especially in the poorer, agricultural regions. They also aid projects for widows and orphans and run healthcare centers, literacy centers, and the “Village Renaissance,” a place where former criminals can begin a new life.  

Every year, the province is blessed with priestly ordinations. However, it is difficult for them to provide support for their priests, since the people they minister to are themselves poor and can barely contribute to their support. And so this year, once again, we are providing the 46 Fathers of the province with some of Mass stipends you generously offer.  

Will you join us in helping them? 

199-04-Missae Ordinariae