Africa

Anastasia first experiences as a lay missionary.

Anastasia Jeong Nam is one of SMA’s lay associate from South Korea. She left for missions in December 2019, the Corona virus broke out while she was in the language school. Although her South Korean Embassy asked her to leave the country, she decided to stay back in her mission. That is a big courageous […]

A Driverless Car: Twenty-three months in captivity

Fr. Pierluigi (Gigi) Maccalli, SMA priest missionary, is the pastor of the catholic church in Bomoanga, Republic of Niger, near the border with Burkina Faso. He was kidnapped from his mission twenty-three months ago, on September 17, 2018. Since then he is in captivity. Last march, his captors published a video showing him alive. He […]

Tanzanian Bishop appeals for flood relief

The Bishop of Lindi has asked for help from “all people of good will.” By Fr John Waters As the flooding in Tanzania continues, the Bishop of Lindi, one of the most affected areas of the country, has put out an appeal for disaster relief. Torrential rain has caused flooding in the South-Eastern region of […]

Fr Pierluigi Maccalli SMA

Father Ceferino Cainelli SMA, Italian Provincial Superior, has spoken about the continuing disappearance of an SMA colleague, Fr Pierluigi Maccalli. “No information, no sign that will help us give a real name to what has happened and to glimpse the path to follow,” Fr Cainelli told FIDES, the News Agency of the Vatican Congregation for […]

Niamey’s thin thread

By Fr. Mauro Armanino, SMA missionary working in Niger The kidnapping of Pierluigi, Italian SMA priest, began in 2015. In January 16 and 17 of that year, the churches of Zinder, first capital of Niger and then those of Niamey, today’s capital, were burned. There is a thin red thread that ties the two events. […]

Laurent Barthelemy’s One Way Trip to Paris

A reflection by Mauro Armanino, Italian SMA priest working in Niamey, Niger No national day of mourning has been declared, none of what is decreed for military members who die in battle, for civilians who lose their lives in dramatic circumstances or natural disasters. No mourning for, a 14-year-old boy who died in the landing […]

My first Christmas in Ngudu

In this, my first Christmas in Ngudu, Tanzania, the majority of decorating took place the day before of Christmas Eve. There was a lot of bustling around, cleaning the church grounds and preparing the sanctuary for the main event, the birth of our Lord. Surprisingly to me, the Christmas colors were yellow and white. The […]

Up to the challenge of being a sustainable Church

SMA has missions in 16 African countries, and local Catholic churches can be found in each of Africa’s 56 nations. Most still need help from outside sources, but how can they become more sustainable, is the big challenge. Father Adam Fernandez of the SMA Indian Province learned something about this during his first 15 years […]

The road to the new cemetery in Niamey

by Fr. Mauro Arrnanino, Niamey, November 2019 The new Christian cemetery in Niamey is located on the road to Ouallam that leads to Mali. From the first overpass in the country, called Mali Bero, we head towards the ‘Village of the Francophonie’, so called, with a little imagination, because of the homonymous games celebrated in […]

A Nigerian Doctor who takes pay cuts to serve poor

“Africans who have had the privilege of getting outstanding training and education abroad must mobilize their network of influence to transform our continent… I believe that happiness doesn’t come from what you get, rather, it comes from what you give. There is always room to give; you don’t need to be a millionaire to give.” […]

Father Pier Luigi Maccalli, SMA, a year later.

It is a year Fr. Pier Luigi Maccalli was kidnapped in Niger. We remember him with this article Fr. Mauro Armanino wrote a month ago. We believe he is alive, kept away from our eyes, but spiritually united to us in a silent prayer. LIKE A TREE IN THE SAVANNAH Eleven months of Pier Luigi […]