June 25th 2026 marks the 167th Anniversary of the death of the SMA Founder, the Venerable Melchior de Marion Brésillac in 1859. He and four other SMA’s who had arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leon, just six weeks before, died of yellow fever. This left the Society of African Missions, established just three years before, with three priests, one brother and five seminarians. In spite of the disaster in Freetown the work and mission of the SMA, not only continued, over the following years and decades, it thrived.
Today, there are seventeen SMA Provinces and eleven other SMA Districts and Delegations (i.e. smaller organizational structures and groups). Together these comprise of over 800 missionaries who work in 17 African countries as well as in Europe, the Americas and Asia.
There are over 450 students in SMA Houses of Formation. This year 34 new SMA priests will be Ordained to continue the Mission begun and inspired by our Founder.
We are thankful for his life and work and pray that God’s blessing and protection may be with SMA Missionaries working in countries all around the world. May they continue to be inspired by his life example, self-sacrifice and dedication to spreading the Gospel message.
We invite you to view information and resources about the Founder on this website. To do so Click here. To view a short video about the life of Melchior de Marion Brésillac Click here