LEX INNOCENTIUM – The Law of the Innocents, 21st Century
In this season of Advent, a time of preparing for the coming of Christ, whose birth the Gospel tells us was welcomed by Angels...
Update so far on COP29
Below is an update provided by the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice on Mon 18 Nov 2024. It provides a brief overview of...
Holy See to COP29: Indifference is an accomplice to injustice
Below is an article written by Francesca Merlo in the Vatican Newsletter of Nov 14th in which she reports on the address made to...
2024 Conference on Intergenerational Climate Justice
Climate Breakdown: Who Cares? This was the theme for the 5th Conference on Intergenerational Climate Justice Conference that took place online on the morning...
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE...
“Hope and Act with Creation” is the theme of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on 1 September 2024. The...
Caring for the wonders of Creation – in Wilton Parish
Even though it has not been a great summer life goes one and much is happening, even though we may not notice. As we...
My Journey to the SMA – FVC Newsletter 2024
This is the third article in this series about SMA Seminarians that was first published in the recent edition of the Family Vocations Community...
World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2024
Each year on 30 July, we observe World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. This year’s theme is
“Leave No Child Behind* in the Fight...
AFRICAN DEMOCRACY – Afrobarometer Report
The Executive Summary of the report "African insights 2024, Democracy at risk - the people's perspective" is reproduced below. Researched and published by the...
GHANA – “Pilgrims of Hope”: campaign by men and women religious for the protection...
Hundreds of Consecrated men and women crossed the streets of the main cities of Ghana such as Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast, Takoradi, Sunyani, Damongo,...
Hotspot West Africa – Conflicts and Interventions
The article below was published by AEFJN Brussels in the AEFJN Echo of June 2024. It gives some interesting perspectives on changes that have...
Discussing the 2024 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report
For the third year running the SMA and OLA Justice and Communications Offices have, within ten days of its publication, collaborated in organising an...
AFRICA EUROPE FAITH AND JUSTICE NETWORK (AEFJN) – Food Security in Africa
The SMA and the OLA Justice Offices were instrumental in re-establishing a branch of the AEFJN in Ireland and for the last three years...
Strengthening the Culture of Democracy through Values
The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) is composed of the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of all Member States of the...
WORLD REFUGEE DAY – 20 June 2024
World Refugee Day, observed annually on 20 June, honours the strength and resilience of those who have been forced to flee their homes due...
Flowers from Africa
Below is text from a Background Paper published by the German Network Africa which is affiliated to the Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network...
JUNE 2024 | For those fleeing their own countries
Let us pray that migrants fleeing from war or hunger, forced to undertake journeys fraught with danger and violence, may find welcome and new...
Together, we are stronger
At a time when we hear much about a vocal right wing anti-immigrant movement in Ireland we are delighted to bring you this short...
IMMIGRATION – in context
In recent times much of our media coverage has been taken up with reports on anti-immigrant protests that are being manipulated and promoted by...
Sacred Earth: Interfaith Gathering at Ardfoyle
On Saturday 27th of April an event organised by the OLA and SMA Justice Offices in collaboration with Cork Three Faiths Forum took place...
“Sewing” Justice: A Theological Response to Garment Worker Exploitation
In the past the SMA Justice Office has focused on the issues of fast fashion and the abuse of human rights in supply chains,...
EARTH DAY 2022
- A billion plastic beverage containers were sold last year in the United States.
- None of them will be made into new plastic bottles.
-...
Christianity in Dialogue with Islam and African Traditional Religion: Challenges and Opportunities.
Below is Communiqué of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue dated 11.04.2024. It was issued after a workshop held in Nairobi Kenya. The full text...
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on the day the police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire and...
‘LET US ALL SAY: ENOUGH … STOP THE WAR!’ – IRISH BISHOPS STATEMENT
On the second day of the 2024 Spring General Meeting of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Maynooth, the bishops called for an urgent...
Join with the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking – Feast...
The Church's International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking takes place every year on February 8th, which is also the feast day...
CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY – THINKING ECOLOGICALLY – The 2023 Intergenerational Climate Justice Conference –...
About Cork Conference on Intergenerational Climate Justice
The Cork Conference on Intergenerational Climate Justice is an annual event dedicated to fostering awareness, understanding, and action...
Not a moment to waste
A recent report by George Lee, for RTE News, speaking about the latest information form the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service makes for grim...
MESSAGE OF POPE FRANCIS FOR WORLD DAY OF PEACE 1 JANUARY 2024
Below is the text of Pope Francis's message for World Day of Peace. The theme is Artificial Intelligence, a topic we have all heard...
Pope Francis to COP28: ‘Choose life, choose the future!’
Below is the message of Pope Francis to COP28 that was delivered by Cardinal Parolin on his behalf. This powerful and hard hitting message...
COP28 and Laudate Deum
COP stands for "conference of the parties", with parties being the 197 countries that have signed up to the UN climate treaty (UNFCCC) to...
Laudate Deum”: a call to respond to the Climate Crisis
In October 2023 Pope Francis published this Apostolic Exhortation in which he develops themes expressed in his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’ Its opening paragraphs...
Peace is not made with weapons – Fr Luigi Maccalli SMA
While in captivity I understood that peace is not made with weapons
"I am very saddened by what I hear and see in the...
MISSIONARY VOICES – PODCAST 5
This week we bring you the fifth and last Missionary Voices Podcast in this series.
Sr Juvenale Yevide OLA who lives and works in Maradi,...
SMA OLA PODCAST SERIES No 4
To mark the Season of Creation a collaboration between the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles and the Society of African Missions has produced...
World Day of Migrants and Refugees – 24th Sept
The Church has marked World Day of Migrants and Refugees since 1914. It is always an occasion to express concern for different vulnerable people...
SMA OLA PODCAST SERIES No 3
To mark the Season of Creation a collaborative effort between the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles and the Society of African Missions has...
SMA OLA PODCAST SERIES No 2
The Season of Creation began on the first of September with the World Day of Prayer for Creation, and ends on the fourth of...
SMA OLA PODCAST SERIES to mark the Season of Creation
The Season of Creation began on the first of September with the World Day of Prayer for Creation, and ends on the fourth of...
PASSION of John the Baptist 29/08/23
Yesterday we celebrated Saint Augustine. One of the lines associated with him ‘Late have I loved you’ might be changed for today’s saint –...
AFRICA – The rush for lithium: an opportunity for the continent?
Rome (Fides News Agency) - Africa holds 30-75% of the world's reserves of lithium, phosphate, copper, chromium, manganese, gold, platinum, diamonds and aluminum Some...
World Day Against Trafficking in Persons2023
The UN designated “World Day Against Trafficking" in Persons, marked on the 30th of July each year, highlights the fact that globally more than...
JUNE 2023| For a non-violent culture
“Let us put a stop to this horror of torture!”: Pope Francis’s strong appeal to the international community
The new video contains a powerful call for the...
Protecting Biodiversity – COP15
This is the second article to mark Laudato Si Week 2023, which this year has the theme of "Hope for the Earth, Hope for...
Caring for Our Common Home – Laudato Si’ Week 2023
To mark the eighth anniversary of the publication of the encyclical “Laudato Si' – On Care for Our Common Home” this week (on 24...
St Josephine Bakhita – International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking
In the Church calendar February 8th, is both the feast of St Bakhita and also International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking.
St...
UN Committee for the Rights of the Child – Review of Ireland.
On the 24th and 25th of January the UN’s Committee on the Rights of the Child will review Ireland during its meeting in Geneva. A...
Conference Of Parties (COP)What Happened?
Below is the text SMA Justice Briefing No 47
In 2022 the severe impacts of climate change were made clearly visible through widespread floods, heat,...
Urgency and responsibility should orient work of COP27 – Holy See
We have reached the final day of COP27 and again, as in previous years, it is likely to go overtime as participants haggle over...
JOURNEYING TOGETHER FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE: An African perspective- part 2
Today, by way of preparation for he COP27, we bring you the second part of the African Climate Dialogues which give an African perspective...
JOURNEYING TOGETHER FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE: An African perspective- part 1
In advance of COP27 we publish the first part of a Communique from the AFRICAN Climate Dialogues. These took the form of five sessions...
COP27
The UN Climate Change Conference (the official name for climate Conferences Of Parties) has happened every year since 1995. These two-week long gatherings are...
World Day of Migrants and Refugees – Sunday 25th September
PRAYER
Lord, make us bearers of hope,
so that where there is darkness,
your light may shine,
and where there is discouragement,
confidence in the future may be reborn.
Lord,...
SEASON OF CREATION 2022 – 1st Sept to 4th Oct
The Season of Creation begins on 1 September, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends on 4 October, the Feast...
World Day against Trafficking in Persons 2022 – 30th July
One minute Video to raise awareness that Human Trafficking has conquered cyberspace - click to view and to expand
One minute Video to highlight...
Laudato Si Week – “Listening and Journeying Together” 22 – 29 MAY
This weeklong global event will mark the seventh anniversary of Pope Francis' landmark encyclical on creation care and unite the world’s 1.3 billion...
Cost of living: the poorest are suffering the most
In an interview with Vatican Radio, SMA Father Seán J Healy has reminded Irish politicians that society will be judged by how it deals...
Labour Trafficking and Supply Chains – part two
The $43.4 billion per annum that accrues from forced labour is the root cause motivating Traffickers to enslave human beings. Stopping these profits is...
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING – Labour Trafficking and Supply Chains
Today, 8 February, the international anti-human trafficking network, Thalita Kum, invite you to participate in an eight-hour online Marathon of Prayer and Awareness against...
SMA and OLA Justice Work – a look back at 2020
Since 2014 collaboration between the SMA and OLA Justice and Communications Offices has grown. This has been facilitated by the establishment of a Joint...
Pope: Justice and peace must overcome political, economic contradictions
During an online meeting of of Justice and Peace Commissions of various national Bishops’ Conferences, hosted by The Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human...
World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2021
Every year the World Day of Migrants and Refugees takes place on the last Sunday of September. The Church has marked this day since...
Human Trafficking: Protecting Victims in Ireland – TIP Video 6
Today we conclude our video series on based on the Annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) published by the US State Department in June...
TRAFFICKING – Prevention in Ireland – Tip Report Video 5
We continue today with the 5th in our series of videos based on the Annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) published by the US...
Human Trafficking – Law Enforcement – TIP Report Video 4
Today we bring you the 4th in a series of six videos based on the Annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) published by the...
Human Trafficking IRELAND’S RANKING – TIP Report Video 3
Today we bring you the third in a series of six videos based on the Annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) published by the...
World Day against Trafficking in Persons 2021
World Day against Trafficking in Persons is held on July 30th each year. This year the theme set by the UN is “Victims’ Voices...
THE WORLD OF FINANCE – Pope Francis
Today, when we hear talk of finances, we often feel as if it’s a subject very distant from our day-to-day life. As Francis says,...
SMA Summer School 2021 – Tanzania PROJECT
This page will contain information about the project in Tanzania run by Sr Regina OLA and a direct link to the Project or OLA...
Indian Catholic schools become hospitals for Covid patients
A Report from AGENZIA FIDES, the Vatican News Agency for the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, is reporting that the Archdiocese of Bangalore,...
SMA SUMMER SCHOOL 2021 – date for your Diary
This year the SMA Summer School will take place on-line over a one and a half day period. Here we bring you advance notice...
WEBINAR: Global Economics and Local Impacts – the effect on Women and Girls in...
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Planned exclusion of refugees from vaccination
The Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) is calling for equity in vaccine distribution. “Equal access to vaccinations is necessary to ensure public health for all in...
WORLD DAY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE – Feb 20th 2021
The United Nations' World Day of Social Justice is observed each year on February 20th. The theme for 2021 is; A Call for Social...
Human Trafficking: Ireland’s Reality – WEBINAR
The Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA) and the Society of African Missions (SMA) will be hosting a Webinar: Human Trafficking: Ireland’s Reality
Date: Tuesday...
Advent Reflections
This page contains the eight Advent Reflections from SMA Fathers and an OLA Sister. These were written and recorded especially for Advent in a...
Label helps shoppers choose environmentally-friendly produced rice
The Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) has launched a label which identifies sustainably-produced rice. The label will help shoppers reduce the environmental impact of rice...
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2020 – Year A
20 September 2020
Isaiah 55:6-9
Phillipians 1:20-24, 27
Matthew 20:1-16
Work is more than a paid job...
Who are you? ...
SMA Wilton parish celebrates the Season of Creation
St Joseph's SMA Parish, Wilton, Cork marked the beginning of the 2020 Season of Creation with a special Service on Tuesday, 1 September, at...
The Season of Creation – a time for Prayer and Action
The season starts 1 September, the Day of Prayer for Creation, and ends 4 October, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron...
Dark Clouds of Violence over Our Land
A Statement from the
Catholic Bishops of Kaduna Ecclesiastical Province, Nigeria,
on the incessant killings in the Province
The dark clouds of violence have enveloped our...
Body and Blood of Christ 2019 – Year C
23 June 2019
Genesis 14:8-20
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Luke 9: 11-17
One time I remember visiting a bush village in Africa. It was a very poor area. It...
Pentecost Sunday 2019 – Year C
9 June 2019
Acts 2;1-11
1 Cor 12:3-7,12-13
John 20:19-23
An Irish doctor friend of mine told me of a time he received a call from...
6th Sunday of Easter 2019 – Year C
26 May 2019
Acts 15:1-2, 22-29
Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23
John 14:23-29
Some years ago my uncle was dying in a hospital and he was aware of this....
SMA Provincial Leader commends the work of SHALOM
“Shalom’s contextually driven, rigorous but adaptable and forward-looking methodology represents a model approach towards peace-building in highly complex situations, such as those that pertain...
The main concerns of Synod representatives from Africa
Two major preoccupations raised were unemployment and poverty
Lucie Sarr
October 30, 2018
https://international.la-croix.com/news/the-main-concerns-of-synod-representatives-from-africa/8735
African bishops and young auditors at the Synod assembly on Young People,...
8th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2019 – Year C
3 March 2019
Sirach 27.4-7
1 Cor 15.54-58
Luke 6.39-45
There is a story about a scorpion that wants to cross a river. It chances upon a turtle...
Living Faith Means Living Justly
JUSTICE OLD TESTAMENT 1
JUSTICE OLD TESTAMENT 2
JUSTICE THE NEW TESTAMENT
KEY THEMES IN
CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING
CARE FOR CREATION 1
CARE FOR CREATION 2
THE SOJOURNERS 1
THE SOJOURNERS...
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2018 – Year B
28 October 2018
Jeremiah 31:7-9
Hebrews 5:1-6
Mark 10:46-52
In biblical times blindness was very common, as in Africa today, where every village has its blind, some from...
Family Tree Programme – Additional Resources
Scroll down for visual, prayer, film clips and song resources. Online links to film clips and videos of songs are provided. Click here to download...
Cardinal’s plan for laypeople to lead parishes
Cardinal Reinhard Marx has announced plans to allow laypeople in his Archdiocese of Munich to lead parishes where there are no priests.
In doing...
Climate Volunteers and the Thumbprint Campaign
During 2015, the SMA introduced the Thumbprint Campaign for Climate Justice and with the publication of Pope Francis’ encyclical on ecology, Laudato Si, it...
Missionary Association Cards (MAC)
Much of the good work done by SMA in support of Africa over the years has been as a result of the generous donations...
Family Vocations Community
Established in 1959 to support the young priests in formation, The Family Vocations Crusade (FVC) began in the North based at Dromantine but spread...
LAITY AND THE SMA
When he founded the SMA in 1856, Bishop de Brésillac wanted to establish a "Society of clergy and lay people”, which would bring the...
SMA NOVENA IN HONOUR OF OUR LADY
The annual Novena to Our Lady begins at St. Joseph's SMA Church, Blackrock Road, Cork, on Friday 19th May, and culminates with our annual pilgrimage...
Shalom’s Methodology Have Impact in Northern Ireland
The following article on the work of Shalom, Kenya, has been contributed by Tom Watson, president and founder of CauseWired, a US consulting firm advising...
TOGO Bishops – “… a bomb that may explode”
Agenzia Fides reports from Lomé (4 May 2017) the following statement from the Bishops of Togo:
"The frustration of Togolese civil society is a bomb ready...
Zambia stands on the edge
“Our country is now all, except in designation, a dictatorship and if it is not yet, then we are not far from it.
Our...
December 2016 Papal Missionary Intention
The December 2016 Missionary Intention of Pope Francis relates to the Europe:
May the peoples of Europe rediscover the beauty, goodness, and truth of the...
Feast of St Patrick
Today cities, towns and villages throughout the country are crowded, many people wearing shamrock or badges and celebrating our National Day with parades, floats,...
Boko Haram target Niger – the world’s least developed country
There is evidence that the Boko Haram Islamist terror group is feeling the pressure of a concerted effort by the military of Nigeria, Cameroon...
Ghana – Uganda urge youth to stay at home
In a joint statement of the Episcopal Conference of Ghana and of the Christian Council of Ghana, issued at the conclusion of a meeting...
A Modern Olympic Story of courage and tragedy
At the end of her first qualifying heat in the women’s 200m race at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the defending Olympic champion, Jamaican...
Is South Africa’s Rainbow turning Black and White?
The Society of African Missions (SMA) involvement in South Africa is a commitment to helping the new South Africa emerge from the nightmare of its...
Conflict resolution in Kenya
For several years, the Shalom Center for Conflict Resolution & Reconciliation has been working to end the cycle of violence in the tribal lands of...
Living Laudato Si – SMA Summer School
The SMA Summer School was dedicated to celebrating the 1st anniversary of Pope Francis’s Encyclical Laudato Si.
‘Living Laudato Si – Its Theological, Spiritual and...
UNMIL’s last day in Liberia
30 June marked the last day of the United Nations Military presence in the small west African state of Liberia. With a population of 4.56...
OLA Sisters celebrate 25 years in Mwamapalala
OLA jubilance and joy were evident throughout the week leading up to Friday 13 May 2016. On that day twenty-five-years previously, Sisters Mairéad Hickey...
Building a better Africa and a better World
Africa Day is the official day of the African Union, which falls on 25 May annually. In Ireland Africa Day is celebrated on the...
UN official resigns over abuse allegations in CAR
There are few who would argue with the need for the United Nations which, since the end of the Second World War, has helped...
Global Catholic Climate Movement
The SMA Summer School 2016 is entitled: ‘Living Laudato Si’ and marks the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ revolutionary encyclical inviting us to become...
Migrants found dead in Niger Desert – abandoned by smugglers
On 16 June last, Agenzia Fides, the Information service of the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, reported on the deaths in Niger of 34 migrants...
Ghana’s “Sodom and Gomorrah”
To mark the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si, GLOBAL SISTERS REPORT, a project of the National Catholic Reporter, has begun a...
New SMA mission opens in Tanzania
The SMA team in Tanzania will open a new mission on the island of Ukara on Lake Victoria in November 2016. Travel to the island...
Welcoming the Stranger – Learning from the Developing World and Malta
In an Irish Examiner Opinion Piece (May 24, 2016) marking the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, the CEO of Oxfam Ireland, Jim Clarken, said...
President Higgins criticises ‘Empty Pledges’
In a speech delivered on the opening day of the UN Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul (23 May 2016), President Higgins criticized the Irish State’s...
Will you welcome the stranger?
The SMA pilgrimage to Knock next Saturday, 28 May, is challenging us to reflect on how we treat the strangers in our midst. We are...
Churches attacked in Tanzania
Over several months Tanzanian Christians – of different confessions – have been the victims of anti-Christian violence. This has seen the burning of churches...
Three new SMA deacons in Nairobi
Last Monday, 2 May 2016, the SMA Formation House in Nairobi celebrated the admission to Permanent membership in the Society of African Missions of Armand Mayumbu...
Murdered Sisters remembered
The Vatican News Agency - Agenzia Fides - reports that a Mass was celebrated on Saturday last, 16 April, in the Holy Family Basilica, Nairobi, to...
Divine Mercy Sunday – a thought
The name of God is mercy – this is the title that Pope Francis gave the letter he wrote announcing the Jubilee Year of...
St Patrick is about faith not commerce!
Today cities, towns and villages throughout the country are crowded, many people wearing shamrock or badges and celebrating our National Day with parades, floats,...
Cast out your nets into deeper water!
A two-day orientation workshop for SMA priests assigned to the South Africa Region was held at the SMA Regional House, Buffelsfontein on 11-12 February 2016.And so...
Taming your tongue!
St. Agnes Pray for us!
St Agnes Catholic Church, Ibex Hill, Lusaka, Zambia had a Nine day Novena from 12 - 20 January, 2016 from...
SMA Lay missionary drowned in Liberia
Beth Otting, an SMA Lay missionary, died tragically in Liberia on Friday, 29 January. Beth had only arrived in Liberia on 4 January. A fellow lay missionary...
World Leprosy Day 2016 – To live is to help to live
Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, President of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, has written a message for the 63rd World Leprosy Day, the theme...
Refugees unwelcome
According to the IRIN News and Information Service, refugees and migrants attempting to pass through the tiny village of Idomeni near Greece’s border with...
Kontagora Vicariate in 2016
Kontagora CrisisThe Vicariate Apostolic of KontagoraBishop Timothy Carroll SMABorn: 20 April 1940 at Millstreet, Co Cork, IrelandPermanent member of SMA: 15 June 1965Ordained: 20...
SMA Parish launches Thumbprint campaign
During Advent 2015, St Joseph's SMA Parish in Wilton, Cork participated in the Thumbprint exercise being championed by the SMA Justice group - making...
Nigeria “is not a Christian country. It is not a Muslim country…”
"This is not a Christian country. It is not a Muslim country. There is no place here that belongs to Muslims or Christians, rich...
Merciful like the Father… Jubilee Year opens
On 8 December we will begin an Extraordinary Jubilee Year – a Jubilee Year of Mercy. It is the first Jubilee Year which does...
SMA Parish Blackrock Road goes online with webcam
Following the installation of a webcam in St Joseph's SMA Parish Church, Blackrock Road, Cork, it is now possible for former parishioners to...
COApplication 2015
Click here to read the Job description and Person specification for the SMA Communications Officer.
Francis: pilgrim of peace and apostle of hope
When Pope Francis arrived at the International Airport in Bangui, among the welcoming party were two SMA bishops – Bishop Nestor-Désiré Nongo-Aziagbia SMA ...
Communications Officer application
JOB DESCRIPTION
The Society of African Missions is an international Society of priests and brothers dedicated to the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus...
Shalom success in Kabira
The Shalom Center for Conflict Resolution & Reconciliation works to end the cycle of violence in the tribal lands of Eastern Africa. To...
Witchcraft uncovered
Witchcraft is a fact of life in many parts of the world. In Zambia, Fr Tom Casey SMA - through the SMA Media Centre...
Pope Francis speaks to Paris Climate Conference
The Paris Climate Summit will go ahead despite the atrocities of Friday, 13 November, last. Pope Francis has, once again, addressed this issue and...
40 years in Nigeria and still going strong
Fr. Daniel Monaghan, SMA, recently marked 40 years in the priesthood, all of which was spent in Nigeria.Daniel (Danny) Monaghan was born on 24th...
Benin City mourns Monsignor Joseph P Omesa
The death has taken place at the UBTH Benin City, Nigeria, of Monsignor Joseph P. Omesa, aged 67 years. Monsignor Omesa had been vigorously battling...
Forced evictions leave Nigerians homeless
According to the IRIN News Agency, more than a month after security forces chased some 15,000 Nigerians from their homes in Badia East, one of...
International Day of Prayer for Climate Justice
Sunday, 1 November, has been set aside as the International Day of Prayer for Climate Justice. Christians throughout the world will take part in...
Mission Sunday 2015
Sunday, 18 October 2015, is Mission Sunday when we are invited to pray for and show solidarity with all missionaries, our representatives throughout the...
Ebola orphans in Liberia abandoned
According to FIDES – a Vatican News Agency – more that 5,900 Liberian children lost one or both parents to Ebola. Some are with...
Despite setbacks Boko Haram continue to kill and destroy
In recent weeks the Boko Haram Islamist sect have come under increasing pressure from Nigerian and other military forces. Cameroon military foiled an attack...
Special Wilton Parish Assembly meeting
A special meeting of the Parish Assembly will gather with the new Parish Priest, Fr Michael O'Leary SMA, on Tuesday, 6 October 2015.
It is...
Be good stewards of the manifold grace of God
Be good Stewards of the manifold grace of God We live in what Pope Francis has called a “throwaway culture.” Many people act as...
People die defending our environment
The international group Global Witness has reported that 116 persons, defenders of the environment, were murdered in 2014. This means that at least two...
CLIMATE CHANGE AND CLIMATE JUSTICE
CLIMATE CHANGE AND CLIMATE JUSTICE “Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods....
SMA seminary celebrates 25 years
God of tenderness and love, you inspired Melchior de Marion Brésillac to found the Society of African Missions and in our own time inspired...
Eritrean refugees’ paintings of dangerous journeys
The Jesuit Refugee Services have mounted an exhibition by Eritrean young people of paintings depicting their visions, fears and memories of the dangerous...
Commissioning ceremony for departing Nigerian SMA priests
We took a nostalgic stroll down the corridors of recollection at SMA House, Abuja on Saturday morning last, the Feast of the Assumption, when...
Benedict Daswa, first martyr of South Africa, to be beatified on 13 September
According to Agenzia FIDES - the News Agency for the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples - the Church in South Africa is...
Privacy Policy
Society of African MissionsThank you for visiting the website of the Society of African Mission and reviewing our privacy policy. This policy applies only...
Playing the EU Asylum lottery
Fleeing war or persecution for the safety of Europe?Asylum seekers have not truly made it until their applications are approved, giving them the right...
Violence mars end of Ramadan
As Muslims throughout the world celebrated the end of Ramadan with the Eid al Fitr festival, the Nigerian Islamist group – Boko Haram –...
Niger: Boko Haram’s neglected crisis
Nigerian families first began seeking refuge in Niger in 2013, but Boko Haram-related violence in the region has spiked in recent months, causing the...
Boko Haram change tactics
A teenage girl strapped with explosives ran away from a crowded mosque this week, killing only herself and cementing suspicions that Boko Haram is...
600,000 refugees in Kenya
Though much is made of the thousands of refugees / economic migrants trying to reach Europe there are several African countries where people have...
World Refugee Day 2015
At the end of his general audience last Wednesday, held in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis launched the following appeal:"This coming Saturday marks World...
Boko Haram violence has killed more than 5,000 Catholics alone
A new report has revealed the scale of the suffering of Nigerian Catholics at the hands of Boko Haram militants, with 5,000 Catholics killed...
Growing humanitarian emergency due to Boko Haram violence
The Nigerian government’s focus on its war against the Boko Haram insurgency is obscuring a growing humanitarian emergency, according to an IRIN News Organisation...
Boko Haram has not gone away
Nigeria has a new President - Muhammadu Buhari - with a promise to return Nigeria to peace and stability. However, Boko Haram is continuing its reign of...
Faith and mission are linked – World Mission Message 2015
In his Message for Mission Sunday 2015 , Pope Francis states that “there is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor”. The...
Fr Bill Kennedy SMA – Funeral rites
Prayers before removal from the SMA House, Wilton The remains of Fr Bill Kennedy were removed from the SMA House to the adjacent St Joseph's SMA...
Fr Bill Kennedy goes to his eternal rest
"The one who had the greatest influence on me as a priest was Bishop Patrick J Kelly SMA. He made me aware, by...
I am Sorry
A few weeks ago almost 900 people were drowned in the Mediterranean Sea trying to get to Europe. 900 families and more, bereaved in...
Kenya Region 2015
SMA Kenya The SMA involvement in Kenya began in 1992 when the British Province undertook the administration of the Parish of St Joseph the...
Pressure of radical Islam financed from abroad is felt in Benin
Following their ad limina visit to the Rome to meet with Pope Francis the Secretary General of the Benin Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Pascal N’Koue...
120 years in the Ivory Coast
Less than 40 years after the foundation of the SMA by Bishop deBrésillac his successors established the first mission in the Ivory Coast,...
SMA statement on Mediterranean migrants
A Statement from the SMA General Council The General Council of the Society of African Missions (SMA) on behalf of its members and...
Sambisa forest under attack by armed forces
The Reuters News Agency is reporting that the Nigerian Armed forces backed by warplanes are attacking the infamous Boko Haram stronghold of the Sambisa...
Choose all that will bring life
Recently a friend working with refugees, told me “We are getting asylum seekers now from Syria and Iraq”. The United Nations Refugee Agency reported...
One year on – Chibok school girls still missing
Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos , in an interview with FIDES has said “it is worrying that we do not know anything about the...
Shalom Center condemns Garissa atrocity
The Shalom Center for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation issued a statement today expressing their shock and solidarity with the Kenyan people following the attacks...
Fr Dan bids adieu after 44 years
Father Dan McCauley (SMA) is an Irish priest who will soon leave Nigeria after 44 years. He began his missionary work in Nigeria in...
Pope’s Letter to Nigeria published
Pope Francis has sent a Letter to the people and bishops of Nigeria assuring them of his closeness to them at this time. Although...
Twelve killed in suicide bomb attack in Maiduguri
A suspected female suicide bomber killed at least 12 people on Tuesday in Maiduguri, capital of Nigeria's Borno state, military and hospital sources...
More than 600 granted asylum have no homes
More than 600 granted asylum have no homes An Irish Time’s article date 9 March 2015 reports that successful asylum seekers are caught in...
St Parick – Immigrant and Saint
Each year on March 17, Irish people the world over celebrate the feast of St. Patrick. His own life seems to fade out...
Children murdered by Boko Haram suicide bomber
Boko Haram continued its deadly campaign in north eastern Nigeria with a female suicide bomber taking at least 20 lives in an attack on...
A growing feeling on anti-Christianity in Niger
The FIDES News Agency, quoting an Italian SMA priest, says that there is a growing sense of anti-Christianity in Niger following attacks on Christian...
Overcoming Frontiers
January 2015 has seen little easing of violence in the world at large. And not just “far away”. Not many weeks ago there was...
A light against human trafficking
Cardinal Peter Turkson spoke at a Vatican Press Conference to draw attention to the first International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human...
Niger bishops reaffirm their friendship with the Muslim community
Despite the anti-Christian violence which has seen dozens of Christian properties, including Catholic churches, attacked or destroyed in the Niger Republic the two Nigerien...
Nigerian lives matter as much as French ones
The IRIN News Agency reports on the controversy which has erupted following the Boko Haram attack on Baga, a town in the north-east of...
Who is going to rid us of Boko Haram?
The world was rightly outraged at the unjustified murder of journalists, police personnel and innocent people in Paris last week. But, in the same...
Would I, be prepared to give them shelter?
Would I be prepared to give them shelter?We have begun a new year: 2015. What will we celebrate and what will we hope for?...
The challenge for the church in South Africa
On 26 October 2014 the Montana community hosted an International Day to support the work of the SMA in Africa. They also took the opportunity...
Archbishop on pastoral visit to St Simon’s
On 6th and 7th December 2014, , His Grace Archbishop Matthew Man-oso Ndagoso of Kaduna, paid a pastoral visit to St. Simon’s parish, Mariban Rido, on the outskirts...
Direct provision needs ‘urgent action’, say Catholic bishops
Direct provision needs ‘urgent action’, say Catholic bishops Irish Times 11th December: Bishops have appealed for urgent action by the Government to address the...
May it be a “Happy Christmas” for everyone.
In the midst of the deafening roar of pre- Christmas shopping: “Black Friday”, “Cyber Monday”, cut-price temptations everywhere, it is very hard to perceive...
The Jewel in the Triple Crown
During a recent (August, 1994) visit to Zambia I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting the finest rugby player Ireland has ever produced. Earlier...
Relief aid for Ebola vicitims in Sierra Leone
The Society of African Missions (SMA) was founded in Lyons, France in 1856 by Bishop Marion deBrésillac with the aim of evangelizing Africa and...
Relief aid needed for Ebola victims in Kwama
The Society of African Missions (SMA) was founded in Lyons, France in 1856 by Bishop Marion deBrésillac with the aim of evangelizing Africa and...
Mosque attack shows Boko Haram attacks Muslims too
FIDES, the News Agency for the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, reports that Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama has said that "Boko Haram attacks...
Fr Monaghan appointed Vicar General
Archbishop Matthew Man-oso Ndagoso of Kaduna Archdiocese in Nigeria has appointed SMA Father Mark Monaghan to serve as one of his Vicars General. As...
Evangelise cultures to inculturate the Gospel
Once every five years the different Bishops Conferences from around the world visit the Pope to give an account of their stewardship and to...