A young girl of about 8 years old was kidnapped from near her village in Darfur, Sudan in 1876 by 2 armed men. They took her off and sold her into slavery. Her name was taken from her and the slave-name of “Lucky” (Bakhita) given in its stead.

The Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers), as well as the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa/MSOLA (White Sisters), are preparing world wide to celebrate 150 years of service to, and in, Africa. The Missionaries of Africa date their beginnings to 1868 and the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa to 1869.

Not the first monk, but the first to go off into the Egyptian wilderness.  His parents died when he was 18 years old.  Following Jesus’ advice to the young man in the Gospel, he gave away to the poor all the money he had inherited in order to devote his life to coming closer to God. 

Archbishop Michael, formerly Head of the Pontifical Council for Intereligious Dialogue and the Papal Nuncio in Egypt, received an Honorary Doctorate from Heythrop College, University of London.

Recently, in his pastoral letter of last October to the people of the archdiocese, Archbishop Malcolm McMahon wrote: “In the city of Liverpool I have invited the missionaries of Africa, more commonly known as the White Fathers, to take over the pastoral care of one of our parishes. They will be setting up a mission to specifically respond to the needs of our African brothers and sisters, and others of various ethnic origins, in the city”.

At long last the African Union (AU) has reacted and called for action to stop this vile and degrading abuse of human beings. One of the first African countries to react has been Rwanda.

Yesterday Pope Francis joined a prayer service in Rome organised by “Solidarity with South Sudan” and the Justice and Peace office of male and female religious organisations worldwide. The prayers were for peace and justice for the peoples of South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

After reading about Fr. John Slinger’s recent escape from death, having been attacked by a mentally ill man in Tanzania, I read about the 3 British Christian missionaries who were repatriated from Nigeria.

On Monday morning, the 30th Oct, at 6a.m. whilst entering the sacristy to prepare for Mass, I was attacked by a deranged man in the sacristy.

BBC Magazine published a beautiful story from Kenya concerning two childhood friends. One became a drug addict living on the streets.

Excerpts from the sermon given by Fr Chris Wallbank MAfr in Rutherglen

One thing that comes to mind when thinking of John is how his whole missionary life was marked in so many ways by the Cross.

Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald MAfr, formerly Head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the Papal Nuncio in Egypt to the Arab League, was invited to pray and give a reflection on 3rd October 2017in Edinburgh before the Scottish Parliament.

When received by Pope Francis last month in the Vatican, the Bishops of Algeria stressed that the request to have the Bishop of Oran and 18 priests and religious, who had been murdered in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, beatified was not in any way meant to be a self-congratulatory move by the Church, nor was it meant to be a claim of “poor Christians murdered by wicked Muslims”.

The cause for the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, including the seven monks of Tibhirine and the 4 MAfr (White Fathers) of Tizi-Ouzou (Jean Chevillard, Alain Dieulangard, Christian Chessel, Charles Deckers) have only to receive the vote of the Assembly of the Cardinals and Bishops of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.’ (Nicolas Senèze , Rome, 01/09/2017).

There will be a Memorial Mass for Fr John Lynch at the House of the Missionaries of Africa in Rutherglen (9 Milrig Road) on Friday 13th October at 11.30 a.m.

Yesterday Fr John Lynch's body was cremated and today after a requiem Mass in the community chapel of the Missionaries of Africa, his ashes were buried in St Petersburg, Florida.

John worked for many years in Chicago and Washington at the Missionaries of Africa Development Office where he raise millions of dollars for small projects (up to $10,000) for clean water, transport, medical and educational projects for the neediest people in Africa.

News has just been received that Fr. John Lynch returned to the Father yesterday after many years of serving the people of God and his fellow misssionaries in UK and USA with compassion and dedication. May he rest in peace. We pray for his family and his community.

On Thursday evening (22nd September) Fr. John Lynch, MAfr was returning on foot to the retirement home of the Missionaries of Africa in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.

Over the years Sierra Leone has suffered from so many disasters. Some were man-made like the Civil War which cost so many lives and resulted in the mutilation of so many innocent people. Some were from "natural causes" like the Ebola epidemic, which also took so many people's lives. Now, more than 400 people have been drowned in a sea of mud in Freetown, many whilst they slept. It is claimed that 600 are still missing.