Mission in Malawi
Mother Province:
Province of the Franciscan Protomartyrs in Zambia
The dream of opening a mission in Malawi was initially discussed at the 2002 Extraordinary Provincial Chapter of the Province of Zambia and was approved at its 2004 Ordinary Chapter of the Province of Zambia.
The mission was established in 2008, and was the first Mission of the Order to be founded and fully supported by a Jurisdiction in Africa.
The mission currently has five solemnly professed friars (four from Zambia and one from Malawi), three simply professed friars and one friary.
St. Anthony of Padua Friary, St. Paul’s Catholic Parish and the Holy Trinity Catholic Parish
On May 11, 2008, the Province of Zambia assigned three friars to serve as its first missionaries in the Diocese of Mzuzu in Malawi.
The friars arrived in Mzimba, about 300 km [186 mi.] north of the capital Lilongwe. The friary was erected on June 16, 2008. The friars take care of the St. Paul Parish and animate thirty-eight primary schools and one secondary school. The secondary school was recently built with the help of Caritas Antoniana of Padua [a charitable institution]. In 2019, the new Holy Trinity Parish was opened, also in Mzimba. The friars promote various charitable activities in the educational and pastoral fields. The Province of Zambia is preparing to open a second friary in Lilongwe.
Franciscan Missionary Center
General Secretariat for Mission Animation
