125 years of faith did not begin with a crowd. It began with pioneers.
As the Catholic Church in Malawi celebrated 125 years of its permanent establishment, the Church paused to honour the missionary congregations and local communities whose sacrifices helped lay the foundations of the faith we celebrate today.
🏅 Certificates of Appreciation were presented to:
🔹 Montfort Missionaries
🔹 Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers)
🔹 Daughters of Wisdom
🔹 Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (White Sisters)
The celebration also turned to the family of the late Chief Jacob Njovuyalema, whose story is closely woven into the early history of the Catholic Church at Nzama.
Chief Njovuyalema received the first Catholic missionaries at Nzama in 1901 and allocated land to them, helping create the foundation upon which the mission in the area would grow.
In a special moment of recognition, his siblings received a special blessing from His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV, honouring their family’s historic connection to the beginnings of the Church at Nzama.
From the missionaries who came, to the communities who welcomed them — this is part of the story of how the Catholic Church in Malawi took root.
— MCCB Communications
📸 Pictorial Highlights by Brenard Mwanza