Society of African Missions

For other uses, see List of Catholic missions in Africa.
Society of African Missions
Societas Missionum ad Afros (Latin)
AbbreviationS.M.A (post-nominal letters) [1]
Formation8 December 1856; 167 years ago (1856-12-08)[2]
FounderVenerable Melchior de Marion Brésillac, SMA[3]
Founded atLyons, France
TypeSociety of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right for Men[4]
HeadquartersGeneralate:
Via della Nocetta 111, 00164 Rome, Italy[5]
Members
881 members (748 priests) as of 2020[6]
Superior General
Fr. Antonio Porcellato, SMA [7]
Ministry
Missionary work
Parent organization
Catholic Church
Websitesmainternational.info/en

The Society of African Missions (Latin: Societas Missionum ad Afros; French: Société des Missions Africaines), also known as the SMA Fathers, is a Catholic religious society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men founded by Melchior de Marion Brésillac in 1856.[8] They serve the people of Africa and those of African descent.

Members add the nominal letters S.M.A after their names to indicate their membership in the congregation. Fr. Antonio Porcellato is the superior general as of November 2022.

  1. ^ "Society of African Missions (S.M.A.)".
  2. ^ 040. htm "Society of African Missions (S.M.A.)". {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  3. ^ orders/040.htm "Society of African Missions (S.M.A.)". {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  4. ^ org/orders/040.htm "Society of African Missions (S.M.A.)". {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  5. ^ gcatholic.org/orders/040.htm "Society of African Missions (S.M.A.)". {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  6. ^ 040.htm "Society of African Missions (S.M.A.)". {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  7. ^ htm "Society of African Missions (S.M.A.)". {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  8. ^ com/ARCHIVE%20FOLDER/IAW%202001/2001_11.pdf IN A WORD A MONTHLY PUBLICATION FOR AND ABOUT AFRICAN AMERICAN CATHOLICS Archived 2008-10-07 at the Wayback Machine