Our History
The African Catholic Mission was established as a direct result of the National Congress of Black Catholics held in1990 by CARJ. It aims to unite African Catholics in Britain, to provide for their spiritual and pastoral care; spread and deepen their Catholic faith; liaise with the Churches throughout Africa and Britain, and to make the liturgy more meaningful to them. By so doing we seek to foster links with the life of the Church and all people in Britain and Africa. Since 1990, after the first Black Catholic Conference and the Charter, and the response by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, the Church in the UK has made some progress towards racial discrimination and integration of the African Communities in our parishes but it still has a long way to go.
The First Advisory Board Members of African Catholic Mission with Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue-1999
2008., 11th Pan-African Annual Mass with Bishop Patrick Lynch and African Chaplains and the Altar Servers
2010 13th Pan-African Annual Mass: in London: Ghanaian Community Joint Choir with Archbishop Pater Sarpong of Kumasi, Ghana
2009, Cardinal Medardo Joseph Mazombwe (Archbishop Emeritus of Zambia), Rev Deacon Joseph Baffour-Awuah (Director & Chaplain) with the Zambian Community. Deacon Baffour-Awuah assured the Cardinal that he would work with the Zambian Community to establish Chaplaincy in London, with a priest who would be
AFRICAN CHAPLAINCIES AND ASSOCIATIONS’ CHRONOLOGY OF COMMUNITY FORMATION (1991-2015)
AFRICAN CHAPLAINCIES AND ASSOCIATIONS’ CHRONOLOGY OF COMMUNITY FORMATION (1991-2015)
SWAHILI SPEAKING COMMUNITIES
Tanzania Community: Archbishop Josaphat Louis Lebulu of Arusha (Tanzania) with the Sisters of Oblate (front row) in Walthamstow London. Deacon Joseph Baffour-Awuah (African Mission Director), Fr Mark Longa-Longwa (Sudan) and some members of the Tanzanian Community at the Convent. The Archbishop was delighted with the gathering.