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Seminarians Worldwide

What is the Catholic priesthood?

In Matthew 9:36 we hear that Jesus looked with pity on the crowd because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He was sad to see so many people in his day that had no one to teach them about the love of God. That problem has never fully gone away, but the priesthood is God’s gift of shepherds for his people today.

For so many people, the priestly shepherd is the living example of God’s love in their life. He is with them to baptize their children. He watches those same children grow and form families of their own. He is even with them in death as a loving and consoling presence. He is there through joys and sorrows as the good shepherd who walks with them on their journey toward God.

The priest is also a reminder that there is more to life than our basic material needs. Even, or perhaps especially, in our material need the priest is a witness to the spiritual life within us that gives joy and meaning to all the rest. He is the regular, humble witness to the truth that only God will make us fully happy. 

Sambha Kyndait

Sambha, 27, comes from a family of 10. Growing up, the family practiced a tribal religion but today, Sambha and one of his siblings is Catholic. Sambha was baptised in 2006, at the age of 15. It was on that day that he felt the call to the priesthood. His desire to become a priest continues to this day. He is hardworking, devout, sincere, and polite.

Click here now to help Sambha and seminarians like him today!

Donbok Pakma

Donbok, 25, is the oldest of three children. His father died when Donbok was just eight years old. His mother, consumed by grief, was no longer able to raise her children, who were each sent to a youth hostel. Providentially, Donbok was sent to a hostel operated by priests, where he lived for several years. Now in his seventh year of formation, he is about to begin his regency period, where he will receive all the practical training he needs to be a holy and pious priest.

Click here now to help Donbok and seminarians like him today!

Daleiki Shylla

Daleiki, 26, comes from a family of 11 children (he has seven brothers and three sisters!). In high school, he realized he wanted to become a priest. But when he first shared this with his family, they told him they couldn’t support him. When he graduated from high school, he went on to college. He worked during the day and took classes at night in order to support himself. Once again, he felt the tug toward seminary. Now in his fourth year of formation, Dalieki is respectful, obedient, devout, and hardworking.

Click here now to help Daleiki and seminarians like him today!

Richard Fernandes

Richard, 24, grew up in a supportive and devout Catholic family where he was involved in altar serving and became inspired by the lives of the priests and seminarians in his parish. After joyfully accepting his vocation to join the priesthood, Richard completed seven years in formation where he studied Zoology and Philosophy, completed a year-long pastoral experience at a Clergy home, and assisted a neighboring Catholic school. Now, it is his eighth year information where he is studying Theology.

Click here now to help Richard and seminarians like him today!

Lloyd D’Souza

I come from a middle-class family who lives with the fear of God. When I was a child, my parents sowed the seed of priesthood in me, and ever since then, my childhood dream was to be a priest. As I journeyed along in life, the seed began to grow, even though I was caught up with worldly pleasures, which challenged my vocation. However, soon after my tenth grade, I realised the joy of being a priest, and I recognised that the worldly pleasures are only temporary, as compared to the eternal happiness of heaven. I then decided to enter the seminary, and now, I am on my journey towards the priesthood.

Click here now to help Lloyd and seminarians like him today!

Gabriel Fernandes

After completing my high school in 2013, I began discerning about the priesthood. I took it up in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and discussed it with my family too. They were very supportive of me joining the priesthood. I then expressed my desire to join the priesthood to Bishop Alwyn Barreto who then accepted me as a seminarian for the Diocese of Sindhudurg.

Click here now to help Gabriel and seminarians like him today!

Benwen Lopez

I first received my calling when I was completing my final semester at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, and I always believed that God called me to serve my home country, India. However, I put my decision on hold and returned to the corporate world after graduation. I worked as an Assistant Editor in Dubai for a business magazine. But although I was exposed to the corporate world, the flashy lifestyle, with tons of opportunity to make a lot of money, I felt a void in my heart. I turned again to the idea that maybe I was called to the priesthood. After an 18-month discernment program, I resigned from my job, and joined the Diocese of Sindhudurg. Surely it was a challenging and tough decision for me to take, but it was the intensity of God’s presence in the Eucharist that drew me to the priesthood.  For me the Eucharist is everything.

Click here now to help Benwen and seminarians like him today!

See the latest news and updates from the SMA seminarians here.

Society of African Missions (known as “SMA” because of their Latin name, Societas Missionum ad Afros) was founded in 1856 by Bishop Melchior de Marion Bresillac.

Vocations are booming for SMA fathers, with more than 300 seminarians at various levels of formation at five campuses in Nigeria, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Zambia, and Benin Republic. After being ordained, these men will be missionaries throughout Africa. There are already 109 SMA priests in Africa.

With so many young men in formation, the SMA fathers have great difficulty supporting them. The seminarians come from poor countries and poor communities that can offer very little financial support.

As Fr. Frank McGrath, SMA, told us, “The harvest is great, laborers are willing, but their formation is suffering for want of funds.” YOU can help today!

James Israel, Seminarian Student at SMA.

Originally from the Philippines, James first entered the seminary in June 2014. After years of studying philosophy, he decided to leave the seminary and pursue a career at a marketing company. James began to regret his decision not too long afterward, and referenced St. Augustine of Hippo to describe how he was feeling at the time: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”.

“There was a call within me that I needed to respond to.”

After deliberately praying about this call, James decided to submit an application letter to the Society of African Mission Priests (SMA). He then received a positive response and moved to West Africa to join the seminary. It was a joyful yet difficult time for him as he adjusted to the seminary in the Republic of Benin. Everything was new to him including the people, language, food, and culture. However, experiencing all of these new things all at once helped James to be open-minded while learning and living in an international community.

“I was able to deepen my relationship with Jesus Christ who is the source of my vocation and the very model of a missionary priest.” 

Click here now to help James Israel and seminarians like him today!

Deacon Cornelius Omini, SMA

Deacon Cornelius Omini, SMA, entered religious life with the Society of African Missions in 2011. But his vocation as a missionary priest was ignited when he was a child, when he served as an altar server at his home parish. He tells us,

Ours is a diocesan parish, but religious priests are often invited to help on Sundays. I recall that one weekend we had a visit from a Nigerian SMA priest, Fr. Cajetan Metu. During his homily that Sunday, he greeted the people in five different international languages and immediately I fell in love with this priest and was eager to know about his congregation.

After Mass I approached him. His simplicity, while listening to my pressing questions, impressed me. It was through him I got to know the Society of African Missions and I wished to join.

When Deacon Cornelius entered in 2011, he learned about the SMA’s founder, Bishop Melchior de Marion Bresillac. Deacon Cornelius says, “His zeal and enthusiasm for the mission moved my heart, so that I too could give my life, leave home and family, for the sake of the work of God.”

Of his time with the SMAs, Deacon Cornelius says,

I have no regrets […]. I have felt love and acceptance from colleagues and priests in the SMA. This is a source of inspiration and blessing for me, my family, and my local church. I live every day with gratitude to the SMA and I continually commit myself to the service of God’s people as I prepare for missionary priesthood.

I ask you to remember me in your prayers.

Click here now to help Deacon Cornelius and seminarians like him today!

Deacon Yakubu Sabo, SMA

I am Salisu Yakubu Sabo, third born in the family of eight children. I am Hausa by tribe, although we are also called Maguzawa on account of our faith. Maguzawa literally means “those who ran away from Islam.”

Although I felt called to the priesthood right from childhood, and even though my first parish priest was an SMA, I never really knew what SMA was until 2016 when Fr. Patrick Kwis, SMA, the vocations’ Director for northern Nigeria, visited our school and spoke about the SMA Missionary Vocation. That was the time I got to know the meaning of the initials I saw after the name of my former parish priest, Fr. Michael Waters, SMA. My desire to be a priest, and subsequently, an SMA, was greatly inspired by the exemplary life of service and dedication I saw in Fr. Michael Waters, SMA. As a child, I did not really know what the priesthood meant, but all I wanted was to be like Fr. Waters.

My happiest moments as a seminarian are those occasions when I find myself in the areas of primary evangelization. They remind me of how much somebody sacrificed for me to be what I am today; and this always motivates me to be a missionary priest. I am the fruit of the missionary activities of the SMA and today I desire to be a seed that will germinate and bear more fruit among other people.

Click here now to help Deacon Yakubu and seminarians like him today!

Deacon Abel Yashim, SMA

Growing up, many of the SMA priests Abel knew were from Ireland. The Catholic Church began evangelization in his hometown many years ago. Among those first early missionaries were SMA priests.

I was touched by their simple and dedicated lives and so have opted to dedicate my life to serve humanity through the missionary activity of the Society of African Missions (SMA). I wish to continue the legacy received from the Irish missionaries I knew in a place that I do not yet know.

Deacon Abel will complete his studies in Nairobi next year. He will be ordained in his home parish in the middle belt of Nigeria and then appointed in another country for his missionary work.

Click here now to help Deacon Abel and seminarians like him today!

For these dioceses and religious orders, providing quality formation for their seminarians is of paramount importance. These men will one day serve as missionary priests, bringing God’s love to some of the darkest, most difficult places.

You can help prepare them and by doing so, spread the Gospel!

It costs about $1,250 USD per year for a seminarian’s formation.

It can’t be stressed enough that each of these dioceses and religious orders is doing as much as they can for their seminarians. But they need your help to keep going.

Please prayerfully consider giving as much as you can. Even a little goes a long way:

Monthly gifts in any amount are the best way to make the longest lasting impact!

Click the green “Give Now” button below to make a life-changing gift and be the reason one more priest is sent into the world to bear God’s love and provide the life-giving power of the sacraments today!