The Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans) began its missionary work in Africa in the 1920s, specifically with the Maasai in the Kilimanjaro area of Tanzania. They continue there today, as well as in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Congo-Kinshasa with first evangelization of nomadic people.
For more than 300 years, Spiritans have been called to mission, especially in foreign lands, working in more than 60 countries worldwide. From serving at international refugee camps to working in inner-city parishes, from teaching in schools worldwide to providing a home for orphans in France, England, Brazil, Angola, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya, Spiritans proclaim God with their lives and through their works.
Internationally, Spiritans minister throughout Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America, providing pastoral services, teaching career skills, establishing medical services and schools, working in refugee camps, promoting justice and peace for the oppressed and maintaining interreligious dialogue.
Missionary Cooperation Plan donations allow Spiritans to support individual projects and improvements in areas where they serve and when an emergency or crisis strikes such as a natural disaster, famine, pandemic, or war – most notably now in Ukraine and Poland. There they work to support refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine to Poland.
Spiritans began ministering to the then-80,000 refugees who had poured into Tanzania as a result of the civil war that began in neighboring Burundi, to lead the humanitarian effort of welcoming and caring for these displaced people. In recent years, they have assisted in the construction of two large chapels where, in celebrating the sacraments, the people may truly know that God is in their midst.
Father Paul Flamm, CSSp, has been serving in refugee centers in Africa for the past 30 years. Refugees face many hardships in exile, often fleeing with only the clothes on their backs. They have been uprooted from their culture and way of life.
There is no certainty when they might return to their homelands. Many suffer from depression as hope for a better future dwindles. The Spiritans’ commitment to refugee ministry is open-ended, according to Father Paul: “As long as the refugees are there, we will be there with them.”
Uganda is another area where Spiritans minister to refugees who have been forcibly removed from their countries of origin. Uganda ranks among the top five countries worldwide for hosting refugees with some 1.4 million residing in camps there.
In the United States, we dedicate ourselves to working with the poor. Our efforts include education and parish ministry primarily in African-American and immigrant communities. Father Francis Tandoh, CSSp, of Ghana and Father Benoit Mukamaba, CSSp, of Congo staff a family of parishes in Dayton.
Through education and community service, we endeavor to help those who are disadvantaged to overcome problems that make each day a struggle. Ministering from the pulpit as well as in the soup kitchens, we work within the community to make change.
Visit www.spiritans.org to learn more about the Congregation of the Holy Spirit.