Africa Mission

The Little Flower Mission of the Little Flower Congregation (CST) began in Tanzania in 1999, when Fr. Jose Panikulangara CST and Fr. Joseph Padinjarekutt CST established the first mission station in the Diocese of Musoma.The mission gradually expanded to Songea (2007), Dar es Salaam (2016), Dodoma and Meru, Kenya (2017), Iringa (2020), Karonga, Malawi (2022), and another parish in Meru, Kenya (2023). A significant milestone came in 2016, when five missionaries joined the African mission. The mission also remembers Fr. Shanoj Mathew CST, who died unexpectedly on 19 October while serving in Africa.Since 2021, the Congregation has brought finally professed seminarians to Africa for theological formation. In 2023, it began recruiting African candidates for the CST vocation, marking a transition toward developing an indigenous African CST formation movement.After celebrating 25 years of mission in Africa in 2024, the mission has grown into a presence across Tanzania, Kenya, and Malawi, with 25 priests, 2 deacons, 5 major seminarians, 5 novices, and 6 minor seminarians.From its humble beginning with two missionaries in 1999, the mission has developed into a growing missionary family, inspired by the spirit of St. Thérèse of Lisieux: “Be Little, Serve the Little,” and committed to nurturing the CST charism and a new generation of African missionaries.