Our founder, Cardinal Charles Marshall Lavigerie, had said to his first missionaries: “Be apostles, and nothing but apostles!”
Being apostles is who we are called to be. We are apostles of Jesus Christ (who had been sent by the Father), sent by the Church to Africa to people of the African world. We are sent, not just as individuals, but as members of international, inter-cultural and inter-generational communities. We are sent to be authentic witnesses of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by what we say and by our very way of life. We are servants of Jesus who are called to live in deep solidarity with the people to whom we are sent so that the gospel that we preach is not something totally foreign to them but rather a message that is profoundly meaningful for them in the reality of their lives.
We are a congregation of apostolic life, composed of priests and brothers united by a missionary oath and living in community. We were founded in 1868 by Cardinal Lavigerie to evangelize the African world. Our charism requires that we work outside our own countries in the areas of first evangelization, justice and peace, integration of creation, and dialogue with Muslims, traditional African religions, and other Christian denominations.