This is a list of saints,blesseds, venerables, and Servants of God from Africa, as recognized by the Catholic Church or other Christian denominations.[1] These people were born, died, or lived their religious life in any of the states or territories of Africa.
In the first centuries of the Catholic Church, Africa produced many of her leading lights. The Catholic presence in Africa was weakened by the schism following the Council of Chalcedon which resulted in the separation between the Catholic and Coptic Orthodox Church, and even more so by the rise of Islam. Following the Arab conquest of northern Africa, the Catholic Church was largely absent from the continent before modern times, although the Coptic, and later Ethiopic, Orthodox Churches remained. The following are some of the notable saints from the first to seventh centuries, though it is a very incomplete list.
Three of the early popes were either from Africa themselves or children of African immigrants to Rome. All three were from this time period and are traditionally considered saints. They are:
It would be difficult to say who the first saint to be associated with Africa after the Arab conquest would be. Francis of Assisi famously went on a mission to Egypt in 1219. Berardo, Ottone, Pietro, Accursio, Adiuto, martyrs in Morocco (1220). Daniel Fasanella, Samuele, Angelo, Leone, Niccolò, Ugolino, Domno, martyrs in Morocco (1227). Louis IX of France died in Tunisia en route from the Holy Land in 1270. But after the canonization of saints came to be reserved to the papacy around AD 1000, and especially after the establishment of the Congregation of Rites in 1588, the list of official saints with African connections is more clear.
Mariano Gichohi and 20 Companions, martyrs under the Mau Mau (Kenya)
Marianno Wachira and 26 Companions (d. 1952–1955), laypeople from the Archdioceses of Nyeri and Nairobi along with the Dioceses of Murang’a and Meru; Catechumens; professed religious of the Consolata Missionary Sisters and the Sisters of Mary Immaculate of Nyeri; martyrs (Kenya)
Daniel George Hyams and Domitilla Maria Rota Hyams, married laypersons of the Archdiocese of Johannesburg (South Africa)
Michel Kayoya and 43 Companions, martyrs (Burundi)
Bernardo de Monroy, John de Avila, and John de Palacio, Trinitarian priests and martyrs (Algeria)[6]
Mario Bortoletto, priest of the Diocese of Treviso; Fidei Donum Missionary in the Diocese of Ebolowa; associate of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (Cameroon)
Luisa Mabalane Mafo and 22 Lay Companions from the Catechetical Center of Guiua, married catechists, catechumens, young laypersons and children of the Diocese of Imhanbane; martyrs (Mozambique)
Sergio Sorgon (Sergio of Saint Joseph) (1938–1985), professed priest of the Discalced Carmelites (Madagascar)
Teresa Kearney (Mary Kevin) (1875–1957), founder of the Little Sisters of Saint Francis and the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa (Uganda)
Jeremy Joyner White, layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei (Nigeria)
Aloÿs Kobès, professed priest of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritians); apostolic vicar of Senegambia; founder of the Daughters of the Holy Heart of Mary and the Brothers of Saint Joseph (Senegal)
Floribert Bwana Chui bin Kositi (1981–2007), layperson of the Archdiocese of Goma; member of the Saint Egidio Community; martyr (Democratic Republic of Congo)
Declan O'Toole (1971–2002), priest of the Mill Hill Missionaries; martyr (Uganda)
Giosuè dei Cas (1880–1932), professed religious of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (South Sudan)
Manuel Armindo de Lima and 3 Companions (Maria Adriano Abílio, Maria do Carmo Bartolomeu Simões, Joveta Paulino) (d. 1982), priest of the Missionary Society of the Good News; laypersons of the Diocese of Viana; postulant of the Mercedarian Sisters of Charity; catechist (Angola)
Others have been proposed for beatification, and may have active groups supporting their causes. These include:
Anna Ali, religious in the order of The Most Holy Eucharist and reported mystic. (Kenya) The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret has appointed a task force to investigate the life of Anna Ali. Hundreds of pilgrims visit her burial place every year to commemorate the nun who is reported to have received messages from Jesus for 25 years and to have photographed him.