SOCIETÀ DELLE MISSIONI AFRICANE. - It was established on 8 Dec. 1856 at Lyons by Msgr. Melchiorre de Marion-Brésillac, who from 1846 to 1855 had been apostolic vicar of Coimbatore in India.
The purpose of the Society is to preach the Gospel among the black peoples of Africa. Upon the death of Msgr. de Marion-Brésillac in Africa on 25 June 1859, he was succeeded by Fr. Planque, who continued to develop the Society by opening new houses of formation in France, Ireland, and Holland. The first missionaries were sent to Sierra Leone and Dahomey.
It is a Society without vows, whose Constitutions were approved in 1900, then amended on 14 May 1912 and approved for ten years on 15 Feb. 1928. A complete revision of them took place in 1952. At the end of 1952 the Society numbered 1,111 priests, 96 coadjutor brothers, and 272 seminarians. Twenty missionary territories in Africa are entrusted to II. It also concerns itself with the black population of the United States.