SMA–OLA Triple Jubilee:

Celebrating our common Spiritual and Missionary Patrimony! 

The year 2025–2026 marks a moment of deep significance in the life of the Society of African Missions (SMA) and the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA). We are joyfully celebrating a Triple Jubilee, commemorating:

¨      170 years of the foundation of the Society of African Missions (1856)

¨      150 years of the foundation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (1876)

¨      200 years since the birth of Venerable Father Augustine Planque, SMA (1825) — founder of the OLA Sisters and first Superior General of the SMA Fathers

This Jubilee is a year-long celebration, rich in history, thanksgiving, and recommitment to our missionary charism and apostolic Spirituality. It officially began with the Opening Ceremony in Ouidah and Porto-Novo, Benin Republic, from April 29 to May 1, 2025, and it will conclude with a solemn Closing Celebration in 2026.

In Nigeria, the Jubilee will be commemorated with various activities across the country, in places where we work and beyond. The Opening Ceremony in Nigeria will take place on the Feast of Our Lady of Apostles — July 7, 2025, a day filled with Marian devotion and missionary significance. The celebration will culminate on October 8, 2026 - the Foundation Day of the SMA, bringing the Jubilee year to a close.

Throughout this Jubilee Year, there will be a series of events — spiritual, pastoral, historical, cultural, and educational — all designed to:

ü  Deepen our appreciation of our shared missionary heritage

ü  Strengthen the bonds among members, collaborators, friends and all those to whom we are sent

ü  Renew our commitment to evangelisation in our world today

ü  Remember our forebears, the early missionaries who cultivated the seed of faith in the African soil

We invite you — collaborators, friends, alumni, and all people of goodwill — to rejoice with us, to journey with us, and to celebrate what God has done through these two great missionary families.

🎥 Watch highlights from the Opening Ceremony in Ouidah and Porto-Novo

📅 Stay tuned here for upcoming Jubilee events in Nigeria and beyond.