Talk:White Fathers

Help wanted

I disambiguated the link to Greek, so that it now points to Church of Greece. I'm not sure if this was correct meaning, as I'm not familiar with the topic. If someone more knowledgeable could correct it then I'd be most grateful. Soo 17:49, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

Needs urgent update

Urgently requires updating - lots of "as of June 1909" is NOT good. I don't believe e.g. there is still a scholasticate at Carthage (might be wrong,but this article is mostly copied and pasted from a 1913 source!) TheGrappler (talk) 02:32, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Propose Name Change

I propose a name change of this article to 'Missionaries of Africa'. White Fathers is a nickname (mainly in French, Pères blancs), on the Italian, Spanish, Polish, Swahili and Portuguese page the article is also titled Missionaries of Africa. On the French page it states as the first phrase: 'Les Pères blancs, dont le nom officiel est Missionnaires d'Afrique'. If the official name is Missionnaires d'Afrique, then they are the Missionaries of Africa, often called the White Fathers. Would like feedback on this from other users.Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum (talk) 10:24, 27 November 2017 (UTC)

In French and English popular parlance the society is known as the "White Fathers." That name is the best one for the article since it also serves to avoid confusion, as there is a similarly-named, separate, order called the Society of Missionaries to Africa. The latter is known as the "SMA Fathers" (after their official name in Latin "Societas Missionum ad Afros.") It often happens that a religious organization is better--and more popularly--known by its nickname than by its "official name." [User: Cloughoula] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.110.175.30 (talk) 19:34, 23 October 2019 (UTC)

Neutrality of 'African perspectives' section

This section of the article presents a mostly positive relationship between the Missionaries of Africa and Africans. This may be accurate, for all I know, but the two templates I've added combine to make me worried about this section. Perhaps the most important thing is that the majority of this section discusses the attitudes and actions of the Missionaries of Africa rather than of Africans. The section is hardly addressing its own subject. Even if there were sources that supported what the section says about the missionaries, that would have nothing to do with African perspectives. What is missing is Africans' own voices, and reliable sources that could relate those voices to us. Tikwriter (talk) 01:50, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: POLC 3200 African Politics

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 12 January 2026 and 29 April 2026. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Rtrevinozambrano (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by ProfAllison (talk) 20:34, 16 March 2026 (UTC)