The Chama cha Mariamu Mtakatifu (Community of St. Mary of Nazareth and Calvary), (CMM) is a large
Anglican religious order
Anglican religious orders are communities of men or women (or in some cases mixed communities of both men and women) in the Anglican Communion who live under a common rule of life. The members of religious orders take vows which often include ...
operating within the
Anglican Church of Tanzania
The Anglican Church of Tanzania (ACT) is a province of the Anglican Communion based in Dodoma. It consists of 28 dioceses (27 on the Tanzanian mainland, and 1 on Zanzibar) headed by their respective bishops. It seceded from the Province of East A ...
, and with its headquarters at
Masasi,
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
.
History
Female religious were first introduced to Tanzania by clergy missionaries of the
Universities' Mission to Central Africa
The Universities' Mission to Central Africa (c.1857 - 1965) was a missionary society established by members of the Anglican Church within the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, and Dublin. It was firmly in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of t ...
, working in conjunction with the sisters of the Community of the Sacred Passion (CSP). The Order was formally recognised in 1946, and then in 1968 gained independence from CSP, and became the autonomous CMM. Today the sisters focus their work on caring for parish churches, administering and teaching in primary schools, and outreach to hospitals, prisons, and the disadvantaged. They engage in agriculture, and also produce community wares for sale, including vestments, altar breads, and candles.
Structure
The Order reported around 120 sisters in membership at the start of 2012. There is a Sister Superior for each convent, or regional group of nearby convents. At the head of the Order is an elected Reverend Mother Superior - currently Reverend Mother Gloria Prisca CMM (elected 2004). There is a Bishop Visitor, who is one of the diocesan bishops of the Anglican Church of Tanzania.
Convents
The mother house is The Convent, Kilimani, in Masasi, Tanzania. There are twelve convents in total, eleven in Tanzania, and one in Zambia, where the Order is seeking to expand. Mass is offered daily, and the sisters (at all convents) recite a four-fold
daily office of Morning Prayer, Midday Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer (Compline). The current convents are located at (or near to) the following locations, which are all in Tanzania unless stated otherwise:
* Dar es Salaam
* Kilimani (mother house)
* Korogwe
* Kwa Mkono Handeni
* Liuli
* Mkushi (Zambia)
* Mtandi
* Mtwara
* Newala
* Njombe
* Sayuni Msima
* Tanga
References
*''Anglican Religious Communities Yearbook: 2004-2005''. Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2003.
*''Anglican Religious Life: 2012-13''. Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2011.
External links
Information from Anglican Communion office
{{Authority control
Anglican orders and communities
Christian organizations established in 1946
Anglicanism in Tanzania
1946 establishments in Tanganyika