The Catholic Church in Malawi is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome and the Malawi bishops.
The first Catholic missionaries were White Fathers (Pères Blancs in French) who arrived in Malawi in 1889.
Most of the White Fathers were French and, among the early leaders, were Bishops Louis Auneau, Joseph Dupont, and Mathurin Guillemé.
It was not until 1937-38 that the first Malawi priests were ordained: Cornelio Chitsulo, Alfred Finye.
[2] There are 2 archdioceses and 6 dioceses: In 2020 there were 645 priests and over 1,000 nuns serving 207 parishes.