“Perhaps I’ll come back later in life” — Remembering Fr Felix Phiri

From the Bulletin and Record Archives

Before his death in Cairo in March 2026, Zambian Catholic priest and scholar Fr Felix Jere Phiri spent much of his missionary life away from home, studying Islam and promoting Christian-Muslim dialogue. In this interview from the Bulletin & Record archives, Marja Hinfelaar spoke to him about leaving Zambia, discovering Islam, becoming a missionary and whether he would one day return home.

“Perhaps I’ll come back later in life, when I am about to retire, if ever there was such a thing for a priest.”

When Fr Phiri spoke those words to Hinfelaar, he was reflecting on a missionary life that had taken him far beyond the Copperbelt where he was born. He remained certain of one thing: “Zambia is still my home.”

Fr Phiri would spend much of his priestly and academic life moving between Africa and Europe, becoming a specialist in Islam and Christian-Muslim relations. His work included Muslim Associations and the Resurgence of Islam in Zambia, a book published in 2008, which examined the development and growing visibility of Islam in Zambia. FENZA still lists the book among its publications.

Fr Phiri died in Cairo, Egypt, on 11 March 2026, aged 57. The Missionaries of Africa, commonly known as the White Fathers, said his 29 years of missionary life had taken him to Egypt, Tunisia, Great Britain, Italy, Kenya and Zambia.

His death gives new meaning to one of the final questions in this interview: would he ever come back to Zambia? His answer was characteristically reflective.

“Perhaps I’ll come back later in life, when I am about to retire, if ever there was such a thing for a priest. Zambia is still my home.”

In tribute to Fr Phiri, MakanDay republishes this conversation from the Bulletin & Record archives.

Marja Hinfelaar caught up with Fr Felix J. Phiri (MAfr), a Zambian diasporian who is professor at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome, Italy, and director of Etudes Arabes, a journal which presents specific themes on Islam through a translation of key related Arabic texts into French, English and Italian, with a detailed and elaborate introduction in French. He is also the author of Muslim Associations and the Resurgence of Islam in Zambia (published by FENZA with The Lembani Trust, Lusaka 2008).

Could you tell us about your background and how you came to your decision to become a Catholic priest?

I was born in 1968 on the Copperbelt in Kalulushi District. My late father, Dominic R. Phiri, worked for Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation in Kafubu. In secondary school I developed an interest in the priesthood. The seed was already there because when I was ten years old my mother, Euphrazia Phiri, had hinted at the idea of me going to Msupazi minor seminary, in Chipata diocese, but at the time I did not really understand what it was all about. Some years later, while at Chiwala Boys Secondary School, in Ndola, I met Fr Aiden McChristal, an Irish SMA priest, a vocation promoter for Ndola diocese. He was our chaplain at Chiwala. Just a few months after my arrival at Chiwala my desire for priesthood was rekindled. In 1985, I joined the Minor Seminary at the Franciscan Centre in Ndola and I was transferred from Chiwala to Kansenshi Secondary School.

During my three years’ stay in the minor seminary, I realised that there existed a whole range of religious congregations one could join. I was not so sure about becoming a diocesan or a Franciscan priest. After a discussion with Fr McChrystal, who was an RE teacher at Kansenshi, I came to hear about the White Fathers, officially known as Missionaries of Africa. After a vocation camp of one month at Lubwe mission in Luapula Province, in January 1988, I was accepted to train as a missionary priest. In August 1988, I left for St Mbaaga major seminary in Mwanza, Tanzania.

How was your experience in Tanzania?

During our formation in Tanzania we studied mainly philosophy, together with other White Father students from Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. It was a new experience for me, but at the same time it was close and familiar because of my exposure to seminary life in Ndola and the six weeks experience of White Father community life in Ilondola (Chinsali district) before travelling to Tanzania for the first time.

Moreover, Tanzania did not feel very far from Zambian. I quickly learnt Kiswahili sufficiently enough to get along with the local people. During this time I came to have a better understanding of the meaning of being a missionary. At some point, I was not sure I could really manage this type of life. I was even tempted to abandon the training and continue with other studies back home in Zambia.

What followed after your three years’ stay in Tanzania?

After completing the seminary training in Tanzania in 1991, I was sent to do my novitiate in Fribourg, in Switzerland, together with other students from Africa, America and Europe.

This was my first experience in Europe. But again, I entered this new reality through the familiar and protected environment of the White Fathers. All the practical issues related to travelling and adapting to a new environment was facilitated by the White Fathers. I was shielded from the first cultural shock normally experienced under such circumstances, as I was “led by the hand” to ease into society. It was a positive thing, but I could imagine someone arriving at the airport not knowing what to do next. That would be a different experience.

Why did you choose to go to Tunisia for your first pastoral experience?

After the novitiate I had requested for such an experience because I was intrigued by the idea of becoming a missionary knowing that there were other people, Muslims, with a similar missionary pretention. This wasn’t just about a missionary engagement; it was also about my own spiritual journey. I reasoned that if what I believed in was so absolute, how come that other people had a different religion? What do people believe in other than what I believed in? To find answers to these questions I needed to meet people who were religiously different from me.

I was in Tunisia from 1992 to 1994. Again, I was taken care of by confreres and slowly introduced into society. Nonetheless, this was the first time that I felt culturally and religiously out of place. Things were so different, people were so different.  It was like Europe, but it wasn’t. It was like Africa, but it wasn’t. For the first time I was confronted with a language that felt completely different from all I ever knew before.

I was cautioned by my confreres to be careful not to discuss religion anyhow, to avoid offending my Muslim interlocutors. This was difficult, especially because my main reason of going to North Africa was to practice interreligious dialogue! Not being based in a parish where people spontaneously come and see you, here you had to create your own opportunities to meet people. The time I spent among the Muslim youth of a pre-professional school run by the White Fathers in La Marsa, on the outskirts of Tunis, gave me a certain understanding of an urban Muslim society.

I started learning Arabic at that time, both the Tunisian dialect and modern Arabic. I was struck by the overwhelming omnipresence of religion. You were never far away from a mosque. I made a lot of friends, such as Afif Karafi, who introduced me into their families and I was adopted ever since as a member of their household.

Did you return to Tunisia after completing of your theological studies?

Yes, after three years of studies in Toulouse, France, I was ordained a priest in 1997 and appointed back to Tunisia as a full-fledged missionary. This required me following a complementary three years licentiate course in Rome at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI). The first year was done at Dar Comboni in Cairo.

After two years, I decided to interrupt the course and return to Tunisia. I was appointed national chaplain of students from sub-Saharan Africa studying in Tunisian universities. It was a big challenge albeit very enriching. I learnt a lot about francophone Africa, as the greater majority of the students came from there. Our activities ranged from retreats and masses to oecumenical, dialogical, social and cultural activities.

I became aware of the misfortune African intelligent and talented youth were subjected to due to failed educational systems in most of our sub-Saharan African countries. Most of them ended up crossing over to Europe or stayed on in Tunisia upon the completion of their studies because their own countries had nothing to offer them.

What made you embark on a PhD programme?

After two years in Tunisia, I went back to Rome to finish the licentiate programme at PISAI. In the course of my second stay in Rome I was requested to embark on a PhD programme in view of specialised services in the domain of interreligious dialogue. In 2002, I enrolled as a full-time PhD student at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) in London. The idea of doing a PhD came as a great challenge for me, especially that my initial intention was simply to go back to Tunisia and continue from where I had left.

After getting advice from different people, and much to my own surprise, I decided to base my thesis on Islam in Zambia. Although in fact the situation of Islam in Zambia is still rudimentary, with a few exceptions here and there, the research was informative not only for myself, but also for the Muslims themselves. It was in order to facilitate the accessibility of the findings of my research that I transformed my thesis into a book.

For all this time that you have been living abroad, have you been in touch with fellow Zambians?

During my early years of missionary training abroad I did not engage very much with a Zambian diaspora, simply because there were very few Zambians in most of the countries where I spent all these years. Rather I met a lot of people from West Africa, Congo and North Africa.

Later, when I was ordained priest, I met with a considerable number of Zambians. Most of those I met were the Zambian diplomatic community of such countries as Egypt, Rome and Great Britain. However, during my four year stay in London I was able to interact with a lot of Zambians, mainly Catholics.

In 2003, Bishop Lungu and the then Archbishop of Lusaka, Cardinal Mazombwe, visited London. On that occasion the Zambian community organised a communal mass. People were so happy with the experience that they proposed to meet more regularly. So once every month we had mass together. With that I was drawn into participating in the life of the Zambian community in London on such other occasions as funerals, sicknesses, social celebrations, etc.

When I left the UK in 2006, the activities of the community were quite consistent although attended by a relatively smaller group. In the meantime the group had even become an association, the Zambian Catholics and Friends in the UK. Several priests served the community after my departure until the official appointment of Fr Clement Mukuka as Chaplain of the Zambian community in the UK, in 2011.

In Rome, the Zambian community has been united around such diligent and generous individuals as Mr and Mrs Francis Manza, Mr and Mrs Godfrey Kampamba, and others who have been in the country for a long time. Since the re-establishment of the Zambian embassy in Rome, several members of the Zambian diplomatic community have made an outstanding contribution to the life of the Zambian community in Italy, of which I have been the president in the past two years. Somehow we have managed to maintain some form of unity in spite of our diversity; our members fall into four main categories, the embassy community, Catholic religious men and women, professionals working for such international organisations such as FAO, WFP etc, and individuals living in Italy for personal or marital reasons, not to forget non-Zambian friends.

For the last five years you have taught and lived in Rome. Will you ever come back to Zambia?

As a missionary you normally work outside your home country. Perhaps I’ll come back later in life, when I am about to retire, if ever there was such a thing for a priest. Zambia is still my home. I never lived in another country for a longer period of time, so I never got attached to another country.

This story was first published by the Bulletin & Record Magazine in September 2011.