Alfred Dotto Francis Mlinga is already a priest of the Diocese of Bunda. He comes from a family of four siblings; 2 boys and 2 girls.

"I am D. Alfred Dotto Francis Mlinga, of the Diocese of Bunda, and I am 29 years old. I come from Tanzania, a beautiful tropical country in Africa, where I was born, grew up and received a lot of human and Christian formation before entering the seminary. I have 4 siblings, and it is also in Tanzania that I met God and discovered my vocation.

In 2017 Divine Providence brought me to Spain to be formed at the Bidasoa International Seminary and to carry out my intellectual formation at the University of Navarra. Here I have received and continue to receive great gifts, which have marked my life, my future ministry forever. It has been an enormous opportunity in these years that I have done, to perfect myself as a person, to progress academically and to grow spiritually and pastorally so that in the near future I can serve the Lord as a priest. I hope to give back in the best possible way to the Church these gifts that I have received from God.

I am currently studying Canon Law at the University of Navarra. I have been a priest for 5 months. I received my priestly formation, partly in Tanzania and partly in Spain, at the University of Navarra.

I am very grateful to the CARF Foundation for this gift of accompanying me in my priestly formation. May God bless you abundantly for all that you have done for me by accompanying me so far in my studies of Canon Law.

I discovered my vocation when I was a child, at the age of 12, thanks to the help of my parish priest and my parents with their closeness and their advice to live a good and holy life, and above all a life of closeness to God. For me, the priesthood is like a garment that Jesus gave me to enter the banquet of eternal life. I come from a mixed family of many religions. My father passed away 5 years ago, but before his death he was a Muslim, and my mother a Protestant.

We her children are Catholic except for our younger brother, who is also a Protestant. Although the whole family used to be a Protestant family, after a few years there was this change of religions. But thank God, before my father passed away, and until now, we still live with much joy and peace, and the difference of our religions has not hurt us at all and has not affected the family relationship.

Why do we change religions? Because, my father worked in a city where there were many Muslims, and that is why my father changed his religion. We lived with our mother in a town where there was neither faith nor Protestant Church, but there was Catholic faith, and we with the permission of our parents, we started going to mass every Sunday and after a year, we learned catechesis and after three years of catechesis we became baptized as Christians in the Catholic Church. And until now we continue with our Catholic faith as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.

I pray that we, the beneficiaries, may have the grace to correspond greatly to the great trust you have placed in our vocation. I pray in a special way for all the benefactors who give so generously of their goods in favor of the formation of priests.

Thank you very much for the indispensable help that has helped me throughout these years of formation. Thank you for your material help, support and generous dedication in prayer. I am very proud to have known you in my life and in my priestly formation, people with generous hearts who care affectionately and effectively for the priestly formation of the Church of Christ. 

I want to thank God very much for this gift of priesthood and the CARF Foundation and its benefactors for their great support and financial help. God bless you.