Mathias Msonganzila is a young seminarian of the Archdiocese of Mwanza, Tanzania. He was born in Nyamangana, on the shores of Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater lake on Earth, located between Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. At the age of 23, he left his country to study at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross thanks to a CARF scholarship. He is taking the philosophy biennium, before enrolling in the Bachelor of Theology. 

"I was born on September 23, 1999 in Nyamagana district, which is in the city of Mwanza. There were six of us in my family and I was the third. However, my youngest brother passed away at the age of two in 2007, so on earth in total we are five, two brothers and three sisters, but one of us, the sixth, is already in heaven. I have spent my childhood in Lwanhima village with my parents: my mother, Letisia Msonganzila, and my father, Faustine Luswetula, who passed away in 2018.

God was the one who pushed me and led me to enter the minor seminary for my studies, where my thirst to become a priest was increased by the observation of some very attentive and devoted priests, who did their best to offer their service in spite of the scarcity of means of our poor reality and the difficult general situation.

It may be normal for a young European to have the opportunity to be formed in such a prestigious university as the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, but I can assure you that it is not so for the people of my country: your help has allowed me to have the opportunity to study in Rome and to share my life and my faith with other young seminarians from all over the world. So truly, my wish is that God bless you in your daily work and keep in you this wonderful heart.".