Joseph Chaphadzika Chakanza was born in 1943 at Mchacha Village, T.A. Malemia in Nsanje District where he grew up and discovered his vocation as a Catholic priest, being ordained in 1969. After studies for a Master's degree at the University of Aberdeen, he returned to Malawi and was appointed Lecturer in Religious Studies at Chancellor College, University of Malawi, in 1977. During the 1980s he took study leave to complete his DPhil in Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford. Thereafter he remained at Chancellor College until his retirement in 2007, serving for many years as the inspirational Head of the Department of Religious Studies. After retirement he embarked on a further period of teaching at the Catholic University of Malawi. His stature in the Catholic Church was recognised when he was made a Monsignor in June 2019. He died in his home diocese of Chikwawa in April 2020.