Fr. Philip Massawe was born in Tanzania in 1957. He made his perpetual profession in 1984 and was ordained priest in 1985.
He began his missionary life in Zambia, where he worked from 1985 to 1989. Between 1993 and 1999 he was the first Assistant of the Province of East Africa (EAP). Returning to Tanzania, he exercised various responsibilities, working first with the Maasai people (1999-2000), then as Rector of the Spiritan Seminary of Arusha (2000-2006). He was appointed by the General Council to be the Coordinator of Formation and Education in Rome (2006-2014), as well as Rector of Villa Notre Dame (2014-2016). He was elected Provincial Superior of Tanzania in 2017.