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Diocese of Kitui
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Golden
Jubilee of Kitui Diocese 1956-2006 |
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Click on the image to enlarge
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"Centuries before a
free and independent Irish nation sent her first
ambassadors around the world, we were privileged to have
the best unpaid ambassadors in our Irish missionaries. They
brought Ireland to Kenya and they brought the story of
Kenya to Ireland. Nothing they ever did was done for
personal gain, for thanks, for fortune or for fame. It was
done for love, simply that, love of the common human family
and faith in the capacity of love to unlock the genius and
the true potential of peoples and nations."
President Mary McAleese Áras an Uachtaráin - Speeches |
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Facts about the Diocese
of Kitui |
| Date |
Event |
From |
To |
| February 1956 |
Erected |
Diocese of Meru
Archdiocese of Nairobi |
Prefecture Apostolic of Kitui
(erected) |
| November 1963 |
Elevated |
Prefecture Apostolic of Kitui |
Diocese
of Kitui |
| The Catholic Church made its debut in
Kenya in 1498, when Vasco da Gama erected a cross on the
sea shore of Malindi. This was followed by a visit of St.
Francis Xavier on his way to Goa in 1542, and a community
of 600 Kenyans was recorded at Mombasa in 1599 under the
Augustinian priests.
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With the arrival of the
Holy Ghost Fathers 1860, the Consolata Fathers in 1902 and
the Mill Hill Fathers in 1903, the Catholic Church reached
the inland of Kenya.The French Holy Ghost Fathers, with Fr.
Tom Burke of Limerick among them, established the first
presence at St. Austin's Mission in Nairobi a century ago.
It was sixty years later before the " closed area
" of Turkana was reached by Bishop Joseph Houlihan's
priests from the Diocese of Eldoret in 1962. |
| 1951
was the year St. Patrick's Missionary Society
(“The Kiltegan Fathers”) looked beyond the
narrow limits of Southern Nigeria where they previously had
concentrated. |
For
19 years, the Society had worked only in Nigeria where
there was still more than enough work for its priests.
However, there were greater needs elsewhere and, at Rome's
request, a new mission was undertaken in Kenya on the
opposite side of the African continent. |
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In
due course the area was divided into the three dioceses of
Lodwar, Eldoret and Nakuru. In 1956 Kiltegan accepted
responsibility for Kitui, another Kenya mission, taking
over from the Holy Ghost Fathers.By the end of the 1950's
there were nearly 200 Kiltegan priests in Africa |
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President Mary McAleese on a visit
to Kenya in October 2001 said the following
“It took exceptionally
dedicated and courageous men and women to last the course
and precisely because they were so exceptional, precisely
because they worked quietly seeking no trumpet blasts, we
can sometimes forget the awesome loneliness they must have
felt, remote from home and family and all those familiar
everyday supports and conveniences which were not available
here. Yet for all that many of them spent more years of
their lives here than in their homeland. They came to love
this place and its people and through their work, life here
was changed for the better………………
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......Anyone who
thought the missionaries came simply to preach got it very
wrong indeed. These men and women were doers - accomplished
doers for whom no task was too small, no job beneath their
dignity, no problem without a solution. From the roof on
the kitchen to the training of athletes, some of national
and international fame, at the famous Patrician school at
Iten in the Rift Valley- the men and women who came here
from Ireland were the most accomplished of innovators and
motivators in a huge range of spheres.”
The President’s full
speech can be read here
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The Thome Pastoral Centre in Kitui |
| The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kitui
is situated in a semi-arid rural area about 112 miles east
of Nairobi, the Capital City of Kenya in East Africa. It
covers two administrative districts namely, Kitui and
Mwingi with an area of 14,000 square miles and a
population of over 1,000,000 people. About 15% of this
population are baptized Catholics distributed in 23
Parishes |
with a total of 430 mission churches which are
about 7 miles apart. The
Diocese lies South of the Equator and the Sahara
Desert; an area prone to shortage of rain which cause
long droughts resulting to lack of water and food that
raise a serious financial strain on the people towards
provision of essential commodities and services. The two
districts are inhabited by the Kamba people. |
| The Kamba
people are peasant farmers who grow only local food
crops namely, corn, beans, peas, yams, millet, pumpkins,
Citrus fruits (Oranges, lemons, grapes) and many others.
They also keep domestic animals which include a local
breed of cattle, goats and sheep which are resistant to
the dry conditions in the area. |
There are no factories or
industries in the region. Out of every ten families with
an average of 8 people, 4 families have 1 to 2 people
with a permanent job. The rest depend on casual labor
which is not always available. Most of the working class
is composed of teachers, nurses, police officers, and others working for Government Ministries and private
enterprises. |
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Schoolchildren in a nursery school in Mutomo |
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GROWTH
OF THE DIOCESE (1963-2004)
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| The
Diocese of Kitui was created in 1963 and
administered by St. Patrick’s Missionaries from
Ireland. At this time there were only 4 Parishes with less
than 2000 Catholics. Over the last 41 years the diocese
of Kitui has experienced a tremendous growth which is
evidenced by the following statistics as at Jan. 1st.
2004: |
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Bishop: The former Bishop – Rt. Rev. Boniface Lele –
was consecrated in 1995 (now Archbishop of Mombasa). The Diocese currently (June 2006) awaits
appointment of a new Bishop
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Local priests: 51
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Missionaries: 5
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Sisters: 75
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Brothers: 7
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Seminarians: 36 at various stages of formation.
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Catechists: 267
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Baptized Catholics : 143,106
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Parishes: 23
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Catholic Sponsored Schools:
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Kindergarten : 3
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Grade Schools: 223
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High Schools: 41
- Health Care Institutions:
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Hospitals: 2
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Dispensaries: 11
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Other diocesan institutions and offices include
the Diocesan Secretariat/Chancery with:
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Bishop’s Office
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Finance Office
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Pastoral Office
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Vocations Office
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Development/Social service Office
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Medical and Health care office
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Education Office
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Conference and Retreat Centre
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