About Us - Catholic Diocese of Eldoret (original) (raw)

From the Vicariate of the Upper Nile to the Prefecture Apostolic of Eldoret

The Catholic Diocese of Eldoret which is currently headed by Rt. Rev. Dominic Kimengich, traces its early beginnings to the Vicariate of the Upper Nile. The Vicariate extended all the way from Nairobi to beyond Kampala its headquarters, covering almost the entire Rift Valley, Western Kenya and the Eastern half of Uganda. Fr. Henry Hanlon, a Mill Hill Priest who had been appointed to take charge of the new Vicariate of the Upper Nile was consecrated Bishop in 1894. The development of missions was slow at the beginning of his mission work and much of the development was inevitably in Uganda. But by the early 1900s the number of missionaries had grown to thirty. It was then time to establish mission stations east of Lake Victoria, in what was to be called Kenya. By 1901, the Kenya-Uganda railway had reached Kisumu and the Mill Hill Fathers made the best use of it in their effort to serve small Catholic Communities at Naivasha, Nakuru, and Fort Ternan. So far there was no resident mission station.

Our Rich History

1.From the Vicariate of the Upper Nile to the Prefecture Apostolic of Eldoret

2.The Role of the Mill Hill Missionaries

Having established themselves around Kisumu area (at Ojolla), the Mill Hill Priests opened a mission at Naivasha in 1906. This would become the first mission opened in the whole area which was to become the Prefecture of Eldoret. Naivasha was strategic for the Mill Hill Priests being located near the eastern boundary of the Vicariate, it was for a time the Provincial Headquarters of what was then the Uganda Protectorate and it served some purposes of convenience for the Mill Hill Missionaries themselves. Naivasha’s climate was regarded as kinder and healthier than the low lying areas of Lake Victoria and suitable for those who needed rest and recovery. It also had a small Catholic population, mainly Goans and Ugandan railway workers. Unfortunately Naivasha lost its glory to Nakuru when the latter began to develop and the mission was closed. The vast Vicariate of the Upper Nile was divided into two in 1925 giving rise to the Prefecture Apostolic of Kavirondo. The new Prefect Apostolic, Monsignor (Msgr.) Gorgonius Brandsma could then concentrate his attention to the reduced but still very substantial ecclesiastical territory of nearly the whole western half of Kenya. After the creation of the new Prefecture Apostolic, Nakuru was opened as a Parish. As Missionaries continued their apostolate in the expansive Parish of Nakuru, Eldoret began to attract the focus of their attention.

3.Eldoret becomes a resident mission station

Verbal accounts of early visits by Mill Hill Priests to Eldoret and its hinterland tell of the Priests coming from Kakamega on horseback and celebrating Mass and Sacraments in different places for the Catholic Community. In time a temporary church was built in Eldoret and occupied the place where the Education Office is located at present (near the Town Hall). Another known place where a visiting Priest was hosted around 1912 was a Farm at Kipkabus owned by a family of Dutch South African origin called Klaprott. It was in 1929 that Eldoret became a resident mission station. This station served a two-fold purpose: It served as a residence for the Fr. in Charge whose work was to administer the needs of the Catholic Community in and around Eldoret. It also served as a base for other Priests who travelled to Trans Nzoia, West Pokot, Baringo and Keiyo Marakwet, and whose aim was to establish catechumenates and later to secure plots which would be suitable for schools and eventually parish centres or churches. Kituro was established as a school in 1944, but at that time it lost out it seems to Nerkwo as a parish centre. In 1944 Tartar was established, first as a school and later as a residential mission centre in 1946. Other Parishes included, Tambach, Kitale and Kiminini. The Mill Hill Priests who served in Eldoret in different capacities included; Fr Hatmann(first resident priest of Eldoret), Stam (later to become Bishop of Kisumu), Kuhn, Bijnen, Scholten, Kempf to mention but a few. There were also Fidei Donum Priest who were also instrumental in the spread the Gospel in the Diocese. Today, the Diocese has produced a number of Fidei Donum Priests working in and outside Kenya.

4.From the Prefecture Apostolic of Eldoret to the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret

It was in 1932 that the Prefecture Apostolic of Kavirondo became the Vicariate of Kisumu and in 1933 Msgr. Brandsma was named Vicar Apostolic and consecrated Bishop. He was succeeded by Bishop Nicholas Stam in 1936. Bishop Stam was succeeded by Bishop Frederick Hall in 1948. Eventually, the Vicariate of Kisumu was made a Diocese in 1953 under Bishop Hall.

As the demands of the apostolate increased thereby overwhelming the Mill Hill missionaries in the areas of Nyanza and Western, the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Matthews (resident in Zanzibar) and Bishop Hall of Kisumu saw the need to seek for more missionaries. In 1950, contact was made with St. Patrick’s Missionary Society in Ireland which had been working in Nigeria since its foundation in 1932. Consequently, in 1951, five Priests of St. Patrick’s Missionaries (S.P.S) came from Ireland to serve the Vicariate of Kisumu under Bishop Hall. These were, Fr. Michael Brennan, Fr. Liam Doyle, Fr. William Dunne(later to become first Bishop of Kitui), Joseph Murray and Denis Newman. The understanding was that the new missionaries in the field would work with the Mill Hill Missionaries for one year awaiting the appointment of a Prefect.

5.Bishop Joseph Brendan Houlihan and the Auxiliary Bishop, Emilio Njeru

Eldoret was raised to a Prefecture Apostolic in 1953 and Msgr. Joseph Brendan Houlihan was appointed Prefect Apostolic of the Prefecture Apostolic of Eldoret in 1954. Msgr Joseph B. Houlihan was a Priest of St. Patrick’s Missionary Society ordained in 1937 On the 13th of October 1959, Eldoret became a Diocese and Rt. Rev. Joseph Brendan Houlihan was appointed its first Bishop. Msgr Joseph B. Houlihan was consecrated Bishop on 20th November 1960 by Bishop Fulton Sheen, Auxiliary Bishop of New York and Director of the Propagation of faith in the United States, who had come to Eldoret for that very purpose. His Co-consecrators were Archbishop J.J. Mc Cathy of Nairobi Archdiocese and Archbishop Guido del Mestri, the Apostolic Delegate. The ceremony took place in the grounds of Loreto Convent School. Bishop Houlihan’s motto was Ad Jesum per Mariam ( To Jesus through Mary). At this time of inception, the Diocese covered the present Diocese of Eldoret, Nakuru, Lodwar, some parts of Kakamega and Bungoma Dioceses. In 1969, Emilio Njeru was appointed to be an Auxiliary Bishop of Eldoret. While Bishop Houlihan was in the United States of America where he had gone to look for funds, the Auxiliary Bishop, Emilio Njeru died of road accident on 12th September 1970. In the same year Bishop Houlihan resigned and Rome acted quickly to appoint Fr. John Njenga of the Archdiocese of Nairobi, who at the time was working as education secretary in the Kenya Catholic Secretariat. Bishop Joseph Brendan Houlihan achieved quite a lot for the Diocese and among his Achievements is the foundation of the Congregation of the Assumption Sisters of Eldoret (1962), with Mary Anthony Kandie (RIP), Mary Bridgid Cheptoo and Mary Clara Kitui, popularly known as the ABC Sisters, as its first professed Sisters. He also oversaw the transfer of the Mother of Apostles minor seminary from Matunda to Eldoret and the construction of St. John XXIII Pro-Cathedral located at the Mother of Apostles minor seminary.

6.Bishop John Njenga Succeeds Bishop J. B. Houlihan

On 22nd November 1970, Msgr. John Njenga was made the new Bishop of Eldoret, choosing as his motto, Utumishi kwa watu wa Mungu (Service to the People of God). Bishop John Njenga moved on a number of fronts. Education was close to his heart and as such the number of schools increased drastically during his episcopate. He also welcomed and searched for new personnel, recruiting not only white missionaries but also pursuing as well a more active policy of Africanization. The Benedictines Missionaries, the Mary Knoll Fathers, the Carmelites as well as the Comboni missionaries came to work in the Diocese.

7.Diocesan clergy begin to appear

The Year 1972 was a landmark year for the diocesan priesthood. In the month of May 1972 the first seminarian to go through the old Minor Seminary at Matunda was ordained a priest. This was Fr. Peter Kairo( now Archbishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of Nyeri. He was considered as the first fruit of the entire Eldoret diocese though he belonged to Nakuru Diocese. Fr. Isaac Mbuthia(RIP) would become the first diocesan priest of the Diocese of Eldoret, ordained on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, 29th June 1974. In 1976, Frs Peter Njoroge(RIP),Michael Toror(RIP) and George Gichuhi were ordained, and in 1977 Fr. Joseph Kambo (RIP) was ordained. In 1978, the ordination of Frs. Francis Ruiru, Benjamin Kiriswa, Joseph Njino (RIP) and Joseph Kimotho(now in Kitale Diocese), brought the number of diocesan priests incardinated in the diocese to seven. Bishop Njenga took up office when the big emphasis was on building a self-reliant church or better in the language of Henry Venn ( once the Secretary General of the Church Missionary Society and a recognized foremost Protestant missions strategist of the 19th century) a Church that is, self-Governing, self-Supporting and self-Propagating. He was keen on promotion not just of African clergy and religious but also empowering the African laity. In 1972 he started Mitume Centre, Kitale, for the formation of Catechists and other laity.

8.Nandi becomes Part of Eldoret Diocese and with it comes the ‘first’ diocesan Priest

All this time, Nandi District, a big region constituting today part of Eldoret Diocese was still part of Kisumu Archdiocese. This region was hived from Kisumu on 1st May 1976 to form part of the Diocese of Eldoret. The Mill Hill missionaries had paid a good deal of attention to the Nandi people and to their language. Actually, Chepterit Parish was one of the earliest Parishes established in the Rift Valley Province and only the two town Parishes of Nakuru and Eldoret preceded it. Chepterit Parish was opened in 1936 with Fr. Joseph Kuhn as its first resident Priest. By 1939, there were about 269 Catholics and 215 Catechumens in the Parish and among the Catholics, one Francis Biama was outstanding. He served as a voluntary Catechist and a host to Fr. Kuhn. Kobujoi Parish was second in this region established in 1952 under Fr. J Meier, followed by Kaiboi in 1960 under Fr. Theo Halpin and then Nandi Hills in 1962 under Fr. Vincent Farrel. Tindinyo Parish was founded by Fr. Kuhn after leaving Chepterit in 1963. The First two Kiltegan Priests to work in Nandi were Fr. McNabb and Tom Laffian in May 1969. The next Kiltegan Priests to be appointed to Nandi were the two newly ordained Priests, Frs. Martin Boyle(RIP) and Bernard Corrigan. Fr. McNabb was appointed Fr. In Charge of Kobujoi Parish taking over from Fr. Dingeman Brouders MHM and at Christmas 1969 became the acting Fr. In charge of Nandi Hills when Fr. Jan Thillier retired due to ill health. Later on Fr. McNabb went to Kaiboi to replace Fr. Joe Gasser MHM. The Mill Hill Sisters were at Chepterit around 1969 where they were taking care of a Girls’ Secondary School, a Dispensary and Homecraft Centre. Again the Assumbi Sisters were already at Kaiboi, running the Hospital and Primary School. At Tindnyo there were the Carmelites and also the Juniorate of the Zaverian Brothers who were running a form 1 to 4 single stream minor seminary considered as part of St. Peter’s Minor Seminary, Kakamega. It should be noted that Fr. George Cheboryot(RIP) ordained in 1972 at Chepterit for Kisumu Diocese was the second Kalenjin to be ordained a Priest following the first Kalenjin Priest from Kipchimchim in Kericho District Fr.William Kigen Sawe ( now laysized). Therefore, since Nandi District became part of the Diocese of Eldoret, Fr. George Cheboryot(RIP), has the honour of being the first to be ordained of all the diocesan Priests of Eldoret Diocese. Among the Church items which the Ex-Priest Fr. William Kigen Sawe had kept with him for so long since laysization were a Monstrance and holy oil container, which he surrendered to Eldoret Diocese and Fr. Francis Moriasi, once Vicar General, received them and kept them at St. Michael’s Chaplaincy, Moi University.

9.More Religious Congregations

As noted earlier, the Mill Hill Fathers were the first missionaries to work in the region which would later become the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret and built the first church, St, John the Baptist. The Sacred Heart Cathedral stands on the plot next to the first church, now used as the Catholic Bookshop. St. Patrick’s Missionaries followed and in the late sixties and seventies came the Benedictines, the Comboni and Mary Knolls and later in nineties, the Divine Word Missionaries (SVDs), the Salvatorians and recently the Augustinians. Currently, the Diocese is blessed with 153 Local Diocesan priests. The Diocese is also blessed with many religious congregations for nuns and brothers.

10.Bishop Cornelius Korir Succeeds Bishop John Njenga

Following the transfer of Bishop John Njenga to be the Arch Bishop of Mombasa in 1988, Fr. Tom Smith, the then Vicar General of the Diocese was appointed the Diocesan Administrator, a duty he carried out until the appointment of the new Bishop. In April 1990, Rt. Rev. Cornelius Kipng’eno arap Korir was appointed the third Local Ordinary of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret, choosing as his motto, Work for the Food that Endures to Eternal Life (Jn 6:27).Going by his motto, the emphasis in Bishop Korir’s episcopate would be on the overall and everlasting importance of the spiritual, on matters of faith and of the Spirit. Following the ethnic clashes that were politically instigated in 1992 and subsequent electioneering years, Bishop Korir proved, in God’s providence, the right person in the right place at the right time. He made his stand publicly quite clear that he was the Bishop of all the people in the Diocese of Eldoret regardless of tribe, religion or even political persuasion. He condemned the clashes. During his episcopate, vocations increased tremendously. Currently the Diocese has over 80 Seminarians spread in all the National, Diocesan and Religious Major Seminaries.

11.Bishop Maurice Anthony Crowley of Kitale appointed the Apostolic Administrator

Following the demise of Bishop Cornelius Kipng’eno arap Korir on 30th October 2017, Rt. Rev Maurice Crowley of the Catholic Diocese of Kitale was appointed the Apostolic Administrator. For about two years he steered the Diocese steadily until Rome identified the ordinary for the Vacant see. He established a few Parishes during the said period and enhanced the unity of the clergy, religious and the laity.

12.Bishop Dominic Kimengich Succeeds Bishop Cornelius Korir

On 16th November, 2019, Rt. Rev. Dominic Kimengich, the then Bishop of Lodwar Diocese was appointed Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret and later on the Apostolic Administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Lodwar. He was installed on 1st February 2020 to succeed the late Bishop Korir, choosing as his motto; Serve the Lord with Gladness. The reception of the new Bishop, a day before the installation, was characterized by pomp and colour all the way from Moi’s Bridge, the border of Eldoret and Kitale dioceses, bringing together the civic and religious leaders as well as the laity.

13.Eldoret a Cosmopolitan Town

It is worth noting that the Diocesan administrative seat and the cathedral are situated within the Central Business District (CBD) of Eldoret town, which is the fifth largest town in Kenya. Eldoret town is a cosmopolitan town and the seat of Uasin Gishu devolved County Government and a business hub of the North Rift Region and Western Kenya region. Eldoret town has few industries, an international airport, commercial banks, hotels, two national Universities and middle level tertiary colleges as well as both public and private Health facilities not to forget St. Bridgitta Hospital Yamumbi (Diocese owned), among others. The town is also a host to Catholic University (Gaba Campus), Mother of Apostles Minor Seminary, and St. Matthias Mulumba Major Seminary, Tindinyo, is a few kilometers from Eldoret town but within the Eldoret Diocese.

Being located in the North Rift region of Kenya, the Diocese covers the three devolved Counties of Nandi, Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet which translates to a total area of 9,254 sq. Kms,and the Cooperation between the Diocese and three Governors of the aforementioned Counties is quite encouraging. The Diocese has three ecological zones. In the Northeast from the seat of the Diocese is Kerio Valley, a semi-arid land with high temperatures and low erratic rainfall. The west of the valley is the picturesque Elgeyo escarpment with cool temperatures. The southern and western parts of the Diocese lie on high agricultural potential land. The temperatures vary from mild to extreme cold in Timboroa and Cherangani Hills. The main economic activities of the people are agriculture, livestock and commerce.

14.The Catholic Population

From 2019 National census, the area covered by Eldoret Diocese has a total population of 2, 503, 377 . The Catholic population in the Diocese is estimated to be 890,000. There are 72 and 5 chaplaincies parishes and still a good number of prospective parishes are in the offing. Over the years, the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret has endeavoured to promote the redeeming mission of Christ by preaching the Gospel and uplifting the life of its people through apostolates in Catechism, Education, Medical care, Youth Programs, Gender Development, Radio Upendo and justice and Peace. The late Bishop Korir is internationally recognized as a great peace builder in this region. He played a critical role in championing coexistence of different tribes in Rift Valley and hosted over 10,000 internally displaced people at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. He also brokered peace among the warring communities and the cattle rustlers in the volatile Kerio Valley region. He worked so well with other religious leaders strengthening, as it were, Ecumenism and Inter-Religious Dialogue in the Diocese.