Roman Catholic Church in Kenya

The Roman Catholic Church in Kenya is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church .

history

Vasco da Gama Church in Malindi

The history of the Catholic Church in Kenya began in 1498 when Vasco da Gama set up a wooden cross on the coast off Malindi and built what is considered to be the oldest Catholic church in East Africa . There was a first Catholic community with around 600 members in 1599 under the Augustinians in Mombasa . In 1860 the Spiritans settled in Kenya and founded mission stations in Tana River , Bura and Mombasa between 1889 and 1892 . In 1902 the Consolata missionaries opened stations in central Kenya, and a year later the missionary society of St. Joseph of Mill Hill settled in Kikumu . In 1926 the first Apostolic Vicariates were founded with Nyeri, Kisumu, Zanzibar (Nairobi) and Meru , and in the following year the first Kenyan priests were ordained . The first dioceses, Nairobi , Nyeri , Meru and Kisumu , came into being in 1953. Four years later, Maurice Michael Otunga, the first Kenyan to be ordained a bishop. Otunga also became the first cardinal to come from Kenya in 1973 . In 1990 the Archdiocese of Nyeri, Mombasa and Kisumu were added to the Archdiocese of Nairobi. The diocese of Maralal was last founded in 2002.

organization

Between 25% and 33% of Kenyans are Catholics. Kenya is divided into four archbishoprics , 20 dioceses, a military ordinariate and an apostolic vicariate. Founded in 1961 Kenyan Episcopal Conference ( Kenya Episcopal Conference ) has its headquarters in Nairobi . The chairman is Archbishop Philip Arnold Subira Anyolo . In 2009, the Bishops' Conference consisted of 24 bishops. In 2004 there were 726 parishes with 1,194 priests, 722 friars and 3,719 nuns.

The Holy See and Kenya have had diplomatic relations since 1965. Apostolic Nuncio has been Archbishop Hubertus van Megen since February 2019 .

In 2009, the Catholic Church maintained 70 hospitals in Kenya, as well as other social institutions such as old people's homes, schools and residential homes for the physically and mentally handicapped, children's homes and orphanages, primary and secondary schools . There are four universities run by the Catholic Church in Nairobi.

structure

• Archdiocese of Kisumu
  • Bungoma diocese
  • Diocese of Eldoret
  • Diocese of Homa Bay
  • Diocese of Kakamega
  • Diocese of Kisii
  • Diocese of Kitale
  • Diocese of Lodwar
• Archdiocese of Mombasa
  • Diocese of Garissa
  • Malindi diocese
• Archdiocese of Nairobi
  • Diocese of Kericho
  • Diocese of Kitui
  • Diocese of Machakos
  • Diocese of Nakuru
  • Diocese of Ngong
• Archdiocese of Nyeri
  • Diocese of Embu
  • Diocese of Maralal
  • Marsabit diocese
  • Bishopric of Meru
  • Diocese of Muranga
  • Diocese of Nyahururu
• Immediate:
  • Apostolic Vicariate Isiolo
  • Kenyan Military Ordinary

See also

• Particular church

Web links

• Homepage of the Catholic Church in Kenya
• Entry on Kenya on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on February 16, 2019.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kenyan tourists flock to east africas first church , accessed March 8, 2010.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Entry on Kenya on missio-aachen.de ( Memento of the original from October 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 8, 2010. 
3. ^ CIA World Factbook Kenya , accessed March 8, 2010.