KENYA: Pontifical Missionary Society sets up Series of Celebrations to Mark 25 years of Mission

NAIROBI FEBRUARY 10 2015(CISA) – The Catholic Church in Kenya through the Conference of Catholic Bishops Commission for Missions has laid out 14 series of events that will take place in the course of the year to mark 25 years of Mission work in Kenya.

Four of the events will be national and these include the beatification of Consolata Missionary Sr Irene Stefani which will take place at Dedan Kimathi University Nyeri in May, Golden Jubilee on Ad Gentes and Silver Jubilee of Commission for Mission which will take place at St Mary’s school Msongari in August, Celebration of 110 years of Muranga Conference which will take place at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in May and the Golden jubilee of Fidei Donum priests which will take place in Nyahururu in July.

“I invite you to celebrate them with joy, faith and love as one family in Mission,” Bishop Peter Kihara, Chairman Kenya Catholic Bishops Commission for Missions, told Diocesan Pontifical Missionary Society (PMS) Directors and Holy Childhood coordinators annual General meeting that was held at the Watakatifu Wote Centre in Ngong’.

In his speech the Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya and South Sudan Archbishop Charles Balvo noted that the work of evangelization is presented with many challenges.

“We can be tempted to feel that things are harder today than in the past… things are not necessarily harder today- they are simply different.  The evangelizers who have gone before us confronted the difficulties of preaching the Gospel in their own day. We are called to confront the difficulties of our own time,” the Nuncio said.

While welcoming the delegates, Bishop John Oballa of the Catholic Diocese of Ngong’ noted that there are places in Ngong’ diocese that still lack primary evangelization.

“I am in a diocese where in some parts there is still need for primary evangelization. There are still people in our diocese who have not heard that God had a son called Jesus Christ…who is the saviour of the world, and even where it has taken place there are people who live as if they have not heard that gospel,” said the bishop.

“We want you to count on our support as a diocese, both spiritually and materially in enabling you and all of us because it is the duty of the church to celebrate these anniversaries with faith and love of Christ,” he added.

The diocesan PMS Directors and Holy Childhood annual general meeting will run from February 10 – 15.