By Francis Ngahu
MOMBASA, OCTOBER 24, 2026 (CISA) – Archbishop Martin Kivuva Musonde of Mombasa thanked the Consolata Missionaries for keeping their church doors open to Kenyans during election violence, as hundreds of Catholics gathered in Likoni to celebrate 100 years since the death of their founder, St. Joseph Allamano.
The archbishop was the main celebrant at a Solemn Mass at Consolata Parish Likoni. Archbishop Dominic Kimengich, Coadjutor Archbishop of Mombasa, was co-celebrant. The Consolata Missionaries Mombasa Zone organised the celebration under the theme “One Church, One Mission”.
In his homily, Archbishop Musonde said Consolata Parish Likoni and the congregation’s other churches have always been a refuge for Kenyans. When election violence broke out, he said, their doors stayed open.
He said the Archdiocese of Mombasa has benefited greatly from the congregation. The Consolata Missionaries run four parishes in the archdiocese, he said, and each stands out in its work. He congratulated the missionaries on their service.
He also recalled what that service has cost. The missionaries had to learn languages and endure hardship and disease, he said, and some came and never went back home.
The archbishop then posed a question to the congregation: if Allamano arrived to celebrate 100 years, what would he be proud to see the Consolata Missionaries doing? He said the founder would probably marvel at the faithful gathered and at the schools. That, he said, is the spirit of the Consolata: missionaries plant, and God gives the growth.
The Allamanos of today do what the founder did and much more, he said, adding that many missionaries are saints without having been canonised.
Archbishop Musonde said St. Allamano’s principle was saints first, then missionaries. He asked the congregation to be honest about how often that order is reversed. People want to organise first, be recognised first, speak first, travel first and lead first, he said. Allamano reminds the Church that mission must begin much deeper, within the missionary’s own life.
He told the missionaries not to fear the calling to cross boundaries, because the Consolata missionaries do not go alone. They go with Mary, he said. He also remembered Fr. Angelo Fantacci as a man with a big heart.
Mission means crossing boundaries, the archbishop said, and it is not for missionaries alone. Life asks every Christian to cross to where the other person is. He encouraged the faithful to do good well and let the Gospel bear fruit, and to carry the flame forward and emulate Allamano.
Fr. Zachariah Kariuki, the regional superior, thanked the faithful for gracing the occasion and conveyed greetings from the Superior General. He said Allamano grew up in a family of faith and that human fragility is no obstacle to doing great things.
Fr. Kariuki named six pillars that shaped the congregation: love for the Eucharist, devotion to Mary, loyalty to the Church and the Pope, the liturgy, living as one family, and commitment to hard work.
Archbishop Kimengich thanked the Consolata Missionaries for their work in the Archdiocese of Mombasa and encouraged them to continue. He also asked for more parishes to be run by the congregation.
Allamano was born on January 21, 1851, in Castelnuovo d’Asti, Italy, now Castelnuovo Don Bosco. He founded the Consolata Missionaries in Turin on January 29, 1901, and the Consolata Missionary Sisters on January 29, 1910. The first missionaries left for Kenya on May 8, 1902.
He died in Turin on February 16, 1926. Pope Francis canonised him on October 20, 2024, World Mission Sunday.
