Inside Tremendous Growth of Kenya's Oldest Inland Catholic Parish that Birthed Several Dioceses

After building St. Austin’s Parish, the three are said to have secured land from a local chief to build another church, which is the site of the present-day Holy Family Basilica. 

From St. Austin's Parish, the Catholic Church spread to other parts of Kenya with the Holy Ghost Fathers evangelizing in the Archdioceses of Nairobi and Mombasa. From these places, other Dioceses in Kenya have come up.

Art gallery at St. Austin's Msongari Catholic Parish. Credit: ACI Africa

Catechist Pius arrived at St. Austin’s on 1 January 2000 when the Church had an Irish Priest and witnessed what he referred to as a major transition.

“I saw the exit of the last Irish Parish Priest, and the entry of Fr. John Mbinda, the first African Priest ever at St. Austin’s,” he said in an interview with ACI Africa on Wednesday, September 11, referring to the Priest who is now Bishop John Mbinda, the first-ever Kenyan Spiritan Bishop Consecrated in June 2022 as Local Ordinary of Lodwar Diocese in Kenya. 

At the time, St. Austin’s Parish only had two Masses, at 8:30 a.m and at 11:30 a.m. Catechist Pius recalls that the 8:30 am Swahili Mass was composed of many people from the Nairobi informal settlements of Gatina, Waruku, and Kangemi. The 11:30 a.m. Mass, on the other hand, was in English and was composed of people from Lavington and other places near the Church where non-Kenyans lived.

“The Church has a capacity of 500 and was always full at the 8:30 Mass. The English Mass had a paltry attendance,” the Catechists tells ACI Africa, adding that he was there when an additional Mass at 10 a.m. was introduced to cater for the population of the faithful which was increasing.

And from just one SCC, the Parish now has 15 SCCs and 10 pious societies. It is also affiliated with the Catholic International Community (CIC) that takes care of non-Kenyan faithful.

Additionally, the Parish that is under the leadership of members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans/Holy Ghost Fathers/CSSp.) has the Francophone Catholic Community of Nairobi, abbreviated as CCFN from the French name, “Communauté Catholique Francophone de Nairobi”, comprising French speaking residents in Nairobi.

St. Austin’s population has grown to overflowing that the Church now erects tents to accommodate the extra people who attend the different Sunday Services.

Art gallery at St. Austin's Msongari Catholic Parish. Credit: ACI Africa

Because of the social distancing requirements of COVID-19, the Parish introduced two more Masses at 7 a.m. and at 5:30 p.m., Catechist Pius said, and added, “We maintained the Masses even after the social distancing directive was lifted. Attendance in these Masses has gradually gone up, and we now see them over three quarters full.”

On the growth of infant baptisms in particular, the Kenyan Catechist said, “We used to have infant baptism during Christmas and Easter. Now we have other private baptisms every Saturday for those who register for our baptism classes. We have group Baptisms on every 24th of December and at Easter night. All these numbers have grown tremendously. In each of these celebrations, we do an average of 60 baptisms.”

St. Austin’s Parish has also seen a rise in the candidates for the Sacrament of Confirmation over the years, as ceremonies which are held every second Friday of October in the Parish can no longer be held inside the Church.

“We confirm candidates from the Parish and from schools around the Church,” Catechist Pius says, and adds, “When I came here, we used to do Confirmation inside the Church.  But because the numbers are growing, we erect tents where we conduct the Confirmations. Last year, over 500 people were confirmed at St. Austin’s.”

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St. Austin's Msongari Catholic Parish at a pilgrimage at Subukia Marian Shrine. Credit: ACI Africa

The Catholic parish also has an average of 65 candidates receiving Holy Communion on every solemnity of Christ the King, and minus Lent, it witnesses an average of two weddings on Saturdays.

Asked about what is behind the growth especially in sacramental life of parishioners, Catechist Pius says, “I don’t have any answer to this. People are just looking for God. We don’t do anything extraordinary. We don’t even do campaigns.”

“I also don’t think this is a situation isolated to St. Austin’s Parish,” he says, and adds, “Outside most Catholic Churches on Sundays, you will see tents, indicating an overflow. The Church is growing all over the continent.”

Apart from the growth in the sacramental life of the Parishioners, St. Austin’s Msongari Parish has also distinguished itself in outreach activities.

One of its outreach ministries that have gained a lot of popularity is the Parish’s twinning initiative with Chemolingot village, a marginalized Kenyan community that is served by the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru.

Chemolingot village is located in East Pokot, a region that has, for decades, hit the headlines for cattle rustling and other forms of insecurity. Here, young people start stealing cattle from rival communities the moment they become ‘Morans’ or ‘trained warriors’ of their tribe.

Parishioners from St. Austin's Msongari Catholic Parish at a pilgrimage last year. Credit: ACI Africa

For eight years now, members of the Kings and Queens youth group of St. Austin's Parish have been twinning with their peers in Chemolingot through an initiative dubbed, “Pokot Peace Caravan”.

The main aim of the peace initiative has been to teach the young people in East Pokot how to fight poverty with their books and pens, and not with guns.

On Sunday, September 8, St. Austin’s Parish held a documentary show and art gallery that showcased the history of the Parish, including its growth. These events are the latest in the array of activities the Parish organized to mark its 125-year anniversary celebrations that were launched last December.

Credit: ACI Africa

Other activities have included Priestly Ordinations, home visitations, and the celebrations of the Sacraments of Baptism, Holy Communion, the annual pilgrimage to Subukia National Marian Shrine in Nakuru Diocese, as well as the Sacrament of Matrimony, the first group of 12 couples set to wed on September 21, followed by another group on October 11 and the last one on December 8. . 

In August, 87 St. Austin’s parishioners participated in a pilgrimage to Bura Mission, a spiritual activity that allowed the parishioners to walk in the footsteps of the first missionaries who served at the parish.

In the documentary produced as part of St. Austin’s Parish anniversary celebrations, the Local Ordinary of ADN, Archbishop Anyolo, lauded the growth of St., Austin’s Parish, saying, “I want to ask them to continue praying for the success that grows not only through what you have done, but one that grows inward in our hearts, that our faith may be rooted in Christ.”