Welcome to the 1st Parish in Kenya.
The year 1889 marks the beginning of Mombasa’s first “catholic mission”. Fr. Alexander le Roy, a Holy Ghost Missionary (C.S.Sp), is considered the pioneer of this initiative. The first baptism took place on August 14, 1889, when Maria, the infant daughter of Diego and Natalie Pereira, was received into the Christian community.
The Congregation of the Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Spiritans, were the first Catholic missionaries to arrive in Mombasa in 1889. Monseigneur Raoul de Courmont was appointed the Vicar Apostolic of Zanzibar and sent Father Alexander Le Roy on an exploratory assignment to Mombasa.
In 1889, Father Le Roy finally settled in Mombasa, establishing the first chapel in Ndia Kuu Old Town. The church was mainly attended by Goans and Europeans and the first baptism recorded was on 14th August 1889 of Maria, the infant daughter of Diego and Natalia Pereira. The first African to be baptised in the parish was a 3yr old Giriama boy who was dying. Fr Alexander Le Roy baptised him Alexander, perhaps after himself.
As the congregation grew, the chapel in Old Town became crowded and in 1898, a five-acre plot was acquired in Makadara. A new church was built and this housed about 400 people, mainly Goans, some Europeans and fifty Africans. There was a great sense of urgency to complete the new church in the new location by Easter Sunday 1898. They worked tirelessly from Palm Sunday and on Good Friday the vault was complete and painted dark green with the walls white. On Holy Saturday the floor was levelled and some seats and the altar installed, by nightfall the church was complete. The first Mass, held on Easter Sunday, was a triumph. The church and altar decorated for 8am Mass, a large crowd sang the Gregorian Chant, Mass was then followed by Benediction and Te Deum and Regina Coeli.
By 1900, it was felt that the capacity was inadequate for the growing congregation and the little church was in desperate need of replacement with a bigger structure. In 1914, Brother Walter Gustav, a Spiritan who was highly proficient in the building trade, drew up the necessary plan. Bishop John Neville found it excellent and the congregants pledged the necessary funds.
Despite the outbreak of World War One, Brother Gustav and Brothers Killian Rettig and Claver Fernandes laid the foundation in 1916 and began its construction. The missionary brothers trained the locals to carve and sculpt the locally available coral stones that were used to build the church. During the construction of the Cathedral, there was a global influenza pandemic, Spanish Flu, that caused unprecedented social and economic disruptions. Despite this, the church, as we now know it, was finished 1923. It had an imposing Romanesque style, adorned by two large towers that were visible from far out at sea.
The beautiful high altar, tabernacle and ambo are made from the finest marble that was carved and sculpted by expert stonemasons in Toulouse, France and shipped in wooden crates and the parts assembled in Mombasa.
The richly coloured stained glass windows were all shipped from Europe as gifts to the parishioners or in memory of parishioners who had passed on. There are three behind the tabernacle, which tell a story of our faith. The one in the centre depicts our patron the Holy Spirit, to the right the baptism of Christ which signalled the beginning of His Ministry and on the left, the descent of the Holy Spirit which was the beginning of the Church. Other stained glass windows include portrayals Our Lady of Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Sorrows, St Patrick, St Joseph, St Peter, St Anthony, St Alexis, St Francis Xavier and St Theresa of the Child Jesus.
The beautiful ceiling, which is an exact copy of Westminster Cathedral, was intricately hand-painted by a painter laying on his back on a rickety platform and carefully painting each cell one at a time. As we look at it now, we can appreciate the beauty as it has been lovingly restored in recent years.
After the present cathedral was consecrated in 1923, the small 1898 church was turned into a bookshop and printing press producing monthly publications – Rafiki Yetu and Catholic Times of East Africa. It remained so until it was demolished in the 1970s to make way for Ambalal House.
Makupa Church was established for the African Railways and Habours workers and their families. The first recorded baptism was that of Richard Odongo on 7th June 1919.
The first Catholic Hospital in Kenya was opened by Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny and is now the Administration block of Mombasa Hospital.
In the words of Archbishop John Njenga “It is important for all in our archdiocese, to get a better understanding of what we have inherited and encourage them to pass it on faithfully to future generations.”