A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF MURANG’A
The Catholic Diocese of Murang’a was erected on March 17th 1983 by His Holiness Pope John Paul II during the 5th year of his Pontificate. It was curved from the then Diocese of Nyeri (now Archdiocese). The Consolata Missionaries introduced Christianity to this region in 1902 in Tuthu Parish, which now lies under Murang’a Diocese. The total area covered by the Diocese is 4016 km2 and lies 90 km North of Nairobi City of Kenya.
The Diocese covers 2 administrative Counties namely Kirinyaga and Murang’a. The Total population of the Diocese stands at 1,517,373. Of these 670,000 are Catholics. The others follow different faiths including Muslims, Protestants, and some traditional religions. The Diocese has 47 Parishes comprising of 546 Local Churches. The Parishes are subdivided into six deaneries which are a collection of Parishes within the same geographic area namely: Kandara, Kianyaga, Baricho, Maragua, Tuthu, and Murang’a.
The Catholic Diocese of Murang’a is headed by the Bishop and the current Bishop is the Rt. Rev. James Maria Wainaina. With the assistance of the Clergy and selected lay workers, the Bishop guides the Diocese. He undertakes this role with the help of the College of Consultors, the Vicar General as the principal assistant, the Deans who head the deaneries and the Parish Priests who are in charge of particular Parishes. At the Diocesan Secretariat which is the central organ for the Bishop, there are Heads of Departments who help the Bishop in different sectors like; Education, Health, Family life, Social Communication, Justice & Peace, Youth, Finance, and Caritas among others.
Vision: “To be a sustainable organization effectively addressing the spiritual and socio-economic needs of God’s people”.
Mission: To unify God’s people through evangelization and holistic human development.
CORE VALUES
The work and operations of the Diocese are guided by the following core values:
- Christian witness: ensuring that all those acting on its behalf bear Christian witness and enshrine its values in all their actions
- Roman Catholic faith: continuous adherence to the teaching and doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church
- Parish community focus: building community target groups at the Parish level
- Compassion for all: a constant empathy for the suffering of those less fortunate
- Human dignity: a respect for humanity and advocacy of justice and peace
- Transparency and Accountability: cherishing the virtues of probity, transparency, and accountability and upholding them at all times.
- Human Resources: committing to the empowerment of people’s knowledge and skills set at all levels.
- Efficient and effective use of resources: commitment to optimal use of available resources and preservation of all forms in which they occur
- Subsidiarity: empowering institutions, programmes, and parishes to make decisions as far as possible at the local level, emphasizing decentralization in decision-making authority.