To the people of Murang’a, gently complaining about the transfer while expressing their sorrow for the loss of their bishop and promising him support in his new mission, the Nuncio responded stressing that Mgr Kihara was sent to Marsabit for two reasons: because of his remarkable work in Murang’a, and because he is a missionary belonging to that Institute that pioneered the evangelisation of the area.
Almost all the speeches had two common points: a call for harmony, peace and reconciliation as memories of the near past events, marred by tribal hatred and senseless killing were present in the minds of all; and a call to cooperation among all the stakeholders of the region: different religions, people and politicians.
Marsabit, In Perspective
The new bishop becomes the shepherd of a new, young community, where evangelisation was started only in the fifties among hardships of every kind: weather, roads, distances, desert, droughts, and tribalism. The diocese, evangelized first by the Consolata Missionaries and fidei donum priests from the diocese of Alba (Italy), was erected on November 25, 1964 under the leadership of Bishop Charles Cavallera, former bishop of Nyeri. In 1981 he retired and was succeeded by Bp Ambrose Ravasi. In 2001 the diocese of Maralal was created for the Samburu District, leaving the diocese the two remaining districts of Moyale and Marsabit. In 2004, at 75 years of age, Bp Ravasi presented his resignation. He had to wait for a couple of years before getting a positive answer, and finally on November 25, 2006, Bishop Peter Kihara was appointed to the see of Marsabit from Murang’a.
{mosimage}The diocese covers over 70,000 km2 with a population of over 200,000 (roughly 3 people per km2) composed of mainly pastoralists communities: Borana, Burji, Gabbra, Rendille, Samburu, Somali, Turkana and scores of people from every other Kenyan tribe. The majority of the population follows traditional African Religions or Islam. Christians are a minority of which over 22,000 are Catholic served by 12 parishes with less than 30 priests, 6 of whom are local diocesan and the others are missionaries from all four corners of the world, helped by an army of over 100 catechists and several congregations of sisters.
The diocese runs two hospitals, one in Sololo, the other in Loyangallany, and has an extensive network of dispensaries and mobile clinics. Intensive is the commitment in schools, with two secondary schools, one for boys and one for girls, and innumerable sponsored primary and nursery schools. The diocese is also well committed in development projects, in providing water for the communities, animal husbandry projects and famine prevention projects, being a drought prone region. Cases of drought or other calamities see the diocese constantly on the forefront in the relief effort and programmes of reconciliation and peace.