2015-08-25 13:12:00

5,000 Kenyan Catholic children celebrate “ad gentes"


Over 5,000 Catholic children, under the banner of the Pontifical Missionary Children (PMC), from all corners of Kenya have celebrated fifty years since the launch of the Church document, ‘ad gentes.’

The Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity or “Ad Gentes Divinitus” in Latin, was one of the final documents of the Second Vatican Council. The document was proclaimed in 1965.

The document teaches that the Church is missionary at its very core and the first priority of the Church is evangelization and mission. Mission is going out and planting the Church in places where people do not yet believe in Christ; but also involves ministry in places in need of renewal.

The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB)-Commission for Missions celebrated the golden jubilee by bringing 5,000 children together with their animators for three days.

The celebrations began on 20 August and ended on 22 August at St. Mary’s school in Nairobi.

Speaking on the first day of three-day packed celebrations, the Bishop of Marsabit who is also Chairman of the Commission for Missions, Peter Kihara, paid tribute to missionary activities in Kenya.

Bishop Kihara said the Commission chose to celebrate its silver jubilee with the children because, “children are the future of the Church.”

Bishop Kihara explained that for the past 25 years, the Church in Kenya has formed “Fidei Donum” priests who leave their home dioceses to serve in others.

“We have many priests who are born in one diocese and have been sent to another diocese to donate their faith,” the Bishop said. He continued, “We have a good number of seminaries with more than 700 students wanting to become priests of tomorrow, religious sisters and brothers, to respond to the mandate of Christ in the Gospel of Mathew chapter 28 to go out to the whole world and preach the good news,” Bishop Kihara said.

The jubilee celebrations were attended by John Cardinal Njue, the Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya, Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo, several Bishops and guests from Kenya, the Vatican, Uganda and Rwanda among many others.

(By Rose Achiego, Waumini Communications in Kenya)
e-mail: engafrica@vatiradio.va








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