Dominican Friars Make Final Vows in Nairobi

The House of Studies of the East African Vice-Province of the Order of Preachers in Nairobi.

This past Saturday Maynor and I were able to attend the solemn profession of vows of two Dominican friars from East Africa. We know the Dominicans from our visits with them in Kisumu, and in fact we received the invitation while Maynor was with them during Holy Week and Easter. We've gotten to know a number of the friars on a personal basis through the Bread of Life retreat on which we collaborated last year, and those passing through the postulancy and novitiate in Kisumu.

One of the two friars making final vows promises faithfulness "until death."

The vows of these friars along with a few other recent experiences made a strong impression on me. There were very few Americans and Europeans at the vows, but there were many, many African priests, sisters and Catholic laity. It was clear to me that the torch of faith has definitively been passed to the Africans. Perhaps you saw something in the news this past week about a new report by the DC-based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (click here for the CNN story) on religiosity in Sub-Saharan Africa. While one could take exception to some of the criteria used in the study (e.g., regarding the imminent return of Jesus as an indicator of greater religiosity) it's clear that religious faith is much more alive, intense and widespread in Africa than in the US and Europe. The life of the Church in Africa will have a huge impact on the Church throughout the world in the current millennium - a fact that should cause Catholics in the rest of the world to pay attention to and support the younger Church on that continent.

Fr. Arthur from Poland photographing the vows.

The final factor that contributed to this impression were the two visits Maynor and I made to the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel at Holy Family Cathedral in Nairobi this past week. I am always encouraged and inspired when I go there, first of all - of course - by the opportunity to be with the Lord. But I'm also always deeply moved by the number of people who come there to pray. There are professionals, students, laborers, street people of all ages, but a significant number are young adults. And they really pray; you can see it on their faces. I've also heard from friends that more than a thousand people turn out nearly every Saturday for a day of prayer at a local church. Even as Kenya struggles with some serious social questions, that fact offers strong grounds for hope in the future.

To donate online, please CLICK HERE.