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St. Charles Lwanga Parish
The Jesuits came to Malindi at the invitation of the late Bishop Emmanuel Barbara. Malindi happens to have a historical connection with the Jesuits. Francis Xavier, the famous Jesuit saint, stopped here for a lengthy stay during his voyage to India. It was, therefore, a joy for the Jesuits to return to Malindi and render pastoral and spiritual service to its people at St. Charles Lwanga, Muyeye.
The Jesuits of Eastern African took charge of the parish on the 3rd June 2018. The parish had a Catholic population of a little more than 50 at the time and has since grown to more than 400. In addition to running a parish, the Jesuits run the Bishop Francis Baldacchino Catholic Primary School. We focus on five pastoral areas: interreligious dialogue, religious and academic education, retreats, youth ministry and parish ministry. The parish has several active groups: Catholic Women Association (CWA), Catholic Men Association (CMA), The Youth Group, Pontifical Missionary Childhood (PMC) and the Choir. Each group has a unique role to play in building the spirit of the parish.
Malindi and the coastal strip is culturally diverse and multi-religious, the dominant religions being Islam and Christianity. Until the late 2000s, there was peaceful co-existence among people of different faiths in Malindi. All this changed when the Kenya Defense Forces went into Somalia to wage war against the Al Shabaab. The invasion resulted in retaliatory attacks that took on a religious dimension, with terror attacks targeting Christians in the nearby Counties of Tana River and Lamu. Malindi became a center for the coordination of aggression and recruitment ground for terrorists.
These developments resulted in heightened peace efforts and interreligious dialogue initiatives, mostly by religious leaders, aimed at countering the adverse effects of the emerging violent extremism and radicalization in coastal Kenya.
At present, there is relative calm in Malindi, as there is indeed in Kenya as a whole. However, there is a need for consistent efforts toward lasting peace. These efforts are especially crucial because religious radicalism is not the only attraction for the many unemployed and uneducated youth. Sex tourism is as much a problem.
At St. Charles Lwanga Parish, we work hard to tackle these challenges. We are proud to follow in the footsteps of St. Francis Xavier, the patron saint of the Diocese of Malindi.
