When the Dominican Friars from the Province of St. Joseph, New York, arrived in Eastern Africa in 1991, they carried with them a bold vision: plant the seed of the Order of Preachers in this region and nurture it until it could stand on its own. The mission, spanning Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Sudan, was to continue the Order’s 800-year legacy of preaching the Gospel for the salvation of souls, but now in a context where the Church was still relatively young and in the peripheries.
From the start, the friars knew that one of the most important ways of ensuring stability was through the formation of local clergy. In the early 2000s, when I first joined the mission, there were only three ordained local priests. Today, the Dominican Vicariate of Eastern Africa can count more than 20 ordained friars, with over 20 brothers currently in formation. This growth is a sign of hope not only for the order but also for the Church in this part of the world.
Formation, therefore, remains at the heart of our work. The novitiate of St. Martin de Porres in Kisumu welcomes men beginning their first year of discernment. Those who make profession of vows continue at St. Dominic’s Priory in Nairobi, where they study philosophy and theology at Tangaza University while also gaining pastoral experience. Community life, study, prayer and apostolate come together to prepare them to serve as preachers, pastors and leaders in the Church. With the numbers of student brothers steadily increasing, plans are underway to expand St. Dominic Priory to better serve the needs of formation.
From these formation houses, the mission has grown to five communities: two in Kisumu, two in Nairobi and one in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Our ministries are varied: parish work at St. Catherine of Siena (Nairobi), St. Paul (Kisumu) and St. Alypius (Dar es Salaam); teaching and administration at Tangaza University; chaplaincy for sisters and schools; retreats and recollections; pro-life initiatives; and ministry to the deaf. We accompany the Dominican Laity, engage young people through various university chaplaincies, notably Kikuyu and Kabete Campuses of the University of Nairobi, the Dominican Youth Movement, and remain attentive to the poor who knock on our doors.
The vision for the future is clear yet challenging: to grow into a fully-fledged province, capable of sustaining itself in personnel and resources. This requires building institutions strong enough to support our brothers in formation and to sustain the many ministries we undertake. It is no small task: It requires vision, sacrifice, and above all, faith that God who began this good work will bring it to completion.
It is at this point that the words of the late Pope Francis for World Mission Sunday 2025 take on special meaning. Our Holy Father called us all to live this Jubilee Year as “pilgrims of hope” and “missionaries of hope among all peoples.” For us Dominicans in Eastern Africa, this call is both an encouragement and a challenge.
The encouragement comes from knowing that our work of preaching, teaching and serving is not just local but part of the universal Church’s mission of hope. Every time a friar celebrates Mass for Christians in the village, accompanies young people in their search for meaning, or offers consolation to the poor, the hope of Christ takes flesh in the lives of ordinary people.
The challenge, however, is real. The majority of our American friars who first established the mission have since returned home, leaving us, the natives, to carry forward the work. Supporting our young brothers in formation is particularly demanding, requiring resources that are not easy to come by. Yet Pope Francis reminded us that Christian hope is not mere optimism. It is a gift from God, nourished in prayer and lived out in community. As he said, the person who hopes is also a person who prays.
To be missionaries of hope, then, means not only reaching outward to those we serve but also sustaining one another within our own communities. It means praying together, sharing resources and trusting that God’s providence will provide for what is lacking. It also means inviting others, especially our friends, benefactors, and people of good will, to walk with us on this journey of faith and hope in sustaining and growing this mission.
The story of the Dominican mission in Eastern Africa is still young, yet is already marked by signs of hope: young men embracing the Dominican way of life, communities of faith growing stronger, and the poor finding comfort in the presence of Christ’s ministers. As we continue this journey, we take to heart our late Holy Father’s invitation to be “missionaries of hope among all peoples.”
As we enter the final months of this Jubilee Year, may we continue to be renewed in our mission, so that the Dominican friars in Eastern Africa may continue to preach the Gospel with joy, build up the Church with faith and bear witness to the hope that never disappoints.
Fr. Dominic Mutuku, OP, is a member of the formation team at St. Dominic’s, Nairobi. He lectures in philosophy at Tangaza University and serves as director of the Institute of Social Communication at the same university.
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