Father Blais Jules, arriving in Kenya from France in the early 1900s, found his missionary calling among Luo laborers working on sisal plantations around Nairobi. These workers, isolated and facing harsh conditions, were more receptive to Catholicism compared to the surrounding communities. Father Jules noted that the Luo laborers embraced “Christ and his message,” readily converting and establishing Christian families.
Attempting to establish a mission station in Kabaa, Machakos, Father Jules encountered hostility from the Akamba people. It was the Luo workers at Kilimambogo who came to his aid, assisting in the construction of the station. In Nairobi, at what is now Holy Family Basilica, the number of Luo converts grew steadily, from 24 in 1904 to 70 by 1907.
Despite its founding to serve Nairobi’s multi-racial community, the church faced challenges in fully integrating Africans due to language barriers and racial segregation. During World War I, African converts were excluded from morning masses at Holy Family Parish and instead instructed separately in the afternoon.
By 1916, due to the “extraordinary growth of the Luo catechumenate,” plans were made for a separate church for Africans. In January 1918, Bishop Neville identified a plot on Racecourse Road for this purpose. A temporary church was swiftly erected, and Father Blais assumed his role as the first priest of St. Peter Claver Catholic Church on February 27, 1918, after arriving from Kabaa.
Father Blais noted in his journal the warm reception he received from a large group of Luo upon his arrival at the train station. It took three more years before construction of the stone chapel began at St. Peter Claver’s.
Responding to the needs of his Luo converts, Father Blais also established a catechism school at the Mavoko sisal plantation, an expansive estate where many Luo workers were employed. Similarly, in Ongata Rongai, Catholic priests from Kiserian traveled to offer Mass to Luo workers in the quarries.
Thus, St. Peter Claver’s Church emerged as a testament to the enduring faith and community spirit of Nairobi’s Luo community amidst the challenges of colonial-era Kenya.
