Prince of Peace Abbey, Tigoni, Nairobi Province, Kenya, is a Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of the Missionary Benedictines of Saint Ottilien. Established in 1978 at the request of Maurice Cardinal Otunga, the monastery is currently home to 50 monks. Abbot John Baptist Oese Imai is the community's superior.

History

From Peramiho to Kenya

From its foundation in 1898, the community of Missionary Benedictines at Peramiho, Tanzania, had sought to evangelize the surrounding population. During the monastery's period as an abbatia nullius, its monks successfully cultivated local vocations to the priesthood. In 1969, Diocese of Songea was created and a local priest ordained bishop. At this point, the monks of Peramiho found themselves at a crossroads. Their duty of primary evangelization had been largely accomplished; now it was time to focus mission efforts elsewhere. Bishop Emilio Njiru of

Eldoret Eldoret is a principal town in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. The town was referred to by white settlers as Farm 64, 64 and colloquially by locals as 'Sisibo'. As per the 2019 Kenya Population ...

, Kenya, invited the monks of Peramiho Abbey to settle in the northern part of his diocese, in the

Kerio Valley Kerio Valley lies between the Tugen Hills and the Elgeyo Escarpment in Kenya. It sits at an elevation of 1,000 meters in the Great Rift Valley. Geography The isolated Kerio Valley is situated in a narrow, long strip that is approximately 80 ...

, an area that had seen little mission work. The Congregation's 11th General Chapter, meeting in 1971, gave their approval to this idea. The first Missionary Benedictines arrived in the Diocese of Eldoret on February 10, 1972. Soon, they began evangelizing the Pokot and Marakwet, residents of the Kerio Valley. Reflecting previous mission efforts of the Congregation, religious instruction was accompanied by social, educational, and medical services. The popularity of the Benedictines spread, and in 1977, Maurice Cardinal Otunga of Nairobi invited the monks to make a foundation in the capital city. The monks of Peramiho Abbey were to build a parish in the northern suburbs of Nairobi, including the slums of the Mathare Valley. It was also decided that local vocations would be recruited as soon as the facilities (which were to include a monastery, retreat center, and Christian education center) had been constructed.

Consolidating the Foundation

The foundation in Nairobi, St Benedict's Monastery, opened on April 6, 1978. In early 1979, construction of the monastery itself began, designed to house a community of 16 monks. At this time, the community began to accept candidates. To ensure that the monastic quality of the house was not overshadowed by the mission apostolate, the Congregation raised the foundation to the status of a simple priory on June 22, 1979. A retreat house and a church were completed in 1982. Local vocations arrived quickly. A formation house had been established in Nanyuki, 200 km north of Nairobi. By 1981, four local monks had pronounced their vows. By 1984, ten postulants were in formation. Neighboring Uganda proved to be a ready source of vocations. However, the existence of a separate formation house ended up being a disadvantage. Not only did its administration require extra personnel, it also made consolidation of the quickly growing monastic community a challenge. The goal of having a midsized monastery was not being realized either at the Nanyuki formation house or at the Nairobi monastery. In 1988, St Benedict's Monastery in Nairobi was raised to the status of a conventual priory, and Pius Mühlbacher became the community's first conventual prior. To solve this problem, Cardinal Otunga offered the Missionary Benedictines a large farm in Tigoni, 30 km northwest of Nairobi. In 1987, construction of a new monastery here began; the official day of Tigoni's founding is November 20, 1987. By 1990, quarters for 24 monks had been built. Cardinal Otunga consecrated the monastery's church in 1991. The monastery's properties in Nairobi and Nanyuki were converted to domus religiosa, and the monastic community transferred to Tigoni on June 30, 1992. Questionable Magnus Rao.

Dependencies

*St Benedict's Monastery, Nairobi,

Archdiocese of Nairobi The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi ( la, Nairobien(sis)) is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Nairobi in Kenya, and the Primatial see for Kenya. History *26 February 1860: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Zangu ...

: Founded in 1978, currently a domus religiosa of Tigoni. *Our Lady Queen of the World Monastery, Nanyuki,

Diocese of Nyeri The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri ( la, Archidioecesis Nyeriensis) is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Nyeri, one of four in Kenya, Eastern Africa, yet depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelizati ...

: Founded in 1979 as a formation house, a domus religiosa on the foothills of

Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba, ''Ki Nyaa'') is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (), Nelion () and Point Lenana (). Mount Kenya is locat ...

. *Monastery of St Peter the Fisherman,

Ileret Ileret (also spelled Illeret) is a village in Marsabit County, Kenya. It is located in Northern Kenya, on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana, north of Sibiloi National Park and near the Ethiopian border. Numerous hominin fossils have been found ...

, Diocese of Marsabit: Founded in 2005, a domus religiosa on the shores of

Lake Turkana Lake Turkana (), formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. B ...

Personnel

As of September 2020, 26 solemnly professed monks (12 of them priests) resided at Tigoni. At this time, the community also included another 24 monks in various stages of formation. Abbot John Baptist Oese OSB is the current

superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places *Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lake ...

of the monastic community. He was elected and confirmed for a twelve-year term on September 23, 2020.

References

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External links

Photographs

General information
African Monasteries of the Congregation of Missionary Benedictines of Saint Ottilien Benedictine monasteries in Africa