An imposing twin-tower Romanesque architectural style of medieval Europe is what best describes the Holy Ghost Cathedral Church building in Mombasa.
The design of this magnificent 100-year-old building characterised by arches was drawn by Brother Gustav Walter, who was highly proficient in construction.
The interior of this church has a high altar with a tabernacle, all made from the finest marble carved and sculpted by expert stonemasons in Toulouse, France.
The church’s ceiling, whose trusses are made of Indian teak wood each weighing a tonne, is identical to the Westminster Cathedral in London, United Kingdom.
“It was intricately hand painted by a painter laying on his back on a rickety platform and carefully painting each cell one at a time,” says 82-year-old Father John Correa, who has served as a Catholic priest for over 50 years.
The plan to build the church on a five-acre parcel of land within the Mombasa central business district was mooted in 1914 during the first episcopal visit of the then Vicar Apostolic of Zanzibar, Monsignor John Gerald Neville.
Mombasa was then under the Archdiocese of Zanzibar.
Neville, Irish by birth, remarked how inadequate the mission church had become, proposing, therefore, to help mobilise funds to erect a modern and large church.
Before the construction of the new church, there was a 400-capacity chapel, which had been built in 1898, but it would later be demolished in the 1970s to give space for the construction of the Mombasa Trade Centre (formerly Ambalal House).
Unfortunately, World War I, which lasted from July 24, 1914, to November 11, 1918, and the February 1918 Great Influenza Pandemic (Spanish Flu), set back the building of the new church, whose foundation was laid in 1916.
Correa explains that some of the building materials like cement, iron bars and timber came from overseas, and as a consequence, the ongoing calamities between 1914 and 1918 delayed the construction.
“The construction had to be delayed until 1919 to continue,” Correa says.
Brother Walter, who was supervising the construction, received support from his Spiritan fellows – Brothers Killian Rettig and Claver Fernandes - to train the locals to carve and sculpt the locally available coral stones used to build the church.
It took seven years, since the laying of the foundation in 1916, to finish the construction of the spectacular church in 1923.
The new church was officially consecrated and the smaller church built in 1898 was then turned into a bookshop and printing press producing monthly publications – Rafiki Yetu and Catholic Times of East Africa.
On May 28 this year, catholic faithful from across the globe are expected to converge at the church to mark 100 years of the Holy Ghost Cathedral building.
“We are celebrating 100 years, not of the Parish, but of the Cathedral building that opened its doors in 1923,” says Steven Mbugua, chairman of the centenary team.
Celebrations to mark the centenary began in November 2022 with a Centenary Cultural Night, which preceded the Centenary Christmas Carols on December 10.
On February 10 this year, the church held Valentine’s Dinner, and thereafter a Centenary Walk with Christ event that preceded a fundraiser on May 6.
The culmination of the celebrations will be on May 28 when the church is also expected to unveil the construction of the Centenary House.
“The five-storey building will have a restaurant at the top, accommodation rooms, conference rooms, and a chapel among other social amenities,” Mbugua says.
History of Catholic Mission in Mombasa
The history of the church dates back to the congregation of the Holy Spirit also referred to as ‘Spiritans’ who were the first Catholic missionaries to arrive in Mombasa in 1889.
On Thursday, September 12, 1889, Rev Father Alexander Le Roy graciously set up the Mombasa Catholic Mission of the Holy Ghost Fathers in the actualisation of his report.
He had been earlier sent by Monsignor Jean-Marie-Raoul Le Bas de Courmont, Vicar Apostolic of Zanzibar, on an exploratory assignment of Mombasa in 1885 and recommended the founding of such a mission.
Monsignor is a title for high-ranking priests like cardinals in the Catholic Church.
The Mombasa church became the first Catholic parish in Kenya.
According to the church’s archived documents, Father Le Roy arrived alone in Mombasa and settled on Ndia Kuu in the Old Town in 1889.
He was welcomed by about 50 members of the Catholic fraternity, some of whom were traders such as M R De Souza and Diego Pereira, and others employees of the Imperial British East Africa Company.
Fr Le Roy would later team up with Brother Simplicien Dubat in 1891, together with two children (Angelo and Marcel) from Bagamoyo in the mission.
These French Holy Ghost missionaries (Spiritans) were courteously welcomed and acknowledged by their Muslim hosts and the newly arrived British administration.
They worked tirelessly to evangelise among the predominantly Muslim community, netting a few converts here and there from the natives who were visiting Mombasa.
“Nonetheless, most of the Catholics were Goans, a few Europeans, and also included some Malabaris and Bangalores from India,” Fr Correa says.
Construction of the First Church Building
In a short period, the first chapel in Ndia Kuu became crowded with the increasing number of Catholics. Consequently, the clergy agreed to purchase a bigger plot of five acres at Makadara in 1898.
Immediately after acquiring the land, plans to build a church were mooted. The missionaries sought permission to open a quarry and blast the coral rocks used for the building.
They equally made appeals for donations to the new church.
On April 10, 1898 - Easter Sunday – the first 400-capacity church was officially opened.
However, Correa explains that the population of the church continued to swell and the urge to build a bigger church began to be felt in 1900.
It was not until 1914 that the then Vicar Apostolic of Zanzibar Monsignor Neville proposed that a new modern and large church should be erected.
Church design and interior
The foundation stone of the church was laid in 1916, two years after Monsignor Neville made the proposal. At this time, World War 1 was already raging around the globe.
After a seven-year wait, the magnificent imposing church was completed and became among the few permanent buildings that were visible from the shores of the Indian Ocean.
The rest of the buildings within Mombasa town were makuti-roofed (palm leaves) structures in which most Mombasa inhabitants lived.
The open quarry, where corals were obtained to build the church is still seen behind the church building currently serving as Grotto (a Catholic shrine built on a rock formation.
Former Mombasa Catholic Archbishop Boniface Lele, who died in 2014, is also buried in a tomb carved inside the Grotto.
Correa says behind the altar inside the church building there are three stained glass windows; one at the centre depicts a portrayal of the Holy Spirit, the one to the right shows the baptism of Jesus Christ, and on the left is the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, symbolising the beginning of the church.
The other magnificently coloured stained-glass windows of the church include the images of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Sorrows, Saint Patrick, Saint Joseph, Saint Peter, Saint Anthony, Saint Alexis, Saint Francis Xavier and Saint Therese of the Child Jesus.
“These windows, donated as gifts by the Goan community or in memory of the departed parishioners, were all shipped in from Europe,” Correa says.
The statues inside the church include the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Francis Xavier (patron saint of Goa and the missions), Saint Joseph and Saint Roque (patron saint of the sick and invalids). They are also donations from the Goan community.
The church pews are also donations mainly received from the staff working for the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation, Imperial British East African Company and Goan Tailors Society of Kenya, among others. There are plaques with the names of donors on the pews.
First baptism, marriage and death certificates
Father Correa says while the critical focus on the centenary (1923-2023) is on the edifice of the Holy Ghost Cathedral, it is worth recalling the fact that it was in 1889 that the parish was indeed canonically erected in Mombasa.
He says the Mombasa Parish has the distinction of recording the first baptism on August 14, 1889.
Maria Pereira, an infant daughter of Diego and Natalia Pereira, who were Goans, was welcomed into the inaugural Catholic community in Kenya in the first Chapel in Ndia Kuu at Old Town.
The first African baptised in the parish was a three-year-old Giriama boy in danger of death. Father Alexander Le Roy baptised him “Alexander”, perhaps after himself.
The Marriage Register records the first marriage in Mombasa in the year 1893 whereas the Register of Deaths also indicates names, with no such entries existing elsewhere in this country, before the year 1889.
Correa says when the first missionaries arrived in Mombasa, they received a hearty welcome from members of the Goan community, a few Europeans and Catholic Indians from Bangalore and Mangalore. The indigenous inhabitants around Mombasa were Swahili Muslims.
He says later, the religious attention shifted to Africans from upcountry who took up residence around Mombasa, employed by the now defunct East African Railways and Harbours Corporation – Kilindini Section.
It was around the present-day Mombasa Railways Station that Rev Father Alphonsus Longman put up a building for the catechumenate.
“Celebrating holy Mass in this semi-permanent structure, the first baptism recorded for Makupa was of Richard Odongo, baptised on June 7, 1919, way before Makupa became an established parish,” Correa says.
Listed as Monument
The missionaries constructed the Holy Ghost Church, oblivious that it would eventually become a Cathedral in 1955, playing the seat of administration for Mombasa Archdiocese, Correa says.
The building was listed as one of the monuments in 1997 under the National Museums and Heritage Act.
Father Correa says the administration of the parish has over the years endeavoured to maintain the quality of the structure.
“We have only made minimal renovations on the roofing and interior, but letting the exterior structure stand the same as built in 1923 by the missionaries of blessed memories,” he says.
Renovations of the cathedral have been ongoing in the past eight years in anticipation of the centenary celebrations.
A new roof has already replaced the aged Mangalore-tiled one.
The interior of the church, particularly the ceiling, has been repainted after more than 85 years of existence, and further refurbishment continues to spruce it up in readiness for its 100th-anniversary celebration.