The Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe is within the Western Deanery and one of the parishes that form the Archdiocese of Nairobi. It is situated in Suna road: Adams Arcade, along Ngong Road.
On 30th December 1968, the Guadalupe Missionaries (MG) came to Nairobi to evangelize. The then Bishop of Nairobi, Rt. Rev. John Joseph McCarthy in agreement with His Eminence Servant of God, Maurice Michael Cardinal Otunga, agreed to offer a piece of land to build a sanctuary in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
During the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe 12th December, 1970, Cardinal Otunga (+), did the official ground-breaking of the very well-known Guadalupe Parish. During his speech, Servant of God Cardinal Otunga said, “Today, we are happy to celebrate our Blessed Mother Mary for accepting us to build for her Son a house where, as a Kenyan family we will be able to celebrate His redemption. I urge the Guadalupe Missionaries to dedicate this place as a Shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Kenya”. That is how the name Our Lady of Guadalupe began and was assigned to this parish. The church’s foundation stone was blessed and laid on 29th September 1973.
Between 1968 and 1977, Sunday celebrations of Mass and catechism classes used to be held at Nairobi Girls’ School. Every month, the Mass would be celebrated alternately in members’ houses. In addition, during weekdays the Priests would visit and pray with Christians in their houses. This continued until 1977 when the church structure was completed.
Following the AMECEA Bishops’ desire to have Small Christian Communities (SCC) initiated in parishes to strengthen the pastoral ministry, Fr. Joseph Sanabria and Fr. Sergio Espinoza encouraged the Christians of Adams to start these communities. As a result, the initial prayer groups were upgraded to form the Small Christian Communities of St. Joseph the Worker (Woodley/Jamhuri), St. Jude (Olympic), St. Luke (Kianda) and St. Andrew (Makina) in 1985.
Nowadays, Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish is popular and serves a diverse community of members who come mainly from various parts of Nairobi and its metropolitan area. The Parish is organized into two main pastoral regions namely: Adams Pastoral Region and Kibera Pastoral Region. Adams pastoral region consists of Woodley, Kilimani and Jamhuri estates while the Kibera Pastoral Region is made up of the following outstations; Our Lady of Lourdes; Olympic (Sub- Parish), St. Luke; Kianda, St. Bhakita; Gatwekira, and St. Thomas; Makina.
The parish population is approximately 5,000 parishioners. 80% of our Christians come from the Kibera Pastoral Region. 15% of the Parish population comes from Adams Pastoral Region while 5% of our parishioners come from outside our parish boundaries. The Parish carries out the joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by making present the Kingdom of God.
The evangelization structure of the Parish is rooted in Small Christian Communities and parish Groups led by the Parish Pastoral Council, who facilitate the implementation of the Parish strategic plan and the Archdiocese Pastoral Guidelines. The parish has three different ministries, namely; Pastoral, Social and Administration. Each of these ministries have different departments with the goal of covering and attending the whole spiritual and social realities of our Parishioners. Since the beginning to date, different Guadalupe Missionaries have served in the Parish. Currently, Fr Ignacio Flores Garcia, MG is the Father in Charge assisted by Fr Roberto Figueroa, MG.
Looking ahead, the parish envisions sustained growth in both spiritual and social realms. Plans include expanding facilities, introducing technology for evangelization, education support, and intensifying outreach programs for youth, men, women and the deaf community (Ephphatha; Guadalupe Ministry to the Deaf).
Grounded in hope, we affirm the promise of God to Prophet Jeremiah; “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Our Lady of Guadalupe 