When the railway workers came to Kenya at the turn of the 19th century, the Catholic Church saw a spiritual demand and filled it. After all, the Anglicans had their All Saints Cathedral on Delamere Avenue, that is today’s Kenyatta Avenue.
The Basilica sits on the spot where Brother Josephat of the Holy Ghost Missionaries oversaw its construction, not far away from the railway and source of the congregation.
That was in 1904. The Holy Family Minor Basilica was the first stone building when Nairobi was a ‘mushy tin town.’ And while there were not very many people, the Catholic Church was pretty hopeful, having designed it to hold 300 to 400 faithful. (Thanks to my friend Merwin D'Souza)
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