The Diocese of Eldoret came into existence as the Apostolic prefecture of Eldoret 52 years ago, on the feast of St. Before that, it was part of the Diocese of Kisumu, previously called the vicariate of Kisumu and formerly known as the prefecture of Kavirondo. In 1925, a small church was built in Eldoret and a priest from Kisumu paid regular monthly visits until 1928 when a plot was acquired for th
e new church which was later followed by another in 1955. In 1959, the then prefecture of Eldoret was upgraded to that of a Diocese with Monsignor Joseph Houlihan as its first Bishop. Rev, Emilio Njeru from 1969 to 1970 when Rt. John Njenga took over as the Bishop. The current Bishop, Rt. Cornelius Kipng'eno Arap Korir took over as Bishop in 1990. The original Diocese of Eldoret has already been subdivided three times, giving rise to the new Dioceses of Nakuru, Lodwar and Kitale. The Diocese is still large with 44 Parishes and a total population of 2,017,142 people. The Catholic population is 490.000, It covers Nandi, Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo/Marakwet Counties. Under the Diocesan Development Board, various departments have been established. These are: Education, Vocational Training, Justice and Peace, Health Services / Aids, Women and Gender and the Water Program. The Pastoral directorate on the other hand has the Vocations, Youth and Communication departments. Affiliated Bishops, Deceased
Joseph Brendan Houlihan, S.P.S. † (Prefect: 29 Jan 1954; Bishop: 19 Jul 1960 to 19 Oct 1970)
Emile Njeru † (Auxiliary Bishop: 22 May 1969 to 5 Sep 1970)
Affiliated Bishops, Living
Cornelius Kipng’eno Arap Korir (Bishop: 2 Apr 1990 - )
John Njenga (Bishop: 19 Oct 1970 to 25 Oct 1988)
General Information
Type of Jurisdiction: Diocese
Elevated: 13 October 1959
Metropolitan: Archdiocese of Kisumu
Rite: Latin (or Roman)
Country: Kenya
Square Kilometers: 9,254 (3,574 Square Miles)
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 842, Nyerere Rd., Eldoret, Kenya
Telephone: (053)2063.981; 2031.867
Fax: 2062.004
