NYERI, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - It is located in the north-central and eastern part
(courtesy of the Consolata Missionary Fathers)
They pushed among the Kikuyu, at the foot of Mount Kenya, and then among the Ameru, a tribe of Nilotic race. On Sept. 14, 1905, with a small territory detached Zanzibar (v.), the missio sui iuris of Kenya was erected; on July 12, 1909, it was elevated to an apostolic vicariate, which later had its territory enlarged thanks to successive boundary modifications with the apostolic vicariate of Zanzibar (July 7, 1916; Feb. 20, 1922; Feb. 23, 1930). On March 10, 1926, it changed its name to that of the vicariate of N., Meru (v.) was detached from it, likewise entrusted to the Consolata Fathers.
In 1940, because of the war, Italian missionaries were interned and the vicariate was administered by a vicar delegate of Dutch nationality from the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. Italian missionaries began to return in 1944, but under the direction of the aforementioned vicar delegate, until the arrival of the current apostolic vicar, Msgr. Carlo Cavallera I. M. C. (1947).
In the city of N., in addition to a well-equipped hospital, there is a nursing school with 15 students, and several industrial activities are also developed, especially through the work of the Consolata lay Brothers: numerous natives have learned the trade of carpenter, mason, blacksmith, shoemaker, and leather-working in general. According to the latest statistics of 1950, the vicariate of N. has an area of approx. 280,000 sq. km; out of 750,000 inhabitants there are 40,180 Catholics, of whom only 1,320 are foreigners and 184 of mixed descent, 4,455 catechumens, 45,000 Protestants, 600 Mohammedans, 500 Indians; 8 native priests
and 44 foreign ones, 3 native lay brothers and 20 foreign ones, 67 native nuns and 75 foreign ones (Italians of the Consolata Institute), 1 inter-vicariate major seminary and 1 minor seminary; 87 male catechists and 11 female catechists; 240 male teachers and 38 female teachers; 18 quasi-parishes, 2 main mission stations and 1 secondary; 20 churches and 6 chapels; 2 hospitals; 16 dispensaries; 4 kindergartens; a printing press that prints books in numerous African languages, as well as in Latin and English, and a periodical with a circulation of 3,000 copies; 93 elementary schools; 2 middle schools; 17 vocational schools; 1 normal school. There are thriving Catholic Action associations. In 1950 adult baptisms were 1,675.