Kenya: 104 couples marry on one day

A total of 104 couples solemnized their marriage last week, at a parish in central Kenya, as part of a Christian renewal campaign. By the end of the year, some 201 couples will have wedded at Maria Consolata Parish Kerugoya since a drive to bring back lapsed Christians was launched in 2003. Presiding over the huge wedding ceremony on Saturday, Bishop Peter Kihara IMC of Murang'a Diocese congratulated the couples on coming to "profess their love publicly and to vow to live together till death." He told them to measure their love for each other against the standard of Jesus Christ, who showed his love for humanity by dying on the cross. "It is God who has called you, that you may bear fruit that will last," he said. The celebration marked end of the Year of the Eucharist in the diocese as well the 75th anniversary of Kerugoya Parish, which was founded by the Consolata Missionaries. Bishop Kihara thanked the parish, headed by Fr Anthony Chege, for the initiative. A team of 30 parishioners has been going from home to home to talk to people who had drifted away from the Church. "We went to tell them to come back to God," said Mrs Bernadette Mwaniki, the coordinator. She said many of the couples had not got married because they simply couldn't afford to. The parish made all the wedding arrangements for them. A jovial Joseph Muthee, with his wife Jane resplendent in a bridal gown, told CISA he thanked the church for assisting them to wed. "I am happy that I am now back in church," he said. "I urge all those who have not solemnized their marriage to do so."" Source: CISA