Kenyans have received with shock the death of the long-serving prelate and Catholic priest, Fr Mario Porto, who died aged 84 in Italy.
Fr Mario has been ill for the past five years, having been diagnosed with multiple ailments including diabetes, arthritis, and cancer.
In a statement released by the Comboni Missionaries from Verona, Italy, the popular priest who worked in Nairobi, Ngong, Muranda, and West Pokot will be buried on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, in his hometown in northern Italy.
Fr Mario is best remembered for his commitment and compassion as he shepherded the flock at Holy Trinity Kariobangi, which encompassed the poor neighborhoods of Korogocho, Babadogo, Huruma, Ngei, Mathare 4A, Kariadudu, Ngomongo, Kariobangi South, and Gitathuru.
His selfless service to over 500,000 faithful in these areas over two decades is unparalleled, with interventions in constructing schools, hospitals, sports and arts facilities, family and social programs including famine relief, subsistence, bursaries, and care for the very wretched in society.
Today, the Catholic faithful in Kariobangi and the rest of the country are mourning the death of a patriarch and an apostle of Christ who walked the talk and lived his faith through practice.
A quick visit to the Holy Trinity Church off Outering Road will reveal his footprints in making the lives of many downtrodden better.
The hospital operating within the parish along Cardinal Otunga Road sees hundreds of patients daily at very minimal cost, taking care of all manner of ailments.
Opposite the health facility is the Cheshire Home for the aged, which has offered a roof and a bed but, importantly, a hospice for care that matches any such facility in the world.
In the church compound, Fr Mario started a Community Library that offered a safe space for many children from the sprawling slums to read in peace, with an instant impact of better grades among the young in the neighborhood.
But his contribution to education in this area cannot be complete without mentioning Our Lady of Fatima Secondary School, which offered relief to many students who could not afford expensive boarding schools after completing their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams. As the sponsor, he allowed many to get an education without paying a dime.
He replicated the philanthropy at Watoto Wetu Primary School in Githembe area where children originally did not require school uniforms to study and learned for free, well before President Mwai Kibaki introduced free primary education in Kenya. Not to mention Daniel Comboni Primary School in Korogocho and other schools spread across the parish.
His sponsorship for education did not end there; he ran a bursary that supported parishioners and other needy students to pursue education outside the parish, not only in secondary boarding schools but also in colleges and universities spread across the country.
The Comboni Polytechnic in Gilgil, equipped with state-of-the-art German machinery, provided some of the best tertiary education in the country for many who could not afford college education.
Yet Fr Mario was known for his soft spot for the plight of women, and he pioneered the establishment of the Kariobangi Women Empowerment Project at the parish, admitting women, especially single mothers, equipping them with crucial tailoring, embroidery, and other skills to make them employable. He is remembered to have mobilized resources to help widows own homes both in the city and in their rural backyards.
Crucially, however, is his bold move to allow girls to serve as altar servers, something that is preserved for boys in 99 percent of parishes across Kenya. He did this despite protests from conservatives, and that practice is still alive today.
Fr Mario’s fond reference to women as “Mama Mtakatifu” is a true testimony to his deep respect and regard for women.
Fr Mario oversaw the establishment of outstations and parishes budding from the main parish, including St. Daniel Comboni Ngei, Kariobangi Parish, as well as Baba Dogi Parish.
For a man who left his family riches in northern Italy, he always reached out to his brothers at home to mobilize the much-needed resources to improve the lot of his parishioners.
His love for children was deep as he sustained Marura Nursery School, headed by Sr. Gesuina, and introduced a full-time Youth Ministry with the objective of animating the very young ones while keeping the youth away from trouble. With the Youth Ministry, he saw the construction of the then only basketball pitch in Eastlands that could also be used for playing volleyball as well as netball. A project faithfully and incredibly built to high standards under the watch of Engineer Brother Hanns of Germany.
It is a pity the pitch has been turned into a parking lot for vehicles at a certain fee. In honor of Fr Mario, the current leadership of the parish must end this avaricious practice and revert the pitch to its original use. It is quite an eyesore, so to speak.
He availed funds to support youth from Kariobangi to travel to Taize in France as an ecumenical experience but also for a deeper immersion into the faith every year with Fr Moscheti, aka Fr Mosquito. The Taize Prayers are still held in the parish, and after holding an international Taize Prayer for the whole country, this worship is now experienced in parishes across Kenya.
Unbeknownst to many, the Mji Wa Furaha Youth Centre along Thika Road and the headquarters for youth empowerment across Kenya fell under Kariobangi Parish for the longest time under Fr Porto’s leadership. This center acted as a beacon of hope at a time when the country was facing the HIV and AIDS pandemic, and young people converged at the space to get enlightened and armed with tools for preventing the contracting of the deadly virus. The centre acted as one of the pillars that kept young people alive! Using abstinence and delayed sexual debut, keeping their bodies a holy space for the Holy Spirit.
Eventually, the center has become the headquarters of one of the most listened-to radio stations in the country, Waumini Radio, then driven by Fr Kizito.
For a population that lived on less than a dollar a day, Fr Mario coordinated the biggest social program that provided weekly rations composed of cooking oil, cereals, proteins, and other nutrients. In it, he offered financial support to widows as well as the aged to mitigate the vagaries of harsh economic conditions.
Importantly, Fr Mario was a prayerful pastor who visited the sick and prayed for them, was particular about the Liturgy of the Church, always encouraging the choirs to sing songs known to the congregation. “We are not here to entertain but to worship and pray together through music,” he reminded the choirs anytime they introduced totally new songs or difficult tunes and lyrics during Mass.
For me, whom he appointed as his Youth Minister when he started the Youth Ministry, I learned so much from him including trust, hard work, spirituality, love, forgiveness, prayer, teamwork, hope, and sacrifice. Many who interacted and worked with Fr Mario Porto will agree with the sentiments that he was indeed a living saint, and when the dust settles upon his burial, canonization campaigns and prayers will be in order.
Fr Mario Porto of Kariobangi, we pray for your soul to rest in eternal peace, and I pray that the Lord may have mercy on you, cleanse you, and you may become our everlasting guardian angel.
The faithful in Kariobangi and people who worked with Fr Mario are converging at the Holy Trinity Church in Kariobangi on Wednesday, January 8, from 6 pm for a requiem service celebrated by Fr John Paul from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
