Nameless
Elder Lister
- By JOHN MBATI on 26 May 2021 - 10:10 am
Father Adolf Poll (Alleluia) returns to Italy after 53 years in Kenya
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- Italian Catholic priest, Father Adolf Poll has received plaudits from far and wide while leaving Kenya with only two bags, 53 years after he was posted to the East African country.
The celebrated priest is famously known as Father Alleluia Omogoka -a nickname he earned while serving at the Catholic Diocese of Kisii.
On Tuesday, May 25, the humble father flew back to Italy after spending almost his entire life on missionary work in Kenya.
Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, Malindi wished him well in a statement released before his departure. The commission stated that "Fr Adolf, 80, packed all his personal belongings acquired during his more than five decades of Priestly Ministry in Kenya, fitting in just two small bags, and started his journey back home in Italy for retirement."
Fr. Alleluia, the long-serving parish priest at Nyamagwa Parish in Kisii County
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Fr. Adolf was ordained as a priest in his home Diocese of Bolzano-Brixen, Northern Italy in 1966. He then left his hometown, South Tyrol at the border of Italy and Austria in December 1968 to serve as a missionary priest in Kenya, East Africa.
He was first posted at the Catholic Diocese of Kisii where he served for 31 years, from 1969 to 2000 and became a favourite among the locals.
On Pentecost Sunday 2001, Fr. Adolf was transferred to the Catholic Diocese of Malindi where he served for 20 years until his departure.
The priest celebrated his farewell mass at Witu-Kipini Parish in the Central Deanery of Malindi Diocese on (Pentecost) Sunday, May 23. Fr. Adolf will celebrate his 81st birthday in early June 2021.
“May you never miss heaven Padre in Jesus name. Almighty Father, May he be with you at the end of his journey on earth. Remember all his good deeds and forgive all his shortcomings through Christ Our Lord Amen,” Rachel Ogbu prayed.
“A good priest. He is still remembered in Kisii Diocese specifically Nyamagwa Parish for his selfless service. Mungu ambariki.,” Stephen Okibo added.
“This is the very Father who assisted me in 1992 during tribal clashes when he was at Nyamagwa, Kisii. I wish I could meet him before he left for his home,” Gichana Rowlands remembered.
Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, Malindi quoted Luke 9:3-6 as a testament to his exemplary dedication to teaching, preaching and serving in Kenya.
He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi
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