Ereneo Mutiria Marangu, Daniel M. Kitonga, Geoffrey Muhuri
Spirituality and Religious Formation, Tangaza University,
PO BOX 15055-00509, Nairobi
Corresponding email: ereneomutiria@yahoo.com
Abstract: This study examined the African value of communal life and fraternity among priests in the Catholic Diocese of Meru, Kenya. Specifically, the study examined how communal cohesion affects fraternal living among priests in the Catholic Diocese of Meru, Kenya. The study was guided by Martin Buber’s Theory of Dialogue (1925). A descriptive survey research design was adopted in the study. The target population was 153 diocesan priests. The sample size was 64 respondents who were arrived at using the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) sample size determination formula and simple random sampling technique. Questionnaires were the main instruments of data collection. The data was summarized into frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviation for descriptive statistics. Inferential analysis was also conducted to establish the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The study established that communal cohesion and fraternal living had a positive and significant correlation (r=.447, p=.001). The study concludes that there is a positive and significant association between communal cohesion and fraternal living. The following recommendations are given; first, there is a need for the Diocesan administration/leaders to draft a policy that ensures that all the priests have equal access to opportunities that may arise in their course of service provision. Moreover, the policies should address equalizing allowances, access to further education, encourage togetherness, and protect priests from exposing each other to the laity. This will strengthen the communal cohesion.
Keywords:African values of communal life, Communal cohesion, Catholic Diocese, fraternal living, priests
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Suggested Citation
Mutiria. M. E., Kitonga. D. M., and Muhuri. G. Communal Cohesion Effect on Fraternal Living Among Priests in the Catholic Diocese of Meru, Kenya. African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 11(2), 19-31. Available online at http://arjess.org/social-sciences-research/communal-cohesion-effect-on-fraternal-living-among-priests-in-the-catholic-diocese-of-meru-kenya.pdf