He, siblings walked eight miles to school round-trip

He is: Father George Omwando, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena-St. Lucy Parish in Oak Park. Ordained at Mundelein Seminary in 2007 at age 33.

Youth: Born and raised in rural Kenya, 400 miles from Nairobi. “Growing up we had no electricity. We’d get water from the river and boil it for drinking.  My family was hard-working middle class. Besides crops we raised cows, sheep, goats and chickens. I have three brothers and three sisters. Three other brothers have passed away. My father retired and is now a full time catechist for the church. Mother is a ‘celebrity’ because she has been in the United States twice!

“We walked eight miles roundtrip for school. There was no separation of church and state – the church sponsors the state run schools and enforces discipline and arranges activities. Teachers are Catholic in public schools. We memorized something like the Baltimore Catechism. When I grew up, you couldn’t be a lawyer if you hadn’t attended religion classes – it was required with other studies to be admitted to law school.

“In high school we had Mill Hill Irish missionaries. They were very good with kids. Most of them had fought in the Irish Republican Army and told us stories about the war.  People paid them in produce, chickens, eggs or bananas. I wanted to be a priest, but these men wore long cassocks and I thought they never wore pants. I wanted to be a priest who could wear pants. One day the priest lifted his leg and I saw his trouser, and I said, ‘Yes, I can be a priest and wear pants!’ 

“I went to the national diocesan seminary. First you live in the parish rectory a year. You serve Mass, work in the outstations, and visit the sick with a priest, so he can recommend you to go to the seminary. (An outstation can have 2,500 families. Maybe 20 or more outstations make up a parish, and each one has a catechist.)

“When I was 20, I entered the spiritual seminary. One of our books was Cardinal Bernardin’s “The Gift of Peace.” And we watched the movie about Archbishop Oscar Romero – those were two things required of us the first week. After completing philosophy studies I wanted to study computer science to be a systems analyst -- computers were becoming a big deal. As I was about to start my thesis a friend called and said Father Tom McQuade was asking if I wanted to be a priest in Chicago. I said ‘yes!’”

Adjusting: “Our first six months were challenging. There were three of us. We didn’t know anybody. People seemed so closed. People were in their houses. Even students we knew at Mundelein couldn’t come to see us because they had their studies. We stayed at St. Columbanus Rectory. We’re fast learners and began to adapt. We’d go downtown. When we’d ask directions, people would tell us to buy a map. People in Kenya immediately take you where you want to go. Here they tell you, ‘Go north 10 blocks, then east …’ We didn’t know what a block was or where north was!

“I was explaining to my friends in Nairobi about snow. That year we had the big snow on Lake Shore Drive. I put a webcam on my phone, and from my upstairs window I said, ‘Now you’ll see snow.’ They all yelled, ‘You are going to die. Find a way to escape!’ The weather in Chicago was one of our challenges.

“As an associate priest at Our Lady of the Ridge in Chicago Ridge, I went to anoint a friend in the city one year. It had snowed. I found chairs along the street. I called police -- why would people want to sit in the snow? When the police came they said, ‘In Chicago we have a tradition – you remove your snow, you put a chair to keep your space. Where are YOU from?’ I said, ‘Kenya.’ He said, ‘Welcome to the Land of Lincoln!’

Biggest adjustment: “At home we were taught the Catholic Church was one, holy and universal, even though we had different communities.  I couldn’t understand that in Chicago we were going to the ‘Hispanic Catholic Church’ or ‘Black Catholic Church,’ or ‘Polish Catholic.’ It was strange having the church designated by people’s ethnicity. We never had terms like this, or ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ in Africa. We asked ourselves, ‘Are we here for the archdiocese of Chicago or just African-American Catholics?” Ideally we would have liked to be in the same seminary with Polish and Hispanic seminarians, as well as English-speaking, and learn each other’s language and have that bonding, or we could just teach them English.”

Urban living: “Our parish is on the border of Oak Park and Chicago. Gang members sometime will come looking for a sandwich if they just came out of jail. The parish is very active in social ministries. We contribute to St. Martin de Porres and the nearby food pantry. Our facility is just equipped for emergency help. When you watch the media you think you’re in a war zone, but people are friendly and want to share their stories.”

Leisure: “I phone friends at home and use Skype, and also connect with friends here. I just did the Illinois Torch Run for law enforcement officers. I like the Blackhawks and basketball and enjoy watching soccer at Toyota Park. I go home to Kenya to visit every couple years. Last year my parents came here.”

Prayer life: “I pray the liturgy of the hours and love celebrating Mass. I’m reading Father Bob Barron’s ‘The Strangest Way: Walking the Christian Path.’ He taught me so much in the MDiv program, STL and STB exams, but I never read many of his books. When I was an associate I could read books and never needed a book mark because I’d finish it. But now, as pastor, I need a page marker. You also appreciate other pastors more than when you were an associate.”

Favorite saints: “Particular saints appeal to me for certain centuries: St. Athanasius fought for the truth that Jesus was fully human and fully God. Then you have Augustine, brilliant guy, his ‘Confessions’ is my favorite, too. In recent centuries, Maximilian Kolbe, Damien of Molokai. I love saints for academic purposes, too, like Thomas Aquinas, Albert the Great, and Edith Stein.”