Twenty-four years after his vows were not renewed in the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Fr. Don Bosco Onyalla, C.S.Sp., has returned to the Spiritan family to make the lifelong commitment he once thought might never happen.
On Sunday, September 27, Fr. Don Bosco made his Perpetual Profession at St. Austin’s Parish, Msongari, Nairobi, during a celebration presided over by Bishop Mark Kadima Wamukoya of the Catholic Diocese of Bungoma.
For the Kenyan priest, his return marks a significant moment in a vocation that began in 1993, when he entered Spiritan formation, but took an unexpected direction in 2002, when his vows were not renewed as he was preparing for Perpetual Profession.
“When my vows were not renewed nine years later in 2002, I could not have imagined that I would one day make a lifelong promise in this same congregation,” Fr. Don Bosco said during his thanksgiving.
Looking back 24 years later, he said he could only see God’s presence throughout the journey.
“I thank my Spiritan brothers for welcoming me back and walking with me towards this day,” he said.
He described the return as “the healing and completion of a vocation whose path took an unexpected direction.”
Following his departure from the Spiritans, Fr. Don Bosco continued to discern a call to priesthood, although he was uncertain about how that vocation would be realised.
That journey took him to South Sudan, where he met the late Bishop Caesar Mazzolari, MCCJ, then Bishop of Rumbek Diocese. He was introduced to the bishop by Comboni Missionary Father Fernando Colombo, who had accompanied him during his formation.
Fr. Don Bosco shared his experience with Mazzolari, including the difficulties surrounding his departure from the Spiritans and his continuing desire to become a priest.
Mazzolari welcomed him into Rumbek Diocese and accompanied him through discernment and preparation for priesthood.
“He listened to me, welcomed me into Rumbek Diocese and gave me the opportunity to continue discerning and preparing for the Priesthood,” Fr. Don Bosco recalled.
He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Rumbek in March 2005 and went on to serve in South Sudan during years marked by war, displacement, reconstruction, the peace process and the country’s independence.
His years in South Sudan also shaped his ministry in Catholic media. Bishop Mazzolari entrusted him with establishing Good News Radio in Rumbek, where he became the station’s founding director.
The station supported evangelisation, civic education and peacebuilding while providing communities with an opportunity to express their concerns.
Fr. Don Bosco later contributed to the development of the Catholic Radio Network and pursued further studies in media, eventually earning a doctorate in Media Studies from Daystar University.
More than 20 years after his departure, his missionary experience became part of his return to the Spiritans – the Congregation that first formed him for missionary priesthood.
During the Perpetual Profession celebration, the Provincial Superior of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans / Holy Ghost Fathers / C.S.Sp.) in Kenya and South Sudan, Very Rev. Fr. Fredrick Elima Wafula, C.S.Sp., welcomed Don Bosco’s commitment and reminded him that religious vows must be lived not only on significant occasions but also through the ordinary days of missionary life.
Fr. Elima encouraged him to remain available for mission, listen to his confreres and the people he serves, particularly those on the margins.
“Let your vows make you more available, more generous, more missionary,” he said, reminding him that “the mission is bigger than the missionary. We are simply instruments in God’s hands.”
Reflecting on his own journey, Fr. Don Bosco said his Perpetual Profession was an opportunity to offer the entire experience to God.
“Through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, I offer the whole long journey, its pain, its healing and the new life that we celebrate together today to God,” he said.
He also remembered his late mother, who supported his vocation and taught him and his siblings to pray. She died in 1997, four years after he began seminary formation, and did not live to see him ordained a priest.
Fr. Don Bosco said he now entrusts whatever years of service lie ahead to God and asked for prayers that he may live his vows faithfully and take an active role in the evangelizing mission of the Church.
His Perpetual Profession also carried a connection to the late Bishop Mazzolari, the missionary who accompanied him during one of the most uncertain chapters of his vocation.
On the same day as his Profession, Fr. Don Bosco launched Bishop Caesar Mazzolari: A Servant After the Heart of Jesus Among South Sudanese, a biography documenting the life and missionary legacy of the late Comboni bishop.
For Fr. Don Bosco, the two events belong together: one marked the definitive offering of his vocation within the Spiritan family, while the other honoured the missionary who helped him continue towards priesthood.
“Bishop Caesar Mazzolari helped preserve my vocation when its future seemed uncertain,” he said.
“In God’s providence, the long journey has brought me back home, where I started.” _
After 24 years, the journey that began with Spiritan formation in 1993 has returned to where it started — now marked by a Perpetual Profession and a renewed commitment to missionary service.
“May the Sacred Heart of Jesus teach me to serve generously, and may the Immaculate Heart of Mary accompany me in this new chapter,” Fr. Don Bosco prayed.
