Nairobi, Oct. 2 -- Fr Enrique Rituerto Urrejola looks intently as a little child sheds tears as she recites an emotional poem that moves the faithful at Mujwa Catholic Church in Meru County.

Though it is his farewell mass and the recitation is touching, the facial expression of the usually jovial Consolata missionary priest betrays no emotions.

He admits that if the same had happened 51 years ago when he first set foot in Kenya to embark on an eventful journey of faith, he would have openly shed tears.

But having spent most of his adult life in Meru, the Spaniard has come to identify himself with the local people and is accorded the status of a Njuri Ncheke elder.

"The men in Meru do not cry physically but they cry in the heart. Seein...