| dc.description.abstract | Pastoral ministry programmes in the Roman Catholic Church serve as a fundamental basis for moral development that can be used to mould personalities of young people. This is important considering that the youth in Shinyalu division are engaged in various social problems such as alcoholism, prostitution, drug abuse, hooliganism, joining terrorist organisations, abortion, HIV/AIDS, early pregnancies and marriages, violence, and insecurity. This remains a persistent challenge for the young individuals in issue. The impact of catechism, caring and counselling, and usage of life skills was examined to determine their potential in facilitating youth transformation. The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence and relevance of the Roman Catholic Church’s pastoral ministry programmes on youth’s social transformation in Shinyalu Division, within Kakamega East sub county, Kakamega County in Kenya. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: Explain how the Roman Catholic Church uses catechesis in the youth’s social transformation; examine how the Roman Catholic Church uses caring and counselling in the youth’s social transformation and analyse how the Roman Catholic Church promotes social transformation of the youth through life skills in Shinyalu division. The study was guided by structural functionalism theory which shows that formal organizations consist of groupings of different individuals, all working together harmoniously towards a common goal. The study adopted descriptive design. The study was carried out in Shinyalu which has three major Parishes: Mukumu, Shibuye and Mukulusu. The study targeted a population of 6 priests, 36 catechists and 3926 faithful composed of the youth, catholic men and women association. Each parish has 2 priests and 12 catechists’ with organized men and women associations. The Parishes’ records showed that Mukumu had 1645 men and women faithful; Shibuye 1391 and Mukulusu had 1020 women and men faithfuls. All the parishes had a total of 661 youth. Purposive sampling was used to select all the priests and catechists. Simple random sampling was used to sample 10% of respondents from every cluster that form the Catholic Women Association (CWA) and Catholic Men Association of Kenya (CMA) who form part of the parents of youth in the church. A sample size of 439 comprising 6 priests, 36 catechists, 66 youth, 137 CWAs and 194 CMAs was used. The youth, CWAs and CMAs were proportionately allocated per cluster. A questionnaire, an interview schedule, and focus group discussions collected primary data. Books, journals, government documents, periodicals, electronic journals, and newspapers were the sources of secondary data. The focus group discussions and oral in-depth interviews were the sources of qualitative data. Raw data was processed and edited to reduce errors before the analysis. Coding data was done in order to generate themes for discussion and interpretation. Quantitative data was analysed and presented in the form of frequency distribution tables and percentages. The research determined that Roman Catholic Church implemented Catechesis, Caring, and Counselling, as well as the teaching of life skills, to effect change in the social lives of young people. Findings in each objective section serve as evidence of this. The quantitative data findings from the questionnaire demonstrated that the social transformation of youth has been facilitated by the teaching of life skills, counselling, and catechesis. This was also supported by qualitative data from the interviewees and focus group discussions. The research also demonstrated that the Roman Catholic Church has implemented a variety of strategies to influence the adolescents. They consist of providing life skills programs, offering regular appointments of caring and counselling, and engaging the teaching of catechesis. As a result, the investigation ascertains that the social lifestyles of the youth in the Shinyalu division are positively altered by Catholic pastoral programs. The results of the research may be crucial in advising the Roman Catholic Church, particularly in the Shinyalu division, regarding the significance of the pastoral catechetical program. | en_US |
