Fr. Fred Jenga, C.S.C., is President of Holy Cross Family Ministries. He previously served as a corporate member on the board of directors for 5 years. He also served in a pastoral role as Regional Director of Holy Cross Family Ministries in East Africa for 7 years where he helped lay the foundation for the dynamic growth in ministry outreach to families and youth. He introduced digital and in-person mission events to help families pray and grow spiritually. He built several teams of lay people, teams that have helped the ministry grow in East Africa. He also creatively educated and helped the members of Holy Cross in East Africa to learn about and embrace the ministry as an important part of the Congregation’s efforts. The first Peyton Prayer Guild Chapters for children were formed under Father Jenga’s leadership. He developed a program that brought children in schools and parishes together to learn the Rosary, pray for their families and learn about the life of Father Patrick Peyton. This program has grown and now thousands of children are participating. Father Jenga has multiple degrees in Communications, including San Francisco State University, Makerere University, Kampala, as well as a Bachelor of Theology from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, and a Bachelor of Philosophy from the Pontifical Urban University in Rome. Father Jenga recently completed a Doctorate in Communication from the University of Texas. He is an active researcher in the area of Communication and Religion; and he has published and presented several papers at academic conferences. Father Jenga was born in Uganda, where he grew up on the banks of the River Nile and Lake Victoria, in the Ugandan district of Jinja. Father Jenga speaks several languages, including his ethnic language, Lusoga, as well as Luganda, Rutooro, Swahili, and Kinyarwanda.
