Father Edward Phillips was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on September 1,1946., son of Edward and Mary Keefe Phillips; he has two older sisters. Edward attended Presentation Grammar School in Brighton and Catholic Memorial High School in West Roxbury, MA. After graduating from Boston College in 1968 with an A.B. degree in Secondary Education, he entered Maryknoll in September of that year. Upon completion of Second Theology in May 1971 he was assigned to Tanzania as a student in the experimental Overseas Training Program. After studying Kiswahili in Musoma, he was then assigned to Dar es Salaam and Shinyanga for urban and rural experiences. Father Phillips was ordained at Maryknoll, New York, on May 18, 1974 by Terence Cardinal Cooke, Archbishop of New York.

After ordination Father Phillips was assigned to the Development Department and worked at the Chicago Development house from 1974 to June 1977. In June 1977 he was assigned to the Tanzania Region to work in the Shinyanga diocese and in 1978 was transferred to the Maryknoll Language School in order to take over the administration of the school and train a Tanzanian counterpart to become the manager of the school. At the same time as being the administrator of the language school he also taught at St. Pius minor seminary and was Chaplain to secondary school students in Musoma town.

In 1982, the management of the language school was turned over to a Tanzanian layman. Father Phillips was then assigned to Makoko Leadership Training Center as the Assistant Director with responsibility of developing an outreach program to the parishes as well as continuing with his work as Chaplain to secondary school students.

In 1984 Father Phillips was requested to move to Dar es Salaam to take over the job of procurator and financial advisor to the Tanzania region. This was a time when there were acute shortages of all items in Tanzania and he oversaw importation of goods for Maryknoll's work from Europe, Asia and the United States. As well as being the procurator in Dar es Salaam, Father was also the assistant pastor of St. Peter's Church.

In 1989 Father Phillips was transferred to Kenya and after a few months at Umoja Catholic Church was assigned to Kenyatta University as Catholic Chaplain and Lecturer. In 1993 he was requested to return to Umoja Catholic Church as Pastor and prepare the parish for turnover to the local church which was successfully done in 1996.

In 1994 Father Phillips became the first Chairperson for the Eastern Deanery CBHC & AIDS Relief Program, a position which he still holds. The program offers holistic care for AIDS patients in the slums on the eastern side of Nairobi as well as AIDS education for the youth and young adults.

In 1996, after turning Umoja Parish over to the local Church, Father Phillips was reassigned to Kenyatta University where he is still working as Chaplain and Lecturer.

Ed's Reflections             Ed's AIDS Ministry            Ed's Education Ministry

     View the Christ the Teacher Church Dedication Photo Album    

Maryknollers in Nairobi, Kenya