PARISH HISTORY

St. Theresa Parish is one of the current four parishes in the City of Tanga. It is the second to be established in Tanga back in 1953. The first parish is St. Anthony parish which was established back in 1893. St. Anthony was built alongside the port of Tanga. Since 1893 St. Anthony Parish was able to accommodate the pastoral needs of the population of Tanga since the population was very small. In post World War II the population of Tanga increased rapidly to demand the establishment of another parish to provide more space for worship. This need led to the establishment of St. Theresa Parish in the southern part of the town. 
At the beginning, they started the parish by building the house for priests at Mabawa along the road to Pangani. Rev. Fr. Bernard MacNally, I.C. who came in 1953 stayed in this house. Before having the church building, Fr. MacNally celebrated holy masses at the open ground near the police station. Later Fr. MacNally built the Church between the people's houses in Mabawa. Although it was not a good place for liturgies, it was a good place for him and other missionary priests to learn Kiswahili (the local language). The construction of the church building went on until its completion and consecration in 1965. Later Fr. MacNally built another building for priests. When sisters came to the parish, this new building was given to sisters as their convent and the priests remained in their former house.
From St. Theresa, Fr. MacNally and other resident priests had to walk long distances to serve various outstations in the southern parts of Tanga. The priests from this parish covered areas all the way to Mkalamo which is located south of Pangani across the Pangani the River. It took a priest two days to reach Mkalamo. On the way between Tanga and Mkalamo there were other 12 outstations which needed priestly services.
Fr. MacNally was also a Vicar General of the Diocese. He worked in a very difficult time especially when the health condition of His Excellency Bishop Arthurs was deteriorating rapidly and was forced to resign.
The native priests from this parish are: John Mahundi (1985) and Augustine Temu (2007).