Catholic Archbishop Ndingi Mwana 'a Nzeki yesterday said church attendance had grown despite a recent report to the contrary.
Ndingi said the Catholic Church "is up and kicking".
"We don't brag about it and you don't need to be told," the prelate said when he called The Standard.
He was reacting to reports that attendance in Kenyan churches had gone down.
A report posted on the website of the Kenya Episcopal Conference showed that there were 6.9 million Catholics in Kenya, with the highest population of 1 million found in Nairobi, followed by Meru at 700,000. Garissa, with 7,000 members, has the lowest number.
"We have also relaxed some of our rules for instance, it is no longer a must for worshippers to kneel when taking the holy sacrament," he said
Ndingi wondered why the church was not involved in the survey but one of the researchers Dr Macmillan Kiru said they were held back by church protocol.
"We could only get authority from the archbishop but we could not reach him.
The survey titled The Unfinished Task was commissioned by a protestant caucus, ACM-FTT Afriserve, headed by Bishop Bonifes Adoyo of Nairobi Pentecostal Church Valley Road.
It revealed that protestant churches were being deserted by members with the rural areas being the most affected.
Anglican Church head Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi downplayed the report, saying it was a sign the church, which has been in Kenya for 106 years, had gone full circle.