The Legio Maria Church was not the only church schism among the Luo people in the early years of Kenyan independence. Catholic missionaries had been working among the Luo for 61 years before the 1963 split. By 1966 there were 31 “distinct Luo separatist churches registered with the Kenyan Government.” Across Kenya, “by 1966 there were 160 distinct bodies with a total of 600,000 adherents, most of whom were formerly members of the Protestant or Catholic Churches,” with the Legion of Mary Church being the largest of the schisms from the Catholic Church. Today, estimates of the number of Legio Maria adherents range from 3.5 to 4 million or down to just over three million. In this regard, the Legio Maria Church is one of the most resilient and successful of the African initiated churches.