Philip Sulumeti

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Philip Sulumeti (born August 15, 1937 in Kotur , Kenya) is a Kenyan Roman Catholic clergyman and emeritus bishop of Kakamega in Kenya .

Life

The bishop belongs to the Iteso people , one of the smaller peoples of Kenya. The vast majority of this ethnic group lives in Uganda . Philip Sulumeti attended primary school in Amukura near the Uganda border. He then attended from 1952 to 1958 the Catholic grammar school for young priests, Saint Peters's Seminary in Mukumu , a small town near the provincial capital Kakamega. To study philosophy (from 1959 to 1960) and theology (1961–1965) Sulumeti went to Uganda at St. Mary's Ggaba Seminary .

priest

It was on January 6, 1966 in his home town Amukura by the Bishop of Kisumu , John de Reeper MHM , for priests ordained. He then taught at a high school, the Kaplong Secondary School . He took his first pastor in Shibuye Township . From September 1967, he studied Canon Law at the Collegio San Pietro Apostolo in Rome and was established in December 1970 at the Pontifical Urban University with a dissertation on the topic Mission Church in Kenya in the light of the II. Vatican to Dr. iur. can. During this time he learned the German language in Germany and occasionally acted as a temporary priest. After returning to Kenya in 1971 he became diocesan secretary and second vicar general to Bishop de Reeper in Kisumu.

bishop

On May 28, 1972, Pope Paul VI appointed him . as titular bishop of Urci and auxiliary bishop in Kisumu. The episcopal ordination donated him the Archbishop of Dar es Salaam , Laurean Cardinal Rugambwa on August 20 of the same year; Co- consecrators were the Archbishop of Nairobi , Maurice Michael Otunga , and the Bishop of Kisumu, Joannes de Reeper MHM.

On December 9, 1976 Paul VI appointed him. to the bishop of Kisumu. He was appointed the first bishop of Kakamega on February 27, 1978 after this diocese had been separated from the later Archdiocese of Kisumu . The motto in his bishop's coat of arms is: "Illum oportet crescere" (It is due to them to grow ")

The bishop has done an enormous amount of work in his diocese. In addition to numerous schools, hospitals, convents and a large pastoral center in Kakamega, he has built 31 churches and parsonages in the 36 parishes alone. The development work in the formation of priests is so great that the diocese of Kakamega can send priests to other dioceses in Kenya and even abroad. Philip Sulumeti was elected Vice-Chair of the Kenyan Bishops' Conference (KEC) in 2006.

Pope Francis accepted his age-related resignation on December 5, 2014. On March 7th, 2015 he handed over the diocese to Joseph Sagwe Obanyi through the consecration of his successor in the Bughungu Stadium in Kakamega . Co-consecrators were the Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo and the Cardinal of Nairobi John Njue . 25 bishops, priests, nuns, numerous politicians such as Vice President William Ruto and over 20,000 believers gave the bishop the escort into retirement.

Act

President Mwai Kibaki named him Senator of the new Masinde Muliro University of Kakamega in 2004 and 2006. As a bishop, Sulumeti was heavily involved in the country's democratization process and was a member of the KENYA REVIEW COMMISSION, which took place in two places and roundtables in the Kenyan capital, the "Safari Park Talks" (Nobel Hotel) and the "Bomas of Kenya" (one great hall of folk dance), drafted a new constitution. In the conflict between the two political camps in the country, he was elected chairman of the so-called “Consensus building committee” and presented an important mediating report (Sulumeti report). The new constitution was voted on in a referendum in November 2005. The so-called boma draft had been changed by the government to the wako draft and the government then lost its fight for the constitution.

After the unrest as a result of the election rigging in December 2007 with 1,200 dead and 350,000 refugees in the country, Bishop Philip Sulumeti and other church representatives said a prayer in front of the parliament in Nairobi in March 2008, in which he asked the 200 parliamentarians to see to it Land does not fall apart: “Hatred and retribution have broken out in our hearts; therefore we have all committed these crimes. But now we humbly come before you and ask that you forgive us. ”Around 22,000 people fled to his diocese, which was less plagued by the great unrest, and he cared for them in several camps.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rinuncia del Vescovo di Kakamega (Kenya) e nomina del successore. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , December 5, 2014, accessed December 5, 2014 (Italian).
  2. ↑ http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Joseph-Obanyi-Kakamega-Catholic-Diocese-Consecration/-/1056/2645918/-/10b637pz/-/index.html
predecessor Office successor
--- Bishop of Kakamega
1978-2014 		Joseph Obanyi Sagwe
Johannes de Reeper MHM Bishop of Kisumu
1976–1978 		Zacchaeus Okoth
personal data
SURNAME Sulumeti, Philip
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Kenyan clergyman, emeritus Roman Catholic Bishop of Kakamega
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Kotur , Kenya