Roman Catholic Diocese of Kitui

Coordinates: 1°22′01″S 38°00′45″E / 1.3670°S 38.0125°E / -1.3670; 38.0125
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Diocese of Kitui

Dioecesis Kituiensis
Location
Country Kenya
Statistics
Area30,246 km2 (11,678 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2013)
1,1m
240,000 (21.8%)
Information
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
CathedralCathedral of Our Lady of Africa
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopJoseph Mwongela

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kitui (

Latin: Kituien(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Kitui in the ecclesiastical province of Nairobi in Kenya
.

History

  • February 20, 1956: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Kitui from the
    Diocese of Meru
    and Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nairobi
  • November 16, 1963: Promoted as Diocese of Kitui

Leadership

Catholic Diocese of Kitui covers the County of Kitui, consisting of four former Administrative Districts of Kyuso, Mwingi, Kitui and Mutomo, an arid and semi arid area of approximately 30,142 km in Eastern Kenya. It has a population of around 1.09 million people with over 240,000 baptized Catholics (*Source: Central Statistics of the State; Secretariat of State; (2011)

The first Missionaries to evangelize Kitui were Holy Ghost fathers (

Kiltegan Fathers
). In 1964 it was erected as a diocese on 16 November 1963, with His Lordship, the late Right Rev. William Dunne as the first Bishop (R.I.P) on 9 February 1964. Bishop Dunne retired on 2 November 1995. The first diocesan priests in the diocese were Frs. Peter Muema Kyumbua and Boniface Lele Emeritus Archbishop of Mombasa (RIP), who were ordained in 1974.

Following the retirement of Bishop Dunne, Bishop Boniface Lele was appointed as Bishop of Kitui and ordained as bishop on 2 February 1996 succeeding him. Archbishop Lele was appointed Archbishop of

Archdiocese of Mombasa
on 1 April 2005. Rev. Fr. Paul Healy was the Diocesan Administrator until the appointment of Rt. Rev. Bishop Martin Kivuva as the Apostolic Administrator. On 28 July 2008, Rt. Rev. Anthony Muheria was appointed bishop of Kitui taking possession on 10 August 2008.

See also

  • Roman Catholicism in Kenya
  • Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops [1]

References

  1. ^ "KENYA CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS — "You shall be my witnesses" (ACTS 1:8) ...for the Sanctification and Salvation of all People". Retrieved 2020-05-30.

Sources

1°22′01″S 38°00′45″E / 1.3670°S 38.0125°E / -1.3670; 38.0125