Kenya’s Catholic Diocese of Nakuru Launches Jubilee Year of Hope with Call to “reawaken Sacramental life”

“You must go for repentance. You must receive the grace of the Sacrament of reconciliation,” he said, and added, “If you can't baptize yourself, can you forgive your sins by yourself? You can’t.”

Bishop Oseso further urged Catholic couples in Nakuru Diocese, who have not received the Sacrament of Matrimony to seek to solemnize their unions during the 2025 Jubilee Year.

The Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, which Pope Francis officially launched on the Eve of Christmas 2024 with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica is an invitation to draw closer to Jesus Christ, the Kenyan Catholic Bishop said, noting that one way to be close to Christ is through prayer.

On 21 January 2024, the Holy Father announced the start of a Year of Prayer in preparation for the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, the second in his Pontificate after the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2015.

Pope Francis said that the 2025 Jubilee Year will be “a year dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer in one’s personal life, in the life of the Church, and in the world.”

More in Africa

Catholic Nuns’ Leadership Appeals for “fervent prayers” for Members Kidnapped from Nigeria’s Onitsha Archdiocese

Read the article

On the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ on 9 May 2024, he solemnly proclaimed the 2025 Jubilee Year at a ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica, during which he delivered the Bull of Indiction of the planned Jubilee, “Spes non confundit” (Hope does not disappoint). To be concluded on 6 January 2026, the Jubilee Year is celebrated under the theme, “Pilgrims of Hope”. 

In his January 5 homily, Bishop Oseso said, “Pilgrims are those who journey in prayer. And that is why we are inviting the faithful from all our parishes to come to this Cathedral, and to our shrine to reawaken their faith.”

For him, Jubilee is a time to walk together in faith. “We should walk together as people of faith,” he said, and continued, “We are always told that if you walk alone, you will go quickly, but that if you walk with others, you will go far. In the life of faith, we also want to go far. And that is why it is important to be together in our Small Christian Communities, important to pray together.”

“Let us share together, let us be able to walk as one family, which is the family of Christ,” the Local Ordinary of Nakuru said.

Bishop Oseso also highlighted the need to be intentional about the care for the environment during the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, saying, “We are being encouraged in the Jubilee Year to recognize our responsibility to preserve and look after everything that God has entrusted on us.”

“We must take care of the environment, the marginalized, and the poor. We are called to care for one another and also our surrounding environment,” he emphasized. 

Bishop Oseso went on to challenge Kenyans in leadership positions to take care of the resources of the people by being accountable to them, by using those resources wisely “because they are meant for the welfare of this generation and the generation to come.”

“Let there be no greed, because if we have greed, we will only look after ourselves and ignore the generations to come,” he said.

The Catholic Church leader also appealed for love and understanding in Kenyan families.

“Let us be people who give others hope. Begin from your family” Bishop Oseso said, and explained, “If you're a father, bring hope to the family. Let them see you as hope. Don’t let them see you and feel sad or when they see the mother, feel fear. Give them hope that all is going to be well.”

(Story continues below)

Sabrine Amboka contributed to the writing of this story.