At Episcopal Ordination in Kenya, Nuncio Cautions against Clericalism, Urges Listening

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“Christ, however, stands for a different Church by using the Image of the Shepherd; the shepherd who knows his sheep,” Archbishop van Megen said, emphasizing that the person of Jesus Christ knows his flock “by name and their deepest identity.”

He added, “The shepherd should always be available for the sheep; should listen to them, hear about their concerns, their desires, their conflicts and challenges, because the shepherd can only lead when he knows about the needs of the sheep.”

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Making reference to Pope Francis’ memorable image that “Shepherds should smell like their sheep”, the Archbishop who has served as Apostolic Nuncio since 2014 said, “We can only know the sheep when we journey along with them, share our life with them, eat with them, work with them, pray with them.”

“The knowing of the shepherd is connected to prayer,” he said during the February 19 Episcopal Ordination event that took place at St Mary’s Kibabii High School in Kenya’s Bungoma Diocese.

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That knowledge of the shepherd, he continued, “goes deeper than any empirical knowledge or psychological insights. The intimate knowledge between sheep and shepherd is based on the knowledge of the Father, a knowledge that comes through prayer.”

He went on to encourage members of the Clergy in Kenya to found their Priestly and Episcopal ministry on prayer to be good shepherds saying, “everything I say, everything I do or think has to be rooted in prayer.”

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This prayer, the Apostolic Nuncio continued, “arises from my actions and it returns to prayer. For in prayer, I'm able to discern the will of the Father; in prayer, I experience that relationship with the Father; in prayer therefore I can also discern whether my words, actions, and thoughts can find a place within that life-giving relationship with the Father.”

He went on to reiterate the need for members of the Clergy to embrace a prayerful attitude saying, “It is only within that intimate relationship with God established in prayer that I will truly be able to understand the needs of the sheep and to lead them to those green pastures where God restores their souls.”

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Archbishop van Megen reached out to all the people to embrace a life of prayer. He said, “Every Christian, therefore, is called to pray and to pray incessantly in order that everything should be put into that relationship with God himself.”

Seeking to clarify the nature of the ongoing preparations toward the 2023 Synod, the Dutch-born Apostolic Nuncio said the public participation in the meeting of Bishops need not be mistaken for “a debating club. Instead, it is all about God’s thoughts.”

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The Synod on Synodality, he clarified, “is about God's thoughts and desires and how the Church can be a fitting dwelling place of that presence of God; how God can be at home within me and how I can be at home in God.”

Addressing himself to the candidate he was about to ordain Bishop, Archbishop van Megen said, “You have lived in virtually all continents, except Australia. You have amassed many experiences. You no longer belong to a tribe but all to all. You have been called to be a good shepherd to people of different tribes in this diocese. Be a listener.”

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Bishop Kadima who spearheaded the establishment, official opening, and operations of the Juba-based South Sudan Apostolic Nunciature since his appointment as Chargé d’Affaires on 1 July 2018 had earlier served in six other Apostolic Nunciatures as a Vatican diplomat, namely, Colombia, Angola, Ghana, Bangladesh, Greece, and Brazil.

Before joining the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy for training to serve in the diplomatic corps in 1999, Bishop Kadima who is a member of the Clergy of Kenya’s Kakamega Diocese had served in various positions in his native Diocese.

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Beside Parish ministry, the 57-year-old newly ordained Bishop served as Rector of St. Peter’s Minor Seminary, member of the College of Consultors Diocesan Canon Law Advisor, member of Diocesan Renewal Program Implementation Team of the African Synod, member of the Board of Governors and Canon Law Society of Kenya, and member of the Kisumu Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Tribunal, among others services. 

In his homily during the February 19 Episcopal Ordination event, Archbishop van Megen reminded the candidate of his role as Local Ordinary of the Kenyan Diocese saying, “You are now called to become the good shepherd of the people in Bungoma, a Diocese of different tribes and different tongues. Be that good shepherd to them that God calls you to be.”

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“Do not load it over them, but listen to them attentively and put all their desires and struggles before God in prayer,” he told Mons. Kadima, and encouraged him to be a Bishop “according to the heart of Jesus in the example of Servant of God, Maurice Cardinal Otunga, a native of this ‘holy ground.’”

Archbishop van Megen further told Mons. Kadima, “You do not belong to a tribe anymore, but to the one family of Christ. Through your experience, through your long diplomatic life, you have become all and all so that everyone can recognize himself in you from whatever tribe or tongue or nation.”

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“Be like Moses who intercedes for his people even when they go astray. Be that father who loves his children however far they may wander off. Keep watch over the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit has appointed you to shepherd the Church of God,” the representative of the Holy Father in Kenya added.

The Apostolic Nuncio prayed that Mons. Kadima who was appointed Bishop for Bungoma Diocese on 14 December 2021 “be a shepherd according to the Heart of Jesus who gives his life for the sheep.”

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In his speech after being consecrated, Bishop Kadima expressed his gratitude to Pope Francis for his confidence in him, made known his love for the Clergy of Bungoma Diocese, and promised to “work collegially” with members of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB).

“I love you and I will do everything in my power to take care of you, not that you have not been taken care of, but I will continue,” Bishop Kadima said, addressing himself to members of the Clergy of the Kenyan Diocese, and added, “I will also continue to do the work that my predecessors, now three of them, have been doing here.”

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He acknowledged with appreciation the words of encouragement he had received from the President of KCCB, and further said, “I have been in the diplomatic service for 24 years. And in those years, I have read and (been) reliably informed of the collegiality, the respect among the Bishops, and the unity that exists in this Bishops’ Conference. I will work collegially and in unity with you.” 

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Reflecting on the motto he chose to guide his Episcopal ministry, “There is nothing impossible with God,” Bishop Kadima said, “These were the words the Angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary.”

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“I pray that the same words speak to each one of us so that before everything that we may think looks impossible, let us put it in God together, although it may seem impossible,” the third Bishop of Bungoma Diocese said.

In an interview with ACI Africa shortly after his consecration, Bishop Kadima reflected on his coat of arms saying, “It has first of all Mount Elgon, and Lake Victoria because the Northern border of this Diocese is Mount Elgon, and the Southern part is more or less Port Victoria. So, I am generally talking about the people of God between these two natural features.”

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“There is the image of the Angel Gabriel standing on the mountain and speaking the words ‘There is nothing impossible with God,’” Bishop Kadima added in reference to his coat of arms.

The Diocese of Bungoma has been vacant since June 2018 following the transfer of Bishop Norman King’oo Wambua to Kenya’s Machakos Diocese.

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The Diocese that is situated in Western Kenya has been under the leadership of Bishop Joseph Obanyi Sagwe of the Catholic Diocese of Kakamega as Apostolic Administrator.

In his speech during the Episcopal Ordination event, Bishop Obanyi said, “The new Bishop comes to find a very rich history of faith and am very sure with the cooperation of the Christians, he will go ahead and deepen the faith.”

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He looked back at his service in the Kenyan Diocese as Apostolic Administrator saying, “It has been a wonderful experience; three years of real journey of faith and experience where I have seen very vibrant Christians with whom we worked very much together.”

Bishop Obanyi continued in reference to the Diocese of Bungoma, “The Priests are very hardworking. I found 34 Parishes and we were able to do 43; so, nine Parishes that show the commitment and resilience of the Christians.”

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Others who spoke during the event that had dozens of Catholic Bishops, hundreds of Priests and women and men Religious, and thousands of the Laity including government officials congratulated Bishop Kadima and offered him words of encouragement in his Episcopal ministry.

The head of the delegation from South Sudan, Archbishop Stephen Ameyu said, “Bishop Kadima is a very dynamic man. He is a man of great potential. He will help this Church to grow and I hope too that for the Kenyan Church it will be such a blessing to have him in the Conference (KCCB) because of his experience.”

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On his part, Archbishop Philip Anyolo of Nairobi Archdiocese encouraged Bishop Kadima to “be committed in doing what God has called him to do.”