VATICAN: Pope Francis Commends the Role Played by the Institutions of the Catholic Church in Kenya

The Holy
Father Pope Francis has offered a word of appreciation to the Catholic Church
in Kenya for the contribution she renders in the Catholic run Institutions in
the country.

 

In his
message to Kenyan Bishops during their ad
Limina Apostolorum visit, the Holy Father said that he wished to offer a
word of appreciation to the many humble and dedicated workers in Church-run
institutions throughout your country, whose daily activities bring spiritual
and material benefit to countless people. 

 

He said that
the Church has contributed, and continues to contribute, to all of Kenya
through a diverse array of schools, institutes, universities, clinics,
hospitals, homes for the sick and dying, orphanages and social agencies.  “Through these, dedicated priests, religious
men and women, and laity make a vital contribution to the welfare of the entire
nation.  Such praiseworthy works are
continually sustained by the life of prayer and worship experienced in so many
parishes, convents, monasteries and lay movements.  May this hymn of praise and the fruits of
your apostolic works continue to grow,” he said

 

By David Omwoyo, Waumini Communications, KCCB

 Dear Brother Bishops,

 

 I offer you my fraternal welcome on the
occasion of your visit ad Limina Apostolorum as you make your pilgrimage to the
tombs of Blessed Peter and Paul.  Your
time in the Eternal City and your visits to the offices of the Roman Curia
provide numerous opportunities to deepen communion between the Church in Kenya
and the See of Peter.  I thank Cardinal
Njue for his warm words on your behalf and in the name of the priests, men and
women religious, and all the lay faithful of Kenya.  I ask you kindly to assure them of my prayers
and spiritual closeness.

 

For some of you, this visit to Rome will bring
to mind your time spent here preparing for ordination to the priesthood.  The many seminarians studying in this City,
like the numerous seminarians in your own country, are an eloquent sign of
God’s goodness to the universal Church and to your Dioceses.  They remind us of the great resource you have
in the many youth of your local Churches, as well as your paternal care in
helping young men answer the call to the priesthood.  I think in a special way of the zeal, hope
and dedication of seminarians who wish to give everything to Christ through
service to the Church.  While the seeds
of a priestly vocation are sown long before a man arrives at the seminary,
first in the heart of the family, it pertains to seminary formators to nurture
the growth of these vocations.  For this
reason, it is imperative that seminarians’ goodwill and earnest desires be met
with a formation that is humanly sound, spiritually deep, intellectually rich,
and pastorally diverse (cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis, 43-59).  I am aware of the challenges which this
entails, and I encourage you to strengthen your efforts, individually within
your Dioceses and collectively in your Episcopal Conference, so that the good
work which the Lord is accomplishing in your candidates for priestly Orders
will be brought to completion (cf. Phil 1:6).

 

In the exercise of your episcopal office, each of you is called to be a
pastor of souls (cf. Christus Dominus, 1), a father and a shepherd (ibid.,
16).  This will be accomplished primarily
with your closest collaborators, your priests. 
They need you to guide them with clarity and strength, but also, and
especially, with compassion and tenderness. 
As Bishops, we must always look to the example of Jesus, who tended
personally to the Apostles, spent time with them and enjoyed their
company.  You also must strive to be with
your priests, to know them and listen to them. 
Your support will help them to be faithful to the promises they have
made and strengthen your common efforts to build up God’s kingdom in Kenya.

 

In this Year of Consecrated Life, my heart is
also close to the men and women religious who have renounced the world for the
sake of the kingdom thus bringing many blessings to the Church and society in
Kenya.  I ask you, dear brother Bishops,
to convey to them my gratitude, affection and prayerful closeness, and to
express my hope that during this year dedicated to consecrated life, they may
be joyful and brave as they point to Christ by their lives.  I encourage you to deepen the bonds of
charity and ecclesial communion that you have with the religious Institutes in
Kenya.  The Church’s mission, though
multifaceted, is one: much more will be accomplished for the praise and glory
of God’s name when our actions are in harmony.

 

The united and selfless efforts of many
Catholics in Kenya are a beautiful witness and example for the country.  In so many ways, the Church is called to
offer hope to the broader culture, a hope based on her unstinting witness to
the newness of life promised by Christ in the Gospel.  In this regard, without wishing to interfere
in temporal affairs, the Church must insist, especially to those who are in
positions of leadership and power, on those moral principles which promote the
common good and the up building of society as a whole.  In the fulfillment of her apostolic mission,
the Church must take a prophetic stand in defense of the poor and against all
corruption and abuse of power.  She must
do so, in the first place, by example. 
Do not be afraid to be a prophetic voice!  Do not be afraid to preach with
conviction!  Bring the wisdom of the
Church, enshrined particularly in her social teaching, to bear on Kenyan
society.

 

In a particular way, I wish to offer a word of
appreciation to the many humble and dedicated workers in Church-run
institutions throughout your country, whose daily activities bring spiritual
and material benefit to countless people. 
The Church has contributed, and continues to contribute, to all of Kenya
through a diverse array of schools, institutes, universities, clinics,
hospitals, homes for the sick and dying, orphanages and social agencies.  Through these, dedicated priests, religious
men and women, and laity make a vital contribution to the welfare of the entire
nation.  Such praiseworthy works are
continually sustained by the life of prayer and worship experienced in so many
parishes, convents, monasteries and lay movements.  May this hymn of praise and the fruits of
your apostolic works continue to grow!

 

Dear brothers, the Church in Kenya must always
be true to her mission as an instrument of reconciliation, justice and
peace.  In fidelity to the entire
patrimony of the faith and moral teaching of the Church, may you strengthen
your commitment to working with Christian and non-Christian leaders alike, in
promoting peace and justice in your country through dialogue, fraternity and
friendship.  In this way you will be able
to offer a more unified and courageous denunciation of all violence, especially
that committed in the name of God.  This
will bring deeper reassurance and solace to all your fellow citizens.  With you, I pray for all those who have been
killed by acts of terror or ethnic or tribal hostilities in Kenya as well as
other areas of the continent.  I think
most especially of the men and women killed at Garissa University College on
Good Friday. May their souls rest in peace and their loved ones be consoled,
and may those who commit such brutality come to their senses and seek
mercy.

 

I wish to offer you a word of encouragement in
your pastoral care to the family.  As the
Church prepares for the Ordinary Synod dedicated to “the pastoral challenges to
the family in the context of evangelization”, I am confident that you will
continue to assist and strengthen all those families who are struggling because
of broken marriages, infidelity, addiction or violence.  I ask you likewise to intensify the Church’s
ministry to youth, forming them to be disciples capable of making permanent and
life-giving commitments – whether to a spouse in marriage, or to the Lord in
the priesthood or religious life.  Teach
the saving truth of the Gospel of Life to all. 
May the beauty, truth and light of the Gospel shine forth ever more
radiantly from the youthful and joyful face of the Kenyan Church.

 

Finally, with you I pray that the forthcoming
Jubilee of Mercy will be a time of great forgiveness, healing, conversion, and
grace for the entire Church in Kenya. 
Touched by Christ’s infinite mercy, may all the faithful be signs of the
reconciliation, justice and peace that God wills for your country, and indeed,
all of Africa.

 

With these thoughts, dear brother Bishops, I
commend all of you to the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, and with
great affection I impart my Apostolic Blessing, which I willingly extend to all
the beloved priests, religious and lay faithful of Kenya.