KENYA: Catholic Communicators Eulogize Fr. Dominic as “An Icon of Church Communication”
Fr. Dominic Waweru Kariuki
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
Catholic communicators from various dioceses and institutions in Kenya have eulogized Fr. Dominic Waweru Kariuki the Diocesan Social Communications Director of Kenya’s Ngong Diocese as “an icon of Church Communication.”
Speaking on behalf of Sr. Adelaide Ndilu who heads the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) Commission for Social Communications, Fr. Frederick Njoroge described the late clergy as one who served dedicatedly in the communication field.
“Hereby lies an icon of Church communication. Hereby lies an icon of Good News. Hereby lies an icon of patience; hereby lies an icon of kindness, of God’s lover, of a Church suffering, of the Church militant, of Church triumphant,” Fr. Njoroge, Director of Communications in Kenya’s Eldoret Diocese, eulogized Tuesday, July 27, during the funeral Mass at St. Joseph the worker Cathedral, Ngong.
“Fr. Dom is a winner through Christ par excellence (and) the one who is communicating to us the beauty of the resurrection,” Fr. Njoroge added as he mourned the late cleric on behalf of the other Catholic communicators.
In his homily during the Eucharistic celebration, the Local Ordinary of Ngong Diocese Bishop John Oballa Owaa described the priest who has served at the Cathedral for over 10 years as “a man of the people with a compassionate heart.”
“Apart from being a man of God, Fr. Dominic was a man of the people. That is the core of our priesthood because we are servants of the people,” Bishop Oballa said adding that, “other than being an accomplished organist and a great singer, was his compassion.”
Encouraging mourners to emulate the compassionate heart of the late priest, Bishop Oballa who also serves as the Chairman for KCCB’s Justice and Peace Commission narrated, “One loud cry for our time is the cry of true compassion, the ability to be moved and do something that changes people’s situation and bring consolation and comfort to our brothers and sisters in pain.”
“This compassionate heart that Fr. Dom had was like that of the Good Samaritan who could not pass by a suffering or dying person and this is the heart of Christ that moved him to teach the crowd who were like a sheep without a shepherd, that moved him to feed the hungry, heal the sick and cast out demons,” he explained.
He encouraged mourners to pray for that compassionate heart of Christ “who could go out of his way to meet the needs of the people drawing them closer to God.”
The Prelate disclosed that the current experience in the world is that “instead of helping the suffering, the sick and the dying, people are not ashamed but are stealing from these very people who need help.”
He highlighted that humanity needs to restore compassionate heart that feels “not only for others as a pity but feels with others in doing charity” knowing that “our last judgement will be based on our concrete deeds of mercy that we performed for Christ in our brothers and sisters.”
Fr. Dominic died at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Nairobi Wednesday, July 21.
