KENYA: New Archbishop of Kisumu Pledges to Ensure the Archdiocese Remains “Anchored in Christ”

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

The newly installed archbishop for Kisumu Metropolitan See, Most Rev. Maurice Muhatia Makumba has promised the Christians and people of good will that his intent and desire is to ensure that the Archdiocese remains ingrained and deeply rooted in Christ.

Speaking to thousands of Christians including the prelates, clergy, Religious, government officials and people of good will on the day of his installation Saturday, March 19, 2022 the former Bishop of Nakuru Diocese said in his speech, “It will be my pleasant duty to ensure that the Church of Kisumu continues to be anchored in Christ Jesus, the King of Eternal glory.”

He affirmed that when the Church is anchored in Christ, “neither the waves of the sea nor the hades of the underworld can ever prevail against it.”

Archbishop Muhatia the current Vice Chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) and Principal Administrator of KCCB’s Secretariat, urged the congregation not to be afraid as they remain rooted in Christ saying, “We should not fear because when we are firmly rooted in him, he becomes our unshakeable foundation, the anchor of our life.”

Expounding on his desire for the Archdiocese to remain firmly established in Christ, the Prelate has used an icon of an anchor in his new Coat of Arms as part of his identification with the Archdiocese.

“The anchor is on the right side of my Coat of Arms. On top of it are inscribed the letters)ΧΡ, which actually are the first letters of Christ in Greek,” Archbishop Muhatia reveals and narrates further, “The anchor is one of the ancient symbols which remind Christians during the most difficult times that Christ is their safety.”

“In the early Church the anchor was the mark of identity for Christians…it was a symbol of hope in future existence thereby symbolizing Christ, the unfailing hope of all who believe in him,” he continued.

With this backdrop, Archbishop Muhatia said to Christians of the Metropolitan, “I say to you my dear faithful of Kisumu, we have this hope as an anchor for the soul firm and secure. The mission and vision of the Archdiocese shall be driven by this conviction.”

By ensuring the Archdiocese is anchored in Christ, the new Archbishop has dedicated his Episcopate in Kisumu to the Most Blessed Sacrament of the altar, “the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ.”

He appreciates the teachings of the Catholic Church which emphasizes that the Eucharist is the “source and summit of Christian life and that other Sacraments and all ecclesiastical ministries and works of apostolate are bound up with the Eucharist and oriented towards it.”

He adds, “The centrality of the Eucharist in the life of the Church in general and of the Archdiocese of Kisumu in particular cannot be emphasized enough… the Eucharist makes us one, nourishes us and renders us ready to launch into the deep of mission.”

Archbishop Muhatia underscores further, “I dedicate my episcopate to Jesus in the Eucharist because he is the true anchor of our life who sends us on mission to go and cast into the deep for a human catch.”

Most Rev. Muhatia appreciates the work done by previous prelates in the Archdiocese and the Mill hill missionaries who first evangelized the Christians of Kisumu saying, “My dear people of Kisumu, I am aware of the great work that has been accomplished in this Archdiocese by my predecessors, particularly in the last 50 years.”

“I make mention of Reverend Philip Sulumeti, the first African Bishop of Kisumu. I make mention of the Most Reverend Zacchaeus Okoth, the first Archbishop of Kisumu; and I make mention of the Most Reverend Philip Anyolo, the second Archbishop of Kisumu and my immediate predecessor, thank you very much for the work you did.”

Archbishop Muhatia beseeched the intercessions of St. Joseph who has had a huge influence on evangelization of the Archdiocese through the work of Mill Hill Missionaries.