KENYA: “You are Steward of Nakuru Diocese,” Apostolic Nuncio to Newly Ordained Bishop in Kenya
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
At Episcopal Consecration of Bishop Cleophas Oseso Tuka on Saturday, May 6, for the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru in Kenya, the Apostolic Nuncio reminded him the responsibility of being a servant for the Diocese but not “the owner.”
“He has chosen you as a humble servant to be his instrument in this diocese of Nakuru,” Archbishop Hubertus van Megen told Bishop Oseso just before ordination and cautioned, “This diocese doesn’t belong to you personally. You are its steward, not the owner.”
Being a servant for the diocese, the Pope’s representative said, “He wants you to tend his sheep, through word and sacrament, through good government and a transparent financial administration. He wants you to organize this Church of Nakuru according to the traditions and the laws of the Universal Church, as it was mentioned in the Papal Bull.”
The former Vicar General of Nakuru Diocese who served in that capacity since 2019 until his appointment as a Bishop was advised further to govern the diocese according to the will of the Universal Church and for the good of the people of God and not his personal preferences.
“Implement the decrees and follow the laws that have been given to you by the Universal Church. Pay special care to the financial administration, be transparent and give account of your financial dealings to the people of God,” Archbishop Megen who was the Principal Consecrator said during his homily and stressed, “Only in this way will you be able to be a true Shepherd of the people of God.”
Reflecting on the call of Simon Peter when Jesus asked him if he really loved him, the Nuncio who doubles as the representative of Pope in South Sudan told Bishop Oseso to be aware of his own failures, his sins, his miserable attitude, because in that way “he will be able to deal gently with the ignorant and the wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness.”
“Dear, Cleophas, I would like you to stand for a humble Church, a Church aware of its own failings. A Church that is able to deal gently with the ignorant, with the wayward and the sinner,” the native of the Netherlands emphasized to Bishop Oseso who was appointed by Pope Francis in the month of February.
He continued during his Saturday homily, stand for “A Church that is averse of any clericalism. A Church that doesn’t boast on itself, doesn’t want to have the first position, a Church that stands with the poor and the have-nots, a Church that jealously maintains its freedom so as to be able to speak out against any abuse of power, against the corruption the government and the judiciary of which so often the poor are the first victims.”
According to the Nuncio, Bishop Oseso is expected to serve, “A Church that is not afraid to be battered and excluded by the powers of this world, because it is ready to give its life for the small and the humble. A Church that rather prefers to be trampled upon, then trample upon others.”
“Dear Cleophas, you will be a bishop in Gods Church. Jesus asks you to feed his sheep and to tend them, despite of all your weaknesses and sins,” he said and continued, “One does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God. Your election to bishop is not in the first place because of your qualities, though many, but purely because of the grace of God, who knows everything, who knows about our virtues but also about our sins.”
Bishop Oseso who is the fourth Local Ordinary of Nakuru Diocese, was further reminded about the Sacrament of the Eucharist as, “The most precious and holy gift to humanity and therefore the Sacrament of the Eucharist should not be exploited as the occasion for political gathering.”
