KENYA: “By God’s Grace I Accept the Pope’s Appointment,” Msg. Odundo, Auxiliary Bishop- Elect
Msgr. Vincent Ouma Odundo
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
Two months after Kisumu Archdiocese commemorated a remarkable century of Catholic presence in the region, the people of God in the Archdiocese received news that has sent waves of joy through parishes across western Kenya that Pope Leo XIV has appointed Monsignor (Msgr.) Vincent Ouma Odundo, the Auxiliary Bishop of the same Metropolitan See.
On Sunday, December 14, the Gaudete Sunday during the Advent season in the Catholic Church, the Local Ordinary of Kisumu Archdiocese Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba made the public announcement from the Holy Father adding that the Bishop-elect who has been the Vicar of the Archdiocese will now be the Auxiliary Bishop of Kisumu and the Titular Bishop of Giru Marcelli.
For Msgr. Odundo, December 2nd began like any other day of service, but it ended with a divine summon that would alter the course of his life. After receiving a call from the Apostolic Nunciature, Msgr. Odundo travelled from Kisumu to Nairobi, about 350Kms and as a canonist, he assumed the Nuncio needed his legal expertise for routine matters.
Upon meeting the Nuncio to Kenya Archbishop Hubertus van Megen, Msgr. Odundo who until his appointment was also the Parish Priest of St. James the Apostle Magadi Parish met with a life-altering revelation of his new appointment.
The news came as a surprise. “I never expected it,” Msgr. Odundo admits, reflecting on the moment the Nuncio asked for his “take” on the appointment. His immediate reaction was one of deep humility and a sense of unworthiness. “Why me?” was the question that lingered in his heart.
He sought clarity in the quiet of the chapel and before the Blessed Sacrament “talked to Jesus” for nearly for an hour, emerging from prayer with a sense of peace, his response reflected his deep faith: “I know by the grace of God, and also by the help of the Church, I accept,” he told the Nuncio.
The former Vicar of Kisumu Archdiocese, takes up the mission as the third Auxiliary Bishop in the history of the Archdiocese following in the footsteps of the Servant of God Maurice Michael Cardinal Otunga who was the first Auxiliary Bishop and the late Bishop Philip Sulumeti who was the second Auxiliary Bishop of Kisumu.
Even though Msgr. Odundo previously served as the Vicar General, assisting the Archbishop with pastoral and administrative duties, the move to the episcopacy brings new spiritual “faculties,” such as the power to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation.
The Auxiliary Bishop-elect, stressed during an interview with AMECEA Online on Wednesday, December 17, that the new role is one that calls for total collaboration and his mission is not to run a parallel program with that of the Archbishop, but to work together with him and unite the Archdiocese.
“It is one program for the Archdiocese, but we run it together with the Archbishop,” he said during the Wednesday interview adding that “The Archbishop will give direction, and together we will work.”
As he prepares for his ordination whose date will be communicated for a later, the Bishop-elect is full of praise for the people of Kisumu. He points to a remarkable transformation in the local church’s spirit of stewardship and generosity.
“I want to appreciate the people of Kisumu for the spirit of generosity. I call upon the priests, religious, and lay faithful to pray for me and the Archbishop so that this ministry may lead to the salvation of souls and the glorification of God,” he said.
Auxiliary Bishop-elect was born on 1 June 1978 in the Archdiocese Kisumu, he studied philosophy at St. Augustine’s Mabanga National Seminary and theology at St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Kisumu in February 2008.
Msgr. Odundo pursued further studies in Canon Law in Rome, from the Pontifical Urbaniana University and obtained a Licentiate and further a Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Lateran University.
From 2019 to 2023, he served as the Chancellor and Judicial Vicar of the Archdiocese of Kisumu.
