Pioneer Catholic Bishop of Kenya's Kakamega Diocese Remembered for Humility, Obedience to Be Laid to Rest November 21

Kakamega, 20 November, 2025 / 8:49 PM

Bishop Philip Sulumeti of Kenya's  Catholic Diocese of Kakamega who passed on on November 9 at the age of 88 has been remembered for his humility, respect to authority, and fatherly love.

In his Thursday, November 20 homily at the late Bishop's Requiem Mass, which was held at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in the Catholic Diocese of Kakamega, Bishop Mark Kadima Wamukoya of Kenya's Catholic Diocese of Bungoma described the late Bishop as “a gift of faith” who demonstrated great talent in promoting his Diocese.

Bishop Kadima. Credit: Radio Amani

Bishop Kadima showered Bishop Sulumeti with tributes, lauding the late Bishop’s holistic sense of life, and forgiving nature.

“I thank Bishop Sulumeti for his humility and obedience to authority. He was always humble before authority and very obedient,” Bishop Kadima said.

He noted the obedience the late Bishop had to his successor, Bishop Joseph Obanyi Sagwe, emphasizing, “He was always obedient to him. Never gave him a hard time in anything.”

Credit: Radio Amani

He said that Bishop Sulumeti was always “a man who respected his superiors, who respected authority, whether civil, whether religious.”

The Local Ordinary of Bungoma praised Bishop Sulumeti for his fatherly love and discipline that shaped the lives of many in the Catholic Diocese of Kakamega.

Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya, Archbishop Hubertus van Megen , Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba and other Bishops during the funeral Mass on Friday, November 21. Credit: ACI Africa

Bishop Kadima acknowledged his personal encounter with the late Bishop Sulumeti, saying that he learned his willingness to care and support those in need.

The Bishop who has been at the helm of Bungoma Diocese since 2022 also encouraged the people of God in the Catholic Diocese of Kakamega to emulate the “holistic sense of life” of the late Bishop who he said “wanted the best of everything.”

Credit: ACI Africa

Bishop Kadima expressed gratitude for the life of the late Bishop, who is to be laid to rest on Friday, November 21, at St. Joseph’s Cathedral Church in the Catholic Diocese of Kakamega.

Bishop Kadima noted that Bishop Sulumeti offered opportunities to capable individuals without favoritism. “He never cared what your surname was or where you came from. That is why some of us are what we are. Because he loved promoting talent,” he said.

Credit: ACI Africa

The late Bishop had a forgiving heart, Bishop Kadima said , and explained, “He was a man of reconciliation. The disagreements or squabbles never lasted forever. He always came and said, I am sorry. He was always the first one, in his humility,  to say, ‘I am sorry’,” Bishop Kadima said. 

Bishop Sulumeti was born on 15 August 1937 in Busia County in Kenya’s Catholic Diocese of Bungoma, and was ordained a Priest on 6 January 1966.

He started his Episcopal Ministry in August 1972 as Auxiliary Bishop of the then Catholic Diocese of Kisumu, serving under Bishop Joannes de Reeper, a member of St. Joseph’s Missionary Society of Mill Hill (Mill Hill Missionaries/MHM).

The late Bishop Sulumeti succeeded Bishop Reeper in December 1976, and in February 1978, he was appointed pioneer Local Ordinary of Kakamega Diocese. He retired in December 2014, aged 77.

The late Bishop is being laid to rest Friday, November 21 in St. Joseph’s Cathedra l of Kakamega Diocese, his Funeral Mass presided over by the Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya, Archbishop Hubertus van Megen.

Over a dozen Catholic Bishops and more than 100 Priests are concelebrating at the Funeral Mass held at Kakamega Rehabilitation School grounds, with hundreds of women and men Religious and thousands of faithful in attendance.