Pioneer Catholic Bishop of Kakamega Diocese in Kenya Dies at 88, Remembered as “a giant of faith”

“May the soul of His servant Philip Sulumeti rest in peace. Amen,” the Kenyan Catholic Bishop, who succeeded the late Bishop in March 2015 implores.

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

The late Bishop Emeritus Philip Sulumeti of Kenya's Kakamega Diocese. Credit: ACI Africa

The late Kenyan Bishop 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.

At his Episcopal Golden Jubilee celebration in 2022, the late Bishop was hailed as a “giant of faith”.

Credit: ACI Africa

In his homily during the 29 October 2022 Eucharistic celebration to mark Bishop Sulumeti’s Episcopal Golden Jubilee at Bukhungu Stadium of Kakamega County, Archbishop Maurice Muhatia Makumba of Kisumu Archdiocese hailed Bishop Sulumeti for excelling in his Episcopal ministry. 

“Bishop Sulumeti is a giant of faith in the Western region because of the ministry he accomplished,” Archbishop Muhatia said, adding, “He has written history with his life and his ministry.” 

Credit: ACI Africa

Bishop Sulumeti’s positive impact on people spanning decades “led many to ask if he is a human person,” he further said, recalling a conversation he had with a curious native of Western Kenya. 

In an interview with ACI Africa after the Eucharistic celebration, Bishop Obanyi termed his predecessor’s Episcopal Golden Jubilee a “rare history”.

Credit: ACI Africa

“As his successor, to celebrate, to be there to witness the fifty-year celebration is history. It tells me that faith is concrete; it is what we are living,” Bishop Obanyi said.

He continued, “Bishop Sulumeti did a great job. He was a strong personality who instilled discipline and yet with a lot of love. He is a man who has faith; he is a prayerful man. He has really made a mark and built a legacy in the Church in Kenya.” 

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Meanwhile, in his speech during the October 2022 celebration, the Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya described Bishop Sulumeti as “a living history of the institution of what the Church in Kenya is all about.”

“There is so much history in that man. So much knowledge, not only about the Church but also about the Kenya of long ago that we cannot imagine anymore today,” Archbishop Hubertus van Megen said. 

Credit: ACI Africa

The Dutch-born Vatican diplomat in Kenya following his appointment in February 2019 added, “Bishop Sulumeti has always tried to apply the law; he has always tried to be objective, not about his own opinion but about what the Church teaches and what the Church desires; that was the first objective of Bishop Sulumeti.”

Archbishop van Megen also delivered the message of the Holy Father, who acknowledged with appreciation Bishop Sulumeti’s “zealous effort” in preaching the Gospel. 

Credit: ACI Africa

“On the occasion of the golden jubilee of your episcopal ordination, we congratulate you for a long-lasting service which you diligently carried out, meriting our fraternal love and gratitude,” Pope Francis said, and added, “We congratulate you for being untiring and wise in the ministry for the good of Christ and of the Church.”