“If you are called father, you must provide,” Catholic Bishop in Kenya Urges Men to Embrace Family Responsibilities

“It is not about saying, 'call me father’, yet your children and your wife are suffering and begging. Go and pay school fees so that you may be called father,” he said, urging men to learn from God about loving children.

He prayed for men who have abandoned their families, asking the Holy Spirit to inspire them to take responsibility for their children. “May the Holy Spirit descend upon you, men who have abandoned your children, who have fathered children and then run away,” he said.

On good leadership, the Kenyan Church leader underscored the need to embrace truth at all times, cautioning against dishonesty.

He described lies as destructive to individuals and society.

“There are the Ten Commandments of God, but the most important, according to me, is the eighth,” he said, and added, “You cannot break any of the Ten Commandments without breaking the eighth. The eighth says ‘do not lie’. If you see someone breaking the eighth commandment, they are breaking all the commandments.”

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“A liar breaks all the commandments. If you falsely accuse someone, you destroy their reputation, you destroy their job, you destroy their marriage… Lies are not good,” he added.

Regarding fairness in good leadership, the Catholic Church leader called on all Kenyan leaders to serve everyone, including the sick, poor, and prisoners, without discrimination or self-interest.

Bishop Kadima said the Sacrament of Confirmation empowers both those receiving the sacrament and those already confirmed to live responsibly.

“The Sacrament of Confirmation is a sacrament of maturity, of responsibility, of leadership. It is leadership, it is responsibility, it is maturity,” the Bishop said.

“We have come here to pray that those who are being confirmed today, and we who were confirmed earlier, may receive these graces of the Holy Spirit so that we may take responsibility in our lives. That we may be good leaders so that we may offer good service to our fellow Christians,” he added.