MOMBASA, FEBRUARY 24, 2015 (CISA) – Hundreds of faithful from the catholic diocese of Machakos on February 20 thronged St Mary’s Catholic Church, Changamwe for the handing over ceremony of Archbishop Martin Kivuva to the archdiocese of Mombasa.
“…this is the man we are giving to you as Machakos diocese. May God bless him and make his work better in the Mombasa,” Fr Alfonse Mundio, the Vicar General of the catholic diocese of Machakos told the faithful from Mombasa.
The event also saw archbishop elect take his oath of office before a day before officially being installed archbishop of Mombasa.
According to Sr Bennadette Munyao, the coordinator Catholic Women Association and Catholic Men Association the over 2,000 faithful from Machakos travelled in 43 buses, 2 mini-vans, several personal cars while others travelled by air to Mombasa.
Archbishop Charles Balvo, apostolic Nuncio to Kenya and South Sudan who presided over the ceremony urged the faithful in the archdiocese to cooperate with the new archbishop and to pray for a successor for the Diocese of Machakos.
“Promotion from lower to higher position is not your own honour or your glory but the promotion of service that is going to serve you innermost as Archbishop of Mombasa,” the nuncio told the archbishop-elect.
In his speech archbishop-elect Kivuva appealed to all people inclusive of civil authorities and different religions to help him with his pastoral duties.
“…let us work together like brothers and sisters and respect each other. I have come to pick up from the spirit of late Archbishop Lele, I therefore request you to pray for me to do God’s work,” he said.
The archbishop received a symbolic traditional stool knows as kigoma and made an elder of the Archdiocese by his mentor Fr Alloys Ngoma while Bishop Emmanuel Barbara of the Catholic Diocese Malindi gave him a shepherd’s stuff a symbol of handing over the flock of the archdiocese of Mombasa.
Archbishop Kivuva takes over the diocese that has been under the apostolic administration of Bishop Emmanuel Barbara since 2013 when Archbishop Lele resigned on grounds of poor health.
