AFRICA/KENYA - Resignation of the Bishop of Nyahururu and appointment of successor

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father Benedict XVI on December 24, 2011 accepted the resignation from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Nyahururu (Kenya), by His Exc. Mgr. Luigi Paiaro, in accordance with canon 401 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law. The Holy Father appointed Rev. Monsignor Joseph Mbata, Vicar General of the same diocese Bishop of the Diocese of Nyahururu (Kenya).
Mgr. Joseph Mbata was born on May 10, 1961, in the village of Itabua, in the Diocese of Embu. He studied Philosophy at the National Major Seminary of St. Augustine in Bungoma and Theology at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Nairobi. He obtained a Certificate of Higher Religious Studies and a Licentiate in theology at the Catholic University of Nairobi (Catholic University of Eastern Africa). He was ordained a priest on 18 February 1989 and incardinated in the Diocese of Nyeri. He then moved to the new Diocese of Nyahururu in March 2003, soon after its creation (December 2002). After ordination he has held the following positions: 1988-1989: Assistant to the Bishop of Nyeri and Parish Vicar in Njabini; 1989-1990: Chaplain of the Consolata Hospital in Nyeri, Vicar of the Parish of Mathari, Ngandu, and Pastor of the parish of Kahiraini. 1991-2001: Pastor of the parish of Mweiga; 2001-2007: pastor in the parishes of Ndunyu-Njeru and Mutanga; diocesan Director of Finance, since 2005: Vicar General of the Diocese of Nyahururu.
The Diocese of Nyahururu (2002), is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Nyeri. It has an area of 8,006 square kilometers and a population of 1,043,000 inhabitants, of whom 332,700 are Catholics. There are 30 parishes, 54 priests (50 diocesan and 4 religious ), 4 religious brothers, 78 nuns and 41 major seminarians. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 28/12/2011)