Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Anthony Muheria to serve as the bishop of the Diocese of Embu in acting capacity.
Muheria, who serves as the Archbishop of Nyeri, takes over the duties from Bishop Paul Kariuki who was moved to the newly created Diocese in Wote.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, Father Joseph Maranga of the Ruaka Catholic Parish noted that the archbishop will hold the position in acting capacity until a substantive replacement is appointed.
"He has been picked to serve as an administrator. He will continue serving as the Nyeri Archbishop but will be required to step in to assist handling tasks in Embu. The tasks will be conducted as Embu awaits its Bishop," he explained.
Speaking to the press, Pope Francis' representative in Kenya and South Sudan, Hubertus Maria Van Megen, confirmed that the process of finding another Bishop for the diocese is already underway.
For now, Muheria will straddle his duties at Nyeri Diocese and those in Embu.
"We hope that in his capable hands, the Diocese of Embu will continue to grow the seeds that Bishop Kariuki has already planted," stated Maria Van Megen.
Kariuki was installed as the Wote Diocese Bishop after a 14-year stint at Embu.
The new Diocese was excised from the diocese of Machakos making it an offshoot of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nairobi.
In his new position, Kariuki will oversee an area spanning approximately 8,009 square kilometers with a population of 987,653. From this population, 388,946 residents are Catholic faithful.
The region has 31 Parishes, 90 Diocesan Priests and nine Religious Priests.
Muheria, on the other hand, was first appointed as Bishop of Embu in October 2003 before moving to Kitui in 2008. He was transferred to Machakos in 2015 and then to Nyeri in April 2017. He was installed as the Archbishop in Nyeri in June 2017.
