Fr John Kiplimo named Eldoret auxiliary Bishop
Very Reverend Fr John Kiplimo Lelei who has been appointed by Pope Francis as auxiliary bishop of Eldoret Diocese.
Pope Francis has appointed Reverend Father John Kiplimo Lelei as Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret.
He becomes the second auxiliary bishop of the Eldoret diocese after Silas Njiru, who served in 1980s in the same position, according to church insiders.
According to the Roman Catholic Canon law, the role of an auxiliary bishop is to serve as the principal assistant to the local bishop and may perform any duties assigned by the local bishop, such as blessing marriages or new church, ordination of priests or hearing confessions among others. The diocesan bishop has to nominate an individual to the Pope for consideration to serve in the position. However, the auxiliary bishop may not be the automatic successor as he must first be nominated unlike a coadjutor bishop, who becomes an automatic successor in the event that the bishop of the diocese becomes incapacitated or dies while still in office.
The news of Fr Kiplimo's appointment was officially published in L’Osservatore Romano in Rome yesterday.
Archbishop Bert van Megen, the Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya and South Sudan, also conveyed the message of the appointment to the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops) through an official communication.
