Pope Francis has appointed Very Reverend Father John Kiplimo Lelei as the Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret.
Fr. Kiplimo’s appointment was officially published in L’Osservatore Romano in Rome on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
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 (KCCB) through an official communication.
“I have the honor and pleasure to inform you that Pope Francis has appointed Reverend Father John Kiplimo Lelei as the Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret. The Bishop-Elect hails from the clergy of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret,” the Nuncio’s letter reads in part.
Until his appointment, Fr. Kiplimo was serving as the Chaplain of St George’s Chaplaincy and Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret.
He has been appointed to the position by Eldoret Catholic Diocese Bishop Dominic Kimengich in August 2023.
Who is an auxiliary Bishop?
An auxiliary bishop is strictly a helper and an assistant bishop. However, he has no ordinary jurisdiction of any kind as the diocesan bishop maintains full and total jurisdiction, authority and administrative competence.
Canon 403 of the Catholic Church states that an auxiliary bishop can be appointed if “the pastoral needs of a diocese suggest it.”
In other dioceses, the high number of Catholics to be ministered to necessitates the appointing of one or more auxiliary bishops—much like the fact that it is usually only parishes with a large number of households that have an associate pastor.
Fr. John Kiplimo’s biography
The auxiliary Bishop-elect was born in 1958 in Soy, Uasin Gishu County.
He pursued Philosophical studies at St. Augustine Seminary, Mabanga, from 1979 to 1981, and Theological studies at St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary, Lang’ata, from 1981 to 1985.
He was ordained a priest in 1985.
Following his ordination, Fr. John Kiplimo served in various parishes within the Catholic Diocese Eldoret for 12 years before proceeding to Vienna, Austria, in 1997 for further studies.
He also spent six years in Vienna pursuing his Masters and Doctoral studies in Liturgical Theology.
Upon returning to Kenya, he was appointed Rector of St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary (STAS), Langata in Nairobi in May 2017, a position he held for six years.
