“You have seduced me Lord, and I have let myself be seduced, you have overpowered me, you are the stronger.”Jeremiah 20:7
This is the verse a young Joseph Maluki Mwongela selected as his sacerdotal ordination motto when he has ordained a deacon – By Enock Mukoma.
This was on 16th June 1995.
In retrospect and wisdom of the hindsight, the future Diocese of Kitui Bishop must have been referencing his decision to defer University education after passing his A-Level studies to pursue his priestly calling, culminating in his priestly ordination 7th September 1996.
Fast forward to his anticipated consecration as a Bishop clarion call: Let the will of God be done.
These two momental quotations depict a persona fully possessed by a zeal to serve God and humanity while acknowledging his own frailties as a human being..
This calls to mind one fundamental question: How did his modest parents reconcile with Joseph’s decision to become a priest, rather than pursue the assumed promising career that university education would guarantee?
His parents are not well off…by his own admission. They hustled along other villagers to provide the basics for the family. This cannot have been easy.
Then came the ordination as a priest, the challenges of a young priest, and the real journey to the current position.
The joy of being a Priest is immense. Being a Catholic Father anywhere in the world is one of the most joyous events in any village. A priest is owned by the Parish, meaning his relatives come a distant third after God and his flock.
A Bishop is the icing on the cake, but not the ultimate goal of the priesthood.
His preparation for the shepherd role ahead appears to have been tailored in heaven. Ordained a priest by then Bishop Boniface Lele, Mwongela was exposed to the rich history of the Catholic Faith through strategic missions away from his home Diocese of Kitui.
He became a priestly journeyman of sorts, through which he broadened his leadership and priestly gifts very far away from home.
This afforded him a perfect environment to interact with other languages and cultures…in Rome, Ireland, German, and the United States of America.
By the time the third Diocese of Kitui Bishop Anthony Muheria appointed his the Vicar General, Mwongela was ready for the challenge ahead.
“I have been mentored by the Archbishop very way”, he says in reference to the outgoing Kitui Apostolic administrator Archbishop Anthony Muheria.
During his farewell mass to the people of Kitui after his transfer to Nyeri, Muheria told a tearful congregation at Our Lady of Africa that he was leaving the Diocese in good hands.
” Just keep praying. God will anoint another shepherd for the Church in Kitui at His own time”, Muheria said.
The appointment of bishop-elect Mwongela by Pope Francis came as a big shock to the Diocese.
For starters, he is not well known in the diocese, owing to the many years he spends away from home.
But he has atoned for this through the nine years of service as the Vicar General.
He was appointed to the position by Muheria in 2009.
The Vicar General deputizes the Bishop in all the Catholic Dioceses.
And like in the Military ordinance, a Vicar General Very Reverence Father Kiswili is in charge.
As the Bishop of Kitui, Mwongela will lead the close to half a million Catholics. The Diocese covers the current administrative boundaries of Kitui County.
Two weeks ago, Mwongela paid a courtesy call to Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka.
It is not clear which leaders will be invited to the ordination ceremony owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the event has gathered a lot of excitement.
The Kitui Catholic Diocese is poised to have a new bishop after a three-year hiatus since the promotion and transfer of Archbishop Anthony Muheria to the Nyeri Catholic Arch Diocese in 2017.
52 year old Bishop Joseph Mwongeli is scheduled to be consecrated in a ceremony to be held at Saint Charles Lwanga school, his alma mater son the outskirts of Kitui town. He is currently the Kitui Diocesan Vicar General.
Mwongeli was appointed bishop on March 17, 2020 and presented to the priests of the diocese at Kitui’s Our Lady of Africa Cathedral by Archbishop Muheria on March 22, 2020, shortly before religious gatherings were stopped by the Government in sweeping measures to slow down the spread of the novel COVID-19 pandemic.
Bishop Mwongeli’s education speaks volumes about a young man who was devoted and disciplined with his studies even at a young age. Born in —, Kitui County in 19—, Bishop-elect Mwongela had his early education at Kakumi Primary School between 1976 and 1982, later proceeding to Saint Matthias Mulumba Secondary School, Matinyani from 1983-to 1986).
He went to St Charles Lwanga School, Kitui for advanced level studies between 1987and 1988. After this, he taught briefly at Matinyani Township Secondary School and then opted to join a seminary to train as a priest instead of going to University.
The future bishop studied philosophy at St Augustine’s Seminary in Bungoma between 1990 and 1991, later proceeding to St Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Nairobi for a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Theology between 1992 and 1995.
Bishop Mwongeli has ordained a deacon on June 6, 1995. After this, because of his demeanor and his ability to connect with parishioners, it was only a matter of time before he was ordained a priest.
This happened on July 7, 1996 and it was done under the hand of the late Archbishop Boniface Lele.
He debuted in his pastoral work in Migwani Parish where he served from November 1996-to July 1997, later moving to Nguni Parish where he remained in the same capacity until February 1998.
While at the two parishes, he did part-time teaching at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Mwingi where he later taught full time between February and December 1998.
The modicum matching experience came in handy for the youthful priest when in January, 1999, the late Bishop Boniface Lele seconded him to St. Patrick’s Formation House in Nakuru where he taught seminarians until -June 2001.
Bishop elect Mwongela reminisces fondly about his time there: “I was happy to assist the missionaries who had founded and evangelized our diocese with selflessness and love.”.
He left the country for the first time in the year 2000 for a meeting in Ireland, an outing that was to mark the beginning of several missions overseas that he used to solicit support for his home Diocese of Kitui.
On the completion of his tour of duty in Nakuru, he was appointed Kitui Diocesan Executive Secretary and Vocations Director from October 2001-to July 2003. “This was a good time to reintegrate me into the diocese and get experience working with our Secretariat staff,” he says.
This was followed by a five-year sojourn in Rome, Italy for post-graduate studies in theology from July 2003 to May 2008. He terms it an enriching experience that saw him mix with people from all over the world. “I learned bits and pieces of their cultures,” he recalls…
“While in Rome, I enjoyed helping in different parishes within Italy. I also used to visit Ireland, Germany, and the USA during the summer for pastoral work and research,” he recollects with nostalgia.
Mwongela briefly worked as a Chaplain at the Mater hospital in Nairobi on his return to Kenya in 2008 after which he returned to Kitui Diocese on appointment as Muthale parish priest in August 2008-until January 2014 when he was transferred by Bishop Muheria to Our Lady of Africa Cathedral.
