Embu Diocese Gets New Bishop
The Catholic Diocese of Embu in eastern Kenya now has a new bishop, the Rt Rev Anthony Muheria, aged 40.
This episcopal appointment was made public in an announcement sent to CISA from the Apostolic Nunciature in Kenya on Saturday, November 15, 2003.
"His Holiness Pope John Paul II has appointed Rev Father Anthony Muheria, a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei, as the Bishop of the Diocese of Embu," the Nuncio's press release, dated November 14, 2003, said in part.
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Since May 18, 2002, Embu Diocese has been served by a Diocesan Administrator, Fr Gabriel Muverethi, following the transfer of its first bishop, Most Rev John Nue, to Nyeri Archdiocese as Coadjutor Archbishop.
The Catholic Diocese of Embu, comprising the administrative districts of Embu and Mbeere in Kenya's Eastern Province, was erected on June 9, 1986, split from Meru Diocese. The area was first evangelised by the Consolata Missionaries in the 1920s.
Archbishop Njue was appointed its first bishop, a position he held until March 9, 2002 when the Holy Father appointed him Coadjutor Archbishop of Nyeri Archdiocese.
In his place, a Diocesan Administrator, Fr Gabriel Muverethi, served Embu until the latest episcopal developments.
Born in Murang'a on May 27, 1963, the Rt Rev Muheria pursued his primary school education in various primary schools in Murang'a, Kirinyaga and Kiambu districts all in central Kenya.
He then joined Mang'u High School for his secondary education where he sat the 'O' level exam in 1978. He was then admitted into Strathmore College (an institution in Nairobi run by the Prelature of Opus Dei) for his 'A' level for the next two years.
He studied Civil Engineering at the University of Nairobi, graduating with an honours degree in Civil Engineering in 1984. He was immediately employed as a graduate engineer by a firm of consulting engineers in Kenya. He worked for four years in design and supervision of structural works until 1989.
In 1989, the Rt Rev Muheria joined the International Seminary of the Holy Cross, while attending his Theological studies in the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, which is entrusted by the Holy See to the Prelature of Opus Dei.
He was ordained priest on June 13, 1993, at the Basilica of the Saint Eugene in Rome. For the next two years, he was involved in formation within the Seminary of the Holy Cross.
Bishop-Elect Muheria completed his Doctoral studies in Sacramental Theology in June 1995, and returned to Kenya where he has been mainly involved in the pastoral work within the Prelature of Opus Dei, in which he is incardinated.
