Pope Francis appoints Rev. Fr. John Mbinda as the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lodwar.
The appointment was published in L’Osservatore Romano in Rome on 4th April 2022.
Mbinda replaces Bishop Dominic Kimengich who moved to the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret following the demise of Bishop Cornelius Korir.
The appointment was also confirmed in an official letter to the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) by the Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya and South Sudan, His Excellency Archbishop Bert Van Megen.
Prior to his appointment, Bishop-elect Mbinda served as Assistant Parish Priest of Our Lady of Grace Catholic Parish in Chiswick, Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster Archdiocese in the United Kingdom, and is currently assisting at St. Edward Parish in Chiswick, a position he will hold until April 1st, 2022.
On May 5, 1973, he was born in Kanzalu Parish, in the Catholic Diocese of Machakos.
He entered the Congregation in 1993 at Spiritan Missionary Seminary in Arusha, Tanzania, then Novitiate in 1996 before taking his first religious vows in Magamba, Lushoto, Tanzania in 1997.
In 1997, Bishop-elect Mbinda enrolled at Tangaza University College to study theology.
He was ordained a deacon in 2001 and a priest on May 18, 2002, after taking his final vows. As a new priest, he was assigned to Kositei Parish in the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru, where he worked for seven years among the Pokot people.
He then travelled to Ireland to complete his Master's Degree in Development Studies.
When he returned to Kenya in 2009, he was appointed Parish Priest of St. Austin's Parish in the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi, a position he held for six years.
In January 2015, he was elected Provincial Superior of the Spiritans for Kenya and South Sudan, a position he held for two terms until January 2021.
He then travelled to the United Kingdom, where he ministered at St. Chad RC Church in South Norwood, Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, from September 2021 to March 31, 2022.