Manasses Kuria (29 July 1929, in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

– 19 September 2005, in Nairobi) was a Kenyan Anglican archbishop. He was the second African archbishop and bishop of Nairobi in the

Anglican Church of Kenya The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) is a province of the Anglican Communion, and it is composed by 41 dioceses. The current Primate and Archbishop of Kenya is Jackson Ole Sapit. The Anglican Church of Kenya claims 5 million total members. Accordin ...

Early life

Kuria was brought up by his parents at Kabuku in

Limuru Limuru is a town in central Kenya. It is also the name of a parliamentary constituency and an administrative division. The population of the town, as of 2004, was about 4,800. In a census taken in 2019 the population had increased to 159,314. Loc ...

Kiambu District Kiambu County is a county in the former Central Province of Kenya. Its capital is Kiambu and its largest town is Thika. Kiambu County is the second most populous after Nairobi County. Kiambu County borders Nairobi and Kajiado Counties to the So ...

. He first attended St. Paul's School in Limuru in 1933; in 1935 he went to Ngecha School before going to Kabete Mission School in 1938, where he took the Kenya African Preliminary Examination in 1940. At the age of 16 Kuria began a career in teaching; between 1945 and 1954 he taught at St. Peter's Wangige school, a mission school, Ngecha Junior High School and Rironi Orthodox School.

Ecclesiastical career

After a profound spiritual experience in 1950, Kuria resigned from teaching and took up full-time church work. In January 1954, he enrolled in

St. Paul's University, Limuru St. Paul's University, is a private Christianity, Christian ecumenical University with its main campus in Limuru, Kiambu County Kenya. The students and staff of the University come from all over the world. Accreditation It acquired the status o ...

. Kuria served as a special chaplain and then as an archdeacon, stationed in

Eldoret Eldoret is a principal town in the Rift Valley region of Kenya and serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. The town was referred to by white settlers as Farm 64, 64 and colloquially by locals as 'Sisibo'. As per the 2019 Kenya Population ...

. On April 25, 1970, he was consecrated assistant bishop of the diocese of

Nakuru Nakuru is a city in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya, Rift Valley region of Kenya. It is the capital of Nakuru County, and was formerly the capital of Rift Valley Province. As of 2019, Nakuru had an urban and rural population of 570,674 inhabitant ...

, by Archbishop

Leonard Beecher Leonard James Beecher (21 May 190616 December 1987) was an English-born Anglican archbishop. He was the first archbishop of the Province of East Africa, comprising Kenya and Tanzania, from 1960 to 1970. Education and training He was educated at ...

. In January 1976, he was enthroned Bishop of the diocese of Nakuru by Archbishop

Festo Olang' Festo Habakkuk Olang’,was born in Ebusakami Esabalu village about 1914 In 1925 he began attending Kisumu Primary School, then called Komulo School. In 1927, he sat for the Common Entrance Examination at Maseno School and was admitted in 1928. He s ...

. On June 29, 1980, Kuria, at the age of 51, became the second African Anglican archbishop of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. By the time he retired in 1994, the number of dioceses in Kenya had increased from seven to twenty. After retirement, he started Jehovah Jireh Children homes and schools for the education and pastoral care of poor street children. Kuria's wife, Mary, whom he had married in 1947, died on July 6, 2002 at the age of 73. Kuria died on 19 September 2005, aged 76, in

after suffering a heart attack. Both of them were cremated at death, which was and still is unusual in their society. They are buried at St. Johns Anglican Church, Kabuku in

. Bishop Kuria's brother called Amon Mbugua was a long-time lay reader at St. John's in Kabuku.Kenya: Manasses Kuria To Be Cremated in Lang'ata, The Standard, 20 September 2005
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuria, Manasses 1929 births 2005 deaths Anglican archbishops of Kenya 20th-century Anglican bishops of the Anglican Church of Kenya 20th-century Anglican archbishops St. Paul's University, Limuru alumni Anglican bishops of Nakuru