By Anchor Writers
The Catholic Diocese of Wote is undergoing an abrupt leadership transition after its founding bishop, Paul Kariuki Njiru, resigned on health grounds.
Bishop Kariuki cuts short a tenure that barely took root. He tendered his resignation to Pope Leo XIV.
The Vatican confirmed that the Pope had accepted the resignation on March 25, 2026, bringing to a close Bishop Kariuki’s stint as the first bishop of the diocese. The Wote See was only established in 2023. He now assumes the title of Bishop Emeritus—the first in Wote’s short history.
In the same announcement, Simon Peter Kamomoe was appointed Apostolic Administrator, effectively placing him in charge of the diocese on an interim basis pending the appointment of a substantive bishop. He could still be confirmed to the role.
The development comes within days of a separate episcopal transition in the neighbouring Catholic Diocese of Machakos, where Kitui Bishop Joseph Maluki Mwongela was formally received to succeed Bishop Norman, marking a period of rapid leadership changes across the Catholic Church in the counties of Machakos, Kitui and Makueni. For Wote, however, the moment is less ceremonial and more sobering.
Bishop Kariuki’s exit follows a prolonged battle with ill health that had increasingly kept him away from active duty. He reportedly suffered a stroke in recent years and had periods of incapacitation, raising questions about the sustainability of his leadership in a diocese still in its formative phase.
Under Church law, bishops are allowed to resign if they become unable to adequately perform their responsibilities due to age or failing health.Kariuki’s appointment to Wote in July 2023 by Pope Francis was seen as both a reward for his long service and a strategic choice to steady a new diocese carved out of Machakos.
He was installed later that year, tasked with building administrative, pastoral and institutional structures from scratch.Before that, he had served for 14 years as bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Embu, having been appointed in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI.His clerical journey began with priestly ordination in 1993 after training in seminaries in Nairobi.
Over the years, he held roles as a parish priest, youth chaplain and education secretary—positions that anchored his reputation as both an administrator and pastoral leader.But in Wote, his tenure will likely be remembered as one defined as much by its symbolic significance as by its limitations.
As the first bishop, he carried the burden of setting direction and identity for a new ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Yet his declining health meant that much of that responsibility remained incomplete or delegated.
The appointment of Bishop Kamomoe now places the diocese in a holding pattern.As Apostolic Administrator, he is expected to maintain continuity, oversee day-to-day operations and prepare the ground for a permanent appointment. Whether he transitions from caretaker to substantive bishop will depend on Rome.
For the Catholic faithful in Wote, the transition presents a mix of uncertainty and reflection—on a founding leadership that ended too soon, and on a diocese still searching for stability just as it begins to define itself.
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