Manasses Kuria
{{Short description|Kenyan archbishop (1929–2005)}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2020}}{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Archbishop
| honorific-prefix = The Most Reverend
| name = Manasses Kuria
| title = Archbishop of Kenya,
Bishop of Nairobi
| image = File:Manasses_Kuria.png
| alt =
| caption = Manasses Kuria, Second Archbishop of Kenya
| church = Anglican Church of Kenya
| archdiocese =
| diocese =
| see =
| term = 1980–1994
| predecessor = Festo Olang'
| successor = David Gitari
| ordination =
| ordinated_by =
| consecration = 25 April 1970
| consecrated_by = Leonard Beecher
| rank =
| birth_date = 29 July 1929
| birth_place = Nairobi, Colony of Kenya
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2005|9|19|1929|7|29}}
| death_place = Nairobi, Republic of Kenya
| previous_post = Nakuru (asst.); II Nakuru
}}
Manasses Kuria (29 July 1929, in Nairobi – 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.{{Cite journal|date=2016-01-05|title=US election reopens financial reform debate|journal=Emerald Expert Briefings|doi=10.1108/oxan-db207643|issn=2633-304X}}{{Cite web|title=History – ACK NAIROBI DIOCESE|url=https://acknairobidiocese.org/history/|language=en|access-date=2020-05-24}}
Early life
Kuria was brought up by his parents at Kabuku in Limuru, Kiambu District. 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. {{Cite book|last=Musalia|first=Martha Wangari|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dMhvDaRQ_KoC|title=Archbishop Manasses Kuria: A Biography : Strong in the Storms|date=2001|publisher=WordAlive Publishers|isbn=978-9966-9710-1-2|language=en}}
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.{{Cite web|title=Students.com|url=https://students.com/Manasses%20Kuria|website=students.com|access-date=2020-05-24}}
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.
Kuria served as a special chaplain and then as an archdeacon, stationed in Eldoret. On April 25, 1970, he was consecrated assistant bishop of the diocese of Nakuru, by Archbishop Leonard Beecher. In January 1976, he was enthroned Bishop of the diocese of Nakuru by Archbishop Festo Olang'.
On June 29, 1980, Kuria, at the age of 51, became the second African Anglican archbishop of Kenya. 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 Nairobi after suffering a heart attack. Both of them were cremated at death, which was and still is unusual in their society.{{cite web | author = Eliud Miring'uh | url = https://allafrica.com/stories/200207090632.html | title = Kenya: Shock As Archbishop Manasses Kuria Cremates Wife | date = July 9, 2002 | language = en | access-date = February 27, 2020 | publisher = AllAfrica.com | archive-url = https://archive.today/20030101163851/https://allafrica.com/stories/200207090632.html | archive-date = January 1, 2003 | url-status = live}}{{cite web | url = https://allafrica.com/stories/200509200265.html | title = Kenya: Manasses Kuria to Be Cremated in Lang'ata |date = September 20, 2005 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20131002070909/https://allafrica.com/stories/200509200265.html | archive-date = October 2, 2013 | url-status = live}} They are buried at St. Johns Anglican Church, Kabuku in Limuru. Bishop Kuria's brother called Amon Mbugua was a long-time lay reader at St. John's in Kabuku.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dacb.org/stories/kenya/kuria_manasses.html |title=Manasses Kuria at Dictionary of African Christian Biography |access-date=2007-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907033153/http://www.dacb.org/stories/kenya/kuria_manasses.html |archive-date=2016-09-07 |url-status=dead }}[http://allafrica.com/stories/200509200265.html Kenya: Manasses Kuria To Be Cremated in Lang'ata, The Standard, 20 September 2005]
References
{{reflist}}
See also
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160907033153/http://www.dacb.org/stories/kenya/kuria_manasses.html Manasses Kuria at Dictionary of African Christian Biography]
{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ac}}
{{s-bef| before= Festo Olang' | rows=2}}
{{s-ttl | title= Archbishop of Kenya| years=1980–1994}}
{{s-aft| after= David Gitari | rows=2}}
{{s-ttl | title= Bishop of Nairobi| years=1980–1994}}
{{s-bef| before= Neville Langford-Smith}}
{{s-ttl | title= Bishop of Nakuru| years=1976–1980}}
{{s-aft | after= Ladan Kamau}}
{{s-end}}
{{Anglican bishops of Mombasa}}
{{Primates and Archbishops of All Kenya}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuria, Manasses}}
Category:Anglican archbishops of Kenya
Category:20th-century Anglican bishops of the Anglican Church of Kenya
Category:20th-century Anglican archbishops