Bishop William F. Medley meets with family members of Fr. John Ighacho in Mombasa, Kenya, during his September pastoral visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya. COURTESY OF FR. EMMANUEL UDOH
Universality of our Church seen during visits to seven home countries of our international priests
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
In October I achieved a goal I set for myself more than six years ago. With my recently-completed 20-day pilgrimage to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya, I have now visited the seven nations from which our international priests now serving in our diocese have come.
In 2018 I observed that the Diocese of Owensboro, and for that matter scores of dioceses across the United States, had growing numbers of international priests serving parishes and schools. Bishop John J. McRaith saw the blessing and opportunity that inviting priests from different nations and cultures might bring to western Kentucky. Clearly, he was observing a national trend of declining numbers of native-born priests in the United States, but I know he also recognized the promise of our local Church better reflecting the universality of the Church.
In 2018 I visited Mexico and had opportunities to meet and visit with the families of Fr. Carmelo Jimenez and Fr. Julio Barrera. This visit afforded me an opportunity to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of the great Marian shrines in the world, and to better grasp the spirituality of the vast number of Hispanic migrants coming to Kentucky.
In January of 2020 I visited India and Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Over the previous 15 years, many Indian priests had come to our diocese, most initially members of the religious congregation the Heralds of Good News. In India I visited in the homes and met the families of our priests. My travels there were confined to the southwestern state of Kerala. Though still a tiny minority, Kerala is home to a greater percentage of Catholics than other Indian states.
Over the previous decade, communities of Myanmar (Burmese) refugees had settled in Kentucky and parishes in Bowling Green and Owensboro, were striving to serve the Catholics among them. Fr. Timothy Ling had served our diocese as a visitor and opened the door to two seminarians coming to our diocese, Stephen Van Lal Than and Martin Ma Na Ling. I visited with their families and met the bishop who made it possible for them to come to Kentucky. Fr. Stephen was ordained to the priesthood in 2020 and Fr. Martin in 2022.
It was in our return to the U.S. in February of 2020 that I began to learn of the emerging pandemic and found myself among only a handful of people not wearing masks in the airport in Doha where we were changing flights. (How things quickly changed not long after!)
Guatemala was my destination in 2022 and there I visited the family of Fr. Basilio Az Cuc. In planning this journey, I had hoped to again meet Fr. Basilio’s mother, who had come to Owensboro for his ordination in 2016. Sadly, she passed away in the year before my visit, but I met Fr. Basilio’s siblings and dozens of his nieces and nephews.
Ambitiously, I thought that I might be able to encompass three African nations in one journey. But the logistics of travel, visas, and complications of crossing multiple national borders proved to be too much.
So in 2023 I visited Nigeria and met the families of Frs. Uwem Enoh, Emmanuel Udoh, John Okoro, Julian Ibemere and Jude Okeoma. Nigeria is a very large country (one and a half the size of Texas) and my travels involved several flights with the country. Also, there I visited the foundation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Lagos. Among the fruits of this visit will be the arrival of a couple of additional Nigerian priests to Kentucky in the year to come.
So, this brings me to my most recent pilgrimage. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, I concelebrated Mass in the cathedral in Kinshasa and then shared a lunch with the family of Fr. Jean Rene Kalombo.
In Kenya I traveled across a large country again. In Mombasa, in the east on the Indian Ocean, I met the archbishop and several priests of the archdiocese. There I shared meals with the families of Fr. John Ighacho and Fr. Chrispin Oneko.
Traveling to the west I visited Kisumu where I celebrated Sunday Mass (lasting four hours) in the home parish of Fr. Michael Charles Abiero. Sadly, Fr. Michael Charles’ mother had died only a few days before my arrival, but he invited me to visit her home and to bless the gravesite where she would be buried. Also, in Kisumu we met and shared a meal with additional relatives of Fr. Chrispin.
Returning to Nairobi, the capital and largest city, I was invited by the archbishop to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation in a relatively new parish. Twelve hundred people attended the Mass, and I confirmed more than 320, mostly children and youth.
Now I have visited the seven nations that now are providing priests to our local Church. I understand even better the ideals that Bishop McRaith was pursuing in inviting the most recent international priests to the Diocese of Owensboro.
May God bless you always!
Bishop William F. Medley
Diocese of Owensboro
Most Reverend William F. Medley
Diocese of Owensboro
Originally printed in the November 2024 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
