Επιμνημόσυνες δεήσεις για τον 47χρονο Επίσκοπο Κισούμου και Δυτικής Κένυας Αθανασίου | For Bishop Athanasius of Kisumu and Western Kenya

Κηδευτική και επιμνημόσυνη Δέηση για τον πρόωρα εκδημήσαντα προς Κύριον Επίσκοπο Κισούμου και Δυτικής Κένυας Αθανασίου (Ακούντα) πραγματοποιήθηκε στις 14 Ιανουαρίου 2019 στον Ελληνορθόδοξο Ναό των Αγίων Κωνσταντίνου και Ελένης Webster Μασαχουσέτης. Δεν υπάρχει δυνατότητα επιστροφής της σορού του στην αφρικανική γη, οπότε παραμένει στον τόπο αυτόν της Αμερικής, όπου μετέβη, προ εικοσαετίας, έλαβε υψηλή θεολογική μόρφωση και απέκτησε ισχυρούς πνευματικούς δεσμούς.

Υπενθυμίζουμε ότι ο μακαριστός Επίσκοπος Αθανάσιος του Πατριαρχείου Αλεξανδρείας μετέστη προς Κύριον, σε ηλικία 47 ετών, στις 4 Ιανουαρίου του νέου έτους, μετά από μακρά μηνιαία και πλέον αδιέξοδη νοσηλεία του στην εντατική, εξαιτίας ξαφνικής και καλπάζουσας ασθένειας.

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Εν τω μεταξύ, στην Καμπάλα, πρωτεύουσα της Ουγκάντα και μάλιστα στον Καθεδρικό Ναό του Αγίου Νικολάου, πραγματοποιήθηκε την περασμένη Κυριακή, 13 Ιανουαρίου 2019, Επιμνημόσυνη Δέηση, προεστώτος του Αφρικανού Μητροπολίτου Καμπάλας κ. Ιωνά, για την ανάπαυση της μακαρίας ψυχής του Επισκόπου Κισούμου και Δυτικής Κένυας Αθανασίου (Ακούντα).

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Biography of Bishop Athanasius of Kisumu and Western Kenya

His Grace Bishop Athanasius Akunda was born Amos Masaba Akunda in Western Kenya in 1971. He was the eldest of six children, whose father, Joseph, is a theologian who studied at St. Tikhon's Theological Seminary. He became Orthodox at the age of eight after his parents converted to Orthodox Christianity. Following secondary school, he completed the Makarios III Patriarchal Seminary in Nairobi, then graduated with a Masters of Divinity at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA. He completed studies and received a Doctor of Theology from UNISA State University of South Africa. He also completed a Diploma and Post Graduate Diploma in Education Management at the India Institute of Management, and a Certificate in teaching English as a foreign language at the Cambridge Institute of English Language in Boston.

As a layman he taught African Literature, Christian Religious Education, Social Education and Ethics at Ebukhaya High School, Ebusiloli High School and Ngoro Orthodox High School in Kenya. He held the position of Catechist in Western Kenya, and Secretary in the office of the Archbishopric of Kenya. He was ordained a Deacon on April 12, 1998 by Metropolitan Seraphim of Zimbabwe, and Presbyter on July 25, 2002 by the same hierarch as Metropolitan of Johannesburg and Pretoria. He was consecrated as Archimandrite on January 18, 2010 by Metropolitan Damaskinos of Johannesburg and Pretoria.

In South Africa, he served as a missionary priest and helped create the first interracial Orthodox churches in the country. He served as the parish priest at St. Seraphim in Soshanguve, at St. Raphael, Irene and Nicholas in Yeoville, Johannesburg, while simultaneously serving as Dean and Lecturer at Petros VII Seminary. He then served as the parish priest at St. Nicholas of Japan Church from 2009 to 2015. Other positions he served in South Africa included the Director of Missions from 2003 to 2008, and Vicar in charge of missions from 2010-2015. During these years he represented the Patriarchate of Alexandria at the World Council of Churches and the All African Conference of Churches.

In May 2015, His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria asked Archimandrite Athanasius to leave South Africa after serving there as a missionary for 13 years, and return to his native country of Kenya in order to serve at the Makarios III Patriarchal Seminary in Nairobi. He was appointed as the Director of Missions and Lecturer in Cultural Anthropology, Patrology and Teleturgics. On November 24, 2015, he was elected by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria as Bishop of the newly established Diocese of Kisumu and Western Kenya. He was ordained by His Beatitude on December 6, 2015 and has spent the past three years developing his new diocese.

His Grace Athanasius passed away on January 4, 2019 at 47 years old.