Paul Kariuki Njiru is a Roman Catholic prelate in Kenya, who was installed as the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wote, Kenya on 30 September 2023. Prior to his appointment as Bishop of Wote, he served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Embu, Kenya from 25 July 2009 until 22 July 2023. He was appointed bishop on 9 May 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI.[1]
He was born on 11 March 1963 in Kathunguri, Embu County, in the Diocese of Embu. He studied at St. Joseph's Seminary, Molo and then at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Nairobi.[1]
He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Embu on 3 January 1993. As a parish priest, he worked in Kairuri Parish and served as a diocesan youth chaplain. He was the education secretary for Catholic schools in Embu Diocese.[1][2]
Bishop of Embu
On 9 May 2009 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Embu. He was ordained and installed on 25 July 2009 by CardinalJohn Cardinal Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi assisted by Peter Joseph Kairo, Archbishop of Nyeri, and Anthony Muheria, Bishop of Kitui.[1]
He served as the chairman of the Catholic Health Commission of Kenya, a commission formed by the Kenyan Bishops' Conference. As chairman, he oversaw the 58 hospitals, 83 health centers, 311 dispensaries, and 17 medical training institutions owned and operated by the Catholic Church in Keny'a.[3]
Bishop of Wote
On 22 July 2023 Pope Francis appointed him as the founder bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wote, that was established from splitting the Diocese of Machakos.[1][4][5] He was installed as the new bishop on 30 September 2023. At his installation ceremony he promised to "work together with all leaders in Wote Diocese to find solutions to pressing issues".[6]
When in December 2023, Pope Francis issued a statement allowing priests to bless same-sex unions, Bishop Njiru prohibited such blessings in Wote Diocese.[7]
Alleged plagiarism
In a 2024 book about plagiarism at the Gregorian University, researchers Michael Dougherty and Alkuin Schachenmayr argued that Njiru's dissertation was plagiarized, showing that very many passages were copied from uncredited authors like cardinals Leo Joseph Suenens and Albert Vanhoye.[8]
Illness
In 2024 Njiru fell ill. The pope appointed Norman King'oo Wambua, Bishop of Machakos, as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Wote, with "full authority over all diocesan matters," effective 28 September 2024.[9] That administratorship ended on 5 July 2025, when Pope Leo XIV appointed Bishop Simon Peter Kamomoe, previously an auxiliary bishop in Nairobi as auxiliary bishop at Wote, to work with Bishop Kariuki Njiru. He is reported to have suffered a stroke in the summer of 2024. Since then he has been unable to speak.[10]
Publications
Charisms and the Holy Spirit's Activity in the Body of Christ: An Exegetical-Theological Study of 1 Corinthians 12,4–11 and Romans 12,6–8 (Doctoral dissertation) (Rome: Ed. Pontificia Univ. Gregoriana, 2002).
1 2 Njiru, Paul Kariuki (2002). Charisms and the Holy Spirit's Activity in the Body of Christ: An Exegetical-Theological Study of 1 Corinthians 12,4–11 and Romans 12,6–8. Rome: Ed. Pontificia Univ. Gregoriana. pp.back cover text.
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