Kenyan bishop rekindles friendship with St. Nicholas priest through visit to Valley

YOUNGSTOWN

The sharing of cultures and ideas with a bridge of faith is something a man of the cloth can only hope to initiate, and something a local priest can happily experience with an old friend.

Bishop Neofitos Kongai of Nyeri and Mount Kenya in Kenya visited his friend and former classmate, the Rev. Joe DiStefano, on Friday to catch up and to speak to the members of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.

“When we cross over and share and experience the faith, then we really see the beauty of both of those that is all over the world,” the bishop said.

After a pot luck dinner, they had a service and welcomed Bishop Kongai to their congregation.

Bishop Kongai, the second native-born Kenyan bishop, visited the Mahoning Valley on Friday on Father DiStefano’s invitation for a reunion. The two became friends and classmates attending the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline Mass., in 2001.

Father DiStefano said he also partly owes Bishop Kongai for helping to introduce him to his wife, Stephanie.

During their time at the seminary, their lessons consisted of church history, theology, doctrines and pastoral classes.

“He is someone who is extremely humble, but he has a very strong faith,” Father DiStefano said. “I think he’s a holy person, and I think history will bear that out.”

Read more about the bishop in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.