Roman Catholic Bishop; Chairman, Interreligious Council of Kenya

The Rt. Reverend Willybard Lagho was ordained a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Mombasa on 25 April 1987. He taught in St Mary’s Junior Seminary in Kwale County, Kenya, from 1990 to 1992 before beginning a master’s degree in religious studies at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi. Rev. Lagho also studied Arabic and Islamic studies at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome. Beginning in January 2000, he taught Islamology at St. Mathias Mulumba Seminary in Eldoret County; he later taught Introduction to Islam and Interreligious Dialogue at St. Augustine’s Seminary in Bungoma County. Rev. Lagho served as the rector of St. Augustine’s Senior Seminary from 2001 to 2006. While there, he was selected by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in Rome to join other panelists in developing a curriculum on interreligious dialogue for Catholic, English-speaking higher-education institutions and universities in Africa. In 2008 he began serving as a consultor for the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. He is currently a board member of the Coast Interfaith Council of Clerics–Mombasa after serving as chairman of that council for six years.