Father Josiah K’Okal, a Kenyan priest attached to Consolata Missionaries and based in Venezuela, has been buried inside the Parish Church of St. Joseph in Tucupita, Venezuela.
His solemn interment was attended by hundreds of the Warao people, a community in Venezuela where Father K’Okal, 54, evangelized.
Media exclusively obtained by BRK shows a somber mood from when the priest’s remains were removed from Dr. Luis Razetti Hospital Morgue, followed by a burial procession and final mass, also attended by Consolatian priests who came from different parts of Venezuela and other countries.
The priest had for years evangelized to the Waraos, learnt their language, educated and defended the rights of the indigenous people, and according to the official Consolata Missionaries website, he was considered part of the community.
He had been named ‘Bare Mekoro’, meaning ‘Wise Father Black’ in Warao language.
The lifeless body of Fr. K’Okal who hails from Gem, Akala in Kenya’s Siaya County, was discovered hanging from a tree in a forest area in Guara, Monagas state, on 2 January, a day after being reported missing.
Father K’Okal arrived in Venezuela in 1997, where he obtained Venezuelan nationality for his dedication and more than 20 years of service.
Recently, he dedicated his missionary life to serving the Warao indigenous people and the poorest people of the Amacuro Delta in Nabasanuka and Tucupita on the banks of the Orinoco River.
His family in Kenya has had at least two masses to remember the life of Father K’Okal.
Also Read: Shock as Kenyan priest found dead in a forest in Venezuela.
