CARDINAL NJUE TO RELOCATE TO VATICAN AS HEAD OF THE PONTIFICAL ASSOCCIATION OF THE HOLY CHILDHOOD.. 18NOV The leadership of the Catholic Church in Kenya is set to undergo massive restructuring, The People can reveal. Sources in the Church yesterday said John Cardinal Njue, the fourth and current archbishop of Nairobi is scheduled to be appointed by Pope Francis head of the Pontifical Association of the Holy Childhood, a Catholic children’s association commonly referred is Latin as the Pontificium Opus a Sancta Infantia. In his new position, Njue will be based in Vatican City, Italy where he undertook his formative studies before he rose up the ranks in the Kenyan Catholic Church to his current position. The new changes will effectively see Bishop Maurice Mukhatia of the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru transferred to Nairobi for the eventual appointment to the position of cardinal and archbishop. The changes come in the wake of concerns by Vatican over divisions in the Kenyan Catholic church during the reign of Cardinal Njue. It is understood a week ago, the pope dispatched renown Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, once touted as a possible heir to Pope John Paul II, in an attempt to heal the perceived divisions. Vatican is also understood to be indifferent to what has been seen as Njue’s long running dalliance with the state on key issues affecting catholic faithful in Kenya and in extention the society. Catholic observers say Mukhatia can unite the church based on his robust personality unlike Njue whom critics argue has not been vocal in taking the authorities head on. His predecessor Archbishop Ndingi Mwana a’Nzeki was the most outspoken critic of the Moi regime over the ethnic violence that rocked parts of Rift Valley region shortly before the 1992 General Election. The changes will also see one Alfred Rotich, who left the Military Ordinariate of Kenya, the diocese charged with the pastoral care of the uniformed members of Armed Forces, moved to Mombasa as an archbishop to replace Boniface Lele who has been retired on health grounds. The Church is also contemplating the appointment of Fr Hieronymus Njoya currently the superior general of Consolata Missionaries to head Kakamega diocese to replace Bishop Philip Sulumeti who retired last year also on health grounds. Another priest will be appointed to head Nakuru diocese to replace Mukhatia. Archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth of the archdiocese of Kisumu is also headed for retirement. The changes are also set to see Fr Lawrence Njoroge, a lecturer and chaplain at the Jomo Kenyatta University and Agriculture and Technology, appointed Vice chancellor of the Catholic University of East Africa. Reached for comment, Cardinal Njue said he is not aware of the expected appointments but added that he understands there are positions to be filled. “Normal procedures will be followed by the Vatican and the information given to Kenyans once it reaches here,” he said. The papal representative, (Apostolic Nuncio) to Kenya, Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo is expected to visit Mombasa, where he is expected to announce the changes. With these changes, Pope Francis is seeking to not only gain control of the Vatican bureaucracy but also send the message all the way down to the local dioceses and bishops that things need to change. Pope Francis, who was elected after the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in February, recently sent questions to parishes around the globe including Kenya to engage with ordinary Catholics in preparation for next year’s synod of bishops a move experts say is unprecedented. The document sent to every nation’s conference of bishops notes that the ancient church and its members are grappling with “concerns which were unheard of until a few years ago.” So far Francis has drawn praise and criticism from catholic conservatives in equal measure for his comments about gays, women, atheists and priestly celibacy. Njue is the second cardinal in Kenya’s history, after the late Maurice Michael Cardinal Otunga who was appointed by Pope Paul VI in 1973. Otunga died in 2003. Njue has held important positions at the Kenya Episcopal Conference since his appointment as bishop 21 years ago. The Catholic Church with a faithful of over 1.2 billion people is the world’s largest Christian Church. There are an estimated 7.5 million Catholics in Kenya, approximately 33 per cent of the country’s 40 million population
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:01:03 +0000
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