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Kenya: Church calls back dissident priests

Rev. Godfrey Shiundu, who founded the Ecumenical Church of Christ, was called to come back to the Catholic Church by Cardinal John Njue. He would be welcomed as a "Christian".

Thursday, June 04, 2009

By Spero News

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The Catholic Church in Kenya has termed as inconsequential the ordinations of a bishop, priests and several deacons by Ecumenical Church of Christ, formerly the Reformed Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal John Njue, the chair of the Kenya Episcopal conference has welcomed its followers back to the Catholic Church while Bishop Maurice Crawley of Kitale has asked Christians to keep off the sect’s ceremonies.

Speaking after Pentecost mass on Sunday, Cardinal John Njue, welcomed Rev. Godfrey Shiundu and his followers back to the church “but only as Christians as they had broken the vows they took and went against Canon Law’.

“The vow of celibacy taken by Catholic priests is not mandatory, that is why people are given more than years formation to discern their vocation,” the Cardinal said, “if one feels they cannot remain celibate, they should serve the church in other capacities but not behave like they want to fight,”

The sect, opposed to mandatory priestly celibacy in the Catholic Church held its first ordinations in Western Kenya at the weekend where Godfrey Shiundu, an excommunicated Catholic priest was installed bishop of the Kenya branch.

In February last year, Bishop Maurice Crowley of Kitale wrote to all bishops of Kenya alerting them of a new sect headed by Shiundu, which was "attracting some attention from Catholics in Kitale and neighboring dioceses."

The sect was "attracting other suspended priests and holding ceremonies at which the statutes of the Catholic Church are being repudiated," he said.

The sect claims to have more than 5,000 followers in Kenya including former priests in the Catholic dioceses of Nakuru, Eldoret and Homabay.

The Catholic Church is the biggest religious denomination in Kenya with almost 10 million believers.

Filed under religion, catholic, christianity, africa, kenya, ecumenism

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