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Meet the Bishop who married a nun

 Bishop Godfrey Shiundu of the reformed Catholic Church,  (Inset )The Bishop Kissing a former nun, now his wife Stella Nangila during their wedding in May 2006.  Picture:Robert Amalemba/Standard./Courtesy

 

A break-away faction of the Catholic Church has complained of being sidelined during the Papal visit.

The Economical Catholic Church of Christ (Reformed Catholic Church) through its African pointman Bishop Godfrey Silvester Shiundu told The Nairobian that they had prepared a memorandum for the Pope that could bring monumental changes in the world’s oldest church had been given a hearing.

 “We tried to be involved in the papal visit arrangements but our brothers from the Roman Catholic Church frustrated our efforts,” says Bishop Shiundu who is currently the number two to American Archbishop Karly Raymond Rodig.

“We have not given up though. Together with other churches we have written to the pope through the office of Apostolic Nuncio’s. In fact, we are optimistic he will listen to us because he has been friendly other religions,” he said on phone interview from South Africa where he is on a mission to open more branches.

“I had initially wrote to John Cardinal Njue seeking to be involved. I’m still waiting for a reply,” added Shiundu who runs St Lawrence RCC just 900 metres from Kitale Catholic diocese.

“We have cautioned our members who are over 30,000 and 54 priests in Kenya to be wary of our brothers whose main issue with us is celibacy.”  

Asked on why he stopped being celibate Shiundu minced no words. “When you on a journey and encounter a problem, you change tact. Life is not static. It’s dynamic,” he enthused.

The bishop is however optimistic that Pope Francis will accommodate his views and possibly reinstate the ‘prodigal priests’ back to the flock.

He added that he was ‘well known’ to the Pope.

On marrying a nun he explained that he would tell Pope Francis that ‘his children have been thrown away and need to be brought back to the fold.

“That will be our message to the Pope,” said Shiundu pointing a finger at some Catholic clerics for not being mercificy like the Pope.

“Many priests who defected live in abject poverty yet their mother church stares in disgust at them,” complained Shiundu.

He added that their agenda will include child baptism, partaking on Holy Communion and marriage, which are controversial and needed sober debate. 

Will the former Catholic priest who had served for two decades take a lesser office should the Pope reinstate him?

“Once consecrated a Bishop that is all, should the Pope offer us an olive branch, I think he will put me to work with another Bishop before giving me a dioceses to run,” said Shiundu who has already established and consecrated 12 priests to lead revival in South Africa.

Other countries in Africa with RCC are Tanzania and Nigeria. Kenya will open a new branch in Kericho.

Shiundu’s deputy, Father Felix Malo who left the Roman Catholic Church in 2005 after serving for eight years as a seminarian claiming that he could not continue “lying to himself” about celibacy has two children, a daughter aged 6 and a son aged 3. He ministers at Ikonyero RCC-Kakamega.

“We are not the vilest of sinners by choosing to have a wife as helper. If anything we worship in every aspect as any other Catholics and are Catholic by all rights. There is no need for our brothers blocking us from accessing the pope. Who knows, the pretentious brothers could slide to our side one day. Celibacy is no joke,” said Fr Malo.

The order of mass of the Roman Catholic is like the RCC which The Nairobian attended at Ikonyoro and Kakamega town last Sunday.

They wear vestments similar to those worn by Roman catholic priests, mention Pope Francis in the preface of mass and sing same hymns.

Celibacy is where they part ways.

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