Drama as Legio faithful kneel, kiss pope's hand in show of respect at airport

Bishops of Legio Maria welcome their Pope, Raphael Titus, at Kisumu International airport yesterday. The Pope is in the lakeside town to conduct prayers and meetings. [Denish Ochieng, Standard

Followers of Legio Maria sect caused a stir in Kisumu when they turned up to welcome their fourth spiritual leader, Pope Raphael Titus, yesterday.

There was pomp, song and dance at the Kisumu International Airport as the sect leaders, including Kisumu Archbishop Moses Aduol, who is also a senior police officer, joined a procession.

Pope Titus or Papa Tito, as some faithful call him, returned from a one-month religious pilgrimage in East Africa.

Papa Tito is among African revered spiritual leaders of the Legio Maria Africa Church Mission.

He will be in Kisumu for three days "to pray for the sick and the vulnerable".

Most of the sect followers knelt at his feet, touched or kissed his hands as a gesture of respect and humility to the ageing pope.

The kissing of the spiritual leader's hands generated a lot of talk in public discourse in Kisumu, although to church leaders it was just a symbolic cultural practice.

Prelates kneel

Locals who saw Bishop Oduol, Vicar of the church John Onyango and Cardinal Maurice Akello kneel before the pope said the act was out of the ordinary.

“In our culture, the kissing of a revered leader’s feet and hands is unheard of,” said Elvis Owino.

Legio Maria has about 3 million followers and emphasises the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It incorporates such practices as glossolalia (speaking in tongues).

Taxi operators at the airport, too, were mesmerised by the so-called respect the Legio Maria followers bequeathed their leader.

Legio Maria was founded in 1963 by two Roman Catholics - Simeo Ondeto, who died in 1992, and a catechist Gaundencia Aoko. Both claimed to have undergone prophetic experiences that gave them divine authority.