Bishop dares Cardinal Njue to clean out clergy on secretly fathering children

An excommunicated Roman Catholic female preacher has dared the church’s leadership, starting with John Cardinal Njue to come clean about rampant cases of supposedly celibate priests secretly fathering children.

However, the vice chairman of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), Bishop Philip Anyolo on behalf of the cardinal, refuted the claims as unfounded.

Bishop Anyolo said such claims cannot be true and that it would be advisable to talk to Cardinal Njue in person. Cardinal Njue did not respond to our text message to call and comment on the issue.

Bishop Florence Kariuki claims that she was expelled from the church because of her persistence in challenging priests to lead a holy life, away from their clandestine amorous lifestyles, marked with fatherless children and broken marriages.

“Some of the priests were promiscuous, a habit I was against. They should come out and admit that they have children instead of living in deceit, having fathered children with people’s wives and young women,” charged Bishop Kariuki.

She was a member of the Kanyinya Catholic Church, Mwenja Parish, Nyeri Archdiocese when she was excommunicated in 2004, alongside nine other women.

The expulsion was communicated by the then parish Bishop Josephat Mwangi.

Cardinal Njue was by then Auxiliary Bishop in Nyeri. He tried to reconcile the quarreling parties but the priests prevailed, expelling Kariuki’s faction that was allegedly hell-bent on exposing immorality in the parish.

Bishop Kariuki claims Cardinal Njue is part of the general rot in the church because he is reluctant to openly talk about the problem, perhaps for fear that revelations would expose top clerics and shake the church to the core.

“Cardinal Njue, the church belongs to the Holy Spirit. Let those in the church be set free. Yes, priests have children, including those who hold very senior positions in the church. They should come out openly and admit that they have children” said Kariuki.

She however could not state with certainty allegations that Cardinal Njue is one of the senior priests who have children, insisting that it was an open secret which few people dared discuss in public.

When confronted with the allegations against Cardinal Njue, the church’s spokesman Fr Vincent Wambugu who is also the Secretary General of Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) promised to respond. “Will talk,” read his text message.

Asked about the damning allegations on Cardinal Njue, Fr Wambugu called The Nairobian and said: “In my opinion, that is completely unfair and hurting millions of faithfuls, not only in Kenya, but overseas.”

The 55-year-old Bishop Kariuki is now the head of Water of Life Church with branches in Kiambu, Nairobi and Murang’a. She also runs the Emmanuel Home for Orphans and Destitute Children.

Before her excommunication, Bishop Kariuki was actively involved in the affairs of her local church. She was secretary of the Kanyinya church, patron of the youth, chair lady of Sacred Heart of Jesus and secretary of the Small Christian Community – a cell group of faithfuls living in the same vicinity.

Kariuki challenged the Catholic leadership to own-up to their sins and embrace marriage instead of remaining hypocritical in a modern world where it was no longer possible to keep secrets for long.

“It is not wrong to be married because the Bible is not against marriage. The Roman Catholic has put its congregation in darkness, they might think I am against them. They can hide, but God knows they have children,” says the mother of four girls and wife of the late John Kariuki who died in 2009.

The bishop disclosed how she confronted a priest after scores of foetuses were discovered in the drainage system of a convent. “I was very angry at him because he (the priest) was responsible. Unfortunately, the matter was swept under the carpet,” she claimed.

Bishop Kariuki said she had met and even tried counselling victims of broken marriages as a result of promiscuous priests and Catholic nuns. The Catholic Church as always denied this claims, accusing those who left of engaging in a smear campaign.

“The sisters should also understand that their calling is from above, they should lead a holy life. I know of one from Nakuru who confessed how they had been aborting as a result of sexual relationships with priests,” said Kariuki who joined the Catholic Church in 1980.