Rebel Catholic clergy want to have their doctrine and own Pope

By JUMA KWAYERA

The spirit may be willing, but the flesh of a number of former Catholic priests is, apparently too weak to subscribe to celibacy, the anchor of their faith as confirmation of a commitment to godly service.

A growing number of them believe challenging celibacy is the answer. To get their way, they are prepared to go as far as setting up a new Church.

As it is the case in many religions and denominations worldwide, some of the tenets that hold Catholicism together are coming under scrutiny. Christianity is riven with splits over the role of women, homosexuals and other minorities.

It is against this backdrop that some of the rebel clergy openly vouch for an African Pope, who appreciates the flow and ebb of African religious beliefs without encumbrances. The Papacy, they say, is not infallible, but “human and organic with frailties of a normal being”. And unlike spirit-initiated churches like Legio Maria that splintered off with just a few members in the 1960s, they believe they can break away with a much larger chunk of the Church.

Eight bishops and nearly 80 Kenyan priests say they feel embarrassed they were forced to fake their faith of upholding and promoting celibacy — sacrifice and self-denial for the promotion of the Kingdom of God.

Fleshpot hunger

Some erstwhile celibate priests are challenging the celibacy doctrine, arguing the entire body of Catholic clergy is a victim of fleshpot hunger. They argue further that it is un-African not to have children. They cite the case of John the Baptist and argue that 11 of the 12 disciples (including traitorous Judas) were married and had children.

Excommunicated, the former Roman Catholic priests have formed the Universal Catholic Church amid protests from the Vatican they acquire a different identity and drop the name ‘Catholic’ completely. They counter that similar breakaway denominations did not drop the Catholic identity: Byzantine Catholic, Egyptian Catholic and the Orthodox Church recognise common Catholic rituals, except celibacy.

George Njamba, a rebel, says the edicts of their movements remain the same save for the celibacy doctrine. “We do not believe in celibacy,” says Fr Njamba, who says he has more than 3,000 followers in Kenya. “We want to live in a family environment.

Truth be told: we know, for a fact, that out of every ten priests who proclaim celibacy, eight are in illicit unions.” Church leaders put the number of fallen clergy much lower and say the failure of the few to honour their vows does not mean celibacy does not work. Fr Njamba says the purity of the spirit faces severe test from a legion of ‘heretics’ mainstream Catholic wants to distance itself from for breaching a core tenet of Catholicism and opening up the church to mundane influences.

The church, irrespective to denomination, has in the recent past been rocked by allegations of sodomy, financial impropriety and totalitarian leadership. In his book The Power and The Glory former Vatican-based journalist David Yallop recalls how Pope John Paul deftly avoided discussion on the abuses saying, “every family must have private rooms to discuss family matters.”  The Pope was accused of a “desire to preserve the reputation of the Church before the rights to justice of those suffered at the hands of... priests.”

Some 10,000 (or so, the dissenters claim) Catholic defectors in Kenya are among growing list of African religious ‘want-aways’ who have forged a movement they hope will culminate in the appointment of a black Pope.

Twice in the week, John Cardinal Njue declined to discuss the rebellion in the Church. Fr Alejeandro Luiz of Ngong Diocese termed the topic controversial. “I do not know anything about it,” he said. “Let us discuss development matters. Kenya has many needy people who need help.” Fr Vincent Wambugu, who initially told The Standard On Saturday he was not interested in the discussion, later quipped: “You cannot use circumstantial incidence to discredit celibacy. Celibacy does not have to be African (to be an accepted doctrine for Catholic priests in the continent).” 

Deemed a revolution aimed at Africanising Christianity rather than Christianising Africa, conservative Roman Catholics have done for almost three centuries, the movement led by Rt-Rev Bishop Peter Njogu Kiburu, is following in the footsteps of expelled Zambian Archbishop Arch-bishop Emmanuel Milingo, and is meeting with hostility in Kenya and the seat of the papacy. The dissenters recognise Milingo as their patriarch and say when decision is made on when to elect an African pope the controversial Zambian former cardinal will be in pole position to clinch the position.

The rebellion in the Church comes on the back financial and sex-related scandals in the church, with the biggest following in the world, approximately one billion. In Kenya, Catholics account for more than a third of Christian faithful.  Bishop Njogu, a doctorate holder from a Vatican theology university, says the doctrine of celibacy, is a lie from which the dissenting priests want to dissipate with pragmatism based on African family values. Njogu, who lived in the Vatican for eight years, says cravings of the Catholic clergy are as good as any normal man or woman.

Condemned by State

The Church in its orthodox sense inspires fear so religious beliefs cannot be subjected to sacramental inquiry, Dr Njogu says. “Popes married up to 1123 AD. Celibacy was introduced in the same year. The Pope was the emperor and you were condemned by the Government when you went against the Church,” he explains.

Rebels among the African clergy argue celibacy does not add value to priesthood, insisting it has transformed them into hypocrites. “When the mzungu came he did not respect our culture and religions.

They gave them tags animism, paganism or heathen practices,” Njogu says. The Independent Catholic Movement gained traction in Kenya when Kitale-based Catholic priest, Fr Godfrey Shiundu, went public about his intention to marry and have family. Most Catholics, however, say they stand by the church decision to hold onto its values and let the rebels leave, if they choose. In some sections of Christendom, the troubles bedevilling the church are no surprise. Indeed, they are feared to herald a coming apostasy (dissatisfaction and abandonment of religion) within the top ranks of the Catholic Church.

There are diehard Catholics who believe the crisis to have been prophesied as the real third secret of Fatima, one of a series of apocalyptic visions some people believe were given by an apparition of the Virgin Mary to three young Portuguese shepherds starting in May 1917. Or the Akita prophesy.

Similar apparitions were reported in 1973 by a nun in the remote area of Yuzawadai, near the city of Akita in Japan.

As with many other prophesies and visions communicated through pastoral letters, there is much debate as to its meaning, with some reading into it various apocalyptic meanings.

There is no confusion about Pope John Paul’s 1980 advice on what to do about the troubles mentioned in prophesy, however: “Here is the remedy against this evil. Pray, pray and ask for nothing else. Put everything in the hands of the Mother of God.”