KENYA: The First Phase of the Beatification Process of Cardinal Otunga is Coming to a Conclusion

The first phase of the beatification process of the servant of God Cardinal Maurice Michael Otunga is coming to a close. The Diocesan phase, which is the first in the process of canonization, will be concluded by the end of September when a report will be unveiled and the local process concluded and handed over to Rome. This was revealed by the Archbishop of Nairobi, His Eminence John Cardinal Njue during the fundraising dinner for the course of Beatification process of the Servant of God Cardinal Otunga.

“It will be a great blessing when a son of this great nation is declared Blessed not only for the Catholic Church in Kenya but for the whole country and by extension, East African region and the whole of Africa” Cardinal Njue said.

The dinner was held at Consolata Shrines in Nairobi and attended by among other guests Archbishop Emeritus of Nairobi, His Grace Raphael Ndingi Mwana a Nzeki, Bishop Philip Sulumeti of Kakamega Diocese, Bishop Dominic Kimeng’ich of Lodwar, AMECEA Secretary General Fr. Ferdinand Lugonzo, Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretary General Fr. Vincent Wambugu and Consolata Shrine Parish priest Fr. Daniel.

The aim of the dinner was to raise funds to support the beatification office. “Beatification process is a new reality in Kenya since Cardinal Otunga is the first to go through the process. It is very expensive since we need to carter for investigations, interviews and creating publicities through the media among other things,” Cardinal Njue explained.

Speaker after speaker who spoke during the dinner expressed the fact that Cardinal Otunga had ‚a great sense of the Divine; a great sense of the Supernatural. His prayer life was exceptional. His gentleness, kindness, was very, very attractive. He would take time to talk to you.

The Servant of God Maurice Cardinal Otunga chose a lowly centre for the poor as his retirement home, Nyumba ya Wazee (Kiswahili for a House of the Aged), a home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, in Nairobi. This was true to his lifestyle as archbishop: he never went for luxury in life, and always implored his priests to beware of materialism as an obstacle to the gospel witness.

By the time he died on September 6, 2003, Maurice Michael Cardinal Otunga was a priest for 53 years, a bishop for 46 and a Cardinal for 30 years.

The process of his canonization began in 2009 and was meant to bring under scrutiny every detail of Cardinal Otunga’s life. At the end of the diocesan phase, the archbishop of Nairobi has to deliver a ruling on the suitability of Cardinal Otunga for beatification, based on the findings of the commission. If the result is positive, the archdiocese sends all the documentation to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome.

Source: AMECEA Social Communications