SERVANT OF GOD MAURICE MICHEAL CARDINAL OTUNGA

SERVANT OF GOD MAURICE MICHEAL CARDINAL OTUNGA

By Fr. Casmir Odundo, Kibet

Today the 6^th of September, is the 15^th Anniversary since the demise of Servant of God, Maurice Michael Cardinal Otunga (M.M.C.O).

 The Late Cardinal was a man known first and foremost for his humility. He had many things to brag about: He was the son of a Paramount Chief and he had studied in the prestigious Mang’u High School and the Prestigious Urban University while living in Collegio Urbano (the dream of many seminarians). He was the first Kenyan Bishop, First Kenyan Archbishop, First Kenyan Cardinal, A synod father in the Vatican II council.  The bishop who blessed Kenyans at independence in 1963. The cardinal whom the Pope appointed to represent him in consecrating the world to the Immaculate heart after Pope John Paul II’s attempted assassination. He participated in two conclaves that elected two popes:  Pope Paul John Paul I and St. John Paul II. Yet instead of bragging and blowing his trumpet the Cardinal chose the humble way. Everyone who met him said that he referred to him/her  as either  “my brother” “My sister” “My Son” or “My daughter.” His humility was seen in the car he drove, “an old Peugeot” despite being the highest ranking cleric in Kenya. It is further exemplified by the fact that he chose to retire in an old people’s home instead of enjoying the benefits that came with his position in the Catholic Church.

He was also a Bishop in love with his vocation. “I will be myself,” was what he swore when he was ordained a priest. And true to his word,  his faith remained unshaken.  His love for the priesthood is seen in the way he celebrated his masses. It is important to recall that he still continued to exercise his priestly vocation to his elderly brothers and sisters when he retired in an old people’s home. Even there he spent most of his time before the Blessed Sacrament.  

The late cardinal was  a serious pro-lifer. I guess all of us remember how accompanied by other religious leaders he publicly put to fire boxes full of condoms and other contraceptives. The late cardinal was also a great prophet of Justice. In 1969 after the assassination of Tom Mboya he did not hesitate to pose the following questions:

“Sincere people cannot see the justification for such an act of killing the person who played an important role in Kenya’s struggle towards independence. If a cabinet minister can be openly murdered like this where is the security? How could the assassin escape the police in such a busy street? Where were the bodyguards? Nobody, no man is allowed to take the life of another person. God forbids us from doing so.”    

In the same year in 1969, we recall how Otunga together with Anglican Bishop Obadiah Kariuki and Rev. John Gatu of P.C.E.A confronted President Jomo Kenyatta on the issue of the 1969 oath . Otunga began the meeting with a prayer then asked Kenyatta only one question:

“Do you know that your people are going around forcing people to take oaths and saying that nobody other than the Kikuyu must lead this country? If you know, then you must stop it. We cannot afford to have a Kenyatta dynasty created out of blood, flesh and soil, and bananas to soil the national flag. You must stop this criminal act. I believe you are a national leader and can live beyond Kikuyu land. That is what we have come to tell you.”

On this issue, the President took an action immediately and the controversial oaths were put to an end.

The cardinal was also a lover of history. In most of his sermons during priestly ordination, he would trace the entire history of salvation, from creation to redemption to the coming of missionaries up to the ordination event. During the last days of his life, the cardinal used to pray that the Lord may not take away his sight so that he can continue reading history. When Pope John Paul II visited Kenya during the promulgation of the Post Synodal exhortation Ecclesia in Africae, in 1995, Cardinal Otunga, gave the powerful speech, “You are…” adapted from the words of St. Peter to Jesus at Caesarea Philippi.  

Cardinal Otunga had such striking eyes. Everyone who met him could not ignore the striking innocent eyes that seemed to look directly into a person’s soul. Pope John Paul II too was not exempt to them, he first saw the cardinal in Australia, while he himself was also a mere bishop and never forgot that pair of eyes. Many years later(now as pope) he would remark, “those eyes…those are the eyes I saw in Australia.”

The land where the prestigious St. Augustine’s Senior Seminary Mabanga, lays where many Kenyan priests have studied philosophy originally belonged to the family of Otunga. And the late cardinal donated it to the church. The church will be forever indebted to him.

 15 years after his death, Kenyans are still praying and hoping that their holy cardinal’s name will one day be enrolled into the list of saints. In October 2013,  the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Nairobi, His Eminence John Cardinal Njue submitted to the Congregation for the Cause of saints, in Rome  through the Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya H.E Charles Daniel Balvo  a 23,955 page document on the life of Cardinal Otunga. The document which contained interviews of 171 variety of persons who knew the late Cardinal well was documented by a postulation commission led by  the as a result of a probe conducted by the Postulator for the cause of Canonization led by Dr. Waldey Hilgerman, the Postulator and Brother Reginald Cruz, the Vice Postulator. (The other members of the commission were Fr. Patrick Njunge, Fr. Calistus Nyagilo, Sr. Ester Wangui Ichungu and Sr. Caroline Abonyo). The sending of the document to the congregation for the Cause of Saints marked the end of the local (diocesan) stage of the process. The congregation for the cause of Saints is currently studying the document (especially trying to look at the heroic virtues of the proposed blessed) after which they will vote on the case. They will then present their findings to Pope Francis…who will then study it and if God wills it…he will append his signature to the document, terming the virtues lived by the Cardinal heroic and thus terming him “Venerable” . After that all will be needed is a miracle obtained from his intercession then the church will solemnly Beatify him thus declare him Blessed. It will take another miracle again for him to Blessed to finally a saint.

Kenyans and indeed people of God from various places are continuously asking for favors from God through him. This is done as a private devotion (not in public worship e.g in mass, liturgies) so as not in any way to seem to be anticipating in any way the judgment of the Church in accordance with the decrees of Pope Urban VIII.  For any miracles or favours obtained please contact : The office for the Beatification of Cardinal Otunga P.O. Box 27043-00100 Nairobi Kenya.

                (More information on his life can be found in the Biography A Gift of Grace by Marget Ogola and Margret Roche published by Pauline Publication in Africa and available in the Catholic Bookshops in Nakuru and Nairobi.)