REFLECTIONS OF A KENYAN PRIEST

By Fr. Casmir Odundo Benedict XVI and Card. Njue   Unlike his immediate predecessor and his immediate successor, Pope Benedict XVI did not get the opportunity to visit Kenya during his Pontificate. We know that St. John Paul II, “The Pilgrim Pope'' the predecessor of Pope Benedict XVI, made 104 foreign trips in his long pontificate that included three visits to Kenya, in May 1980, August 1985 and in September 1995. Pope Francis, the successor of Pope Benedict XVI made Kenya the first African country he visited in November 2015.  However, as a cardinal and head of the then Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (future Benedict XVI)  was part of the delegation that accompanied Pope John Paul II to Nairobi, Kenya during the promulgation of the Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Ecclesia in Africa in September 1995 . Again, while he did not make a pastoral visit to Kenya during his Pontificate,  Pope Benedict XVI made two Apostolic trips to Africa, vis

   By Rev. Fr. Casmir Odundo  Today, at 9.34 am Rome time in Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, in the Vatican Pope Benedict XVI passed on just a few hours before we crossed over to the New Year 2023 and during the Christmas Octave.  By the time of his death, he was 95 years old. He had served as Pope for 7 years and as a Cardinal for 27 years. He had also served as a Bishop for 45 years and 71 years as a priest.  On 28th February 2013 Pope Benedict XVI walked into a  gathering of cardinals in the Apostolic Palace and announced in his  characteristic fluent Latin what no pope has dared for over 600 years:  His resignation.   Born on 16th April 1927 (the feast of St. Bernadette Soubirous of  Loudress) Joseph Aloysius Ratzinger rose through the ecclesiastical  ranks to become the 265 th Bishop of Rome. His vocation journey started  when as a 5 year old boy he was in the group of young children who  welcomed the then visiting Cardinal Archbishop of Munich with  flowers. Struck by the cardinal’s

By Fr. Casmir Odundo  Mention Brazil at this point in time and everyone thinks about the ongoing World Cup 2022.  Well, other than the World Cup, there is something else, perhaps nicer, more beautiful and more important will happen in that country early next month, to be precise on the 6th of January 2023, during the Solemnity of the Epiphany. Deacon Pedro (L), Fr. Casmir, (C) and Deacon Joao Two young men, Pedro Paulo Funari, aged 33 and Joao Henrique Funari, aged 29, will be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo by His Eminence Odilo Pedro Cardinal Scherer, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo in Brazil.  Every priestly ordination is special but what makes this one more interesting is the fact that those to be ordained, Pedro and Joao, on the same day, in their own parish church: the Parish of Our Lady of Brazil, in Sao Paulo are actually first cousins. Marcelo, the father of Pedro and the godfather of Joao, is the brother of Joao's mother, Cecilia