BishopAccountability.org
	Kenyan Catholic Faithful Defend Church's Stand By Naisula Lesuuda Kenya Broadcasting Corportation June 18, 2009 http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=58071 The Catholic Church faithful in Kenya have come out to strongly defend the integrity of the church and to support Archbishop Cardinal John Njue on the church's stand on celibacy. This comes amidst allegations of sexual abuse facing a member of the church's clergy. The lay people have expressed their displeasure at negative reports about the Catholic Church, which they say are diverting the church's energy and resources from evangelization. They support the stand by the church on the ex-communication of priests who go against their celibacy vows. The move comes after the Ecumenical Church of Christ formerly the Reformed Catholic Church, a splinter group of the main church ordained a married priest Godfrey Shiundu as its bishop. The church is a US-based Catholic breakaway group that allows its clergy to marry and openly accepts polygamy, making it an accommodating alternative for some African cultures. Njue warned the Catholic faithful not to be misled into thinking the Church had changed it's practice of ordaining celibate priests. Shiundu was excommunicated from the Catholic Church in 2004 after he allegedly impregnated a nun when he served in West Pokot District and later married her. The church which has the largest following in the country has also been in the limelight in the recent past with accusations that a member of the clergy has been involved in immorality. A report by a Kenyan media house has alleged that the priest Father Renato Kizito sexually abused two orphaned boys under his care. Father Kizito has however refuted the claims saying they emanated from people who wanted to seize the property of a rehabilitation centre for street children which he heads. The church has since said it would use its Canon Law to investigate the claims and punish anybody involved in such crimes accordingly.
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