Cardinal Otunga’s Sainthood Cause: Kenyan Committee Members Share Inspirations, Say Humility His Outstanding Virtue

After his Episcopal appointment, she recalled the November 1956 Papal decision that saw the Cardinal start his Episcopal Ministry as Auxiliary Bishop of Kisumu in Kenya, “many people couldn’t accept him because he was the first black Bishop. The missionaries at the time thought one of them would be appointed.”

“Surprisingly, even his fellow black Priests couldn’t accept him. Some refused to open their doors to him,” the Nairobi-based Directress of Paulines Publications Africa (PPA) shared, recalling that although the negative experiences “pained” the Servant of God, “he never showed it and didn’t seek revenge.”

Credit: Paulines Publications Africa

The Servant of God “accepted every Priest in their weakness and poverty, because, for him, it wasn’t about personal pride,” the Kenyan FSP member who oversees the committee’s communication unit told ACI Africa. 

He trusted in God, she further said, recalling that the rejection he experienced did not bother him because he had not appointed himself a Bishop. “It was God’s work, and God would take care of it," Sr. Praxides recalled Cardinal’s sentiments amid rejection. 

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“Cardinal Otunga loved the Blessed Virgin Mary, and he believed that she would intercede for him in his difficulties,” the FSP member said about the Kenyan Servant of God, who died in 2003.

Dinner in support of the beatification process. Credit: Paulines Publications Africa

She continued, “I’ve learned that the work I do at Pauline Publications is not something I appointed myself to do—it is God’s work. Whatever happens around me, as long as I stay focused on the mission entrusted to me, I can accomplish it, even if it’s in small ways.”

“Everything we are given to do is from God. We are simply performing these tasks because God has called us. It is up to us to collaborate with His mission,” Sr. Praxides further said.

She said she has learned from the Kenyan Servant of God that “the responsibilities in my hands, despite the circumstances, are part of God’s plan. And if I trust in God and rely on the intercession of Mother Mary, then the mission becomes possible.”

Declared “Servant of God” in 2010, Cardinal Otunga’s cause of Sainthood is in the Roman Phase, which involves the examination and verification of documents (evidence) submitted by the petitioner. 

Credit: ACI Africa

These documents are examined by a group of theologians and reviewed by another group of experts. If the review is favourable, the documents are submitted to the Holy Father for approval and subsequent issuance of a Papal decree confirming the virtuous life of the candidate to whom he confers the title, “Venerable”.

In his homily at Holy Family Basilica on September 6, the 21st death anniversary of the Kenyan Servant of God, Archbishop Philip Subira Anyolo of Kenya’s Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi (ADN) lauded Cardinal Otunga for his faithfulness and dedication to the Church, as well as for his humility and servant leadership even when he rose through the ranks in the Church hierarchy.

Credit: Paulines Publications Africa

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“Since his ordination as a Priest in 1950, Consecration as a Bishop in 1957, and his elevation to Cardinal in 1973, he remained faithful to his calling as a servant of God and the Church,” Archbishop Anyolo said, adding, “We remember him for his faithfulness, and we celebrate him today as a servant to his family, the Church, and the world.”

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