Cardinal Otunga’s Sainthood Journey a Call to Holiness: Kenyan Archbishop

“Let us imitate his ideals,” the Kenyan Catholic Archbishop said, and added, “I insist that this process is an invitation to all of us, as per his work, to also strive towards sainthood.”

The Sainthood cause of Cardinal Otunga is in the Roman Phase, which involves the examination and verification of documents (evidence) submitted by the petitioner. 

These documents are examined by a group of theologians and reviewed by another group of experts. If the review is favorable, 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”.

Speaking at the September 6 commemoration of Cardinal Otunga’s 20th death anniversary, Fr. Laurence Njoroge, the vice Postulator for the course of the Cardinal’s beatification confirmed that the canonization process of the Servant of God was on course.

He said that for the Cardinal’s exemplary deeds, “there were people who wanted him to be pronounced a saint immediately after he died.”

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“But the Catholic Church has its processes,” Fr. Njoroge said, and added, in an update on the process of Cardinal Otunga’s sainthood, “Recently, we received communication from the Postulator in Rome announcing that the positio is ready and it will be presented to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in Rome for discernment and voting on the promotion of the Servant of God Michaele Maurice Cardinal Otunga to the next level.”

Cardinal Otunga’s cause for canonization started in 2009 when the then Archbishop of Nairobi, John Cardinal Njue, petitioned the Vatican-based Congregation for the Causes of Saints to approve the process.

The request was granted, allowing Cardinal Otunga to be referred to as “Servant of God”.

Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.