Succession of Cardinal Njue: Who’ll be the next Archbishop of Nairobi?
When Pope Francis will finally decide to pick Cardinal Njue’s successor, there is a high possibility his preferred choice will likely be from these three serving archbishops in the country.
After Pope Francis accepted the resignation of His Eminence John Cardinal Njue, the buzz question among millions of Catholic faithful in Kenya is who will be the next Archbishop of Nairobi.
The buzz created by the resignation of Cardinal Njue remains palpable. The other question that seems to be bothering many is — what is the process of an archbishop or a bishop to resign?
If the lively social media interaction that followed the resignation of Cardinal Njue is anything to go by, then a majority of the more than 11 million Catholics and Kenyans at large seem not to be aware that a Cardinal's resignation is a process that starts after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 75.
Soon after the news from the Holy See started filtering in across the country on Monday, many Catholics took to social media seeking clarification and explanation on why he had resigned.
Interestingly, not many had any clue that under Canon Law, the retirement of a Catholic Bishop is referred to as resignation. Many had never thought a Cardinal could resign. It is unheard of to many Catholics. "Why resignation? I thought the Cardinal had attained the mandatory retirement age of 75," said a faithful in Meru.
According to the Canon Law, archdiocesan or diocesan bishops including cardinals are supposed to write a letter of resignation to the Holy See on attaining age 75 and wait until the Pope accepts the request.
For Cardinal Njue, he wrote his letter in 2019 and had to wait until this year when Pope Francis endorsed his retirement.
"The Pope is at liberty to extend the retirement age and that is likely what happened with Cardinal Njue — that is why he is retiring at 77 although he had passed the mandatory retirement age," said a senior Catholic priest who could not be quoted as he is not the spokesperson of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB).
But what is the process of appointing a new archbishop?
"At least three names are forwarded to the Pope by the KCCB and the Pope picks one based on the recommendations, among other considerations," said another senior Catholic priest.
When Pope Francis will finally decide to pick Cardinal Njue’s successor, there is a high possibility his preferred choice will likely be from three serving archbishops in the country.
They are; the chairperson of the Interfaith Council on the National Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic and Nyeri Archbishop Anthony Muheria, KCCB chairperson Archbishop Philip Anyolo of Kisumu and Archbishop Martin Kivuva of Mombasa Archdiocese.
At the same time, the Catholic Priest said the KCCB could recommend to the Pope one of the Bishops in the 26 dioceses in Kenya to become an archbishop. The bishop could also be appointed as a Cardinal at the same time if the Pope deems it fit.
The general secretary of KCCB, Father Daniel Rono, said once a bishop or archbishop writes the resignation letter to the Pope, the replacement starts immediately.
