Kenya: Bishops seek to curtail breakaway church

Catholic bishops in Kenya may be forced to use legal channels to stop a breakaway church, established in Kenya by an ex-Catholic priest, from using its current name: Reformed Roman Catholic Church (RRCC), they said ina press conference last Wednesday. The chairman of the Kenya Episcopal conference, Archbishop John Njue said the Catholic Church is considering trying to legally stop the name being used, as the group is "sowing confusion among the faithful." The former priest, Godfrey Shiundu, was excommunicated by local Kitale bishop, Maurice Crawley, after he married a Miss Stella Nangila at a Kitale play ground in February. The ceremony was performed by Dr Karl Raimund Rodig a self-styled 'archbishop' of the German Reformed Catholic Church which originated in Germany. The bishops said: "This church has no relation to the Roman Catholic Church as they claim. It is not and cannot be a branch of the Catholic Church as the Catholic Church is a universal one," the bishops said. "We the Catholic bishops have no concrete information about the minister who presided over the ceremony, even though he claimed to be a bishop. He did not contact the bishop of Kitale and he is not in communion with the Catholic Church." The bishops said: "we urge all to pray for the conversion of all involved. We also want to warn our faithful against possible impostors who may have other interests."