Legio Maria church leadership wrangles have reemerged after members differed on who should replace Pope Romanus Ong’ombe.
Ong'ombe died on Sunday aged 96. The Pope was buried on Wednesday at Got Kweru in Migori county. The place is considered holy.
On Tuesday, a section of church members picked cardinal Lawrence Ochieng’ to replace Ong’ombe. The appointment of Ochieng' as Ong'ombe's replacement did not go well with some church members.
Before his death, Ong'ombe was embroiled in a protracted tussle with his nemesis Raphael Adika over who was the church pope.
On Wednesday, a group allied to Adika insisted that he (Adika) is the pope.
Deputy secretary general Reverend Timothy Abuawo said Ochieng's appointment was a violation of the church constitution.
Abuawo said the church constitution stipulates that a new pope is only elected if the sitting office bearer dies.
He said Adika was elected pope in accordance with the church constitution and will only be replaced when he dies. Abuawo said the church apostolic council confirmed Adika as the pope in 2004.
“Let it be known that the late cardinal Ong’ombe was never the pope of Legio Maria, the only honorary title he held was patriarch. Pope Adika has been the bona fide leader of the church since he took over the mantle after the demise of the second pope,” Abuawo said while addressing journalists in Kisumu.
In August last year, the High Court in Migori declared Adika the duly elected pope, while Ong’ombe was to be patriarch. The court ordered that Legio Maria shrines such as Got Kweru be accessible to both sides.
Abuawo further claimed that Ong’ombe had publicly announced he had withdrawn as pope and he was ready to work as a cardinal under pope Adika.
They claimed that some politicians were behind Ong’ombe’s group activities to gain political mileage.
Legio Maria has millions of members in Kenya and across Africa.
Edited by A.N