Nairobi Archdiocese Set to Conclude Year of Consecrated Life, Government Withdraws Proposed Religious Societies Rules 2015

CANAA || By Father Don Bosco Onyalla, Nairobi || 28 January 2016

The Archdiocese of Nairobi in Kenya is set to conclude the Year of Consecrated Life (YCL) this Saturday, January 30, with the celebration of Holy Eucharist at the Holy Family Minor Bascilica where donations will also be collected to assist the poor of one of the slum parishes.

The invitation to the celebration was made last December through a letter by John Cardinal Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi, addressed to all clergy, “Brothers and Sisters in the consecrated life” in Nairobi Archdiocese.

“I am writing this letter to invite you all to our annual celebration in commemoration of the World Day for Consecrated Life next year on Saturday 30^th January 2016. The Mass will start at 10.00am at Holy Family Basilica,” Cardinal Njue wrote.

He called for a spirit of gratitude saying, “As we conclude the year of Consecrated Life, it’s yet another opportunity to thank the Lord for calling and consecrating us to work in His vineyard. He has given us the graces to serve and evangelize, let us be grateful as we come to reflect on our calling and ask for God’s continual blessings, especially as we embrace the Jubilee Year of Mercy.”

Cardinal Njue further called for contributions towards the poor in society.

“This year we shall make our donations in support of the needy in St. Mary’s Parish Mukuru,” He said, adding, “I therefore request you to bring along with you your generous donations in form of cash or cheques (cheques payable to “Archdiocese of Nairobi”) in kind, and non-perishable food stuffs to extend our support to the needy.”

The Cardinal invited all Superiors of Religious Orders in the Archdiocese and Deans “to bring with them candles which will be lit during the entrance procession,” in anticipation of the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.

The YCL started on 30 November 2014 and will officially conclude with the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple next Tuesday, 2 February 2016.

The year also marks the fiftieth anniversary of Perfectae Caritatis, a decree on religious life, and Lumen Gentium, the Second Vatican Council’s constitution on the Church.

Pope Francis decided to launch the yearlong celebration following requests from women and men religious through the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life.

Under the theme “Wake up the World,” Pope Francis chose threefold objectives, the same ones Saint John Paul II proposed to the whole Church at the beginning of the third millennium: to look to the past with gratitude, to live the present with passion, and to embrace the future with hope.

The day of prayer for women and men in consecrated life was instituted by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1997 who attached it to the annual Feast of the Presentation of the Lord marked on 2 February, the day on which candles are blessed symbolizing Christ who is the light of the world.

Meanwhile, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday ordered the immediate withdrawal of the proposed Religious Societies Rules 2015, bowing to pressure from religious leaders in the country who have been decrying lack of consultation.

President Kenyatta said the withdrawal will pave way for adequate consultation between the government and the general public, a structured consultation driven by religious stakeholders.

“The government remains committed to an open, transparent and accessible government where public participation and consideration of a broad range of views is paramount,” President Kenyatta said in a statement from State House, Nairobi.

The decision to withdraw the Rules was arrived at after President Kenyatta held a meeting with religious leaders.

Catholic Bishops had joined other religious leaders to discredit the move by Kenya’s Attorney General to regulate activities by religious societies in the country.

“Broad sections of the law are unrealistic and utopian. For example, parts of the law require different faiths to keep an updated register of all members. We wish to remind the state that the work of winning souls for Christ is an ongoing task, one that happens every second, every minute, every day and night,” Catholic Church leaders explained in a statement signed the President of their Conference, Bishop Philip Anyolo.

“The outcome will be development of firm and fair regulations that uphold the sacrosanct principles of religious freedom that underpin our democratic ideals as guaranteed by our constitution,” President Kenyatta in regard to broad-based consultations regulating religious activities.