This strange world: Nasty sins Catholic priests and nuns commit

 Some men and women of the cloth have been giving the Catholic church a bad name    Photo:BBC

In what seems like proof that men and women of God are fallible, many have been involved in scandals of all sorts. From those involved in robbery, murder, rape, banditry, promiscuity, gay marriages and whatnot.

Take, for instance, the case of Pastor Paul Ng’ang’a Wanjiru of Wells of Faith Church in Kawangware. The man of God is serving a jail term after he was convicted for the murder of his girlfriend Caroline Chinjira in 2012. The brethren killed her, partly because she wanted to carry a pregnancy he was responsible for to full term against his wishes.

And 73-year-old Pastor Benedict Moyi is one of the most wanted men in Khwisero, Kakamega County for allegedly defiling a 15-year-old girl. Even more recently, Christopher Kibet Ngelechei, a pastor with the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County was charged with fraud, illegally being in possession of a firearm, robbery with violence, among 12 other counts of criminal offences.

Many other pastors have been embroiled in nasty scandals. Common among them is sleeping with people’s wives. Others like pastor Kanyari have been caught and reported for performing fake miracles. Some, like Bishop Deya, have been accused of defrauding barren women of their money, lying that they can make them pregnant. The self-proclaimed miracle babies producer is also accused of running a smuggling ring that is involved in, among other crimes, stealing infants.

Numerous tales, too, abound of rogue Imams and sheikhs who have been involved in immoral activities, including robbery and terrorism, particularly at the Kenyan coast. Little, however, is reported of Catholic priest and nuns, yet some of them, like their protestant men and women of God, get involved in nasty scandals.

Tale of alcoholic catholic priests and secret kids/ families they hide

As much as the Vatican insists celibacy is here to stay, around here, the social and sexual transgressions of some of our priests are quietly known and somehow accepted so long as they are heterosexual. Despite, for instance, alcohol being considered the devil’s drink, to some Catholic priests across the country and particularly in parts of Nyanza and Western Kenya, this is their ideal drink for unwinding after long and tiring sermons.

In the yonder years, priest were an extremely conservative lot, one would hardly catch any drinking anything other than the church wine and much less in a bar. But sample the following.

It is a Wednesday evening in Migori town. The weather is incredibly awesome for a sunset, as if in gentle recognition that revered men of God are in the vicinity. Seated in a gazebo of a popular restaurant are six men and two women. They are all from a funeral. The mother to a priest had died.

After a late lunch, they wash down the meal with bottles of their favourite alcoholic drink. Two out of the gentlemen are Catholic priests. Seeing them imbibe with relish and heartily contribute to the conversation, which ranges from local politics, education and general discourses, you may be forgiven for confusing them with average ‘sinning’ Joes.

Of course, the two are not dressed in their church regalia. Save for one who has a religious ring on his finger, one can hardly tell they are priests. An acquaintance of the two reveals that they drink occasionally whenever they are away from the town or areas where they minister and that it is no big deal. One ministers in Nyatike constituency in Migori County while the other is from Mbita Constituency in Homa Bay County. They had come to show solidarity with a colleague who had lost his mother.

Meanwhile, talking to The Standard in an earlier interview, a priest who requested anonymity confessed how he at some point became so addicted to alcohol that he would leave the bar to go conduct a sermon and head straight to the bar right after.

He said, “Unlike many of my colleagues whose addiction is concealed, mine was there for everyone to see.”

The priest acknowledged in his confessions that alcoholism amongst priests is real and to some, it has become a deeply rooted addiction that calls for help like rehabilitation. It was Archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth of the Archdiocese of Kisumu, where the priest worked then, who took him to rehab.

Shocking and strange things happen in the secret lives of priests. Some have affairs and some go as far as siring children with the full knowledge of their close families. A senior editor in a leading media house revealed to us that a Catholic priest sired a child with his sister.

“It’s crazy! Like one has a child with my sister. But you can imagine how ugly that can turn if you were to pursue it. It’s one of those guarded family secrets that are only discussed in hushed tones. Who wants to scandalise a man of God,” the senior editor revealed.

*Tiffany, a primary school teacher in Kisumu County, is another good example. Though not married, she confessed to us of her romantic relationship with a priest in the lakeside city. “I am an active member of the church and the choir and so our paths crossed more often than not. We became friends and are now lovers albeit secretly,” she said. She, however, acknowledges that their meetings are rare for fear of the man of God, who is expected to be practicing celibacy, being caught.

More interesting, a Kisumu-based call girl who requested only to be identified as Jaber told this writer that among her regular clients is a Kisii-based priest. “I was introduced to him by a friend who recommended my services. The rest as they say is history,” she confessed.

A tale is also told of a Bungoma-based priest who has a family that he does not shy away from. Being from a community that values traditions, the priest who is a first born son did not want to invite his ancestors’ wrath of letting his younger brothers to have babies before him. Thus, he cleared the little matter of perpetuating his lineage by siring three children. Efforts to reach out to the authorities in the Catholic Church for a word on such ‘wayward’ priests proves futile, with most begging not to comment. Perhaps a clear indication that they would rather conceal the problem than deal with it?

Randy nuns who nagged driver for ‘gland-to-gland’ combats every night

See some of those angelic Catholic nuns? That prayerful lot that lives in quiet convents and makes every effort to mask their femininity — wear simple shoes, no lipstick, no manicure or perfume? Well, they, too, have feelings and itchy romantic urges that they at times can’t control as Tim*, their former driver, attests.

Tim, whose real identity we have chosen to hide for obvious reasons, is a 41-year-old former driver at a convent (name withheld). Tim, now a driver at a city-based school, gives an interesting account of his life with some of the nuns he worked for.

He said he joined the church as a teenager in 1985. He started as an altar boy.

“It was a white priest. He liked me because I was so dedicated to the church. When I turned 18, he took me to a driving school. I was initially his driver and worked in his house until he died in 1992,” he says.

“When the new priest came in, he was an African and he wanted his own driver, so the nuns asked me to join the convent as a worker and driver,” says Tim, adding that for the over 15 years he worked at the convent, he saw it all.

“When I joined, I didn’t look at the nuns as ‘women’ per se because I knew they were angelic and holy. Even the thought of having an affair with one never arose. But with time, that perception had changed dramatically because of this trainee nun in her second year who was hardly 20,” he confesses.

Tim explains that a friendship blossomed between him and the nun, and within weeks, she began sneaking out of the nunnery to his house, which was at the far end of the parish, well outside the convent. “The thought of doing something forbidden scared me. I used to vow every time that tonight would be the last. But come the next morning, I would be waiting for her. She used to come at eleven and stay for two hours. It was scary but fun,” says Tim.

He continued seeing the novice nun for almost four months before she disappeared. “I think she got pregnant and ran away or something. I have never heard from her since,” says Tim, shrugging. He, however, says he could tell a few senior nuns were aware of his dirty little secret and what’s more, he suspected they also sort of wanted him. He, surprisingly, was not wrong. Later during his stay in the convent, nearly half of the nuns would troop to his little house for nookie, he reveals.

“To be fair, some were very pious and never even looked at me. Some were not very pious although they worshipped and did everything by the book, but at night, they would be in my house,” Tim blushes. But one incident nearly stopped his little arrangement. A senior nun he was seeing came to his place unannounced. He refused to open the door since another novice nun was already in his bed. “That made her really angry. She could guess I had somebody in the house, because I talked to her through the window, lying in a whisper that my mother had visited,” recalls Tim.

The senior nun went back to the convent but kept vigil, waiting until she spotted the novice sneaking out of his house back into the convent. “There was some kind of confrontation between them. I then came to realise the novice was now being given the most difficult of chores, work I used to do. I think she was being punished. The problem with the convent is there was no one she could complain to. But I just couldn’t resist. The senior nun was a little bit mature while the novice was young. This was manna from heaven. How can a man resist such temptations?” asks Tim with a naughty giggle.

“Like all women, jealousy stalked them. No woman wants to be slighted. No woman wants another woman to take her man. They couldn’t agree to share, which they were doing anyway! So they would sulk and stop talking to one another,” Tim adds.

– Additional reporting by David Odongo