It was 13th
September 2024. The eve of the big memorial. The following day, we, the
priesthood of Legion Maria of African Church Mission, would be burying the
symbolic remains of His Most Peaceful, Baba Simeo Melkio Messiah, Our Lord and Our
God.
By tradition, the
eve of the Holy Festival is a Vigil. But generally marked by rosary prayers at
the Got Kalafare Arena. So, on this evening, a huge congregation of the faithful
were gathered at the Main Arena, praying ceaselessly. Messiah Himself also came by the power of the
Holy Spirit and spoke to the faithful. In fact, on this night, Simeo spoke to
the faithful for at least 2 hours non-stop and deep into the night.
Now the meeting of
the priesthood was called in the house of the Priest In-charge of St Mary
Basilica, Got Kalafare, Father Moses Opija. He too being the Superior General
of the entire Priesthood of the church, a post he has held for several years
now.
Priests began to
arrive at the venue at around 8:30 p.m. And as soon as quorum was achieved, an estimated
23 priests already present and seated, the meeting was called to order by the
rector, Father Orao and then by the Superior General, Father Opija. A brief
prayer was offered, then followed introductions.
Every attending priest
said his name, the diocese, and the parish, also loosely called mission.
Following the brief
introductions. The agenda of the meeting was stated. But quickly, the Superior
Father dismissed any possibility of discussing the pertinent issues of the
priesthood, saying that another meeting is set for the 14th of September 2024,
where as soon as the priesthood is done with the burial rites of the symbolic body
of the Messiah, then all priests would march straight to the same venue, take
their lunch and proceed to meet.
Now, seated, the agenda
would be burial of Simeo’s body, in particular, selection of the 12 priests who
would carry the body and process with it to the graveyard, or the mausoleum.
Father Orao stated the requirements that every priest should meet to be
selected. Not much really, just the dressing code. Then the selection began.
Each diocese was
to be allocated at least a slot among the twelve. But a maximum of two priests
per diocese, for any diocese that would be participating. Those who
participated the previous year were of course to relinquish their slots so that
new faces are allowed the privilege. For
the next 30 minutes or so, the selection went on smoothly.
Then something came up. The ugly customary elephant.
Teeth removal. A luo tradition now given prominence by some members of the
flock.
One of the
priests, who had been chosen, raised his hand and demanded to know why some
priests were already chosen who had not removed their six lower teeth.
“Rector, there is
a requirement that I think will cause chaos tomorrow,” he said, somewhat apprehensively.
“I see you are ignoring teeth removal, yet it will prevent some priests from
accessing Baba’s mausoleum,” he added.
The rector reacted
dismissively.
“Let us first
choose, then we can discuss other issues later,” he replied.
But the pandora’s
box was already open. The priests picked queue from the Rector and jumped on
the topic, immediately. And for the next 25 minutes, a heated debate would
ensue.
“Priests must be
free to do their work without restrictions,” said one priest angrily. “We who
are here do not ordain priests, they are ordained by bishops, so if there is a
requirement to remove their teeth before they can fully perform their role,
pass that message to the bishops who ordain them, not us. Here, all are rightly
ordained priests, without exception, and must be allowed to officiate the
burial, as only priests must,” he opined.
“No priest will be
stopped by any one from accessing the holy grave,” affirmed another priest. “In
fact, those members of the order of St. Michael who dare to stop some priests along
the way have gone too far and formed a foolish habit. They must be stopped
before they believe it is normal to stop priests going to Baba’s grave,” he
added.
More priests
joined the queue in raising the alarm.
“Last year I had
three priests who were not Luos, and two mothers, from Kericho and Transmara,”
stated another. “It was their first time coming to Got Kalafare and they were
picked to be part of the procession. Then by the doorway, as they were entering
the grave, they were stopped by some members of the order of St Michael. We had
to push those “jomikael” out and force our way in. It was sad,” he asserted.
“Teeth removal is
a luo rite, turned Legion Maria practice, let those who have the grace to do
it, do so,” said another. “But anyone forcing others or denying other Legion
Maria members the rite to officiate or access the grave of Baba because of that
must be stopped and condemned,” he added.
“Yes, I have seen a
member of this church stopped from joining the army, and another from joining
the police because of lack of their teeth,” said another. “They are no longer
members of this church because they believe the church cost them the
opportunity to pursue their dreams in the forces. That is why I detest anyone
pushing others, especially young, school-going Legion Maria members to remove
their teeth. It can hurt their chances at a career, and destroy them for good,”
he added.
As the consensus moved
towards rejection of teeth removal as a prerequisite for priests to officiate
the burial of Baba’s body, those in support of the criterion raised their
voices.
“No, it is a
requirement,” stated the priest who had brought up the issue. “We can’t go
against Baba Messiah’s decree. It is him who insists that those who haven’t
removed their teeth should not enter the grave,” he pushed, forcefully.
But he could not
be given any breathing space.
“Where did Baba
say that?” one of the priests asked, deridingly.
“Baba always say
that through the holy spirit. Haven’t you heard,” he replied.
“No, you can’t
push us to adopt that position. In any case, we know there are three things
with the Holy Spirit in our church today: true spirit, fake spirit, and evil
spirit. Baba never rejected anyone with his teeth intact when he was here with
his flesh. His real flesh. Now, how can he now reject the same people and stop
them from going to his grave. That position, I believe is a creation of either
fake or evil spirit, who wants to deny Baba’s children the chance of going to
him,” added another priest.
“My position is
that teeth removal is a Luo custom adopted by our church as Africanization of
Christianity,” stated another. “The faithful
need grace to accept it, not be forced to adopt it. In any case, this church
belongs to all Africa, and it was brought for all African tribes. The fact that
it occurred first among the Luos and some Luo practices found their way into
the church does not in any way make Luo tradition superior to other African
customs. That is why grace is the only way on this matter. Let no one impose on
others a custom, but let them, including priests, accept it by grace,” he
added.
It was now clear
that the priesthood had rejected teeth removal as a barrier, as a deterrent to
anyone of them officiating the solemn interment of Baba’s body the following
day. In fact, those opposed to this consensus, feeling overwhelmed, yet
believing they hold the right position, sought to withdraw their names from the
list of officiators.
“If it is so, then
I can’t be party to the twelve, I withdraw,” said the priest who raised the
issue in the first place. “I can’t participate in profanity,” he pontificated.
“Well and good, we
just replace you and move on,” stated a priest holding the opposite view.
In the next few
minutes, the tension had reached its climax. Those opposing fully teethed
priests were allowed to withdraw their names if they so wished.
Meanwhile,
attention shifted to dealing with any “jonabi” or “jomikael” who would attempt to
stop the procession because of teeth removal.
“So how do we deal
with any members of the order of St. Michael who may seek to stop one or two
priests tomorrow because they have not removed their teeth?” asked one of the
priests opposed to having fully teethed priests on the list.
“We will stop
them,” stated one priest with authority. “No person will joke with us tomorrow.
The joke has been allowed too far.”
The solution, it
was agreed, was to pick six other priests, whose role would be to guard the priests
who will be carrying Messiah’s symbolic body. The guardian priests would be
stationed in front. Just ahead of the twelve. They would use any means, fair or dirty, to
stop any person trying to stop the officiating priests from performing their
priestly duties. This position was
unanimously endorsed and became the decision of the body of the priesthood.
With the issue
resolved, and the list complete, the meeting was soon adjourned.