I did not want to live a lie, says former Catholic priest who opted to marry

Bishop Matthew Theuri has refused to live a lie. After serving for years as a saintly Roman Catholic priest – carrying the crucifix even to the bathroom – he quit the celibacy club and married Maryanne Nyambura, a woman he had fallen in love with at first sight.

Now a cleric of the Ecumenical Catholic Church, Bishop Theuri is also a consummate husband and father of four. He contravened the church’s doctrine of celibacy but he says celibacy is not a doctrine but a condition that should be optional.

Born the second of three children in Nyeri in 1955, Bishop Theuri, who is also a lecturer at Egerton University, didn’t really know his father because he died in the struggle for independence. His mother was a casual labourer, and the young Theuri worked as a herdsboy to augment her earnings.

“I would wake up, ring the bell for people to attend Mass, after which I would milk the cows, clean their sheds and then take them to the grazing field,” he said.

The influence of two Italian priests – Fathers Leornado Sella and Joseph Bragnolo – was to change his life forever.

“They were the kindest people I ever met, very humble, and they treated everyone with love and showed care to every creature that came their way,” he said. “I wanted to be like them some day, and at that tender age, I made up my mind to be a priest.”

Loved books

He loved books and reading and would devour any written material that found its way to his hands, something that would serve him well in his studies. He emerged at the top of his class at Muiteithia Primary when he sat the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) exams in 1973.

He went to Nyahururu High School, where he scored a Division 1 in the Kenya Certificate of Education (KCE) in 1977, earning favour in the eyes of Fr Sella and Fr Bragnolo.

With their help, he won a scholarship to St Augustine Seminary Mabaga in Bungoma, a college affiliated to The Vatican, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy.

In 1983, he received a BA in theology from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome as one of the first African graduates.

After bringing home honours in philosophy, African studies and theology, on December 15, 1984, the young, energised Matthew Theuri was ordained a priest for Ngandu Catholic Parish in Nyeri by the late Archbishop Nicodemus Kirima, assisted by John Cardinal Njue (then Embu Catholic Bishop) and Archbishop Peter Kairu (then Murang’a Catholic Bishop).

He worked as a priest and a vocations director for Nyeri, Nyandarua, Murang’a, Meru and Embu before going for further studies in the United States, where he remained for 15 years.

Today he holds three doctorates in theology, philosophy and educational psychology. It was when he joined Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that thoughts about marriage first crossed his mind.

Catholic crucifix

“I lived the life of a saint and never did I remove the Catholic crucifix, not even in the bathroom,” he said.

But, as scandals surfaced in the US Catholic Church involving priests and parishioners, he began asking questions.

“I became diplomatic and questioned everything I deemed wrong,” he said, adding that many of the priests preached water but drank wine.