{"id":12743,"date":"2026-04-21T15:03:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T20:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/passionist.org\/?p=12743"},"modified":"2026-04-21T15:31:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T20:31:19","slug":"father-eliud-kiuma-otunga-cp-shares-the-faith-to-bring-joy-and-dispel-fear-in-kenya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/passionist.org\/es\/2026\/04\/21\/father-eliud-kiuma-otunga-cp-shares-the-faith-to-bring-joy-and-dispel-fear-in-kenya\/","title":{"rendered":"Father Eliud Kiuma Otunga, CP, shares the faith to bring joy and dispel fear in Kenya"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fr. Eliud Kiuma Otunga, CP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In many ways, the Passionist charism reflects the life of the small town of Isinya, and where there are differences, Father Eliud Kiuma Otunga, CP, dispels fear and offers comfort with the message of the Cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Kenyan culture, suffering is understood in two ways. First, a person suffers in retribution for past bad, selfish, vicious actions or as our fate from family history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I look at our Passionist charism and teaching, we understand that Jesus suffered on the Cross for the sins of people,\u201d shares Father Eliud. \u201cIt can follow the first African belief. In the Passionist sense, though, the suffering is taken up by Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Christ has taken our suffering and has relieved us of it. For the second belief, that suffering is our fate, and we cannot recover from it. The Passionist charism changes that mentality. You are only responsible for the things that you have done.\u201d<\/p>\nFr. Eliud Kiuma Otunga, CP<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Suffering also comes from calamities and sickness. \u201cThe suffering of Christ on the Cross tells us that suffering is part of life, and we have to embrace it,\u201d Father Eliud explains. \u201cIt is a form of seasoning. Once we come through it, we are healed. If you are loved by God, you will suffer and get stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suffering is like a fire that burns gold: the fire does not consume the gold but melts and purifies it. After the process, the gold is refined and pure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extended family systems in Kenyan culture provide support and are similar to Christian communities. Elders are the head of families, like the Church hierarchy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Families provide personal history and legitimacy in marriage or when moving to a new community. Personal identity is shaped by the community. Children belong to the whole clan, and everyone raises the children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father Eliud sees many similarities in the Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Kenya, our model of the Church is \u2018domestic.\u2019 We look at a domestic church as a family. In that structure, we have a small Christian community that is the basis of the parish. This helps us easily educate people to become God\u2019s children,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe family becomes the Church, and the small Christian community becomes the extended family. The parish becomes the big clan of different extended families. We have to balance the two \u2013 the biological family and the religious family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The commissioning ceremony of the women\u2019s league in Father Eliud\u2019s parish in the Rift Valley in Kenya<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In families, authority and power are held by the male elders, which continues even after death. Young people must always obey elders. The young cannot even correct older members in mistakes, and elders do not apologize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Power and authority differ in the Passionist community. \u201cSt. Paul of the Cross came down on his knees every Friday begging for forgiveness,\u201d says Father Eliud. \u201cIn our formation, it is important to ask pardon for mistakes. People take authority not for power or dominion but for service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respect for elders plays an integral role in how the culture understands death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe question of death is very interesting. If someone dies, it is believed that this person turns into a spirit. And the spirit of the deceased takes on a magnanimous disposition to become a guardian to those who remain. This is why rituals are celebrated to appease and honor the spirit before burying the person. If the spirit is not taken care of well, the spirit will punish,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe spirit is known to live, see and hear. Sometimes the spirit can come back to rescue or punish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fr. Eliud and parishioners participate in Environment Day at the parish.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Father Eliud has found the Passionist emphasis on the Cross and resurrection very helpful in dispelling fear about what happens after death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople who die in Christ are resurrected. The resurrected person is a perfect soul and possesses a glorified body. That perfect soul cannot punish us,\u201d he tells those who worry about death. \u201cThe death of a Christian does not end in oblivion but in newness. We tell them a resurrected person lives with God, and that person will intercede for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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