By Arnold Neliba

His teachers and peers in primary school would call him “Father” and anytime he got late from lunch, George Muthaka would be exempted from punishment, for his mum Lucy Wangari had negotiated with the administration to allow her son to eat a few minutes into the school program to attend to his spiritual needs in the nearby Catholic Church.

In those days, St Georges Primary School and St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church Ruiru shared the same compound unlike to today where a perimeter wall separates the two institutions. The young George would attend early morning Mass and sometimes sneak in for lunchtime Mass.

“We used to have daily mass, and it used to be at 7:15 am. We made a point of attending with my brother and at least we’d complete who is going to serve. Those masses needed one server who would also do the readings. We used to run, see who would reach the Church first,” recalls Dr Mike Kariuki, the elder brother of the bishop.

The two siblings also loved being close to Fr George Bezzina O.F.M Cap the longest-serving parish priest of Ruiru, a Maltese by ancestry. His influence on them would grow their desire to join a religious <…… Readmore>