Kenya’s Only Cardinal Will Not Participate In Election Of Pope Due To Sickness – Church Clarifies

John Njue

Source: Africa Publicity

The only Cardinal of the Catholic Church in Kenya, John Njue, will not take part in the election of the next Pope due to sickness contrary to media reports that he had not been invited to vote, the Catholic Church in Kenya has clarified.

There had been concerns that Cardinal Njue will not be participating in the election of the next pope because he had not been asked to attend.

Following Pope Francis’ death last month, senior Catholic leaders, known as cardinals, who are younger than 80, are eligible to elect his successor.
They are due to begin meeting in the Vatican on Wednesday.

But Kenyan Cardinal Njue, aged 79, was quoted in a Kenyan newspaper saying that he had not been invited and he did not know why. The Daily Nation newspaper had quoted him as saying that he had not been invited adding that “it is not because of health… I don’t know really… it’s difficult to comment about it”.

However, Catholic officials in Kenya have stated that he had been invited but was not able to go because of ill health.

A statement from the Catholic Church in Kenya signed by Archbishop Philip Anyolo, said: “Although [the cardinal] is eligible to participate and was officially invited… owing to his current health condition [he] will be unable to travel to Rome.”

The statement issued on Tuesday, May 6, 2025 added that: “Let us also continue to pray for the good health of His Eminence John Cardinal Njue.”

The statement indicated that the Church was reacting to Njue’s participation and “various enquiries” about whether he would be at the cardinals’ meeting, known as a conclave.

Cardinal Njue was the Archbishop of Nairobi from 2007 until his retirement in 2021. He was appointed a cardinal in 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI becoming the second cardinal to have come from the country.
He and Spain’s Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, 79, are the only cardinals who will not be participating in the papal vote out of the 135 who are eligible.