Njue was born in
Embu, Kenya, on 1 January 1946 to Joseph Nyanga Kibariki and Monica Ngina Nyaga. He was
baptized in 1948 and entered the
minor seminary in
Nkubu in 1962. From 1967 to 1974, he furthered his studies in Rome at the
Pontifical Urbaniana University (where he obtained a
licentiate in philosophy) and
Pontifical Lateran University (licentiate in
pastoral theology). On 6 January 1973, Njue was
ordained to the priesthood by
Pope Paul VI in
St. Peter's Basilica. Returning to Kenya in October 1974, he did pastoral work in Kariakomu in the
southern district of
Meru. He also taught philosophy at the National Seminary of Bungoma, of which he later served as
rector from 1978 to 1982. In 1982, he completed a course in spirituality in the United States. He then served as a
parish priest in
Chuka and rector of the Philosophical Seminary of Meru. On 9 June 1986, Njue was appointed
Bishop of Embu by
Pope John Paul II. He received his
episcopal consecration on 20 September from cardinal
Jozef Tomko, the
co-consecrators being Bishops Silas Silvius Njiru and Raphael Ndingi Mwana'a Nzeki. He served as President of the Kenyan
Episcopal Conference from 1997 to 2003 and was named
Coadjutor Archbishop of Nyeri on 23 January 2002. Following the murder of
Bishop Luigi Locati, he served as
Apostolic Administrator of Isolo from 2005 to 2006. Njue was appointed
Archbishop of Nairobi on 6 October 2007 and was
installed on the following 1 November. Shortly afterwards, he was created
Cardinal-Priest of
Preziosissimo Sangue di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo by
Pope Benedict XVI in the
consistory of 24 November 2007. On 12 June 2008 he was named a member of the
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the
Congregation for the Clergy. On 29 December 2011 he was appointed a member of the
Pontifical Council for Social Communications for a five-year renewable term. Cardinal Njue serves as Vice President of the
International Catholic Migration Commission. On 28 March 2013, he appealed for calm and peace during the upcoming Easter season as the
Supreme Court of Kenya prepared to announce its verdict in the disputed initial round of the presidential election held on 4 March between
Uhuru Kenyatta and Kenya's Prime Minister
Raila Odinga. Kenyatta and Deputy President-elect
William Ruto were facing charges at the
International Criminal Court (ICC) at
The Hague that they instigated post-electoral violence in Kenya after the 2007 election. He was one of the
cardinal electors who participated in the
2013 papal conclave that elected
Pope Francis. On 30 November 2013, Njue was named a member of the
Congregation for Catholic Education by
Pope Francis. In June 2013, after US President
Barack Obama, whose father was a Kenyan, said during an official visit to
Senegal that African governments should follow the US example in taking action on gay rights, Njue replied "Let him forget, forget and forget". He said that the United States has "ruined their own societies" and that he does not "think God was making a mistake when he created Adam and Eve". A few weeks later, the Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya, Archbishop
Charles Daniel Balvo, alongside Bishop
Paul Kariuki Njiru of
Embu, told a Catholic assembly that "The homosexuals should be defended against violation of their dignity and human rights, they are human beings like anyone of us." In March 2014, Njue advised against participation in a free government program to vaccinate women of reproductive age against tetanus. He said that targeting women was "fishy". Other critics suggested the program was a disguised form of birth control. Government health officials said they were accustomed to such rumors from the government's critics. He led the Kenyan bishops in a campaign against the WHO-sponsored vaccination program, asserting that the vaccine was designed to lower fertility. In June 2017, at a celebration of Family Day, Njue criticized men who put roadblocks in the way of marriages by making exorbitant demands for payment from the groom's family (
bride price). Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Archbishop of Nairobi on 4 January 2021. Despite being eligible to serve as an
elector, Njue was one of two eligible cardinal electors (the other being
Antonio Cañizares Llovera of
Spain) who did not participate in the
2025 papal conclave because of health problems. ==Notes==