A Kenyan religious movement, Legion Maria, has marked Christmas by celebrating the birth of what its members describe as the “Black Messiah” in western Kenya.
The celebration took place in a small candlelit room where worshippers, dressed in white garments, gathered to pray before a photograph of Mama Maria, the African woman who co-founded the church.
AFP reports that the worshippers believe the Messiah was born into the Black world, reflecting their belief that Jesus Christ manifested as a Black man for Africans.
During the Christmas gathering, a man who introduced himself as a prophet, Stephen Benson Nundu, was seen carrying a framed photograph of Baba Simeo Melchior, whom the church regards as the “Black Messiah”.
“Today is a great day, because the Virgin Mary gave birth to King Jesus in the world of black people,” Nundu said.
Legion Maria, also known as Legio Maria in the Luo language, was founded in 1966. However, the movement traces its spiritual roots to around 1938, when it says a “mystic woman” appeared to some Roman Catholics with messages about the incarnation of God’s son as a Black man.
One of its co-founders, Simeo Ondetto, later called Baba Simeo Melchior, is described by the church as the “returned son of God” and its “eternal spiritual leader”.
The movement claims to have millions of followers in Kenya and across at least eight other African countries, including Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Speaking to AFP, the deputy head of the church, Timothy Lucas Abawao, dismissed claims that Legion Maria is a cult.
“A cult essentially is an organisation which believes in the leader. But we believe in Jesus Christ, and we believe in God,” Abawao said.
He explained that followers believe Baba Simeo Melchior came specifically for Africans.
“He took on the colour of the Black man, so that the Black man could understand him in his own language and receive salvation,” he added.
Legion Maria is one of several African religious movements that present a Black messianic or divine figure.
In South Africa, followers of Isaiah Shembe believe he was divinely instructed to found the Nazareth Baptist Church in 1913, and many see him as a messianic figure. He died in 1935, but the church still has millions of followers.
In the former Belgian Congo, Simon Kimbangu is believed to have performed miraculous healings in 1921, leading to the rise of the Kimbanguist church. He later died in prison in 1951 after being convicted by colonial authorities.
Nigeria also has similar movements, including the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star, which regards its founder, Olumba Olumba Obu, as the Holy Spirit and the Triune God.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Legion Maria Christmas gathering, Odhiambo Ayanga said God’s message cuts across race.
“As he came for the white, he also came for the black,” Ayanga said.
“He went for the Asian, as he went for other races. God came for us all. That’s why in Africa, he has to be black.”
