Kenyan cardinal says he was not invited to conclave (Catholic Review)

Cardinal John Njue, the retired Archbishop of Nairobi, is not participating in this week’s papal conclave, although he is eligible to vote. The cardinal says he was not invited.

Archbishop Philip Anyolo, who succeeded the cardinal in Nairobi, counters that in fact an invitation was sent through the archdiocese, and the archdiocese replied, on behalf of Cardinal Njue, that he could not travel to Rome because of health problems.

Cardinal Njue’s case is curious because for years the Vatican listed him as having been born in 1944: : a birthdate that would have made him ineligible for this year’s conclave. Only recently the Vatican updated that birthday, listing it as January 1, 1946, and making him eligible—an adjustment that now appears to have made no practical difference.