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Legio Maria
Maria Legio
"Pope" Simeon Melchior Ondeto (aka "Baba Messiah"), Gaudencia Aoko
"Pope" Raphael Titus Otieno
western Kenya (1962-63)
Got Kwer, Kenya
According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, "It arose in Kenya from a heavenly visit experienced in 1962 by a Luo farmer and Roman Catholic catechist, Simeon Ondeto." According to one summary, "it worships a black messiah, claiming that its founder, Simeo Ondeto, was Jesus Christ reincarnated in African skin." According to another description, "Among Legio Maria members, central importance is given to the need to control the world of the spirits through possession, exorcism, healing, and the actual use of mediums, who are mainly lay people and members of the movement."
Often described as the largest African independent church with Roman Catholic origins. Members are said to abstain from dancing and from consuming pork, certain leafy vegetables, alcohol, and drugs. Polygamy is permitted.
three million
English, Luo, Swahili
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