Nun ditches 'husband', picks love brewed in church

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By MANGOA MOSOTA

In one of her songs, Canadian singer Celine Dion says love does not ask why and she would have spoken this directly to a Kenyan nun studying in the US. After being a nun for 16 years, Beatrice Magoka went to America for further studies. The Catholic nun attended Mass and served the church near her school dutifully.

Beatrice Magoka steps out in her habit. She discarded this when she fell in love and married Tyrone Wright. [PHOTOS: COURTESY]

In the same church, there was also a staunch Catholic man who regularly attended Mass. And since ‘love doesn’t ask why’, one day, two years ago, Magoka, 37, and American Tyrone Wright, 46, saw each other and that feeling of love was too much to ignore.

But they knew it was futile as Magoka was already ‘married’ to Christ. For two years they tried to pray and discourage the ‘temptation’ but it was in vain — they had fallen in love. So last April, Magoka and Wright tied the knot, through a civil wedding.

Great love

In an interview conducted mainly through phone calls and emails, Magoka talked of the great love she has for her man, whom she describes as caring, loving and the best that can be. She says they are enjoying marital bliss in their Austinhome in Minnesota.

Wright is a cabin maker. He is gigantic; about seven feet tall with a thick and black moustache.

On the other hand, Magoka is diminutive; about five feet tall. She says the big difference in their body size blends them. And this, she says, is good for their future brood as they will have diverse genes

"If my husband was short, I wonder the kind of children we would have," she says before bursting into a merry laughter.

Since she was young, Magoka dreamt of one day serving the church. "I really liked the idea of being a nun, though I wished to change my life later on to do something else," says Magoka, who is a nursing student at an American college. She hails from Nyamira County.

According to the Kisii Diocese Vicar-General Joseph Obanyi, cases of nuns leaving their vocation to get married are rare.

"For a nun to leave sisterhood, she has to be dispensed (set free) by the council of her local church. However, it is not easy for one to suddenly leave if she has made perpetual profession vows (to be a nun for life)," explains Father Obanyi.

Sister Leonora Owaa, the principal of St Oda Aluor School of the Visually Impaired in Gem District says it is rare for one who has joined sisterhood to get married.

But Magoka says she does not regret her decision, adding that the church had no reservations about her getting married. In addition, her parents and siblings have no qualms over her choice.

"Many fellow churchgoers wished me well, including the father (priest) at my local church."

Magoka trained as a nun at Asumbi Novitiate in Homa Bay County for three and-a-half years. Soon after, she joined Egoji Teachers’ College for two years, in the 1990s and earned a Diploma in Education.

Thereafter, she taught at three secondary schools, and became principal of St Martha’s Girls’ School in Homa Bay, before she left for the US for a three-year partnership exchange programme, sponsored by the church.

Lifetime commitment

A nun teaching in one of the Catholic-church run schools in Nyanza Province, argues that nuns who leave the church for marriage are weak as they fail the test of perseverance, adding that sisterhood calls for unwavering commitment, after vigorous training which takes three to four years.

"It is a lifetime commitment that women make to serve God. Many live according to this promise but a few women have left it to get married," she says.

For Magoka, her time as a nun was part of her life’s journey. Now she has moved on and started another life after her wedding, which she says, wasn’t flamboyant, as she did not want to show off. Besides, organising a big wedding is usually costly in the US.

Now, she is enjoying the life of any newly married woman. Her husband loves African food, including the traditional vegetables such as managu and Chinsaga.

Did she feel that she was going against her sisterhood vows, by getting into marriage?

"No. I did not feel that way. It was the right thing that I did. I didn’t do it for money but love."

Magoka says she played her role as a nun with diligence and describes her experience as wonderful. Now as she embarks on her new life as a married woman, she also looks forward to describing it as wonderful as well.