Father Cletus Mooya, 36, was born in Mazabuka, Zambia, in the southern part of this southern Africa nation. He has four brothers and two sisters. Mooya began thinking about the priesthood at 7 or 8 but eventually lost interest. After going to college in Kenya, he taught school before feeling a renewed religious call. Mooya first joined the Passionist Fathers, but left to come to Hawaii in 2001 as an Oratorian seminarian. He studied at Rome’s Pontifical Beda College before joining the Diocese of Honolulu’s formation program. He was ordained a diocesan priest in June 2007 and is now associate pastor at St. Jude Parish in Kapolei.
1. What is your favorite Bible passage?
Psalm 139. It starts, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me./ You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar./ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.”
2. What is your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memory is growing up with my friends in a small Catholic mission called Chivuna in the Monze diocese of Zambia. My friends and I enjoyed playing games like soccer and hide and seek, creating make-shift homes, collecting fruit at a nearby farm and going to church. We also liked to accompany the older folks in their daily chores so that we could learn from them.
3. Who have you admired most in your life?
Nelson Mandela. I love him because he was in prison in South Africa for 27 years during the apartheid era. He, however, stood for the truth and opposed racial discrimination and became the first black president in a new South Africa in 1994.
4. Where have you always wanted to visit?
I would love to visit the Holy Land, especially Israel and Jerusalem. I love these two places because of the rich history they contain about our Catholic faith.
5. What book are you reading now?
“God On Trial: The Book of Job and Human Suffering” by Bill Thomason. It is a great book because it explores how Job was not angry, despairing and submissive due to his suffering. He was a creative thinker who explored possible alternative explanations to his situation. In spite of his changing emotions, Job never gave up faith in God.
6. How about your all-time favorite book?
My favorite book is “Jesus Before Christianity” by Father Albert Nolan. In this book Father Nolan tries to relate how similar to the time of Jesus our society is now. He is concerned about the millions of people and their daily struggles and suffering. He predicts even greater and worse suffering in the future. But he tries to offer solutions to avoiding these sufferings.
7. Do you have any hobbies?
Yes, my hobbies include jogging, traveling, playing golf, reading and listening to music.
8. What do you watch on TV?
The History Channel. I love this channel because it reveals the past and then allows me to use that history to compare, reveal and access the present in order to look for a better, more promising future.