Beyond a doubt, Legio Maria — now formally Legio Maria of Africa Church Mission — founded in Kenya around 1962 is the largest of the groups with an alternative pope. While it is difficult to compute membership, the Kenyan government estimates that there are as many as 3 or even 4 million Legios in Kenya alone. Legio Maria should not be confused with the Roman Catholic lay organisation, Legion of Mary, also known as Legio Mariae. Still, many of the founding members of the Kenyan Legio had backgrounds in the Legion of Mary and viewed it as a precursor to their movement.

Established in the Nyanza province in the early 1960s, Legio Maria soon spread to other parts of the country and abroad, both within Africa and, to a lesser extent, overseas. Legio Maria has its roots in Roman Catholicism but, following the metropolitan model, has developed its own ecclesiastical hierarchy, including a pope. The Legios use the traditional Latin Order of the Mass in a pre-1962 version, but also have a clear focus on charismatic gifts available to ordinary believers, not only to holders of formal offices.

Legios believe that the founder, Simeo Ondeto (1926?–1991), was divine. He was the Second Coming of Christ. Therefore, the faithful refer to him as Baba Messias, Baba Simeo Melkio, and similar varieties of that name, ‘Baba’ meaning Father. They also revere Mama Maria or Bikira Maria († 1966), originally known as Regina Owitch, whom they see as the Virgin Mary and Baba Messias’s spiritual mother. Because of their supernatural origins, Baba Messias and Mama Maria held unique positions.

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