Paul Kariuki Njiru was born in Kyeni, Embu. After schooling, he studied at St. Joseph's Seminary and then St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Nairobi. In 1991 the Pontifical Urban University awarded him a bachelor's degree for his studies while in Kenya. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Embu on March 1, 1993. As a parish priest, he worked in Kairuri parish and served as a diocesan youth chaplain. He was the education secretary for Catholic schools in Embu Diocese. Having studied for six years in Rome, he was then awarded an S.T.L. (1999) and an S.T.D. (2002) in Biblical Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University.[1]
In a 2024 book about plagiarism at the Gregorian University, researchers Michael Dougherty and Alkuin Schachenmayr argued that Njiru's dissertation was plagiarized, showing that very many passages were copied from uncredited authors like cardinals Leo Joseph Suenens and Albert Vanhoye.[2]
He is chairman of the Catholic Health Commission of Kenya, a commission formed by the Kenyan Bishops' Conference. As chairman, he has oversight of the 58 hospitals, 83 health centers, 311 dispensaries, and 17 medical training institutions owned and operated by the Catholic Church in Kenya.[3]
Charisms and the Holy Spirit's Activity in the Body of Christ: An Exegetical-Theological Study of 1 Corinthians 12,4–11 and Romans 12,6–8 [Doctoral dissertation] (Rome: Ed. Pontificia Univ. Gregoriana, 2002).
^Njiru, Paul Kariuki (2002). Charisms and the Holy Spirit's Activity in the Body of Christ: An Exegetical-Theological Study of 1 Corinthians 12,4–11 and Romans 12,6–8. Rome: Ed. Pontificia Univ. Gregoriana. pp. back cover text.
