As many as three thousand Imo Catholic Diocese members have protested the appointment of a Bishop by the Pope to lead them.
Pope Francis and Bishop Peter Ebele Okpaleke
According to a Sunday Punch report, over 3, 000 faithful of Ahiara
Diocese of the Catholic Church on Saturday converged on the Mater
Ecclesiae cathedral, Mbaise in Imo State for a rally to restate their
total rejection of the embattled Bishop Peter Ebele Okpaleke.
Okpaleke was anointed and consecrated bishop of the diocese by Pope
Benedict XVI in 2012 but both the Laity Council and the priests in the
diocese rejected his appointed on the grounds that he is not an indigene
of the area, among other reasons.
Sunday Punch reports that the diocesan youths, who put on black
attire, chanted solidarity songs to reaffirm their support for the
position taken by the Ahiara Diocese clerics and the laity council’s to
rejection of Okpaleke.
Other Catholic men and women who dressed in different church
uniforms, also participated in the rally, which started with a rosary
procession round the cathedral.
Addressing the congregation inside the cathedral, the President of
the Diocesan Laity Council, Mr. Gerald Anyanwu maintained that the
people of Mbaise were not against the Supreme Pontiff, Pope Francis I,
but that they were against the irregularities and injustices allegedly
perfected against the people of the diocese in the selection of the
bishop.
Anyanwu insisted that Okpaleke was forced on them, and that he was not a priest “incardinated in the Ahiara Presbyterian.”
He said, “There was no time we insisted that the bishop of the
diocese must be an Mbaise son, but the prelate must be a priest
incardinated in the diocese. We shall accept any bishop whether an Hausa
man or a Yoruba man as far as he is incardinated in Ahiara Diocese.”
He frowned against the activities of the Nigeria representatives of
the church in Rome and urged them (cardinals) in the Vatican city to
urgently look into the case of the Ahiara Diocese.
Also addressing the gathering the Provincial Ambassador, Laity
Council of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, Mr. Lawrence Opara, dismissed
as propaganda, reports that the Mbaise priests would be sanctioned by
the Pope if the agitation continued.
Opara (82), who is also the Secretary, Ahiara Diocese Laity Council
wondered why the case was different and difficult to resolve since it
started in 2012.
He said, “This is time of propaganda but the truth must be told. They gave us a bishop by hook and crook means. We cannot accept him.
“It is biblical that if a priest is given to a people of God
and he is rejected, he should go and be assigned to another people, who
will accept him.”
Opara described the rumour that the Mbaise priests would be
sanctioned as false, maintaining that no priest had been derobed without
his bishop’s consent and approval.
The traditional ruler of Okirika-Ama, Umuokirika in Ahiazu Mbaise
Local Government Area, HRH Eze Dominic Okoro (75) also faulted the
claims that some traditional rulers from Mbaise visited the Pope in the
Vatican.
He said, “Those people they said went to Rome to see the Pope
were not our true representatives. Those who went from Nigeria deceived
the Pope by telling him that they were the representatives of the
Diocese.
“I am a traditional ruler and in the way we conduct our
traditional institution, no royal father would leave for the Vatican
City without all the Ezes knowing.
“We are not in any way against the authority of the Pope, but
what we are fighting is injustice, corruption and evil among other vices
in the Catholic Church.”
Another member of the Laity Council of the Diocese, Mr. Sabestine
Eke stated that Mbaise people can never be taken for granted by the
Nigerian cardinals in Rome.
He noted that Okpaleke was not among the names of the priests sent
for bishopric consideration and wondered why he was suddenly consecrated
a bishop for the diocese.
He said, “We are fighting for peace and justice. It is very
unfortunate that the Ahiara Diocesan bishopric crisis has unraveled many
ills in the most revered Catholic Church. However, the truth must be
told and we can’t take that high level of intimidation, injustice and
corruption in the church”.
Okorocha intervenes
Meanwhile, the Governor of the state, Owelle Rochas Okorocha who
later visited the scene stated that he was there to douse the tension
which was caused by an alleged plan to smuggle Okpaleke into the Diocese
by security operatives in the state.
He said, “I am the chief security officer of the state and I
can confirm to you that there was no time that security operatives
planned to smuggle in Okpaleke into the diocese”
Catholic Secretariat threaten to suspend Imo priests
Meanwhile, the Catholic Secretariat in the country has threatened
to suspend the priests in the diocese by July 9,2017 if they failed to
accept the appointment of Okpaleke as directed by the Pope.
It added that the rebellious priests would also lose their offices
if they continued to disobey the Papal’s directive in respect of
Okpalaeke’s appointment as the bishop of the diocese.
The Director of Communications of the Catholic Secretariat, Rev.
Fr. Ralph Madu said the church has been praying for the priests to have a
change of heart and demonstrate their loyalty to the Catholic Pontiff.
“The point is that the pope has spoken, he had demanded
expression of loyalty to him, there is a letter expressing that the
priests be loyal to him and they should obey every directive including
appointment of bishops and they have till 9th of July to do that,” Madu stated.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
But
farmer-managed natural regeneration will not work everywhere. Other
methods are needed too, such as digging half-moons (to capture water)
and planting seedlings. Doing a better job of applying the right method
to the right place may be the quickest and most feasible way to speed
the making of the Great Green Wall.
