Crisis in Catholic Church

The Priests and Laity of the Catholic Diocese of Ahiara in Imo State are not amused by the soon to expire ultimatum given them by Pope Francis to accept Dr. Peter Okpalaeke as Bishop of the Diocese.

They insisted yesterday that there is no going back on their rejection of the bishop.

The prossesion of Catholic Laity of the Ahiara Diocese to reject the appointment of Okpalaeke as Bishop

The Pope’s ultimatum expires on June 12 and the sanction is suspension.

Hundreds of protesting Catholic faithful from the 163 parishes in the diocese yesterday stormed the Ahiara Cathedral and the Bishop’s Court to push their case for the replacement of Okpalaeke.

They vowed that the bishop will never be welcomed in the diocese.

The protesters who wore mainly black dresses and native attires got to the cathedral yesterday only to find it locked, and the entrance blocked by armed policemen.

This sparked a flurry of phone calls and consultations by elders of the church.

After several hours, the policemen opened the gates for the protesters.

But there was no violence.

The procession over, President of the Ahiara Diocesan Catholic Men Organization, Chief Gerald Anyanwu, told reporters that  the Diocese was not rebelling against the Pope.

Their demand, he said, was only justice and equity.

Anyanwu said the Pope was not beyond making administrative mistakes “as is the case of the appointment of Okpalaeke from Anambra as the Bishop of Ahiara Diocese.”

 “We are not questioning the decision of the Pope but we will not accept Okpalaeke as Bishop,” he said.

“The process of his appointment did not follow laid down procedures for the appointment of Bishops. Our Priests have written the apology demanded by the Pope to show that we are not disregarding the Pope but nobody can impose a Bishop on the people.

“That is not what the Christian faith is all about.”

 Another member of the Laity, Sir Sebastian Eke said: “we are not disputing the authority of the Pope as the supreme head of the Catholic Church but we want to communicate our position to him as regards the appointment of Okpalaeke.

“We don’t see any reason why somebody from this Diocese or any other Diocese from Imo State cannot be appointed as the Bishop of Ahiara Diocese.

 “All we are saying is that we don’t want Okpalaeke and trying to force him on his on us is not justice.”

 The Vice President of the Catholic Women Organization (CWO) in the Diocese, Dr Liona Ohanu, who spoke on behalf of the women, appealed to the Vatican to listen to the voice of the people, saying: “we respect the Pope and cannot disobey his directive as our Supreme Head but the issue of Okpalaeke is an exemption and we will not welcome him as the Bishop of this Diocese. Let the Pope appoint any other person from anywhere we will accept but not Okpalaeke.”

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State later visited the Cathedral in company of security chiefs, and went into a closed door meeting with the Priests in the Diocese, who had stayed away from the protesting Laity apparently to avoid incurring the wrath of the Pope.

 At the end of the meeting that lasted for over two hours, the Governor, appealed to the Priests and Laity to accept the directive of the Pope on the choice of the Bishop.

 He said: “I have listened to your pains and complaints but there is no alternative to peace. Your matter has attracted the attention of the Pope and you know better than me that the position of the Pope is final.

“I pray and I plead with you that you allow the directive of the Pope to stand in the interest of the image of the Diocese and the state. This is not the end of the Church. It will not be good for us to be known as the people that fight the Pope.”

 Responding to the Governor’s plea on behalf of the priests, Rev Father Joseph Ezeji said that the church hierarchy in Nigeria misled the Pope that the Ahiara Diocese crisis stemmed from ethnic sentiments.

 He said: “the Church hierarchy in Nigeria lied to the Pope that we are rejecting Okpalaeke because of ethnic sentiments. But the truth is that the process of his selection was not transparent.

“We are still wondering how his name from another state entirely, not even from a Diocese within Imo State was appointed the Bishop of Ahiara Diocese.

 “We are not disobeying the Pope, we have all written the apology letter as he directed, but we want to make it clear that the appointment of the Bishop was a fraud and we are saying that another Bishop should be appointed from any other Diocese from the state, if not from Ahiara.

 “For instance, the nine Bishops in the nine Dioceses in Anambra were appointed from this same Anambra, so why is it that the Bishop of Ahiara Diocese cannot be appointed from the Diocese.”

Okpalaeke who hails from Awka Diocese in Anambra State was appointed Bishop four years ago following the death of Bishop Victor Chikwe.

Okpalaeke was however rejected by the Priests and Laity in the Ahiara Diocese, resulting in a stalemate.

Pope Francis last month gave officials of the diocese a 30-day ultimatum to obey him by accepting the nomination of Okpalaeke or face being suspended from office.

During talks with a delegation from Nigeria at the Vatican, the pope demanded that priests and church members in Ahiara write to him personally to "ask his forgiveness", the Holy See said in a statement.

"In the letter, one must clearly manifest total obedience to the pope, and whoever writes must be willing to accept the bishop whom the pope sends and has appointed," said the statement.

It gave the faithful a 30-day deadline for sending such letters, which ends on July 9.

"Whoever does not do this will be ipso facto suspended a divinis and will lose his current office," it warned.

Following the initial rejection of Okpalaeke in 2012, the Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan was appointed the apostolic administrator of the diocese.

During his talks with the Nigerian delegation at the Vatican last month, at which both Okpaleke and Onaiyekan were present, the pope denounced the situation as "unacceptable", saying he was "deeply saddened."