The crises that have engulfed the Catholic Diocese of Ahiara Mbaise
for over two years now have generated a lot of media interest and
articles most of which were not properly researched. I, like every
other devout Catholic have followed the development with great awe and
dismay, especially at our religious leaders who should have only been
concerned with fortifying and strengthening our spirituality.
Unfortunately, the reverse has become the case as a few of our priests
have decided to continue misleading their flock as regards the
bishopric appointment for the diocese. It is very unfortunate also
that the laity of the church have been balkanized into factions, the
anti Okpaleke and the Pro Okpaleke, through the lies and deceit of
some of the Priests. This is really bad and even worse as the Catholic
Church is being exposed to ridicule and scorn.
For the purpose of the above, I feel it is only proper to let whole
world know the real truth and the right things to have been done in
this whole issue as the previous information to the public have all
been biased, one sided and unresearched.
To start with the Ahiara Priests have continued to say they are not
fighting Fr. Okpaleke who was appointed the Bishop of the Diocese to
succeed their former Bishop , the late Bishop Victor Chikwe not
because he is not from Mbaise as people were made to believe but that
they are opposed to the process that produced him as they do not
conform to the laid down rules and procedure of the Catholic church.
For instance, every Bishop must belong to the presbytorium he rules or must be
Incardinated in that Diocese. Here Okpaleke is not a priest of the
Ahiara Presbytorium and was not incardinated in it.
Again, nomination and appointment of a Bishop is done in utmost
secrecy and the announcement of any chosen Bishop not made through the
internet, but Okpaleke was announced on the internet.
Also, it is obligatory for every Bishop to submit three names of
likely successors to the Holy See, (Vatican) every three years. Am
sure Bishop Chikwe who presided over Ahiara Diocese for over 20 years
must have submitted over 20 names. The questions most people now ask
are what happened to the names he had submitted. What could have
disqualified them and how did Okpaleke who is not an Ahiara Priest
make the list.
Those that ask these questions are those who know that the late Bishop
Chikwe as Meticulous and intelligent as he was couldn’t have submitted
faulty names to the Vatican. That is why they demand answers and
urgently too.
Another disturbing fact is that the majority of both Mbaise clergy
and the laity do not want Okpaleke. A study by Cardinal Onaiyekan when
he first visited Ahiara as the supervising Bishop revealed that about
98% of the diocesan laity and about 93% of the clergy of the diocese
representing about 600 priests are against Okpaleke. It is only about
7% representing only 8 priests that want him to come. A clear case of
majority against minority which is a major yardstick in almost every
- Going by the above Okpaleke if eventually imposed on the
people will be like a bride in a family that do not want her which
will be too unfortunate for both himself and the gospel. I am not sure
that those who want Okpaleke to come are aware of the biblical
injunction where God told his apostles to dust their feet and leave
every house hold where they were rejected. I think this would have
been the most noble thing to do so this insistence to impose Okpaleke
could mean different things to different people most of who are not
comfortable with it.
Now to the major players, cardinals Arinze, Cassuja, (the Papal Nuncio
to Nigeria)
Filioni of the Vatican, and Onaiyekan of the Abuja Archdiocese who
from facts, actions and pronouncements have shown their hands and
interest to install Okpaleke at all cost, come rain, come shine using
their power and offices at the Vatican which a lot Priests outside
Ahiara diocese, have condemned including Fr. Ejike Mbaka who has
released documentaries even on you-tube against the imposition of
Okpaleke on the Mbaise Diocese.
People who have followed this crises are not happy with these leaders
especially cardinal Arinze who is rumored to be engineering the whole
episode in his quest to ensure that Anambra Colonizes the Catholic
church in the entire east and then the south later, probably. Yes,
what else can define the fact that the Awka axis where he is from has
over 6 (six) Bishops and Ahiara as big as it is not worthy to have one
even as it is reputed to be among the highest producers of priests
world over. Bear it in mind that most of these priests are great
scholars and professionals.
From investigations, these leaders led by Arinze and Fillioni have
gone contrary to the directives of the pope who has always insisted on
the grassroots for every Bishopric appointment for the sake of
familiarity, ease of language and good knowledge of the peoples
culture and tradition. I am sure most of the letters and documents
they brandish never emanated from the desk of the pope himself, but
from the desk of Cardinal Fillioni who I should rather say is the Pope
Arinze uses to fight his case. But they seem to forget something, and
that is the fact that Okpaleke from all indication is not wanted by
the Mbaises who are crying out for this injustice and slight on them.
In this scenario, he will be so despised to the extent that what
ever he does will be despised and condemned. This they should have
known will scatter the church in Mbaise. Maybe that is what they want
to achieve. I don’t even appreciate Cardinal Onaiyekan for being the
executor of the plots to install Okpaleke. If he is not, then he
should not have been in a such a very strong partnership with the
eight pro-Okpaleke priests who do not enjoy a good relationship with
the diocese and its people as most of them have either been sacked or
suspended by their congregations, parishes and even the diocese. This
fact every Mbaise man is aware of and the implication is that the
people now see Onaiyekan as one who is adding salt to injury. I even
hear that Onaiyekan labeled these priests “questionable” when he came
so turning around now to work with them so closely as he does is not a
good development and lends credence to the fact that he has
compromised. A popular belief in Mbaise today is that these
pro-Okpaleke priests want Okpaleke at all cost to save their necks and
face as they have fallen out of favour with the Catholic church in the
This could be true, but they should know that evil hardly triumphs over good.
However, I want to fault the excuse of the pro Okpaleke’s who accuse
the Ahiara priests of petitioning and agitating against initial likely
candidates which the priests have long denied, and even challenged
them to produce evidences to. To me that excuse is very weak because
if petitions by Mbaise priests stopped the emergence of an Mbaise born
Bishop, then, the protests and agitations against Okpaleke by the
Mbaises would have also stopped him long ago.
Note the issue is not about an Mbaise born Bishop, it is all about a
bishop incardinated in the Ahiara Diocese. That is all they want so
let the right thing be done so that the people of Mbaise will not
believe the catholic church which they so much believe in belongs to A
FEW INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE THE RIGHT TO HIRE AND FIRE…
GREAT NJOKU
