Jubilation In Ahiara Diocese As Bishop Okpaleke Resigns
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Loading ...By Austin Echefu
There has been wild jubilation by parishioners of the Catholic Church in the embattled Ahiara Diocese in Imo State following the news that Pope Francis had approved the resignation of the embattled Bishop Peter Ebere Okpaleke.
A Vatican statement has been quoted as saying that the Pope had accepted the resignation of Bishop Okpaleke, noting that the position of the Bishop for the Ahiara Diocese has been declared vacant.
The statement also said that a Papal Administrator would run the affiars of the Diocese until a new Bishop emerges.
Bishop Okpaleke’s resignation letter said in part that the reason he resigned was because he had not been able to take possession of the Diocese or even live within its territory due to the continued violence and resistance from the people.
Fides, the Vatican’s news agency said on Monday that 200 priests from the Diocese had written the Pope promising their obedience, with many telling the Pope that they had “psychological difficulties collaborating with the Bishop after years of conflict”. But the news agency advised that they reflected “on the grave damage inflicted on the Church” as a result of their “unreasonable actions opposing a Bishop legitimately appointed by the Supreme Pontiff”.
Bishop Okpaleke in his resignation letter also said that the Bishop’s who remain in the Ahiara Diocese will not be beneficial to the Church.
Bishop Okpaleke was appointed by the former Pontiff, Pope Benedict 16 in 2012 following the death of Bishop Victor Chikwe, but the parishioners had refused him control of the Church, because he was not from the Mbaise clan.
There have been violent protests resisting the Bishop from taking control of the Church by the people of Mbaise.
Bishop Okpaleke hails from Awka in Anambra State. Meanwhile, the President of the Ahiara Diocesan Catholic Men Organisation, General Anyanwu, has described Bishop Okpaleke’s resignation as victory for the Catholic faithful in the Diocese.
He said that the Pope should be commended for granting what he said was the genuine demands of the people of Ankara Diocese.
