The Catholic Bishop of Enugu,
Most Rev. Callistus Onaga has rejected the recent apology tendered by Fr. Ejike
Mbaka to former Governor Peter Obi for the embarrassing episode the priest
created during a church bazaar sales.
Onaga, under whose jurisdiction
and supervision Fr. Mbaka’s Adoration Ministry Enugu operates, said the apology
by Mbaka was no apology but apologetics that did not comply with what the
Bishops directed him to do.
The bishop said this during the
weekend at a diaconate ordination mass celebrated at the Holy Ghost Cathedral,
Enugu.
He said: “Before we met Mbaka, he
had already apologised to Obi but when we listened to the apology, we realized
it was no apology but apologetics, so we mandated him to do a written apology
to Obi which he agreed to do and actually did it in our presence.
“He was remorseful and regretted
his action. We believe he would do the needful by sending across the written
apology.”
Bishop Onaga also bemoaned the
deep involvement of clerics in partisan politics and mandated henceforth, in
line with the directive of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, that
priests of the Catholic Church must not make political prophecies or endorse
any politician or political party. He urged priests under his control to
maintain strict neutrality in matters of politics and focus of their mandate as
priests.
He, however, noted that Fr. Mbaka
is gifted but should not allow himself be led into disobeying the directives
and authority of the church.
“I urge you all to pray for Fr.
Ejike Mbaka. This man has added value to the church through his work. I have on
several occasions told him that he is gifted but we must not allow anybody
railroad us into disobeying the directives of the church. I therefore urge you
all to pray for him so that the church can maximize his gift to the glory of
God,” he said.
The bishop also warned that
priests were becoming meddlesome even in matters that does not concern them.
He said: “I have heard such cases
in some community where the contention was that the priest said that a certain
person or the other should be the traditional ruler of a community and the
community was in crisis. This is beyond your mandate as priest. Priests are not
king makers, just preach and pray for them and let the counties run their
affairs. In the same way, we should also allow politicians to play their
politics and steer clear from the endorsements of candidates. Nigeria operates
a democracy and not theocracy. We must therefore be mindful to preserve the
integrity of the Catholic church.”
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Well said my lordship
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