Will Ahiara Catholic Diocese ever know peace?

Following the crisis that has engulfed the Ahiara Catholic Diocese of Imo State, JOE NWACHUKWU, in this report, chronicles the events that have unfolded, and the expectations of the congregation, as the Vatican deadline inches closer to expiration.

When in December 2012, Bishop Peter Ebere Okpaleke was posted as the new bishop of Ahiara Diocese of the Catholic Church, in Mbaise, Imo State, not many people could have foreseen that nearly five years after, the diocese would be engulfed in a crisis, that has taken even the Vatican’s intervention to see to a peaceful resolution.

The protest that greeted Bishop Okpaleke’s posting to the diocese by the people of Mbaise was coated in the insistence that the Episcopal position for their diocese should have been occupied by a son of the soil.

According to historical reports, the Catholic Diocese of Ahiara was carved out of the old Diocese of Owerri on November 18, 1987 with Bishop Victor Chikwem, an indigene of the area, who died on September 16, 2010, as bishop of the diocese.

After Chikwem’s death, the appointment of Monsignor Okpaleke, an indigene of Amosin in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State, was announced as the second bishop to administer the diocese.

Casket placed in front of cathedral

The papal pronouncement, however, did not go down well with Catholic faithful of the diocese, as they refused to accept Okpaleke’s appointment as successor to late Bishop Chikwe, and all efforts to resolve the crisis met a brick-wall, as the Ahiara Catholic faithful insist that someone from the area should be the rightful Episcopal appointee.

As part of efforts to express their displeasure, the cathedral was shut down to prevent the Episcopal ordination/installation of the bishop-elect. Some protesters also conducted a peaceful demonstration around the Ahiara community in black attires, placing a casket in front of the cathedral, as a means of signalling danger for whoever tried to impose himself on them.

Apparently worried by the ugly situation, the Episcopal ordination of the bishop-elect slated for May 21, 2013, was relocated to the Seat of Wisdom seminary, Ulakwo chapel, Owerri, Imo State, to avoid any form of violence, should the ordination be held at the cathedral as earlier scheduled.

At the ordination, which was witnessed by TribuneChurch, about 25 Catholic archbishops and bishops were in attendance, among whom were: Anthony J.V Obinna (Owerri); Ignatius Kaigama President (CBCN); Valerian Okeke (Onitsha); Brian Udenigwe (Papal Nuncio to Togo and Benin Republic); the Papal Nuncio Augustine Kasujja, and Cardinal John Onaiyekan.

In his sermon, the Bishop of Umuahia diocese, Most Reverend Lucius Ugorji, appreciated all present for their understanding, while affirming that Mbaise was a land blessed with human resources both in the clergy, government and education.

The bishop urged the Mbaise people to bury the hatchet and accept Bishop Okpalaeke, assuring that he was a good man with an outstanding character of integrity and honour.

He particularly pointed out that the Bishop, who appeared to be the proverbial ‘rejected stone,’ might become their ‘corner stone’ tomorrow. He noted that Bishop Okpalaeke’s appointment was not an imposition borne out of bad faith, but a manifestation of the universality of the church.

In spite of this, the congregation stood their ground on what they termed perceived injustice and gross marginalisation. Some Catholic members of the diocese, who expressed their grievances to TribuneChurch on the condition of anonymity, alleged that with the help of Francis Cardinal Arinze, a native of Eziowelle in Anambra State, Awka had produced five bishops while Mbaise had no bishop; Onitsha province had 15, while Owerri province had only four.

They queried the rational of going to Awka to pick a bishop for Ahiara diocese, when the area could boast of more than 500 indigenous priests, who were qualified to be the bishop of Ahiara diocese, while also disclosing that there was a list of priests sent by the late Bishop Chikwe as possible successors.

One request the Ahiara Diocese have continuously made to the papacy is to make open and transparent the process of appointing a local ordinary, by giving them the opportunity to contribute and vet whom their next bishop should be.

As the crisis inches closer to its fifth year, a cross-section of Catholics, who also spoke with TribuneChurch, are divided on the issue of how much people-involvement is necessary in the posting of a bishop to a diocese.

Interestingly, seeing as there hasn’t been any strong Episcopal presence in the diocese, the people have also expressed concerns about their relationship with the Holy See, as there haven’t been sacraments of holy order and confirmation in the diocese for more than four years.

Apparently worried by the situation in the diocese, a meeting was called but somehow, those who had contentions did not make the trip, as it was alleged that the invitation came late. Those that travelled to Rome were the President, Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Ignatius Kaiama; Apostolic Administrator-in-Charge of Ahiara, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, and Bishop Owerri, Anthony Obinna, who led the delegation which comprised three priests and two lay members of the diocese to the Vatican city. It was also revealed that the five-man delegation failed to attend that meeting because they didn’t feel it was right to argue with the pope with the intention of rejecting the papal appointment of Bishop Okpalaeke.

It was learnt that the Pope expressed sadness over the issue and called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. The diocese was urged to accept the bishop by allowing him resume work in the diocese within 30 days.

Ahiara Catholic priests may be suspended

According to the Catholic News Service (CNS), at that meeting held on June 8, 2017, Pope Francis gave priests belonging to the Diocese of Ahiara, 30 days to write a letter promising obedience to him and accepting the bishop appointed for their diocese or face suspension.

The papal text in English was posted June 9 on Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama’s blog. Cardinal Onaiyekan also told the CNS the same day that the text was what Pope Francis said. The Vatican press office released the text June 10.

Nigerian church leaders had met Pope Francis to discuss the situation of Bishop Ebere Okpaleke, who was appointed bishop of Ahiara, by the then-Pope Benedict XVI, in 2012.

It’s an attempted takeover of God’s vineyard –Pope Francis

According to the CNS, the Vatican initially issued only a short communiqué on the meeting with the pope, describing the situation in the diocese as “unacceptable” and saying the pope “reserved the right to take appropriate measures.”

In the full text posted later, Pope Francis told the Nigerian leaders: “I think that, in this case, we are not dealing with tribalism, but with an attempted taking of the vineyard of the Lord.” The pope also referred to “the parable of the murderous tenants” in Matthew 21:33-44.

“Whoever was opposed to Bishop Okpaleke taking possession of the diocese wants to destroy the church. This is forbidden,” the pope said.

Pope Francis said he even considered “suppressing the diocese, but then I thought that the church is a mother and cannot abandon her many children.”

Instead, he said, every priest of the diocese, whether residing in Nigeria or abroad, is to write a letter to him asking for forgiveness because “we all must share this common sorrow.”

Each priest’s letter, he said, “must clearly manifest total obedience to the pope” and indicate a willingness “to accept the bishop whom the pope sends and has appointed.

“The letter must be sent within 30 days, from today till July 9, 2017. Whoever does not do this will be ipso facto suspended ‘a divinis’ and will lose his current office,” the pope said, according to the posts.

“This seems very hard, but why must the pope do this?” Pope Francis asked. “Because the people of God are scandalised. Jesus reminds us that whoever causes scandal must suffer the consequences.”

Bishop Okpaleke, the contested bishop, also met the pope and was joined in Rome by other Nigerian bishops and a handful of priests making an unusual kind of visit “ad limina apostolorum” (to the threshold of the apostles) in early June.

While “ad limina” visits usually are done in national groups, the Vatican communiqué described the Ahiara diocesan visit using the same term. It noted that the nine-person delegation prayed at the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul and in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

They also participated in a private celebration of the Mass June 8 with Pope Francis. The Vatican did not say if the pope gave a homily.

Later in the day, the pope held a private audience with the group. Members also had met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, and with Cardinal Fernando Filoni and other top officials from the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples to examine what the Vatican called the “painful situation of the church in Ahiara.”

A petition to Pope Benedict launched by the “Coalition of Igbo Catholics,” said, “That no priest of Mbaise origin is a bishop today is mind-boggling. Mbaise has embraced, enhanced the growth of and sacrificed for the Catholic Church, has more priests per capita than any other diocese in Nigeria and certainly more than enough pool of priests qualified to become the next bishop of the episcopal see of Ahiara Diocese, Mbaise.”

According to the Vatican, the diocese has close to 423,000 Catholics and 110 diocesan priests.

Trying to calm the situation in July 2013, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Onaiyekan to serve as apostolic administrator of the diocese, and the following December, he sent Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, then president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, to Ahiara to listen to the concerns of the diocesan priests and local laity.

Cardinal Onaiyekan joined Bishop Okpaleke on the “ad limina” visit to Rome, as did Archbishop Anthony Obinna of Owerri and Archbishop Kaigama. Three priests, a religious sister and a traditional elder also made the trip.

Following the situation, which many have described as worrisome and unnecessary church politics, it was gathered that some persons are contemplating leaving the church, while some are willing to stand on their insistence that their diocese deserves an indigenous bishop. One week is all that remains of the deadline  given by the papal pronouncement.