There are strong indications that
the Catholic Bishops of Nige-
ria may take another look at
the activities of priests running
private ministries in the Church to en-
sure they do so with stricter deference to
their Local Ordinary and in compliance
the tenets of their priestly vocation.
This, we gathered, have become neces-
sary in view of the recent controversies
surrounding the activities of some of the
Directors of these ministries which may
not have arguer well for the image of the
Catholic.
The Church’s hierarchy, according to
our sources, are particularly quipped by
the failure of some of the priests to ad-
here strictly to their vows of total obe-
dience to their Local Ordinary in their
operations, a situation which have seen
some of them speaking and acting in
ways that are not in strict compliance
with the ethical conducts expected of the
catholic priesthood.
While noting that some of these pri-
vate ministries, just like the Catholic
Charismatic Renewal of Nigeria, have,
over the years been very instrumental to
the spiritual rejuvenation of many in the
body of Christ, there are also fears that if
these private ministries are not properly
guided, they may lose focus and fall into
the nest of worldliness, thereby leading
their followers astray.
Particularly worrisome to the hier-
archy of the church at this time is the
political predictions made by Rev Fr
Ejike Mbaka of the Adoration Minis-
tries, Enugu regarding the governorship
of Imo State. Fr Mbaka had in his 2020
New Year predictions revealed that the
candidate of the APC at the last gover-
norship election, Chief Hope Uzodinma
would emerge the next governor of Imo
State. This came at a time when there
was a pending court case at the Supreme
Court on the contentious election be-
tween Governor Emeka Ihedioha of
the PDP and the APC candidate, Chief
Uzodinma.
True to the prediction, the Supreme
Court ruled in favour of Chief Hope
Uzodinma who has since been sworn in
as Governor of Imo State.
While lovers of Fr Mbaka see the
outcome of the Supreme Court
judgement as a testimony of the
genuineness of his prediction and a
confirmation of his closeness to the
Almighty, others felt that his involve-
ment in political prediction is unbe-
coming of a Catholic priest. They
equally frowned at his close romance
with the ruling All Progressive
Congress, adding that as a Catholic
Priest, he should not be seen openly
to be favouring a particular party but
must be a father to all.
Moreover, some of the sources we
spoke to believe strongly that the
continuous involvement of Fr Mba-
ka on the contentious issue of party
politics in the country was capable
of further polarising the political at-
mosphere and bringing the Catholic
Church to disrepute.
They said stricter measures should
be put in place to regulate the activ-
ities of priests in private ministries
so as to curtail their possible excess-
es and save the church from further
embarrassment.
If something is not urgently done in
this regard, they warned, it may send
a negative signal to other priests con-
templating joining such ‘ministry’
that they too are at liberty to act in
flagrant disregard to the directives of
their Local Ordinary.
It would be recalled that last De-
cember, the Bisop of Umuahia Dio-
cese and Administrator of Ahiara Di-
ocese, Most Rev. Lucius Ugorji issued
a statement in which he announced
the banning of the activities of Canaan-
land Ministry (A.K.A. E-Dey Work) in
Ahiara Diocese. The Bishop also banned
the founder, Rev Fr Magnus Ebere SDV
from exercising his priestly function in
the Diocese for acting with gross disre-
gard on the directive of his Bishop.
Fr Ebere SDV, a religious priest, was
penalized for carrying out his ‘ministry’
without obtaining due clearance from
his bishop and for operating in ways that
were not in conformity with the teach-
ings of the Church.
Though we learnt there is an ongoing
consultation on ways of checkmating
the excesses of Fr Mbaka, sources said
such a move may not necessary entail
excommunication. Rather, it is meant
to prevail on him to control his excesses.
“Fr Mbaka is no doubt a blessing to the
Church, whichever way one looks at it..
However, he needs to distance himself
from politics, politicians and concen-
trate more on his spiritual calling of
ministering to souls,” said a source who
pleaded anonymity.
“Recall that some time last year he was
accused of openly soliciting for funds
from a politician, Peter Obi in respect of
his ministry; an action which received
wide condemnation. Though he later
tendered an apology to the politician
concerned and to his Local Ordinary in
Enugu, the Church was not expecting
him to go back into making political
pronouncements. As a Catholic priest
he should know better that obedience is
better than sacrifice.”
As at the time of going to press, no of-
ficial pronouncement has been issued
by the Catholic Bishops Conference of
Nigeria or Bishop Callistus Onaga of
Enugu Diocese on the issue.
